Thursday, June 30, 2016

Pebbles to a Mighty God




Pebbles to a Mighty God
By Rachel Fagan for Naqah and Naqiy Schepp


What to do? How to live? Who to be and when?
Can we open our hearts
When we’re not sure they’d let us in?
What is standing? What is being?
We feel this tying and long for freeing.
Feeling stuck, to say the least,
Starving, looking for the feast.
I read them once:
Words that changed it all.
They said “Don’t be afraid
Even if you fall,
Talk it out with the Lord of peace
Pray and give thanks
And you’ll find release.”


The weights that depress that heart of yours
Are not what they seem,
They are nothing more
Than pebbles to a mighty God
Who, yet in His strength,
Knows the path you trod.


So open your heart to the peace you’ll find
When you lay all your worries
Before a King who is kind.
He’ll keep you safe
And never betray you,
You’re His princess
To you He’ll stay true.


I’ve heard it said so many times:
Love casts out fear
When fear blurs the lines.
Along with this truth it is defined
That true love is patient and unfailingly kind.


I, myself, have found this to be true.
I find the greatest freedom when I love God and love you.
You and I are equally special,
To a mighty God who makes gems out of pebbles.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Be Without Waiting


I like patterns. Sometimes.

I've noticed a pattern in me and it is this: I can't be free and easy and awesome, unless I know they like me.

This can be a problem. Some people decide to like you even before they know you. Others, however, are not so willing and generous. Others want you to prove you're likable before they decide to like you. Still others might like you but never show it.

So that's why it's a problem for me. In certain situations, I get really confused about who I am and what I should do and I want to learn to be free of that. I wanna be awesome no matter who I'm with, if they like me or not and if they show it or not.

This is one of my goals. So how do we do this? How do we be without waiting for the security of knowing we're liked? Create a new pattern?




Monday, June 6, 2016

It Is All About You


You know, there's a lot of breakup songs out there. Sometimes I get confused because the girl in the song wants the guy and then he comes into the song and he wants the girl and they're both singing about how they miss each other and I'm like "hey you guys agree, what's the problem?"

Other songs confuse me too. The guys sing about how they love a girl and she ruined everything. The girls sing about how they love a guy then he ruined everything.  So I'm confused, are the girls messing things up or are the guys ruining the world?

Let's continue on this thread with another thought:  Pinterest, Facebook, Hot Topic.  All these have some recurring themes. Posts and t-shirts that say things like
"I'm not antisocial, I just don't like you" "You'll end up really disappointed if you think people will do for you as you do for them, not everyone has your heart"
"Not everyone deserves to know the real you, let them criticize who they think you are"
"Sometimes you have to unfollow people in real life"
"It's All About Me"

The dramatic quotes and songs that blame the other person and victimize self erk me to no end. The attitude t-shirts that scream about how the world is against ME. We are so worried about other people judging us and hurting us.  We talk about what they do but take no thought or responsibility for ourselves.

History is full of hate. White people hating black people, black people hating white people, men hating women, women hating men, German people hating Jewish people, Jewish people hating German people, Egyptian people hating Jewish people, Jewish people hating Egyptian people.

 There's a lot of hate today, everyone knows that, Americans hating Islam, Islam hating America. China, Britain, Japan, Australia.  Movies often portray the disdain other countries have for those "filthy Americans."  I think it's because of our "me, me, me, I have rights", victim mentality.

I once watched an excellent reality mini series called "Erasing Hate". It was the story of a man who had been a part of white supremacy groups along with his wife. He had white supremacy and hate tattoos all over his face and arms and neck.

There was a point in their lives when he and his wife realized the unreality and hypocrisy even in that hate group. Leaders of the group would talk about honor and taking care of their children and protecting them from the world that's against them and yet they were caught hurting children and doing completely dishonest things.

The whole victimisation attitude and the unreality of it really got to this couple. There was this idea that was hyped up among the group that all other cultures are against white people and are going to take over and rage war and destroy everything for the white people.  This didn't sit well with these two people.  They just couldn't believe what they were hearing and seeing.  They left the group, became Christians and the man went through a painful process of removing the tattoos.

This story reveals to me, again, how we as humans victimize ourselves and say that everyone is against us. Human nature is such that we only see out of our little eyes and think out of our little brains and imagine that all the world is watching us. All the world is NOT watching you, all the world is worried about themselves.

That is why it is so funny when a person is worried what others think about them because others are not thinking about them.

It is a great lesson to learn and to carry with you always that your are not that important and everyone is not watching you or thinking about you or plotting against you.

I think America would greatly benefit from a change of heart. If we could stop worrying about what others are doing to us and for us and concern ourselves instead with what we are doing to and for others.

We need to take responsibility for our own mistakes in our families, with our friends and with those we don't even know. We need to open our eyes to see the bigger picture and open or minds to the truth and reality and stop making it ALL ABOUT ME!




Luke 4:18-19

Luke 4:18,19
The spirit of the lord is on me. He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom to the captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed. Proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.