The place where there are more snippets of what goes on in my head all the time or whatever this is yet another outlet :D
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We all want control, I know I want it all the time, I want to control the outcome of situations, the way things will flow, the way things will start and end, and even who will take part. It’s a very deep desire we have within us, I imagine it has something to do with being made in God’s image and having a little of that desire to be sovereign inside of us. But the real test of patience is not when we get our way and when we have control over things or so it might seem, the real test of patience is when we let go of whatever reins we attempted to set on the situation and just let God work on us, in us, and among us.
I know a lot of times when my actions say other, when it feels like i’m not seeing the results i would like to see, and I’m just feeling broken, torn, or just worn. It is not that I don’t believe that God’s Sovereignty isn’t reigning forever rightly at that time, its more so that I fear the lack of control that I have over the situation. This is when it is best for us and me even to be patient, and wait for whatever that situation calls for. But to wait patiently none the less as tough as it is.
I pray that your holidays are going well!! And that this offered some encouragement to you today! God Bless!! Happy Holidays!!
“Our greatest fear should not be failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” -Francis Chan
The lack of posts lately has happened with my ups and downs of job searching, and the holiday transition. But in the midst of all of that this quote resonated with me this morning. The chance to succeed at something that doesn’t really matter has always been on the forefront of my mind for as long as I can remember. Sometimes its really tough to be talented at things, and not get so wrapped up in it that you forget to live and love. That you stay clear of being motivated by the like, love and approval of people but instead love on them, like them, and seek of the approval of God. My encouragement for you today is live the life God has given you to live, even if its not perfect right now because only you can live that life, but in the midst of it, be His hands and feet to the best of your ability in the strength that he gives and is giving you!
Thank you so much for following my posts, for your support, and I pray God’s comfort and strength upon you as we celebrate this Holiday Season.
…”It’s my responsibility to respect people, to help them learn the lessons life teaches. When you slip on a banana skin and fall down, discuss what happened and learn from it. I think that it is actually unwise to get in between people and what life is trying to teach them, but we all have a responsibility for each other.”
― Johann Christoph Arnold, Drained: Stories of People Who Wanted More
If you’ve been following my posts you probably know enough about me to know my heart right? To know at a young age I wanted to be the one to rescue the underdogs and to show them love, and to give them hope. I myself was an underdog, and that type of action kept me encouraged to keep pressing forward in life and to hold onto Faith. As i became older and the problems of children faded, and became the problems of teens and then young adults my heart shifted even more. I thought I could help others by blocking them from all sides of trouble, I thought that if I could just warn them of everything and tell them to stay away from danger that it would keep them safe. But what I learned was that when I did that I was blocking them from learning, not that I would let them just fall into a ditch metaphorically speaking but I would instead give them the tools to think better and fuller about situations if possible. God gave me wisdom through the heart-break that I went through when my friends and associates fell into danger and brokenness in spite of my efforts to save them. I learned my responsibility was not to save them at every turn but to love them, bear with them and pray with them.
“I will not waste my life! I will finish my course and finish it well. I will display the Gospel of the grace of God in all I do. I will run my race to the end.” - Paul” ― John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life
I have a couple of friends who have just settled, settled into whatever situation that they are in right now, even though it isn’t the place of rest nor is it the place of progress, instead it is the place of death in my opinion. Many times my heart hurts because I know they can be so much better than where they are, so much better, they have lost their dreams, their hopes, their visions, it used to depress me so much because I would spend every ounce of my being trying to push them forward out of the pit. But one day I discovered that as much as I love them, if they don’t move themselves to get out of the pit, there is nothing I can do. The best I can do is be there when they need me, but I need to not waste my life, because just like them I only get one course, one life, and I want to finish well. So all you racers out there pushing forward in this marathon of life, keep moving forward, but when those stragglers finally make it to the side of you, hopefully they will at some point, don’t forget to welcome them back to the race!
Stay Encouraged!! Enjoy your weekend!! God Bless!!
“It is about the greatness of God, not the significance of man. God made man small and the universe big to say something about himself.” -John Piper
I have lived in the city my whole life, surrounded by light all the time, I only see a maximum of maybe 5 stars when I look up at the sky depending on the season. But i remember the first time i saw the expanse of the sky. I was away at my very first mission trip in New Jersey, it was in 2004 with CCC I was staying in a cabin. That night when I arrived I looked at the expanse of the heavens and I was scared in awe! It was so overwhelming I think I understood what Abraham might have felt when God told him to step out of the tent to see how numerous his seed would be. I felt utterly insignificant compared to the numerous abundance of stars, something so simple that we can take for granted especially if we are not exposed all that often to it. The Greatness of God!
“ I will give you this, my love, and I will not bargain or barter any longer. I will love you, as sure as He has loved me. I will discover what I can discover and though you remain a mystery, save God’s own knowledge, what I disclose of you I will keep in the warmest chamber of my heart, the very chamber where God has stowed Himself in me. And I will do this to my death, and to death it may bring me. I will love you like God, because of God, mighted by the power of God. I will stop expecting your love, demanding you love, trading for your love, gaming for your love. I will simply love. I am giving myself to you, and tomorrow I will do it again. I suppose the clock itself will wear thin its time before I am ended at this altar of dying and dying again. God risked Himself on me. I will risk myself on you. And together, we will learn to love, and perhaps then, and only then, understand this gravity that drew Him, unto us.” -Donald Miller, in Blue Like Jazz
Finally the day came when I no longer fought to find love, because love finally came to be. My whole life i fought for love, fought for it on my conditions, where is the love that loves as i love, i always complained, and after many many many many years of crying and praying, finally right now here is the time where love has finally come to be.
For disappearing acts, it’s hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. -Doug Larson
I work hard, I play hard, I live hard. But it wasn’t always this way. It was some time a couple of years ago, not so far back you can actually count the span of time on one hand. I would go to bed after being enveloped in the tasks of the day. Tasks that took over my thoughts and gave me no time for self-reflection, nor prayer for that matter. And it was in bed night after night where my mind swarmed and swarmed as I tried to get my eight hours of sleep that were left in the day. After a period of that time I decided to reclaim the disappearing acts of my life, the moments that were fleeting, I decided to take time to seize as many moments as possible and still live to the fullest. Life is not such that you cannot find those moments you just have to dig a little deeper and change your view. So stay encouraged though it seems the days goes by so fast and your left wanting more or feeling like less of you. Hang on and seize those moments!
“No, life cannot be understood flat on a page. It has to be lived; a person has to get out of his head, has to fall in love, has to memorize poems, has to jump off bridges into rivers, has to stand in an empty desert and whisper sonnets under his breath… We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn’t it?”-Donald Miller,Through Painted Deserts
I only get one story, but perhaps many chances, so my plan is with every breath in my body to seize moments in everyday of my life, and to seize the day because I do not know if tomorrow is promised. I look around and I see the lives of those who have compromised for things they thought they wanted and are now trapped in these situations feeling hopeless. I know that to live like that would break my heart as it is breaking theirs. If you’re in a situation like that still choose life, it may not be perfect all the time but break those chains that disallow you from seizing the day and seizing moments. We only get one story, so finish it the best that you can, make it a trilogy!
Our vision of life is more than just the way we naturally see the world. It “tells us both what is (and is not) the case and what ought (and ought not) to be the case,” says James Olthuis. “A worldview is both a sketch of and a blueprint for reality; it describes what we see and stipulates what we should see.” In this sense, our vision of life is a directional lens; it tell us, rightly or wrongly, how the world should be. -Kyle Strobel
I remember the first time my vision of the world was really challenged, I was making adjustments in my home life, and school was the only stability I had up to that point that and my church life. I remember the day my best friend stopped coming, I guess her parents transferred her out, the tuition was probably too much. That day I walked the yard for the entire play period searching for someone to play with, to talk to, but instead I was met with teasing remarks and called names. That day I found out that no matter the confidence my guardians instilled within me that wasn’t true defense for the wounds that would be inflicted upon me, the underdog. I found that my greatest defense was to become the advocate for the underdog, we would unite and build our own community of true friendship not based on looks or other superficial things but based on the heart, not discriminating against anyone not even the popular kids who would swing by from time to time wounded from their own battles even if they were to leave and go back to their groups without even the slightest glance in our direction. I formed this community everywhere I went, i still even form it today. We aren’t born in a vacuum, and i mean born in more than just the physical sense. Things aren’t always so cut and dry as many make it out to be, there is deepness, depth to the things and reasons behind things! Our lives, our faith even is informed by circumstance and experience, the very same things that expand our visions if we would let them.
Expand Your Vision! Be A Visionary in every way! Happy Monday!!
The Christian life is a life of increasing sight; the story we tell has to allow for the fact that on a journey, the farther down the road we travel, the more we see. Our growth depends on seeing anew. - Kyle Strobel. “Metamorpha: Jesus as a way of life.”
I was never really good at looking through a set of binoculars, they seem so simple to use, but by the time I would get through adjusting the knobs to get the clearest view of the object I was trying to see at a distance, the object would pass and I would miss the sight. One day I plan on seeing the stars but someone will have to adjust the view for me so I don’t miss anything, maybe some day I will master this. I think sometimes the Christian life can be that way, a whole lot of attempting to judge where I am right now and in the here and now, when there is a whole lot to see just a little further in the distance. When I share my stories I have this momentous view, it is a great change from my lack of view I used to have in the past. Now I think of moments, I think of capturing moments and I think of seizing moments, which means being more deliberate about sharing the story of my life, love, and all, no compartmentalization my faith included, this walk included. Living with moments in view helps me to approach the day anew, seeing opportunities, the pathways of this walk and the growth in myself and others anew.
Thanks for joining me in seizing this moment! God Bless and Enjoy Your Weekend! And Let us pray for those still recovering from the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
