Blessed Beyond Measure

Giving thanks for...

Afternoon sunshine (and the naps that soon follow)

Band-Aids with cartoons on them

Christmastime

Dinner with my family

Ester-C and it's magical cold-fighting properties

Fairy tales

God and God alone

Heaven and all else there that awaits me

Ice cream

Josh Groban

Kitchens

Laughter

March Madness

November weather

Outstanding parents

Power of prayer

Questions from little ones

Relying on God for all that I need

Siblings :)

Traveling

Unconditional love

Venus fly traps

Walt Disney World

X-tremely hilarious memories with good friends (Yes, I cheated. Don't judge.)

Yearning to live for Christ

Zoos

Thanking the Lord for all He has blessed me with. I am one spoiled girl.

What I Need to Say

I have that unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. The one that feels like my insides are twisting and turning and makes me dismiss any thought of food. The one that I get when someone has done something that upsets me. The one that tells me it's time for me to speak up and say something.

I usually get this feeling when I feel like I should do something that I really don't want to do. Like speak in front of a large group of people or deal with confrontation or stand up for what I believe in when it seems rather difficult.

Here is what I need to say:

Today as I walked to class, there was a man in the middle of the quad, waving his Bible and preaching as loud as he possibly could. No one was paying much attention to him. But when I came out of my class and walked back to the parking lot, a huge ring of students surrounded the man, and he was still screaming and yelling, making his voice hoarse and raspy.

Students were laughing at him and taunting him. They yelled back at him and brandished signs hastily crafted from cardboard and markers that mocked the man and the words he said. They asked him questions, not to understand what he believed, but to criticize what he had said.

The man responded by raising his Bible above his head, the wispy pages fluttering in the autumn breeze, and blasting these students with his own retort.

"This is the Word of God, students! This is the Word of God! And God hates sin! He hates it!"

I couldn't listen anymore. I needed to get away. I was scared because the tension was growing in this ring of students. I didn't know what would happen next, and I didn't want to be there when it did.

But even more importantly, I was embarrassed by this man.

I am a Christian. I believe in God's Word, the Bible. But I was ashamed at his method of spreading the gospel.

I have heard of people like this, fire-and-brimstone preachers condemning their audience to Hell. I have seen them on T.V., but today was the first day that I heard one in real life.

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From what I heard, his words were true. The Bible is the Word of God, and God does hate sin, but is this really the best way to inform others of these truths? I don't think so. Does anyone like to be screamed at and told they are going to die if they don't accept this truth? I certainly don't.

Maybe this tactic worked in previous generations. I don't know. I wasn't there. But I can tell you that it most likely will not work in this one. In order to reach people with a message, you need to understand your audience. I wish this man would have understood that. I wish he would have taken the time to research and get to know some college students before he stepped onto campus.

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He needs to know that college students are generally focused on four things: school, parties, money, and graduation (not necessarily in that order). As he's already figured out, there are a lot of sinful things that many students are involved in, and they may or may not be very proud of them, but either way, they definitely don't want that thrown in their face. In an abrasive way. By someone they don't even know. College students are very independent and relish the fact that they can think for themselves and make their own decisions about what they believe. If that is threatened, they are going to buck against whatever is threatening that freedom. College students are young and vibrant, and they want to enjoy life, not dwell on death.

He also needs to know some things about this specific generation of college students. It is hard for us to remember a world without the Internet or cell phones. And for better or for worse, a major portion of this generation's life is centered around technology. They are constantly connected. They love to multitask. Their attention spans are relatively short as they try to keep up with several conversations at the same time via phone, computer, tablet, etc. And face-to-face communication may not be their forte. They hate confrontation. Period.

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Whether we like it or not, people need to be reached where they are at. If I am trying to spread a message, I need to understand my audience and recognize which method of delivery will cause my message to be received. This is crucial because if I don't take the time to figure this out, my message may be dismissed, spurned, ridiculed.

This is what happened today. This man's message was not received because of the way it was delivered. He made students mad and upset. He forgot something. He forgot that really the entire message of the gospel is focused on love. That is the greatest commandment: to love one another. Because, after all, "God is love." (1 John 4:8) And this man did not show love to students today. At least not the kind of love that they needed to see. The down-and-dirty love where someone meets you at the place where you're at, comes alongside of you, and helps you overcome the things that you're struggling with. The kind of love that is exhibited through Jesus Christ.

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I wish this man could see this. I wish that he could see the effects of what he did today. I wish that he could see the hearts that were hardened, the minds that were turned off to Christianity. I wish he could see how much harder it will be for other Christians to witness to those students who heard and saw his message today. I wish he had done things differently.

If I knew this man, I would direct him to Casting Crowns' song "What This World Needs." This song tells us what the world needs when it comes to getting the gospel out and what it definitely doesn't need when it comes to the people who are spreading that message. In the song, it says, "People aren't confused by the gospel; they're confused by us. Jesus is the only way to God, but we are not the only way to Jesus. We can be passionate about what we believe, but we can't strap ourselves to the gospel because we're slowing it down. Jesus is going to save the world, but maybe the best thing we can do is just get out of the way."

This quote is so life-shattering. We are in the way of the gospel. Have you ever thought about that? Granted, this is not to say that we should not witness or spread the gospel. God commanded us to do so, and it would be wrong for us to forsake that. But it should make us rethink our methods, our strategies, our plans of attacks. And maybe if we take some time to think about it, our witnessing efforts can become less of a battle plan and more of a labor of love. Just maybe.

Consider your audience. Plan your witnessing opportunities accordingly. Show the love of Jesus.

This is what I needed to say.

Sending My Regrets

Dearest Blog,

Oh, how I have missed you. It has been far too long since we last spent some quality time together.

I have no one to blame but myself (and perhaps all of the schoolwork that has been piled upon me in the last few months). I'm not trying to make excuses, mind you. But I fear that all of my creativity has been sucked straight out of my body and into my various papers scattered across my professors' desks.

It is in a paper about dreams and a paper about media managers and a paper about the shameless advertising methods that target young girls. And somehow, I must generate some more creativity and plant it into a few more papers before the end of the semester.

But the point of this is to say, that I have not been channeling my creativity into you, and I am forever sorry. Please accept my apology, and I hope we will meet again soon in the near future.

Sincerely,

Megan

P.S. It's not you; it's me. =D Just had to throw that in there for good measure.

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Because Nothing's Perfect

Let me set things straight. I love crafts. I love the thought of making something beautiful and unique with your own two hands. I love interior design and DIY projects. Needless to say, I am hopelessly and dangerously obsessed with Pinterest.

And in my head, I am a fabulous crafter. But usually only in my head. Once I actually start to make something, I begin to doubt my fanciful abilities.

It's not that everything I make turns out absolutely horrible; my projects just never turn out quite...right. There always seems to be some sort of glitch in each and every one of my projects. A speed bump, if you will. Something that makes my creation look slightly different from the example on the computer screen or the vision in my head.

For example, last summer, I worked as a grade leader at a Vacation Bible School hosted by my church. When it's time for crafts, the grade leaders are supposed to help their kids make the craft, which is explained and modeled by the craft leaders. Simple, right? As only I can do, I instructed my table of kids to construct their coin purses in the way I thought we were supposed to do it. And of course, my kids' coin purses turned out to be completely unique. Figures.

Yet, I don't give up. I plug on. I try and try again.

So, here I share with you my crafting attempt at making a Mickey Mouse necklace.

My family just returned from a vacation to Walt Disney World, and we had been planning this vacation for months! As we prepared to leave, I ran across this craft idea on Pinterest.

Pinterest then took me to the blog, A Creative Princess, which provided a full-fledged tutorial. Surely, surely, I could do this.

So, with high hopes of making a darling necklace for Olivia to wear in Disney World, I headed to Michaels. I bought red leather cord, red jewelry wire, and some silver star beads. My dad already had the right size washers in his toolbox.

Me being me, I certainly couldn't follow the directions completely. Of course not. I had to "improvise." Although, I loved the look of the paper cutouts attached to the washers, I didn't have the tools to cut paper like that, and there was no way I was going to buy it, as I planned on this being a low-cost project. I decided I would paint the washers instead.

I gave all three washers two coats of black paint and later added white polka dots for a little something extra. I used tacky glue to attach the washers to each other, and once all of that was dry, I proceeded to wrap the jewelry wire around the washers.

Speed bump ahead!

I'm sure a truly crafty person would have seen this little issue looming in the distance, but not me! Not a chance.When I started to wrap the wire around the washer, the wire began to chip off the paint. I had a minor freak-out, but I pressed on, deciding I would fix it later.

After I finished wrapping the wire, I needed to touch-up the paint since I had scratched off a good portion of it in the process. Once my touch-ups had dried, the necklace almost looked as good as it had after my first paint job. Almost. If you look close enough, it's pretty easy to see my mistakes, but what's done is done.

I know just like me you're hoping that this is the end to my crafting trials, but alas, we still have to add the cord and the bead on. And this is when I realized that the cord I bought was too thick for the beads I bought. Naturally. So, at this point, I was getting frustrated, and I ditched the beads altogether. Let's just say I'm thankful I was making this for a 7-year-old and not for myself. Little Olivia is happy with just about anything. Bless her heart.

Here's the finished product.

Olivia modeling her necklace as we headed to Disney World

So, the moral of the story is, do what you love, even if you're not the greatest at it. And if you're challenged when it comes to executing crafts (like myself), just think of it as your own little element of pizazz. Well, at least that's what makes me feel better.

May 8: A Smell You Adore

Oh, the five senses. What would we do without them? Whenever I was in grade school and a teacher would ask which was my favorite of the five senses, I could never choose! They're all so indispensable. And they seem to work together on so many levels that they really feel synonymous to me.

I think the sense of smell is kind of like the icing on the cake. It's this extra bonus that can enhance any experience. So, I tried to think of all the smells I just love. I thought of freshly brewed coffee, my various perfumes, cut grass, my favorite body wash, baking cookies, ocean spray, hazelnut candles, apple pie, etc. I could go on and on. But I wanted something a little different. Something out of the box. And something that I could smell in my house today.

So, I chose cilantro. I LOVE the smell of cilantro! It's so fresh and clean and mouthwatering. It makes me think of exotic, far-off places and delicious Mexican cuisine. When I find a leafy, green bundle of cilantro in my fridge, I get so excited because I know my mom is going to make something totally delicious and rather special.

Most of the time, we will use our cilantro to make copycat Chipotle burritos. They are so scrumptious! We put cilantro in the rice and in our homemade pico de gallo. Yum! But today, we used the cilantro to make a bean dip.

Let me tell you something. This is not just any old bean dip! This is the bean dip of all bean dips! I love this stuff, and I don't even like beans! That's how good it is. It's got all of these wonderful, fresh veggies in there, and you can eat it pretty much any way you can think of. We've eaten it on grilled chicken, with tortilla chips, or just by itself as a salad. It's fantastic!

Today, we were out of tortilla chips, so we tried to make our own. ;) Didn't work out so well. It tasted fine, but there definitely wasn't any crunch factor going on. I'm not complaining, though because the bean dip makes up for all else!

So, if you're interested, here's the recipe to THE bean dip:

Can't Stop Eating Bean Dip
(courtesy of St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Ingredients

 2 15 oz. cans of black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 15 oz. can of whole kernel corn (drained)
1/2 c. onion (finely chopped)
1/2 c. green pepper (chopped)
1/4 c. cilantro (chopped)
1 medium tomato (chopped)
1 1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. salt
2 cloves garlic (minced)
6 T. oil
6 T. lime juice

Instructions

Combine beans, corn, onion, pepper, cilantro, tomato, cumin, salt, garlic, oil and lime juice in a large container. Cover and refrigerate overnight (if possible).

Pretty easy, right? And oh, so delicious! I hope you enjoy!

May 7: Someone that Inspires You

I spent most of today with my mom, so I was definitely going to use her for this post, but then I peeked ahead at the upcoming days in the photo challenge, and I saw that May 13 (Mother's Day) is obviously all about Mom. So, I'm saving her for a future post.

Once I made that decision, I spent the rest of the day trying to decide who I should pick. I have a lot of people in my life that inspire me, but I wanted to pick someone who inspired me in a special way today. And that would be Miss Olivia.

My little sister often inspires me to be more creative, slow down and smell the roses, and just be silly. She has made such a huge difference in my life. Today, Olivia taught me to appreciate the little things.

I think this is the beautiful thing about little kids: they know how to enjoy the small things in life. Many a parent have told stories about their children playing with a cardboard box on Christmas morning instead of the expensive toy they bought them. Children just see things differently than adults do. They don't see price tags or social status. They see a fort made of cardboard.

Yesterday, Olivia won a prize at Sunday School for doing her homework. The entire way into church she talked about which prize she would pick and how much she wanted a certain black horse. She went on and on about this horse. So, we got to church, took her to her classroom, and each of us went our own merry way. I headed to the fellowship center and started chatting with a friend. Pretty soon, I felt someone tugging on my skirt. It was Olivia, her face was flushed and her eyes were glowing.

"Megan! I won the horse!" she said. "I got the horse!"

She was so incredibly excited. I looked down at the little plastic horse in her hand. It wasn't any bigger than the length of my hand. To me, it looked highly overrated, but to her, it was a precious treasure. It made me smile to see her so happy.

I didn't think about the differences of our responses to the toy until today. Olivia was able to appreciate something as small as a plastic horse. I was not. She has inspired me to lose my high expectations and take the time to love the little things. Like talking to my best friend. Looking at pictures with my mom. Helping my sister work on her flash cards.

Because after all, it's the little things in life that matter the most.

May 6: You

When you meet a person, do you ever connect their name with a distinguishing physical characteristic they have? Sometimes I do. It makes it easier to remember people and their names. So, I started thinking about what characteristic other people might connect with my name. What makes my Spanish professor from freshman year of college still remember my name when she sees me around campus? How do people remember me?

For me, I'm pretty sure it's my hair.

Almost every time I meet someone new, they will comment on my hair. I guess a lot of people don't keep their natural curls anymore, so I may be a bit of an oddity. People always ask, "Are those natural?"

So, maybe it's these little springs that make people think of Megan. I don't know if this is true or not, but I have to say, I sure love my curls. And despite the frizz and the "humidity 'fro," as I like to call it, I wouldn't change them one bit. Sure, I've temporarily straightened my hair a few times just for kicks, but at the end of the day, I'd much rather go curly.

My curls are definitely me since I've almost always had them and I'm not sure what I would do with straight hair! Just ask my sisters. I'm terrible at styling straight hair! Curls are so much more forgiving.

So, here's how I see me: I'm a curly girl, and a curly girl I will always be!

May 5: Bird

I'll be honest. I am not a fan of birds. They have beady eyes, disgusting habits, and nasty feathers. Do you see where I'm coming from?

My disgust for birds is several years in the making. We seemed to start off on the right foot, since I adored Big Bird as a child. But this bird appreciation was quickly replaced by a deep-seated fear.

Two main incidences have contributed to my fear of birds. The first involves geese which are probably my least favorite birds of all. They are evil, I tell you! So, envision this scene: Little Megan and Uncle go to lake. Megan and Uncle feed bread to geese. Megan and Uncle run out of bread. The geese want more. The geese decide to use Megan's clothing as a substitute for bread. Megan runs away screaming. Geese run after Megan honking. Little Megan is scarred for life. The End. Tragic, I know.

The second incidence consists of an entire day of birds hating on me. On this day, my mischievous cousin threw a dead bird on me, and another bird leaked on my shorts as I was swinging on the playground. Seriously? What are the odds?

Add in the fact that I go to a school flooded with aggressive geese, and I think you can understand my dislike of birds. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to taking a picture of a bird.

That is until I thought of a bird I rather like.


This bird is one of the charms on a pair of earrings I bought at Claire's a few years ago. I like these earrings because each of the charms are so different and pretty. And the bird is actually rather elegant. So, today I learned that not all birds are yucky or evil and even some of the real birds can be enjoyed...from a distance. ;)

May 3-4

I was pretty busy yesterday, so I didn't get a chance to post yesterday's picture. But I definitely made sure to take it!

The subject for May 3 was "something I wore today." I chose to feature a piece of jewelry that I wore. I own three rings that are really special to me, and I'm almost always wearing one of them. Yesterday, I wore the ring that my Grandma Elsie gave me for my 13th birthday. There is one jewel mounted in the ring. It's cut in the shape of a heart, and apparently, it is my birthstone.

My birthstone is a rather funny thing. You see, my birthstone changes colors. I have various pieces of jewelry featuring my birthstone, but they're all different colors. Ice blue, turquoise, purplish-blue, just plain blue. I should really look into this. Does the stone just come in different colors or are some people seriously confused? I don't know.

Anyway, this ring is special to me because it was from my Grandma Elsie. She passed away when I was just 16, so everything I have that reminds me of her is especially precious to me. Grandma's present was sweet and elegant and sort of a coming-of-age present for me. I felt so important, so grown-up when I received that ring. I still wear it with pride, and every time I look at it, I think of Grandma.

I miss her. I wish she was here to see me today. I wish she was here to see that little girl all grown-up.

May 4: Fun!

I had a lot of fun today, so it was rather difficult trying to narrow it down to one picture. Probably the best thing I did was just take it easy. I finished up my semester yesterday, and it felt so good to do nothing. No responsibilities. Nowhere to be. Just time to relax.

My mom and I spent the morning perusing Michael's and Hobby Lobby, one of our favorite things to do together. We picked up some super cute decorations for my sister's after-grad party, and I found all of the supplies I need to make my Mother's Day present. I thought about putting a picture on here of the items I bought (as it was very fun to decide on which things to buy), but then I decided I better not if I want to keep it a surprise to my mom. You never know when she'll drop in on my blog! ;) Maybe I'll post pictures of the finished product.

In the afternoon, I spent my time planning and dreaming about our family's next Walt Disney World vacation. If you know me, you know how I love Disney. In fact, one of my friends once told me that if Walt Disney World was a man, I would marry him. To that I replied, "Of course!" If there was a man with that much creativity and attention to detail wrapped up inside of him, I would nab him for sure. ;)

When thinking about Disney World, I usually like to watch Disney tour DVDs, check out the Disney website, read the Disney Parks Blog, or watch those good, old classic Disney movies (which we still have on VHS, I might add). Today, I spent my time reading our numerous issues of the Disney magazine "Celebrations."

This magazine is phenomenal! If you are a fellow Disney-lover, do yourself a favor and get a subscription to this magazine. It is well-worth the price. The articles and photography are top-notch. It's a dream of mine to one day write an article for this magazine.

So, I read through our most current issue and two of the back issues that we have collected. It was so much fun! I learned some new things that I hadn't picked up on during my first reading. I read about the elaborate construction of Spaceship Earth at Epcot (affectionately known as "the Ball" to many fans), the detailed art of The Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom, and the ingenious development of Finding Nemo: The Musical, also found at Animal Kingdom, along with numerous other tidbits of valuable Disney knowledge. Definitely my idea of fun!

People may think I'm crazy for loving Disney so much at my age, but I say Disney is not just for kids, it's for the kids at heart.

May 2: Skyline

Today's theme is the skyline.

This is my skyline. And I really can't think of any better type of skyline (except maybe one that includes mountains and pine trees). I don't want any skyscrapers. I don't want a busy city. I don't want hundreds of people. Those things are nice to see and maybe enjoy for a short time, but what I really want are trees and stars and soothing nighttime noises.

I am so blessed to have these beautiful trees lining the back of my house. No skyscrapers or homes or people. Just trees. I wouldn't have it any other way.

May 1: Peace

So, I decided to try one of these picture challenges I've been hearing about. The goal of the project is to take one picture a day that corresponds with a certain theme. I found a photo challenge for the month of May on Pinterest and decided to give it a shot. Who knows if I'll complete them all or even post all of the pictures on here, but it sounded like something fun to do. I think this would be a really great idea for a scrapbook later on when I have some more time.

Anyway, the theme for May 1 is Peace. The most peaceful thing I can think of is a little kid sleeping. Fortunately, I have a little sister at my house, so I sneaked a picture of her after she fell asleep tonight. I love listening to her heavy breathing when she sleeps. It's so steady, and all of the little snorts and sniffles are rather endearing. :)

The photo is pretty dark since I didn't want to use the flash and wake her up (that definitely would have disturbed the peace in my house!), but I think the darkness adds to the serenity of the picture. Quiet and peaceful. Makes me want to get some sleep myself!

Here is what Peace looks like to me:

Close to Perfection

Reasons why I love days like today:

Sleeping in.

Sunshine.

Starbucks Mocha Frappuccinos.

A soft breeze.

My brand-new 2011 World Series Champs Cardinals T-shirt.

Beautiful daffodils poking up out of the ground.

The color yellow in general.

That moment when you realize that all of nature around you is transforming from yucky, dead brown into dazzling, fresh green.

Random water fights with my siblings.

Sweet potato fries.

Dreaming of Disney World. 

Evening walks.

Sunsets happening later and later in the day.

March Madness.

Baking cupcakes.

Writing.

So thankful for today! I just can't help but smile. :)

No More "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo"

Decisions, decisions...

My decision-making abilities have not always been the most admirable. Actually, as a child, they pretty much didn't exist. Any time I was faced with a choice, I was pretty good at pulling out "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" or one of my personal favorites, "Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum in a Dish," which literally takes you like five hours to choose which movie to watch or which shirt to wear.

 

But eventually, you realize that some of life's decisions just can't be hinged on a silly, little rhyme. Sadly, it can't always work that way. Some choices are just bigger than that. Bigger than catching "a tiger by his toe" until he tells you which college to go to or which career to pick.

 

Well, I'm here to tell you that yes, I make my decisions a little differently now. I put a little more thought into things.

I've been wrestling with a rather big decision for some time now. In order to graduate next spring, I need to complete an internship this summer. I've went back and forth on where I should do it. I've weighed all of the positives and negatives, researched a zillion different possibilities, and spent a whole lot of time in prayer. Yet somehow, my decision didn't seem to be any easier.

You see, here's what I wanted: I wanted God to come in a giant bolt of lightning and write a flaming message in the sky telling me where to go and what to do with my life. I wanted Him to shout down from above in a deep, booming, dramatic voice "Megan, go to "such-and-such!" I wished it could be that easy. That clear. That definite.

But you know, God doesn't work in quite that way. He surely could if He wanted to, but I think He likes the fact that we kind of have to figure things out for ourselves. He gives us all the help we could ever need along the way, but it's in a more subtle and gentle way. It's His still, small voice.

So, I wrestled with my decision some more. I knew where I wanted to go. I wanted to go to Shepherds. That place holds such a special spot in my heart. And I knew that I would really love having the chance to do an internship there. But some things were holding me back. Would I be able to support myself without an income? Would I receive adequate experience for the required college course? Would this internship look good on my resume? Most importantly, does God want me to go somewhere else?

A few Sundays ago, a missionary spoke at our church. I didn't get to hear the message because I was working in the nursery, but my mom heard it. As soon as we got in the car, my mom said, "Megan, you have got to listen to that message." When she heard it, she immediately thought of me and the decision that I was trying to make. So, later that week, I listened to the message online. (For those who may be interested, click here.) It was really good. The missionary, Graham Foran, talked about faith, what it was and what it wasn't. He brought out many valid and thought-provoking points, but the part of his message that hit me the most was his story of how he was called to the mission field.

Mr. Foran said that he had felt like he was being called to be a missionary in Brazil, but he decided to bathe the idea in prayer. He prayed over and over again that if God wanted him to go to Brazil that He would make it very clear. He prayed this for days, but nothing seemed to be happening on God's end. At one point, Mr. Foran realized something. He realized that this desire to go to Brazil to be a missionary and proclaim the gospel was not a desire that the devil would give him. So, if the desire was not from the devil, it had to be from God. Makes sense, right?

So, instead of praying that God would make it very clear if He wanted him to go to Brazil, Mr. Foran prayed something different. He told God that he was going to go to Brazil, and if God didn't want him there, to stop him.

Mr. Foran knew God had placed that desire in his heart. After hearing his story, it made me realize that God had placed a desire in my heart, too. It makes me think of a verse.

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."

 Psalm 37:4

A lot of people misuse this verse to seek their own advantage. They think that if they do what God wants them to do, then He will give them whatever they want. Not exactly. This verse just means that if we are aligned with what God deems as good and right, then our desires will be the same as His desires. We end up wanting the same things for ourselves that God wants for us. The desires coincide.

God gave me the desire to go to Shepherds because that's what God wants for me. Our thoughts are the same. Isn't that so cool? Once I realized that, it was very easy to make my decision. I am going to Shepherds this summer. And I am so excited! I know God has something great planned for me, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

I finally made the decision to step out in faith and follow my desire to go to Shepherds. And that decision was so much easier than any game of "Eenie Meenie Miney Moe" that I've ever played.

Sweet Injustice

"It's not fair!" - Working with 3, 4, and 5-year-olds every week and living with a 6-year-old pretty much guarantees that I hear this phrase on a regular basis. When they don't get to finish a puzzle, when it's not their turn to be the line leader, when someone else is treated differently from them - "It's not fair!" It amazes me how early on this sense of injustice is bred into these little human beings. Often, their application of this perceived injustice is a little off, but they do understand it to some extent. They are seeking out a sense of equality.

When thinking about this topic, I marveled at the number of times that I hear these dear, little ones proclaim that "it's not fair!" But then, it hit me how often I utter something very similar. When someone else in my family uses all of the ink in the printer right before I need to turn in a paper, when a fellow student rips my coat and doesn't apologize, when I get two flat tires at once - "This is so not fair!" I am so incredibly guilty of overusing this phrase. And the sad thing is that most of the time, I'm using it to describe something that's miniscule, petty, or just not worth the drama.

There are many people who probably feel like they have legitimate reasons to claim that life's not fair. When they lose a job, when a friend betrays them, when a loved one passes away - "It's not fair!" These circumstances are heartbreaking and much more worthy of this statement than an unfinished puzzle or a ripped coat. I'm not trying to minimize these difficult trials in any way. But I'm going to be honest: Life's not fair. This is the truth. But I believe we should be thankful for this injustice.

Think about it. The world's justice system and God's justice system. Totally different. In the world's justice system, we are constantly trying to balance things. Equal rights. Equal opportunity. Equal, equal, equal. Now, I'm not trying to say these movements are right or wrong. That's not my point. My point is that we work so hard to make everything the same for everyone.

Think of it like a see-saw. The world's justice system "see-saw" is perfectly balanced. Everyone is positioned carefully on the see-saw, in a line covering all the way from one end to the other end. Each person's position on the see-saw is based on their number of good deeds compared to their number of bad deeds. Depending on the numbers, some people will end up closer to the good side, some people will end up closer to the bad side, and some people will end up somewhere in the middle. The weights on each side counteract each other, and the result is a steady, straight see-saw. Balanced. Uniform. Even.

Now, consider God's justice system. There are two places to sit on God's justice system "see-saw." There's the perfect seat and the imperfect seat. That's it. There's no sitting in the middle on God's see-saw. I can't be in between perfect and imperfect; I'm either one or the other. Period. With this being the case, God's see-saw is grossly unbalanced. Only one Person, Jesus Christ, can sit in the perfect seat, and the rest of the world is crammed into the imperfect seat. The imperfect seat holds so much weight that it rests at rock-bottom while the perfect seat and it's Inhabitant rise sky-high. Terribly disproportionate. Yet, in God's justice system, this is just. Fair. Right.

It is hard for us to grasp this. We want everything to fit our definition of "fair." If a murderer and a candy-store thief stood trial at the same time, we would want the murderer to receive a much harsher punishment, but to God, the sin is the same. It's still sin. On a similar note, a faithful servant of Christ who has been a Christian for 60 years would receive the same acceptance into Heaven as an avid atheist who then professed Christ's name within the last week of his life. Do we frown at this? Do we purse our lips and shake our heads? Why? Maybe because our engrained definition of fairness fed to us by the world dictates that this is not fair. Just. Right.

Here's where it gets good! Think about God's justice system "see-saw" again. Remember how unbalanced it was? Remember how many people were squished together on the imperfect seat? Remember the sole Occupant of the perfect seat? Well, if Christ is the only One who is perfect, and Heaven is reserved for only those who are sinless, how is it that there are people in Heaven today?

God looked at that see-saw. He saw how unbalanced, how disproportionate it was, and He said that it was just. Fair. Right. Jesus Christ, the only perfect Being, sat on the perfect seat, and everyone else sat where they belonged, the imperfect seat. This was right. But God did something. He decided to be "unfair." Mind you, this statement is made using the world's definition of fairness. God has always acted in line with His definition of fairness. He is always just. But if we look at it from the world's perspective, what happened next seems "unfair."

God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, away from that perfect seat down to earth where all the imperfect people lived. Christ lived among us and still remained without sin. But one day, Christ did something for us. He took all the imperfect people's sins, from past, present, and future, and laid them all upon Himself. He sat on that imperfect seat for us, so we might have the chance to accept Him as our Savior and spend eternal life in Heaven, that place of sinless perfection.

God allowed life to be "unfair." It wasn't an accident. It wasn't a back-up plan. It was life, and it was not fair, in a magnificent way. Because life is unfair, Christ died for me. Because life is unfair, the punishment for my sin has been erased. Because life is unfair, I get to go to Heaven, and that is the most beautiful gift anyone could have given me: sweet injustice.

Life's not fair. Thank goodness.

Take Two

Well, if you haven't already noticed, up to this point in time all of my posts have been purely scholastic. Dull, boring, mind-numbing, and worthy of nothing more than a homework grade. So, don't you dare go back and read them. Unless, of course, you get some sort of strange kick out of reading analyses of the Internet. Then, be my guest. But for the rest of you, don't do it. Believe me. You do not want to go down that road of boredom.

But today, my friends, this blog will change.

Disclaimer: I make no promises. What I write may bore you. When I write may be entirely sporadic. Why I write is questionable. How I write can easily change upon a whim.

I will write about what challenges me, encourages me, confuses me, saddens me, changes me, bothers me, excites me, disappoints me, surprises me, and inspires me.

I will write when I feel so led. Or I will write when I don't feel so led, but I make myself do it just for the practice.

Why I write what I write is inexplicable. Some things just can't be pinned down. There are a million different reasons why I am writing this now, and it would be impossible for me to try to figure them all out for you or even admit most of them to myself. But a short, easy answer is to say that I write just for the fun of it.

How I write has a lot to do with my emotions. Am I feeling happy? Sad? Goofy? Sleep-deprived? Energetic? Angry? Motivated? Unmotivated? Nervous? Giddy? Disconnected? Passionate? Inspired? A different mood evokes a different style of writing, and I write whatever comes to me naturally.

This is me. And this is my writing. That's all I have to give. Take it or leave it.