Today my Dad opened our worship service with the idea of knowing God, the Father. He told the story of the father with two sons (one being the prodigal). The youngest hadn't known the Father before he left and squandered all his riches and the elder didn't truly know and understand the heart of the Father when he brought back the youngest son.
Knowing God. Not just knowing about him, but truly understanding him as a friend and Father. His idea brought a random movie scene to my mind. And to those who know me well, this happens often.
I thought of Elf (the movie). The part when Will Ferrell, Buddy, hears that Santa's coming and he shouts across the store excitedly, "SANTA!!! I know him! I KNOW him!" He had the childlike mindset of knowing Santa. Everybody else obviously knew about him, but he KNEW him.
Ok so Santa is obviously not equal to God and hopefully we're not like Will Ferrell in that sense, but I'm talking about his innocent excitement of KNOWING Santa.
How much more excited can we be? We KNOW the Creator, the Messiah, the King of Kings! I KNOW Him! That blows my mind.
The only thing is... I want to know Him more.
Who would ever say to a friend, "Ok, I think I know you enough so let's just stick to me coming to you whenever I feel like it ok? Great."
No! Unless somebody was a terrible friend, they would never say that! People want to spend more time with their friends, get to know them better, enjoy the time spent with them. In that way I want to get to know my Lord, I'm so glad that there's no "limit."
Only don't expect to see me in a green costume shouting, "I KNOW Him!" through the stores. :)
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
A Joyful Awakening
It's been quite a while since I've written. In fact, its been so long that I not only forgot the password to the blog but also the password to the email account I used for this, and now that I think of it, I don't even remember the email account! Much has happened since those long ago stories. My days are now filled with happy nothings, but yet I love those happy nothings.
Today I realized just how truly blessed I am to have everyday adventures, nothing necessarily exciting or tragic, just a simple day by day life. But how many days do we honestly appreciate the freedom that we enjoy?
As every girl does at some point, I've looked at myself and hated what I saw. Not understanding why I was the way I was while others were better. At the gym I was thinking this bitterly and watching the screens above me as every star danced in front of me parading their perfection. Being so consumed with myself I almost didn't notice the girl in the wheelchair in front of me. Her mother was moving her onto a machine to work her legs. I saw tears of frustration in her eyes. Her movements were slow and almost unbearable to watch. She made a joke to her mother who's concern could not be hidden even with a smile.
What had happened to this girl? Did she ever experience the feeling of running freely or playing hopscotch?
I couldn't help but watch her. I admired her strength and determination. Who was I to pity myself and be completely selfish while she, who cannot even move on her own, ignores her own disabilities and laughs at life.
This girl, about fifteen, though she never spoke a word to me, showed me how to truly live. Where is the beauty in life if all we see is what we lack and others have? Our vision is limited to the negatives in life causing our thoughts to become increasingly bleak.
How easily we believe the lies whispered in our ears that we're not good enough, never will be good enough. Weren't we created in his image? Isn't it enough to be alive? I've heard this said to me time and again but it never hit me as it did today.
I looked back at the screens above me and rather than seeing beautiful women smiling, living their perfect lives, I saw an emptiness. There was a vacancy in their eyes and in their actions a desperate need to be noticed. I looked back at the young girl struggling into a machine, there was strength in her eyes and courage in her actions.
I walked away now knowing within whom true joy could be found.
Today I realized just how truly blessed I am to have everyday adventures, nothing necessarily exciting or tragic, just a simple day by day life. But how many days do we honestly appreciate the freedom that we enjoy?
As every girl does at some point, I've looked at myself and hated what I saw. Not understanding why I was the way I was while others were better. At the gym I was thinking this bitterly and watching the screens above me as every star danced in front of me parading their perfection. Being so consumed with myself I almost didn't notice the girl in the wheelchair in front of me. Her mother was moving her onto a machine to work her legs. I saw tears of frustration in her eyes. Her movements were slow and almost unbearable to watch. She made a joke to her mother who's concern could not be hidden even with a smile.
What had happened to this girl? Did she ever experience the feeling of running freely or playing hopscotch?
I couldn't help but watch her. I admired her strength and determination. Who was I to pity myself and be completely selfish while she, who cannot even move on her own, ignores her own disabilities and laughs at life.
This girl, about fifteen, though she never spoke a word to me, showed me how to truly live. Where is the beauty in life if all we see is what we lack and others have? Our vision is limited to the negatives in life causing our thoughts to become increasingly bleak.
How easily we believe the lies whispered in our ears that we're not good enough, never will be good enough. Weren't we created in his image? Isn't it enough to be alive? I've heard this said to me time and again but it never hit me as it did today.
I looked back at the screens above me and rather than seeing beautiful women smiling, living their perfect lives, I saw an emptiness. There was a vacancy in their eyes and in their actions a desperate need to be noticed. I looked back at the young girl struggling into a machine, there was strength in her eyes and courage in her actions.
I walked away now knowing within whom true joy could be found.
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