A body

A body. Many parts with one function, one purpose.

Two eyes,

A nose,

A smile,

Two eyebrows,

A head of hair,

A precious face.

A body that was made and designed in God’s image. A body that to all are similar but different. Famous or not, we are all created alike. One body, one purpose.

But if we were all created for one purpose then why do I see separation, hate, bitterness, selfishness, seclusion, pride, and disregard?

I am ashamed.

THIS event. This awful, tragic, beautiful event in history is why we are alive.

One man, a baby then a child then an adult, average in all ways but one, saved us.

Jesus Christ saved you. He saved YOU.

So then why, please tell me why, we do not look like one body.

The church isn’t a building, its a people. The body of Christ. So then why is it that I walk into a room and see malice toward each other, annoyance toward each other, disinterest with each other, disrespect for each other?

How can a body function if the eyes hate the hands? How can it function if one foot wants to go right and the other wants to go left? It will go no where.

We are not acting as the body of Christ —-We are not BEING the body of Christ.

I don’t want to feel like accomplishing even the smallest task is impossible because no one will help me. I don’t want to feel like I can’t be myself for fear of being judged. I don’t want to see people talking and gossiping when they are supposed to be worshiping. I don’t want to see a single child standing alone because no one will go talk to them. I do not want to see another person walk away from the faith because the only example they have is a mother or father who is a hypocrite. I don’t want to feel like I have to conquer the world on my own.

I can’t. I’m only one part of the body. A body cannot function properly without all of its members.

1 Corinthians 12: 12-31 says,—”¹²For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²²On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,²³and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.²⁶If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But earnestly desire the higher gifts.”

So what are we going to do about it? Please tell me,

What Are We Going To Do To Change This?

I will no longer stand by and pretend that everything is going as it should when it isn’t. Let’s fix this.

I can’t do it alone. I don’t want to have to face this world on my own any longer.

Body, where ever you may be, whoever you may be, please…come together.

We need each other.

Maybe, Possibly, 50% Yes

I’m afraid.

I’m afraid of the plan that God has for me.

God has big things in store for me.

He is going to ask me to do things

That will seem impossible.

He will ask me to conquer mountains

That no one else is willing to climb.

But I’m afraid.

I’m afraid of those mountains.

I’m afraid of the people and places

He will have me face.

I’m afraid of being looked up to.

I’m afraid of the influence that He

is already giving me.

How can a 16 year old do big things?

When I think of all the things that

My Father is going to have me do I am

Afraid.

When I compare how small I feel with

The size of my future it seems impossible.

What can I really do to make a difference?

When I think of the future my two thoughts are

“Yeah right.”

and

“How?”

I know that God has bigger

Plans for me that I have for myself.

But why me?

This question seems to resound in my mind.

Why

Me?

God is going to ask me to do big things.

He is going to ask me to climb

Mountains that no one else will

And that all others have been blinded to.

He will ask me to stand out.

He IS asking me to stand out.

So here I am.

Elizabeth Grace-Marie.

It seems like I’m at the

Starting Line,

But I know that I’ve already

Been running the race for quite some time.

But it will not be running on flat ground any longer.

It will be bumpy.

At some points the hills will be so steep

That I will be out of breath.

But alas there is always a downhill slide

From a climb.

So from now on,

Instead of saying,

Maybe,

Possibly,

50% Yes,

My answer will be,

Here I am.

Send me.

the closing to an opening

Today is the last day of my junior year of high school as well as the last day of my first year of college.

It seems and feels just like any other day.

Cold, dreary, wintry, yet spring is in the air.

On this day, a day like so many others, something new is arising.

In the next three years I will graduate from high school, then graduate from college, and turn 18 somewhere in the mix of things.

Then what?

All of a sudden the unknown is set before me and I stare into the abyss.

But I am not afraid.

I know that in those three years, much change will come. God will move like never before, and lives will be changed, quite possibly even mine. But I am not afraid. I am not afraid of the unknown; of the thought of the many possibilities of what the future may hold. God has a plan and I know that it is to prosper me and not to harm me. I also know that the big things that I can barely see myself achieving are the stepping-stones to what God will have me do in the future. He will have me speak when I would rather stay silent. He will have me run when I would rather sit down. He will have me persevere so that I do not lack anything.

At church this past week, my youth pastor assigned the passage James 1:1-8 to my group. As I was reading that passage, it became so clear to me why hardships come. As I sat there thinking back on all the things that have happened in the past: death, injuries, hardships, it was suddenly so clear as to why God allows those things to happen.

God has a plan. A good pleasing and perfect plan, but we have to allow our eyes to be open to see it.

James 1:2-8 says,

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

This is what I want to live out in the next three years to come. I want to look at trials with pure joy. I want to persevere through the testing of my faith. I want to be mature and complete, not lacking anything. I want to  believe and not doubt. And I want to stand firm in the solid foundation.

The next three years will bring change and hardship as well as good times too. As I face the closing to an opening, I will walk forward with confidence.

Something…or nothing?

On September 13th in 1994, a daughter of the King was born. For nine months her family had patiently awaited the arrival of this creation. Throughout that nine months, they had expected a boy: Nicholas Thomas Dean, but upon arrival, surprised, my name was changed to Elizabeth Grace-Marie. I entered this world as an infant. A helpless babe of whom needed to be nurtured and cared for; but I grew. I grew to become a toddler, then a little one, then a little girl, then a “big” girl, then a young lady, then a young woman, and now something between a woman and a young woman. With the years of physical growth came mental, emotional, and spiritual growth. I went through grade school, middle school, some of high school, and some of college too. I’ve learned that dating is overrated and waiting is so important. I’ve learned that people can be a challenge, but they are always worth it. I’ve learned that we live in a spiritual world in physical bodies. I’ve also learned that living for Christ is a big responsibility that can be taken lightly all too often. But yet, through all of this learning and growing, I am still nothing.

Many, many century’s ago, another child entered this world. He entered the world, Son of the King, the same way I did. He grew up the same way I did. He learned and grew mentally, emotionally, and physically, just like I did. Yet he was something.

Christ was created to be a King. He was created for a grand purpose that was greater than he himself: to save the world. He was born for greatness. He was something.

But I am nothing. I am simply Elizabeth Grace-Marie. I am not a Queen, not even a princess. I was not created to save the world; I can’t even save myself. I am not capable of great things, nor can I perform miracles. I am nothing.

Sometimes it is hard to see God’s greater purpose. Sometimes the only thing I see is the mountain that looms in front of me that I can’t see beyond. All I see is the massive amount of earth that needs to be conquered. And when I compare how small I am compared to this mountain, I feel even smaller. I am nothing. When I feel trapped in a dark hole so deep under the ground that I can’t see the light of day and I give up because I know I can’t find my way out; so I stop trying.  I am nothing. When I am faced with arguments or frustration or anger or condescension, instead of responding with patience and love, I lash out. I am nothing. When God tells me to speak to someone or pray over someone or speak truth into someone’s life and I know I should, yet my feet stay rooted to the ground. I am nothing. When God speaks clearly, yet I refuse to listen, once again I am nothing.

I am nothing.

Yet God has called me to be something.

Me + Me = Nothing

BUT…

Me + God = Something

I am nothing on my own. I really am simply Elizabeth Grace-Marie. Yet through Christ’s sacrifice, I am made into something. Only through God can we be made into something greater than ourselves. Only through Him can we accomplish great things. Only through Him.

Two verses that explain our weaknesses well are:

2 Corinthians 12:9 ~~~ ‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.’

2 Corinthians 13:4 ~~~ ‘For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.’

Quite often, when God asks me to do something the thought that immediately comes to mind is: “But I am nothing. I can’t do that! That’s WAY to big for me.” But I think I forget Who I have on my side. I think I underestimate the power that God has. I think that I am so blinded by the comprehensible greatness of the mountain that God is telling me to climb, that I forget the incomprehensible greatness of my God.

I want to live as something. I want to fulfill all the plans that my God has prepared for me, however big or small. I want to “boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

God has a great plan for me. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that the plan He has for me is greater than the plan I have for myself. But only through Him will His plan be completed. I know that God doesn’t speak just to speak. He doesn’t coach just for the sake of coaching, He doesn’t move just to move, and —–He doesn’t love just to love.

I will trust in His promises.

John 3:30 says, “He must become greater; I must become less.”

I’m ready…but what about them?

Every morning I wake up.

I open my eyes to the familiar four walls of my room and the familiar sounds of my family moving around the house.

I feel the warmth and comfort of my bed and think about how much I don’t want to get out of it.

As I lie there, I wonder what the day will hold. I wonder if it will be a good day or a bad day? A happy day or a sad day? An encouraging day or a disheartening day? What will this day bring with it?

Something that I am learning is that while we’re here on earth, there will always be heartache and pain; there will always be poverty and sickness; there will always be hurt and anger; there will always be distrust; there will always be envy; there will always be pride; there will always be thieves; there will always be sadness; there will always be greed; there will always be murder; and there will always be Satan who is constantly fighting with our Savior to win the battle over our souls.

I see this.

I see this.

I see this.

I see this.

I see this.

More days than I would wish for I see all the hurt in this world. I see the materialistic place that this once perfect place has become. I see the sadness and the pain and the distrust. I see the anger. I see the malicious behavior. I see words that tear down. I see premarital sex. I see pride. I see divorce. I see things that break my heart. But these things that break my heart break my Fathers heart a million times more.

This is not what God intended for this world, yet this is the way it is.

This place that we call home, this planet called earth, this place where insignificant persons of Gods creation try to be god himself, has become home to too many.

This life that we are living has become eternity to too many.

But I want to go home.

I don’t want to have to see the heartache and pain of this world any longer. I want to go to the Perfect Place where I can worship the God of All everyday, every hour, every minute. I want to go to the place where there is no weeping, no hurting, and no pain. I want to go to the place my Father sits on His throne with Jesus at his right hand. I want to sing with the heavenly host. I want to go to the place where I will spend an eternity in right relationship with Christ.

But what about them?

What about them? What about the millions and billions of people in this world that won’t get to spend an eternity with Christ? What about the people who never had the chance to spend an eternity with Christ because they haven’t even heard his name? What about the people who are wavering on a line? Is it not our job to tend to these people? Is it not our responsibility to further God’s Kingdom and spread the gospel? Is it not our responsibility to be the fishers of men?

We take this responsibility all too lightly.

This is not a part time job. It’s not something that can be done for 30 minutes each day then checked off our list. It’s not a suggestion either. It’s our job.

It’s a 24/7/365 job that requires the constant pursuit of Christ. It requires reading the Word and knowing it. It requires speaking the Truth. It requires praising and worshiping our Father in Heaven amid the noise of this world. It requires endurance and perseverance. It requires diligence. But it also requires the Father himself.

We would accomplish nothing if our Father wasn’t the influential factor. Absolutely nothing.

We only have one life to live on this earth. A life that will only last close to a century. So how will you spend it?

Will you spend it hoping something grand will happen, but then sitting back and letting life take control? Will you spend your days getting frustrated and angry with people who have problems just like you? Will you spend it fighting with people? Fighting with your family? Fighting with your friends? Will you spend it in remorse? Will you spend it consuming as much as possible? Will you spend it on video game? Will you spend it alone?

Live intentionally.

Pray for one another. Encourage one another. Challenge one another. Love one another. Live life for Christ.

Ephesians 4 says:

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸ This is why it^[a] says:

“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”^[b]

⁹ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions^[c]?¹⁰ He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵ Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶ “In your anger do not sin”^[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸ Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Would you be willing to live an E-4 life? To live life with the goal of them in mind as Paul is encouraging the Ephesians to? Are you willing to “grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head”? Are you willing to “get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” so that you can “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”?

I am willing to live my life intentionally so that no opportunity is wasted. I am willing to endure the heartache and pain. I am willing to endure the pride and the greed. I am willing to endure the selfishness and sadness. I am willing to endure the materialism and the poverty and the sickness. I will endure the murder and the distrust.

I will endure. And I will be a life changer.

I will live my life with purpose and I will strive each day to life like Christ. I will fall but I will get back up again. I will fail but there will always be more opportunities to succeed. I will stumble, but I will now strike my foot against the stone. I may wander but I will not get lost. I may lose sight, but He will restore it. I will hurt, but He will bring healing. I may cry, but He will bring peace. I will mess up, but He will forgive. I will give up, but He will place my feet on the ground again. He does not fail.

So I’m ready…but what about you?

Get To Know Me

-Whenever I eat a Push-Pop, I am reminded of my childhood when I would buy them from the ice cream truck

-I like made beds, but for some reason mine always seems to go unmade

-I like exclamation points and smiley faces; they let me know you care

-I don’t like yellow lights; I can never tell if i need to speed up or slow down

-I fall up the stairs almost everyday

-I don’t like flossing, because I don’t like trying to stick my fingers all the way to the back of my mouth, but I do it anyways

-My number one goal every summer is to get a tan as good as the one I had when I was little

-My favorite chap stick is Trader Joe’s VIRTUOSO; it even says that it’s “music to your lips”

-I have never received a bouquet of flowers

-I can’t draw or paint people…that’s why I stick to landscapes

-I want 8 kids; I want to have 4 and adopt 4

-I almost always have a song going through my head

-When I was younger I always said I would go on American Idol when I was old enough, but now that I am I don’t want to anymore

-I have to keep a calender and write things down, because I forget things

-I don’t like slow dancing because I’m convinced it will be awkward until you’re either dating, engaged, or married

-I am convinced that math definitely has more than one answer

-I have three love languages rather than two

-I can’t paint people, so don’t ask me to

-I don’t like sleeping with socks on

-I don’t like going to bed with wet hair, because I feel like my pillow is going to mold while I’m sleeping

-I am the healthiest child in my family.

to be like Christ

Last weekend was the winter retreat at our church and one of the main points of the weekend was to be Christ-like. To be imitators of Christ.

But are we really doing this? Are we, as a Christian body, striving yearly, daily, hourly, to be more like Christ? To think and to act and to speak as Christ did. To love unconditionally? This is where we have failed.

Winter retreats can often just be an “emotional high”. You get there, you are all excited to see your friends, there’s amazing worship, and awesome leaders and speakers….but what about tomorrow? After you leave that retreat and go back to life, will it have affected you at all? Did you take it to heart? Are you being an imitator of Christ in your LIFE?

Being an imitator of Christ is not some easy A. You can’t just take the test and expect to pass. It requires studying and diligence.

Read the Word. Know the Word. Speak the Word.

This is the first and crucial step. How are you supposed to know what being Christ-like looks like unless we see how he walked the walk and talked the talk? Scripture is key. Through knowing the scripture you will be able to “correctly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)” and you will be able to “let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:6)” This is how you talk the talk.

But what about walking the walk? This is the hard one. It is easy to talk the talk when you’re around your Christian friends and people you are familiar with, but walking the walk? That requires a 24/7 pursuit of God and who He is. When you walk the walk, you are doing it saying, “God I’m doing this for you.”

It’s not easy. It takes time. It takes practice. A baby doesn’t learn to stand nor walk on its own the day it’s born. First learn how to stand.

Learn how to stand firm in what you believe in. Learn how to do what you know is right even when it’s the “lame” thing to do, or the “hard” thing to do. Learn to trust that God knows what He’s doing and that he has an even greater plan than you have for yourself.

Then, learn to walk. Learn to take on each day saying, “Lord this day is Yours; do with it as you please and guide me in Your way.” Learn to look at everyone and everything as Christ would.

A friend once told me to look at people through the eyes of Philippians 4:8; “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-thank about such things.” When we look at people through the eyes of Philippians 4:8, we are focusing on all the good rather than the bad. If we applied this to life, how much would it dramatically change our relationships?

When faced with an argument, learn to “not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called…(1 Peter 3:9).” Learn to love, even when it seems impossible. Saying that you don’t like someone is no excuse. 1 John 2:9-10 says, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.” God will guide your path and he will keep you from stumbling. Psalm 139:9-10 says, “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” God is always there. He will never leave us or forsake us. He has given us life, even after death. So then why can we not walk the walk or talk the talk?

I am most definitely not saying that I have mastered the walk OR the talk, but I am striving to do so. And I pray that you, my brothers and sisters, will strive to do the same with me. In your home, with your friends, in your school, in sports. Be the leader that God would have you be.

Psalm 139:23-24~ “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

My Way or the Highway…

I wonder how often we “play God”. How many times a day do we say, “this is the way it should be because this is the best way”?

I think that unconsciously, many of us play God daily. We push God to the back of our minds and “take over”. We say, “Don’t you worry about a thing God. You can go ahead a take a break, cause I can handle this.”

I struggle with this.

Not in every single area of my life, mind you, but I do struggle with this. I don’t think that I consciously say, “take a break God”, but I know that unconsciously I push Him away at times so that I can “take control”.

Everyone wants to be in control. In control of their life: their present, and their future. But when we surrender our lives to the Lord, we are saying, “I know what I want, but I am going to let you handle everything, because I know that your way is better than anything that I could imagine.”

But surrender is hard. Actually surrendering every single piece of ourselves and our lives takes time and a lot of effort. Throughout my life, I have continually told God, “Okaaaaay, you can have it.” But a little while later, I always try to take control again.

Something that I have been convicted by is the ever surprising way that God works. Whether it be in my life or someone else’s, I am unceasingly amazed at how much bigger God’s plan for our lives is than we have for ourselves. I find it humorous when something big happens in someone’s life and I say, “Wow. Never saw that one comin’.” But through experiences like this, it is much easier to surrender.

So how often do YOU “play God”? Are you willing to give it all up and surrender?

Now, just to be clear, there are definitely times when I say, “Uh uh God. For this, it’s my way or the highway…” But God never gives up. Just like a child tugs at his mother’s shirt to whisper something in her ear, God is continually tugging at our hearts whispering, “it’s time to let go.”

I think that this picture is a good example of how in control God is of our lives. Even though the storms will come, after surrendering, we have the freedom to run through the fields with light hearts, because we know that God has His ultimate plan; and he will guide us through life as we run through the fields.

Get To Know Me

-I will eat breakfast for any meal of the day

-To me, stars are proof of God: His Love, His Grace, His Mercy, and His Beauty

-Spring is my favorite season for the beauty, but Summer is my favorite season for its warmth

-I don’t like thick pancakes

-Music is how I express myself

-My favorite colors are Blue, Green, and Brown

-One of my favorite sounds is the wind; I love when it moves through the trees or is heard by the ocean

-My favorite color for clothing is black (with an accent color), because it’s always classy

-Simplicity is key

-Eyes are amazing to me; I enjoy seeing the complexity of each persons eye color

-I’m not the best decision maker in the world

-I want to learn how to play the violin

-I desperately want to learn how to ballroom dance

-I want to be a 1st grade teacher when I grow up

-I love leading worship

-Depending on what mood I’m in and how happy I am, my laugh varies

-When I look at the precious face of a little baby, it is evident that we didn’t evolve from apes

-Writing songs helps me express how I am feeling: about God, about life, about people

-If I’ve ever lost my awe of how awesome God is, just take me to the mountains or a meadow

-I wish I could do Karate

-I love pictures because you can keep them forever and that memory is permanantly recorded

-If I have a son, I will name him either Benjamin, Jonathon, or Quinirius (just kidding about this last one …)

-I would like to name one of my daughters either Julianna, Lucy Anne, or Lafanda Chanana ( HAHA)

-I don’t like asking people for money unless I plan to pay them back

-I want to live life generously

-Paintings perplex me; one could stare at them for hours and still not see each stroke of love that was put into it

-I will wear High Heels for the rest of my life

-I don’t like to dip my cookies in my milk because I don’t like crumbs getting in my milk

-When I eat Frosted Shredded Mini Wheats, I eat the least frosty ones first and save the frostiest ones for last

It’s all about love, love…

Love.

Such a simple word with such a complex meaning.

I believe that love is something that is often misunderstood. Love is more than a four letter word; love is a noun, it’s an adjective, it’s a verb.

Twenty-eight different definitions of love can be found on Dictionary.com, but I will only give the first two:

1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person

2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend

 The first definition has to do with a man and a woman loving each other, while the second is referring to friendships or family members. What about God?

God’s definition of love is described perfectly in 1 Corinthians 13:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong doings. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

No where can you find a more accurate description of love. Not on Dictionary.com, not in the encyclopedia, not from a friend. These verses opitimize the meaning of love.

But if these verses do opitimize the meaning of love, then why don’t more marriages last until death? Why are there abortions? Why are there orphans?

God IS and always will be the center of love. When we replace every “love” with “God”, we get:

God is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. He is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrong doings. God does not delight is evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails.

When put into this context, the meaning of love and God himself is altered drastically. If God and love are synonyms, then love is not love if it is without God.

Love is so much more than just a word. It’s a commitment, a union. How can people take it so lightly?

Love is also painful. It’s hard. Love isn’t all glam and bling; love is challenging.

One of the most difficult parts of love is waiting. Waiting and trusting that God knows best and has a far better love story for me than I have for myself. If I learn to invest all of my love in God then he will take care of it. He will handle it with care. He will slowly sprinkle love dust into my life when the time is right; but when is the right time?
 

One of the hardest parts of waiting is not knowing when, but I believe that at the very moment when we’re not looking for love
and for our Beloved, God starts sprinkling that love dust. Slowly, but surely.

But learning to wait is a challenge. A serious challenge. Our human selves desire to have the connection with our Beloved, so not
seeking them out is one of the most difficult challeneges to face while waiting.
 

God is the only one who can help us. He is love itself. So if we desire and seed after Him, he will help us through.

I know that God has my Beloved out there somewhere, but until the day when He reveals him to me, all I can do it pray and wait.

Pray and wait. Pray and wait.

I can pray for him: for his circumstances, his faith, his love, his mind, and for everything that he is. I can pray that each and everyday God will pull him close in a warm embrace and let him know how much He loves him.

These are the picture that give me hope. They give me hope that one day I will be like these couples. And I will be just as in love with my husband as I was on the day we got married.

This is my hope.

This is my prayer.

This is why I am waiting.