We are all a little weird . . .

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."
                                                                           -Dr. Seuss

I've Been Feeling Disconnected . . .

. . . and reading this gives me peace that I can never stray too far.

Do You Feel Spiritually Dull?

John Bunyan:

Sometimes when my heart has been hard, dead, slothful, blind, and senseless, which indeed are sad frames for a poor Christian to be in, yet at such a time, when I have been in such a case, then has the blood of Christ, the precious blood of Christ, the admirable blood of the God of Heaven, that run out of His body when it did hang on the Cross, so softened, livened, quickened, and enlightened my soul, that truly, reader, I can say, O it makes me wonder!

The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded (London, 1708), 183.; Taken from the Desiring God blog

Praying a very selfish prayer tonight: asking for passion, growth, repentance, and wisdom.

Something Beautiful

Driving back tonight, lost in thought and half listening to the radio, I had one of those tugging of the heart moments when this chorus and song started filling my car's airwaves . . .

Hey now, this is my desire

Consume me like a fire, 'cause I just want SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

To touch me, I know that I'm in reach

'Cause I am down on my knees, I'm waiting for...

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

Remind yourself that . . .

Life is too short to wake up with regrets.

So love the people who treat you right.

Forgive the one's who don't.

Believe everything happens for a reason.

If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands.

If it changes your life, let it.

Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

Quotable Quotes

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops; What if Your healing comes through tears; What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near; What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise.    - Laura Story

A little less than Holy

A few friends were over for dinner last night and I said something like, "It just doesn't feel like Holy Week this year." The silliness of what I said made me chuckle after the words left my mouth.

Exactly what should Holy Week feel like?

Or maybe it's that I'm feeling a little less than holy these days?

But that's the point of today, isn't it?

I AM a lot less than holy.
But because of today's sacrifice, my sins aren't counted against me.....regardless of if I happen to be feeling holy or not.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved (Eph. 2:4-5).

Amen to that.

The Year of "I Do's"

2011 is the year of weddings for me.  After going to so many weddings, and being a person with my own issues and emotions in regards to marriage, sometimes the whole day can make me feel a bit uncomfortable and uneasy.  
Fortunately this year, I really am joyful and thankful for the unions I do get to witness, mainly because these people are near and dear to my heart.  They include old friends, new friends, siblings, and to top it all off, an island wedding =).  I think why I am so excited to celebrate is because in most of these cases, I know how the Lord has worked in bringing these people together, and it’s such a blessing and encouragement to me to see how the Lord does answer prayer.  
I’m attending a wedding (my 2^nd of 5 this year) this weekend, and while I was perusing the website of the beautiful couple, this song from Alison Krauss was playing in the background ….just a beautiful song to enjoy.  

Quotable Quotes

"Do you feel more loved by God because He makes much of YOU, or because He enables you to make much of HIM."

- John Piper
Getting to the Bottom of your Joy

JJ Heller - What Love Really Means

Reminders...

I was looking through some of my old journaling this past week and I came across a devotional that I had read about a year ago today.  It was very pertinent to things going on in my life at the time.  More recently, I shared it with two friends as an encouragement for things they are dealing with in their own lives, but re-reading this just reminded me that I need to align my thoughts with these truths again....

For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you.
-Psalms 71:5-6

When the psalmist asked God to be a refuge and rescuer in Psalm 71, he boldly proclaimed his dependence on the Sovereign Lord. When we feel weak-kneed and lack confidence, we are most open to relying on God. The Bible gives us affirmation after affirmation of God's strength in the face of our limited ability: "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13). "Nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Nothing silences the voice of timidity as powerfully as the voice of Scripture. If you find yourself in a new situation today, make sure you don't rely on your own limited talents or skills, but that you place your unshakable confidence in the limitless God.

Valentine's Day Weekend

I’m going to be bold here…
And mention Valentine’s Day…
As an unmarried Indian woman in her 30’s…(please sense my sarcasm here =P)

All kidding aside it was a great weekend spent with my best friends in NYC. We started off Valentine’s day with church at Redeemer Presbyterian and hearing a sermon by their senior pastor Tim Keller. I’ve been listening to his sermons online so it was a great pleasure to hear him in person for the first time.

His message was entitled “The Mocking and the Spitting” based off of Isaiah 50:4-11 and was the third sermon in a series called “The Songs of the Servant.” After his sermon which focused heavily on the torture of Christ before crucifixion he says (and I’m paraphrasing here) : “Don’t think I forgot about Valentine’s Day…..who else would love you enough to be tortured and killed just for you.” What a great reminder of a love with absolutely no limits especially on that day.

Movie Lines

Okay, so the source of this quote isn’t the greatest, but I like it anyways =).  I happened to catch a mid-morning matinee today and in the previews for upcoming movies, Ashton Kutcher (don’t laugh) appeared in a scene with this line:

"Love is the only shocking act left on the planet."

I like the quote, I like it a lot.

The Shack

About a week ago I finished reading a book called The Shack by Wm. Paul Young.  It’s about a man’s encounter with God several years after the brutal murder of his daughter. While reading it I thought some of the scenarios and depictions of God and the Trinity were a little hard to swallow, but I could appreciate the book for what it could convey, and for trying to break some of our natural human misconceptions on God, our character, and how God views us and our relationship with Him.

There were a lot of statements and quotes in the book that made me think and maybe might make you think too. Here are a few that stuck out to me…

*There are times where you choose to believe something that would normally be considered absolutely irrational. It doesn’t mean that it is actually irrational, but it surely is not rational. Perhaps there is suprarationality: reason beyond the normal definitions of fact or data-based logic; something that makes sense only if you can see a bigger picture of reality. Maybe that is where faith fits in.

*Life takes a bit of time and a lot of relationship.

*…we could talk about the nature of freedom itself. Does freedom mean that you are allowed to do whatever you want to do? Or we could talk about all the limiting influences in your life that actively work against your freedom. Your family genetic heritage, your specific DNA, your metabolic uniqueness, the quantum stuff that is going on at a subatomic level where only I [God] am the always-present observer. Or the intrusion of your soul’s sickness that inhibits and binds you, or the social influences around you, or the habits that have created synaptic bonds and pathways in your brain. And then there’s advertising, propaganda, and paradigms. Inside that confluence of multifaceted inhibitors, what is freedom really?

*Everything is about him [Jesus]. And freedom is a process that happens inside a relationship with him.

*You, on the other hand, were created to be loved. So for you to live as if you were unloved, is a limitation.

*I [God] don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is it’s own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it.

*The real underlying flaw in your life, is that you don’t think that I [God] am good. If you knew that I was good and that everything - the means, the ends and all the processes of individual lives - is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not understand what I am doing, you would trust me.

*You humans, so little in your own eyes. You are truly blind to your own place in the creation. Having chosen the ravaged path of independence, you don’t even comprehend that you are dragging the entire creation along with you.

*To force my [Jesus] will on you, is exactly what love does not do. Genuine relationships are marked by submission even when your choices are not helpful or healthy.

*Just because I [God] work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn’t mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don’t ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I needed it to accomplish my purposes. That will only lead you to false notions about me. Grace doesn’t depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering, you will find grace in many facets and colors.

*I [God] have never put an expectation on you or anyone else. The idea behind expectations requires that someone does not know the future or outcome and is trying to control behavior to get the desired result. Humans try to control behavior largely through expectations. I know you and everything about you. Why would I have an expectation other than what I already know? That would be foolish. And beyond that, because I have no expectations, you never disappoint me.

*Forgiveness does not establish relationship. In Jesus, I [God] have forgiven all humans of their sins against me, but only some have chosen relationship.

Never Been Unloved

I have been unfaithful,
I have been unworthy;
I have been unrighteous,
and I have been unmerciful.

I have been unreachable,
I have been unteachable;
I have been unwilling,
and I have been undesirable.
And sometimes, I have been unwise,
I've been undone by what I'm unsure of -

But because of You
and all that you went through,
I know that I have never been unloved.

I have been unbroken,
I have been unmended;
I have been uneasy,
and I have been unapproachable.
I have been unemotional,
I have been unexceptional;
I have been undecided,
and I have been unqualified.
Unaware - I have been unfair,
I've been unfit for blessings from above.

But even I can see
The sacrifice You made for me, to show me
that I have never been unloved.
-Michael W. Smith

I saw this song on someone else’s blog using it to describe their past year and I thought….Yup, this pretty much sums up me and my year as well. What better time than the beginning of a new year to look back, see where you need improvement, and then make resolutions for self-improvement. Let’s be real though, I will still likely be all these things come 2011 (hopefully with some improvements). But despite all my faults, I’m glad I can’t do anything in the next 365 days and beyond, that will ever turn away the love of Christ. 

Here's to a new year.....not dedicated to a list of resolutions, but simply dedicated to growing in God's indescribable love.

And to quote the previous blogger…
From your undone, unworthy, unfaithful, but oh so thankfully never unloved blogger friend =)

Quotable Quotes

This is my wish for you:

Comfort on difficult days,

smiles when sadness intrudes...

rainbows to follow the clouds,

laughter to kiss your lips,

sunsets to warm your heart,

hugs when spirits sag,

beauty for your eyes to see,

friendships to brighten your being,

faith so that you can believe,

confidence for when you are in doubt,

courage to know yourself,

patience to accept the truth,

love to complete your life.

-Anonymous

Smile

I was surfing the web yesterday and I came across an Anne Geddes poster I once had hanging up in my dorm room waaaay back in my college years.

How can you not smile while looking at this precious giddy face? =D

Sunday Thoughts

During bible study today we were focussing on I John 2:15-17.

It reads:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

You may ask why I post or share such things. It may seem like it's to share and spread the Gospel, and to a certain extent that is part of my intention.  At the core of it though, it is more for selfish reasons.  It's to keep myself accountable.  If I'm not writing about it, I'm likely not thinking about it....and I NEED to think about these things.  I want to transform my way of thinking because I find my life and thoughts are too often consumed with things that are of this world.  This is my way of constantly reminding and inundating my mind and heart with the ways and words of the Lord. 

Agape cont...

Bear with me for a moment.

I'm still thinking of agape.

I'm thinking...It's so much more than the warm fuzzy feeling I reduce it to...

I'm thinking...I've heard this a million times at every wedding, but I think I need to hear it again...

Love is patient and kind;

love does not envy or boast,

it is not arrogant or rude.

It does not insist on its own way;

it is not irritable or resentful;

it does not rejoice at wrongdoing;

but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things,

believes all things,

hopes all things,

endures all things.

- I Corinthians 13:4-7

Agape

"Agape" was a word that was thrown around a few times in yesterday's Sunday sermon. It's a word I haven't heard or thought about in quite awhile. To even call it a "word" is really an understatement. It's more of a concept that describes a state of being that I am light years from ever fully grasping.

If you look up the definition of agape on Wikipedia (because who looks at the dictionary anymore), it's defined as a "Greek word translated into English as love. Many have thought that this word represents divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love." So many times I use the word love like it's such an ordinary thing. Yet, have I ever really loved anything to the extent that was described above? Have I ever fully gave myself unconditionally expecting nothing in return? I know myself, I am too selfish a creature to even come close to what agape describes.

The author C.S. Lewis is given the most credit in defining agape through his book The Four Loves. He distinguishes agape, the kind of love Christ taught and showed, as "the highest level of love known to humanity - a selfless love, a love that was passionately committed to the well-being of the other."

Can you imagine the depths of the relationships we could have with one another, or how different this world would be, if we all strove to love as Christ loved us?