Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Real Life and the Holiday Mix

So I found this draft of a post I didn't finish late one night from back in November. And I think it still applies and is so true right now so I finished it out, and I'm posting it now. Hope you enjoy :)

So apparently I'm following my theme of posting every month or every few months for the most part... lol!!! There's simply not enough time in the day to get everything done much less blog... lol!!! But anyways.... back to the issue at hand. Lately there's been so much going on between classes, teaching at croft middle school, callie having 5 puppies, giving away 3 puppies, penelope and brownie (the other 2 puppies) getting lost, finding them in the woods, stella & dot, eileen fisher, halloween, thanksgiving . . .   (the sad thing is the list could go on and on... haha!) Needless to say I'm doing good to get sleep at night much less breath or process everything... Some of you know the situation that has been ongoing for the last year and a half, and well this year as a result many many things are different. In fact so much so that it has almost just ruined the holidays . . . I've honestly had a really bad attitude about them lately and even said that I just want to skip the holidays (I know I know you're thinking megan want to skip the holidays?!? The energetic, bubbly, excited girl who loves everything about the holidays wants to skip them?!?) Yes you heard me right, I have wanted to skip the holidays... I don't want to start new traditions, I want to be two years old again when everything wasn't so crazy and satan hadn't done a number on people in my family (or at least I wasn't aware of it yet because I was 2). It is truly crazy to see stories in the bible and things that many people who grew up in church hear all their life come alive in your life . . . The bible isn't just a bunch of stories like so many people say or just a guide to live your life by like other people think! It is the living word of God!! It is about real people who really lived and breathed and struggled with things. And the neat thing is, is that God showed up and used them. God was real and active in their lives and used them in their weaknesses. David was a man after God's own heart, yet he committed adultery and murdered and Abraham laughed when God said that Sarah would have a child. There are some excellent examples in the bible of how people doubted God, questioned, or just outright sinned. However, the beautiful part is that God still used them. The truth is that just because God saves you and you become a Christian that doesn't mean that life is easy, you suddenly have it all together, or that you're perfect. It actually means quite the opposite. It means that life is crazy, you're still tempted, you are called to love others with God's love, to live selflessly, to surrender your life and plans to Christ, all while going to school, working, dealing with family and friends, and any other crazy things in your life. Last time I checked thats far from a perfect, easy, all together life. The difference is that we have Christ, his love, his peace, his grace, him living inside of us and leading us. But we the world often doesn't see all of that and the work that God is doing in our lives. We go to church and we get there and suddenly this image of we are perfect and put together and now that we have Jesus life is great and easy now occurs. You can be fighting with your family one second, struggling to keep your head afloat but as soon as you're at church or around people your life is perfect. We portray this image that we have it all together because we don't want anyone to see our faults or to judge us. But the fact is that we cheat ourselves and others when we live with this mask because they never get to see how God is working in our lives. Life as a Christian is about showing the world God's love and how he is working in your life, not about how perfect you are. Last time I checked people can't see God work when you're in the way. The fact is that eveyone knows that you're not perfect, that you're human, that you make mistakes so why be fake. God designed us to lean on one another and encourage each other, and to be real. If Daniel had been fake and acted like everything was perfect and he could do it all, would people have seen how great God is and how he worked in his life? Would the Israelites been killed if Esther acted as if everything was perfect and never spoke out? God wants to work in your life and reveal himself through you but that means you have to get out of the way. Because the real truth is that it is in our weaknesses and faults that God shines through the best because we can't do it, only he can. So, I want to challenge you to be real with people, to talk about what's going on in your life, ask for prayer, and share how God is working, to find out what being love really means and be open. Find a good group of Christian friends and be open and honest with each other and be open to share as God leads you. May we be a people that when someone looks at us they can see our faults and our weaknesses and see that it is truly God that worked in our lives and how amazing God is. May we be real, dare to be who God has called us to be, and let love be the difference. People will let us down, we will have disappointments, but God is ALWAYS the same. 

Friday, January 18, 2013

What Love really Means....

Love. Love is interesting. We use love in many different contexts: I love coffee, football, concerts, this blue dress, a certain tv show, a dog, a friend, etc. In fact Love has become a common word such as cool that has lost meaning. We "love" inanimate objects, we "love" an idea, but what does love even really mean. Do we see it in our society? So often we get disappointed or let down by people that we love and we think they know better, or we get frustrated with someone because of how they react to things. However, the fact remains that God is love. So if God is love and love comes from God then those who do not know God cannot love in a true way, it's simply an imitation. Imitation sweeteners is just that an imitation of sugar, sure it tastes similar and some people can't tell the difference, but there is a large difference. Maybe we don't put labels on our love as imitation, but if we aren't in God then its just that imitation. Sure people can still say they love one another and do nice things but the problem is that our love as humans is imperfect, it's selfish. Hence why we get disappointed or let others down. But, God's love is another story. His love is patient, kind, doesn't easily anger, keeps no record of wrongs (oh yeah you know the part where Jesus died for your sins and cast them as far as the east is from the west...Now tell me why is it again we keep track of petty indiscretions against each other when the God of the universe gave you grace and saved you?), it's not self seeking, it doesn't boast.... you know what I'm talking about all those characteristics that describe love in 1 Corinthians 13 God exemplifies and demonstrates them on a daily basis, but we can't handle showing love when we stand in a line or drive down the street. Now I know what you're thinking, sometimes those people are annoying because they drive too slow or they aren't paying attention and I have places to be... Well, is it honestly worth getting upset or being rude? Why don't we instead pray for that person and for God to reveal himself in their life wherever they're at so they may see him. Love takes us off the pedal stool of ourselves. ***NEWSFLASH*** for those who didn't already know this life is not about you! How different would we live our lives if we actually took the time to love others? What impact would it make on those around us if we chose to love even when it's hard? (and trust me it's hard sometimes because you may not want to or you may have been genuinely wronged. but it's in those times that you have to remember to look at that person as God sees them, as one of his creations with a purpose- even if they aren't living it out at the moment). Look for opportunities this week to show God's love to others, and see what a difference it makes in your life. May we be people who seek God so that He can flow out of our lives.


"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:7-12

        "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,but do not have love, I gain nothing."
1 Corinthians 13:1-3