This morning I journaled to God about being a mirror. Last week's sermon was about prayer and what we need to be doing in our lives and how we are living for Him. I took away the phrase "Be a Mirror." To me that means reflect Christ in everything, at every moment, in every activity, conversation, and thought.
Am I showing others Christ or me?
Sounds all well and good until a wrench is thrown in the system and you no longer have the bright outlook that the sunrise brings and you are left with a heavy heart and a lump in your throat and are hurting so much for someone you love because they hurt and what do you do? Is it being a mirror if you display sorrow? What if you are the one broken and hurting? Do you show Christ in that?
Christ hurt.
Christ had a broken heart for His children, for you, for me, for them.
Christ had times of sorrow, extreme anguish (praying and sweating like blood being poured out because it was such an intense and fervent time with God), and joy.
Christ smiled, played with children, showed love, peace, and tears.
So yeah, Christ is showed there. Christ is reflected in my sad heart. Christ knows and good thing cause he is the only one that can comfort and restore and heal. My God is bigger than jobs and families and trips and illness and...well...everything.
Doesn't make it easy. Doesn't make us not wonder and question. Be real. How can you reflect if you are covering something up, if you are hiding part of you, if you are turned away from the light...
Be a mirror.
In every way shape and form.
Cry, laugh, play, draw in dirt, teach, listen, love...above all love.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
A thousand words
A picture is worth a thousand words; therefore, I wish I had the energy/gumption to go take a picture of the brown dirt spot inhabiting the location of the now demolished palm bush. But, since I am comfortably lounging on my ginourmous bed with my cute little dog sleepily keeping me company you will instead have to take my word that it is just that...a brown patch of dirt, very dry dirt.
With that said, now I have the freedom to let my thoughts float away and hopefully through my fingers to be transcribed onto the page in front of me.
I am called to a higher standard of living, a higher standard than the average Joe walking down the streets of this world.
Why?
Because I claim to be a child of Jesus Christ, a Princess living under the watch of her Heavenly King. With that claim and the claim that Jesus has on my heart and life comes a great responsibility. Do I always enjoy this higher calling? Do I always love the fact that I must consider not what I want to do, but instead what I know to be the right or "Christ-like", if you will, thing to do? Am I always serious and never sarcastic?
The obvious answer if you know me at all...NO.
I am very much a headstrong and independent to a fault Princess of my Great King. Take today for instance:
Scenario: Riding in Flash, chatting with my good friend about how I do not feel like having dinner with this guy because as of the last time I hung out with him I made up my mind that we are not on the same page religiously, therefore, unattractive to a point and therefore my time on my day off I would rather chill. She proceeds to remind me that even though I feel this way I cannot just blow him off from now on, but maybe I should explain why in a humble "Christlike" way why it does not appear that it would work between us. To explain why I all of a sudden consider him my "buddy".
But, it's my day off, I am not feeling like it...but she is right. I am called to a higher standard and b/c he is not called to that standard it is not his job to broach the subject, but mine. If for no other reason than to not give him an excuse to turn away from God or to put a girl's (who calls herself Christian)actions in any way in between him and Salvation.
OK. Only because I am convicted she speaks truth in this and gives me good talking points and ideas of how to present it in a light of we both have things probably not looking for in the other, I do it. I am feeling good about it, the conversation has not fully happened yet, to be continued at dinner tonight, but I'm feeling good about this. God, I pray you give me the words. Please lead my heart to be only caring and open to love with your love and to be your messenger. Please lead and guide me to a new level of understanding how you feel and how you want to show this man that you care and that you have created him to one day allow you into his life.
I want to take this opportunity to thank God for giving me the ability to almost...logically, bad word...calmly...collectedly...peacefully...confidently...contentedly, yes contentedly approach the matter of annulling a chance at a boyfriend. A chance at being not completely single. In the past, even if I know deep down it's not right, or he's not the one, then I would keep him there to talk to, to hang out with...to be "friends, but there's the option of more". But now, God has graciously, for it is not by any measure of my doing, given me a content place to be right now. I am happy where I am, the opportunities at serving him, the time I have open to go here or there or meet with them or her, to contribute to this cause or that, to be His servant at this time, in this way...to be okay with being single and living life. For all that, thank you Jesus. I have not been at this level of that feeling that I can recall and I want to recognize and thank God for that. As I said, not my usual, not my past experience, not my normal;) It's nice, I pray it stays, though I know it will not and cannot or I will remain stagnant.
Stagnant is a nasty word.
It reminds me of the water standing in the mud bucket of the piece of bush (not palm bush, but another) that I am trying to save for my friend...though I fear it is not going to make it living in said mud bucket...might already be dead...my thumb is not green, but multi-colored.
How do you have a multi-colored thumb?
Easy, you are good a lots of things, but not necessarily keeping plants alive.
I like to paint and craft and chop and lift and cut and nail and dig and stain and sand and create, not necessarily in that order. That makes you a multi-colored thumb!
Have I typed out a thousand words yet to make up for the lack of pictures this week? ;) Yes, they say...okay
over and out
With that said, now I have the freedom to let my thoughts float away and hopefully through my fingers to be transcribed onto the page in front of me.
I am called to a higher standard of living, a higher standard than the average Joe walking down the streets of this world.
Why?
Because I claim to be a child of Jesus Christ, a Princess living under the watch of her Heavenly King. With that claim and the claim that Jesus has on my heart and life comes a great responsibility. Do I always enjoy this higher calling? Do I always love the fact that I must consider not what I want to do, but instead what I know to be the right or "Christ-like", if you will, thing to do? Am I always serious and never sarcastic?
The obvious answer if you know me at all...NO.
I am very much a headstrong and independent to a fault Princess of my Great King. Take today for instance:
Scenario: Riding in Flash, chatting with my good friend about how I do not feel like having dinner with this guy because as of the last time I hung out with him I made up my mind that we are not on the same page religiously, therefore, unattractive to a point and therefore my time on my day off I would rather chill. She proceeds to remind me that even though I feel this way I cannot just blow him off from now on, but maybe I should explain why in a humble "Christlike" way why it does not appear that it would work between us. To explain why I all of a sudden consider him my "buddy".
But, it's my day off, I am not feeling like it...but she is right. I am called to a higher standard and b/c he is not called to that standard it is not his job to broach the subject, but mine. If for no other reason than to not give him an excuse to turn away from God or to put a girl's (who calls herself Christian)actions in any way in between him and Salvation.
OK. Only because I am convicted she speaks truth in this and gives me good talking points and ideas of how to present it in a light of we both have things probably not looking for in the other, I do it. I am feeling good about it, the conversation has not fully happened yet, to be continued at dinner tonight, but I'm feeling good about this. God, I pray you give me the words. Please lead my heart to be only caring and open to love with your love and to be your messenger. Please lead and guide me to a new level of understanding how you feel and how you want to show this man that you care and that you have created him to one day allow you into his life.
I want to take this opportunity to thank God for giving me the ability to almost...logically, bad word...calmly...collectedly...peacefully...confidently...contentedly, yes contentedly approach the matter of annulling a chance at a boyfriend. A chance at being not completely single. In the past, even if I know deep down it's not right, or he's not the one, then I would keep him there to talk to, to hang out with...to be "friends, but there's the option of more". But now, God has graciously, for it is not by any measure of my doing, given me a content place to be right now. I am happy where I am, the opportunities at serving him, the time I have open to go here or there or meet with them or her, to contribute to this cause or that, to be His servant at this time, in this way...to be okay with being single and living life. For all that, thank you Jesus. I have not been at this level of that feeling that I can recall and I want to recognize and thank God for that. As I said, not my usual, not my past experience, not my normal;) It's nice, I pray it stays, though I know it will not and cannot or I will remain stagnant.
Stagnant is a nasty word.
It reminds me of the water standing in the mud bucket of the piece of bush (not palm bush, but another) that I am trying to save for my friend...though I fear it is not going to make it living in said mud bucket...might already be dead...my thumb is not green, but multi-colored.
How do you have a multi-colored thumb?
Easy, you are good a lots of things, but not necessarily keeping plants alive.
I like to paint and craft and chop and lift and cut and nail and dig and stain and sand and create, not necessarily in that order. That makes you a multi-colored thumb!
Have I typed out a thousand words yet to make up for the lack of pictures this week? ;) Yes, they say...okay
over and out
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