Just what you've been waiting for...

I suppose it's time to fill you ( meaning ALL of you many viewers who anxiously await updates from this blog) in on the underlying meaning and enthusiasm that prompted me to even start another blog and name it Chapter 23. If you know me at all then you've probably convinced yourself that you've already discovered the meaning just by the pure fact that you know how old I am. Yes, I am 23 years old... Congrats to you if you thought of this! However, this fact might just be pure coincidence or rather the inner revelations of my mind. I just started thinking about numbers since I was having trouble unearthing a catchy phrase that would appropriately encompass my life at this ("this" meaning a a time coming from about a month ago) moment. While I've always been drawn to the number 15, I felt as thought it might be too common or low of a number for this grand project. 23 may have been weighing heavily on my mind from my recent celebration of birth in May upon which I marked my 23rd year or maybe because I have recited the 23rd Psalm to myself just before I go to sleep ever since I memorized it over ten years ago. This series of verses is well-known to most Christians and has always given me a sense of peace and comfort just before drifting off to sleep and in any instance that I feel uncomfortable or scared (most of which, coincidentally, happen while I'm laying in bed before drifting off to sleep). These words spoken by David remind me that I am never alone and that God is with me at all times. Who doesn't want eternal companionship and safety?

"The Lord is my Sheperd; I shall not want. 

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me beside the still waters. 

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil: 

for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. "

Psalms 23

Perhaps I'm trying to make my 23rd Chapter in life just as meaningful as the 23rd Chapter of Pslams. Perhaps I just want to find some way to justify my mediocre life in the eyes of myself, my family, friends, communtity, and most importantly my Savior and my God. Perhaps I think this blog will serve as an outlet for myself or, in better circumstances, an inlet to the Holy Spirit. Perhaps some posts will be pointless. Some will be fun. Some will be long and boring. Some will be nothing that you expected, but everything you wanted to know. And, perhaps, some will help you and I uncover the essence of Chapter 23. 

I realize that this post could have already knocked out the "long and boring" part, so to liven things up a bit I'll leave you with some pictures of a recent Saturday hiking trip with Josh to Suwanee Mountain. This is my attempt to jazz up that mediocre life that I mentioned previously. Thankfully, it's also a good form of exercise, has provided some bonding time for Josh and I, and has given me a chance to explore Georgia since I've recently discovered that I don't really even know that much about my home state.