A Life Worth Living

Sometimes I just have to laugh at people’s facebook statuses… you know the ones about how awesomely blessed their life is because everything is going perfectly and they have awesomely amazing friends who are oh so awesome. Yea those. But if someone dare puts on a status how they’ve had the hardest most difficult weak ever, somehow it has a negative connation. As if they think their life is horrible and that God isn’t faithful. Ok so my words a touch extreme but we all know it is the truth. How could your life possibly be better if it’s hard and difficult than easy? How could you be more blessed than by everything being absolutely perfect?

I have a problem with this mentality. In fact, I think that mentality is a complacent lackadaisical way of living. What is more rewarding, more satisfying, more fun a blowout sports game where one team doesn’t even register on the score board while the other exceeds 100 or a neck and neck fight to the finish with everything you have within you only to barely pull a win out? Any sports fan without a doubt would pick the latter. It’s why in any good romantic movie or book the couple has to fight against some epic odds in order to be with their one true love. It’s not easy and that’s what makes it worth it.

I once read a children’s book where this guy was on an epic journey in order to find an ancient untouched treasure. A man he encountered pitied his efforts. For he thought what a shame it would be if he should find it for his quest would then be over. Then what? No, the journey was the treasure.

An amazingly blessed life perhaps is the treasure and what a pity it would be to have no journey at all. No difficult hardships. It’s those things that make living worthwhile. How can you truly know God’s faithfulness if everything is amazing all the time and perfect. How can you truly appreciate the blessing of a close parking spot or an encouraging note or a beautiful sunrise if everything is always daisy’s and roses in your world.

So why do we feel the need to glorify the idea of a perfect amazing carefree life? And advertise it on Facebook no less?

Which is more heartfelt, the one who praises God because he gives them everything or the one despite the fact that they are in the most difficult time of their live choses to praise God for just being God? Who grows closer, the one who has to depend on God to keep from drowning in the storm or the who is sippin' on a virgin strawberry daiquiri while sitting on the beach with their designer sunglasses and amazing BFF listening to Taylor Swift?

True happiness and joy comes from knowing true difficulties.

What's in Your Background?

As we go about our lives on daily basis even as fully devoted Christians, we tend to focus soly on what we are doing. I find this especially true for myself as a student because everything I’m doing is really to help others…. No seriously. Going to class, homework, work study,…… all in order to become the best teacher in order to change lives forever right? So true. Even in ministry we get caught up in what we are doing that is ultimately to impact others so it needs our total focus. It’s like our life is a movie. We are the main character and the people we are trying to reach ultimately are minor characters and then there is the background. In any movie there is the main characters and then tons of people that aren’t significant in the slightest, you never find out there name or who they really are.. we recognize them as people but not as individuals. Well our lives aren’t movies but we treat people the same in real life.

 How many times a day do we pass people yet never the individual? Never Bob. Never Sally. Never Sue. You get the point. See I’ve realized something in the past few days; we always have loads of sympathy, prayer, time, and concern for the families who have just suffered loss or other tragedies, yet never recognized them up to that point. Take someone who commits suicide… people saw them all throughout their life up to that last breathe. He or she entered church houses and people acknowledged that he or she was there, but did the know that person. Did they really seem them for insert name here or did they seem him as that kid who came a couple Wednesdays who was a friend of so and so. I can’t help but wonder if we cared as much about these people when they seem to be just the background as we did after their gone or deep into horrible trouble, maybe we could have changed the outcome. Maybe if we could have stopped while we were on our way to minister to a certain group to show a tiny bit of God’s love on that person walking by, it could have altered their future. I think we get so consumed in the cause or call placed on us that we forget to show his love to things outside of that. It’s not that we refuse or are rebellious we just simply get our scope so narrowed everything else just fades to the background.

Strength Has Nothing To Do With It

I’ve heard the statement, “ I never would have guessed that you were going through that because you seem so strong.” Now it wasn’t the fact that they decided instead of being strong I was rather in fact weak. Instead it was the why question. Why did they suddenly change their mind on my strength? Because I was going through something….. hmmm…

In my case I was struggling not only with issues but also the fact that I had no support system. Other than a long distance friend and my mother I had no one to go to and say, “Hey, look honestly I’m totally confused. I love kids but for weeks I have hated working at the day care. This is my future and I hate it.” or how about “So this guy is totally awesome and I know its not time for me to date, but seriously I want a boyfriend!” Now let’s be honest for a few minutes here. This is not just me. I’m not afraid to say I struggle with things. Shoot I struggle with tons of things from the things I mentioned above to everything in the book. I am tempted. I am not perfect. I get discouraged. But so do you….

Deny it all you want. Cover it if you think that will help but the reality of it is if you say that you don’t, you ARE wearing a mask.  Does determine your strength? Does that determine who you think you are in Christ? Does that mean you don’t have faith in God? Many may say yes….

I say no…. Why? Well my bible says that regardless of who I am, trials and temptations WILL (not might) come my way. My bible also tells me that Jesus, the very son of God, was tempted and struggled with things. Does that make Jesus weak? Does that mean Jesus doesn’t know who he is or doesn’t have faith in the Father? See how absurd that mentality is.

Let’s look at Moses, shall we. I would say Moses was a pretty strong dude. I mean he only led the entire body of Israelites for what seemed to be forever and what not.  In one battle Moses had to keep his arms raised for the victory right? But Moses grew tired. Yea he got tired.. he began to struggle.. he needed support.. Was he not as strong as everyone thought? No. He was simply being exhausted. It happens. So Aaron and Hur held his arms for him. They were his support. When things begin to weigh on him, someone had to help him out. 

So strength has nothing to do with it. Knowing who we are in Christ is not the issue. I AM a STRONG woman of God! I know that God has a plan and that he is faithful. That doesn’t mean I don’t get tired holding my arms up for the victory. That doesn’t mean I don’t need support. It doesn’t mean I don’t need people who I can go to and release what I’m going through, how I feel, and what’s running through my head. I NEED those people! You NEED those people!

That is what the body of Christ is for. That’s our duty as brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s our duty as decent human beings. God didn’t mean for us to walk around pretending we are “strong enough” to go through life without other people … without being there for one another ... without support.

Another Masquerade...

A 5 year old boy and 3 almost 4 year old girl, who happen to be brother and sister, play together every single moment. Despite the fact that there seems to be a zillion other kids to choose from at the day care, for some reason these two would rather play with the same one they play with every waking moment of their little lives so far. And why is this? As I watched them, the first couple of days I was baffled. The big brother seemed to always be able to manipulate his younger sister to do whatever he wanted even be upset when he was sent to time out or leave one of her friends to simply hold a bucket for him. That’s when I realized it’s because he met her needs. He at five years of age has realized that his sister has needs like being protected and needing to feel “special” like a princess so if he makes sure he fills her needs she doesn’t care what he wants to do. Therefore, we end up with games where the ninja power ranger is killing the tornado and the princess comes along to help… sounds kinda weird sometimes but everyone’s needs are met.

We all have needs granted many times we don’t admit them. The book Truefaced (the book I’m currently reading and would strongly recommend) breaks it down something similar to the fact that we all have needs that need to be met, but admitting that we have a need that someone else has to fill reveals our vulnerability and weakness in our society. So instead of admitting that we need something we wear a mask and put up a fake front that says I don’t need you, I don’t need your love, I don’t need this or that, and so on. Let’s be honest, we ALL do it. And if you say you haven’t ever done that, maybe you should take off your mask for a little while…

True Fact: This in a large part pertains to trusting God to fulfill our needs but it also relates to our needs regarding each other.

    àAt school I’m use to getting hugs basically 24/7. I would walk to the hallway and receive hugs from the girls without even a second thought. And the days or moments when I just needed a hug, I simply walked to an open door, said I need a hug, and immediately a hug bigger than expected would embrace me. I will admit it I need to receive affection. No not in a boyfriend girlfriend all can’t keep our hands of sort of way but in a, I need all five languages in some dosage like everyone else. Since being home I’ve been extremely hug deprived considering I don’t live with zillions of people. I admitted it, talked with Jesus, and then spontaneously moved to the baby room at work where multiple babies need is to simply be held and cuddled and hugged.

The lord takes care of our needs once we take of our mask, become vulnerable, and allow God’s grace to begin to work.

How Big Is TOO Big?

Looking up at the top of the mountain, I thought to myself there was no way I was getting up there. As cool as it would be to reach the top, looking up there was no way I was going to be able climb that far. I mean hiking no problem but climbing a mountain that was just flat unrealistic. Nonetheless, still thrilled to get to climb around I started off on my adventure with a friend following the sound of our contacts voice as she made her way up. We focused on just getting to the top of that first peak. That was our goal if only we could reach that spot we would be content. Once we got there it was soo fulfilling to have accomplished our goal and the very top didn’t seem quite so high anymore. And again we focused on the task directly in front of us. Climbing on step at a time til finally, we reached the top. To think we almost gave up because it looked impossible…. I can’t help but wonder if maybe God doesn’t always give us the whole picture because it’s “to high”… That’s just too big I could never do anything like that. Not when you are at the bottom and are only looking at the very top. You have to climb the first peak, you have to take it step by step or it seems impossible. It’s about the process and what you learn that gets you to the top. That’s what gets you to fulfilling what God has for you. What happens when God places big dreams in you? What do you do when people around you say that’s to big you could never do that? There’s a point when you have to find the motivation within yourself to climb the mountain regardless of the people trying to keep you comfortable at the bottom. For some reason some people either want to keep you from what God has planned which is crazy or they think they know what is a better fit for your life than God which is also crazy. Who are we to question God’s plans for someone’s life? Since when do we know what is too big? WE DON’T. So I encourage you climb that mountain no matter how high or how long it takes and if someone else is climbing a mountain that you think is too big for them give them a boost.

♪♪ Love Such a Silly Game We Play ♪♪

It seems like everyone is either in a relationship, desiring a relationship, or are like married. As a young adult it’s easy to get caught up in the idea of dating … as humans I think we have some sort of genetic makeup that fills us with a longing for romantic involvement and relationships. It’s like we need that companionship.  As for myself, I searched for some sort of insight on the subject. I knew that the constant need for a companion wasn’t the best choice for my life. I knew that relationships were more of a hindrance in the end, but why? Now I am by no means an expert on relationships; however, one day God just gave me the answer to my question. A complete epiphany as I walked up the stairs to my room that completely made connected all the dots.  You see in order for each of us to fulfill our call and all of God’s plans for our lives have to reach a certain point in our walk and grow to a certain point before we can really step into that. Don’t get me wrong we should forever be growing and developing ourselves as well as our relationship on God, but in order for us to focus and embrace our purpose regardless of our interactions with others we have to reach that level. And then God said this to me… you see how much your growing and what I’m doing inside of you, are you ready to meet your husband? If you were to meet your husband right now and begin a relationship and he was at the same level as you, do you think you would want to see those underdevelopment's in him? You see if we enter a relationship before God’s timing before he has prepared us even if it is the one, it will fail because we aren’t the people that God designed for each other. I don’t know about you but that hit me hard. I reflected on my own spiritual life and realized that if I wanted to marry a strong man of God in his will, I needed to grow to be a strong woman of God. The woman who spiritually would be a good match for that man of God. I know that even now, I still need to work on areas in order to be a wife that would be uplifting and fulfill the roles that the kind of husband I want would need. And until then, I can’t fulfill my side of a relationship. I for one, have decided to grow and strive to develop into the wife God wants me to be instead of wasting my time in “relationships” that aren’t of God and will ultimately fail in the end anyways so that I can be the best for my future husband. Shouldn’t it be our goal to become the best for whatever or whoever God has planned for us instead of wounding ourselves in relationships that we selfishly plan for ourselves? Just a thought.

Violence Is In Fact Not The Answer

Through recent encounters I’ve come to the conclusion that God has quite the sense of humor or at least from my point of view that’s what I would call it. I’ve really been working on love lately. No not in a romantic sense but rather showing God’s love towards all people even when I feel like I shouldn’t have to show it towards people. For me when people show bias, are hypocritical, are just plan rude or make me angry, I automatically want to punch them in the face… yes you read it correctly. I’ve never actually punched anyone in the face but the thought runs through my mind quite often. That along with a whole array of statements to tell said person off or put them in their place. From a worldly stand point this reaction of mine is perfectly acceptable in given situations and even promoted as my right; however, from a Christian standpoint that is suppose to reflect the love of Christ, I would say this is the wrong reaction. Of course I’m only human… right? What else does a human do when someone is an absolute jerk to them or says things that shouldn’t be said?  This is true I am only human, but God started speaking to me that I needed to change my mindset and since I clearly couldn’t do that on my own, my life started revolving around constant prayer. There are times when no lie I have to be among certain people for hours at a time and I am constantly praying in my head or calling on Jesus. That’s when I realized that if that’s what it took, then that was ok. As time progressed situations would arise where something would happen or a comment would be said that in a worldly standpoint I had every right to get mad; however, I would be in awe… literally something would happen and I would not know what to think… My line began to change from “I really just want to punch them in the face” to “I don’t even know what to say to that.” Talk about irritating until I realized that was God’s way of training me not to react. If I couldn’t develop a response, I couldn’t react. Clever I know. Humorous? When you think about it or know me very well.. incredibly. It’s just like the concept if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all only if I didn’t have something nice to say, I didn’t have anything else to say.