I'm going to tell you my rendition of what my very dear friend told me, and I hope it helps, at the very least, to get you to open up the channels of communication.
GOD IS NOT MAD AT YOU.
He is not sitting up in Heaven shaking His head because you messed up again, thinking of ways to punish you for your actions. He is holding out His hand asking you to come to Him and let Him "fix" things. Sometimes, I think He's on His metaphorical knees, begging you to come to Him...
...not because He's a weak God who needs us to validate Himself, but because He is a perfect, loving, Father, friend, and Savior who wants the best for us, and only He knows what's best. He knows because He created us, and the best thing for us is His will.
"you can ALWAYS come home"
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
News
Arbitrarily irritated: my grandfather told my mom I can't afford my car. I am a full-time college student working 25-35 hours a week and still getting As. What exactly are you complaining about?
In other news: I am about to catch up on my school work.
I had a mini-nervous breakdown on Sunday/Monday, due in part to the strange over-medicated experience I had Saturday evening.
Again, I might graduate in May, rather than December, especially now that my grandpa thinks it's okay to persecute me while I'm trying to get a degree.
The meeting of the Kaleo Life Group sets the whole tone for my week, and we went to the OK State Fair this past week, and are considering skipping this upcoming week. :-/ I'll have to figure out how to keep myself on track.
I know a guy who really wants to be my boyfriend.
I am scared.
I want to get back into blogging.
If I bail on the education degree (and go the alternative route), I'll have 3-6 hours of available B.S. class time next semester where I might take a course called "Blogs: New Independent Media." Or I might take Spanish. Spanish is probably the better idea.
That's all.
In other news: I am about to catch up on my school work.
I had a mini-nervous breakdown on Sunday/Monday, due in part to the strange over-medicated experience I had Saturday evening.
Again, I might graduate in May, rather than December, especially now that my grandpa thinks it's okay to persecute me while I'm trying to get a degree.
The meeting of the Kaleo Life Group sets the whole tone for my week, and we went to the OK State Fair this past week, and are considering skipping this upcoming week. :-/ I'll have to figure out how to keep myself on track.
I know a guy who really wants to be my boyfriend.
I am scared.
I want to get back into blogging.
If I bail on the education degree (and go the alternative route), I'll have 3-6 hours of available B.S. class time next semester where I might take a course called "Blogs: New Independent Media." Or I might take Spanish. Spanish is probably the better idea.
That's all.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
whoever finds God finds life
i would hope that you don't think you have to believe in the lifechurch.tv high-tech mega-church model to believe this. the thing that people often miss about us is that we don't care about our buildings or our technology. those are just tools we use to get to God. the only place where true life exists is in Him.
i have something akin to an interview tomorrow with some people about worship ministry.
i am a bit overwhelmed. i tweeted this the other day: "if you're looking for it, God always goes for shock and awe." He has completely revolutionized my life. this year is shaping up to be a perfect 2010 for reasons i could never have predicted.
i can't even type a coherent blog post because there are so many thoughts running through my head.
i have realized, yet again, that there is no one like the living God.
i know, better than many, that i'm not qualified to say that. i've said contradictory things so many times. but that's what makes Him the greatest in this world or any other. He is strong enough to take chances even on those who have let Him down before.
i have to reign myself in everyday.
i have to fight off the guilt everyday.
i have to fight off the temptation everyday.
and i am scared everyday.
but God is faithful everyday.
and God is forgiving everyday.
and He heals a little piece of something everyday.
He plants a little seed of something everyday.
and i trust Him.
i pray that all of us let our hearts be softened, let ourselves be romanced, by the God of the universe.
at the very least, i promise you'll never be bored!
i have something akin to an interview tomorrow with some people about worship ministry.
i am a bit overwhelmed. i tweeted this the other day: "if you're looking for it, God always goes for shock and awe." He has completely revolutionized my life. this year is shaping up to be a perfect 2010 for reasons i could never have predicted.
i can't even type a coherent blog post because there are so many thoughts running through my head.
i have realized, yet again, that there is no one like the living God.
i know, better than many, that i'm not qualified to say that. i've said contradictory things so many times. but that's what makes Him the greatest in this world or any other. He is strong enough to take chances even on those who have let Him down before.
i have to reign myself in everyday.
i have to fight off the guilt everyday.
i have to fight off the temptation everyday.
and i am scared everyday.
but God is faithful everyday.
and God is forgiving everyday.
and He heals a little piece of something everyday.
He plants a little seed of something everyday.
and i trust Him.
i pray that all of us let our hearts be softened, let ourselves be romanced, by the God of the universe.
at the very least, i promise you'll never be bored!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Rooted and Grounded pt. 2
A poet I know wrote, "It's the hardest thing in the world is to look someone in the eye and admit: 'I will disappoint you'" (Colin Gilbert). And he was very right.
Over the last five or six weeks, a very good friend of mine listened to God's voice hard enough to show me some things I've been hiding from for a long time.
All it takes is a foothold of fear, of doubt, of misinformation - just a little bit of a lie mixed in with a whole lot of truth - and before you know it, you're on a path you never planned to be on, doing things you never thought you'd do.
We change so much from our teenage years to full adulthood. Some of us go from being rowdy kids who don't listen to authority to soldiers and family men who make it their business to take care of those in need. Some of us go from hating school to wanting to teach little ones. Some of us go from being all-around good kids to being rebellious and incendiary.
Some say this change is inevitable. It is growth and there is no stopping or circumventing it.
My best friend and I have long believed that there's a small window of opportunity to raise hell and not be judged for it. So we better take advantage of it while we're young, because when we "grow up" it won't be acceptable.
I've done and believed a little bit of all of these things.
I can't say I regret them.
I've heard more than one pastor say, "it's better to learn by instruction than by correction."But I've always been a kinetic learner.
So now I'm nearing the end of a college career that's taking longer than expected. I'm taking stock of my friends, my experiences, my skills, my dreams, and I'm wondering if I'm on the right path.
Over the last two weeks, I have let myself become vulnerable again to a kind of love that demands nothing. The kind that hopes for perfection, and almost pleads with my heart to take my place in the making of that perfection. And I am amazed at how wrong I was when I thought that's what I'd been pursuing the whole time.
Pastor Charles Martin at Integrity's Voice of Victory Church said, "God isn't asking you to be perfect; He's just asking you to be the best you you can be." And I'm realizing that I was placed in this body, in this skin, in this city, in my family, with my various groups of friends and influences for a specific reason. I don't quite know the reason, but I do know that running from what my unique set circumstances requires does not create the best version of myself.
I am put in mind of a quote from Shakespeare: "To thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."
And I realize now that I have not been true to myself. Not the self you probably are acquainted with. But my soul-level self, the one that is part and particle of a creative God. I have been false to her and therefore have been false to several people I know...perhaps for the last few years.
This is not another manifesto of all the imminent truth I am now privvy to.
I'm good at writing manifestos.
This is a statement to those of you who care, and I'm blessed because there are a lot of you - near and far, that I am done pretending to have answers. I can tell you what part of your sentence is grammatically incorrect, but beyond that I have no declarative statements to make, save these:
1. I have probably disappointed you at some point...maybe in this very moment.
2. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ...And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us."
3. "Christ came that we may have life and that to the full."
4. I never intended to hurt anyone - not you, not myself, not the heart of God.
5. I do not know how to make this work.
6. "With God all things are possible."
Over the last five or six weeks, a very good friend of mine listened to God's voice hard enough to show me some things I've been hiding from for a long time.
All it takes is a foothold of fear, of doubt, of misinformation - just a little bit of a lie mixed in with a whole lot of truth - and before you know it, you're on a path you never planned to be on, doing things you never thought you'd do.
We change so much from our teenage years to full adulthood. Some of us go from being rowdy kids who don't listen to authority to soldiers and family men who make it their business to take care of those in need. Some of us go from hating school to wanting to teach little ones. Some of us go from being all-around good kids to being rebellious and incendiary.
Some say this change is inevitable. It is growth and there is no stopping or circumventing it.
My best friend and I have long believed that there's a small window of opportunity to raise hell and not be judged for it. So we better take advantage of it while we're young, because when we "grow up" it won't be acceptable.
I've done and believed a little bit of all of these things.
I can't say I regret them.
I've heard more than one pastor say, "it's better to learn by instruction than by correction."But I've always been a kinetic learner.
So now I'm nearing the end of a college career that's taking longer than expected. I'm taking stock of my friends, my experiences, my skills, my dreams, and I'm wondering if I'm on the right path.
Over the last two weeks, I have let myself become vulnerable again to a kind of love that demands nothing. The kind that hopes for perfection, and almost pleads with my heart to take my place in the making of that perfection. And I am amazed at how wrong I was when I thought that's what I'd been pursuing the whole time.
Pastor Charles Martin at Integrity's Voice of Victory Church said, "God isn't asking you to be perfect; He's just asking you to be the best you you can be." And I'm realizing that I was placed in this body, in this skin, in this city, in my family, with my various groups of friends and influences for a specific reason. I don't quite know the reason, but I do know that running from what my unique set circumstances requires does not create the best version of myself.
I am put in mind of a quote from Shakespeare: "To thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."
And I realize now that I have not been true to myself. Not the self you probably are acquainted with. But my soul-level self, the one that is part and particle of a creative God. I have been false to her and therefore have been false to several people I know...perhaps for the last few years.
This is not another manifesto of all the imminent truth I am now privvy to.
I'm good at writing manifestos.
This is a statement to those of you who care, and I'm blessed because there are a lot of you - near and far, that I am done pretending to have answers. I can tell you what part of your sentence is grammatically incorrect, but beyond that I have no declarative statements to make, save these:
1. I have probably disappointed you at some point...maybe in this very moment.
2. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ...And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us."
3. "Christ came that we may have life and that to the full."
4. I never intended to hurt anyone - not you, not myself, not the heart of God.
5. I do not know how to make this work.
6. "With God all things are possible."
"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...that He would grant [ME], according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner [WO]man, that Christ may dwell in [MY] heart through faith; that [I], being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that [I] may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
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