"Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with." -Mark Twain
Proverbs 17:22
Proverbs 15:15
Psalm 86:4
All of the above in a way relate to me today. The first was quoted by a friend on twitter, and the verses were mentioned in a devotional about joy that I read today. Looking back on the day so far (and to some extent, this past week) I realized how true each of those statements are.
In relation to the Twain quote, I overheard a conversation between two friends of mine today. It revolved around the recent news of the one friend's recent engagement and how he proposed. I had heard last week that it might happen soon, and then hearing that it went well made me smile inside. Joy like that is something you just can't keep to yourself. You want to share that with anyone who will listen! But I suppose the devil just loves to strike when great things are happening b/c soon after that, I got to thinking of how I'm still alone and keep getting crushed by crushes, and I realized the truth of the first part of the Twain quote.
Not to be outdone though, God brought the joy back with run-ins with a friend who probably doesn't even realize how much they lifted up my day with just their presence. When He does things like that, He reminds me of how Silverbolt is with Black Aracnia on "Beast Wars" (it would have been impossible to get through this w/o at least one refernce, haha). If you don't get the reference. Basically, Silverbolt is a Maximal (good guys) with a hero-complex and the heart of the ultimate gentleman and Black Aracnia is a Predacon (bad guys) who was originally supposed to be a good guy and has been wooed/swayed to the good side by Silverbolt. He knows just when to swoop in at the right moment to save her from danger, even when she shows hints of her bad self. That just jump out to anyone who knows the Good News of how God reached out to us when we were yet living in sin and wooed us to the "good side"? (see what I meant the other day about spiritual connections to Beast Wars? haha).
So anyways, I just wanted to "divide" this post on joy with you all b/c good news is always worth sharing. Oh and in other good news, I talked with my roommate last night and he's going to sell/give me his old bike after he just got a new one. I can't tell you all how much I've missed having a bike to ride! This is gonna be great!
And now I must leave b/c I hear the marching band starting their annual Concert on the Green!
Beast Wars update: Season 3, Episode 6
8.22.2009
Back in the Land of Enchantment
I thought about vlogging an update on youtube because I think it would help me with public speaking which I have a difficult time with occasionally, and also because I've picked up a few more subscribers and feel like I should keep them entertained or up to date if they care. I think I would ramble too much though and I don't have access to editing software for now so it would go on too long, I'm sure. Also, I finally got moved in with my friends a couple of weeks ago, and it's hard to find a place/time in the house to vlog quietly. The last vlog I did had to be from my car which kinda weird.
Speaking of that last vlog, it wasn't even for my personal channel on YT. If you hadn't heard yet, I'm part of a new collab channel called SnailMates with my friends Beth and Lucy. It basically started when Beth asked her friends on twitter if anyone wanted to receive letters (snail mail style) from her and both Lucy and I said sure. Then, I think it was Lucy who suggested the collab idea. Unlike just about every other collab channel on youtube, our main way of talking to each other would be in letters/postcards. We'll read the letters on the channel and respond to them then or in another letter. We've been talking on twitter and reading each other's blogs for the better part of this year now, and I think this will help us get closer as friends, especially since Lucy is separated from Beth and I by the whole Pacific Ocean and a hemisphere. Beth is in Alabama and is a HS friend of my sister although I never met/knew her then. But anyways, I hope you'll check that out, it should be fun.
Okay, enough promoting. I basically just wanted to let anyone who cares know that I finally moved back up to Las Cruces after a year and half in El Paso. Mom is almost all packed up to head to Houston with my dad in a few weeks, and Amanda should be coming back up to Cruces soon as well. Both of us are gonna be taking a break from school to work and save up to go back. She's only got a semester left when she does, which I'm proud of her since it's taken me longer to get out of here and I'm still not done (and still in undergrad status). I'm kinda disheartened though as well because it feels like I'll never get through with this school thing and it's mostly my fault, though most of the time I just blame one stupid class that I hate more and more every time I think about it, and really wish they'd drop it as a requirement. Rawr!!
Speaking of dinosaurs (didn't see that coming, did you?), I'm loving living in the new place with my friends from school/Christian Challenge ministry. It's the first time I've lived with people I knew beforehand and who are not family. I mention dinosaurs because before school started back up, we didn't have much to do during the day so we started watching the Beast Wars Transformers cartoon from the 90s, and quote it or make refernce to it at least once a day. We've even converted new fans when friends stop by. My favorite (almost spelled that "favourite"...darn you British and Aussie friends! :-p j/k) thing to do is imitate Megatron who has a habit of adding "yes" or "no" to the beginning and ending of his sentences. *wrings hands like evil villians tend to do when plotting* That will suit me just wonderfully, yes. And my roommates, Isaac and Jeremy, have picked up Optimas Primal's phrase "Well, that's just prime!"....Okay so it might just be fun to us as a kind of inside joke thing, but it's cool to have that bond already as roommates.
Another thing I love about my roommates is how we can have great and random spiritual talks throughout the day and just generally encourage one another daily, even through the little things. This is gonna be a good thing. I just hope I can get a more steady job than working events for the Pan Am Center so that I can contribute more financially other than rent and utilites. Thankfully because there are 5 of us (one is going to be gone for a while on deployment to Iraq) it's not much all split up.
I'm also glad to be back up here to be able to see and keep up with friends I've been missing while I was down in El Paso. I've felt out of the loop and not as close to these people since I've been away. While I was gone though, I made a ton of new friends online through youtube and twitter, and now I just need to find the balance of time spent with both. Yes, that will be quite difficult (there I go again, lol).
There's more I wanted to talk about but I'll probably just tweet more of that kind of stuff throughout the day or try to update this more than once a month.
And just for the fun of it, I'll end this with where I'm at in watching through Beast Wars.
Beast Wars status: Season 2, Episode 11
Speaking of that last vlog, it wasn't even for my personal channel on YT. If you hadn't heard yet, I'm part of a new collab channel called SnailMates with my friends Beth and Lucy. It basically started when Beth asked her friends on twitter if anyone wanted to receive letters (snail mail style) from her and both Lucy and I said sure. Then, I think it was Lucy who suggested the collab idea. Unlike just about every other collab channel on youtube, our main way of talking to each other would be in letters/postcards. We'll read the letters on the channel and respond to them then or in another letter. We've been talking on twitter and reading each other's blogs for the better part of this year now, and I think this will help us get closer as friends, especially since Lucy is separated from Beth and I by the whole Pacific Ocean and a hemisphere. Beth is in Alabama and is a HS friend of my sister although I never met/knew her then. But anyways, I hope you'll check that out, it should be fun.
Okay, enough promoting. I basically just wanted to let anyone who cares know that I finally moved back up to Las Cruces after a year and half in El Paso. Mom is almost all packed up to head to Houston with my dad in a few weeks, and Amanda should be coming back up to Cruces soon as well. Both of us are gonna be taking a break from school to work and save up to go back. She's only got a semester left when she does, which I'm proud of her since it's taken me longer to get out of here and I'm still not done (and still in undergrad status). I'm kinda disheartened though as well because it feels like I'll never get through with this school thing and it's mostly my fault, though most of the time I just blame one stupid class that I hate more and more every time I think about it, and really wish they'd drop it as a requirement. Rawr!!
Speaking of dinosaurs (didn't see that coming, did you?), I'm loving living in the new place with my friends from school/Christian Challenge ministry. It's the first time I've lived with people I knew beforehand and who are not family. I mention dinosaurs because before school started back up, we didn't have much to do during the day so we started watching the Beast Wars Transformers cartoon from the 90s, and quote it or make refernce to it at least once a day. We've even converted new fans when friends stop by. My favorite (almost spelled that "favourite"...darn you British and Aussie friends! :-p j/k) thing to do is imitate Megatron who has a habit of adding "yes" or "no" to the beginning and ending of his sentences. *wrings hands like evil villians tend to do when plotting* That will suit me just wonderfully, yes. And my roommates, Isaac and Jeremy, have picked up Optimas Primal's phrase "Well, that's just prime!"....Okay so it might just be fun to us as a kind of inside joke thing, but it's cool to have that bond already as roommates.
Another thing I love about my roommates is how we can have great and random spiritual talks throughout the day and just generally encourage one another daily, even through the little things. This is gonna be a good thing. I just hope I can get a more steady job than working events for the Pan Am Center so that I can contribute more financially other than rent and utilites. Thankfully because there are 5 of us (one is going to be gone for a while on deployment to Iraq) it's not much all split up.
I'm also glad to be back up here to be able to see and keep up with friends I've been missing while I was down in El Paso. I've felt out of the loop and not as close to these people since I've been away. While I was gone though, I made a ton of new friends online through youtube and twitter, and now I just need to find the balance of time spent with both. Yes, that will be quite difficult (there I go again, lol).
There's more I wanted to talk about but I'll probably just tweet more of that kind of stuff throughout the day or try to update this more than once a month.
And just for the fun of it, I'll end this with where I'm at in watching through Beast Wars.
Beast Wars status: Season 2, Episode 11
7.16.2009
On the outside looking in
A few blogs/vlogs/tweets/convos-with-friends recently have got me thinking. It's a feeling/thought that creeps in every now and then and kinda brings me down. It happens when I realize I've made some new friends (more than just acquaintances) but over time our conversations become less frequent. Or I notice that within the group of friends I seem to be the outsider. The one who talks to them or is there to hang out sometimes but isn't included in other activities.This has happend both on and off-line and whenever I notice it I get down.
But I know that part of it is my own doing. I let those feelings fester inside to the point that I sometimes get bitter or upset, thinking I'm not really liked, just tolerated or something like that. I don't speak up, or make my presence known. I sit on the sidelines watching everyone else have fun, being too shy to join in. I'll be some sort of mix of the introvert silently wishing to be talked to or included and the extrovert willing to joke around or lend a helping hand or an open ear/shoulder. I'll stay in and do nothing/waste time not interacting w/ anyone, not b/c I don't like them but b/c I have some sort of social anxiety thing where I feel like I'd be bothering them or that I wouldn't know what to talk about. I'll overthink what I should do and then end up doing nothing but feeling alone.
I know (deep down) that these friends do like me the way I am and wouldn't shun me if I try to join in. Yet I still notice cliques. I notice that they talk to each other but don't include me either b/c they don't quite know me enough or b/c over time they grew closer and I was kinda pushed to the outside. Or I just didn't join in, so I was kinda just forgotten.
I don't want anyone to feel they have to include me b/c of pity or b/c I'm whining about this (though I wouldn't complain if you did, haha). I know I need to make more effort first. I need to join in and at least try to be included. Or I need to not get all mopey/lonely/angsty when I'm not included.
Not sure how to end this, so I'll bring back something I did during BEDA:
Today was awesome b/c
1) This
2)![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
alanlastufka officially released his album he did with Tom Milsom, "Taking Leave" and did a midnight release party on BlogTV (something I joking suggested as a way for those of us not going to the midnight HBP release to still be able to enjoy the night) while everyone else was watching the new Harry Potter movie. During said show, he previewed the music video for the song "Can't" hours before everyone else got to see it. Btw, you should go to dftba.com (or Amazon or iTunes) and buy the album yourself (Alan's donating 25% of his profits to kiva.org)
But I know that part of it is my own doing. I let those feelings fester inside to the point that I sometimes get bitter or upset, thinking I'm not really liked, just tolerated or something like that. I don't speak up, or make my presence known. I sit on the sidelines watching everyone else have fun, being too shy to join in. I'll be some sort of mix of the introvert silently wishing to be talked to or included and the extrovert willing to joke around or lend a helping hand or an open ear/shoulder. I'll stay in and do nothing/waste time not interacting w/ anyone, not b/c I don't like them but b/c I have some sort of social anxiety thing where I feel like I'd be bothering them or that I wouldn't know what to talk about. I'll overthink what I should do and then end up doing nothing but feeling alone.
I know (deep down) that these friends do like me the way I am and wouldn't shun me if I try to join in. Yet I still notice cliques. I notice that they talk to each other but don't include me either b/c they don't quite know me enough or b/c over time they grew closer and I was kinda pushed to the outside. Or I just didn't join in, so I was kinda just forgotten.
I don't want anyone to feel they have to include me b/c of pity or b/c I'm whining about this (though I wouldn't complain if you did, haha). I know I need to make more effort first. I need to join in and at least try to be included. Or I need to not get all mopey/lonely/angsty when I'm not included.
Not sure how to end this, so I'll bring back something I did during BEDA:
Today was awesome b/c
1) This
2)
alanlastufka officially released his album he did with Tom Milsom, "Taking Leave" and did a midnight release party on BlogTV (something I joking suggested as a way for those of us not going to the midnight HBP release to still be able to enjoy the night) while everyone else was watching the new Harry Potter movie. During said show, he previewed the music video for the song "Can't" hours before everyone else got to see it. Btw, you should go to dftba.com (or Amazon or iTunes) and buy the album yourself (Alan's donating 25% of his profits to kiva.org)- Location:still El Paso
- Mood:
melancholy - Music:Dr Horrible soundtrack
5.30.2009
5.03.2009
Never left, I was just taking a break
That title could apply to a few things. I at first just meant leaving this blog for livejournal. I only took a break b/c I didn't feel like cross-posting everyday for a month. Well at least not cross-posting in two other blogs. In case you didn't know I was blogging everyday for the month of April. I chose to that on my new livejournal account because I thought it would be a good way to get more involved with the friends I had there who were also doing this Blog Every Day in April (BEDA) thing. I was cross-posting on another site for a while but that site was related to the person (Maureen Johnson) who started/inspired this thing that didn't exist until a week or two before April.
Anyways, if you didn't know any of that or don't particularly care, that's ok. Just thought I'd share. If you didn't see the notices about the blogs on facebook or twitter, feel free to click on the 1st link and browse through the month or even older posts. Feel free to comment as well. You should be able to leave a comment "annonymously" if you don't have an LJ account or an OpenID account. If you hadn't heard from me in a while those blogs might help you know what's been going on with me.
Speaking of not having heard from or talked to me in a while I know there's a few of you in Las Cruces/@ NMSU that I haven't seen in a while. Which brings me to the 2nd connotation of the title. To anyone wondering, I haven't graduated yet, and I'll still be coming back to finish my degree, but I am currently taking a break from school to work and save up.
I've also been living down in El Paso with my family for the past year (almost to the day I think), but now that my Dad has a new job in Houston we'll have to leave this house. Amanda and I won't be following Mom and Dad down there (Dad's already there getting settled in and working, and Mom will be joining him this summer). The two of us will be moving back up to Cruces when Mom leaves. I have a few friends that I'll be living with (and I'm looking forward to that), but as far as I know Amanda doesn't know who she'll be living with, so if you've got a room or are looking for a roommate, let her know (girls only, sorry guys).
So, that should just about catch you up with what I've been up to and what's going on. If you have any other questions let me know and I'll be happy to answer 'em, or at least try to, haha.
Anyways, if you didn't know any of that or don't particularly care, that's ok. Just thought I'd share. If you didn't see the notices about the blogs on facebook or twitter, feel free to click on the 1st link and browse through the month or even older posts. Feel free to comment as well. You should be able to leave a comment "annonymously" if you don't have an LJ account or an OpenID account. If you hadn't heard from me in a while those blogs might help you know what's been going on with me.
Speaking of not having heard from or talked to me in a while I know there's a few of you in Las Cruces/@ NMSU that I haven't seen in a while. Which brings me to the 2nd connotation of the title. To anyone wondering, I haven't graduated yet, and I'll still be coming back to finish my degree, but I am currently taking a break from school to work and save up.
I've also been living down in El Paso with my family for the past year (almost to the day I think), but now that my Dad has a new job in Houston we'll have to leave this house. Amanda and I won't be following Mom and Dad down there (Dad's already there getting settled in and working, and Mom will be joining him this summer). The two of us will be moving back up to Cruces when Mom leaves. I have a few friends that I'll be living with (and I'm looking forward to that), but as far as I know Amanda doesn't know who she'll be living with, so if you've got a room or are looking for a roommate, let her know (girls only, sorry guys).
So, that should just about catch you up with what I've been up to and what's going on. If you have any other questions let me know and I'll be happy to answer 'em, or at least try to, haha.
3.30.2009
So, there's this girl...
...and she likes to write. I found out about her through John Green and other Nerdfighters. I've read her blogs and follow her on twitter. If her stories are as fun to read as her blogs I'll probably enjoy them once I finally get a chance to read one. "So who is she?" you may be asking. Well, you may or may not have heard of her, but her name is Maureen Johnson.
The reason I'm writing about her is that beginning this Wednesday she will be starting what she has dubbed "Blog Every Day in April" or BEDA for short, as a sorta build-up for the release of her book Suite Scarlett in paperback on May 1st. If you want to follow this you can read the entries on blog
or in the blogs section of her newly created Ning site. As soon as she announced this a few days ago on twitter people were already asking if they could join her in this venture. "of course!" she said. Quite a few people have already commited to joining her including Alex Day (aka Nerimon on youtube) who instead of blogging everyday (which he basically already does...a few times a day, actually) in April will vlog (video log) everyday on his personal channel.
At first I thought I could never commit to doing that, but after giving it some thought I 1) remembered that I did the "8 days of happyness" thing a while back and actually enjoyed it and 2) realised this might be just the thing to break me back into blogging more often so that I don't only come by to post entries that are mostly whining or just too long. This may also just help break me of my over-tweeting problem.
So I invite anyone who reads this to join in with BEDA (or VEDA like Alex if making videos is more your thing), or at least follow along with me or any other BEDAers (especially Maureen) for moral support b/c I know somedays I/we won't feel like writing anything.
DFTBA (Don't Forget To Be Awesome...or Dorks Form the Best Alliances...or Darn Fowl That Bring Ailment)
p.s. I'm cross-posting this on other sites but will only be posting the BEDA entries on my livejournal account or on the ning site mentioned above (search for Sean H.)
The reason I'm writing about her is that beginning this Wednesday she will be starting what she has dubbed "Blog Every Day in April" or BEDA for short, as a sorta build-up for the release of her book Suite Scarlett in paperback on May 1st. If you want to follow this you can read the entries on blog
or in the blogs section of her newly created Ning site. As soon as she announced this a few days ago on twitter people were already asking if they could join her in this venture. "of course!" she said. Quite a few people have already commited to joining her including Alex Day (aka Nerimon on youtube) who instead of blogging everyday (which he basically already does...a few times a day, actually) in April will vlog (video log) everyday on his personal channel. At first I thought I could never commit to doing that, but after giving it some thought I 1) remembered that I did the "8 days of happyness" thing a while back and actually enjoyed it and 2) realised this might be just the thing to break me back into blogging more often so that I don't only come by to post entries that are mostly whining or just too long. This may also just help break me of my over-tweeting problem.
So I invite anyone who reads this to join in with BEDA (or VEDA like Alex if making videos is more your thing), or at least follow along with me or any other BEDAers (especially Maureen) for moral support b/c I know somedays I/we won't feel like writing anything.
DFTBA (Don't Forget To Be Awesome...or Dorks Form the Best Alliances
...or Darn Fowl That Bring Ailment)p.s. I'm cross-posting this on other sites but will only be posting the BEDA entries on my livejournal account or on the ning site mentioned above (search for Sean H.)
1.30.2009
So, It's almost that time again
**Fair warning ahead of time. This is probably gonna be pretty long, or at least longer than my normal posts, so if you don't mind that, then read on! :-p**
Seeing as "the love month" is just around the corner, I thought I'd write about some thoughts I had this morning. Granted the thoughts came together better this morning despite my lack of sleep, but when the thoughts were coming I happened to be no where near a computer. I was on the way to my dentist appointment. Nevertheless, I'll try and make this as coherent as it was then (though knowing my head isn't all that coherent, but oh well :-p).
So, it started as a conversation of sorts with God. Love/like/whatever has been on my mind this week in various ways but it was mostly in my head and to myself minus the vagueness from my posts earlier this week and a few conversations with friends. But the One I wasn't taking any of these thoughts to was God. Then, this morning he initiated the "convo" by sending a blog across my path -- one that I might have just skipped over any other day, and still almost did after starting to read it. It was basically two guys reflecting on how they knew they'd found "the one". Now, don't misunderstand where I'm going with this. I'm not ready for marriage yet and am not gonna say that I've found/met my "one". But it was more the conclusions that each of them reached that I think were what God wanted me to see. Guy #1's "a-ha" revelations included the following:
"I truly couldn’t love Toya until I first loved the Lord. I had to stop looking at my life, and start looking at life through God's eyes and how He sees me. It was then that I realized who I was and who I would serve. It was like my eyes were opened."
"Toya was hidden in Christ and I had to find her by first going through Christ. A lot of women are trying to find a mate; the man is supposed to his [sic] mate. And when he has to go through Christ to find her, the Lord can bless it and give him favor. I didn’t find my wife or obtain favor until I was truly living for the Lord." (sorry, for some reason this text wants to be bold and LJ isn't letting me change that)
This is basically what one of my friends was telling me earlier this week, and when you hear basically the same thing from two or more unrelated sources it's usually something you should take notice of, right? And speaking of that, here is what Guy #2 had to say about when he asked God who his wife would be:
"When I asked God, He answered me immediately. He said, 'Carmen'. It was as if He had been waiting for me to ask. 'How did I know it was God?' you may ask? It’s just like when my mom calls me on the phone. I don’t have to check the caller ID to figure out who I’m talking to. Because I’m in relationship with her I know her voice. And even if we were in a noisy, crowded room, I would still recognize her voice above all others because I’ve spent years with her. Her voice is familiar to me.
The same is true of God. When you spend time with Him you get to know Him and how He speaks as it relates to you. Not only did God speak it, but He also confirmed it through the mouths of three others. It was made more than clear that Carmen was His choice for me."
So, again this convicts me that I need to be in conversation with God (through prayer and reading His Word and even through those who also know and follow Him). I have been making an effort to improve in this lately and I've noticed the difference so that is good. There's always room for improvement in this area though, no matter where I'm at.
Then at the end of his section Guy #2 gives his advice to guys and, really, it's all good but I'll just give ya a bit of the part I liked best. I think it applies to any guy in a relationship, not just marriage. Plus it kinda leads into the next part of my convo with God.
"My brothers, your standard of perfection will never measure up to God’s. Some of you are afraid to trust Him with choosing a mate for you because you know He does not have the same hang ups that you do. When you realize the weight of a husband’s role, you will not want to make that choice based on your own intellect. The husband is called to love. Love is service. Love will carry the weight, and keep believing when everything looks hopeless. Love will not give up when your wife wants to. Love will be patient with her as she is transforming, and will be kind to her even when she’s not. Love seeks no glory but will take the back seat and let her shine. Love will keep you faithful even when it's being thrown at you. The level of spirituality in your household is directly proportionate to your faith in God. "
So this stuck with me and while I was on the way to the dentist I started thinking about how these things about love basically come from how God loves us. He initiates and leads the pursuit of us. He is patient and waits for us to come to Him, while still showing his love for us even when we don't come or take a while to come around. He doesn't give up on us even when most of us would. He is kind to us even though most of the time we don't deserve it. In a way He also doesn't spoil us by giving us everything we ask for, because in the end He knows what's best for us and will ultimately bring us joy and closer to Him. Those were the thoughts that went through my head on that short drive. I basically answered back thanking Him for revealing that to me and just prayed that I can live up to that standard of love.
So, ya that's basically all I wanted to say. Thoughts? Questions? Agree? Disagree? (I'm basically saying I want to interact with whoever reads these....stop lurking! :-p I don't bite)
Seeing as "the love month" is just around the corner, I thought I'd write about some thoughts I had this morning. Granted the thoughts came together better this morning despite my lack of sleep, but when the thoughts were coming I happened to be no where near a computer. I was on the way to my dentist appointment. Nevertheless, I'll try and make this as coherent as it was then (though knowing my head isn't all that coherent, but oh well :-p).
So, it started as a conversation of sorts with God. Love/like/whatever has been on my mind this week in various ways but it was mostly in my head and to myself minus the vagueness from my posts earlier this week and a few conversations with friends. But the One I wasn't taking any of these thoughts to was God. Then, this morning he initiated the "convo" by sending a blog across my path -- one that I might have just skipped over any other day, and still almost did after starting to read it. It was basically two guys reflecting on how they knew they'd found "the one". Now, don't misunderstand where I'm going with this. I'm not ready for marriage yet and am not gonna say that I've found/met my "one". But it was more the conclusions that each of them reached that I think were what God wanted me to see. Guy #1's "a-ha" revelations included the following:
"I truly couldn’t love Toya until I first loved the Lord. I had to stop looking at my life, and start looking at life through God's eyes and how He sees me. It was then that I realized who I was and who I would serve. It was like my eyes were opened."
"Toya was hidden in Christ and I had to find her by first going through Christ. A lot of women are trying to find a mate; the man is supposed to his [sic] mate. And when he has to go through Christ to find her, the Lord can bless it and give him favor. I didn’t find my wife or obtain favor until I was truly living for the Lord." (sorry, for some reason this text wants to be bold and LJ isn't letting me change that)
This is basically what one of my friends was telling me earlier this week, and when you hear basically the same thing from two or more unrelated sources it's usually something you should take notice of, right? And speaking of that, here is what Guy #2 had to say about when he asked God who his wife would be:
"When I asked God, He answered me immediately. He said, 'Carmen'. It was as if He had been waiting for me to ask. 'How did I know it was God?' you may ask? It’s just like when my mom calls me on the phone. I don’t have to check the caller ID to figure out who I’m talking to. Because I’m in relationship with her I know her voice. And even if we were in a noisy, crowded room, I would still recognize her voice above all others because I’ve spent years with her. Her voice is familiar to me.
The same is true of God. When you spend time with Him you get to know Him and how He speaks as it relates to you. Not only did God speak it, but He also confirmed it through the mouths of three others. It was made more than clear that Carmen was His choice for me."
So, again this convicts me that I need to be in conversation with God (through prayer and reading His Word and even through those who also know and follow Him). I have been making an effort to improve in this lately and I've noticed the difference so that is good. There's always room for improvement in this area though, no matter where I'm at.
Then at the end of his section Guy #2 gives his advice to guys and, really, it's all good but I'll just give ya a bit of the part I liked best. I think it applies to any guy in a relationship, not just marriage. Plus it kinda leads into the next part of my convo with God.
"My brothers, your standard of perfection will never measure up to God’s. Some of you are afraid to trust Him with choosing a mate for you because you know He does not have the same hang ups that you do. When you realize the weight of a husband’s role, you will not want to make that choice based on your own intellect. The husband is called to love. Love is service. Love will carry the weight, and keep believing when everything looks hopeless. Love will not give up when your wife wants to. Love will be patient with her as she is transforming, and will be kind to her even when she’s not. Love seeks no glory but will take the back seat and let her shine. Love will keep you faithful even when it's being thrown at you. The level of spirituality in your household is directly proportionate to your faith in God. "
So this stuck with me and while I was on the way to the dentist I started thinking about how these things about love basically come from how God loves us. He initiates and leads the pursuit of us. He is patient and waits for us to come to Him, while still showing his love for us even when we don't come or take a while to come around. He doesn't give up on us even when most of us would. He is kind to us even though most of the time we don't deserve it. In a way He also doesn't spoil us by giving us everything we ask for, because in the end He knows what's best for us and will ultimately bring us joy and closer to Him. Those were the thoughts that went through my head on that short drive. I basically answered back thanking Him for revealing that to me and just prayed that I can live up to that standard of love.
So, ya that's basically all I wanted to say. Thoughts? Questions? Agree? Disagree? (I'm basically saying I want to interact with whoever reads these....stop lurking! :-p I don't bite)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)