Smart

"Smart" by Shel Silverstein

My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one!

and then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes - I guess he didn't know
That three is more than two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
and four is more than three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!

and then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head-
Too proud of me to speak!

I was prompted to read this poem randomly. I had read it before but it's been a while and I needed to be refreshed. The author that prompted me to read it said it compares to our relationship with God. I didn't go on to ready why before I read the poem but once I read it knew where he was headed.

God desires for His people to have the very best when we seek Him with everything. He gives the very best because He is the ultimate creator.

The boy took a one dollar bill that his dad gave him and traded it for two quarters because, in his eyes, two are more than one. It continues until he has traded four nickels for five pennies. The boy didn't recognize the worth of the dollar but the quantity of the physical appearance. How well is that related to our relationship with God!

He gives us gifts out of His best that are worth so much but sometimes we dont' see that and "trade it" or go looking for something that is more pleasing to our eye. All along lessenign the worth and value and coming up short handed. That's what happens when we do things on our own - we come up short handed and trade in or miss out on the valuable figts He has for our lives.

I don't want to miss out on account of not trusting the worth of something.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

No More Christmas Music

Can I just say how glad I am that the 24/7 Christmas music is gone? I like Christmas music and all, but too much of it can make a person a little nutty.

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire

This book has lit a fire under my prayer life over the past week. I needed it, my prayer life has been, well, dull. I forget just how important prayer is and how powerful it can be.

The author of Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire is the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, Jim Cymbala. He tells the story of how the church went from a struggling 20 member congregation to the 10,000 strong it is today. Their biggest contributor to the growth? Prayer.

Some of the things that have occurred in this church's life could have only been acts of God through the faithful prayer of His people. It has inspired me to see great things happen in my lifetime if I would just get on my knees and spend more time praying.

Cymbala also emphasizes the need for simplicity. He points out how far we have strayed from the simple approaches of the first church in Acts. They just preached the gospel and people responded - in the thousands at that. That doesn't go to say that we should not be going deeper with the gospel and all that God is, but when we begin talking about things that aren't made clear in the Bible we run the risk of false teaching. Cymbala states that where the Bible is silent, we should be silent as well.

This book has given me a new motivation and already moved me to go deeper with Christ, both in prayer and in action.

Be Near Me

I didn't write this but it's one of those songs that I wish I had because it conveys so accurately how I feel most of the time.

Be Near Me
Bethany Dillon

I follow all the rules/Well, at least I'm trying/Hoping when my days are through/You'll be pleased
I've lived the longest days/Thinking my heart was so bad/Too scared to look in your face/Oh, if only I had
And is it alright/If I stay here all night/By the shoreline
I cannot believe you are angry or unjust/You've done nothing but have compassion on us/So be near me when I've given up/Be near me
I'm just like everyone else/We are all hiding/Acting like I have a wealth/Of knowledge and peace
But all I've ever wanted/And what men have given their lives for/Is a God who understands my weaknesses/A God that I can love
I believe you are good and righteous/You've given me your reckless love/So be near, be near...

Church?

"You can tell how popular the church is by who is there on Sunday morning. You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who is there on Sunday night. But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who is at the prayer meeting." -Fresh Wind Fresh Fire

That statement holds so much truth it isn't even funny! When we get wrapped up in the image of the church and neglect Christ Himself we're in some deep trouble. Church without fear of God is just an empty building. Sure there are people there, but nothing is being accomplished, there's no praise, no worship, no forward movement.

If we attend church regularly but neglect God on our own then we really have yet to go anywhere in a relationship with Him. He can't bless us if we're not calling on Him for everything. He can't work on our behalf if we're not acknowledging His power and presence.

If we really want to have church we've got to look past the image and straight to the Source of power and Creator of the church. He is the one we should be waking up for on Sunday mornings (and every other morning for that matter). He is the one that should make us sing, even if the song has been done 10 times or we don't really like it. He is the one we should be learning from when it's 12:01 pm and the preacher seems like he still has 3 more points to get through. If we fail to see Him in light of it all then maybe we've not had church at all.

100 Greatest Songs of the 90's!

Seriously, I want to hug whoever began this idea at VH1! I might as well have gotten into a time machine and landed in middle school whenever I watch it, and for me that's a good thing! Not that I was so glamorous and popular in middle school, I was just as awkward as the next kid, but I had fun!

The 90's was just a good decade! Maybe I'm a little bias because it's the decade I grew up in, but the 00's just doesn't hold a candle to it. Nickelodeon will never be as good as it was in the 90's and neither will network sitcoms. I think pop culture still had a few inhibitions left and everyone was ok with just being who they were.

The countdown has gotten through 61 and MMMBop is yet to come...once again the world makes sense!

A Sound of Gentle Blowing

So I had a pretty sweet weekend. I must admit I'm exhausted today, but you can always catch up on sleep (or just drink a lot of coffee). God completely blew my mind this weekend. The circumstances that brought it about seemed small and trivial, but those are the best places for Him to work (1 King 19:10-12).

I saw God work in a way that only He could work and prove to me that I'm incapable of doing anything on my own but when I surrender to His ways and His will He is able to work things out so perfectly.

In a way it all comes back to Christmas. This year Christmas seems to be taking on a more personal and real appeal to me, and to people around me. When you really look at it and break it down, Christ surrendered His own will to His Father's and left the ultimate paradise to live a human life. Because of that surrender, my surrender is possible and when I surrender God is able to work out His perfect ways in my life that completely blow my mind and end up being better than I could imagine. Wow!

It's still a daily (sometimes hourly) battle and I know that it's one I can only win through Him.

P.S. Dennis Swanberg is a funny guy and tobyMac is amazing live!

The Mayonnaise Jar

When I was a child I was rather stubborn and disobedient. I wasn't a fan of doing the dishes or cleaning my room when I was told and I had a knack for doing things I wasn't supposed to do.

One occurrence that comes to mind in particular happened when I was about five years old. Somehow I got a hold of an empty mayonnaise jar and wanted to see what would happen if I threw it down against the cement. My answer: it broke. Somewhere in my five year old mind I knew that what I did wasn't a good thing so I decided to bury the broken pieces in the backyard to cover it up. Not too long after all of this happened my conscience caught up with me and I went to my mom in tears confessing what I did. My mom was more worried about the fact that I could have cut myself pretty bad, something that didn't even cross my mind.

My stubborn nature has since carried over into my relationship with God and can cause quite a struggle sometimes. I find myself wrestling with Him over the silliest things when I know He's right. He's always right. No matter how many times I try to argue and bargain with Him, He's right. There have been times when I've gone against what I know I should do and it blew up in my face. Then there are times when I've experienced great victory in this area through His strength and the confidence that He's always right.

No matter what the situation is it always feels the same. A disconnection, a break in communication, I don't feel like myself when I'm going against His will. It's a scary place. There's a wall up and I can feel the tension. Eventually it gets to me and I surrender, but it doesn't have to get to that. As a human I can't see past the word I'm typing, so why would I think that I can know what's best for me? I can't, but He can...and does.

God is more aware of the fact that we can cut ourselves with our broken pieces while we're busy burying our disobedience. He sees what we don't see (Isaiah 55:8) and that should cause us to simply trust, no matter what.

I miss this...

There are a few things I miss about college. I miss the schedule, the naps, the friends and days like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhfUcDUpjGA

It's happening!

I'm starting to slack off on my blogging. It always happens. It's like a toy at Christmas, you play with it non stop until the new wears off and then you're done. You put it away and more than likely the next time you see it it's on its way to the Salvation Army.

I guess nothing too exciting has happened recently and nothing deeply inspiring has hit me. And still I've really got nothing to write.

It's my birthday!

Not my day of birth, but my day of rebirth. The day I really started living. Two years ago today I realized my need for a Savior and saw Him there, offering love and forgiveness for every one of my sins.

It's so interesting to look back and see the events that led up to that night in my bedroom where Christ found me and met me right where I was. Years of going to church and being active, but never actually getting it. Years of poor choices that led me to emptiness and shame. Years of following the wrong advice and taking on the ways of the world. But all of that was wiped away and I was made new that night.

It's so amazing to see the true effects of the Holy Spirit and how God has gripped my heart over the past two years. He has used me in ways I never thought I would be able to be used and revealed so much about Himself to me.

I'm still a sinner and I still struggle with my flesh daily, but I know that God is strengthening me and giving me the power to win the battle everyday through Christ and what He did for me on the cross.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

Confession

As I sat here just a minute ago reading another blog my mind wandered to the one I wrote just an hour ago. As I wrote about the things I have coming up and that I'm excited about I failed to show gratitude to God for allowing these things to be in my life as blessings. How often does this happen? I know it happens to me more than I'd like to admit, but that's real life. I go through days sometimes without ever stopping to be thankful to God, the source of all my goodness.

I'm so glad He is patient with me on these days and doesn't automatically snatch those good things from me, even though there are times that I deserve just that. I get so caught up that I forget that I wouldn't have good friends or fun times without Him in my life because it all comes from Him.

Thank you God for what you have placed in my life and the things that you will place in my life in the future, good or bad I thank You for simply being in my life and rescuing me daily from myself! I'm sorry for the times I neglect to give You the praise you deserve!

I didn't realize

Wow, have I really not posted since Wednesday? Where did the weekend go? I don't really have anything productive to post about, but I do have some things coming up that I'm pretty excited about.

The first thing is the girls' weekend I'm having this weekend!! I'm going to Greenville to hang out with two of the best girlfriends on the planet! :) I haven't seen these girls in months, and it's about time we all took a break from life and had a fun weekend! I need to get out of Florence and hang out with some friends! I don't think it's quite hit me (even though it's been 7 months) that we're no longer in the same town, much less 2 minutes away, and we have to plan special time to hang out.

It's December!! That means it's actually Christmas time, although the stores seemed to think it started in September! I changed my ringtone the other day and the Christmas tree is up in our house! I love Christmas time! The only thing left to do now is pull out Snowed In (Hanson Christmas) and listen away!

Pauline and I spoke with English accents the other night in Wal-Mart, Roses and Chick-fil-A...it was a good time!