un-compartmentalizing

here's my geek moment of the day:
i was looking at the word "Goals" & realized that if you put the a & l closer to each other...
...it says "Gods".
(which i interpreted to be "God's".)

so here's why i allowed that thought to take up more than a nanosecond of my time:
i have a tendency to keep things separate.
i would set my goals for the day, week, month, year, whatever,
and then i'd think,
"oh, i should really include God somewhere in there."

so i'd give Him a goal just for Him.
and keep the rest mine.

so today, looking at my goals for 2009, i thought to myself,
"have i included God in all of them?
after all, i am His child, and i'm totally wacko in love with Him.
why wouldn't i make sure that He's part of these?"

since i couldn't find an answer to that last question, i'm praying over the goals to make sure they're in line with my loving Daddy's leading.

happy new year to you all,
and best wishes on setting your 2009 Goals!

the dirty rag problem

the first time someone informed me of what "dirty rags" translated to in the Bible, it freaked me out.
and i felt really bad about all i was trying to do.
i was one of those kids who liked to work hard & make others proud.
all-american.
good work ethic.

and then i find out that God doesn't care about that stuff.

shoot.

i wanted so badly to win His favor with my smart thinkin', elbow grease, & lovableness,
but i come find out He just wanted me to LET GO of my need to earn His favor.
because i already have it.

but how could that be?
and why was it that when i DID try to win Him over things got all the more difficult?

it's taken me a lot of tries --
probably in the triple digits by now --
to not try.

today, i caught myself coming up with yet another plan to make God like me & make myself more usable for Him.
the dirty rags were piling up.
yet He's so patient, isn't He?

my prayer is that i let go of my need to act & earn,
and that i let my loving God direct me into the work He has for me.
that i act in His guidance & grace, not my own drive.

at some point, i gotta admit it:
i'm no good when i go in with my own agenda.
i guess i might as well make that confession today.

the foot bath

i am fascinated by the thought of Jesus washing feet.
regardless of cultural tradition & symbolism, i just love that this Guy cared SO MUCH about the other guys He hung out with that He took on one of the stinkiest parts of the male body.
that is LOVE.

but here's the kicker --
He tells them that He has to wash all their feet to include them in what He was doing.
(i'm sure judas was plenty perturbed by that thought.)
see, Jesus wanted them to feel what it is like to be honored by one who does not need to do so.

because that was their assignment after He left.

in reading this story, it has nudged me to think about ways i can wash others' feet.
i'm not all that into the act of it, so i'm sticking with the symbolism of it:
showing humble love & respect toward another.
it's a bit more personal than tossing an extra $1 into the make-a-wish jar at the store.

so i guess i'm on a quest to become a human foot bath.

kids these days

it was on my first mission trip at age 14 that i realized that being young could be a useful thing.
somehow, i had picked up on the message that a person could not do something of worth until s/he was an "adult".
seeing the zeal of my peers & the products of our Christ-focused teamwork convinced me:
Jesus really can use people under the age of 18!

what bothers me, though, is that there continues to be evidence of reverse ageism when it comes to leadership in the church.
i am not foolish enough to think that young people have the wisdom of their elders,
but i am idealistic enough to believe that they can accomplish a lot more than they are often encouraged to aspire to.
while there is ongoing dialogue focusing on the unfair attention paid to youthful appearance,
it misses the under-empowerment of younger leaders due to favoring established figures.

Jesus called the little children to Him.
the apostle paul told timothy not to let people look down on him for his age.

there are progressive, Jesus-following communities taking action to include & utilize the tweeners, teens, millenials, & gen-Xers.
these are the communities we spend time in & serve through.
it's time for ALL AGES to be valued & recognized as of worth to our King.
we can all teach & learn from each other.