Well, friends, it's October 28. Do you know what that means? One month until Thanksgiving!
"Who counts down the days until Thanksgiving?" That's right, I do! Because there's no better time to start being intentional about having a spirit of thankfulness.
Why wait until the third Thursday of November? Let's be thankful now! As you turn your minds to the things that you've been blessed with, may you walk a little taller, smile a little bigger and find more joy in the daily blessings that we've been given!
Today, I'm thankful for...
-The one tree in my yard that's bright red leaves stand out in rebellion against the dreary, fallen leaves surrounding it
-The joy of serving
-The peace of knowing that the Lord is sovereign
-A warm blanket to keep me cozy and warm while I work on homework
-Pictures that remind me of the many sweet and precious friendships I get to enjoy
Please share some of these blessings as they come to your mind, let's rejoice together! What are you thankful for, today?
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Monday, October 28, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
The Bare Necessities
I thought I'd send you all to a moment of nostalgia for a few minutes as we all prepare to enter a new season of life...fall/winter! I wrote this post last spring, but just found it in the archives and decided that it still needed to be posted.
The Bear Necessities
"I recently used this song for a group project in my American Sign Language class. It was so fun to listen to this song again.
However, the main message of this song took on a new meaning for me a few weeks ago. Cling to the bare necessities, the basic needs of life. "Don't spend your times looking around for something you want, that can't be found".
What do we really need to survive? In the U.S. we've been taught to believe that we need cell phones, at least one vehicle, countless articles of entertainment and a beautiful house to store it all in. We even need decorations, paintings and wall paper on our walls just to ensure that we would never have to endure the atrocity of having something boring or basic in our lives (I can just see some of the TLC interior design guru's coming to tears at that thought).
Ok, let's think about this on a very basic level from a viewpoint that spans beyond U.S. culture. What do we need to survive? Food, water, shelter and people. That's it. All of that other stuff is extra.We won't die from having plain walls, a rusty car or an outdated wardrobe. These four things are the bare necessities.
A heart attack almost took my dad's life last Saturday, April 13. I know, we're not the first family to go through this scary experience and, unfortunately, we won't be the last. However, the value and frailty of life becomes much more evident after an experience like this. My dad's heart stopped and his body seized. He was on the bridge between life and death. When he was finally resuscitated, he looked in the teary eyes of the nurses around him and the doctor said "Happy birthday, you've just started life over again".
What an eye opening experience and story this has been to me. What does a singing bear have to do with it all? Well, I've been reminded to cling to the bear necessities, the simple things. Life beyond this moment is not guaranteed to us. What are you going to spend your precious moments chasing? Put yourself in my dad's shoes (or anyone else who has gone through something like this). What would you hold closer? What would you stop caring so much about?
We have been continuously praising God for providing my dad with more time here on earth. For giving him breath and life once again. May you be reminded that your every breath is a gift."
A Beautiful Story.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a Walk Thru the Old Testament seminar at a nearby church. What a blessing this event was! I must confess, towards the end, my eyes grew quite heavy but I'm sure that the materials and knowledge I walked away were was very much worth it!
It served as a great reminder that the Bible is a story. A beautiful, intriguing, captivating story. It's full of drama, pain, family tensions and wrestling. Most importantly, it's a story of beautiful redemption! It's like one of those movies with a warm happy ending that's much bigger and grander than you could have imagined. When the movie ends, we usually just sit there smiling like fools with a warm, fuzzy feeling in our hearts wishing that we could be part of a story like that! Well, folks, I have good news for you. You are a part of a story like that! You are part of a captivating, beautiful story of hope, joy and peace.
Are you captivated by the story?
It served as a great reminder that the Bible is a story. A beautiful, intriguing, captivating story. It's full of drama, pain, family tensions and wrestling. Most importantly, it's a story of beautiful redemption! It's like one of those movies with a warm happy ending that's much bigger and grander than you could have imagined. When the movie ends, we usually just sit there smiling like fools with a warm, fuzzy feeling in our hearts wishing that we could be part of a story like that! Well, folks, I have good news for you. You are a part of a story like that! You are part of a captivating, beautiful story of hope, joy and peace.
Are you captivated by the story?
Friday, March 22, 2013
A First Time for Everything
So, I'm a newbie here. It's another first in my life: my first blog! I'm going to try my best to make this a place where I can (hopefully) encourage you through the things God has taught me and is still teaching me.
You see, through my (short) years, I've learned some pretty awesome things about life and faith! I don't claim to know it all. Actually, I know very little but what I do know is so awesome, that I couldn't wait to share. So, here I am!
The title of this blog is very significant to me. If we're being honest with ourselves, sometimes life just feels like a mess. It can be challenging, confusing, heart breaking and at times it can feel downright impossible. We don't have to look far to see the brokenness not only in our own lives but in the world around us. With abuse, violence, cheating, lying, selfishness, lust, and so many other sins taking over our culture, sometimes it seems hopeless; like we're too far gone.
I've had a few ups and downs in my life and some pretty tough things have crossed my path. It's safe to say that I've been discouraged by what feels like a mess of a life and the mess that's around me.
But there's a beautiful truth that has helped me through. It has given me hope and a reason to keep on keeping on. There's meaning in the the midst of my mess and there's meaning in yours too!!
If we had to try to find a glimpse of hope in this broken world, we would have one tough search! But, we don't have to find our hope here. If you would look beyond the distractions and look to the one who created us, the one who gave us life, you would see that we have a purpose and a hope much better than anything this world has to offer!!
God created us and this world that we live in to be something beautiful. It was meant to glorify Him, but we twisted it. We sinned. Every day when we sin we are taking things that God created to be for good and for His glory and we're making them about us; about our pleasure, our glory and our desires. When we disobey God's laws we think we're being the creative ones by doing things our own way so they might bring more pleasure or joy. That's taken us here, to this place of brokenness, pain and hurt.
The beautiful thing is that God is offering His grace and redemption. He's offering to take these things that we've made a mess out of and turn them into something beautiful, into something that can bring us true joy! This true joy and peace flows out of a heart that trusts in Him and obeys His laws. His laws were meant to keep peace and to guide us to joy as we fulfill our original purpose as His creation. It's kind of like when your parents set rules for you as a kid. They set those rules to keep you safe, because what you wanted wasn't always the best thing for you at the time. That's how I think of God's laws for us. They're for our good and when we trust Him and obey them, it's for our own good. The greatest of God's laws says: "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). This is the meaning in the mess! This is the greatest of God's laws that were meant to keep peace and give Him glory and give us joy! Love God. That is at the center of a life of true joy!
My hope for you is that you would know the true joy of loving God with your whole heart. Accept the forgiveness that he has offered through a perfect sacrifice, His son Jesus Christ, and take hold of the life that we were created to live: a life of joy and hope in something so much better than what this world has to offer. God can bring meaning in the midst of your mess, joy in the midst of your sorrow and hope in the midst of your fear! Trust Him.
This amazing, crazy sounding story is what puts meaning in my mess, spring in my step and hope in my life!
My short years have been a journey of learning this truth and so many others. In the next weeks/months/years I plan to share things that I've written along the way as well as the things that I continue to learn. My hope is that my words will in some way encourage or challenge you to find the meaning in your life and follow God wholeheartedly. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
One last matter of business: I will do my best to give credit where credit is due and I ask that you'd do the same! Thanks for reading! :)
You see, through my (short) years, I've learned some pretty awesome things about life and faith! I don't claim to know it all. Actually, I know very little but what I do know is so awesome, that I couldn't wait to share. So, here I am!
The title of this blog is very significant to me. If we're being honest with ourselves, sometimes life just feels like a mess. It can be challenging, confusing, heart breaking and at times it can feel downright impossible. We don't have to look far to see the brokenness not only in our own lives but in the world around us. With abuse, violence, cheating, lying, selfishness, lust, and so many other sins taking over our culture, sometimes it seems hopeless; like we're too far gone.
I've had a few ups and downs in my life and some pretty tough things have crossed my path. It's safe to say that I've been discouraged by what feels like a mess of a life and the mess that's around me.
But there's a beautiful truth that has helped me through. It has given me hope and a reason to keep on keeping on. There's meaning in the the midst of my mess and there's meaning in yours too!!
If we had to try to find a glimpse of hope in this broken world, we would have one tough search! But, we don't have to find our hope here. If you would look beyond the distractions and look to the one who created us, the one who gave us life, you would see that we have a purpose and a hope much better than anything this world has to offer!!
God created us and this world that we live in to be something beautiful. It was meant to glorify Him, but we twisted it. We sinned. Every day when we sin we are taking things that God created to be for good and for His glory and we're making them about us; about our pleasure, our glory and our desires. When we disobey God's laws we think we're being the creative ones by doing things our own way so they might bring more pleasure or joy. That's taken us here, to this place of brokenness, pain and hurt.
The beautiful thing is that God is offering His grace and redemption. He's offering to take these things that we've made a mess out of and turn them into something beautiful, into something that can bring us true joy! This true joy and peace flows out of a heart that trusts in Him and obeys His laws. His laws were meant to keep peace and to guide us to joy as we fulfill our original purpose as His creation. It's kind of like when your parents set rules for you as a kid. They set those rules to keep you safe, because what you wanted wasn't always the best thing for you at the time. That's how I think of God's laws for us. They're for our good and when we trust Him and obey them, it's for our own good. The greatest of God's laws says: "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). This is the meaning in the mess! This is the greatest of God's laws that were meant to keep peace and give Him glory and give us joy! Love God. That is at the center of a life of true joy!
My hope for you is that you would know the true joy of loving God with your whole heart. Accept the forgiveness that he has offered through a perfect sacrifice, His son Jesus Christ, and take hold of the life that we were created to live: a life of joy and hope in something so much better than what this world has to offer. God can bring meaning in the midst of your mess, joy in the midst of your sorrow and hope in the midst of your fear! Trust Him.
This amazing, crazy sounding story is what puts meaning in my mess, spring in my step and hope in my life!
My short years have been a journey of learning this truth and so many others. In the next weeks/months/years I plan to share things that I've written along the way as well as the things that I continue to learn. My hope is that my words will in some way encourage or challenge you to find the meaning in your life and follow God wholeheartedly. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
One last matter of business: I will do my best to give credit where credit is due and I ask that you'd do the same! Thanks for reading! :)
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