Tag Archives: God

May 3, 2013 · 1:21 pm

En GUARDE!

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been told to guard my heart.  Like sitting in 7th grade Bible, right after having a discussion about how tampons work.  No joke.  Sorry.  Or 8th grade Bible, and Language, and Social Studies, and P.E. and chapel.  And then practically every-other chapel in 9th through 12th grade. And it mysteriously came up in every high school Bible class.  And in every Christian book I read (fiction and non-fiction).

So, I thought I got the picture.  I mean, it’s pretty simple, right?  Don’t fall completely in love with a boy until you marry him, right?  Simple.

HA!

The thing is, growing up, whether or not the speakers were actually doing this, I always heard “guard your heart” in connection with dating and boys.  Which isn’t really the case.  Giving your heart away is different than guarding your heart.

SO VERY different.

There are SO MANY other things that are going to try to steal or taint your heart other than boys (or girls).  Like anything and everything.  Literally.  Anything on this earth that can be twisted and tweaked so that it can become an obsession that takes your focus away from God.  It will steal your heart.  Like food.  Like Facebook.  Like reading.  Or watching TV.  Or dreaming about your future.  Or working out.  Or computer games.  Or board games (don’t ask). Or coffee.  Or a band.  Or ANYTHING.

Now, before you freak out on me.  Those things I just listed aren’t bad.  I promise.  It’s when they become more important to you than your relationship with God – when you turn to them instead of God when you’re angry/frustrated/confused/depressed – that’s bad.

Incase you didn’t pick up my subtleties there – whoever /whatever you go to when you’re in a rough spot –t hat’s who has your heart.  Wherever /whoever you spend all your free time with – that’s who has your heart.

And it’s no use trying not to “give it” to someone /something, because we as humans are wired to give our hearts away.  You’ve given it to something already.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t guard it, or that you shouldn’t guard it.  Because you should.  Definitely.  Crazy thought – you even should guard it AFTER having given it!  In fact, hopefully whoever you give it to should help you guard it, and you should help guard theirs.

So guard it!  Your heart is the single most precious thing you’re responsible for.

Now, the question I wish someone would have addressed in all those talks I sat through – HOW?!?

I think, as simple (and impossible) as it sounds, the key to guarding our hearts are in our thought patterns.  We are, after all, commanded to think about only things that are good, pure, honorable – all that jazz (Phil 4:8).  That’s a HUGE part of guarding your heart.  Watching / listening to stuff that wouldn’t make you blush if Jesus walked in the room (I know that’s cheesy, but it works) .  And that doesn’t mean only watching stuff that is morally-right, or singers that don’t use cuss words.  It’s more along the lines of in what condition does that song/movie/show/person leave you in when you’re done listening/watching/hanging out.  Are you generally encouraged and challenged?  Or are you angry/frustrated/scared.  How is your heart feeling?  Taking stock of how the world around you affects you – that’s guarding your heart.

Be vigilant*.  Be strong.  Stand True.

 

* (I know – old-school word you have no idea what it means – go look it up!)

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April 12, 2013 · 9:30 pm

Two Princesses

This is the tale of two princesses.  While they are both princesses, and they share many similarities, they also are very different.  Just about as different as the air in a cave is as from the air at dawn.  One is stagnant and smells musty, the other is sweet, and teases the senses awake.

One princess wakes up in the morning, and if the outfit she planned on wearing to school is still in the wash (her Mom servant didn’t have time to wash it last night), she slams doors or sulks all the way to school.  If the milk is old, so she can’t eat her cereal, someone hears about it.  While driving to school, if someone cuts her off, well, road rage might be a bit of an understatement.  I could go on, describe a whole day to you, but I bet you get the picture.

The other princess leads a different sort of princess-life.  She sings like an angel and the birds come and help her clean up a messy house.  Or as she scrubs the floor, all the soap bubbles reflect her face in a romantic-whist full sort of way.  And her mice-friends are sewing her a dress for the ball tonight.  Ha. Just kidding.

No, the other kind of princess has her outfit for school because she washed it herself the night before.  And, even if she had forgotten (it happens to the best of us) it wouldn’t have been the end of the world for her.  If all the bananas for breakfast have freckles, she’s not going to throw a fit.  She can eat cereal with the best of them…even if she wouldn’t prefer to.  And if someone cuts her off on the way to school, she says a little prayer of thankfulness that they didn’t hit her and hope they make it to work on time.

The first princess the “diva” sort of princess; her heart is focused on herself.  The second princess has a “Little Princess” princess heart (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you need to go read The Little Princess.  It’s a fun book).  The second sort of princess has a heart focused on God and others.

Both of these girls are princesses; they both are the daughter of a king.  They both are incredibly wealthy.

I’m betting you can guess which one you’re supposed to be.  The thing is, it’s a day-by-day choice – especially if you live in a place like America.  When we have everything literally at our fingertips, it gets pretty easy to believe that this is how it’s supposed to be. And that life is supposed to at least be comfortable.  After all, we have tons of servants here in America.  And don’t tell me you don’t.  Chances are you don’t have to wash your dishes – a machine gracefully does that for you.  You probably have a carriage so you don’t have to walk to school (it’s called a car).  You probably even have a washer-maid to keep your clothes clean (she’s often disguised as a metal box that is generally called a wash machine).

So when you’re surrounded by such wealth, it’s a genuine challenge to keep your heart and mind guarded, to keep them focused correctly.  It is super-easy for us listen to the little, brown, slimy creature that sits on all of our shoulders, quietly whispering that we DESERVE a clear road, or non-spoiled milk, or our clothes to be ready to be worn the minute we want them, or for the internet to always be available to us.  That creature is called Entitled.  If you listen to it, if you become the first princess, you will soon begin to look a lot like that creature – pretty gross.

Be the second princess.  Keep guard on your heart against Entitled.  Keep in mind that you don’t deserve anything – especially the quality of life you lead.  It’s a gift; a responsibility you’ve been given.  Use and serve with it well.

 

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April 5, 2013 · 1:14 pm

Light

Sunrise at St. Malo's

Sunrise at St. Malo’s

I was driving into the sun yesterday.   It was evening, but too early to be sunset.   I didn’t get to see the sunset last night, but it probably was a pretty one.  There were several clouds in the sky, and clouds are what make a sunrise or sunset spectacular, so it was probably pretty.

However, as I was driving, the sun DID go behind a cloud, lighting it from behind.  In theater, this effect is called “backlighting”- when the shape itself is dark, but the background or outline of the shape is magnificently lit.  In everyday world, on most inspirational cards, it’s called a “silver lining”.  The “lining” of last night’s cloud wasn’t overly silver though.  There was too much yellow in the molten-outline of the cloud to be silver.  It was more like vibrant…joy.  I know, I know, joy isn’t a color, but if it were, I think it would look like the outline of the cloud last night – blindingly yellow-white, almost pulsing, as if it were alive.

Noticing the cloud got me thinking about light, and how important it is.  Duh, right?  We need light to see.  But sometimes, when used correctly, light is what brings out the breath-taking beauty of something.  And that – bringing out the beauty of something – is incredibly important.

Like the cloud last night.  Sure, it’s a cloud, so it’s going to be pretty.  But the light silhouetting it made me take notice of that beauty.

The same is true of sunlight pouring through a stain-glass window.  Sure, the window itself is pretty, but when the light comes through – it can take your breath away.   It’s almost as if the window comes alive, or at least the colors are.

Often art is displayed with a specific light shining on it a specific way – to bring out subtleties in a picture or sculpture that you might not have noticed otherwise.

But the coolest example of light illuminating beauty, in my opinion, is the rainbow.  I mean, if it weren’t for the light hitting the falling raindrops or moisture just right – you wouldn’t even see those colors. All you would see is a dark, foreboding cloud.

I LOVE that God does this to us.  Somehow He cares enough about us, thinks enough of us, to want to display our beauty (such that it is).  And, like a strong sunbeam through a cathedral stain-glass window, He sets us off in breath-taking fashion.  He comes in and sifts through all our sticky gunk and smelly junk and gooey mess and finds our beauty  – the beauty that He originally placed there but no one else might be able to see anymore.  And then He does what He does so well – and lights it up – lights US up, so all the world can see.

The thing is, He asks us to do this as well.  As His disciples, we are called to use our own light (well, to allow God’s light to shine through us) to set off the beauty of others.  There are so many people throughout my life who have come alongside of me, and shown their light on me, allowing the beauty that I and the rest of the world had never seen before – friends, my mentor, my parents.

So now it’s my turn, and now it’s your turn to be lights.

I will leave you with the question that has been circling me the last day or so:  Whose light has helped display YOUR beauty recently?  And whose beauty are you being called to help display?

 

Rainbow

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November 16, 2012 · 12:50 am

Weddings and a Knight

I have probably been to more weddings than most people – assuming most people aren’t in the wedding business.  If you’re a florist, or a baker, or a photographer, or a caterer, or a designer, or a planner – than you’ve probably been to more weddings than me, but just barely.

See, my father was a high school teacher at a Christian school.  And, back in the late 80’s and 90’s when I was growing up, he got invited to what seemed like every-student-that-he-ever-had’s wedding.  So of course, he brought my mother, my brother, and myself along to all those weddings.  It’s just what he did.  And we went to multiple weddings every summer.

I’m not sure when it started, sometime in middle school probably, Mom and I started critiquing the weddings.  We LOVED how the bride displayed her cake; what on earth was that bride thinking putting those colors together.  Or those dresses?  Seriously?  Ouch.  And with the critiquing came planning MY wedding..someday in the future.  Which is pretty normal for a girl actually.  And of course, in order for the wedding to be perfect, there needed to be the perfect groom.  At some point (probably when I was 3) I started dreaming about him.  He would be strong, and godly, and a leader, and not easily angered, and a handy man, and had a heart for missions, and handsome (preferably blue eyes please), and taller than me, and loves kids, and loves to read, and likes to do things, and….well, the list goes on.  At one point it had 32 things on it.  Poor future husband.

I had it all planned out.  He would love me.  He would notice my needs before I even spoke them, and then take care of those very needs without me saying anything.  He would cuddle me.  He would be fine with purple flowers decorating our bedroom.  He would be tender.  He would randomly bring me flowers.  Or chocolate.  But chocolate less often than flowers.  He would surprise me with nights out.  He would listen to me.  He would wake me up before the sun, pack me into the car with a large, lumpy quilt, and drive into the sunrise.  He would be Prince Charming and oh, so very wonderful.

I’ve grown out of some of those delusions.  I’m still waiting for others to actually take place. But something hit me the other day.  I want someone to love me…just because I’m ME.  Not for anything I do, not for anything I can give them or make them feel, but because I’m me – plain and simple.  And I want that person to think I’m beautiful, and to want to spend time with me, to spend money on me (or simply be super-creative with gifts), and to honestly look for my desires and help them become reality.  And I want to do all those things and more for HIM.

Purple pansy in dead leaves

The cool thing is though, God wants the exact same thing.  He wants to be adored, to have you honestly desire to spend time with Him, to tell Him how your day is going, to spend money on those He loves…He wants you to love Him.

The thing that’s circling round my mind though, is that, personally, I think worship looks a lot like love.  I mean think about it.  Part of our worship is our tithe, right?  That’s spending money.  OR He asks us to take care of one of His little ones.  That’s spending money.  He wants us to spend time with Him – whether it’s the traditional “quiet time” or it’s going on a hike with Him, or writing Him a letter or driving into the sunrise – that’s time.  Part of worship is singing, and telling Him how wonderful He is, how amazing and awesome and beautiful and powerful He is.

We are commanded to worship.  I THINK worship is simply a way to teach us how to love God.  I mean, it’s hard, right?  Loving a God – loving ANYONE – that you can’t see, is practically impossible.  Talk about long distance!  You can talk to Him, but not face-to-face, and forget cuddling.   So He gives us worship – a model for how to love Him.  But He, like any person on planet earth, doesn’t want us to love Him simply because we have to.  Rather, because everything within us, wants to.  Like the middle school girl who cannot get her first boyfriend off of her mind, He wants to be that present in our lives.

SO, how’s your worship recently?  Are you worshiping Him, or are you spending your time, your money, your thoughts somewhere else?

He loves you SO much, and His heart hungers for you to love Him back to the best of your ability (it’s what you were molded to do from the beginning).  So, if you haven’t recently, go on a date with your Lover.  Whisper into His ear as He whispers into yours.  Spend some money on Him.  Ask Him how His day is going.  Sit on a park bench and thank Him for all the little, thoughtful things He did for you today.  Like the sunrise.  Like the flowers, or the intricate twigs reaching to sky, or the snowflakes, or a friend’s hug, or a really good meal.  Like pearls, or a peacock feather, or a beautiful piece of art.   Or a butterfly.

So, go ahead, dream of your future prince.  Dream of Him often.  He’ll come for you one day, AND He’ll be on a white horse, Revelations says so.  How awesome is that!?!

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