Will I be honest?

Here's a blurb from another...a pastor that God's used to challenge me greatly...

The honesty of Christianity is refreshing. But it is also scary precisely because I cannot hide. It requires me to ask questions of myself and of God. I cannot impress him with words or rhetoric. I cannot persuade him with being more moral than someone else. No he hones in on my heart and tells me the honest truth, that my heart is sick and inclined towards pursuing myself. But he also tells me the honest truth that he deeply loves and delights in me and desires for me to pursue him.

So much more could be said but the point remains. Christianity is incredibly honest which is both refreshing and scary. And so the question remains. Will I be honest today with where I am in my walk with Christ? Will I be honest with my words today with my neighbors and friends? Will I be honest and recognize what God thinks of me? Will I honestly confess and believe in the sufficiency of Christ?

Will I be honest? The light is brighter and it takes time to adjust our eyes to it. It exposes all of our blemishes and flaws but it is far better than living in darkness.

The Middle Road

Only a couple weeks into this whole blogging business and I'm already getting behind!  Life has been a bit busy, I finally moved out of my apartment and back in with my second family- my Maryland family.  This in itself has been a huge answer to prayer.  So, many of you have probably seen this video clip- but it is speaking to me a lot and it never gets old...I can only pray that God would spare me from the middle road.

Pen and Ink- messing with perspective

Good music at gas stations

Time to be thankful once again...here's my list for the past week:

1) I'm thankful for good music at gas stations!  Why?  Well, if you're paying all that money for gas...you might as well get a little bit of entertainment thrown into the mix.  Haha, today I stopped by to get some gas and they were playing "Benny and the Jets"...it made me smile.

2) I'm thankful for technology- I had to get another biopsy done on my thyroid and I was blown away at the intricacies of it all.  They did an ultrasound while doing the biopsy- so I could literally watch the needle going in and everything moving around from the pressure.  Maybe that's not cool to some of you guys- but I thought it was...it just makes me stop to think about how God's designed His creation- He's a true artist.

3) I'm thankful that this life isn't it...we weren't meant to be satisfied by the world, we were meant to live for more...so, I'm really grateful that when I run after worldly things, I'm left empty...

4) I'm grateful for the body of Christ...and that when you show your darkness, they give you a glimpse of light...when they see your sin, they don't judge- they simply love like Christ.  Who am I to deserve that?

5) I'm grateful that I need God- really really need Him...I know that I couldn't get by were it not for His work in my life. 

Another from the stash

The way I feel after the wind has blown

Dancing in the dark when I’m all alone

Singing to myself so that no one can hear

Letting my mind go wild- a vibrant steer

Flying by the wings of my childhood past-

What I’d give to make each moment last

Feeling the rain as it rolled down my cheek

Time surpassed not more than a week

Laughing so hard until it made me cry

Question every moment- asking why

Toes in the sand- they hid from the sun

Feeling rich with pennies- had only one

Wishing on stars for my dreams to bloom

Living life simply- with extra room

Awake all night- too excited for bed

Newfound treasures- nothing to dread

Times I smiled at those who frowned at me

Wasted days- conforming to the sea

Times I made a difference, looked with my heart

Depressing farewells- when forced to part

Times each surprise ended quicker than I thought

Next day forgotten- but never caught

Times I kept quiet- had something to say

Letting the importance of words pass away

Times I regret- expected more

Forgot what life was really for

Each memory- set solid in stone

Engraved in my mind- time has flown.

A Must Read...seriously

Ok, so I was talking with one of my friends the other day and she told me to go out and get this book...listening to her was the best decision I've made in a long time!  I can't even describe how good it is...

Here's a quote (more like an excerpt...sorry it's just too good):

"Standing before that tree, laden with fruit withheld, we listen to Evil's murmur, 'In the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened...'(Genesis 3:5).  But in the beginning, our eyes were already open.  Our sight was perfect.  Our vision let us see a world spilling with goodness.  Our eyes fell on nothing but the glory of God.  We saw God as He truly is: good.  But we were lured by the deception that there was more to a full life, there was more to see.  And true, there was more to see: the ugliness we hadn't beheld, the sinfulness we hadn't witnessed, the loss we hadn't known.  We eat.  And in an instant, we are blind.  No longer do we see God as one we can truss.  No longer do we perceive Him as wholly good.  No longer do we observe all of the remaining paradise.  We eat.  And in an instant, we see.  Everywhere we look, a world of lack, a universe of loss, a cosmos of scarcity and injustice."

Art Stuff

Jungle Book Vultures = my favorite cartoon characters because they are so funny.  Here's my drawing for the week- mirror image though...oh well.