Monday, September 28, 2009
More to life than love...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Ruth, I
Friday, September 11, 2009
The I Am
The following is a small excerpt from the book I have told many of you about that I am working on. I haven't gotten to work on it much this semester, but it is one of my goals over the next few weeks... The title of the book is Dateless on a Friday Night and my heart is that it will be a different perspective on Christian relationships- well, maybe not so much of the relationships aspect, but kind of what I have learned through being single and how God has blessed me for waiting for His timing in this area of my life.
Have you ever heard that one of the names of God is the “I Am”? I learned this in elementary school, and always thought it was kind of weird because it didn’t seem like a complete thought. God is… what? At one point in my life I heard someone say that it meant God was whatever we needed Him to be: our Protector, our Provider, and so on.
One night during my sophomore year of college, I was lying in bed trying to go to sleep. It wasn’t working, so I started reciting the passage of the Bible I was trying to memorize at the time – Psalm 139. The words began to hit home with me, and I realized how well God knows me. The first four verses especially stuck out:
“Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.”
One of my personal desires has always been to be intimately known. I want someone to ask me about my childhood years and for stories from high school. I want someone to discover the things that make me tick and the things that make me smile… maybe even if I have different smiles for different things!
If you have seen the movie Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, you will know what I am talking about. When Pete is describing Rosie (his best friend he is in love with) to Tad (the man Rosie is dating), he tells him, “Like do you know she has six smiles? One when something really makes her laugh. One when she's making plans. One when she is laughing out of politeness. One when she is uncomfortable. One when she is making fun of herself. And one when... she's talking about her friends.” Talk about knowing someone completely! I want someone that knows me so deeply that he knows things about me that I don’t even realize about myself.
I have always waited and hoped that this desire would be met by a boy one day. What I didn’t realize is that God knows me like that. He knows every detail of my life. I don’t even have to say something before He knows what I will ask. He wants to be the one to fulfill that desire in me.
This sparked an idea: what if I made up a list of the traits that I was wanting to find in a man, then truly make that my “Perfect Man” list by finding Scripture that backed up these desires. Here is part of that list:
· A desire to know someone intimately: Psalm 139, John 10:14, Matthew 6:8, 32
· A desire to be called beautiful and special: Psalm 45:11, Isaiah 61:3
· A desire for someone to always be there: Isaiah 49:15, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20
· A desire for someone to listen when I need to talk: Psalm 94:9, Isaiah 65:24
· A desire for someone to protect me, take care of me: Zephaniah 3:17, Psalm 91:14, Psalm 32:7, Nahum 1:7
· A desire to be loved – eternally, fully, unconditionally: Jeremiah 31:3, Psalm 32:10, Isaiah 54:10, Psalm 136:1, Psalm 147:11, Lamentations 3:22, Hosea 2:14, John 15:13
Someday, maybe I will have a man that fulfills these to some extent (I am not expecting someone to be perfect and completely fulfill every detail), but I always will have Christ. He wants to fill that role in my life. And that’s where I want Him to be. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” He has already given me the desires of my heart because He is the desire of my heart.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
All You Need is Love
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
From My Heart
your beloved needs you now
God be near, calm my fear
and take my doubt
your kindness is what pulls me up,
your love is all that draws me in
I will lift my eyes
to the maker, of the mountains
I can't climb
I will lift my eyes
to calmer, of the oceans
raging wild
I will lift my eyes
to the healer, of the hurt
I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to you
God my God let mercy sing
her melody over me
God right here all I bring is all of me
Your kindness is what pulls me up,
your love is all that draws me in
I will lift my eyes
to the maker, of the mountains
I can't climb
I will lift my eyes
to calmer, of the oceans
raging wild
I will lift my eyes
to the healer, of the hurt
I hold inside
cause you are
and you were
and you will be forever
The lover I need to save me
Cause you fashioned the earth
and Hold it together
God so hold me now
I will lift my eyes
to the maker, of the mountains
I can't climb
I will lift my eyes
to calmer, of the oceans
raging wild
I will lift my eyes
to the healer, of the hurt
I hold inside
God My God, I cry out
your beloved needs you now
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Ostriches v. Storks
Job 39:13-17
“The ostrich flaps her wings grandly,
but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.
She lays her eggs on top of the earth,
letting them be warmed in the dust.
She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them
or a wild animal might destroy them.
She is harsh toward her young,
as if they were not her own.
She doesn’t care if they die.
For God has deprived her of wisdom.
He has given her no understanding."
According to Mr. Ken (my pastor), this passage should change your life. A little confused? I was too - until he explained.
If you research ostriches and storks, you see a considerable difference in their care for their eggs. An ostrich does not worry about her eggs or take care of them; she burys her head in the sand and that's that. Storks, on the other hand, are the ultimate caring birds. They protect their young and it is said that they would rather be consumed in a fire with their eggs than leave them there without protection. The Hebrew word for stork was "hessid" - the same word used to describe loyal love. Another example of "hessid" is found in Psalm 136, which repeatedly states in every verse "His love endures forever." That love - hessid - is the love God has for us. He does not put us on this earth then stick His head in the sand and let us fend for ourselves. He is like a stork, caring for us no matter what is going on.
Isaiah 43: 2-4
"I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;
I gave Ethiopia[a] and Seba in your place.
Others were given in exchange for you.
I traded their lives for yours
because you are precious to me.
You are honored, and I love you."
You hear that? God loves you. That should change the way you view yourself, the perspective you choose to live by.
Now you can say that a stork changed your life.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Proverbs 31:13-15
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
13 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
TRANSLATION FOR HIGH SCHOOL (summary)
She has a good work ethic, and does not do “just enough to get by”; rather, she is prepared for the day.
Okay, so this portion of Proverbs 31 seems a little harder to transpose into high school/teenage girl situations because it is talking a lot about running a household and caring for a family, but the main idea I see in these three verses is her work ethic.
The Proverbs 31 woman is “eager” to work. This may sound a little silly or daunting, considering we are rarely eager to do chores or our homework. But it’s something to definitely check yourself on. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…” 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says, “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” With these two verses in mind, it puts our attitude towards work into perspective. Whether you have an after-school job, training for an athletic team, or simply homework and chores, you are accountable to God for those things. You have three options with your work: (a) don’t do it, (b) do enough so that it is finished, and (c) do your best even though it might take more time and/or effort. The first option is one you probably should never follow… I’m just saying. Option b is the option we (including myself) most often take. We want to get the task done as quickly and as easily as possible. The only problem with that is we set a habit for the rest of our lives. As Steven Sexton often says, “think it all the way through.” You are in high school and in class you do just enough to pass the class so you can get to college or at your job you just simply do your job without any energy behind it or on your team you do the running or the work outs just enough to meet the right time. Then you get to college and, in college, your parents aren’t there to remind you that you need to study for that test, so you wait till the night before and barely pass your class. By the time you are in “the real world,” you are not used to having to pay bills, and by slacking off at work you are constantly reprimanded by your boss. Your family has attention from you, but you are somewhat distant and not the parent that you always wanted to be because it takes “too much effort” on your part. I am not saying that you can’t build the correct habits when you are an adult, but it is so much easier if you build them now in the little things.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the talents. Now, I know that talents refer to money, but I think it somewhat ironic that talents in our culture means things that you are gifted with or able to do. Anyway, Jesus told the men who invested their money that, because they had been faithful with a little, would be ruler over much. If you are faithful with the tasks and the commitments in your life right now, as little as scanning groceries or doing math problems may seem, you will be continually given more to be in charge of – a higher paying job, college classes, one day a family – and you will succeed at them. I didn’t get to be a senior counselor by waking up one day and deciding it was something I wanted to do. I became a senior counselor because not only was I a JC (and hence did the “dirty work” of camp), but I also consistently took the “narrow path” in high school, despite what my friends were doing. I valued my walk with God above the “fun” of this world and the friends who seemed to have everything you would want and the guys who everyone wanted to date. I was grown through the process, and now God has given me influence and blessings beyond what I imagined – and I am learning to be faithful with them, as well.
Don’t view chores and monotonous duties as worthless; learn to see things in the grand scheme of life and realize that they are preparing you for what is to come. Everything at this stage in life is preparation for the next; how faithful are you with the arena you are in right now?
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Proverbs 31:10-12
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
TRANSLATION FOR HIGH SCHOOL:
10 A teenage girl seeking to be a woman of character is hard to find, but her worth is beyond the silly Coach purses that people buy. 1
11 Her friends and her family can trust her and rely on her throughout drama and hard times.
12 She is “for” them and supports them, even when others do not.
Okay, so as a girl in high school, you are not at a point in your life where you are wanting to get married right now – but this time is crucial as you are growing and in the beginning stages of figuring out who you are. Therefore, it is important to be living in a way that will set a firm foundation for the rest of your life. I think that you will be setting patterns for how you treat others right now that will continue as you get older. I know that, as I graduated high school and spent the summer at camp, I realized how I had been wrong in the way I treated others and the perspective that I had, so I had to correct it then. I don’t regret things in my life because I would rather learn from them than live in wishing things had been different, but I do think that if I went back and redid high school and some of my friendships I would be a completely different person, and I do wish people could see the changes in me.
That being said, I want to try to go through Proverbs 31 and help you apply it to your life as you are now. This is talking about being a wife of noble character, but I think a wife of noble character is going to be a woman of noble character, and the way she treats her husband and her family is how you can learn to treat your friends, your family, and any relationship in general that you have (romantic or not).
It is really rare to find teens who are wholeheartedly pursuing God. It’s easier to see in college because the Christians in college made a choice once they got out of their parents’ house that they wanted to go to church and continue to grow in their faith. In high school, it’s not that people don’t want to follow God, but I think a lot of times people just take their faith and their church for granted. It’s just a part of the routine. But once you step outside of that and really make your faith your own, not just what your parents and your pastor feed you, there is so much joy that comes from having an “all-consuming passion inside of [you].” 2
With your friends, you need to be someone that is not constantly taking. I realize how much this is engrained in my mind when I think about what my friends do for me, how they make me feel, if they buy me a birthday gift, if they ask me to hang out, etc. But we are not called to live self-centered lives. We are called to live a life that supports the needs of others and their good. 3 So, as you look at your friends, you do need friends that support you and build you up, but you need to be doing the same for them. Do you encourage them when they are going through something hard? Do you initiate hang out time? Do you love them even on their bad days? Same with your family. Can you support them and love them despite your differences? If you live with anyone long enough, you are going to have disagreements. I have seen it with my friends in college who live with the same roommate two years in a row – things start to bother them. If you can’t get along with your sister or your parents because you are sharing a space, how are you going to have roommates in college or a husband? No one is perfect, you have to make allowances for others’ faults, and this gets easier to do when you realize that you yourself are not perfect.
Also, are you consistent with your relationships, or are you the type of person that is friends with someone one week and the next week is talking behind her back or doing something she can’t stand? Can people have full confidence in you, trusting that you are loyal and you stick to what you say?
I challenge you to, as we are going through Proverbs 31, to look at your relationships in your life. Examine them, examine your mindset and why you are friends with certain people or maybe what causes fights with your siblings or parents. It’s really hard to change from the self-centered mentality since our culture is all about what you can get from life, but once you start giving and thinking of others, you get addicted to it!
1 Pardon my silliness. Maybe it’s not Coach purses that high school girls are obsessed with, but it is one of the things I remember from high school that people always wanted. Why would you spend that much money on something? I think they went too far when they started making footwear… rain boots, in particular.
2 From my drama song “The Motions” by Matthew West… if you didn’t hear it, it’s a great song
3 Romans 12:10, Ephesians 4:2, Philippians 2:3-8 stick out in my mind