But our Lives as Well

1 Thessalonians 2:6-8

We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were like young children among you.

Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.

But our lives as well. What does this mean?

I think sometimes it's easier to share the gospel and simply tell someone that God loves them than it is to share the messiness of our lives with them. I think that what Paul is getting at here is that it takes love to let someone into our lives enough to actually see gospel grace being played out in every day life. To love at all is to be vulnerable as C.S. Lewis said, and what could be more vulnerable that sharing our lives as well with the people we share the gospel with. And Paul does this with delight. He's humble. He's not looking for glory and acknowledgement, he's just trying to love these people like Jesus does. 

But our lives as well. How do we do this?

Maybe we need to meet up for coffee with that person in the back row at church. Maybe we need to say hello to the person sitting on a bench on the street day after day. Maybe we need to buy a kid some ice cream when they ask for a pack of smokes. Maybe we need to cry with our best friends. Maybe we need to laugh with a stranger. 

We need to give up our lives for these people. We need to give up everything for these people who have heard "Jesus loves you" from the mouths of dozens but have never really felt that love in action. We need to let our hearts break. We need to recognize our brokenness and then we need to love with our lives. And we can't do this unless God's in this. 

Not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. 

Because we loved you so much.

Done like Dinner

I am finally done my second year of post-secondary education, first year of college.

Winner, winner chicken dinner.

Things I've learned:

1. Do random fun things with fun people.
Some of my best memories of this year have been saying yes to weekend concerts with no guarantee of actually getting tickets, playing hide-and-seek-tag at 1am, and going on late night star gazing adventures. It's good to have a game plan, but sometimes you've got to throw away the clip board and just do it. Random things are the best things. Random things give me life.

2. Play outside.
God made the outdoors!! Let's play in it! Life's so depressing indoors and there are trees and mountains that are waiting to be climbed! Also, studying improves 10000% after a good dose of mountain air.

3. Study hard.
Even if it's a class that you really hate if you dig really, really, really deep they'll be something that strikes you as interesting. Learning is hard, but learning is important, therefore, learning is fun. Learning is also what I am called to do at this particular moment of my life so I need to do it at 100%.

4. Love.
Every. Single. Human. Needs. Love. No questions. That is our mission outside and inside Bible school. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love till you can't breathe without loving, love without doubt, love without question, love without hesitation, love without judgement, love without thinking. Love until it becomes your very existence. Love until people can't look at you without feeling the love of God spilling out of you. Love everyone all the time.

5. Say yes.
As mentioned earlier, saying yes leads to adventure! Saying yes also leads to ice cream! Saying yes leads you beyond your zone of comfort, also known as "the comfort zone."
Say yes, be a winner.

6. Say no.
Sometimes, you can't be a winner because there's a thing called responsibility. And responsibility says "No, I need to study." Saying no also helps to balance the most important things in life and forces you to set priorities, which are important so you don't lose your head.
Say no, keep your head.

7. Don't say maybe so.
Indecision will get you nowhere in life. Be bold! Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Also, being indecisive is no help to the people planning crazy random things and need to know how many crazy random people will be accompanying them.

8. Trust God.
This year was a leap of faith. I didn't know if it was going to work out. Last August I almost cancelled and got a job so I could travel and do more stuff. But I just had this gut feeling that God wanted me in school. And I think I was right. I'm not saying that God wouldn't  have used travel to teach me really important things and lead me to really important people, but this year just felt right. Something clicked. And it worked. I was challenged and encouraged in the best ways possible. I got a taste of that abundant life Jesus talks about in John 10:10. And it's beautiful. Just reach out to God and let him lead you in his ways. They're good. His burden is easy and his yoke is light.
It's going to be ok.

So that's it. That is what I have learned. I'd say it's been a pretty successful year.

Unemployed... Still

After many job applications and weeks of waiting by my phone, I have gotten really good at being unemployed.

Like really good.

Usually I wake up at around 10 and stumble to the kitchen to eat last night's leftover dinner, or some good 'ol PB and J.

Then it's social media time. Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Pinterest, Tumblr, repeat.
It's a science really.

I've also gotten considerably good at Tetris Battle.

I started my unemployment journey at a meager  level 30, now I am level 46 (and climbing).

Yes, I am really cool, thanks for asking.

Also, Doctor Who.

Let me tell ya, best Sci-Fi show ever. Ever ever. Like ever. We are never ever ever getting back together ever. Wait, what? T-Swift, what are you doing here?

Also, I think I lost my mind.

I forgot two passwords yesterday and had to get them changed.

Most days, I go for a walk downtown with resumes in hand. Most walks take about an hour.
I'm slightly tanned because of it.

AND POEMS!

People! Poems are so delightful!

Here are a few of my favorite:

I Chose the Mountain by Howard Simon
A Psalm of Life by Henery Wadsworth Longfellow
Forgetfulness by Billy Collins
Love's Philosophy by Percy Bysshe Shelley
A Child said, What is the Grass by Walt Whitman
Abou Ben Adhem by James Henry Leigh Hunt


I found all these poems and many more on the Top 500 Poems List.

Google it.

It's magical.

Also, BOOKS! I read The Silence of Bonadventure Arrow last night.

One sitting. (Well, two because I feel asleep in the middle of it)

It was pretty fun.

I have also read several other novels these past weeks. I love libraries.

So now I've convinced you all that I am a looney girl who has lost her memory, that watches Doctor Who all day, plays Tetris and reads too much. Perfect.

And that is the current state of my unemployed life.

The First Post

And so it begins. The summer time. Sweet, sweet summer time. Yes ladies and gentlemen, we have finally arrived. It is safe to remove your seat belts and step out of the vehicle.

I have survived my first year of university.

And if I have learned one thing it is that there are no such things as mistakes. 

Except on tests. Then the mistakes are quite apparent. 

There are no such things as mistakes in life. And if there is such a thing as a mistake it is the most beautiful thing to make. Mistakes teach us what perfection cannot. Perfection is comfortable. When we are comfortable we use what we have and do something nice and cute and lovely and good and we pat ourselves on the back and that is all. But a mistake, a beautiful mess up, that is where extraordinary happens. We are tossed into a situation when we no longer have the resources, the time, the energy, the brains, the fight, and we crumple. Let's face it. When put in that kind of situation when even our own fight, our own tenacity is no longer a resource, there is not anything else to do but to crumple.

But then this really cool thing happens guys, and it's called doing something you've never done before. You get up from your crumpled little mess and take in as much of that lovely oxygen as you can in one large breath and go out and do that impossible task, and you talk to that impossible person, and all of a sudden you're doing these really cool things that you've never even known to be possible and life just gets easier. And the best part of it all is, is that it was impossible, and it still is impossible, and you're not doing it. You're not doing it because it is impossible. It was God that got you up from your crumpled little mess, and God that filled your lungs with that glorious oxygen and God using you to do that impossible task and to talk to that impossible person. And possibly the best part of making mistakes is that it is humbling. And whatever worthiness I thought myself to have for making the decision to wind me up in Mistake-Ville is lost.

And I am left staring up at the One who let me experience the impossible.