It's been ages.....and wayyyyy overdue for an update. Life has been running at full tilt, the type of full tilt where you don't even realize how spiritually dry you are and you are certain there are things in your life that are falling through the cracks (but you can't even remember what they are you're going so fast!). So let this be my "take a moment and breathe" update.
Over the last few months, I've been racing around doing life and its so easy to become exhausted, forgetful, and half-hearted. You begin to forget birthdays, emails, voicemail messages, fixing things that are broken, updating finances, and the list goes on. Your list of "when I have more time, I will do XYZ..." gets longer and longer. All of this, I can handle with some level of haphazard balancing act, BUT......the one vulnerability that plagues me is how this impacts those around me. Often times, I think I'm going so fast (and probably what the enemy wants) that I cannot even survey how long its been since I've talked to this family member, or that friend. I absolutely love the people in my life, and I'm a feeler....so I want to be there for every time that bubbles with laughter, every heartbreak, every milestone, every bad workday, every victory, every well cooked meal, every fun little idiosyncrasy that chimes in throughout the day. It's sweet, it's the full breath of knowing and being known. And I recognize, this is how I should live my relationship with God first and foremost. I could be failing everyone, but if I'm failing Him, my cup runs dry to a point where I'm only running on my own flesh.
We all have sin in our lives, sure, and God knows that makes it so much more difficult at times to love each other well. To truly, live out:
By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. - John 13:35, NIV
....we need the love of God. We need His love, vast as the ocean, to wash over us, to equip us, to make us whole, to redeem us, to change us, to well up in our hearts, to strengthen us, to bring us to Him - so we can be poured out to others. God has a lot to say about love in scripture, and out of our own pride, we often spring to what we think we are not getting or how much we are giving as our eyes flow over His precious words. It's our human reaction. A struggle we may battle till God calls us home, how to love others well? What does it mean to "love one another" so we may be known as His disciple? What does it look like to be completely poured out, denying of self, so that He may be honored? I'm inclined to think answers to these questions aren't simple, or maybe they are, but without a doubt - we need God's wisdom to do it for His glory.
Last weekend, I was on an airline flight across the country. There were three seats in the row, and I sat near the window. A young couple, maybe in their early to mid-20's, stopped to sit next to me. The young woman, slender but not skinny, wearing jeans and a white fitted shirt. She was wearing a backpack, and had beautiful brown hair in pig-tail braids. She wore glasses, and as I looked down, I noticed she had a white cane guiding her steps. She was blind. Her boyfriend, a guy with an athletic build, wearing a windbreaker and khaki shorts, gingerly helped her get settled into her seat. I was glued to watching this display of care and compassion. Throughout the flight, they played a game on their tray tables, then chatted, and all the while he would take care of her by helping her put on a light jacket, then opening her small bag of pretzels, and neither of them never complained or looked annoyed. It was so sweet. Now, I don't know these people, I don't know if they love Jesus or what, but I was thankful that God allowed me to watch this selfless display of love and kindness right beside me.
This young woman couldn't see. She couldn't see if her boyfriend was a handsome guy or if he had ten zits that day, she couldn't see if he had been working his biceps at the gym everyday or if he had gray hair, she couldn't see if he had ten scars or yellow teeth. And he was incredibly taken by her, it was obvious. To her credit, he was a very handsome guy. She would rest her head against his shoulder, he would reach to hold her hand. Then I knew, what she COULD see was this guy's heart, she could see how he cared for her, she could see his patience with her, she could see how he can be trusted, she could see his kindness and gentleness, she could see his selflessness and self-denial, she could see how he loved her, she could see how he truly valued her, and she could see that her ability to not see didn't stop him from being enamored with her affection. I was absolutely fascinated.
I immediately thought to the classic verse:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, NIV
I know so many times we read over that verse as most of us have read it a million times. But to stop, and soak in each word, each implied meaning, to marinate in each trait of love....it's world changing. It changes everyone's world, and everything about the world. Sure, it may be a tall order, a tough description to strive for, but incredibly worth it. What is a world without this type of love? Simultaneously, it is a world without Jesus. We can know this love by knowing His love for us. We can live this out only through Him, and because of Him. It's a beautiful display of His love shattering the small, meager worlds we often create for ourselves. His is so much better, it is of a love that promises SO much better. I want to live out this love, I want to live out His love. And Lord knows, I am incapable of doing that perfectly everyday. I desperately need His love. I desperately need His grace. What we sign up for is no small task, to love in the way that others will know we are His disciples. But an eternity of freedom in Christ, to experience this type of love forever, is completely and utterly worth it.
Disclaimer: I'm blond.
Over the last few months, I've been racing around doing life and its so easy to become exhausted, forgetful, and half-hearted. You begin to forget birthdays, emails, voicemail messages, fixing things that are broken, updating finances, and the list goes on. Your list of "when I have more time, I will do XYZ..." gets longer and longer. All of this, I can handle with some level of haphazard balancing act, BUT......the one vulnerability that plagues me is how this impacts those around me. Often times, I think I'm going so fast (and probably what the enemy wants) that I cannot even survey how long its been since I've talked to this family member, or that friend. I absolutely love the people in my life, and I'm a feeler....so I want to be there for every time that bubbles with laughter, every heartbreak, every milestone, every bad workday, every victory, every well cooked meal, every fun little idiosyncrasy that chimes in throughout the day. It's sweet, it's the full breath of knowing and being known. And I recognize, this is how I should live my relationship with God first and foremost. I could be failing everyone, but if I'm failing Him, my cup runs dry to a point where I'm only running on my own flesh.
We all have sin in our lives, sure, and God knows that makes it so much more difficult at times to love each other well. To truly, live out:
By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. - John 13:35, NIV
....we need the love of God. We need His love, vast as the ocean, to wash over us, to equip us, to make us whole, to redeem us, to change us, to well up in our hearts, to strengthen us, to bring us to Him - so we can be poured out to others. God has a lot to say about love in scripture, and out of our own pride, we often spring to what we think we are not getting or how much we are giving as our eyes flow over His precious words. It's our human reaction. A struggle we may battle till God calls us home, how to love others well? What does it mean to "love one another" so we may be known as His disciple? What does it look like to be completely poured out, denying of self, so that He may be honored? I'm inclined to think answers to these questions aren't simple, or maybe they are, but without a doubt - we need God's wisdom to do it for His glory.
Last weekend, I was on an airline flight across the country. There were three seats in the row, and I sat near the window. A young couple, maybe in their early to mid-20's, stopped to sit next to me. The young woman, slender but not skinny, wearing jeans and a white fitted shirt. She was wearing a backpack, and had beautiful brown hair in pig-tail braids. She wore glasses, and as I looked down, I noticed she had a white cane guiding her steps. She was blind. Her boyfriend, a guy with an athletic build, wearing a windbreaker and khaki shorts, gingerly helped her get settled into her seat. I was glued to watching this display of care and compassion. Throughout the flight, they played a game on their tray tables, then chatted, and all the while he would take care of her by helping her put on a light jacket, then opening her small bag of pretzels, and neither of them never complained or looked annoyed. It was so sweet. Now, I don't know these people, I don't know if they love Jesus or what, but I was thankful that God allowed me to watch this selfless display of love and kindness right beside me.
This young woman couldn't see. She couldn't see if her boyfriend was a handsome guy or if he had ten zits that day, she couldn't see if he had been working his biceps at the gym everyday or if he had gray hair, she couldn't see if he had ten scars or yellow teeth. And he was incredibly taken by her, it was obvious. To her credit, he was a very handsome guy. She would rest her head against his shoulder, he would reach to hold her hand. Then I knew, what she COULD see was this guy's heart, she could see how he cared for her, she could see his patience with her, she could see how he can be trusted, she could see his kindness and gentleness, she could see his selflessness and self-denial, she could see how he loved her, she could see how he truly valued her, and she could see that her ability to not see didn't stop him from being enamored with her affection. I was absolutely fascinated.
I immediately thought to the classic verse:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, NIV
I know so many times we read over that verse as most of us have read it a million times. But to stop, and soak in each word, each implied meaning, to marinate in each trait of love....it's world changing. It changes everyone's world, and everything about the world. Sure, it may be a tall order, a tough description to strive for, but incredibly worth it. What is a world without this type of love? Simultaneously, it is a world without Jesus. We can know this love by knowing His love for us. We can live this out only through Him, and because of Him. It's a beautiful display of His love shattering the small, meager worlds we often create for ourselves. His is so much better, it is of a love that promises SO much better. I want to live out this love, I want to live out His love. And Lord knows, I am incapable of doing that perfectly everyday. I desperately need His love. I desperately need His grace. What we sign up for is no small task, to love in the way that others will know we are His disciples. But an eternity of freedom in Christ, to experience this type of love forever, is completely and utterly worth it.
Disclaimer: I'm blond.
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