Here Comes the Bride

It has been way too long- life has been really busy- Acl surgery… recovery…Texas trip… weddings… my grandmother passed away… ah!  I apologize for keeping my thoughts selfishly all to me and say thank you to my friend who called me out on not writing for a while. I appreciate that someone reads and looks forward to the crazy thoughts God gives me when I give Him the time to slow my life and listen (I’m sure he has tons more to share).

This post is wedding themed.  It has been a theme of the year really… I found myself at one of my male friends weddings this spring.  It was so much fun!  While I did not know the bride, I was really excited for both of them because I knew what a solid man my friend is, what a great husband he would be, and because I saw a small glimpse of his excitement for this girl at the beginning of their relationship… He is a man of God and someone whom I know was seeking a girl to pursue and love God alongside through life. 

As we were awaiting the ceremony and guests were filing in, I got to thinking… 

[Background- I love how marriage is an amazing institution from God which represents Christ (the groom) and his bride (the church) (see Ephesians 5: 25-33 below) so that is usually something on my mind, at weddings especially] 

In the same way that I was excited for my friend and trusted the bride he had chosen because I know his character- that is how we as a church should feel every time someone accepts Christ.  Whether we know the individual or not, It is as if we are at Christ’s wedding- we know him, the groom. We know who he is and how he loves because as the church we are his bride and already experience it.  How excited are you to know that this person gets to now experience that overwhelming patient, joyous, all-encompassing, unfailing, compassionate love? We should be STOKED! That must be why the angels have a party every time a lost sheep is found! (Luke 15)

When we get to experience someone accepting him into their lives it is like being at a wedding where you know the groom and are so excited because you know how wonderful he is and how blessed that bride is going to be.  We can delight because we know that Jesus has chosen them- and because we love him we too can rejoice in his choice. His bride gets to have the ultimate groom for eternity- not just an earthly lifetime.  How delightful is that- and what a great reminder weddings are of the love that God has for us.  It makes my heart smile just thinking about it and humbled that such a perfect groom would choose us, such imperfect and broken brides.

Ephesians 5:25-33

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

The Garbage Man

This should have been posted in December but I let time get away from me… Lo siento!

Whenever I think of trash collecting I always think of that song- thanks Simpsons… 

While driving to work I pass a local landfill so I see lots of trash trucks on my morning commute.  One day I was driving behind one because we get off on the same exit, hoping nothing gross flew out and landed on my windshield, when a crazy God thought hit me… (well it wasn’t too crazy because God had also been teaching me a lot about confession recently)

Thought: It is so obvious to us that you need to take your garbage out- you acknowledge it is there, it is gross, it is smelly, and it needs to go.  Why do we not see our sin and confession in the same way?

We have trash pick-up once a week and you don’t want to miss it, so taking trash out is a weekly “religious”event”.  Come ____day night we are getting the trash from the whole house, putting it in the cans, and putting those cans on the curb.  If it is so easy for us to see (and smell) the need to do it with physical trash- why don’t we do it with our spiritual trash?  Don’t you think that we build up trash throughout the week that needs to go- hurtful comments we made or that were made about us, judging people around us, cutting someone off?  The list could go on and on and varies depending on the week’s events, but the point is that we should make cleaning up that trash part of our weekly routine, even daily!  Sometimes it may just be a time of prayerful reflection between you and God before church or whenever- sometimes it may need to be with somebody(ies) else… but we don’t want to keep building up that stinky nasty gross stuff inside of us until there is no room left for the good- in the same way we take it out of our house so that it doesn’t stay in there and rot/take up space.

Let God be your garbage man- regularly take your trash to Him so he can take it away from you and make you all fresh and clean again.

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”  -James 5:16

Also came across this little gem for your viewing pleasures:

SH3

I found out today that it is official- my ACL is blown out and I need to get surgery.  : / << That face is because I have never really had surgery and it makes me feel all queasy inside.  I have really been trying to pray about the whole situation and I have received some peace knowing that the God who designed and created each and every part of me… the one who knows my insides- thoughts and organs- better than any surgeon/doctor/therapist/psychologist etc. ever could is in control.  If he wanted to he could put my ACL back in less than a second, so there is definitely purpose to where he has me and what he has allowed to happen in this temporary earthly body.

I don’t know if you have ever experienced such a thing (I hope you have not and never will) but it is weird.  It hurt at first, but most of the physical pain has subsided now.  The trouble is lack of stability.  It is weird… I am building confidence back in my knee but with the injury fresh in my mind and it still being somewhat swollen- I feel like it could just slide out at any moment (which obviously doesn’t build mental confidence in my knee).

Sadly it made me realize that is kind of how my walk with God has gotten without realizing it.  There are “two legs” in this image of my spiritual body- the first leg is my personal relationship with Christ and the other leg is Christian community- one stable leg and one “torn ACL”.  It has been easier to control my personal time with God recently- but through this injury it is a reminder that that is not enough to stand on.  I can’t just hop everywhere on that- my leg gets tired and burns out- it needs to be refreshed and supplemented with community as well.  Recently that has been quite unstable for me which makes it hard to want to stand on it, but I am being reminded that I need both.  One just will not due, you can’t walk with one leg… you just kind of hop or crutch and it is really tiring.

So hopefully on this journey of physical recovery, it will also be one to reconstruct my spiritual ACL as well!

A Beautiful Woman

About a week ago I met an absolutely BEAUTIFUL person.  I was sitting with my group at Panera when this sweet older woman walked into our table.  We were mid-conversation and stopped as she asked very sweetly something along the lines of “Can you tell me to get to the front counter?”  As I looked down I saw that she was holding a white cane (for visually impaired people).  It jogged my memory of a little earlier that morning when the Panera worker had been walking her to the table.

We were in the middle of a really good conversation- we stopped of course and gave her directions and she was so grateful and went on her way.  As we continued I couldn’t help but watch her, just to make sure she made it.  My directions were not the best and as she got to the end of an aisle she was headed for another table.  Feeling responsible, I excused myself and ran over to catch up to her, told her she was not quite there yet, and offered my arm.  As we got to the front she said that Allison would help her, so I asked for Allison but the manager came out and greeted her by name saying she would help my friend. 

As I walked back to my table I couldn’t help but feel an amazing sense of joy from this woman.  She couldn’t see, but instead of being bitter and avoiding the world, she was out smiling and talking and living.  She was very aware of the fact that she needed help and couldn’t do everything on her own but was humble and open to asking and receiving help from whomever.  The workers knew her name and she knew theirs.

What an inspiring woman.  The approximate 3 minutes I had the blessing to spend with her lit up my day.  It really hit me how different I am and would be in her situation… The fact that I can see sometimes isolates and removes me from the people around me.  When I don’t know what to do or where to go I try and figure it out on my own, asking others only as a last resort.  I don’t want to appear “helpless”-- I focus more on how they might perceive me instead of accepting I cannot do it on my own.  Her lack of physical vision gives such a clearer spiritual vision- we cannot do it on our own.  I deny the simple truth that sometimes we all need help and can ask someone else.  God gives us friends and community for this reason- so we can lean on one another, but in order to do that you need to be willing to admit that you need it.  It was such a blessing to help this woman and I am sure there are so many people I have denied the blessing of helping me when I am in need because I am too proud to ask. 

This woman was absolutely beautiful because she was secure in who she was and in the fact that she can’t make it without help.  She has trust and humility to be able to get help from those around her, and instead of letting it bring her down she was such a joyful lady.  Beautiful and inspiring.