I did this, and the list I received is below. Funny, Columbia is not anywhere on the list. I knew that before the website told me. There are some great places on this list, and even some places I will likely be inhabiting sooner rather than later.

Without further adieu, the top 15:

Seattle, Washington
Honolulu, Hawaii
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Anchorage, Alaska
San Bernardino, California
Las Vegas, Nevada
Portland, Oregon
Ogden, Utah
Missoula, Montana
Santa Barbara, California
Denver, Colorado
Hartford, Connecticut
Palo Alto, California
Tacoma, Washington
San Jose, California
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What challenges your faith?

This could never be summed up in a word, or words, or sentences. This list broadens continually as I struggle to find God everywhere.

At the very top of this list would be my interaction with people that share the faith I have. This doesn't always mean we are sitting down discussing the underlying meaning of I John 1:9, or trying to convert lost souls. I am learning more and more just how closely ALL of our relationships give us insight as to how to relate to God through a spiritual relationship. This challenges my faith incredibly, because now I don't see relationships as just what I can get out of them. Nor do I see them for simply what I can give. Rather it becomes a unique interaction that is also a glimpse into how we relate to God. I need these types of relationships and relationships in general...even with people you don't get along with...this will even present pictures of how we sometimes relate to God.

I am challenged when I get outside of myself and become others centered.

I am challenged spiritually by encouragement. When someone notices a characteristic in me that is Christ-like, I don't put on the cruise control, thinking I am doing good. Rather, it makes me want to push even more to remove dirt from my life and exemplify even more Christ-like traits.

I am also challenged spiritually by criticism. I try to take the Proverbs 9:9 mentality as much as humanly possible.

My parents used to always say, "Die to the compliments, and die to the criticism." Meaning, don't become puffed-up or self-righteous following compliments, and don't become apathetic following criticism. I try to take the truth from either, and learn what I can. Trying to isolate truth from the emotions of compliments and criticism is always challenging to your faith. To quote Jimmy, "Don't accept critique or credit."

I could keep listing things that challenge my faith down to the smallest details, because when you pray and struggle to find Him everywhere, you begin to notice just that. But, these were some of the larger points that came to mind.

What weakens it?

Just as I struggle to make the first list longer, this would be a list I struggle to shorten. I don't want to be swayed by the trivial things in life. I don't want a distraction to cause me to miss the bigger picture.

That being said, there are some things that have the tendency to discourage my faith. A large thing there is when I see others no longer conscientious about anything spiritual. That discourages me. Even if I feel great spiritually, it is very important to me that others share in that. I am not content to be one of those people where "Its just me and God, and we're fine."

When I am surrounded continually by shallow people, and I cannot have a conversation of depth or discuss any spiritual matters after a length of time.
When I am not serving or doing any good for the kingdom at hand.
When we as the church are doing nothing to impact the community.
When I am selfish.
These are all things that can have a negative impact on my faith.

Of course, Dishonesty can deal serious blows to my faith, as truth is very, very important to me. Dishonesty leads to distrust, and when I lose trust in human relationships, invariably my spiritual relationship follows. This is not immediate of course, but definitely happens over periods of time after losing trust in someone.


RANT:

Listen...just listen. Throw away your opinions and your ideals for a moment and hear what I'm saying. I don't need you to offer solutions or tell me where I'm wrong. You know this. I will arrive at the proper conclusion, often without your prodding. You speak before I have even finished explaining the details of the situation, thinking you have heard or seen this scenario before. You're just waiting for your turn--not hearing.

I really hate it when people try to speak with authority on something they know nothing about.

I really hate it when people think they know me and therefore think they know how I interact across the board.

Will this end...

When has this become acceptable and even permissible?

When will we stop living for ourselves?

What good has ever come from this for anyone?

When has character ever been built from taking this(easy)route?

The answers are blatant and continually identical, and still the same choices are made time and time again.

Are we that far from you?

This is painful to watch, even though I'm not participating.

...even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.

(Rev. 22:20)

RE:thought, RE:think

We look so hard for things we want to see,
that we miss the things we should see.

Found this, thought it was interesting.

The door swung open around the corner behind me. I didn't look to see who it was. I couldn't stop staring at all these neatly packed bags on the floor, lining the hallway. There was no warning, but the sign was clear.

"Shit."

That sickening feeling began to rise in my throat and I knew I would throw up if the paralysis would leave for a minute.

I hate that feeling.

I sometimes try to go back and think of the worst moments in my life in order to recreate that sensation, just to remember. Nothing you can imagine or experience ever prepares you for that creeping feeling as the bile rises in your stomach, and you try to distinguish between logic and emotion. You will swear you're dead.

"I'm leaving."

She said it softly, but with a sincerity that made me know she wasn't joking. I turned around. Her eyes met mine briefly, then averted to the bags, then to the floor. Her arms hung by her sides, keys dangling from her right hand. Her blond hair was down and the expression on her face was a look of determination. God, she looked beautiful even then.

The movie reel starts. The individual frames begin to appear in a flashing pattern, quick enough for recognition, but too fast for comprehension.

Those nights, the affection, that day, her ring, those times.

The sun was beginning to set, creating a glare on the car hood. We were driving faster than we should be and neither of us could stop laughing. The things we said were no longer funny, and the phrases were over used, but it didn't matter. We were happy. She leaned over the console and put her head on my lap and her arm around my neck. She laid there facing upward, looking at me and laughing while I tried to look at the road long enough to drive in a straight line. This would come to be something she would do often--it was unique embrace for times when we were driving and she wanted to be close. Sometimes she would be angry at me, not saying a word, and then she would slowly crawl over towards my side of the car and find that spot where her body fit just right. Trying to be upset at that point was useless for us both.

"I'm so lucky to be with you," she said.

I almost wrecked. Does she feel it too? She made the statement with realization, not with the expectation that I simply want to hear those words. Yet I felt this way since we began spending time together. Short of the other "L" word, this was the most intense thing she could have said in that moment.

The afternoon had been conquered by us. And the memories of blankets, packed lunch, fruit, and the park we left were all floating in the air around us, struggling to keep up with the speeding car. The diamond-studded cross necklace I had just given her hung from her neck and she looked amazing. My insides were whirling, but I smiled and kept driving straight while we enjoyed the silence.

It was already beginning to feel like summer. The door was still open, and the air was warm even though the sun had been down for hours. I looked directly at her. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"What did you say," I asked.

"I said I'm leaving."

"What do you mean? Like you need some time to yourself?"

"I'm not coming back."

There are so many clichés about situations like this; "empty silence," "words hung in the air," or "heart stopping." Every fucking one of them would apply, yet none of them would do this moment justice. I began to play through the last few days and weeks in my head, frantically searching for a reason. I wanted to imagine this was the culmination of a massive fight we just had, but there was none. I wanted to imagine this was the result of something horrible I had done, but there wasn't anything.

I've always found it funny that as every evening wains, things seem bigger than they actually are. This was big, but it was too late to make decisions like this.

"Please stay--at least for tonight," I pleaded. "We can talk about this in the morning."

"I am done listening to you."

Her words were flat. She said them with an emptiness in her voice that I had never heard. This didn't make any sense at all. Something was wrong. This was not her attitude; this was not her body language, posture or tone of voice. Suddenly she had become someone different.

One more time is all you need.

Its amazing what beauty is found in things undone--or things unsaid. I have times when I appreciate someone more during the times when they try the least or say the least. Times like this force recognition of beauty/value/uniqueness to depend on other characteristics to display them. Its always a challenge to observe things like these without relying on traditional senses. As with almost all of the thoughts on relationships, these apply to the human ones, and the spiritual one. Such a large part of human need is dependent upon relationships, so why do we limit ourselves on ways to approach and interact within that relationship? We look so hard for things we want to see, that we miss the things we should see. Its like breathing the name of God. Our regiment for interacting with Him is not the only way to learn from this relationship. He is everywhere, filling our lungs and waiting to be found where we least expect it.

I can't stand the phrase, "It is what it is." People where I work continually use that phrase. Its like their mantra. To me, its the sound of defeat. It's used when people feel as if they have no more control over a situation, and the outcome must be accepted. Problem is, when the phrase is used, there is still something that can be done most of the time. What a cop-out.

Thoughts are flying through my head...Its kind of like a moving reel of still pictures. Its going too fast for you to spend any length of time on one picture/memory/thought. But, its moving just slow enough to get a glimpse of each one, triggering another thought before the last one has been completed.

Exactly

If everything I meant to you,
you can lick and seal and fold in two,

Then I've been so blind.