Christmas. My favourite time of year. I can't wait to play my favourite Christmas music, decorate the house and of course, the shopping! I love buying gifts and especially Christmas gifts. It's such a great excuse to make people feel special and let them know how much you care.... yeah I'm a total mush ball. I'd like to dedicate this post to my mother by the way, because she is responsible for my neurotic behaviour at Christmas time. I sort of get it from her. There are a few things I am very particular about during the holiday season.
First off I just want to say that I firmly believe that this first point stems from being a member of a two child family. EVERYTHING MUST BE EVEN. For example, I will go out and buy all the Christmas presents and then lay them all out on my bed and go over them. OK so..... for my one friend I got a bar of soap, lip gloss and a book..... but wait! My other friend only got soap and lip gloss... and maybe she would rather have just a book.... must go back to the mall! Must buy more! And on it goes. The other thing I am famous for is elaborate grocery shopping. It's like I'm stocking for an army. An army that only eats gourmet food. I will admit I have champagne taste. Only the finest foods will I serve at holiday time.... and there is never enough.
What can I say.... we all have our quirks. All that being said, this year is going to be different! I will be forced to abandon my neurotic ways and relax because I will be on a beach in Mexico! Thankfully I still have some people to shop for and I'm sure I'll fit in a celebration or two before I go... but I will be relaxing on Christmas Eve instead of rushing around and worrying about everything being in order. I am really looking forward to having a vacation but I am also looking forward to celebrating Christmas in a different way, relaxing with family and not worrying about all the details.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Authentic
I went to the movies last night to see the new Twilight flick. Let's just say I had some good laughs! I was quite a fan of the books and I have enjoyed the movies but I wouldn't say this was the best one. All that a side, I found myself in a room full of teenagers (and a few older people too) and it had me thinking about my high school years. First my mind went to my dating experiences and I shook my head, and then I thought about the people I hung out with and wondered how they were doing. And most of all, I thought if they could see me now they would be surprised! Here I am at the new Twilight movie, having just had a baby 5 months ago, wearing my mom jeans. Who would have thought?! Everything has changed and it's amazing to look back and see how far I've come. When I was 19 I couldn't see a way forward and I never thought I would be so happy and now I can't imagine being any other way.
I've been hearing the same themes over and over again recently. The glory of God being revealed, people being met with Jesus. They're things I've been hearing for the last nine years and I've always understood them but suddenly I feel as though they're taking on a new meaning. The person I am has everything to do with God's plan to reveal His glory to the world through His son Jesus. It's not just what I do or say or don't do or say it's who I decide to be. Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. I could try out of my own strength to relay to someone who Jesus is but I would rather have people be met with the actual person of Jesus. I'm realizing that there is a fundamental difference between sharing your faith with someone, which is great... but I also want people to see and know who Jesus really is. And this can only happen when I decide to surrender everything over to Jesus, and trust Him completely.
I've been hearing the same themes over and over again recently. The glory of God being revealed, people being met with Jesus. They're things I've been hearing for the last nine years and I've always understood them but suddenly I feel as though they're taking on a new meaning. The person I am has everything to do with God's plan to reveal His glory to the world through His son Jesus. It's not just what I do or say or don't do or say it's who I decide to be. Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. I could try out of my own strength to relay to someone who Jesus is but I would rather have people be met with the actual person of Jesus. I'm realizing that there is a fundamental difference between sharing your faith with someone, which is great... but I also want people to see and know who Jesus really is. And this can only happen when I decide to surrender everything over to Jesus, and trust Him completely.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Out with the old in with the new
I've been thinking this week that it might be time to start cleaning out my closets. It's the craziest thing with closets in my house, it seems like I am always organizing them. It's crazy because every time I do it I am convinced I won't have to do it again for a long time. This is because I have created the perfect system for organizing them and if I just keep putting things back in the same spot and following this method..... and here we are again.
It would seem that I could compare organizing closets quite closely to organizing my personal life. Every time I think I have developed the perfect way to deal with stress, disappointment, fear, etc, something messes it all up again. If only I had my own personal closet organizer, I think to myself...... but I do. It's when I stop communicating with God that I realize my life is a mess. Suddenly everything is falling apart and I can't figure out what went wrong. That's because I stop taking time to put things back on the proper shelf so to speak. It's when I stop sharing my life with God and actively praying about my daily life that it all falls apart.
I was thinking this morning about doing a cleanse, a life cleanse. I so badly want to be pure in every aspect of my life. I feel so bogged down all of a sudden. There's all this junk piling up around me (it's those darn closets) and instead of shoving it away some where I want to actually throw out what I don't need in my life and store the rest in its proper place. As I was thinking about cleansing it brought me to the verse Hebrews 12:1 that says let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. I realized that in order to be truly pure I need to give everything over to God first, even the junk.... and then we can really move forward. I realized I've been trying to do it all on my own, hanging on to everything and trying to deal with it on my own. I often find myself in this position. Truly humbled by God, realizing that He really is my everything and without Him I can do nothing.
It would seem that I could compare organizing closets quite closely to organizing my personal life. Every time I think I have developed the perfect way to deal with stress, disappointment, fear, etc, something messes it all up again. If only I had my own personal closet organizer, I think to myself...... but I do. It's when I stop communicating with God that I realize my life is a mess. Suddenly everything is falling apart and I can't figure out what went wrong. That's because I stop taking time to put things back on the proper shelf so to speak. It's when I stop sharing my life with God and actively praying about my daily life that it all falls apart.
I was thinking this morning about doing a cleanse, a life cleanse. I so badly want to be pure in every aspect of my life. I feel so bogged down all of a sudden. There's all this junk piling up around me (it's those darn closets) and instead of shoving it away some where I want to actually throw out what I don't need in my life and store the rest in its proper place. As I was thinking about cleansing it brought me to the verse Hebrews 12:1 that says let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. I realized that in order to be truly pure I need to give everything over to God first, even the junk.... and then we can really move forward. I realized I've been trying to do it all on my own, hanging on to everything and trying to deal with it on my own. I often find myself in this position. Truly humbled by God, realizing that He really is my everything and without Him I can do nothing.
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