I used to have lots of misconceptions about Christianity and its place in society (as well as in my own life). The truth is: while I've become more grounded in my faith and accept Christianity whole-heartedly, I didn't reach this point blindly. I questioned... I rebelled... I strayed... I had doubts about Christianity.

I met up with JJ tonight for dinner, and I'm so thankful for our friendship. Having gone through APO and similar struggles/temptations, it was really awesome to see and hear how we've matured in our faith. Even though she's (was...;)) more of a player than I ever supposedly was! It's amazing how over the course of talking about random problems in our lives that we gain insight into God's word.

...I guess this is why He calls us to have fellowship with other believers.

For example, relationships. I had lunch with my pastor a few weeks ago, and mentioned that I felt kinda lonely at work... and asked for his thoughts on romantic relationships. The gist of his words were: I had to seek contentment in Christ... and when two people who are both content in Christ come together, then they can truly encourage and build each other up.

At the time, I kinda dismissed what he said... thinking something along the lines of: "He's a pastor... and married... of course he's going to say something like that. He doesn't really understand..."

But while speaking with JJ about relationships, the existence of "one true love" and "settling" in a relationship came up. I started saying how if a person was in a relationship thinking that there was someone better out there, then that person would never truly be happy (as well as it not being fair for the other person)... when I realized how much sense my pastor's words made. If two people were content with their lives, then they wouldn't jump ("settle") into a relationship for the sake of being in one... and wouldn't go through the torture of wondering if this person was "the one" or not.

These thoughts raise the questions: if that really was the case, about being perfectly content in my faith... then wouldn't getting into a relationship mean that you're not content? What about Adam feeling's of lonliness in the beginning? But I guess that's for another time, another entry. ;)

One last thought about relationships... I notice how in like all the relationships I consider strong, the couples place an emphasis on spending time together simply for the sake of togetherness and talking with each other... rather than an emphasis on activities and needing to do something. Hmmm... I think most of my past relationships have been focused more on shared activities...

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Clara has a Cantonese/Mandarin version of Dilemma! It's by the same people that made the Chinese remake of "Bump Bump Bump." =)