There’s a little game that I like to play at the grocery store that makes shopping fun for me. The goal of the game is to make eye contact with as many people in the store as possible…and try … Continue reading
“Maybe we need to think wildly different. Maybe we need to go in our communities and serve them. Give them things they do need. Maybe they’d consider going to a meeting and engaging with a group of kind people who have loved on them for a while. Maybe we need to fix our communications so that they’ll know.” – Mark MacDonald
“So I want you to consider making your life one long gift to others. And why not? All you have is on loan, anyway. All that lasts is what you pass on… So I ask you to begin giving, and to continue as you began. I think you’ll find in the end that you got far more than you ever had, and did more good than you ever dreamed.” – Stephen King
“When we explore options for increasing what the master has entrusted to us, we will reap the reward and be found faithful.” – Nelson Searcy
The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. – Amelia Earhart
Lives are like glo-sticks. They don’t really glow until they’ve been busted up a little bit. – Glennon Melton
Unconditional love is not “Christianity lite”. It’s Christianity lived out, and it’s hard.” – Rachel Held Evans
I was already going to write a quick post on this, and then I saw this quote from a church I follow on Facebook:
“We think that fearing failure will help us avoid failure, but fear of failure doesn’t prevent us from failing; it robs us of the joy of living.”
I have spent pretty much all of my life not really being me. So much so that I didn’t know who I was. I spent a lot of time trying to figure others out and learn what I could do to make them like me. So there wasn’t any time for just being me…whatever that was.
All of my life, I have tried to fit in, make people like me, look smart, look like I have my act together…the list goes on! I’m a people pleaser, and I’ve tried so hard trying to make others happy that I didn’t have a fat clue who I really was. It’s taken going through lots of really hard things to wake me up. But you know what finally woke me up in the end? I realized how much I am loved and accepted by God.
That did it!
God is stinkin’ in love with me. And that takes the pressure off! He’s the only one that I really want to impress, and He already thinks I’m perfect just the way He made me!
And you know what I want to do now? I want to have a whole heck of a lot of fun. I want to live! I’ve robbed myself of a lot of fun, connections with people, etc. because I’ve been so worried about everything! But now that I feel free to be me, I feel like I’m constantly looking for fun.
Who can I talk to? What can I create? What can I do? Where can I go? What can I do to make things fun for others? How do I find fun in every situation?
I haven’t had as much fun as I should have been having up to now because I couldn’t get past myself.
The fun is in moving past yourself and moving deeper into the lives of those around us.
And that’s what I plan to do!
If I had a never-ending supply of money (or anything), I would jump at any chance I could to give it away. If I knew the source of it was going to be there forever, no matter what, I would be the most generous person around. At least I’d like to think so.
Here’s the thing. We have a God who has an abundance of love, grace and forgiveness to give us. And it never goes away! If anything, he’d like to give us way more than we’re willing to take. It’s running over like crazy!
But we act as if there is a scarcity. We are reluctant to give love, grace and forgiveness. We are focused on what we should get from other people instead of what we are constantly receiving or able to receive from God. Or at least that’s the way I act.
Here are a few quotes from my Bible study lately:
“Our ability to give good to others springs from the abundance of good we receive from God.”
“A focus on scarcity results in stinginess while a focus on abundance results in generosity.”
How true these statements are! And if I really believe this, I would be throwing love and grace out all over the place! I would be kind because God is kind. I would forgive instantly because God knows I’ve needed forgiveness a million times myself!
Most of the time, we think we deserve so much from others and God. Really, we deserve nothing from God. But God doesn’t act on that. He acts as if we deserve everything in the world. Everything he’s got. With a constant supply. And he’s sitting at the edge of his seat ready to give it to us if we’d just ask. If we’d just believe.
Too often, I focus on the way others have hurt me and I feel like they don’t deserve anything or much. But I want to live out of the abundance and overflow of my Father. I want to drink from the never-ending fountain of his love and let it flow from me.
So be it!
I saw this quote on Twitter this morning.
“Architecture and design should be such that people don’t need an invitation to step inside.”
This really makes me think…
In thinking about church communications and publications, how can we create things with content to where it is an obvious invitation and people felt drawn to the community of people?
If we were going to build a church, how would we design it to be an inviting place? Where they already feel invited and welcome?
How do I design/change my life to where people don’t need an invitation to enter into my presence or into the nitty gritty of my life?
So much to think about!
“The Christian faith is compelling, not because it’s nice, cool or positive, but simply because it’s true.” -Outspoken
Stephanie Carroll 