Ya know how certain foods are packaged in boxes and their boxes say things like, "Real cheese!" or "Real Chocolate!"? I always think to myself, gosh, well I would hope they use real this or that. I don't want any artificial, gross, fake stuff! And then at the other end of the spectrum... where you see foods with things on their boxes like, "Authentic soup," or "Fine Chocolate!" Well then I think things like, well what makes it so much more special than normal soup or chocolate, or whatever it may be? And honestly, usually when you take the chance and see if it actually is any different... it's not.
Kinda like us, huh? We try to make ourselves better than one another; or maybe we think there is no way we could be as "cool" or as "pretty" as another person. When the reality is... we're all the same. We are all human beings, God's children who have the same insecurities, (different, but we all have them) the same struggles, the same dynamics, but we try so hard to be better, finer, more authentic than someone else. And with this constant competition against one another, there leaves no room, no time, to love and to truly see the beauty of us as human beings, even in our insecurities, our flaws, our bad days. We need to use our hearts, to love and to be love to one another. "Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye." -Unknown I found that quote, and it's so true... it's probably unknown because it's just blatant, obvious, truth! Kidding, someone probably said it... but like I said it's so blatantly true, that anyone could have figured it out. We need to use our hearts a little more than our heads sometimes.
Something God's been teaching me ever so much lately is to be real. To stop the show, and to start the reality. Just like our reaction to the "real cheese," it makes you think about why God would want to see us be anything but real.
Too often, I find myself being someone I'm not... or at least striving to. I am who I am, and I want to learn to be ok and happy with that. Let's be real... let's be ourselves... let's use the gifts that God has given us to share, not what He gave someone else. Don't try to be more of this or more of that. Be who you are.
I'll end with this quote... it's always been my favorite. I have no clue who wrote it, I just stole it somewhere a long long time ago when I made my Facebook profile and needed a quote. Well, it happened to change my heart a lot more than I would have expected, it's simple, and it's this.
"Be yourself, because everyone else is taken."
xo, Carly
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Opportunity for Light
I love when I write out an entire blogpost and then just delete it because I realize that it's nothing close to communicating what I wanted to say. It just happened. Yepp. I got aggrivated and just deleted it all. I start talking about something, get on a rant about it and then realized I could care less about what I just said.
With all of the crap happening in the world lately, I really got to thinking about how easy it is to hate the world. When I was younger, I could never grasp that concept, that in 1 John 2:15, God tells us, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them." Don't love the world? How am I supposed to hate the place I live and have so many great loving friends? Slowly but surely, I'm learning how simple it truly is to not love this world, and to love my Father in Heaven instead. With so much evil, it's hard to love this place we call home.
Kicking it in Starbucks today, I watched some lady park her car... parallel park it. She messed up one, two, three, maybe four times, and then pretty much just called it quits and left her car all crooked on the street, as she jumped out of her car with prideful pain. Not like she was proud of what she did, but more of like a "please, I dare someone to say something to me, because I'll kick their butts" proud. Ya know that one?
At the same time, there was an very old, sweet, retired Navy man sitting across from me by himself. A younger man waved to the lady behind him, and not knowing the younger man wasn't waving to him, the old man waved back and looked excited with anticipation in his eyes... only until the younger man walked right past the old man and to the lady. The awkward pain in his eyes was very obvious as you saw him feel lightly rejected, and could only make your heart ache.
In the same room, in view of the chair I was sitting in, there was a date meet up going on at the bar. You could very much tell it was an online setup, by hearing things from them like, "you don't seem like you did on the phone...," or "so, how long have you been on the site?" It seemed painful, for both of them... forceful and just awkward. The lady kept throwing herself out to the man, asking question after question, and all she got were short answers and then long blank stares out the window, showing the boredom of the man. Just another hurtful thing to watch.
I'm not done yet... a girl showed up with two or three guys. She was blatantly not confident in herself, the language and conversation she spoke to these boys was like a knife to my the heart. She talked about how annoying her mother was and how her father was sending her mean text messages, and lots of other vulgar things. She basically just ranted and ranted full of pain inside.
Ok Carly, any good, encouraging stories today? Well, I've said this before... but the truth hurts, and it's not all butterflies and rainbows in the world. There's pain, hurt, evil, and it's everywhere. Sometimes we just refuse to open our eyes wide enough in order to see it in others. But it's everywhere, and we can't ignore it. That's how I undertand not being able to love the world, it's clear and visible everywhere around us, and it's not of God. It's of the world, and it's sinful nature. And it gives us that push to be just a little bit more excited to accomplish the mission Jesus gave us.
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19 That's our mission... and (sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but we need a reality check) I'll throw out this one... are we doing that? To our full ability? I'm absolutely not, I don't know about you. I can tell you the days that I'm laying on the couch being lazy, watching Netflix all day... there are so many more glorifying actions I could be taking in order to "go and make disciples of all nations." I want to leave you with that thought today.
What can we be doing to fufill our mission instead of just sitting around and being a spectator to all of the evil, hurt, and just down right pain in the world? "I can do all things through Him (Jesus Christ), who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13 He will give you strength to get yourself off the couch and go make disciples of all nations. Translation. Only He can help us go tell people about Him. Spend time with Him + spending time with His people = He pours out of you and into them.
Easy as that... let's go tell people about Jesus. Let's make the light of Jesus brighter than the darkness.
xo, Carly
With all of the crap happening in the world lately, I really got to thinking about how easy it is to hate the world. When I was younger, I could never grasp that concept, that in 1 John 2:15, God tells us, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them." Don't love the world? How am I supposed to hate the place I live and have so many great loving friends? Slowly but surely, I'm learning how simple it truly is to not love this world, and to love my Father in Heaven instead. With so much evil, it's hard to love this place we call home.
Kicking it in Starbucks today, I watched some lady park her car... parallel park it. She messed up one, two, three, maybe four times, and then pretty much just called it quits and left her car all crooked on the street, as she jumped out of her car with prideful pain. Not like she was proud of what she did, but more of like a "please, I dare someone to say something to me, because I'll kick their butts" proud. Ya know that one?
At the same time, there was an very old, sweet, retired Navy man sitting across from me by himself. A younger man waved to the lady behind him, and not knowing the younger man wasn't waving to him, the old man waved back and looked excited with anticipation in his eyes... only until the younger man walked right past the old man and to the lady. The awkward pain in his eyes was very obvious as you saw him feel lightly rejected, and could only make your heart ache.
In the same room, in view of the chair I was sitting in, there was a date meet up going on at the bar. You could very much tell it was an online setup, by hearing things from them like, "you don't seem like you did on the phone...," or "so, how long have you been on the site?" It seemed painful, for both of them... forceful and just awkward. The lady kept throwing herself out to the man, asking question after question, and all she got were short answers and then long blank stares out the window, showing the boredom of the man. Just another hurtful thing to watch.
I'm not done yet... a girl showed up with two or three guys. She was blatantly not confident in herself, the language and conversation she spoke to these boys was like a knife to my the heart. She talked about how annoying her mother was and how her father was sending her mean text messages, and lots of other vulgar things. She basically just ranted and ranted full of pain inside.
Ok Carly, any good, encouraging stories today? Well, I've said this before... but the truth hurts, and it's not all butterflies and rainbows in the world. There's pain, hurt, evil, and it's everywhere. Sometimes we just refuse to open our eyes wide enough in order to see it in others. But it's everywhere, and we can't ignore it. That's how I undertand not being able to love the world, it's clear and visible everywhere around us, and it's not of God. It's of the world, and it's sinful nature. And it gives us that push to be just a little bit more excited to accomplish the mission Jesus gave us.
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19 That's our mission... and (sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but we need a reality check) I'll throw out this one... are we doing that? To our full ability? I'm absolutely not, I don't know about you. I can tell you the days that I'm laying on the couch being lazy, watching Netflix all day... there are so many more glorifying actions I could be taking in order to "go and make disciples of all nations." I want to leave you with that thought today.
What can we be doing to fufill our mission instead of just sitting around and being a spectator to all of the evil, hurt, and just down right pain in the world? "I can do all things through Him (Jesus Christ), who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13 He will give you strength to get yourself off the couch and go make disciples of all nations. Translation. Only He can help us go tell people about Him. Spend time with Him + spending time with His people = He pours out of you and into them.
Easy as that... let's go tell people about Jesus. Let's make the light of Jesus brighter than the darkness.
xo, Carly
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Slapping Me to See Peace
So, I'm doing some digging into the Advent season. I've never really understood Advent, or its purpose, and I decided I wouldn't go another year without some knowledge about it. But it's gone far past knowledge of the topic. It's teaching me so much and blessing my heart. I'm doing a daily study on the iPhone bible app "You Version" and also an awesome John Piper daily Christmas countdown app that a friend suggested to me.
What I'm learning- Advent is time to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Jesus Christ, our Savior. Each day, I've been able to be challenged spiritually and mentally. I've been able to see how Good and Faithful our God is to us, and how excited we should be for the celebration of His birth. Honestly, for the first Christmas ever, I'm actually excited... not for the gifts, food, and party's... but for the celebration each day to learn of the Day of birth of our sweet, sweet Savior.
Today's devotion really slapped me in the face, and I have to share. It started off by sharing a journal entry from a French battlefield during World War I on Christmas Eve. It went on in a retelling of how the Germans were singing Christmas songs like, "Silent Night" and "The First Noel," when all of the sudden the British troops began to retaliate, but not with violence, but with singing along with the enemy! The cool thing that followed this, was the fact that these two opposing nations were singing the same Christmas Carol in the middle of a fierce war and that they were greeting each other in no mans land wishing each other a Merry Christmas. When I first read that, it was kind of just a feel good story... and then the slapper question followed. "Who do you need to make peace with this season?" Two opposing nations at WAR managed to make peace with each other? Why can't we? Why can't I?
Sure, we hear and know we should create peace with all people... the "silly" answer you always hear about wanting world peace... but do we actually do it? Is it so hard? I think it is, if we expect the whole world to just become peaceful like that... I also think that's crazy. But I think it would be much more practical and realistic, if we all just stepped up and took the initiative to create peace... personally. Do I personally try and create peace between those I don't have peace with? I don't... not for all people at least. I then, read some scripture going along with this, and it was just the double slap on top of the original slap. Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought US peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." "
I think about the stupid, stupid things that create the mess I have against some people... how simple and dumb they are. And then I think about what my Savior did to create peace for me. Being tortured, nailed to a cross, and crucified, for me. He created that peace, and I pretty much just walk all over it. Is that a slap in the face or what? So I'm going to do something, so that I can walk away from the mess I hold with people and have the opportunity to grow closer to my Savior through it. I've decided during this Advent season to write letters, notes, whatever fits to the people that I owe peace to. Sounds maybe corny... but this verse has been running through my mind and it's so true, and is convicting me to do this. "Live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you." 2 Corinthians 13:11.
Maybe this is something you want to think about doing this season too. Not because I'm suggesting it, but because it could give you an opportunity to be closer to your God. Let's live in peace.
I challenge you to really dig into Advent this year too... do it now, act and receive so many blessings. He has so much to share with us.
xo, Carly
What I'm learning- Advent is time to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Jesus Christ, our Savior. Each day, I've been able to be challenged spiritually and mentally. I've been able to see how Good and Faithful our God is to us, and how excited we should be for the celebration of His birth. Honestly, for the first Christmas ever, I'm actually excited... not for the gifts, food, and party's... but for the celebration each day to learn of the Day of birth of our sweet, sweet Savior.
Today's devotion really slapped me in the face, and I have to share. It started off by sharing a journal entry from a French battlefield during World War I on Christmas Eve. It went on in a retelling of how the Germans were singing Christmas songs like, "Silent Night" and "The First Noel," when all of the sudden the British troops began to retaliate, but not with violence, but with singing along with the enemy! The cool thing that followed this, was the fact that these two opposing nations were singing the same Christmas Carol in the middle of a fierce war and that they were greeting each other in no mans land wishing each other a Merry Christmas. When I first read that, it was kind of just a feel good story... and then the slapper question followed. "Who do you need to make peace with this season?" Two opposing nations at WAR managed to make peace with each other? Why can't we? Why can't I?
Sure, we hear and know we should create peace with all people... the "silly" answer you always hear about wanting world peace... but do we actually do it? Is it so hard? I think it is, if we expect the whole world to just become peaceful like that... I also think that's crazy. But I think it would be much more practical and realistic, if we all just stepped up and took the initiative to create peace... personally. Do I personally try and create peace between those I don't have peace with? I don't... not for all people at least. I then, read some scripture going along with this, and it was just the double slap on top of the original slap. Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought US peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." "
I think about the stupid, stupid things that create the mess I have against some people... how simple and dumb they are. And then I think about what my Savior did to create peace for me. Being tortured, nailed to a cross, and crucified, for me. He created that peace, and I pretty much just walk all over it. Is that a slap in the face or what? So I'm going to do something, so that I can walk away from the mess I hold with people and have the opportunity to grow closer to my Savior through it. I've decided during this Advent season to write letters, notes, whatever fits to the people that I owe peace to. Sounds maybe corny... but this verse has been running through my mind and it's so true, and is convicting me to do this. "Live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you." 2 Corinthians 13:11.
Maybe this is something you want to think about doing this season too. Not because I'm suggesting it, but because it could give you an opportunity to be closer to your God. Let's live in peace.
I challenge you to really dig into Advent this year too... do it now, act and receive so many blessings. He has so much to share with us.
xo, Carly
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Overrated Words and Thoughts
"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do." -Henry Ford
We cannot come close to counting the number of times we say "I am going to do something" and then never do it. There's the small things... like saying I'll go to the gym, I'll do my laundry, I'll call my friend, and there's the a little bit bigger things... like saying I'll prepare that lesson for you, I'll pray about that, or I'll tell that person about this or that at some point. We speak, and so often (too often) forget to act. It doesn't seem like a big deal after forgetting to act, until we start to think through the possible results of our non-action.
I said the other day, our actions can and do affect others... and I think this is a perfect follow up to that. Hear me out, I am preaching to myself on this as well, not to just my readers... absolutely not. I am so guilty of this issue, and so frustrated by it's reoccurring problem in my life! But again, I have to take action before it can be fixed.
Yes, the little ones definitely have effects but I wanna go in hard and hit the "a little bit bigger things." Sometimes we just need a big slap in the face. Chew on this scenario...(which for me is something I watch occur everyday in myself) you're reading twitter, Facebook, your e-mail, a blog, or however you keep up with the latest 'what's going on news.' You come across a prayer request of some sort, a plea for prayer... someones in the hospital, a friend is going through a rough time, there's a disaster, whatever it may be. You may(or may not) stop, let it seep in for a second, think about it... and then what? Do you stop and pray?... or Do you keep on scrolling and put that on your "mental" to-do list (which you know doesn't exist/work because of the hundreds of other things you've put on there and have failed to do)? I'll tell you what I do... I throw that prayer right up to my "mental to-do list!"
Why don't we stop and act? Why do we just scroll on through life... oh, so we can sit there and be bored with all the dramatic e-mails we're receiving? Or it must be the trashy tweets that come up on our twitter? Or oh, maybe it's the live drama we can watch happen as two people argue back and forth over "comments" on Facebook? Stop. And think about this, can you agree with the next statement I am about to say? I, am one hundred percent, so guilty of this, and it's shameful to say.
Just thinking about that... brings me back to my overall point. As I sit here and read that last paragraph of the perfect example of what I personally do everyday, I am already making mental "to-do" list things. And honestly, that's a burden. I want to change that... I want to act.
Check this out... 1 John 3:18-20 says, "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set out hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than out hearts, and he knows everything."
Let us not love with words or tongue,(or mental to-do lists) but with ACTIONS and truth. Think about that today, and pray about it. Honestly pray about. Let's ACT in love all together.
Don't let your reputation be about what you're going to do, but do so that you may have a reputation.
xo, Carly
We cannot come close to counting the number of times we say "I am going to do something" and then never do it. There's the small things... like saying I'll go to the gym, I'll do my laundry, I'll call my friend, and there's the a little bit bigger things... like saying I'll prepare that lesson for you, I'll pray about that, or I'll tell that person about this or that at some point. We speak, and so often (too often) forget to act. It doesn't seem like a big deal after forgetting to act, until we start to think through the possible results of our non-action.
I said the other day, our actions can and do affect others... and I think this is a perfect follow up to that. Hear me out, I am preaching to myself on this as well, not to just my readers... absolutely not. I am so guilty of this issue, and so frustrated by it's reoccurring problem in my life! But again, I have to take action before it can be fixed.
Yes, the little ones definitely have effects but I wanna go in hard and hit the "a little bit bigger things." Sometimes we just need a big slap in the face. Chew on this scenario...(which for me is something I watch occur everyday in myself) you're reading twitter, Facebook, your e-mail, a blog, or however you keep up with the latest 'what's going on news.' You come across a prayer request of some sort, a plea for prayer... someones in the hospital, a friend is going through a rough time, there's a disaster, whatever it may be. You may(or may not) stop, let it seep in for a second, think about it... and then what? Do you stop and pray?... or Do you keep on scrolling and put that on your "mental" to-do list (which you know doesn't exist/work because of the hundreds of other things you've put on there and have failed to do)? I'll tell you what I do... I throw that prayer right up to my "mental to-do list!"
Why don't we stop and act? Why do we just scroll on through life... oh, so we can sit there and be bored with all the dramatic e-mails we're receiving? Or it must be the trashy tweets that come up on our twitter? Or oh, maybe it's the live drama we can watch happen as two people argue back and forth over "comments" on Facebook? Stop. And think about this, can you agree with the next statement I am about to say? I, am one hundred percent, so guilty of this, and it's shameful to say.
Just thinking about that... brings me back to my overall point. As I sit here and read that last paragraph of the perfect example of what I personally do everyday, I am already making mental "to-do" list things. And honestly, that's a burden. I want to change that... I want to act.
Check this out... 1 John 3:18-20 says, "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set out hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than out hearts, and he knows everything."
Let us not love with words or tongue,(or mental to-do lists) but with ACTIONS and truth. Think about that today, and pray about it. Honestly pray about. Let's ACT in love all together.
Don't let your reputation be about what you're going to do, but do so that you may have a reputation.
xo, Carly
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Park and Give
I was sitting in Starbucks today, just people watching… a norm of mine, and I was paying attention to different "things" that everyone was doing. All I could think was… people are so unique. Every one of our minds is thinking about a certain thing… and most likely they are all different things. How will I make it to work on time? What if I don't pass my final? Do I have anything better to be doing? Why am I here? All these questions, and thoughts running through our brains and our hearts. I love the people who sit by themselves and are in probably the worst mood and then you smile at them, and they look at you like you might have six heads and may have just come from a strange alien planet. I get that a lot. To most people, it would probably tick them off, and they'd snap and say something like, "Wow, I was just trying to be nice, what a jerk." That was totally, one hundred percent me, but now I've learned and been called to look at it a little differently and just laugh. After I get that strange look, I can't help but think, what on earth is on their mind? What's happening in their heart? And I love it, because I know that it challenges me and makes me step outside my comfort zone and think about their heart, instead of me. Instead of quickly putting all of the attention back on me, suddenly I have the opportunity to step into their shoes and see their heart.
It gives us a first hand chance to give the gift of grace. It gives us the chance to shut our mouths, park our egos, and give. We're so wrapped up in ourselves, and we forget that there are other people that are going through things in their lives too. I heard it the best way when I was in high school and we had a man come and speak to our Mentor Group. He said, "You never know what is in someone's backpack." We all are carrying backpacks… full of so many different things. Anger. Depression. Hurt. Heartbreak. Bullying. Abuse. We don't have the ability of knowing ahead of time what's in someones backpack. It's the same as the old saying that we all know, "Put yourself in someone else's shoes." We don't do it though, because we're too worried about our own shoes. I love a specific lyric in the song Forgiveness, by Matthew West… it says, "Even when the jury and judge say you gotta right to hold a grudge, it's the whisper in your ear saying, set it free." That's grace. Giving a gift that is undeserved.
Jesus Christ is the ultimate image of grace. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-" Ephesians 2:8 We don't and never will DESERVE to be saved… it is a gift. It's grace. Give to others, as He has given to us. If he has grace on our messed up, disobedient, heartbreaking lives towards Him, we should be more than willing and desire to give grace to others around us for the most minuscule and ridiculously little things (or the huge) that others do to us.
We all have a role in each others lives, whether we know it or not. I read a daily quote now, and today's quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne said, "Every individual has a place to fill in the world, and is important, in some respect, whether he chooses to be so or not." We never know what kind of role that we can play in someone else's life. Just when you think there's no way you could do any good for someone, you may be doing the most. And just the opposite, when you think there is no way you can learn something or get something from someone, you may be receiving the most. Our unique creator uses us in very mysterious ways, and when we look back and observe how He played something out, sometimes all we can say is wow.
I challenge you to this… next time someone cuts you off on the road, says something rude to you, doesn't hold a door for you, or just does something that really rubs you the wrong way… stop, park your ego, step into their shoes, or put on their backpack and have grace.
God, thank you so much for having unfathomable grace towards us. Let us and show us how to have grace towards others. In Your Sons Precious Name, Amen.
xo, Carly
It gives us a first hand chance to give the gift of grace. It gives us the chance to shut our mouths, park our egos, and give. We're so wrapped up in ourselves, and we forget that there are other people that are going through things in their lives too. I heard it the best way when I was in high school and we had a man come and speak to our Mentor Group. He said, "You never know what is in someone's backpack." We all are carrying backpacks… full of so many different things. Anger. Depression. Hurt. Heartbreak. Bullying. Abuse. We don't have the ability of knowing ahead of time what's in someones backpack. It's the same as the old saying that we all know, "Put yourself in someone else's shoes." We don't do it though, because we're too worried about our own shoes. I love a specific lyric in the song Forgiveness, by Matthew West… it says, "Even when the jury and judge say you gotta right to hold a grudge, it's the whisper in your ear saying, set it free." That's grace. Giving a gift that is undeserved.
Jesus Christ is the ultimate image of grace. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-" Ephesians 2:8 We don't and never will DESERVE to be saved… it is a gift. It's grace. Give to others, as He has given to us. If he has grace on our messed up, disobedient, heartbreaking lives towards Him, we should be more than willing and desire to give grace to others around us for the most minuscule and ridiculously little things (or the huge) that others do to us.
We all have a role in each others lives, whether we know it or not. I read a daily quote now, and today's quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne said, "Every individual has a place to fill in the world, and is important, in some respect, whether he chooses to be so or not." We never know what kind of role that we can play in someone else's life. Just when you think there's no way you could do any good for someone, you may be doing the most. And just the opposite, when you think there is no way you can learn something or get something from someone, you may be receiving the most. Our unique creator uses us in very mysterious ways, and when we look back and observe how He played something out, sometimes all we can say is wow.
I challenge you to this… next time someone cuts you off on the road, says something rude to you, doesn't hold a door for you, or just does something that really rubs you the wrong way… stop, park your ego, step into their shoes, or put on their backpack and have grace.
God, thank you so much for having unfathomable grace towards us. Let us and show us how to have grace towards others. In Your Sons Precious Name, Amen.
xo, Carly
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Trust. Do it.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
That's what I want to leave you all with tonight. Trust Him, think about this and really truly pray and meditate on what that means... to trust Him with everything.
and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
That's what I want to leave you all with tonight. Trust Him, think about this and really truly pray and meditate on what that means... to trust Him with everything.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Breathe Love
The other morning, I read this devotional by John North about the air that we are taking in. It was the coolest symbolism for referring to what influences our lives. He talked about whether the air that we were breathing was contaminating us or whether it was refreshing for us. After I really thought about it for a while, I got to really considering why I allow contaminated air in me. Now just to clarify, no, I am not actually referring to the air quality, I'll leave that up to the environmentalists. I'm referring to the influences that I allow to affect and act on my behalf.
The contaminated air... the stuff that gets me thinking negatively, the stuff that makes me feel so angry, the stuff that leads me to be discouraging to others.
The refreshing air... the sightings of beauty, the uplifting people in my life, the overwhelmingly encouraging words from the Lord.
Now, to enhance the mental image of breathing in the contaminated and refreshing air, I want to let you "consider the following." (: Let's talk about an obvious and popular topic, cigarettes. We have a choice to put that contaminated matter into our bodies, we have a choice to breathe in that smoke, knowing that it will do damage to our bodies. We also have the choice to not put that contaminated matter into our bodies, and to choose to breathe refreshing air, knowing that we won't be doing any damage to our bodies.
To wrap up all my rambling... we have a choice to allow or not allow contaminated air into our lives, and we have the opportunity to welcome or not welcome refreshing air. I for one, like refreshing air, there's nothing I love more than rolling down every window in my car in the springtime and just taking in that amazingly refreshing air. I want to welcome uplifting, positive, and encouraging things in my life, that refreshinga air. I also want to choose to not allow negativity, anger, and discouragement to linger in me and fill my lungs with that contaminating air. How do I do this though? I would like to propose this one word, which I believe is thrown around and has such a deeper meaning than what we take it to represent. Love. 1 Corinthians 16:14 says, "Do everything in love." If we use love in every circumstance, we can breath clearly. Just take some time today and think about how this is the answer, you might be surprised.
The contaminated air... the stuff that gets me thinking negatively, the stuff that makes me feel so angry, the stuff that leads me to be discouraging to others.
The refreshing air... the sightings of beauty, the uplifting people in my life, the overwhelmingly encouraging words from the Lord.
Now, to enhance the mental image of breathing in the contaminated and refreshing air, I want to let you "consider the following." (: Let's talk about an obvious and popular topic, cigarettes. We have a choice to put that contaminated matter into our bodies, we have a choice to breathe in that smoke, knowing that it will do damage to our bodies. We also have the choice to not put that contaminated matter into our bodies, and to choose to breathe refreshing air, knowing that we won't be doing any damage to our bodies.
To wrap up all my rambling... we have a choice to allow or not allow contaminated air into our lives, and we have the opportunity to welcome or not welcome refreshing air. I for one, like refreshing air, there's nothing I love more than rolling down every window in my car in the springtime and just taking in that amazingly refreshing air. I want to welcome uplifting, positive, and encouraging things in my life, that refreshinga air. I also want to choose to not allow negativity, anger, and discouragement to linger in me and fill my lungs with that contaminating air. How do I do this though? I would like to propose this one word, which I believe is thrown around and has such a deeper meaning than what we take it to represent. Love. 1 Corinthians 16:14 says, "Do everything in love." If we use love in every circumstance, we can breath clearly. Just take some time today and think about how this is the answer, you might be surprised.
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