Worth in the Woods.

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 Boating on the lake. Freezing under piles of blankets. Eating food cooked over a fire. Spending nearly 5 hours playing Monopoly. Singing worship and having devotions in the woods. Cribbage tournaments. Video shoots. Dusty feet, mosquito repellant and sunscreen. It can only mean one thing...

CAMPING!
 How amazing the last week has been! I spent the last four days camping with families of my church and it was fantastic!  I just returned home, washed the last of the lake from my hair and the campfire smoke from my clothing and I cannot keep my mouth silent from praising God. I am overwhelmed with the great joy it is to be a Christian. I am so thankful to get to be a part of walking with Christ and walking alongside so many others who share the same heart and walk in the same direction. I realize that "Family Camp" as we have always called it, is not merely about camping with my biological family, though that alone is most assuredly wonderful. It's spending time with the family I have within the Kingdom of God, the people I love the most though most of them I have only known but a few years. We have so much more in common then just that we all go to the same church together. We do our lives together. Yet it doesn't work because we have similar interests or are just a bunch of nice people. I believe that it's because we know that we truly are a part of the same family and we have the same Spirit working in and through us all. This is what is so awesome to me about Christian relationships. When Christ is at the center, it's almost like we can all then speak the same secret language. We love each other deeper than surface interests and see the image of God in one another. It's simply beautiful.
I have often prayed that I would love God so much that nothing else in all the world would matter to me. It does seem like quite a lovely prayer. What a great thing it would be if I really did not care for, get pulled by, strive after, love, burn for or have anything matter to me but Christ. Yet, as I enjoyed so much great fellowship and felt spiritually sharpened even through the simplest of forms, I realized that my prayer for nothing else to matter could never be fully accurate. Afterall, these bonds, these people do matter to me. My prayer changed. " Lord, I pray that I would love you so much that everything would matter." I realize that it is only in light of Christ that anything can truly be of value. Only when the world is viewed in light of God's love, grace, mercy and glory can it ever be seen properly and beautifully. This is why I can spend a week in the woods awestruck by God's creativity. It is why I can laugh as stories are shared around a campfire. This is why I can thank God for such an enjoyable week of rest and rejuvination. It's because these things, I believe, matter to God. And the things that matter to my God, who is at the center, can then truly matter to me as well.

Late Night Laundry.

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I have a confession. Today, I had a bad attitude for an hour. Today, I probably said or thought something I shouldn’t have. Today, I was an icky sinner. What a concept!

I was reading a blog earlier where a girl spoke about how she writes about her day as something fantastic and how it makes her sound so unreal. She writes,

“This has been on my mind lately. In the blogging world, we all have a tendency to make life look glamorous and easy and beautiful. And, at times, it is. But, at other times, life is not. Life, quite a lot of the time, is embarrassing, awkward, hard and just...well, notpretty.

I don't wake up every morning, smiling at the sunshine and skipping into the kitchen and sitting in the dewy sunlight that streams into the kitchen while I make my morning coffee.

That's a nice thought, but really? Sometimes I wake up too late, stumble out of bed, groan at my messy hair and imperfections and then go into the kitchen to make myself a normal cup of tea and to sit down on the couch when the sky is grey and rainy outside.”


Sometimes, to not only write in this manner, but live here too. I often am frustrated at my own humanity. I want life to be sunshine and butterflies. I desire there to always be good moods, kind words, laughter and singing. I want to never lie, always speak good of others, to always walk in wisdom, elegance and grace. I want the shots in my lattes to be perfect, for me to get all the things on my daily list checked off, for my meals to turn out splendidly and to be the ideal daughter, sister, leader and friend. But more often than not, that is simply not the way things go.

Now I know this isn’t the most philosophical or life-altering of all posts, but I suppose that is what results when you have to stay up a little later than desired because you forgot to do your laundry during daylight hours. See? I also procrastinate. Yet another hiccup in my day! What I realize though through all this babble is that this is how life is. This is how Christianity is. Yes, I am bold-faced and unashamedly a Christian, but no, I am not flawless. While my state of imperfection does not merit me to continually make unwise decisions and live a life of rampant sin, it does cause me to be less hard on myself and appreciate the unsurpassable grace of God. My God loves this silly little flawed, selfish, human being and gives me grace to walk life with Him everyday, even on days when I mess up. When a child learns to walk, the father is pleased, even with the stumbles because it means the child is trying to grow. So it is with Father God. Be encouraged little child, Father God is pleased when you make the choice to walk with Him, even if you wobble a little here and there. Mind you I am not saying that God is pleased with whatever way you choose to live, but hopefully you get the point. I often struggle with trying to be perfect. The call to Christianity is not the call to be perfect. It’s a call to follow the One who is perfect and aim to be more like Him each and every day.

Updates!

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If you havent noticed yet, I have been updating my blog quite a bit lately. I now have these lovely little tabs at the top of the page where you can go to check out my favorite quotes, growth journals, my other blog and other blogs that inspire me. So go on, use them!

Restoration.

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Over the past few days, a thought has been plaguing my mind and continues to arise within my every conversation. Today, it came as I spoke to some dear friends, a topic that is so stirring, so real. We do not know the world in which we live. Our generation calls desperately for attention and has found it in things unheard of 50 years ago. We want to be noticed, maybe more than ever before. We sat, discussing how our generation is that which cries so desperately for purpose, seeks so intently for meaning and for life, wants to have a cause for which it will fight, yet settles for complacency, apathetically accepting the world as it is.

A band once sung, “If only I had an enemy greater than my apathy, I could have won.” Sadly this is where our world lives, perhaps more in the mental arena than anywhere else. We show loyalty by wearing causes on our t-shirts and sporting bracelets for awareness, yet perhaps we are not as aware as we seemingly believe.  A world built only on awareness without action may be no better than ignorance. It breaks my heart to watch as mankind tries to find life in the deadliest places and seeks fulfillment in places that have never been emptier. That man, created for relationship with God, has settled for so little, if anything at all. That man believes it can thrive outside the boundaries created for him and away from the God who created him. Perhaps we’ve wandered and don’t fully understand that man is a machine created to run solely on its Creator and not the filth of the world.

Have we become so apathetically blinded that we no longer see the enemy? Believe me, I am not only to parade the power of the enemy, but also not only so foolish to think him non-existent. Have Christians lost their fighting spirit?

Is the Church being the Church? Is the Church aiming only to cope with the problems sin and our fallen state has created rather than attempting to restore the world to its original design? As time goes, does that picture grow clearer or continue to morph and fade into something almost unrecognizable? Has the Church forgotten her purpose?  Am I being the Church to this world in every respect? Do I make the active decision to walk like, look like, speak like and think like Christ instead of settling for the quiet life? Jesus’ life made noise. I believe it is time for the Christian Church to make a little noise as well. I believe that the Church needs to go back into the restoration business. My conclusions?

It starts here.
I must be willing to walk in a manner that brings glory to God and draws eyes towards Christ. As I walk out who God has called me to be, as the Church lives like God designed man to walk in every arena, the world cannot help but notice. I want to be about my Father’s business. Jesus came to turn an upside-down world rightside-up again. I believe that it is time we do the same.

As I look around me, I am so thankful for those I have watched within my own life who are already doing this very thing. I look forward to watching my leaders, friends, brother and sisters as they go about God’s restoration business. I look forward to getting to watch them preach to the nations. I look forward to the biographies I will read about their lives. I look forward to the businesses they will create. I look forward to families they will raise. I look forward to the victories we will win for the Kingdom of God. This is what I believe Christianity is so about. It’s about the restoration business. So amidst a generation striving for purpose, ours is then made quite clear. I want to be about my Father’s business. It starts here.

An Object.

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Alright, so here it is. I love blogs. About a month ago, I stumbled across this great little blog and one of the best parts is that there is a new post on it everyday! The author’s name is Emily and this blog is called “An Object.” Every single day, she writes about an inanimate object and I must say, I adore it! I love her heart, her writing style and the opportunity to drink in the beauty of how she views the little things in life. I am an avid follower and wanted to share this little gem on my blogs. So here it is! Check her out at www.anobjectblog.blogspot.com Go on, do it! You won’t be disappointed! (:

The Student.

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How awesome would it have been to have learned from and studied under the Apostle Paul? Reading today through the books of 1 and 2 Timothy, I could not help but ponder it. What must it have been like to glean from his God-given wisdom? To have received one of his letters, written in his own hand, addressed personally to you and chalked full of charges and encouragements? To have spoken to him, be known to him by name? Yet as my mind contemplated these things, a realization began to sink in. I am Paul’s student. Just as he taught Timothy, so he also teaches me. But wait, there is so much more! Not only do I have Paul as an instructor, but a Bible full of divine mentors. Yet even this does not come near to what follows.

I have the Holy Spirit. What a marvelous Instructor! He guides me with His truth, intercedes for me deeper than I can imagine and more than I can fathom! I have the world’s greatest Instructor, a gift to me by Christ Himself, but how many classes have I skipped? How many lessons have I left unlearned. How I would drop anything to listen to the apostle Paul speak for hours, yet I neglect mere minutes with the Holy Spirit due to my supposedly busy schedule. How foolish am I?!

Holy Spirit, I want to learn from you. Forgive me for neglected lessons and plugged ears. Forgive me for times I have come to you unteachable, with an unwilling heart. Help me to listen, not only to hear; to learn and not only be taught. I want Your Truth. Teach me your ways, open my ears to hear Your voice. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative--that is, the Holy Spirit--he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” John 14:16-17, 26

“But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:14,16-17

"Quotations"

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Quotation marks are funny things. We see them an immediately it's as if all our senses are forced to hone in on what is to follow. We are not fooled. If there be quotation marks, what they contain is important. Personally, I love quotes. For a while now, I have been compiling a list of my favorites and decided to share a few of them on here. If you want to see them, check out the above tab. I hope you enjoy them and allow them to inspire you as much as they have done for me. Enjoy! (:

Milk and Missed Appointments.

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We are beings that see with such jaded eyes. Many times, it’s almost as if there be a thin glaze, a cloudy transparency, a blockade that keeps us from seeing as we should. We view the world in its splendor and man in his tremendous worth and disregard so much. Oh the sharing of a heart, the touching of one’s soul! We see flesh covered bones more often than masqueraded souls. Precious gems of the heart are tucked behind our natural gaze and escape our petty thoughts. We seek a view of surface gliding than the adventure of diving to the depths of one’s being.

She was walking though the local grocery store with her father, a girl on a mission. A mission to buy a gallon of milk. As she briskly strode through the aisles, the chill of the refrigerator section sent chills through her body. Finally reaching the back, milk in hand, they made their way toward the check stand. While her father chatted with the cashier, her eyes wandered, pursuing that candies and magazines typical to every store, designed to entice customers for that last second buy. Their purchase made, they dawdled towards the exit. That’s when it happened. A boy sitting only 15 feet away. Their eyes met, if only for a second, but it was still plenty of time to make an impact. She knew him. Knew his name. Knew that they had gone to school together. Knew that he came to church that one time. And with the way he looked at her, she knew he knew her too. They were not close, he and her. In fact, they were not even friends. But they knew one another, and that’s when it hit her. As she walked past him without a second glance, something dropped in her stomach. A realization.

Today she had seen three others like him. People that she knew from a variety of places, to whom she did not say a word. Not one of them, as far as she knew, a Christian. How often every day she lives her life in such a manner. It disgusted her. How can see live in a world among the perishing while never trying to save them. Though she certainly did open her mouth and speak to random “run-ins” quite often, there were also times she stood distant. So often she bore the uncomfort of seeing a past acquaintance, a face matched with a name, as she strode through life. How difficult would it be to muster a smile, a simple greeting perhaps? Would it kill her to merely ask about their day, their life and perhaps even go as far as inviting them to church? Yet again and again, she played ignorant, covering her eyes and quieting her conscience to excuse her from interaction. How silly. How uncaring. How many God-made appointments has she missed, not because she was not present, but due to her own unwillingness and selfish desire to stay comfortable? No more can she stand back. No more will she justify a missed appointment due to the making of another. Every appointment is important, every soul of priceless worth.

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