Count Your Blessings!

If you ever find yourself getting upset at something... remember that it is a gift- a blessing... then try and go a week without it and see what happens.  I realized this since our dishwasher is broken and we have to hand wash everything (including over thanksgiving)... it makes me really consider what I am eating to create minimal pans to clean...  The environmentalist in me is being threatened by the laziness-  paper plates vs. dishes that I have to wash... (don't worry... holdin' strong to the dishes!)

But it reminds me of the importance of "fasting" from certain things... be it food... an appliance you take for granted... when you get upset at your computer for going so slow imagine all the work you'd be doing without it.  I'd like to see any of us go a week without running water.  It really makes you appreciate the things in your life that you take for granted and reminds you of how blessed you truly are.  

lets get to the point...

So I was laying in bed this morning pondering love and thinking about art… actually I had just gotten up and I don't know if that was the case because I was praying and this vision of God's love in our lives just came to me in the form of art.  It was a contrast of realism and pointillism and how we are all tiny points in a huge painting where God is the artist.  We each have our own unique colors and placement- we are uniquely placed around other points with intention and care.   

Background- realism is an art style where you create your drawing or painting based on recreating exactly what you see in front of you.  Pointillism is an art style where you create an image using dots of color.  Examples below…. realism and pointillism:

The image I had is that regardless of what we do we are all a small part of this larger picture.  God is the artist and has a vision in His head of the grand painting.  When we are put onto the picture He then gives us the opportunity of how we want to live as "points".  We can either be a point that reaches out and touches the other points around us or we can be a point that keeps itself separated from the points around us.  In that we have the opportunity to share God's love… that if we choose to be the point that reaches out and touches the other points around us it makes the image flow smoothly and it is easy to see the picture close up.  The love that flows from one point and reaches out to those surrounding it can then be sent even further out and create such a beautiful image that you can view up close and see exactly what it is.  The converse is everyone acting of their own accord and not reaching out and touching the points around them- not sharing that love.  When this happens you cannot tell what that larger picture is up close… it just looks like a whole lot of individual dots.  Which is what we are- a whole lot of individuals, not a community living in love.  But the beauty is that even in this situation-  you can still step back and see the image that was trying to be created.  It just takes longer and is harder to understand at first.

Regardless of how we choose to live as the dot we are in relation to those around us, the artists' image will still ultimately be portrayed.  That is so cool-  that in a world where everyone lives selfishly it is a lot harder to see the ultimate image but you still can- that when we live selfishly we are led further away from God's beautiful picture of love.  And in a world where you live truly loving and reaching out to those around you it is so much easier to see God's picture- but either way it will be revealed… God is such an amazing creator!

things i am thankful for… 2010

1. a bed to sleep in
2. warm blankets and clothes that i have plenty of (especially since we have not yet turned the heat on…)
3. even though its not on… a house with heat
4. a house 
5. a television to watch the thanksgiving day parade on
6. parents who can afford to feed me meals
7. a coffeemaker to brew delicious coffee
8. goodwill stores…. the place where i got my coffeemaker and a large portion of my clothes… that we can reuse stuff instead of always having to buy it new
9. a country where we are free to be Christians
10. for soldiers who give their lives and their time fighting for me and millions of people they have never even met- who miss out being with their families so we can be with ours
11. for my uncle- being clean and having a job… what a turn around from a couple years ago.  that he was a ref and is doing so well and for the blessing that he is to those around him with his loving spirit
12. for running water inside our houses- sink, toilets….
13. for a dishwasher- it was broken but made me appreciate how convenient it is when it is working and how much time it saves us
14. for apple cider donuts and just the amount of food that we have in such close proximity
15. for glasses and contact lenses so that I can see
16. for the people who grow that food whether its in the form of animals or just agriculture… 
17. for a family that watches the dog show and roots for the beagle to win every year even though it seems silly
18. for a family that doesn't care what you look like- that they care about you… and that we could enjoy thanksgiving in comfortable clothes and relax
19. that we have cars that work and roads to travel on
20. to be able to pick up Mom-Mom and have her spend thanksgiving with us
21. for Mom-Mom's 90 years of life
22. for a family that loves one another and wants the best for one another
23. for a delicious meal
24. for a table and chairs to sit and eat it around… for music… 
25. for fun traditions watching muppets christmas carol 
26. for so many amazing friends to wish happy thanksgiving and all the blessings that they have brought me throughout this year and my life
27. for different forms of technology to stay in contact with them
28. for a dog and a neighborhood to go on a walk
29. for chilly nights and warm clothes… for starts even when I can't see them

There is so much that I spent the day thinking about and thanking God for.  He has given me so much… but even if He were to take it all away and I were left freezing cold, blind, hungry, with no friends or family in the middle of nowhere today… I could still praise Him because despite of whatever circumstances I am in He still sent His son to die for me- not because I am worthy of that but because He loves me that much.  That I can always be thankful for the way he loves- and that He can't love me anymore and He won't love me any less.  That He is willing to pay that price for me- someone seemingly so worthless…

" You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the   ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."       -Romans 5:6-8

I am not even a good person and Christ was still willing to die for me… that is such a gift.  I can't wait to one day hopefully be able to use this day with my own family to serve others out of the wealth of things that we have to be thankful for.  To spend the day giving others reasons to be thankful for and be thankful to give to them.  I hope that you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and no matter what the circumstances there is always something to be thankful for.  God Bless!

I'm a Misfit Toy

Most of you have probably seen the wonderful Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas Special with the Abominable Snowman and Yukon Cornelius the gold miner and so forth.  If not- just watch on television and you'll probably see it four times this year alone… One of my all-time favorite Christmas movies is the Polar Express- I love it, you should take some time to watch that too…  But recently I was going through a time of really needing to be reminded of Jesus' sacrifice for me.  I needed the overwhelming truth of what He did for me to change me, not just the knowledge of that truth.  I needed to be reminded of who I really was- as a sinner in need of a savior.  I prayed for God to really reveal to more about Jesus' sacrifice and myself- and He is so good, He continues to show me the overwhelming truth of Christ's sacrifice. 

In this time God gave me this image to show me and remind me who I really am and why His love is so amazing.  He took me back to that near and deer (hahaha) special with the reindeer who was outcast from all the rest.  In his journeys and wanderings he comes across the island of misfit toys- toys that became broken, or that didn't work quite right.  Toys that had already been opened or played with and abandoned... that had been determined useless by their owners.  All these toys had come together and were living on the "Island of Misfit Toys"- having been rejected by little girls and boys.  In the same way, in the Polar Express, Santa was starting a recycling program, bringing back the toys that kids had used and broken or abandoned.  Both movies had these cases of abandoned toys that were determined unworthy by the standards of the user.  

God used these toys to show me that is exactly who I am… no child on Christmas would willingly accept an already unwrapped present that was used and broken- missing bits and pieces- that was dirty and smelly- that no longer worked correctly.  And yet God accepts us exactly that way-  we can't give him anything more than ourselves, and we are these broken misfit toys that no one else would even accept.  Yet he yearns for us, he longs for us… He wants us to come to Him and he wants to take us back and fix all of our broken areas- which He knows better than anyone because he is our creator.  He knows how to properly restore us.  

And it wasn't even enough that He is the only one who would even take us in this condition, but he paid the price himself to make us clean.  He gave his son that we would be able to be restored.  And that is humbling- to look at yourself as the broken unwanted toy that God paid to have for himself…