So, I decided to spring-clean my blog since I had a snow day today. (Interestingly enough, I believe this is the first time I was ever disappointed to have an unexpected day off from class. We were set to discuss selections from Kierkegaard concerning how to read the Bible, and I found his thoughts incredibly stimulating. I was really looking forward to the discussion. Maybe I'll post on it later. Anyways...) I know it isn't spring yet, but as Michael Scott once said, “If you do your spring cleaning in January guess what you don't have to do in the Spring... anything.” As you probably have noticed I've got the new template, entirely because I thought the old one was really ugly. The sole downside is that all my comments have been erased, mais c'est la vie. I've also removed the dead links from the list of blogs on the sidebar, and added a few new ones.

The redesign of the aesthetics comes along with a re-thinking of the purpose of this blog in general. The truth of the matter is, I'm not sure exactly in which direction to take it. My uncle John Harsevoort, a man whom I respect a great deal, has encouraged me to make this space a bit more personal, to share whatever wisdom God has blessed me with. I'm actually quite uncomfortable with the thought of taking up this challenge. To put it bluntly, I really don't think of myself as having a great store of wisdom to share. At least, nothing that jumps to mind. However, this may be because I am not the most reflective person out there. I do think that God has granted me special gifts to help me face the special physical struggles that come with spinal muscular atrophy. And I am convinced that I have this disease with a purpose, part of which is to show an example of the joy and contentment with which God blesses his children even in difficult circumstances.

Now, people seem to assume that my physical struggles bring with them emotional struggles, self-pity and frustration, and spiritual struggles, anger at God for giving me a broken body. The truth of the matter is that I have never really suffered. I do not now, nor have I ever battled sorrow or depression. As for blaming God, I can honestly say that the thought has never seriously crossed my mind. I am incredibly happy with my life, even with its imperfection. This is entirely due to the fact that God has provided for my every need: a large and loving family and good friends to care for whatever physical assistance I require, lots of opportunity for mental and social stimulation, the chance to have a productive life, the list goes on and on.

This is part of the problem. People with wisdom to share are, I think, those who have experienced overcoming a trial or a test of some sort; the greater the trial, the greater the achievement of overcoming, the more their lives have to offer. For me, my physical suffering has been easy to bear because I have been richly blessed with joy and peace from a young age. I have never had to climb Mount Moriah. Yet, still, whatever wisdom I do have to offer I will attempt to share, to the glory of God.

This is not to say that every post from here on in will be meaningful. Be warned that I still reserve the right to post stupid videos, inane thoughts and useless information! In fact, I'm seriously thinking about posting a video a week, care of YouTube or Google Video. Exciting times ahead!