Birthdays and Thankfulness

So I've had a pretty busy last few days. They've been a lot of fun, but now I am all kinds of tired! My 26th (eeeeeekkkk) birthday was on Wednesday. This birthday was kind of not fun for me, seeing as how I'm old and doing nothing with my life currently. BUT it's no fun spending your birthday depressed, so I made the most of it.

I started my birthday by eating midnight ice cream at Baskin Robins with two of my favorites Jake and Stacy. The whole Griffitts family are my favorites and so ringing in a new birthday with 2 of them is a spectacular thing. Lots of laughing was had for sure. Then after I went to sleep for a little bit, I woke up and spent some time with my daddy-o. We went to best buy and the px to look around at some stuff my sisters and I had asked for for Christmas. I tried, unsuccesfully to get him to buy a Wii, but after his epic failure at mario kart in the store, a wii was a no go. What a sore loser. :) In the end, my parents' gift for my birthday was... get ready for this craziness... a new laptop battery and 2 new tires for my honda! wooohooo!! haha I am old if I can get excited about that! :) But I'm very thankful because that stuff is not cheap!

Then after dinner with my parents and after I got some beautiful flowers delivered to my house from my sweet friends Beth and Brandon, I went over to my second family (The Griffitts DUH!) for cake. They're such a blessing to me and have made moving back to virginia a million times better than I thought it was going to be! One of my best friends Mary is in town too and so it was special to celebrate my birthday with them. Stacy made the most awesome cake and they all hooked me up with some sweet stuff. It was fun fo sho. Then, after the festivities at the house, Mary, Stacy and I went out on the town. First we went to Carlos for the high school reunion of the world. Not even going to go into great detail about how weird and surreal that experience was for me. Who knew so many people were still in this crazy little town... and having them all in one location was a lot to take in. haha. After that, we drove down to Fredericksburg to see a DJ that some of my friends are friends with. HAHAHA craziness... that's all I can really say. We all had a lot of fun dancing and laughing. It was just fun to be with people I love. I had a great birthday. Jess even called me from Iraq which was nice since it's harder to get to talk to her while she's over there. It was a really wonderful birthday present.

AND dude, facebook announcing your birthday to the world, yes that makes you feel very warm and fuzzy, and super popular. It's spectacular to wake up on your birthday and already your gmail is announcing that you have 33 new facebook comments. haha.

I really am blessed.

Yesterday, Thanksgiving with the fam was crazy as usual. My sisters... mostly my younger sister is crazy :) and so it's always a loud, entertaing time when we're together for holidays.

I have much to be thankful for.


I also got 6 inches chopped off my hair today. For those of you who dont know this, my senior year of high school... so almost 8 years ago, I got the mother of all bad haircuts. I think after it started growin out and i got over the shock, it wasnt so bad. BUT at first, I was traumatized and thought all my friends would think I didn't like boys anymore because I could literally spike up parts of my hair. It was awful and the only time I've ever cried in the hair salon... and they totally made me pay for that crap. ANYWAY, today was the first time I've gotten a non-trim, actual haircut in 7 years. I thought I was going to throw up on the way to the place and the whole time she was cutting my hair, she kept telling me not to panic. It's not super short, but its a lot shorter than it was when i woke up this morning! It only took my 10 minutes to straighten it though!

Ok. Thats my random post. Here's a pic of my hair and I'll try and post some pictures of my birthday cake candle moment if I get them from stacy. It's been a good last few days.

So I found this website to make this thing. I plugged in my blog and it took all the words I use and made this. The bigger the words, the more often I use them. It's a lot of fun! If I stretch out the picture, it makes the words blurry but if you click on it, it'll take you to a bigger version. www.wordle.net is the hotness.

Big words that stick out to me:
Love, hope, people, laugh, poverty, friends, life, summer, change

It was kind of insightful to see some of the smaller words. Some of them I wish were bigger. I wish I talked abut them more in my blog.. i wish they were more of my focus than some of the words that were more on the large side.

And Your Love is the Music of My Heart...

So today I took a friend to Baltimore to the airport so that she could go see her husband's family for Thanksgiving (he had gone ahead earlier in the week). We left Stafford around 1, which put me coming back to Stafford around 3ish... on friday... the week before Thanksgiving... and if you are from around here you know that means that traffic was not so awesome. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be so that was a blessing, but I did spend some extra time in my car.

I actually enjoy driving long distances by myself. The key to that sentence is by. my. self. Sorry for all of you that I've taken road trips with.. it's not that I didn't enjoy my time with you... I just enjoy my alone time as well. And if you've taken a road trip with me, and I haven't been the driver, then you know that I'm either 1. grumpy or 2. sleeping. So the key to road trip success with Molly just happens to be to let me drive and let me control the music... or at the very least, let me control the music.

I like to drive by myself because I like to listen to the most random music, that if another person were in the car with me, they'd totally be judging. I like music that makes me laugh or feel nostalgic because of a memory related to a song. I am also a repeat offender. I can listen to the same song over and over again. I like to learn the words, I like to analyze their meanings, and i like to pretend like I'm a rockstar in concert (dude you know you do it too!). It's quite therapeutic actually. Some of my best thinking takes place when I'm driving... its a good place to cry too FYI... well as long as you're not sobbing and impairing your driving ability, if that's the case, might I suggest pulling over on the side of the road for your safety and mine.

Today, as I was driving home from BWI I had the urge to listen to old school New Found Glory. Uh.. what? Random. I used to love NFG but they haven't had a new CD come out in awhile and I probably havent listened to them in 2 years. BUuuUUUTTttt I gave in to the urge and found them on my ipod (side note... mollys+ipods+stop and go traffic= probably a not so awesome idea). Oh man I was having fun listening to them. The words came back to me with such ease and I just enjoy their sound. It was a lot of fun actually.

My trip home from Baltimore wasnt such a bust afterall... plus I got to spend time with a friend on the way up there and that was fun. Amanda (the chick I drove) was my RA at Liberty my junior year and one of my crazy roommates off campus our senior year. That house was one giant ball of emotional goodness. It's fun that she and I both live near eachother again so that I have another friend to hangout with in good ole, black hole stafford, va.

*** AND another thing I almost forgot...

My WONDERFUL friend Laura from seminary (one of the best things that came out of my time in the big D) is a copy editor for LifeWay and she called a few days ago and asked if I would do some freelance writing for her department. I'm going to be working on some sunday school material. So even though it's not a fulltime job, it's a neat opportunity and when it's all said and done, I'll be a published writer. How stinkin sweet is that? Praise the Lord for this because I was really beginning to feel like a loser who has contributed nothing to society. I'm nervous about this but really excited for this learning experience. Let's pray I dont completely stink at the whole writing thing because how embarassing will it be to have Laura read my stuff and secretly laugh at my suckiness... plus ya know the people that actually end up doing these sunday school lessons. I dont want them to hate me either or for it to distract from the message God has in the Scripture being studied. Oh man, Im nervous! This was all just super unexpected.

so when people ask me if i have a job yet... can i just say, "i'm a freelance writer" even though its just for something small? I'm tired of feeling lame and it just sounds so cool.

Actually speaking of, I'm just plain tired. It's 3am. I need sleep. Busy weekend ahead. Shout out to my girl Mary who had a birthday today (technically yesterday). I love you Murr and I'm so glad you were born. You make my life happier and you raise my maturity level higher just by being you. Thank you for being my friend. I hope Penn State wins this weekend in honor of your awesomeness.

Bare

So, I've never been the type of person who can look at a landscape or a sunset and get swept away, or overwhelmed with it's beauty. I don't tend to see God in nature or creation like so many do. Now, don't get me wrong, I can look at something, and appreciate that it is beautiful, but things outside don't typically leave me speechless. It's actually something that makes me kind of sad. I feel like I'm missing out on something or as if my mind is too small to take in the greatness of God's creation. I have to consciously force myself to stop, look deeply at something, and have a mental conversation with myself over what exactly is so beautiful in what I'm looking at.

Today however, may have been an exception to that mindset. As I was driving to a friends house on the interstate, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of God's creation. It's weird, because it didn't come in the form of a beautiful sunset. I live in the suburbs near Northern Virginia so there arent really mountains around. No, instead it came from looking at the trees. And not just any trees... a couple weeks ago, the trees were definitely beautiful in their fall foliage... no these trees were bare, not a single leaf clung to their branches. As I was driving, looking at the trees (and don't worry I was looking at the road too) and the sunlight was hitting them just right, I was in awe of God's creation. It was beautiful.

Seeing those trees, that during the summer stand tall and thick with leaves, standing there in an almost vulnerable state got me thinking about God and who we are before Him. Some of those trees, they might be the most beautiful trees there are during the spring and summer. Some of those trees might have seen better days, even in the spring and summer when that's when they're supposed to look their best. I feel like we're all kind of like those trees. There are times in our lives when we are just looking our best. We've got it all together, or so we'd like people to think and we are doing fine. Then there are times in our lives when we've just come out of a particular difficult season, a dry season perhaps, and so we're not looking our best, we're weak and can't even pretend that we have it all together. We're weary. And of course there's the trees that arent particularly beautiful or exceptionally ugly... we're just there, living life, blending in, and getting by.

Underneath it all though... we're all the same.

As I was passing those trees, I couldnt tell which ones were the hotness during peak season. I couldn't tell which ones were really old, or which ones still had some spring in their trunk. They stood together, bare, tall, reaching toward the heavens, as the sunlight showered down on them.
God doesn't see us with our fall foliage or our spring blooms and the airs we try to put on. He see's us for who we are at the core.

I know that this is obvious stuff to most of us, but there was just something beautiful in the thought of being that completely vulnerable before the Lord. God knows how hard I try to be something I'm not. He knows how hard I try to pretend like everything is fine on the outside, when I'm really dying on the inside. I spend so much time trying to act like I have it all together, worrying about the opinions of others, it's refreshing to know that there is Someone who see's right through my act, and yet loves me still. If only I'd surrender all the "leaves" I'm desperately trying to cling to, and accept this season for what it is, I think I'll see that He truly loves me. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how many times I've learned this idea, in these moments when I'm before Him, completely broken, stripped bare, and really just have nothing left to offer, it's such a struggle to stand tall and reach out to Him for comfort and peace.... I'd rather have my leaves back thank you very much.

It's a beautiful, but vulnerably difficult and humbling thing to surrender everything and just stand before our Father... with every sin, every mistake, every scar exposed. Just like I need to remind myself to stop and take in God's creation, I'm realizing I need to remind myself that He knows me and loves me still. He delights in me and wants me to know Him more... and that despite all my failures and inadequacies, because of Christ in me, I too can stand tall and just allow Him to pour Himself over me.

Random... Because thats how I roll

*You cant fake something this hot.

This is my friend Mike. We have been friends for a long time and he makes me laugh more than most humans can... and he makes other people laugh at my expense (but thats a story for a different day) Mike has been in Iraq for a very long time, but sometime in the next week or so, Iraq will be a thing of the past! I am extremely excited about his return to civilization and even more excited about his return to Stafford County, VA, and even more excited about the return of lame game night.

Now only a few more months until one of my other favorite humans is home from this crazy war and then all my people will be safe and sound... for now anyway. It will be a happy day when Jess steps off that stinkin plane... and the only sand she has to worry about is the sand on the beach, and surfing in Hawaii. What was the army thinking... stationing a girl in hawaii and then uprooting her to Iraq?! That's enough to make anyone crazy!

I dont know if she ever reads my blog, so she might kill me for posting this.
But I think it perfectly shows just how bad she needs our prayers, Iraq is making her crazy!!
Its time for Jess to come home!!!

Pray for Mike as he travels back to the states and goes through all the stuff he has to go through before they let him come home to see his family. Sometimes the traveling home can be super frustrating and slow moving... so pray that it all goes well. AND be praying for Jess, that she can remain hardcore and focused on the task set before her and that the Lord would give her the strength and courage it takes to get through the last part of a crazy long 15 month deployment. She's almost done and we're all so proud of her!

Lost.

You know when you were a kid, and you’d get separated from your parents? There’s that initial moment where you look around, and suddenly you realize you’re surrounded by strangers, yet terrifyingly all alone. My younger sister used to get separated from my mom all the time, or maybe it wasn’t as often as I remember, it’s just her reactions left a lasting impression on me. She would panic! We’d find her just a couple minutes later and already she was reduced to sobs with a circle of strangers around her trying to calm her down. She’d weep about how she thought my mom had left her, just abandoned her there in the store or wherever we were that day. My mom would always laugh a little and reassure her that she’d never do that. As ridiculous as it was to my mom, the thought of abandoning one of her own, the fear was very real to my sister.

What was the rule we always heard when we’d get separated? “Stay where you are and don’t move.” If we moved, it would make finding us even more difficult, because who knows where our little legs could have taken us. It was best just to stay in the last place you were before you realized you were lost. I think as I’ve gotten older, I still have that mentality. If you’re lost, stay where you are, don’t move. As an adult, I absolutely hate getting lost. I panic. In my faith, I’ve often felt lost. Like a child, in that moment of fear, I begin thinking I’ve been abandoned, thinking that the one Person who promised to never to leave me, has up and changed His mind and left me to navigate this difficult life all on my own.

Sometimes I stand still. I stay where I am, in hopes that I’ll be found.

Sometimes I reach out in the crowd, chasing anything or anyone that resembles the One from whom I’ve been separated.

And sometimes, when all else has failed, I sit down, start to weep, wondering why I’ve been abandoned.

It’s strange, because even though my little sister knew deep down of my mom’s love for her, she still had that fear that someday my mom would just walk away and not come back. I know that the Lord loves me. I know that He’s promised that He’ll never leave me or forsake me… but sometimes His presence isn’t always near. Sometimes that still small voice is just a little too small to be heard in all the distractions around. For a time, I’ll usually stand still and wait, like my mom taught me. Praying that He’ll return, praying that this is just a test. Praying that He’ll find me soon, because already I feel like I’m drowning. Then, after standing still for a time, I decide to do something about this situation. I decide to take matters into my own hands and go out and search for Him. Surely, He meant what He said. Surely He loves me and is just as afraid as I am. Surely, He’s looking for me. So I step out… Oh, there He is! I chase after Him, calling out His name, hoping He'll turn and look at me, and sweep me up in an embrace. Finally, I reach for His sleeve, look up expecting to see his familiar face, only to find the cold eyes of a stranger. I was so convinced it was Him. But wait! I think I see Him across the way and again, race off to meet Him, shouting joyfully that I’d found Him! When I reach Him, I realize I was mistaken, again. Only this time, this stranger, with his dark eyes, but tempting smile, invites me to come home with him. He promises that he’ll take care of me and love me more than the One that I was looking for. He promises he can give me everything I need and more. And so… I go. At first, I glance back in hopes of spotting Him, in hopes that He’ll break through the crowd and come and get me. Then, feeling defeated, I look back into the eyes of the stranger, grab his hand, and go willingly.

It’s all too easy. I feel alone, and I fall into sins or temptations, not because I’m trying to be disobedient, but because they promise something that was lost when I lost that community with the Lord. Some of the things I chase after because they’ve been disguised to look an awful lot like what I’m looking for… like seminary or church activities. They’re not bad, but they’re not the Lord. Some of the things I chase after because they feel good, they feel like love, they feel like hope, they numb, they distract. I fall easily into those temptations, because I so badly want to feel whole again, to know that I haven’t been abandoned. I don’t know what’s worse, standing still, hoping to be found… or chasing after something that will temporarily dull the pain. It seems to me, in my own experiences, that they both have the same result… I still feel alone and scared.

I fill my life with temporary satisfaction, useless knowledge, and empty joy. Eventually, I get to a place where I realize my colossal mistake. I'm too tired to go on, to pick up and resume my search. So I sit down, like a child, and weep. I've looked everywhere. I've tried to replace Him with something else.... yet there's still a hole in my heart, a place reserved only for Him. It's in that moment, that moment of desperation, that place where I feel like I can't go on, where I feel like I should give up, it's in that moment, that I look up and see His face. It doesn't matter how long I've been gone or how long I've been searching, all that matters is that He's there, holding me, reminding me that He promised He'd never leave, that I shouldn't have walked away, because He had been there the whole time.

It’s in these dark times that I am constantly having to remind myself that He will never leave me (Deuteronomy 31:6). When I can’t see Him, I must trust that He’s there. When I can’t feel Him, I must believe that there is a purpose. I must refuse to stand still, but to press on toward the goal that’s been given to me (Philippians 3:14), I must continue to grow in my relationship with Him. He knows everything about me, so I must dive into the Word, so that I can know more about my Creator… even when I can’t feel Him, I have His Word. I call out to Him and trust that He hears my cry (Psalm 34:17). It’s a battle not to get distracted by the “strangers” who offer love and hope, and often times I have to test out those offers before I realize the emptiness of their promises. Oftentimes, those "strangers" are on the same search as me, they're looking for a way to feel whole, to feel love, to feel anything and everything but abandoned. When they've found a temporary fix that seems to be working to rid themselves of the feelings of hopelessness, they're all too eager to help those around them. It doesn’t matter that I’ve been told time and time again that He will never abandon me. It doesn’t matter that He promises He’ll always be there, and that He alone satisfies, that moment where I can’t see Him, when I feel alone and lost, in that initial moment, that fear is very real, and every fiber of my being wants to do what it takes to get rid of the panic.

I remember a few times, when my sisters and I would go shopping with my mom, and of course, my younger sister would get separated from the group. She’d start screaming and crying almost immediately, for fear that she’d been left in the store… it was then that my mom would pop her head over a clothes rack and tell Sarah that she had been there all along. Sarah, being a child, couldn’t see over the clothes, but was unaware that my mom could still see her. She felt as if, but had in fact never been lost at all.

Just because He’s out of my sight, doesn’t mean that I’m out of His.
So I cling to His promises and move forward, knowing in my heart that He’s there... I learn from the things that have distracted me in the past and try with all I have not to be tempted. I don't know why He allows us to feel a fear that is so very real, a fear that I'm alone and abandoned... but if I just trust Him and His promises, eventually that fear will subside.

"Hope placed in the future inadvertently brings hope into the present, in turn making the present tolerable" David Crowder

"Peace does not dwell in outward things, but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on Him who has all things safely in His hands." - Elisabeth Elliot

Spring

So today is one of those days where you can look out the window and see a picture that perfectly expresses how you're feeling inside. Today, as I look out my bedroom window, it's cloudy and cold and every once in awhile it starts to spit a light rain. It's weird for me being back here in Virginia where the seasons are more distinct, and all of sudden there's a cold chill in the air. Whenever I'm hating on the cold, I sometimes think to myself, "I bet its not this cold in Dallas! It wasn't this cold until at least January!" I guess the grass really is always greener on the other side... because when I was in Dallas I was constantly lamenting over the fact that I wasn't in Virginia. It's a sad little circle. The weather here is definitely changing though... I feel like just a couple weeks ago it was beautiful outside. The sun was shining, birds were singing, everything was green, and a t-shirt would definitely suffice. Then slowly but surely things started to change. At first the change was welcomed, a change of pace, a respite from the disgustingly hot summer. Everyone knows that hoodie weather is the best weather there is! The change was beautiful... the leaves were changing color and suddenly the same streets you drove down day after day, looked different, a calming change of scenery. Now here we are, mid November, the leaves have fallen and the trees are almost bare. It's cold and the wind whips right through that beloved hooded sweatshirt. It's darker and kind of sad to see the trees that were once so pretty, looking lifeless and empty. It was so gradual, so subtle...

It was so subtle. It was beautiful at first. Warm. Comforting. Happy. Colorful. A change of pace.

And now its cold. dark. and kind of sad. dead. It feels hopeless.

The beauty of the past is a struggle to remember as you prepare for the winter ahead.

Sometimes in the midst of a dark season, it's hard to remember that it is just that, a season. Seasons come and seasons go. It's a cycle, it's part of life. Knowing that the seasons eventually change, doesn't make it any less cold during the winter, but it does give you hope that you can hang on because spring is coming. Life is just around the corner. Here I am at the end of fall, knowing that winter is approaching, and already hating the idea that it's probably going to get colder before it gets warmer. How much colder could it get? How much more can I take? Will I really be able to hang on until spring?

Yes, I look out my window and realize how much I can relate to the picture that I see... things are hard, things seem hopeless, things that once were beautiful and comforting have changed. It feels so dark. The change was so subtle, how did I get here.. but even still, as I stand here looking out the fall season that has overtaken my neighborhood, and if I look really hard over the bare trees and past the dark clouds, I can see small rays of yellow, the sun pushing through a clump of clouds. Even in the seeming darkness there's a little light. There's hope. There's always hope.

I just hope I can hang on till spring.

College Days

So this last weekend I went up to northern Virginia to see some of my friends from college, from my CNU days. I went to CNU for my first year and a half of college and these guys were my people. We did everything together and grew up a lot in those first couple years of college. We also had a lot of fun and have a lot of great memories. It's always good to see them.

One of the best parts of the weekend was that my friend Erin drove down from New York city and I got to see her for the first time in 2 years. Erin was my roommate my sophomore year of college at both CNU and Longwood and we were pretty much inseparable while we went to school together. It was great just to spend time laughing and catching up and to know that despite the distance and time, we can always pick right back up where we left off.

Leigh Anne and TJ are getting married this summer after being together for 10 years and so us girls went out and tried on bridesmaid dresses and just hungout and then we met back up with the guys for dinner and some sweet Catch Phrase action. It was a fun weekend full of laughter and lots of memories... and now I'm crazy tired from a weekend of sleep deprivation, but it was so worth it.

Leigh Anne, Erin, and me... we get along much better when we're not roommates!









Classic Brock and his supermodel pose.
And Erin looking beautiful as always.
Love these kids.










Oh man, I was so tired by this point. Me and Brock, freezing out butts off out on the balcony, laughing about who knows what.







Me and TJ, always been my partner in crime.

Hope

Well, it's over and done with and Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. I must say that this result has me filled with many mixed emotions tonight.

I am fearful for the future... I worry for the Iraqi people who have already endured such unbelievable hardship over these last few years. These people are living in a country that is just beginning to see the light and freedom that they can claim as their own after years and years of opression and fear. What will happen if we leave them now? I worry for my friends and family members serving our country and how Obama's plan for the military will directly affect them, their safety, and the safety of our nation. I worry for the unborn who rely on others to be their voices, to champion for their right to life and who are being ruthlessly murdered in staggering numbers everyday.

I will say, that as I listened to Obama's acceptance speech tonight, I was filled with a little hope and a lot of pride to be part of such a great nation. To think of where our country has been, and to actually see the day when a black man was elected by the people to hold the most powerful position in the US, is an incredible thing. Regardless of who people voted for, this is a historical day for our nation. It gives me hope that things really might change for the better. I'm hopeful that he will keep his word when he says that he hears the voice of those who did not vote for him. I am hopeful that his promises of peace can become a reality, that war is no longer necessary, but at the same time, does not cost us our safety or the freedom that we hold so dear. I pray that the lives of those already lost were not lost in vain and the soldiers and their families who have sacrificed so much in deployment after deployment to protect us will not be for naught. I'm hopeful that his plan to better provide health care to children and the poor will work so that no one in this country is denied the opportunity to decent health care simply because they can't afford it. I am hopeful that his plan for education will strengthen our school systems and that schools in all districts, in all neighborhoods will be held to the same standard and that those children in rougher, poorer places will be given the same opportunity for success that suburban upper class kids have been handed. I'm hopeful that Obama's plan to make getting a college education more easily obtainable will give teenagers who have not grown up in the best circumstances, the confidence to know that their past does not have to define their future. I'm hopeful.

No, I may not have gotten the outcome I voted for in this election, but I am going to be optimistic. The Lord is sovereign and the Lord knew who would stand victorious on this election day. It's important that we as believers remember who has won the ultimate Victory and that we need not be fearful of what the future holds.

I go back to my previous post to say that this election season has changed me. It has helped me to see that I absolutely cannot go back to the way I was before. If I want change, if I want to see a difference, then I cannot place expectations on another, without truly living out those expectations in my own life. If I want change, I must first be changed and if I want hope, I must first turn to the only real Hope this world has... Jesus Christ. I intend to love more deeply and to step out of my comfort zone to reach out to those in need, to look past a person's lifestyle and love them for who they really are... a child of God. I'm going to try to be Christ to a lost world with the words that I speak, and the things I choose to stand up for. There is a great need in this country, and the Church so desperately needs to be awakened to those needs. I can't change everyone, and I can't make all Christians see the needs surrounding them, but I can change me and I can pray that when people see that change, they see Christ in me. Love is infectious and love conquers all.

"Let your light shine before all men in such a way that they might see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:18

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35

"Without Christ, there is no hope." Charles Spurgeon

Lord, have mercy on us. Rise up a Church that loves with a love that sees no boundaries of color, gender, sexuality, religion, or class. Teach us to love unconditionally, not a love that has been tainted with hate. Help us to show the world that hope lies not in a mortal man, but in You, the sovereign King, who holds us in the palm of Your hand and who overcame death so that the world might live. Help us to trust and to look to You in the days to come. Give our future president a heart that loves You and seeks You above all. Give him wisdom and guidance so that he might lead this great nation to be a nation that glorifies You. You alone are our hope and our future.

All Talk and No Game

This is another article I found on Relevant's website.
Battle of Words



After hearing way too many ignorant and hateful comments FROM Christians during this election, I wonder if we've lost sight of the big picture. I wonder if they really think their choice of words and means of expression will really make any kind of impact on another person's life. If anything, it's done nothing but make me angry, not sway me to their side of the issue.

This is a huge election, with a lot at stake. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people are just ready for it to be over and done with. I've heard (and even said myself) that I can't wait for Tuesday to get here so this stinkin thing can be resolved. I'm afraid this stuff is far from over, and once our next president is announced, the reaction of Christians is going to be watched closely by the rest of the world. Our words have a lot of power.

I get so mad at so many people who are quick to judge and quick to write off people whose opinions differ from their own. So many Christians say that they're pro-life and are voting for a Republican because they want to overturn Roe vs Wade. Ok, so vote for a candidate because of his stance on abortion. Abortion is wrong and should be illegal. I fully agree with that... but so much of our faith is based on the fact that our Christian beliefs and lifestyle is reflected by more than just words. How are Christians helping to provide hope, education, and alternative solutions for women who find themselves in the midst of an unexpected pregnancy? Christians, we're all talk. We dont volunteer, we dont give money, we dont open our homes to those in need... Vote for McCain because he claims to be pro-life (this week anyway), but rather than sitting around waiting for the president to do something about it, why doesnt the Church and the individuals who claim to be Christ followers step up?

People without healthcare.... why doesn't the Church step up?
"whatever you did for the least of these, you did for Me."

People living in poverty, on welfare, the unemployed... why doesnt the Church step up?
"whatever you did for the least of these, you did for Me."

Is it because you think people should be able to take care of themselves?

I get so angry at those Christians who proudly proclaim that the money they've earned is theirs and the government shouldn't tax them to give it to "lazy people who refuse to go to work but instead sit on their butts and collect government checks." Really? Like, seriously? You're right, the money you have is yours and you should be able to do with it what you want BUT the problem is that you DONT. You keep your money for yourself and you don't help anyone... yet you want the government to continue funding a war, or to find a way pay for all these babies whose life we championed for to be placed in foster care. Healthcare, welfare... this stuff wouldnt be an issue if the Church would just step up and take care of the people around us who are in need. The Church isnt a safe place to turn because apparently if you're not living in a white, middleclass neighborhood and you're needing govt assistance, you're lazy and irresponsible. We take away peoples' dignity and offer them no hope or solutions. Shame on us!

And you, you middle class, college educated twenty something year old... do you REALLY think you got to where you are because of anything you did yourself?? If you had been brought up by a drug addict mother and an absent father, would you really have made it this far?? You are where you are because of the circumstance you were raised in, so dont act so pretentious toward those who have less than you. It's sad that we live in a society where many feel like the only way we can help others is by forcing Americans to give up a tiny fraction of their money in taxes in order to fund programs where the basic needs of human beings can be taken care of. We should want to help those in need, but because we don't, the government needs us to pay up.

Where is the Church and why are we putting all of our hope in one man. You don't give a crap about abortion or taxes or health care any other time... but now, now that we're on the night before a presidential election, you're going to act like you live and breathe these things. You're going to act like its something you've always been passionate about?

It's my prayer that this election season has awakened the Church to see that there are people in need in this country and that we can't rely on the government to take care of them. I know I have been convicted. I have a hard time claiming something as being important to me, when, up until 2 months ago, I rarely thought about it. It's sad. Jesus told us to take care of the poor and we should be doing that willingly and regularly.

I'm realizing that I need to do more personally. If I'm going to talk about it, I need to be living it as well.


If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.

There are no great things, only small things with great love. Happy are those.

We try and make the world safe, knowing that world will never be safe as long as millions live in poverty so a few can live as they wish.

~Mother Teresa

Living a Life of Love

I found this article on Relevant Magazine's website and just felt like it said a lot of things that I've been feeling. Hope you'll take the time to read it.

Embrace of the Rejected




Another world IS possible....