I want one.

Yesterday Jon and I decided to have a little coffee date to change things up a bit. We walked over to Tim Horton's and as we walked in one of the two men walking out stopped us. He reached out his hand toward the Bible Jon had in his and said something along the lines of "Hey, I've read that. Good book." Jon and I smiled and the man left us with, "You'll learn a lot from that book. Have fun!".

It was really cool. And incredibly encouraging!

His comments gave me the desire to encourage other Christians in similar situations. Try saying something nice next time you see a Bible out at a coffee shop or a few people praying before a quick meal. It might just make their day. =]

Off to See the Wizard

Since my trip to Guatemala over a month ago I've been dying to find a new, motivating Christian book to push my thoughts and challenge my life. It took me until the third chapter of "Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge to really get into this one. The book is centered around the promise that Jesus makes in John 10:10, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." His book outlines what we need to see, learn, and work on in order to really live as close to Jesus wanted us to as possible.

John Eldredge relates us to the Tin Man of the Wizard of Oz in chapter 3 of his book and I thought it was a pretty amazing metaphor. I guess the movie didn't tell the whole story. In the original fairy tale...

The Tin Man had once been a real man who had been in love with a beautiful maiden. It was his dream to marry her once he had the money to buy a cottage in the woods. The Wicked Witch hated his love and she cast spells upon the man that caused him injury, so that one by one his limbs needed to be replaced with artificial ones, made of tin. At first it seemed an advantage, for his metal frame allowed him to work nearly as powerfully as a machine. With a heart of love and arms that never tired, he seemed sure to win.

"I thought I had beaten the Wicked Witch then, and I worked harder than ever; but I little knew how cruel my enemy could be. She...made my axe slip again, so that it cut right through my body, splitting it into two halves. Once more the tinner came to my help and made me a body of tin...I could move around as well as ever. But alas! I now had no heart, so that I lost all my love for the girl, and did not care whether I married her or not...

"My body shone so brightly in the sun that I felt very proud of it and it did not matter now if my axe slipped, for it could not cut me...However, there came a day when...being caught in a rainstorm, before I had thought of the danger of my joints had rusted, and I was left to stand in the woods until you came to help me."

Notice, there was a man who was once real and alive and in love. But after a series of blows, his humanity was reduced to efficiency. He became a sort of machine-a hollow man. At first, he did not even notice, for his condition made him an excellent woodman, as any person can become productive like a machine when he forgoes his heart...

We, too, have suffered a series of blows over time. And we, too, have seized upon efficiency, busyness, and productivity as the life we will live instead. Now we are lost. Dazed.

At girls group this morning we touched on this subject pretty heavily. We have become numb to so much going on around us: divorce, infidelity, death, murder, war, vulgarity, mistreatment of women, etc. The list could really go on and on.

Last week a good friend from SpringHill came up and hung out with Sarah and I. She's a nursing student and interning in the Neonatal Unit of a hospital where she lives. She was telling us about this baby who was born with its intestines outside of its body and how interesting it was as a medical case. She expressed her concern about becoming numb and desensitized to sad things like this or even worse, just being around it everyday. But it happens to all of us.

Our outer-shell becomes hard. We trade out our humanity, like the Tin Man, for protection against hurt, pain and suffering. And this makes it easier, at first. Until that efficiency and productivity ceases to satisfy you. And you realize that you no longer have a heart.

Soon after the Tin Man metaphor, John Eldredge asks us to make a list of things that we love. Things that set our hearts on fire, wake us up, keep us alive.

Here is mine (in no particular order):
Family, waterfalls, Jon, helping others, Spanish, snow, Christmas, deep conversations, water-sports, mom, community, Jesus, kids, sharing, football, learning, dogs, challenge, dad, traveling, hugs, card games, cousins, volunteering, Danielle, nature, fall leaves, fruit, energy, food, music, flowers, Steph and Chewy, Latin America, chocolate, sports, tears, babies

I challenge you to do the same. =]

And as I meditate on that list, I become closer and closer to God, my Wizard, who will continue to renew and awaken my heart as I continue to seek Him.

Absolutely.

Tonight at Riverview Noel spoke about the Old Testament and our tendency to ignore this huge section of the Bible, or push it aside because it's too difficult, too different, too violent, etc. But he went on to explain how interrelated it is to the New Testament and Jesus and Christianity in general. Our God is, always will be and always has been. And in reading and studying the Old Testament we can learn more about our everlasting, absolute, never changing God.

Below are a few random lines from a new worship song we sang at Riverview tonight:

Forever and ever, your word stays the same
Forever and ever, we will sing your praise

Some day this world will fade away
And I'll be with you

You're all that remains

As we drove home from Riverview tonight and passed the leafless trees, the lifeless ground and the dead winter atmosphere, I saw these things in a new way, a refreshing way. Instead of impatiently wishing for a Spring awakening, I reflected on the song I just sang and the idea behind it all: my God is eternal, my God never changes. The not-so-eternal things I am surrounded by day in and day out, only serve as a reminder of how amazing my Lord is.

"I am the Lord, I do not change." (Malachi 3:6)

"Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal." (Isiah 26:4)

Here we go again!

YAY! It's blog time again. =]

I've come to the conclusion that journaling/blogging is one of those things that keeps me alive. When my words are written out in front of me I can then see them, sort them out, and expand on them. It forces me to think more deeply about certain things that catch my attention or tug at my heart instead of just letting them pass by without a second thought.

And right now, my goal is to be alive. I'm trying with everything I have not to get sucked back into the boring rhythm of packed schedules and repeating days. I want to live with an excitement for life, for learning, for relationships and new experiences. I'm hoping this is one step in that direction.

So here we go. Hold me accountable. Give me a little nudge when I haven't posted in a while. Talk to me about my posts, your thoughts, and your exciting revelations or experiences.