Live Simply

Ok .ok. So I’m very aware of how long it has been since my last blog, but by no means do I take my very long leave of absence lightly. I think it would be safe to say that I have found myself after a long leave of absence completely grateful for those of you who blog, maybe not consistently but you probably don’t wait 4 months to write a blog. I tip my hat to those who do write regularly or less than 4 months apart! This is what I have realized since I have started this blog. Let’s just be totally real because after all I did promise you vulnerability right? Let me know if this sounds familiar? OH yeah!!! I made this awesome blog with this awesome font, with awesome colors and I’m going to get these awesome songs and play them on my blog, and then I’m going to win the best blog award and write in it every day and just soak up my awesomeness that I have created! Yeah we have all thought it at some point, think back to one of the first days of school; you have to get new pencils, pens, note books, a new backpack, dry erase markers, agenda, tabs, pretty much the entire store. Of course the new pencils will improve your writing; you pull the... well this is the only pencil on the face of the earth that will make me a better writer!! The new notebooks can’t just be cardboard because who does that? I mean come on...everyone knows that the floral notebooks makes your IQ go up. How dare you use the same backpack you wore last year, it is social suicide!! And how can you forget the markers, agenda and tabs? THIS is the year that you will be the most organized you have ever been in your entire life; you are going to write all your assignments down, tab all the pages in your text book because, DUH you’re going to read it cover to cover and then copy the entire glossary 5 times. To top it all off I’m going to be on Oprah for being the most organized person in the world and have an entire spread in 17 magazine. We have all done it at some point in our life, we totally script our way into thinking we are the best thing since sliced bread. Better yet you invented sliced bread! If we are being really honest here we do it with our relationship with the Lord. If only I can get a new bible then I will be able to read it cover to cover, because we have totally convinced ourselves that the bible is more effective by its color or design. News Flash, it’s the same wither it has cardboard pages in plain black ink or if it is Leopard print with purple ink. Before I go any further I want you to know I am totally preaching to the choir here! I have thought these things probably more than once. If only I could do this bible study then I would really be mature, because after all I know what bible studies best and not the Lord right? HA No. It’s sad but so true we think that somehow bigger and better is going to strengthen our relationship with the Lord more than if we just have the status quo. We as believers get wrapped up in the now and flashy that we completely lose sight of what the Lord is doing. So how do we fix it? How do we live simply in a world where the word simple has been practically omitted from everything in life? It’s actually black and white; you either trust the Lord or you simply don’t. You’re probably thinking you’re not seeing the 500 other ways to look at the situation. Yeah your right I’m not, because the reality is why would you want to throw in 500 different answers when there could be 2? It’s like a multiple choice test, if a teacher gave you one question on the final and you had 500 different choice with only one correct answer would you not be so overwhelmed by the amount of possible answers that you would actually freak out and just guess? But if there was one question that only had two possible answers how much time and effort would be saved by having a simple one or the other choice? A lot of times we get so upset with the Lord that He does not give us an answer we completely shut off and walk away. When in reality He is giving us the simplest answer in the history of answers, trust me or don’t trust me. We don’t need flashy things we don’t need everything at our beck and call, do we want them? YES! Does the Lord bless us? YES! But with 500 things coming at us at once and wanting the biggest and best there are so many more ways to be in bondage. By no means am I saying that it is bad to have nice things or many things, but there is a way to live simply with many blessings. As much as we all think the Lord is complicated, we can remind our self mostly in scripture that he is simple. He Loves us, He is Joyful, He is Peaceful, He is Patient, He is Kind, He is Good, He is Faithful, He is Gentle, and He is in Control. How much simpler can you get? Living simply is not an easy thing to do in a world that is full of complicated Orders. By reminding ourselves each day, multiple times a day that the Lord is simple, we will reflect in our everyday lives and soon begin to change from complicated sinful beings to simple sinful being (Sorry to burst your bubble, but we will always be sinful) just think if we were simple how much our relationship with the Lord will change? It’s simple, Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sin. We want to be like Jesus right? What better way than to live simply in Christ?

Consistency is not determined by our Shoe Size

We have all heard the phrase one step forward and two steps back at some point in our lives. If we really break it down what this message is really conveying is failure. If I could pick a phrase that describes my walk with the Lord, this phrase in particular would probably be in the top 3 most frequently used. You see I am an extremist, if you know me well this is actually an understatement. I am either 100% one way or 100% the other. I’ll be completely honest; consistency is not really my forte. I set the bar so high that I make it almost impossible for me to attain day in and day out. Not only do I set the bar high in life in general, but I also set the bar so high in my walk with Christ that it is practically unattainable. Can you imagine looking up at this bar that you yourself have actually placed so high, and not even be able to attain it? Of course the thought of failure runs through your mind, it runs through mine. Let’s just break it down real quick, I am jumping and jumping to grab a hold of this bar, I am fatigued, sweating and the best part is I look like an idiot because I was the one that put it up there in the first place...Cool!! If I could only grab hold for a second, or maybe just swing awhile I would feel more accomplish, fulfilled, or worthy. I don’t know about you, but after a couple jumps my legs start to burn and it gets uncomfortable or maybe I am too exhausted to even try and attempt jumping. This is my struggle, if I cannot reach the bar, touch it, grab it, or swing in my mind I have automatically taken two steps back. Because the other day I hung for awhile and surely I have taken a step forward; and a couple weeks ago I swung for quite a while. In fact in my pride I might have broken the record for the most swings swung. So how do we grab a hold of this bar consistently? I have learned in these past few weeks that the phrase one step forward two steps back is completely and utterly the worst phrase in describing my walk with Christ, and is a complete lie. What exactly are the standards and guidelines of taking a step back? What do I have to fail at that is categorized as taking a step back? I am learning that there is no step back in the eyes of Jesus, there is only steps forward. It may feel as if I have taken a million steps backwards and I am in the next town over, but in reality I am in the exact place that the Lord has intended me to be. If the Lord intended me to be where I am currently, then I am actually making progress. The steps might be little, they might be big, but I’m pretty confident that the Lord doesn’t have a dictionary where it states the exact measurements of what is considered a step. We all have different strides and shoes sizes, each person cannot have exactly the same step. I have also realized that this bar that I have set so high above my head is actually attainable; because Jesus so graciously has set a stool for me to climb on to reach this bar. That’s the thing I know the stool is there but my own pride will actually pretend it doesn’t exist and I will continue jumping and most likely cramp up. Our sweet Savior knows we are tired and can’t continue jumping so he graciously says No, no, I have hand crafted this stool just for you; it is the exact height, width and furnish. Use it, you need it, I am waiting, but if you fall I have a stool for you to sit and rest awhile. The gap between the floor and the bar becomes shorter making it consistently attainable. Christ our consistency, it might look like we have taken one step forward and two steps back but in reality we are resting on the stool that the Lord has uniquely hand crafted for each of us.

Suckered in

Hello Blog World! Let me just start off by saying creating a blog was the farthest thing from my mind, but here I am writing my first blog having no Earthy Idea what I am doing with the only hope that Jesus will use my words in some way to glorify him. I can vividly remember sitting with one of my best friend when she “promoted” the idea of creating a blog. My first initial thought was.. Are you Crazy!?! How in the world am I going to write my thoughts when I can barely verbalize them? Honestly I thought I was going to kill over I was laughing so hard! Well a few swings later I find myself standing in her basket along for the ride. So here we go blog world lets strap in and hope for the best because I know just as well as you know we have no Idea what we are doing half the time and only hope that the Lord will show up. So I’m diving in with no backup oxygen tank, a pair of foggy goggles, and split fins. I invite you on this journey called life in hopes of encouragement, honesty and vulnerability in Christ.