Good Intentions

Be real. Be honest. Be you.

One of the most cliche statements I hear almost every day is a rendition of one of the above. When I was in high school, gossiping about Susie or Joe was probably the most commonplace conversation I heard on a regular basis. What was second? The person gossiping exalting themselves for being "real". I think this is one of many examples of what is so wrong with our society today. 

Everyone wants to believe they're a good person. Everyone wants to believe they're different than the guy who just cheated on his girlfriend or the girl who talks behind her friends' backs on a regular basis. As Christians, I think we get caught up in a lie telling ourselves that because we follow Christ, we are better. Sure, we recognize that we aren't perfect, but God loves us and we're working to be better people, right? I would hope so. But are we really working to be better people or are we simply telling ourselves we'll take the necessary steps and then continue to delay action? 

I'll be the first to admit, I've delayed action far too often in the past. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've been watching Netflix before bed and I'm hit with a feeling that I need to pray. What do I do? I tell myself I'll pray before I go to sleep, but it's not "necessary" right this minute. What happens? I fall asleep without a second thought about God. Of course I love Him. Of course I want to give Him my time. But in that moment, I chose myself. I chose worldly desires. I chose the flesh over the Spirit. 

My youth minister, +Brittany Taylor, at Sandusky Life Teen used to tell us, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Think about that for a second. How often do we have good intentions in our hearts, but when it comes time to take action, we let our selfish passions keep us in a holding pattern? We choose comfort. We chose personal satisfaction. 

The concept of good intentions is, I believe, one of our biggest downfalls as Christians. Our decision to chase after God's own heart has filled us with His spirit and desire to love and do good, but have we really committed our lives to loving others and being who God is calling us to be? I think it's time we stop filling this world with unfulfilled promises. As Christians, we should all want to be saints. If there's one thing every saint has done, it's continue to work on being holy each and every day and with each opportunity that came their way. 

As we continue our journey through Advent toward Christmas, I invite each of us, myself included, to really make an effort to take action. Instead of merely aspiring to "Be real", let's actually make an effort to do so. Love instead of simply desiring to do so. Pray instead of simply desiring to do so. Invite God into your life and ask him to use you as His tools to spread the gospel. Cherish the present moment as the gift from God that it is. Chances are, if He places a desire on your heart to pray, He probably has something important to tell you. Don't delay taking action. Be the spark of light in a dark room.

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Before I begin, I'm a little out of my element. I've never been one to publish a personal blog, mostly because I've never had a need, but also because I've never had anything particularly interesting to say - at least in my opinion. With that out of the way, let's begin.

Who am I? I'm assuming most of the people who read this are people who already know me fairly well, but for those who don't, this is for you. My name is Cory Pfanner. I'm originally from Sandusky, OH, a proud graduate of Perkins High School (Go Pirates!). I'm currently a 19-year-old sophomore at The Ohio State University. I have no idea what exactly I'll be majoring in just yet, but I'm trusting the Lord will answer my prayers in due time. This past February, I was accepted into the Fisher College of Business to major in Logistics. I jumped shipped by the beginning of this semester to pursue teaching, an endeavor I've ultimately decided to walk away from. For the time being, and for the first time in my life, I don't know exactly what to do with my life and I'm content with that.

I consider myself a pretty big fan of Jesus Christ. I grew up in a Catholic family, attended Mass each Sunday (though my family technically went on Saturday afternoons), and went through CCD up until my First Communion. If I'm being honest, I hated it as a kid. Of course, kids don't know any better than to whine and complain about things they dislike. Eventually, my sister and I complained to the point where we essentially forced my parents pulled us out of CCD and we stopped attending Mass altogether. I only stepped foot in a church maybe twice between then and my junior year of high school. Do the math: I stopped attending Mass in 2001 and didn't really come back until January 19, 2011. My junior year of high school, I was drug by three friends to Sandusky Life Teen. Initially, it was kind of nice, but nothing that got me excited about Christ. Over the next year, I was lukewarm in my faith, mostly because I hadn't learned anything about being Catholic when I was younger. In reality, I was the kid who joked around and acted like a brat until I was able to go home from CCD rather than actually paying attention to anything that was going on. Over time, however, I learned so much from Life Teen and Brittany Taylor. By the time I graduated, Christ had stolen my heart for good. Suddenly, a faith I'd never knew was possible was the heart and soul of my life. Prayer, a concept I had no idea of, was suddenly a daily occurrence. My first task upon entering college at OSU was to find a group of Catholics living their faith the way I desired. It didn't take long before I was in the parking lot at Fort Zion during a hog roast for Saint Paul's Outreach [SPO]. From that first night, I knew SPO was a special group. The men and women who live in household and have committed their lives to Christ and missionary work are exactly the people I needed to find on a campus polluted with drinking and smoking. To this day, I'm very involved with SPO, including leading a college Bible study, being involved with the Formation Program, and dedicating myself to spreading Christ's love through the mission SPO brings to OSU.

If there's one more tidbit you need to know about me, it's my passion for running. However, with my first official half marathon (Santa Hustle at Cedar Point) less than a month away, I'll save that for another blog.

I have three hopes for this blog: First and foremost, I want this to serve as an update to those who are interested to know what I'm doing with my life currently. Second, I'd like to believe I can provide some inspiration or encouragement to anyone who is either desperately seeking to find Jesus Christ or who already has, but is struggling with their faith. For those who are, know of my prayers for you every day. I've been in your shoes before; things get better. Lastly, this blog is for for all of those who have yet to come into my life, to serve as a record of where I've been and how I got to where I'm going. Above all, I'm hoping my posts are something I can share with my future wife (if I'm called to be married some day.)

All that being said, please feel free to subscribe to updates or check back every once in a while. My hope is an update every month or so, but it may be more or less frequently.


Praying for you as you pray for me.

Cory

P.S. - Feel free to follow me on Twitter: @pfan_club