Monday, February 23, 2009
just for laughs
It's Monday so I'm sure you need a good laugh :) This is my new favorite YouTube video....It makes any day brighter!
Friday, February 20, 2009
redefining failure
Lately, I have been struggling a lot with inadequacy, especially in the area of being a wife. It seems that when I look around at other Christian wives I see women who stay at home, cook dinner every night, plan meals for the week or month, budget, stay on top of cleaning, have babies and raise them. All of that stuff is amazing (if you are one of these wives you rock my life), but it simply isn't my life right now. I am the wife whose house may look like a tornado hit it, especially on test week. I am the wife who is more likely to pick up dinner somewhere while running between school, meetings, etc than to cook a big meal. I am the wife who will probably eat cereal for dinner if her husband's at work. I am the wife whose husband is more likely to do laundry than I am. The longest my planning of meals usually goes is this: what are we eating for the next one? I am the wife who doesn't know when she'll have kids and questions if she'll ever be ready since sometimes she can't handle taking care of a puppy.
Believe me, I know that I'm not supposed to be comparing myself to other people (easier said than done for me!) but as I look around at other Christians it is difficult to find wives in a similar situation as mine, or at least those women are not the ones in my life or my community. All this to say that lately I have been calling into question what my life is supposed to look like in light of my role and responsibility as a Christian wife and the call that I feel that God has for me and feeling like a failure on most counts.
Fortunately, yesterday I was able to attend a lunch seminar with Charles Lee, who is a pastor and co-founder of an organization called Just One. His talk was about creativity, but as a part of it he also addressed redefining failure using this video as illustration:
He made the point that outcomes are God's business and that our part of the equation is simply faithfulness. His spin on failure was this: "If you stay faithful to the passions God has formed in you, you cannot fail."
Does this mean I don't want to be better at domestic things and taking care of my home? No, but it does mean that I am free to leave the results up to God while I worry about staying faithful to His calling.
Believe me, I know that I'm not supposed to be comparing myself to other people (easier said than done for me!) but as I look around at other Christians it is difficult to find wives in a similar situation as mine, or at least those women are not the ones in my life or my community. All this to say that lately I have been calling into question what my life is supposed to look like in light of my role and responsibility as a Christian wife and the call that I feel that God has for me and feeling like a failure on most counts.
Fortunately, yesterday I was able to attend a lunch seminar with Charles Lee, who is a pastor and co-founder of an organization called Just One. His talk was about creativity, but as a part of it he also addressed redefining failure using this video as illustration:
He made the point that outcomes are God's business and that our part of the equation is simply faithfulness. His spin on failure was this: "If you stay faithful to the passions God has formed in you, you cannot fail."
Does this mean I don't want to be better at domestic things and taking care of my home? No, but it does mean that I am free to leave the results up to God while I worry about staying faithful to His calling.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
random acts of kindness
So, I'm not sure how many of you know this, but this week is Random Acts of Kindness Week. Last night, at our Wired small group, we were talking about creative ways to bless others especially in light of this week (and wondering if you plan something if it can still be a random act of kindness). Little did I know, I was going to get a chance to witness a truly random act of kindness today.
Since it was such a nice day, Jamie and I decided to take Schroder to the Botanical Gardens for a little jog/walk. On our first lap around the trail, we noticed a man who had tied his dog's leash to a tree and was yelling for another dog to come to him. As we got closer, we saw that the other dog was in a creek that had gotten fairly deep because of the rain recently. On top of that, the dog was blind. Apparently, the dog had fallen off the bridge and into the water. As soon as we figured out what was going on, Jamie handed me Schroder's leash and waded down to the water to help retrieve the dog. After probably 10-15 minutes, he and the dog's owner finally got the dog out of the water and back on his leash.
The moral of this story? I love that I have the kind of husband who didn't hesitate to help someone in need (especially since the runaway dog situation was all too reminiscent of my awful night with Schroder on Friday....whole other story). In truth, it's what we as Christians are supposed to do, not just on Random Acts of Kindness Week, but always. I love the picture Jesus paints for us in the Bible of what it's like when we help others: "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40)
I pray that this week and the above scripture would be a reminder to us as Christians that we are to live a Random (and planned) Acts of Kindness LIFE! Feel free to leave any ideas of RAOK that you have done or that others have done to bless you...I would love to hear them :)
Since it was such a nice day, Jamie and I decided to take Schroder to the Botanical Gardens for a little jog/walk. On our first lap around the trail, we noticed a man who had tied his dog's leash to a tree and was yelling for another dog to come to him. As we got closer, we saw that the other dog was in a creek that had gotten fairly deep because of the rain recently. On top of that, the dog was blind. Apparently, the dog had fallen off the bridge and into the water. As soon as we figured out what was going on, Jamie handed me Schroder's leash and waded down to the water to help retrieve the dog. After probably 10-15 minutes, he and the dog's owner finally got the dog out of the water and back on his leash.
The moral of this story? I love that I have the kind of husband who didn't hesitate to help someone in need (especially since the runaway dog situation was all too reminiscent of my awful night with Schroder on Friday....whole other story). In truth, it's what we as Christians are supposed to do, not just on Random Acts of Kindness Week, but always. I love the picture Jesus paints for us in the Bible of what it's like when we help others: "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40)
I pray that this week and the above scripture would be a reminder to us as Christians that we are to live a Random (and planned) Acts of Kindness LIFE! Feel free to leave any ideas of RAOK that you have done or that others have done to bless you...I would love to hear them :)
Thursday, February 5, 2009
balancing act
Lately I have been thinking a lot about grace and its dispensation. More specifically, I have struggled with the balance of grace and accountability. How do I encourage my brothers and sisters in their walk with Christ and keep them accountable to that while still displaying the grace that has been so freely given to me? How do I keep others accountable for things that I have messed up on in the past without being hypocritical, legalistic, judgmental? Less it sound differently, I do believe this can and should be done but in my humanness I find it a constant struggle that I probably mess up more than I get right.
This balancing act is one of the things that makes living in community so difficult. Inevitably you are dealing with a group of people that are not in the same place spiritually and it is often difficult to know how to deal with individuals in the place where they are instead of treating everyone the same or assuming everyone is at the same place spiritually as you are. As the pastor from my home church likes to say, "Sameness isn't fairness," and he's right. While it might seem fair and equal to treat everyone the same, it's not the way Jesus treats us and not the example given to us from the Bible. In 1 Thessalonians 5:14, Paul says, "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone." He urges us to treat people differently based on they place they are in. If they are lazy they should be warned, if they are timid they should be encouraged, if they are weak, they need help. When we warn the weak or encourage the idle, we do them a disservice, which is why the same approach cannot work for every person. "Sameness isn't fairness."
But the part of that verse that I have the hardest time with is "be patient with everyone." Ahhh, back to the balancing act. I will admit, I struggle with being patient with those who are less spiritually mature or who are immature in general. Not that I have it all figured out by any means, but I find myself getting impatient with those who I feel should "know better." I rarely stop to question whether they do know better or examine whether instead of being idle they are perhaps timid or weak...I jump right on the "warn" bandwagon. My prayer is that as I navigate through the balancing act of grace versus action, God will give me eyes to better discern individual needs and patience with the timid, the weak, AND the idle.
This balancing act is one of the things that makes living in community so difficult. Inevitably you are dealing with a group of people that are not in the same place spiritually and it is often difficult to know how to deal with individuals in the place where they are instead of treating everyone the same or assuming everyone is at the same place spiritually as you are. As the pastor from my home church likes to say, "Sameness isn't fairness," and he's right. While it might seem fair and equal to treat everyone the same, it's not the way Jesus treats us and not the example given to us from the Bible. In 1 Thessalonians 5:14, Paul says, "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone." He urges us to treat people differently based on they place they are in. If they are lazy they should be warned, if they are timid they should be encouraged, if they are weak, they need help. When we warn the weak or encourage the idle, we do them a disservice, which is why the same approach cannot work for every person. "Sameness isn't fairness."
But the part of that verse that I have the hardest time with is "be patient with everyone." Ahhh, back to the balancing act. I will admit, I struggle with being patient with those who are less spiritually mature or who are immature in general. Not that I have it all figured out by any means, but I find myself getting impatient with those who I feel should "know better." I rarely stop to question whether they do know better or examine whether instead of being idle they are perhaps timid or weak...I jump right on the "warn" bandwagon. My prayer is that as I navigate through the balancing act of grace versus action, God will give me eyes to better discern individual needs and patience with the timid, the weak, AND the idle.
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