So the countdown begins. I think I should spend a little time clarifying some things about what I'll be up to this summer as I've had a few people ask me about it. There are several key things I want to touch on as to what I'll be doing and why:
1.) If you read the previous posts, you'll read that this summer I'm going to change things up a bit and do something that most people would think is crazy - and maybe unnecessary. But my philosophy is that sometimes in life, you gotta go off the deep end every now and then if you want to see anything change. So, I decided awhile back that I was going to put my TV away, giving my password to Facebook to my friend so she could change, and basically cut a lot of distractions out of my life. Why? Because somewhere along the way I realized that my personal relationship with the Lord has suffered a great deal - he's taken a backseat to the other things that so often vie for my attention. I ultimately decided on the following parameters:
a. No Facebook
b. No T.V.
c. attempt not to have my phone attached to my hip all the time.
d. not listen to music while at work or in the car, but still allowing for worship music and audio sermons
2.) Here's what this summer is NOT about: legalism and a list of do's and don'ts. This isn't about staying away from certain bad things and striving to do certain good things. I really appreciated what my friend, Alex, said to me last night while chatting on the phone. She referenced Romans 12:2, which says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." You see, this isn't just getting rid of distractions for the sake of getting rid of distractions. It's about putting my focus where it needs to be - and that is on the Lord. So, it's about not conforming - but I'll fail miserably if I miss the second part, which is about being transformed by the renewing of my mind. That's what I want to see change this summer. My mind and my heart need to be renewed. And TV and Facebook and phones and music and all the other noise that we surround ourselves with often stands in the way of that happening.
3.) I have to be careful of my expectations, careful of what I expect God to do this summer. Am I expecting Him to move in specific ways and at specific times or am I holding loosely to whatever He may have for me? Alex brought up another good point - what if this is a summer where God is silent, too? What then will I do? Will I get upset when I don't seem to hear answers from the heavens above or will I get resentful when I don't seem to see him working in my life? No. I've been through too many seasons with God when it seemed he wasn't working at all, when in fact he was doing tremendous works in my life! I just couldn't see that at the time. Beth Moore said once, "Our faith cannot be based on WHAT God does - rather it must be based on WHO He is." We lose sight of so many things when we focus on what God is or is not doing, rather than staying focused on His character, which is unchanging.
4.) Please don't think you can't get in touch with me just because I'm not on Facebook! Call me or e-mail me if you want to chat as I will still have access to those things. Leave comments here as I would love to read people's thoughts on how things progress this summer. You can even tell me I'm crazy if you want!
5.) This summer will definitely be a time to set aside time and pray about several key things, one of which includes plans to go to Africa next summer. Couple other things I'll be focusing on is a possible plan that my sorority big sister asked me about, as well as a possible leadership role I was approached about. They are each things that could play significant roles in my life and proper attention needs to be given to them.
Those are most of the key things I wanted to point out. Like I said, I know some people will think I'm crazy and that's okay - I've done crazier things. I've just learned a thing or two along the way when it comes to your faith and your walk with the Lord - sometimes you've got to be willing to do whatever it takes.
4.27.2009
4.16.2009
Stuff Christians Like
I thought this was a pretty awesome post and wanted to pass along. It's from http://stuffchristianslike.blogspot.com:
I don't want to brag, but I'm pretty awesome at applying band-aids. And make no mistake, there is an art. Because if you go too quickly and unpeel them the wrong way, they stick to themselves and you end up with a wadded up useless mess instead of the Little Mermaid festooned bandage your daughter so desperately wants to apply to a boo boo that may in fact be 100% fictional.
Half of the injuries I treat at the Acuff house are invisible or simply wounds of sympathy. My oldest daughter will scrape her knee and my 3-year old, realizing the band aid box is open will say, "Yo dad, I'd like to get in on that too. What do you say we put one on, I don't know, my ankle. Yeah, my ankle, let's pretend that's hurt."
But sometimes the cuts are real, like the day my 5-year old got a scrape on her face playing in the front yard. I rushed in the house and returned with a princess bandage. As I bent down to apply it to her forehead, her eyes filled up with tears and she shrunk back from me.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I don't want to wear that band-aid." She replied.
"Why? You have a cut, you need a band-aid." I said.
"I'll look silly." She answered.
Other than her sister and her mom, there was no one else in the yard. None of her friends were over, cars were not streaming passed our house and watching us play, the world was pretty empty at that moment. But for the first time I can remember, she felt shame. She had discovered shame. Somewhere, some how, this little 5 year old had learned to be afraid of looking silly. If I was smarter, if I had been better prepared for the transition from little toddler to little girl, I might have asked her this:
"Who told you that you were silly?"
I didn't though. That question didn't bloom in my head until much later and I didn't understand it until I saw God ask a similar question in Genesis 3:11. To me, this is one of the saddest and most profoundly beautiful verses in the entire Bible. Adam and Eve have fallen. The apple is a core. The snake has spoken. The dream appears crushed. As they hide from God under clothes they've hastily sewn together, He appears and asks them a simple question:
"Who told you that you were naked?"
There is hurt in God's voice as He asks this question, but there is also a deep sadness, the sense of a father holding a daughter that has for the first time ever, wrapped herself in shame.
Who told you that you were not enough?
Who told you that I didn't love you?
Who told you that there was something outside of me you needed?
Who told you that you were ugly?
Who told you that your dream was foolish?
Who told you that you would never have a child?
Who told you that you would never be a father?
Who told you that you weren't a good mother?
Who told you that without a job you aren't worth anything?
Who told you that you'll never know love again?
Who told you that this was all there is?
Who told you that you were naked?
I don't know when you discovered shame. I don’t know when you discovered that there were people that might think you are silly or dumb or not a good writer or a husband or a friend. I don't know what lies you've been told by other people or maybe even by yourself.
But in response to what you are hearing from everyone else, God is still asking the question,
"Who told you that you were naked?"
And He's still asking us that question because we are not.
In Christ we are not worthless.
In Christ we are not hopeless.
In Christ we are not dumb or ugly or forgotten.
In Christ we are not naked.
Isaiah 61:10 it says:For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe
of righteousness.
The world may try to tell you a thousand different things today. You might close this post and hear a million declarations of what you are or who you'll always be, but know this.
As unbelievable as it sounds and as much as I never expected to type this sentence on this blog:
You are not naked.
I don't want to brag, but I'm pretty awesome at applying band-aids. And make no mistake, there is an art. Because if you go too quickly and unpeel them the wrong way, they stick to themselves and you end up with a wadded up useless mess instead of the Little Mermaid festooned bandage your daughter so desperately wants to apply to a boo boo that may in fact be 100% fictional.
Half of the injuries I treat at the Acuff house are invisible or simply wounds of sympathy. My oldest daughter will scrape her knee and my 3-year old, realizing the band aid box is open will say, "Yo dad, I'd like to get in on that too. What do you say we put one on, I don't know, my ankle. Yeah, my ankle, let's pretend that's hurt."
But sometimes the cuts are real, like the day my 5-year old got a scrape on her face playing in the front yard. I rushed in the house and returned with a princess bandage. As I bent down to apply it to her forehead, her eyes filled up with tears and she shrunk back from me.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I don't want to wear that band-aid." She replied.
"Why? You have a cut, you need a band-aid." I said.
"I'll look silly." She answered.
Other than her sister and her mom, there was no one else in the yard. None of her friends were over, cars were not streaming passed our house and watching us play, the world was pretty empty at that moment. But for the first time I can remember, she felt shame. She had discovered shame. Somewhere, some how, this little 5 year old had learned to be afraid of looking silly. If I was smarter, if I had been better prepared for the transition from little toddler to little girl, I might have asked her this:
"Who told you that you were silly?"
I didn't though. That question didn't bloom in my head until much later and I didn't understand it until I saw God ask a similar question in Genesis 3:11. To me, this is one of the saddest and most profoundly beautiful verses in the entire Bible. Adam and Eve have fallen. The apple is a core. The snake has spoken. The dream appears crushed. As they hide from God under clothes they've hastily sewn together, He appears and asks them a simple question:
"Who told you that you were naked?"
There is hurt in God's voice as He asks this question, but there is also a deep sadness, the sense of a father holding a daughter that has for the first time ever, wrapped herself in shame.
Who told you that you were not enough?
Who told you that I didn't love you?
Who told you that there was something outside of me you needed?
Who told you that you were ugly?
Who told you that your dream was foolish?
Who told you that you would never have a child?
Who told you that you would never be a father?
Who told you that you weren't a good mother?
Who told you that without a job you aren't worth anything?
Who told you that you'll never know love again?
Who told you that this was all there is?
Who told you that you were naked?
I don't know when you discovered shame. I don’t know when you discovered that there were people that might think you are silly or dumb or not a good writer or a husband or a friend. I don't know what lies you've been told by other people or maybe even by yourself.
But in response to what you are hearing from everyone else, God is still asking the question,
"Who told you that you were naked?"
And He's still asking us that question because we are not.
In Christ we are not worthless.
In Christ we are not hopeless.
In Christ we are not dumb or ugly or forgotten.
In Christ we are not naked.
Isaiah 61:10 it says:For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe
of righteousness.
The world may try to tell you a thousand different things today. You might close this post and hear a million declarations of what you are or who you'll always be, but know this.
As unbelievable as it sounds and as much as I never expected to type this sentence on this blog:
You are not naked.
4.05.2009
Holding on to the End of the Rope
Ahhh. What a mess we find ourselves in sometimes as followers of Christ. Some days I wake up and I think, "I want whatever it is you want for me, Lord," but then other days I think, "Following God is just too hard and I'm tired of trying to make it all work." I've been back in Ohio for the weekend for a few days to see my family and to catch up with friends, and I always make a point to head to Lifepoint, the church I attended while I was still living here. That church has been such a blessing in my life and I greatly appreciate the pastor's teaching.
This morning he happened to be talking about the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and then the subsequent instance in which Jesus overturns the tables in the temple. Pastor Brad made a point to ask whether we fit Jesus into our lives or whether we fit our lives into Jesus. I think the point that struck me the most was when he asked, "Have we reached a point where we say enough, You can go no further?" Meaning, have we reached a point in our spiritual lives where we have just enough of Jesus to get the benefits of him, but still not have it cost us much or have us make much of a sacrifice for him? I think the answer to that question for me is "yes." I think I told God awhile ago "enough already." And I hate that that is my response, especially knowing the history that I have with God. We have walked down some very dark roads together and climbed some pretty high mountains - and despite whatever pain or sadness or joy may have come along with those seasons, I always came out on the other side of them more and more like Him. So why is it now that I'm so leary of that? Why is it now that I'm terrified to ask God any kind of question for fear of what his answer will be? Why me - the girl who was so sure and so confident of her God and his plans for her? And now - I feel as though I'm a fraud in terms of my faith, wondering where it is that I took a wrong step.
But still managing somehow to hang on to the end of that rope. I will say that much - after walking through so many seasons, tenacity is one thing I learned along the way, to always hold on, even when you don't feel like it. Because God is always worth hanging on to, even when my emotions or thoughts may say otherwise. Even when I feel apathetic or indifferent toward my faith, I know deep down that God will always be a God worth following. I don't want to keep saying to God, "Enough - I can't take it anymore." I don't want to live like that, living as though I'm living on the outer fringes of my faith. I've tasted and I've seen and I know there is more and I know there is better for me.
And so for now, I keep pressing on, even when I may not understand. Even when I'm just like what Paul says in Romans 7:
15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
This morning he happened to be talking about the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and then the subsequent instance in which Jesus overturns the tables in the temple. Pastor Brad made a point to ask whether we fit Jesus into our lives or whether we fit our lives into Jesus. I think the point that struck me the most was when he asked, "Have we reached a point where we say enough, You can go no further?" Meaning, have we reached a point in our spiritual lives where we have just enough of Jesus to get the benefits of him, but still not have it cost us much or have us make much of a sacrifice for him? I think the answer to that question for me is "yes." I think I told God awhile ago "enough already." And I hate that that is my response, especially knowing the history that I have with God. We have walked down some very dark roads together and climbed some pretty high mountains - and despite whatever pain or sadness or joy may have come along with those seasons, I always came out on the other side of them more and more like Him. So why is it now that I'm so leary of that? Why is it now that I'm terrified to ask God any kind of question for fear of what his answer will be? Why me - the girl who was so sure and so confident of her God and his plans for her? And now - I feel as though I'm a fraud in terms of my faith, wondering where it is that I took a wrong step.
But still managing somehow to hang on to the end of that rope. I will say that much - after walking through so many seasons, tenacity is one thing I learned along the way, to always hold on, even when you don't feel like it. Because God is always worth hanging on to, even when my emotions or thoughts may say otherwise. Even when I feel apathetic or indifferent toward my faith, I know deep down that God will always be a God worth following. I don't want to keep saying to God, "Enough - I can't take it anymore." I don't want to live like that, living as though I'm living on the outer fringes of my faith. I've tasted and I've seen and I know there is more and I know there is better for me.
And so for now, I keep pressing on, even when I may not understand. Even when I'm just like what Paul says in Romans 7:
15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
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