Those of you who know me well know that I'm not a person who willingly instigates a conversation, and sometimes that leaves people hanging as to how to get a conversation started with me. This is something I hear...frequently. Even with friends that I see every day:
**I'm is in a group of people or sitting across from somebody at a table. The conversation has lulled unexpectedly. I'm is distracted by something on my shoes or on my phone or on the ceiling. I'm okay with awkward silences. The less I have to talk, the better. Then, suddenly, somebody asks the inevitable question.**
"So, Ana, what has God been doing in your life?"
What should be an easy answer comes out as "Umm...lots. Yeah. He's doing a lot of things. I feel really, um, blessed."
I've been a pretty private person for, let's face it, most of my life. People get surprised when I tell them that my parents are divorced, or that I have an older brother, or that I have a mild obsession with crocheting. I don't normally tell people the details of my personal life. Which is why I don't like the question: "What is God doing in your life?"
Like I've mentioned in other posts, I see my relationship with God as more of a friendship than a somber affiliation. If you ask what God is doing in my life, I'll probably tell you about this crazy thing that happened while I was driving, or that I talked to a stranger, or that I got a letter from a friend that made me happy. But, that's not what people want to hear when they ask me, "Ana, really, what is God doing in your life?" They want to hear a heart-throbbing sob story about how I saw a mangy old cat in the middle of the rain and I went out to help it and it made me feel really good and alive inside, and how it relates to your relationship with God because you were once a mangy old cat and He took you out of the rain and nursed you back to health. I hate cats so that wouldn't happen, but you get the idea.
My point is, God is ALWAYS working in your life. You just have to choose to see it. Those funky adventures that you have in the grocery store, or the funny dance routine you choreograph with your co-workers, or that fantastic novel that makes you cry are all things that god put in your life. I'm trying to wrap my head around it, but God made us in his image! Wouldn't you think that he would want to spend quality time as well as fun time with something that he created? I mean, you don't make a paper airplane and leave it on the table, do you? You took time and effort to make it perfect, so now you want spend time having fun with it.
Never let any moment pass you by. Each moment is a moment God wants to share with you- and, yes, he does like watching The Lord of the Rings with you- so thank Him for spending time with you.
Next time someone asks you what God is doing in your life, you can just tell a story of something fun you did with God. I mean, of course there will be times when your frustrated with him, or don't understand why he's putting you through a difficult ordeal, and that's something to talk about too. Just know that you don't have to tell the story of the mangy old cat or think up a deep and personal story. Personal stories are usually just for you and God anyway.
Live life with God at your side.
Be Bold. Be Blessed. Be Bodacious.
~Ana
Friday, February 21, 2014
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Merry and Pippin
If you've seen The Lord of the Rings trilogy, I think you have already come to the conclusion that Merry and Pippin are the most adorable pair of friends you will ever meet on screen.
Watch this:
But, if you've read the books, you'll find that there's more to their relationship than just witty lines.
I'm just about finished reading The Return of the King, but in The Two Towers Merry and Pippin get separated as Gandalf takes Pippin to Minas Tirith. Both Merry and Pippin feel the separation terribly. In almost every chapter Tolkien reminds us of their loneliness. Merry feels it less for a time because he still has Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli to talk and joke with, but when they leave for the Paths of the Dead, Tolkien writes this:
"'Goodbye!' Said Merry. He could find no more to say. He felt very small, and he was puzzled and depressed by all these gloomy words. More than ever he missed the unquenchable cheerfulness of Pippin."
They had been inseparable since the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, when we first met them. Now they weren't together, and something was off balance inside them.
When Merry and Pippin are reunited, they just continued as they were before. Best friends to the end.
I think that Merry and Pippin have one of the strongest friendships in literature. I believe that every close friendship should be like theirs.
*cough cough* That being said- why can't our friendship with God be like beloved Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took's?
I know it's weird to think of ourselves as friends with God. But, Jesus even tells us "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's like for his friends. You are my friends" (John 15:13-14a). Our relationship with God doesn't have to be all deeply thought out prayers, confessions, and fasting (although that is a part of it). It can be fun and witty, just like Merry and Pippin's friendship.
There also comes times where we are separated. But, sometimes not consciously.
I've been reading The Skrewtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, and some of the things in there are really mind opening. Lewis suggests that one of the Evil One's tricks is not putting things into our thoughts, but keeping things out. Pushing aside the more holy things to make the temptations peep out of their boxes. This separates us from God. Sometimes, we know we are doing wrong, but other times, when we're resting, we let our minds wonder without even knowing and indulge in a different mindset- - that ultimately leaves us feeling unhappy, even lonely. And, believe it or not, God feels it too. He feels remorse and sadness when we go down a lonely path that hurts us.
The good thing is, when we come back to God, He forgives us and we can continue being friends just as before.
Being friends with Jesus has its outrageously fun moments too, just scroll down my blog and see all the crazy things we have been through together. He delights in the things that delight you- -my list can go on forever: chocolate, scarves, snow, books, crayons, buttons, wildflowers, strawberries, etc. . . - - wholesome things that actually make you smile! And, he delights in them even more when you acknowledge that He gave them to you.
Haha! I'm sorry if this post is a little scatterbrained, but I feel like sometimes people take God way too seriously. To be sure, it is a serious thing to be in a relationship with God, but I believe He wants us to enjoy walking with Him. We don't have to feel like it's always a sombre occasion when we pray, and we certainly don't have to use big ceremonious words when we are being serious with Him. Be yourself with Him. Merry and Pippin never had to be someone else to be accepted by the other. Why should we think we have to be someone else to be friends with God?
Be Bold. Be Blessed. Be Bodacious.
~Ana
Watch this:
But, if you've read the books, you'll find that there's more to their relationship than just witty lines.
I'm just about finished reading The Return of the King, but in The Two Towers Merry and Pippin get separated as Gandalf takes Pippin to Minas Tirith. Both Merry and Pippin feel the separation terribly. In almost every chapter Tolkien reminds us of their loneliness. Merry feels it less for a time because he still has Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli to talk and joke with, but when they leave for the Paths of the Dead, Tolkien writes this:
"'Goodbye!' Said Merry. He could find no more to say. He felt very small, and he was puzzled and depressed by all these gloomy words. More than ever he missed the unquenchable cheerfulness of Pippin."
They had been inseparable since the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, when we first met them. Now they weren't together, and something was off balance inside them.
When Merry and Pippin are reunited, they just continued as they were before. Best friends to the end.
I think that Merry and Pippin have one of the strongest friendships in literature. I believe that every close friendship should be like theirs.
*cough cough* That being said- why can't our friendship with God be like beloved Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took's?
I know it's weird to think of ourselves as friends with God. But, Jesus even tells us "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's like for his friends. You are my friends" (John 15:13-14a). Our relationship with God doesn't have to be all deeply thought out prayers, confessions, and fasting (although that is a part of it). It can be fun and witty, just like Merry and Pippin's friendship.
There also comes times where we are separated. But, sometimes not consciously.
I've been reading The Skrewtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, and some of the things in there are really mind opening. Lewis suggests that one of the Evil One's tricks is not putting things into our thoughts, but keeping things out. Pushing aside the more holy things to make the temptations peep out of their boxes. This separates us from God. Sometimes, we know we are doing wrong, but other times, when we're resting, we let our minds wonder without even knowing and indulge in a different mindset- - that ultimately leaves us feeling unhappy, even lonely. And, believe it or not, God feels it too. He feels remorse and sadness when we go down a lonely path that hurts us.
The good thing is, when we come back to God, He forgives us and we can continue being friends just as before.
Being friends with Jesus has its outrageously fun moments too, just scroll down my blog and see all the crazy things we have been through together. He delights in the things that delight you- -my list can go on forever: chocolate, scarves, snow, books, crayons, buttons, wildflowers, strawberries, etc. . . - - wholesome things that actually make you smile! And, he delights in them even more when you acknowledge that He gave them to you.
Haha! I'm sorry if this post is a little scatterbrained, but I feel like sometimes people take God way too seriously. To be sure, it is a serious thing to be in a relationship with God, but I believe He wants us to enjoy walking with Him. We don't have to feel like it's always a sombre occasion when we pray, and we certainly don't have to use big ceremonious words when we are being serious with Him. Be yourself with Him. Merry and Pippin never had to be someone else to be accepted by the other. Why should we think we have to be someone else to be friends with God?
Be Bold. Be Blessed. Be Bodacious.
~Ana
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