sharing joy..

I know I have already mentioned it several times... but a theme that just keeps coming up is being thankful and content. Especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas sneaking up so quickly.

Life has this way of being what we make of it. If we go about our lives with an ungrateful attitude and looking for ways to gain everything we can, then we are going to have such a joy-less life. No fun, no smiles, no peace.

If we go through life, though, with the realization that we are so blessed, that makes all the difference. To know that we are Loved by the King makes our hearts want to sing, as Chris Tomlin puts it in his new song "How Can I Keep from Singing?"... To be thankful for what God has blessed us with, and to be happy with what we have. To give to others and Love them. Living like this brings joy. It brings joy not only to ourselves, but also to those around us.

Bringing joy to the people I come in contact with is important to me... I love when I walk down the hall at school and see someone I tutored in math last week, or on an English paper a month ago, or the lady who comes to recruit for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization. She always has a smile for me, and she is so sweet. I always stop and talk when I see someone I know, just to say hi, ask how they are doing, and give them a smile.

I remember one day in youth group (so it was several years ago... since I graduated in '02...) Pastor Brian was talking about the good Samaritan and how that story applies to our lives. He was talking about Loving our neighbors, and I will forever remember what he said next... Our neighbor is anyone who is in need. ~ And everybody is in need of something. Maybe it is something big, like a car or a home, or maybe it is something else. Maybe they are in need of a friend, just someone to listen. Maybe they need a hug. Maybe all they need is a smile. But everybody is in need of something. There is always something we can share with others. It is so amazing what just a smile can do to brighten someone's day, week... even their life.

So often it is hard for us as humans to see the big picture. It is really important, though, to keep in mind that the here and now is not the point. We will not always see the results of what we do and say here on earth. God knows how He is going to use these things, though. He has something great in store, if we will just listen to Him and Love others. A smile can change someone's whole life, even though we may never know it until heaven. But keeping that in mind can help our perspectives to stay in the right place, it can help us focus more on the bigger picture instead of just on what we can see right now.

I guess this took sort of a different turn from what I started out saying. God knew what I needed to say though... He knew what I needed to write and what I need to be learning right now. I love how He can use the strangest things to teach us crucial lessons; that is often what He chooses to do. Maybe I pay attention better when something is out of the ordinary. I don't know. But I love how He always has something great to teach me, and some different way to teach it to me. :)

gratitude..

"send some rain, would You send some rain?
'cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
and the sun is gigh and we are sinking in the shade
would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
but maybe not, not today
maybe You'll provide in other ways
and if that's the case...

we'll give thanks to You with gratitude
for lessons learned in how to thirst for You
how to bless the very sun that warms our face
if You never send us rain

daily bread, give us daily bread
bless our bodies, keep our children fed
fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
wrap us up
and warm us through
tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
or maybe not, not today
maybe You'll provide in other ways
and if that's the case...

we'll give thanks to You
with gratitude
a lesson learned to hunger after You
that a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead
and if we never taste that bread

oh, the differences that often are between
everything we want and what we really need

so grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
move our hearts to hear a single beat
between alibis and enemies tonight
or maybe not, not today
peace might be another world away
and if that's the case...

we'll give thanks to You
with gratitude
for lessons learned in how to trust in You
that we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
in abundance or in need
and if You never grant us peace

but Jesus, would You please..."

~ "gratitude"... nichole nordeman

Wow.. what can I say?? That is quite a song. Quite a prayer. It really needs to be my own prayer, the cry of my heart. But how often is it not? I hate to think how often... There is always, always, always something to be thankful for. There is something to smile about, something to be joyful about. Paul talks in Philippians 4 about having learned to be content in whatever situation he happened to be in... and he was in some pretty hard and nasty situations at different points in his life. He learned to be truly content when he was hungry or well-fed, when he had a home or not, when he had good clothes and when he didn't. He learned to trust in God for everything that he needed and came to believe that He would provide everything he ever needed. Philippians 4:19.

As Americans (and just generally as humans...) we tend to fail to see the difference between what we want and what we really need. Look at how much God has blessed us with. I have been in places where the people have absolutely nothing by our standards. They cook outside; they have to get their food daily, because they have no place to store it from day to day. They don't have a bathroom, and they cram ten or more people into a tiny home with just a room or two. They have a little hook on the wall where they can hang their clothes, whatever they happen to not be wearing that day, which isn't too much. They have nothing to the extent that they pick up what we consider to be trash, and they keep it. They don't have clean water. And yet... these people who have so little are so generous. They invite you into their homes and proudly show off their few possessions and their family. They always have a smile for you. There is just nothing like it. They share what they have. It brings tears to your eyes. Trust me, I've been there.

"show me what it means..."

"i’ve been here a thousand times before
face down on the floor
wondering how i even reached this place again
but You have shown so endlessly
how Your love pours over me
no picture can re-create the beauty that I see

show me what it means
to live my life a sacrifice
if only i would realize
how much it took to pay the price
i know i’d always give
everything to You

i want this world to see
Your perfect majesty
reflecting from my life this brilliant poetry
written all over this place
the signs of all creation that You breathed
words can’t even state how much You mean to me

i want to face my very crime
of not giving all of mine
but i can feel the hope You bring to me..."

~ "what it means"... jeremy camp

I need to live my life as a sacrifice to my Savior. We are called to be living sacrifices. Romans 12:1-2. A topic that keeps coming up lately is really living and sharing what we believe. A friend and I were talking about it the other day at school, and then we continued our conversation on it the next day when the same subject came up in a Bible study we were doing. It is so important. People do not want to be a part of something that is just a bunch of hypocrites. They want to see the realness of our faith. Yeah, so I keep writing about this subject... but it is so important. It is a very crucial aspect of our faith. If we do not live so that people can see Jesus in us, then so many of them will never know Him. "We might be the only 'Jesus' some people ever see." I need to let Jesus be reflected in my life, so that everything I do really shows how much He means to me. I need to be active in sharing my faith and not just be content in letting it be known that I am a Christian. I need to go and share it. Matthew 28:18-20. Whatever it means for my life, I need to share, and I need to be a living sacrifice. I need to put sharing my faith over my own comfort. Trust me, there have been so many times when I have been uncomfortable in situations I have been in... but those are the times when we grow. How can I grow if I stay only where I am comfortable and cozy? And how will others see my willingness to go out and get dirty, making myself on an equal level with people who have less than I do if I don't get out of my comfort zone?

This really is not very organized as far as my thoughts on it go... but it is just something that has been surfacing and resurfacing lately. It is a passion of mine that I want to keep strong and grow even stronger. I have to live what I believe. That is just the way it is.

let my life speak...

After class yesterday, I was on my way back to work at the other end of the school... Walking through the hall, I passed a girl I work with in the Learning Center. We stopped to talk for just a minute. She was on her way to class, and I knew she had a quiz in that class, so as we went on our way, I turned back to her and said something about hoping her quiz went well. And then she just looked at me, and she said, "You always look so happy!"... with a look on her face that was almost incredulous, like "how on earth do you do that?"

That is one of the biggest compliments she could have given me. I want my life to show that I am happy. It is not just happiness though... it is joy. I love that she has seen that joy in my life. She sees me smile all the time, and she sees that I've always got something good to say about whatever's going on. We didn't have time to get into why I have joy... she had to get to class and I had to get to work. But... I am praying for an opportunity to have that conversation with her.

"all the colors of the rainbow
all the voices of the wind
every dream that reaches out
that reaches out to find where love begins
every word of every story
every star in every sky
every corner of creation lives to testify

for as long as i shall live
i will testify to love
i'll be a witness in the silences
when words are not enough
with every breath i take
i will give thanks to God above
for as long as i shall live
i will testify to love

from the mountains to the valleys
from the rivers to the sea
every hand that reaches out
every hand that reaches out to offer peace
every simple act of mercy
every step to kingdom come
all the hope in every heart will
speak what love has done..."

~ "testify to love"... avalon

If we pay attention to it, all of creation testifies to God's greatness and Love. Everything good points to Him, whether or not we connect the dots. I want my life to speak of how great our God is. Just like the mountains and the rivers, acts of mercy, the stars in the sky, and the colors of the rainbow... just like they testify to God's Love, I want my life to testify. I am choosing to live so as to testify to His goodness and grace and mercy.

It is no secret where I work that I am a Christian, and that I go to church. There are a couple of other believers that I work with, which is really encouraging to me. At the same time though, I am glad that I do not work with only Christians, because if I did... I have this feeling that I would get into a sort of rut in my walk with God. Living what I say I believe would still be important, but it would be different in that I would not have people look at me and say "You always look so happy!" with the same look on their face that this girl had yesterday. Maybe here and there, but not like I have the opportunity right now. My mom has said several times that she wishes I were attending a Christian school. But you know what? ~ I really, really believe that I am exactly where God wants me for the time being. He wants me in class and at work with unbelievers surrounding me. For right now, this is my mission field from God. He has blessed me so much. I need to pass along the blessings He's given me. I need to be in school right where I am, sharing a smile and a kind word, encouraging others, and sharing God's great Love.

I thank God for placing me here. When I started college two years ago, I honestly never expected to get to the point where I would walk down the hall and know so many of the people I see on my way to wherever it is I am going. I constantly see people in the halls who I know from class (both current or previous classes), people I work with, people I tutor, people I just know from seeing them all the time, etc. There is one lady who comes a couple of times each month and recruits volunteers for the "Big Brother/Big Sister" organization that goes to public schools and mentors the kids there... I have gotten to know her and now every time I see her, I stop and say hi and ask how her day's going... I love to see her smile. :) The other day she told me I was a bright spot in her day or something along those lines. If I can brighten someone's day or make a difference in their life... then I want to do it. I want to show them Jesus' Love... I might be the only Jesus they ever meet. So I need to make the most of the opportunities I am given.