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Overlooked Biblical People: The Prodigal Son’s Older Brother

The parable about the Prodigal Son, found in Luke, is one of the most popular biblical stories and is a commonly used example for explaining the unconditional love God has for us. To sum it up, a father has two sons, one asks to receive his inheritance early, blows all of it, and then returns to his father in the hopes of being able to work as a servant. Instead, the father rejoices at the return of his son and prepares a feast in his son’s honor. This is the short version and it is missing a key part of the story; the other son. The other son makes an appearance towards the end of the story;

“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf!’

But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore, his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at anytime; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends, But as soon as this son of yours came, who has dropped your livelihood with hariots, you killed the fatted calf for him!’

And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me and all I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be good, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’” – Luke 15:25-32

I can’t possibly be the only one who has found themselves at times relating more to the Prodigal Son’s older brother more than the Prodigal Son himself. I can’t possibly be the only one who’s been in situations where I’ve followed all the rules, and made all the right choices only to see the rebel come out on top. No, I can’t be the only one. And yet, we push aside the part of the story about the older brother and focus solely the Prodigal Son’s happy ending.

The reality is we are all the Prodigal Son. His brother is also the Prodigal Son. There’s no way he always did his father’s bidding with a smile on his face. He may not have physically left the farm like his brother but he’s done it in his heart several times. And so have all of us. Even if you’ve never flat out run from God, you’ve turned your back on Him, as have I. In God’s eyes, all sins are equal, so all of us, the older brother included, are no better than the Prodigal Son.

But the good news is that while we are all Prodigal Sons, we also all have a Father who loves us unconditionally, We can make thousands of mistakes, each worse than the last, and God will love us anyway. It’s such a relief to know that no matter what I’ve done or am going to do, that I have a loving God to turn to. And if you, dear reader, haven’t sought out that unconditional love, I sure hope you do.

If you’re intrigued by this post and looking forward to what I’ll write about in the future, you can expect a new post every Saturday. Also, if you feel inclined, feel free to leave a comment below about what you think. Thanks for all your support and I hope you’ll come back next week. Stay Amazing!

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My 2nd Favorite Christmas Present from 3rd Grade

 

The Christmas of 2005 was my absolute favorite for two reasons:

  1. We got a puppy (I’ll save that story for another post).
  2. That was the Christmas I received the Scholastic Book of Firsts.

That’s right, if I hadn’t gotten a REAL LIVE puppy, my favorite gift would have been a book. Now, some of you are probably thinking ‘wow, this chick’s a dork’ (just wait until I describe the book and how obsessed with it I became). Others might be thinking ‘one of her favorite gifts was a book?!? Her family must have sucked at gift-giving’ (and you’d be wrong, I got a puppy remember?). And lastly some of you are likely thinking ‘that’s awesome, I love books’ (props to you guys but you’re probably going to migrate to the ‘wow this chick’s a dork’ group shortly).

So back to the actual book. Like the title says, the Scholastic Book of Firsts is just that – a book of firsts. It had historical firsts, adventurous firsts, inventive firsts, and so on. I absolutely loved it. Time and time again I read that book until I could practically recite all two-hundred-plus pages worth of facts.

I’m sure I drove all of my friends and family completely nuts. I would often just spout out random firsts facts at the most unexpected times. Some of the more notable ones were that President Jimmy Carter was the first President to be born in a hospital and that the microwave was invented by an accidental discovery in the year 1946.

Alright so I was (and perhaps still am) a massive dork. But I adored that book. Even now I enjoy hearing the occasional interesting fact. For some reason I think they’re fun. They’re literally fun facts. So I guess that’s one (among many) of the things that made me a weird kid. And yes, I am still quite weird now. But seeing as these days people are more into showing off their individuality, I think I’ll go ahead and embrace it.

If you’re intrigued by this post and looking forward to what I’ll write about in the future, you can expect a new post every Saturday. Also, if you feel inclined, feel free to leave a comment below about what you think, or if you had any strange quirks as a kid. Thanks for all your support and I hope you’ll come back next week. Stay Amazing!

 

Source:

Buckley, Jim. Scholastic Book of Firsts. June. 2005. Scholastic Reference; English Language Edition.

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School Advice: Join a Campus Ministry

I’ve never asked anybody if they have a favorite month but I’d be willing to guess most people’s answer would not be August. For one thing, there’s a 91.67%, or 11/12 chance that someone would pick a different month (I myself am rather partial to September). Additionally, for many people August can mean the start of a new school year. After three months of no homework or studying, the idea of returning to class may seem, well, less than appealing.

Student at Desk

For some, there’s more to this transition than saying ‘see ya in nine months’ to summer. There are the kids who have to move schools, or are entering into middle school, high school, or college for the first time. It’s exciting sure, but it can also be frightening to venture into the unknown. Even if you or your child is not approaching one of these pivotal transitions, the start of the school year can still be daunting. Fortunately, I have a piece of advice. If you’re a student, join one of your school’s ministries. If you’re a parent, encourage your kid to join one of their school’s ministries.

Alright so maybe this doesn’t appear to be any sort of brand new or shocking revelation. I mean, what did you expect? I’m just a nineteen-year-old college kid. Yes, it’s fairly simple advice but simple advice is often the best advice. And it’s one piece of advice I really wish I had taken two years ago when I began my freshman year of college.

On the surface, my freshman year of college seemed fine. And it was. My classes were okay, my roommate was great, and I made some friends. But eventually I realized that something was missing – or rather someone. God was missing and honestly, He’s not something that should be missing. So I decided that come sophomore year I would find a campus ministry because I needed God again and I needed Him fast.

I won’t sugarcoat it, Cru, the campus ministry I joined was not lifechanging – at first. I still remember how loud and quick my heart pounded and the way my hands trembled with anxiety during those first few weekly meetings and Women’s Bible Studies (and there was that first study where I spilled spaghetti all over the floor but I digress). But eventually all of that stopped. Soon enough going became exciting and friendships began blossoming. Most importantly, I returned to my relationship with God. He was there waiting, arms out.

Whether you’re seeking God or not, He’s there, arms out. And I suggest that you run to Him. To any student, pursuing God, atheist, spiritual, or anything of the sort, I encourage you to give your school’s ministry a try. At Cru our saying is ‘Come as you are’ which is great because it shows that we are one of the many ministries that will welcome anyone regardless of their backgrounds and beliefs. By checking out a college ministry like Cru at the very least you’ll meet some new people and learn something new. Last year I thought something was missing from my life. Now I know that I was the one who was missing from God. And I’m glad I returned.

If you’re intrigued by this post and looking forward to what I’ll write about in the future, you can expect a new post every Saturday. Also, if you feel inclined, feel free to leave a comment below about what you think. Thanks for all your support and I hope you’ll come back next week. Stay Amazing!

Image Credit: allthingsclipart.com

 

 

 

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Why Have I Started a Blog?

Currently, I am a female college student so I suppose that means I need to start a blog. People like me seems to be dominating the blog industry, with posts ranging from fashion trends, to traveling tips, to controversial political stances that lead to a mildly entertaining yet frightening comments section. So it would not be surprising to me if you went to this post with the expectation of reading something that’s been overly discussed, and written by someone who hasn’t got the slightest idea what she’s doing.

It is my great pleasure to inform you that you’re wrong – well partially at least. It is true that I don’t know what I’m doing, but my posts aren’t going to be unoriginal, probably. Alright, so maybe the jury is still out on whether or not this blog will be any good; that’ll be up to you to decide. But even if I turn out to be a complete failure at this, I’m going to keep going. Why’s that? Well….

Practice Makes Perfect

Oh look at that, the first blog’s already got a cliché, solid start. But the point is if I keep doing this there’s a possibility that it could actually become something great. If I stop, then it definitely won’t.

For Funsies

I like writing and I’ve already had a blast creating this post and coming up with other ideas. As long as I continue having fun blogging, I’m going to keep doing this. Everyone needs things to look forward to and for me, writing is one of those things.

Because I Am a Free American

Ron Swanson Free American

          Wow, a GIF of a beloved character saying something funny, how did that get there? The point is part of my reasoning for creating a blog, is because I can create a blog. As a free American, I have the liberty to do so.

What to Expect

Being the excessive planner that I am, I have already come up with several possible topics I want to write about and my scheduling plan for posts. I intend to post every week, on Saturdays. Every other post is going to be something faith-based (for those of you who don’t know, I am a Christian). This could be a great platform to help others in their faith and show those who are curious about Christianity what it means to have a relationship with God.

As for the remaining weeks, it will be a very diverse set of topics either about me or the things I’m interested in. From Harry Potter, to weird things I did as a child, to book recommendations, to anything else I think I’d enjoy writing about, it’ll be on this site. Odds are, you’ll find a topic on here you’ll enjoy reading about.

One Last Thing

We are getting to the end of my very first post (very sad, I know) but there’s one final thing I want to end with; where did I get the name Aud-Staud Blogs? ‘Aud-Staud’ was a nickname some of my friends gave me back in high school because it’s a mashup of my first name, Audrey, and my last name, Stearns. It has a nice ring to it, so I figured I might as well use it for this.

If you’re intrigued by this post and looking forward to what I’ll write about in the future, you can expect a new post every Saturday. Also, if you feel inclined, feel free to leave a comment below about what you think, or whether or not you believe this will be a success. Thanks for all your support and I hope you’ll come back next week. Stay Amazing!

 

Image Credit: Quickmeme.com