Man, I don't know why this makes me laugh so hard, but I am crying as I watch it. SO dumb... but SO funny.
enjoy. :)
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Beloved.
I read in the news today that more than 285 Indian girls whose names mean "unwanted" have chosen new names for a fresh start in life. They were given names like "Nakusa" or "Nakushi," which mean "unwanted" in Hindi, because families often go into debt arranging marriages and paying for elaborate dowries. A boy, on the other hand, will one day bring home a bride and dowry. Hindu custom also dictates that only sons can light their parents' funeral pyres.
Activists say the name "unwanted," which is widely given to girls across India, gives them the feeling they are worthless and a burden. "When the child thinks about it, you know, 'My mom, my dad, and all my relatives and society call me unwanted,' she will feel very bad and depressed," said Sudha Kankaria of the organization Save the Girl Child. Some girls chose to name themselves after Bollywood stars such as "Aishwarya" or Hindu goddesses like "Savitri." Some just wanted traditional names with happier meanings, such as "Vaishali," or "prosperous, beautiful and good." (read the full article here)
Wow. Can you imagine being called unwanted each and every day of your life? How terrible! Moreover, can you imagine being a parent, looking at your little baby, and say, "You are Unwanted!"? unbelievable.
But how amazing is it that a girl who went by the moniker Unwanted for a decade is now known as Beautiful or Prosperous or Good? Talk about a new lease on life! To be called Beautiful each and every day must feel good. To be called Good makes us feel good. To be called Prosperous ignites the fire to continue to work hard. There is power in our names.
I couldn't help but think of this in Biblical terms. God has much to say about our names. There are several lists of names throughout scripture. God gave Adam and Eve their names directly, and instructed the parents of Ishmael and Issac, John the Baptist, and Jesus (among others), to give their children their respective names. The names of Jacob's sons are really painful. Leah was quite the unappreciated housewife it seems. A sampling:
She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”“Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.“Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi“I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.“What good fortune!” So she named him Gad. (I like that one!)“How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.“God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.“God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.
The One, who when Samson's dad asked what His name was responded with, "It is beyond understanding" is also in the business of re-naming folks. He gave new names to Abram and Sarai, Jacob, and Saul. But He also gives us new names.
We were never Unwanted, per se, but we were Doomed, Empty, Broken, Lost, Hopeless, Chaotic, Wandering, and Enemy, to name a few. We didn't get to chose our new name, however. This re-branding was all God. He had mercy on us and sent His Son to do what we could never do. He gave hope to Hopeless, brought Enemy into His fold, made straight the path of Wondering and Lost, healed Broken, calmed Chaotic, overfilled Empty, and saved Doomed. By grace through faith we have dropped the undesirable names that Satan himself has given us and instead we have all been given one simple, powerful, mind-blowing, life-altering name by our loving Creator.
We were never Unwanted, per se, but we were Doomed, Empty, Broken, Lost, Hopeless, Chaotic, Wandering, and Enemy, to name a few. We didn't get to chose our new name, however. This re-branding was all God. He had mercy on us and sent His Son to do what we could never do. He gave hope to Hopeless, brought Enemy into His fold, made straight the path of Wondering and Lost, healed Broken, calmed Chaotic, overfilled Empty, and saved Doomed. By grace through faith we have dropped the undesirable names that Satan himself has given us and instead we have all been given one simple, powerful, mind-blowing, life-altering name by our loving Creator.
He calls us, Beloved.
Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of Hosea says that God will, "call nobodies and make them somebodies; I'll call the unloved and make them beloved."
We have a new name! Just like the girls in India are no longer Unwanted, we are no longer Unloved. We are Beloved. I need to be reminded of that so often. I shamefully forget that I am washed in the blood of the Lamb, and God no longer sees my shortcomings, but rather He sees my Savior. I forget that sometimes and I live like Wandering instead of Beloved. Forgive me Lord. Thank you for making me Beloved, not because I earned or deserve it in the least, but because you are love, and you bestowed your love upon me through your perfect Son. Let me never forget my name, Lord. Let me always live as Beloved.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
uprooted
yep its been a while. I don't think there are too many people too upset about that, but since I have this here piece of the interwebs, I might as well use it, aye? It has been a strange several months for me. I've been inundated by a cloud listlessness and confuddledness. I find myself unrooted and waffling... not fun.
I've tried and tried to get to the core of this general discontent, but can't quite put my thumb on it. I think some of it is my goal for the past 11 years has been a BA and now I finally have it... so... now what? I think I lost my person and I still don't know how or why. I think some of it is 7 years in the same spot and the itch to move on wants to be scratched. I think some of it is I lost the ones in whom I could confide and rely on... and I don't exactly know how to begin to replace those losses. I think I made a plan and reality isn't really in line with that plan so I'm a tad bewildered as to what to do and where to go. I think the language change is just so heartbreaking I can't think properly. I think I just don't know, and knowing if half the battle... so if I don't know, half the battle is lost... Oh GI Joe, how you vex me! :) (you probably don't understand, but it made me laugh...)
So I'm putting all my eggs in the grad school basket. Its not just school- no! its a fresh start, a new perspective, a new lofty, nearly impossible goal. New place, new people, new ideas, new energy, new challenges, new opportunities, new community, new world. But man, what if I don't get in? what if i can't figure out what to do with my house? what if its all too much new? these things... these keep me up at 1:39 am.
I know. I know! Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths. I know, people, I know. And I'm trying... but what does trust look like? Is applying for grad school not trusting God? Is wanting something new relying on my own understanding? Is considering all my options and feeling helpless if this option falls through acknowledging Him? Is feeling loneliness and emptiness being un-Christian? I feel like I don't even know how to trust that I'm trusting well enough... I'm just... I feel like this:
roots up in the air for all to see- exposed and wilting. Sometimes you see trees that are prone to falling over and they have those stakes supporting them... those stakes are missing and I'm left uprooted. But that isn't necessarily bad. This picture is all artsy and the tree is dead... BUT if you uproot a tree, it can be re-planted! Maybe this waffling is to prepare me for a transplant. Maybe this stirring of my soul is to create a desire to grow elsewhere rather than maintain a deep-rooted attachment to a place that I need to move on from. maybe...
I'm fully confident that this will all be clear to me at some point in the not-too-distant-future. The Good Lord has been so good to me and His faithfulness is unfailing. I know this! I just get frazzled when I'm in the cloudiness of my limited, sinful understanding. Its like people of Minnesota who freak out in the dead of winter about the snow and the cold and the dark. They act like they've never been in February before and they think that maybe, for the first time ever it will literally never be sunny and 80 ever again. But sure enough, that springtime sun comes and melts the snow and before you know it they're tan and flip-flopped and that snow is a mere faded memory.
I know the snow will melt, I just get frustrated when my weak heat lamp of a brain fails to do the job. I just gotta wait for the Sun... (mull that metaphor over for a bit... it'll make sense eventually)
As I lay uprooted, its important to keep them well-watered lest they grow dry and die. So I drink all the more deeply from the well of the Living Water-
Isaiah 41:13
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Thank you, Lord for your patience despite my pettiness, for your grace despite my grumbling, and your love despite my listlessness. Make your will my will, oh God. Increase in me and help me decrease so that you will be all the more glorified in my every thought, word, and action. Lord come quickly.
I've tried and tried to get to the core of this general discontent, but can't quite put my thumb on it. I think some of it is my goal for the past 11 years has been a BA and now I finally have it... so... now what? I think I lost my person and I still don't know how or why. I think some of it is 7 years in the same spot and the itch to move on wants to be scratched. I think some of it is I lost the ones in whom I could confide and rely on... and I don't exactly know how to begin to replace those losses. I think I made a plan and reality isn't really in line with that plan so I'm a tad bewildered as to what to do and where to go. I think the language change is just so heartbreaking I can't think properly. I think I just don't know, and knowing if half the battle... so if I don't know, half the battle is lost... Oh GI Joe, how you vex me! :) (you probably don't understand, but it made me laugh...)
So I'm putting all my eggs in the grad school basket. Its not just school- no! its a fresh start, a new perspective, a new lofty, nearly impossible goal. New place, new people, new ideas, new energy, new challenges, new opportunities, new community, new world. But man, what if I don't get in? what if i can't figure out what to do with my house? what if its all too much new? these things... these keep me up at 1:39 am.
I know. I know! Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths. I know, people, I know. And I'm trying... but what does trust look like? Is applying for grad school not trusting God? Is wanting something new relying on my own understanding? Is considering all my options and feeling helpless if this option falls through acknowledging Him? Is feeling loneliness and emptiness being un-Christian? I feel like I don't even know how to trust that I'm trusting well enough... I'm just... I feel like this:
I'm fully confident that this will all be clear to me at some point in the not-too-distant-future. The Good Lord has been so good to me and His faithfulness is unfailing. I know this! I just get frazzled when I'm in the cloudiness of my limited, sinful understanding. Its like people of Minnesota who freak out in the dead of winter about the snow and the cold and the dark. They act like they've never been in February before and they think that maybe, for the first time ever it will literally never be sunny and 80 ever again. But sure enough, that springtime sun comes and melts the snow and before you know it they're tan and flip-flopped and that snow is a mere faded memory.
I know the snow will melt, I just get frustrated when my weak heat lamp of a brain fails to do the job. I just gotta wait for the Sun... (mull that metaphor over for a bit... it'll make sense eventually)
As I lay uprooted, its important to keep them well-watered lest they grow dry and die. So I drink all the more deeply from the well of the Living Water-
Isaiah 41:13
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Thank you, Lord for your patience despite my pettiness, for your grace despite my grumbling, and your love despite my listlessness. Make your will my will, oh God. Increase in me and help me decrease so that you will be all the more glorified in my every thought, word, and action. Lord come quickly.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Spurgeon on Psalm 121
What we as sinful human beings need is help,—help powerful, efficient, constant: we need a very present help in trouble. What a mercy that we have it in our God. Our hope is in the Lord, for our help comes from him. Help is on the road, and will not fail to reach us in due time, for he who sends it to us was never known to be too late. The Lord who created all things is equal to every emergency; heaven and earth are at the disposal of him who made them, therefore let us be very joyful in our infinite helper. He will sooner destroy heaven and earth than permit his people to be destroyed, and the perpetual hills themselves shall bow rather than he shall fail whose ways are everlasting. We are bound to look beyond heaven and earth to him who made them both: it is vain to trust the creatures: it is wise to trust the Creator.
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