idols.

maybe i have a blog because i'm obsessed with myself.

but i don't want that to be true.
i do not want this to reflect me thinking that my thoughts are the best.

i want Christ to be the object of all my affection. i want to obliterate all my idols with Christ being the center of everything.

Sun City, AZ

Sun City, Arizona is home to my grandparents, who are arguably two of the most wonderful people who have walked the face of this planet… Gamey and Pop-Pop. The last three days they have taken in my roommate, her mentor (my new friend) and I. No, the people in this picture are not my grandparents, but my Pops often wears a hat that resembles the one pictured above.

While I was there, I spent some time thinking about how much I do not anticipate living in a retirement community. I kept thinking about how hard it would be to deal with the reality that every person you build a friendship with either attends your funeral or you attend theirs. Pesemistic, I know, but I felt burdened by that. Then, I remembered a conversation we had at the dinner table the first night of our arrival.

As I was cutting into my steak, Pop-pop began talking about his friend who became a Christian two years ago and how this man has led 68 people to the Lord ever since, all on the golf course. As Pop described how the Lord softened this man’s heart, his voice became slightly louder and more certain. His speech declared the reverence and affection he has for the Gospel. After talking about his friend, he began to talk about Gamey, he lights up when he talks about his wife. My Gamey is constantly showing hospitality toward her community and getting to know all those who live on her street, so she can tell them the Good News of Jesus Christ. He spoke of how everything Gamey does is done with the hope of telling someone about God’s love for them. Gamey doesn’t just talk about God’s love, although she displays it pretty well. She talks boldly about the problem of evil, the conquering of sin in Jesus’ death on the cross, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ that fully displays God’s glory.

I feel like it is easy to speak of God’s love. The world makes it okay to speak of God’s love because it is a safe term and not explicitly Christian. Do not get me wrong, Gods love is good and it is real and it is beautiful. But I felt convicted about the need to clearly explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My grandparents inspire me to speak about more than just the stuff that is easy to digest. They inspire me to make the Gospel my everything and to go out and spread it more often.

I pray that I am like them one day: madly in love with each other but first with the Lord, always seeking the expansion of the Kingdom, a deep desire to serve others and the ability to serve the Lord wherever they are at. 

I hope you get to meet them one day. If not on Earth, let it be in Heaven.

i like these.

all these pictures via other blogs.

Bodies and Brains

I have these two friends who are always in touch with what is going on inside of themselves. Not just their emotions, but down to the core of the way their bodies work. This probably sounds weird, but whenever one of them has something wrong, they can pinpoint the exact time it started and the direct cause of their discomfort. Not only do they know what is wrong, but they know what to do to make it better.

I, on the other hand, am not this way. Emotions, I figure out, but the body is antother world for me. I get a headache, and I have no clue what to do or the source of where it is coming from. This stems from the fact that I do not have a proper knowledge of myself, with regards to what is going on inside. I have basic health class knowledge, but only enough to make semi-educated guesses. Even with this, I do not know enough to trust my personal opinion on my health.

The reason I state this information is not because I would like to point out the incapabilities I have in knowing my own body. I point this out because I feel this adequately expresses the view I have of the Bible. Here is the parallel in my mind: The Bible, like the human body, has so much importance. As for a body, I have had it my whole life. As for the Bible, I have been raised in the church, and have had one basically my whole life. I have grown up dancing and singing in “Promiseland” (Willow Creek’s children’s ministry). I have been baptized, and have lived a life outwardly dedicated to the Lord, but I do not know Scripture as I would expect sometime in my situation would. I would say that a year ago, I did not even trust what I know about scripture because I was too worried about misinterpretation and even doubted what I knew to be true.

This is where hope jumps in: God is stirring up in me this deep love for his word. I am beginning to understand scripture in ways I never have, and this is supernatural. God is showing me that my past had been so consumed with my own thoughts that I became unhealthily introverted with regards to my thought life. Honestly, I was a girl obsessed with myself and my thoughts. What I have learned is that you cannot trust yourself. But you can trust God’s word. This is the truth. As I have been learning God’s word for real, I have become obsessed with real truth. It is good to be obsessed with God’s word.

Martin Luther suggests to pray that God writes his law on our hearts, as scripture tells us to do. It’s cool because we get to rely on the Lord for this supernatural wisdom for an everlasting truth. Can I get an Amen?