Tonight I did a rare thing for me but the norm for many. I sat in front of a black box and watched it for two and a half hours! Yes, this rare moment for me when I actually enjoyed just chilling in front of the TV. Now, don't get me wrong - TV can certainly be nice or even helpful when it comes to relieving stress at the end of the day or staying informed with the news (no matter how biased they tend to be). BUT - due to sitting, or rather lounging, on my couch for two hours, I have absolutely no motivation to do anything. I did absolutely nothing productive while watching some fake show and wasted a ton of time!
Time is the ONE thing that we've been given in the here and now. Sometime, you should look up the definition of time, just google it, and you'll find all the ways we try to define this thing that we have but that could be gone in a blink of an eye and no one can really touch it!
I can't really remember a year that I haven't had someone's funeral to attend. Whether it be a relative, friend, or church family member, I always am amazed by what people say about their deceased family member. Usually it starts as a typical timeline of their hometown and where they went to college or their career. But then, it takes a turn and it begins to unravel the impact that the individual had on the speaker's life and the lives of those right there in the room. We tend to talk about the good things and the funny things at funerals and right there in the midst of all the sadness and grief, we realize that we are going to miss that individual because they were a good listener or had the best jokes or loved to go fishing with me, etc. The list goes on and on with ways that people impact lives in small gestures. What started as a simple hello could grow into lifelong friendships. You know, I don't hear people talk about that kind of commitment anymore. We are constantly moving in a fast-paced culture where success is key and that really clashes with the kind of culture that Jesus talked about and lived out. What I love most about Jesus is that He wants a relationship with me! But just that desire to actually want relationships is incredible. I don't want to be the person who only has a timeline read at my funeral. I want to be the kind of person that impacts lives for Jesus. I want to be the kind of person that people get inspired by to live their lives with a little more optimism and purpose. But I can't do that if I'm wasting time in front of TV or worrying about what will happen next, isolating myself or better yet, talking about myself and complaining about other people. Shouldn't we all care a little more about others?
By all means, unwind with a TV, but don't let it dwindle your desire to make a difference in this world by establishing relationships with others!
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Works for the Good
Today, I started back up at the school where I'm a paraprofessional in the ID (Intellectual disabilities) rooms. There are certainly a lot of changes, some good, some I'm not sure about yet. But if there is one thing I know for sure, it is that God works for the good of those who love Him (Rom 8:28). So often, I think we forget that every good gift comes from God (James 1:17). We think that it's coincidence or luck that something happened. Or maybe we think that it was of our own doing that we got to a certain place in life. But friends, let me tell you that God is working in and through and beyond everything that we experience in life. Even the bad situations that seem to multiply, God works to turn those around for our benefit. This is so encouraging! I'm so glad we have a God who is on our side working for the good of us! Of course in doing so, we build our faith in what we cannot see and trust the God is ultimately God of all and especially God of our lives.
Other than this, I don't have much else to say. So I challenge you to look at the situations in your life where it has become chaotic and messy and know that you have a God who is working to bring something beautiful and meaningful and ultimately GOOD from it. You have a God who is able to turn dust and ashes into life and bring good and perfect gifts to His children. So I ask you this...Can you see this happening? Are you loving on God as He works for your benefit? Are you forgetting to thank Him for all the goodness you see in the world?
"You now rejoice in this hope, even if it's necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials. This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine." (1 Peter 1:6-7, CEB)
May we have genuine faith in a God who works for the GOOD of those who love Him.
Other than this, I don't have much else to say. So I challenge you to look at the situations in your life where it has become chaotic and messy and know that you have a God who is working to bring something beautiful and meaningful and ultimately GOOD from it. You have a God who is able to turn dust and ashes into life and bring good and perfect gifts to His children. So I ask you this...Can you see this happening? Are you loving on God as He works for your benefit? Are you forgetting to thank Him for all the goodness you see in the world?
"You now rejoice in this hope, even if it's necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials. This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine." (1 Peter 1:6-7, CEB)
May we have genuine faith in a God who works for the GOOD of those who love Him.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Losing Inspiration & Making Cookies
My sister asked me today why I don't blog anymore. I suppose that is reason enough to start blogging again. I told her it was because of not having internet at my previous residence, I recently moved, and going back to school, too busy, but I think it was honestly that I lost inspiration. I lost my motivation. And in doing so, or rather not doing so, I lost part of myself.
I LOVE to write. I love to blog. I use this as my edited journal. I find myself exploring why I believe what I believe and how that comes to life in the world around me. I use this blog as a means of expressing myself in ways that just make better sense in a blog than in a conversation. I was contemplating when and why I started blogging today and I realized that I began back in high school. (LunchTimeDevos) I took a lay speaking class on preaching and someone saw it fit to tell me that I should post devotions online. And I did so for quite some time. They are still up for the world to see too. But I loved to write and have readers who got inspired because they could get on at 5:30am and have a short morning devotional written in a basement by some teenager who saw the world in a different way. Over time, I think I've begun to think that that way is not an appropriate way for an adult. Today, I think I was more right in how I wrote than what I gave myself credit for. Writing about turtles on the road and the sunrise/sunset are totally appropriate! So today, I shall take up writing about the things that inspire me or make me think as I go about my day. Sometimes it is the little things that God can get me thinking about Him and how His kingdom works and what needs to be done. Thus, here is a story about Making Cookies...
Someone I know recently made cookies. She had the recipe, which made the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had, and she had all the ingredients. She mixed everything together and realized the batter looked a little thin. She tossed in a little more flour and figured it would just make a giant cookie cake if they all ran together. Unfortunately, they ran together but were inedible. She had forgotten to add the rest of the flour to the batter so instead of using 2.25 cups, she only used 1 cup! THAT obviously made a huge difference.
Now, she had clearly forgotten to use the rest of the flour, but how often do we try and take short-cuts in our walk of faith? We have all the ingredients - we read the Bible, pray, go to church, give, etc - but we just don't have the right amounts. Instead of reading the Bible daily and digesting it, we read a quick devotion (when we remember to) and head out the door to our busy lives. Just today I saw something on Facebook that emphasized the lack of Christians who greet God in the morning. Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of this too, but don't we tend to fill our lives with ingredients that do more harm than good and don't put enough of the good ingredients either? We serve.......once a month, if even.....for two hours......It's just not enough. We give......until it messes with our usual expenses. We go to church......for one hour....a week......and we complain if it runs a little long. We pray......for five minutes every night.......okay, like two minutes......right before we drift off to sleep because we spent our day doing too much.
Now, I know there are some of you out there that will say that you do have all the ingredients and you do these things enough. BUT - just like not enough flour will not make cookies edible, too much vanilla could ruin them too. I've heard it said that too much of a good thing can make it a bad thing. This reminds me of the Apostle Paul who talked about moderation in everything. We as the church cannot be half-hearted Christians if we expect to be able to change the world for God. And we can't be burnt out Christians either. We have to learn this balance and this recipe for life. Until we do, we won't be content in all circumstances or able to impact the people we are meant to impact.
So, what ingredient do you have, but maybe don't have enough of? Perhaps you are missing an ingredient altogether? Are you burning out because having too much of one ingredient and not enough of another to even it out?
I may have lost my inspiration to write when I stopped looking at the world around me and seeing that I had something to offer that might impact people, even if it dealt with turtles or cookies, whether I was writing at age 16 or age 24. Regardless, this won't be the last post. At least, not for a while. I think God's given me a lot to offer up and I hope you'll stick around to read about my reclaimed existence!
I LOVE to write. I love to blog. I use this as my edited journal. I find myself exploring why I believe what I believe and how that comes to life in the world around me. I use this blog as a means of expressing myself in ways that just make better sense in a blog than in a conversation. I was contemplating when and why I started blogging today and I realized that I began back in high school. (LunchTimeDevos) I took a lay speaking class on preaching and someone saw it fit to tell me that I should post devotions online. And I did so for quite some time. They are still up for the world to see too. But I loved to write and have readers who got inspired because they could get on at 5:30am and have a short morning devotional written in a basement by some teenager who saw the world in a different way. Over time, I think I've begun to think that that way is not an appropriate way for an adult. Today, I think I was more right in how I wrote than what I gave myself credit for. Writing about turtles on the road and the sunrise/sunset are totally appropriate! So today, I shall take up writing about the things that inspire me or make me think as I go about my day. Sometimes it is the little things that God can get me thinking about Him and how His kingdom works and what needs to be done. Thus, here is a story about Making Cookies...
Someone I know recently made cookies. She had the recipe, which made the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had, and she had all the ingredients. She mixed everything together and realized the batter looked a little thin. She tossed in a little more flour and figured it would just make a giant cookie cake if they all ran together. Unfortunately, they ran together but were inedible. She had forgotten to add the rest of the flour to the batter so instead of using 2.25 cups, she only used 1 cup! THAT obviously made a huge difference.
Now, she had clearly forgotten to use the rest of the flour, but how often do we try and take short-cuts in our walk of faith? We have all the ingredients - we read the Bible, pray, go to church, give, etc - but we just don't have the right amounts. Instead of reading the Bible daily and digesting it, we read a quick devotion (when we remember to) and head out the door to our busy lives. Just today I saw something on Facebook that emphasized the lack of Christians who greet God in the morning. Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of this too, but don't we tend to fill our lives with ingredients that do more harm than good and don't put enough of the good ingredients either? We serve.......once a month, if even.....for two hours......It's just not enough. We give......until it messes with our usual expenses. We go to church......for one hour....a week......and we complain if it runs a little long. We pray......for five minutes every night.......okay, like two minutes......right before we drift off to sleep because we spent our day doing too much.
Now, I know there are some of you out there that will say that you do have all the ingredients and you do these things enough. BUT - just like not enough flour will not make cookies edible, too much vanilla could ruin them too. I've heard it said that too much of a good thing can make it a bad thing. This reminds me of the Apostle Paul who talked about moderation in everything. We as the church cannot be half-hearted Christians if we expect to be able to change the world for God. And we can't be burnt out Christians either. We have to learn this balance and this recipe for life. Until we do, we won't be content in all circumstances or able to impact the people we are meant to impact.
So, what ingredient do you have, but maybe don't have enough of? Perhaps you are missing an ingredient altogether? Are you burning out because having too much of one ingredient and not enough of another to even it out?
I may have lost my inspiration to write when I stopped looking at the world around me and seeing that I had something to offer that might impact people, even if it dealt with turtles or cookies, whether I was writing at age 16 or age 24. Regardless, this won't be the last post. At least, not for a while. I think God's given me a lot to offer up and I hope you'll stick around to read about my reclaimed existence!
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