Love chooses relationship, believes that inconvenience and judgement are able to be overcome. Love makes a cradle out of hay, and marvels at the sweet smell instead of mourning the lack of the coordinated nursery décor. Love allows strangers to come witness a private moment, it opens the door to the unexpected and the unplanned.
Love shows itself most fully when things are not easy. When the stomach butterflies and all night conversations have passed, and the everyday reality of work and washing dishes and wearing the same t-shirt for 6 days and a row sets in.
My dearest, you are created in the image of God. You bear the Creator's thumbprint on your very soul. Your very existence has worthiness, for you bear God's reflection in a way that is yours alone. The world would be less without this facet of God's light. Simply by existing, you are helping to paint a more complete portrait of our Creator for humanity to see.
In his life and ministry, Jesus did not make a project of the empowered. The established church in Jerusalem was powerful. They held money and reputation and sway on the community. It would have been strategic to play politic, to win over the Pharisees and Sadducees, to get the endorsement of those who were educated, wealthy, well connected, estimable. Instead, those were the ones Jesus seemed to criticize the most. He mercilessly pulled at the strings of power, unravelling systems that benefitted them and showing the ways that power had corrupted the truth and authenticity of faith.
Parenthood is a long game. One made primarily of patience, love, and faith, with liberal amounts of discipline, wisdom, and laughter sprinkled into the mix. As God parents us, we have the divine promise that our Heavenly Father will not forget us.
Oftentimes our reputation is what keeps us clinging to the known and the safe. It is what makes us afraid to step out into faith, to claim our individuality and our giftedness that makes us beautifully unique. I have observed that when God decides to get his fingers dirty in our lives, our reputation is often one of the first things to go.
Those beloved by God in scripture seldom live a life according to the script. They are sent into exile. They are thrust into the center of attention. They are asked to run around naked in the town square or lay down on their side for over a year while eating food cooked over dung. People chosen and favored by God face unimaginable loss, hardship, and discomfort.
Y'all. I have a confession to make. I have been reading the comments sections. I mean, not actually, that would be horrible. But. I've been reading Facebook. And Twitter. And, it turns out the vitriol and name calling once reserved for deep in dark corners of the comments thread has seeped out into the open. …
This morning our world woke up hazy. Blanketed in a pea soup fog that made the landscape- and our emotions- feel fuzzy around the edges. As the sun began to burn off the mist, all you could see in the road ahead was a thick, illuminated blanket of cloud. Not the safest driving conditions, but …
Happy Fat Tuesday! This is the day of the year that people across the world are cramming in all the delights (culinary or otherwise) they can before Lent begins tomorrow. Growing up in the Southern Baptist Church, I was never really acquainted with the formal practice of Lent. My idea of preparing myself for Easter …
JoyPlusGrace 