When we make promises do we really know the weight? I think that 90% of promises are made for self gain.
If I make a promise I get... fill in the blank. In marriage for example a woman and a man promise to love and honor each other. Do they really know what they are saying? I have only been married for 11 months and I have learned in order for me to keep my promises in my relationship with my husband I have to be willing no matter what the cost to do just that.
I think Compromise is the thing people run into. They look into the other person's promise and if it is not lining up to their expectations they will disregard the promises they are responsible for.
It is a burning. Some people call it preferring one another in love. I call it burning. I find my self in a position of choosing myself so that I can be right or look good or I let it burn my flesh that is and choose to keep my promise of honoring and loving.
It's so cute (gag) the definition of February 14th - love. Be mine! Seriously If we are to really be honest with our selves do we know the weight of promise? Do we know the definition of Love?
I am staring into the eyes of a young woman who was promised love from her earthly father. The pain I see is pause worthy. A man who chose himself and his own satisfaction over his own children. How does a girl then grow up and look into a man's eyes at the altar and believe his promise to her. Or even how does a woman relate to her God? I choose the burning.
Men keep your promises and do not make them lightly. Know the weight of your actions and words. And daughters and sons, who's hearts have been left void, know this: our Heavenly Father died so that you would know what a real promise kept looks like. Men and women fail us but He never will. Let the pain of any broken promise remind you to keep your word even if it burns. Especially if it burns!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Blogging
Seriously this is hard. I mean If I were writing in my journal I would just spill out my thoughts. Should I be that vulnerable here. I feel like I have to polish and collect my thoughts. So I'm just going to get off my fear and just write what I'm thinking and ask that anyone reading my thoughts would take care of them. I mean know that I am human and that I feel deeply. Not everything that I write will be thought through perfectly and that you are entering into my process and not the finished work. LOL listen to me I'm paranoid. Enjoy my process it will be messy that is a promise!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Cleaning house
(Ben) Today we cleaned out Javonta's room and one storage closet . Our room is next. It's amazing how much stuff he has (or had)! Oh well. It's all gotta go. We cleaned out the monsters from under the bed as well as all the hidden dust bunnies buried deep in the obscure reaches of his closet. Turning to our storage closet, I emptied out everything I could (also quite a bit).
We live in a three bedroom flat. It's amazing how much STUFF our family has accrued. A few of our friends have wondered at the logic behind the universal material purge of all our possessions. On the night Jesus sent His disciples into the neighborhood to carry the Gospel, He commanded them to travel as light as possible. Elsewhere, Jesus points out that seeking the Kingdom of God is not about amassing wealth, but rather seeking the presence, righteousness and peace of God in all circumstances. I haven't touched most of what we are giving away. Why do I really need to carry it around with me or store it up? The happiness and joy of life is not found in things, but in relationships with each other and with God. We can always get new things. And the peace that has come over us is pretty great. It has been fun simplifying our lives. We are only taking what we can carry on our backs.
I have been learning about extreme poverty and what is necessary to posses. Yesterday, one of our Facebook friends posted a link to a video that showed the plight of many Ugandan children. Most have nothing except the shirt on their back (if that). It amazed me to see that simple shelter, a meal and love were by far the most longed for "things".
In Africa, our focus will turn to ministering fully to God and fully to people. It feels good to empty ourselves. Our prayer is that God will fill us with Himself and provide what we need. We have heard reports of how God has been providing. In Mozambique, we have heard of how God has been miraculously multiplying food. He has been healing the sick of malaria, cancer, aids as well as providing families for past orphans.
Our lives are so short. In the eons of eternity, our seventy year presence on this planet is like a drop in the ocean. What is worth living for? What is worth dying for? So many people live for themselves and to amass as much stuff as possible citing the age old philosophy, "he/she who dies with the most toys "wins"". But is this really the end of human acheivement? To get a lot of stuff or to experience as much as possible? To "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die?"
What hope is there outside the hope of Jesus Christ? The Gospel is basicially this (1) Give and receive love to Jesus Christ as hard as you can (2) Give and receive love from people as hard as you can and (3) know that another life awaits us. A llife of joy, peace, unrivled excitement and happiness. No pain. The fulfillment of love.
That sounds good to me. There is too much pain and death on this planet. I am excited about the next life. It is what I live for. For what profit is it to gain the whole world, but forfeit the soul? As I press on in my real time relationship with God, I notice that He wants me to give all of myself to Him. I'm not saying owning things is bad, but i'll be honest, I have been kind of distracted with the "Rat Race" of the American lifestyle. You know, go to work that I don't like, to get money to spend on stuff that doesn't fully satisfy me anyway, repeat. It's never enough. We are always wanting more.... How many people who have "made it" are truely happy? Compared to much of the world, I have "made it" already. So, since I have "made it", is it that hard to lay it all down and run hard after God. Maybe I can run quickly and hard after God with all my stuff as well. Or perhaps not....
So my cleaning house isn't so much a response
We live in a three bedroom flat. It's amazing how much STUFF our family has accrued. A few of our friends have wondered at the logic behind the universal material purge of all our possessions. On the night Jesus sent His disciples into the neighborhood to carry the Gospel, He commanded them to travel as light as possible. Elsewhere, Jesus points out that seeking the Kingdom of God is not about amassing wealth, but rather seeking the presence, righteousness and peace of God in all circumstances. I haven't touched most of what we are giving away. Why do I really need to carry it around with me or store it up? The happiness and joy of life is not found in things, but in relationships with each other and with God. We can always get new things. And the peace that has come over us is pretty great. It has been fun simplifying our lives. We are only taking what we can carry on our backs.
I have been learning about extreme poverty and what is necessary to posses. Yesterday, one of our Facebook friends posted a link to a video that showed the plight of many Ugandan children. Most have nothing except the shirt on their back (if that). It amazed me to see that simple shelter, a meal and love were by far the most longed for "things".
In Africa, our focus will turn to ministering fully to God and fully to people. It feels good to empty ourselves. Our prayer is that God will fill us with Himself and provide what we need. We have heard reports of how God has been providing. In Mozambique, we have heard of how God has been miraculously multiplying food. He has been healing the sick of malaria, cancer, aids as well as providing families for past orphans.
Our lives are so short. In the eons of eternity, our seventy year presence on this planet is like a drop in the ocean. What is worth living for? What is worth dying for? So many people live for themselves and to amass as much stuff as possible citing the age old philosophy, "he/she who dies with the most toys "wins"". But is this really the end of human acheivement? To get a lot of stuff or to experience as much as possible? To "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die?"
What hope is there outside the hope of Jesus Christ? The Gospel is basicially this (1) Give and receive love to Jesus Christ as hard as you can (2) Give and receive love from people as hard as you can and (3) know that another life awaits us. A llife of joy, peace, unrivled excitement and happiness. No pain. The fulfillment of love.
That sounds good to me. There is too much pain and death on this planet. I am excited about the next life. It is what I live for. For what profit is it to gain the whole world, but forfeit the soul? As I press on in my real time relationship with God, I notice that He wants me to give all of myself to Him. I'm not saying owning things is bad, but i'll be honest, I have been kind of distracted with the "Rat Race" of the American lifestyle. You know, go to work that I don't like, to get money to spend on stuff that doesn't fully satisfy me anyway, repeat. It's never enough. We are always wanting more.... How many people who have "made it" are truely happy? Compared to much of the world, I have "made it" already. So, since I have "made it", is it that hard to lay it all down and run hard after God. Maybe I can run quickly and hard after God with all my stuff as well. Or perhaps not....
So my cleaning house isn't so much a response
Friday, June 12, 2009
Even if we can't feel it or see it
He is good even if our vision is clouded. Even if our circumstances say He has abandoned us. Everyone wants to have that experience with God. God is not an experience He is a relationship. He is in everything with us. He is for us not against us. Thanks be to God!
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