Last night my hometown, Batesville, had a huge thunderstorm. But the thing was, there wasn't really much rain, at least at first. My friends and I were actually sitting out on the my friend Georgia's deck during her mom's surprise 50th birthday party--which went splendidly--and suddenly clouds started moving in.
When we were first banished to the outside, the atmosphere was muggy, humid, hot, and sunny. We finally started getting used to the climate of the outdoors and got to conversation when suddenly these clouds, in about a span of ten minutes, blocked out the sun and brought on a very severe lightning storm.
One thing a few of my friends did was go dancing in the middle of a field. Well, I thought this was kind of stupid to be perfectly honest. I love them to death, but I didn't see the fun in being possibly struck down by lightning. Call me crazy. Eventually Carol (Georgia's Aunt) called them in when she realized they were dancing in the middle of a field, in a thunderstorm. Yay for responsible adults!
This whole scenario struck me this morning and I realized it can all be one giant metaphor. Life sometimes banishes us into situations we don't really want to be involved in, and things are rough. We struggle to make it through each day, but slowly we adjust to our new surroundings and scenarios. Then suddenly, everything shifts, and we can become caught in the middle of a spiraling twister of change, fear, anger, and pain. Adjusting to all of that can be hard enough as it is, but some of us don't even realize when we've started on the downward spiral until someone pulls us out of it. Only then do we realize what a dangerous minefield we were running in all along, and can only be grateful to those who pull us out.
Never forget that.
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (NIV)
-Proverbs 46:1-3
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
This post is not about a bird, or birds, or turkey.
This morning in Sunday School my teacher was talking about... to be honest I really don't remember the context of this word vomit, but I remember he was trying to say poetry, and the word came out poultry. I didn't sleep much last night, and given my state of mind at nine thirty in the morning, I cracked up.
I dismissed the incident as a flub up in speech, something that happens to me a lot. But tonight, as one of my friends on Facebook reminded me of this morning. I realized a few things about this episode.
1) I have one of the coolest Sunday school teachers in the world, who puts up with a bunch of high school guys every Sunday morning, not to mention bringing us homemade cookies and milk (the milk isn't homemade you word Nazis)
2) Even those people we look up to make mistakes, sure this was a small mistake, but the principle applies to bigger mistakes. We are all human, born into sin, and once we forget that, we lose sight of reality and begin to lose sight of the big picture.
3) We are so quick to point out others' flaws. It's actually really disgusting. And part of the reason I'm disgusted is that I am just as guilty as everyone else. We are so quick to point out something someone else does, that we fail to see our own wrongdoings. No, it's not a sin to change poetry to poultry. In this case it was very funny. But the point is that we all screw up. All of us. Us, including me.
Never forget that.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
-Matthew 7:3-5
This morning in Sunday School my teacher was talking about... to be honest I really don't remember the context of this word vomit, but I remember he was trying to say poetry, and the word came out poultry. I didn't sleep much last night, and given my state of mind at nine thirty in the morning, I cracked up.
I dismissed the incident as a flub up in speech, something that happens to me a lot. But tonight, as one of my friends on Facebook reminded me of this morning. I realized a few things about this episode.
1) I have one of the coolest Sunday school teachers in the world, who puts up with a bunch of high school guys every Sunday morning, not to mention bringing us homemade cookies and milk (the milk isn't homemade you word Nazis)
2) Even those people we look up to make mistakes, sure this was a small mistake, but the principle applies to bigger mistakes. We are all human, born into sin, and once we forget that, we lose sight of reality and begin to lose sight of the big picture.
3) We are so quick to point out others' flaws. It's actually really disgusting. And part of the reason I'm disgusted is that I am just as guilty as everyone else. We are so quick to point out something someone else does, that we fail to see our own wrongdoings. No, it's not a sin to change poetry to poultry. In this case it was very funny. But the point is that we all screw up. All of us. Us, including me.
Never forget that.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
-Matthew 7:3-5
I find myself thinking about the future and wondering about it's path more and more everyday. I see people I've grown up with, people I love, moving on in life. They're finding God's plan. They're walking in the light and moving on in a new chapter of their lives.
I feel stuck. I feel as though I'm in the last few pages of this chapter of my life, struggling to turn into the new volume. I still lack basic study skills, almost never finish work in the time I need to. I freak out when I think something's wrong, most of the time something isn't. I know God has a plan for me, and I've been privileged in the past few years to catch glimpses of the big picture He has me painted into.
There are junctures in all of our lives where it's hard to see how what we're going through could possibly mean anything in a bigger picture. How the pain and heartbreak we endure could possibly be for our good. It's at times like these we must turn to God. Pray for Him to give us the strength to make it through to tomorrow.
There's no quick fix for a bad habit of procrastination and worry, or easy ways to forget the sorrow and pain of change. But we can always move forward with the assurance that no matter what. No matter what. Our future is bright. We just have to calm down enough to let God turn on the light.
Never forget that.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
-Jeremiah 29:11
I feel stuck. I feel as though I'm in the last few pages of this chapter of my life, struggling to turn into the new volume. I still lack basic study skills, almost never finish work in the time I need to. I freak out when I think something's wrong, most of the time something isn't. I know God has a plan for me, and I've been privileged in the past few years to catch glimpses of the big picture He has me painted into.
There are junctures in all of our lives where it's hard to see how what we're going through could possibly mean anything in a bigger picture. How the pain and heartbreak we endure could possibly be for our good. It's at times like these we must turn to God. Pray for Him to give us the strength to make it through to tomorrow.
There's no quick fix for a bad habit of procrastination and worry, or easy ways to forget the sorrow and pain of change. But we can always move forward with the assurance that no matter what. No matter what. Our future is bright. We just have to calm down enough to let God turn on the light.
Never forget that.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
-Jeremiah 29:11
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