Over the last few weeks, and specifically this last week, I've been bombarded with spiritual ups and downs. Though my life outwardly is still the same, there are a lot of things that have impacted my heart, mind, and soul. I can feel my relationship with my Creator changing every day. I've been challenged by a lot of emotional battles and life issues in general; I realized something about all these happy and sad moments, all these things I've been facing and going through lately. It's a God thing.
God is doing something in me-- I'm not entirely sure what, just yet, but it's something big and life-changing. I'm excited to see what it is, yet nervous about the change because I am a creature of habit. I usually like to follow the same type of routine each day, I am satisfied with eating the same foods I've always eaten, and I don't often try new and crazy things. But when God tugs on my heart strings and tells me it's time for a change, and then leads me through the transition from one thing to another, I can't help but get excited.
Also, since it is a new week, I have a new list of challenges that I will be trying to accomplish. To be honest, I am a little nervous about the life challenge I'm giving myself, because I've never been all that good at consistently spending a certain amount of time reading the Bible every day. I'm not one of those people who sets a time and every morning at 6, or maybe 7, I get up and read the Word for 30 minutes or even 1 hour. I'm the type of person who will meditate on one verse one day, read a different passage the next, then go back to the verse I read previously. Sitting down to read is not my strong suit, and I think it's easy to put off that daily devotion time with excuses. So this week, I'm going to stop giving excuses!
Life: I am going to purposefully spend more time in the Word, and will be attempting to memorize a Bible verse this week.
Creativity: More photography projects, and trying to reach my goal of 60,000 words with a book I am currently in the process of writing.
Project: The weather has been so nice, I am going to go for a bike ride!
As always, if you would like to join me in a challenge or share your opinion, personal experience, or any other tidbit, go for it! Let's do life together.
~Laurel
Apr 21, 2014
Apr 17, 2014
It Means No Worries, For the Rest of Your Days...
I watched this amazing video the other day called "20 things we should say more often." It was seriously one of the most precious things I think I have ever seen and I totally agree with everything in it. I'll link it right here-- watch it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5yCOSHeYn4
Tonight I discovered something that I need to say more often and it is this very simple, yet powerful phrase... "I'm not going to worry about it."
You see, last Monday I got back from an amazing trip to Brazil. God seriously blew my expectations out of the water for this trip by showing up in His own unique and mighty way. I was with a team from America and a team of Brazilians and together we worked to encourage some tribes and villages of people on the Amazon River. Sometimes the work was hard, but it was definitely rewarding.
Here's the thing- since I've been back, life has strangled me. I feel like daggers have been coming at me from all different angles, in regards to physical, mental, and emotional health. Especially because there is just SO much to be done. One of my favorite things about Brazil was being able to practically lose sense of time. Time didn't matter much as long as you were flexible and ready to go whenever someone told you to go, and I was more than ready! However, the minute I came home I felt like I was having a seizure. The culture shock of America was overwhelming and just thinking about the millions of things I had to accomplish made me want to go into eternal hibernation.
Even in this moment, I have to battle the fear of everything that is overwhelming me.
I was asking God what I can do to take away the fear and overwhelming thoughts. I know I just need to focus on Him, but even then, where do I start? Do I focus on His love? His sacrifice? His goodness? Kindess? Patience? Joy? Peace? The list of His traits only continues....
But He answered me in the simplest way (it's actually pretty funny when I look back on it). He said, "When overwhelming fears come about, you have to remember that I won't give you any more than you can handle. So you have to literally face your fear and say 'I'm not going to worry about it.'" So I did...... and let me tell you, those seven words will change your life in big ways. Think about how much different our world would be if people would see a problem and say "oh, well, I'm not going to worry about it." Does this mean you shouldn't care about the problems you see, the fears you face, or the work that needs to be accomplished? NO. You just shouldn't worry about it.
There is a HUGE difference between worrying and caring. If you care about something, it has meaning to you, so chances are you won't do nothing about it-- you'll take action. For example if you have relationships in your life and you care about them, you will look out for the other person/people in those relationships. You will be there for them when they need help and look for time to simply love them. Or if you care about work that needs to be accomplished, you won't just blow it off completely, you'll do it, but it won't be something that holds you back from focusing. When you care about something, you don't have to be afraid of it the way you do when you worry.
Here is the definition of worry according to Google,
"Worry: verb
- 1.give way to anxiety or unease; allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles."
"Care: noun
- 1.the provision of what is necessary for the health, welfare, maintenance, and protection of someone or something.verb
- 1.feel concern or interest; attach importance to something.
- 2.look after and provide for the needs of."
Two of my favorite verses from two of my favorite books of the Bible support this as they say,
"Proverbs 3:5-7
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
Philippians 6:7
Don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything."
Hakuna Matata folks ;)
Live, Learn, Love, Leave a Legacy,
& Stay Creative,
Emma
*This post was created weeks before actual post date
Apr 14, 2014
Changing things up a bit
Emma and I had a good discussion last night about the daily challenges we've been doing. We agreed that the challenges we do every day stretch us, and that's good, but we want more. I don't think either of us are content to keep doing things the way we've been doing them, because there's always something better we can make our goal! So we're (once again) changing things up a bit. Instead of daily challenges, we are going to do weekly challenges. Ones that might stretch us just a little bit further, and might force us to do things differently for more than just a day. There will be three types of challenges, and I think each one will serve a good purpose.
Life challenges: These are created for the purpose of bettering our qualities of life. Finding new ways to love others (and express that love) will be the main goal of these challenges. Life challenges incorporate the spiritual side of our lives, and effect our relationship with God and with others. (Examples: read your Bible every day for a week, take a friend out to lunch and pay for it to bless them, offer to pray for someone every day-- and then actually pray for them!)
Creativity challenges: Stretch your creative limits...these will be anything that gets the creative juices in us flowing. Wherever the wind blows, find something creative. (Examples: draw a picture to express an emotion you're feeling, write a short story with a surprising ending, take photos of cool or unusual things around your house. Anything fun you can come up with.)
Project challenges: Things that get you up and active! Project challenges are physical; whether feeding your body in a better way, exercising more, doing things for others, or making art projects that involve you doing something...give these a try. (Examples: go for a bike ride or walk every day, experiment with making different foods, go somewhere new in your town/city to explore.)
Each week, we will be striving towards completing these challenges-- this will sometimes be easier than before, but other times it will be more difficult. To get things started, here's what I'm going to personally be challenged to do this week:
Life: I just deleted my Facebook and Pinterest apps from my phone...so this week I am going to try and rely less on technology, so that I have free time to focus on other things that are more important.
Creativity: I am finishing up a photo project that's been in the works for over a year.
Project: I am going to try to work out every day for physical therapy (knee surgery 12 weeks ago- yay!) to continue to strengthen my knee and get better.
"La vie est faite de petite choses..." Life is made of the little things.
~Laurel
Life challenges: These are created for the purpose of bettering our qualities of life. Finding new ways to love others (and express that love) will be the main goal of these challenges. Life challenges incorporate the spiritual side of our lives, and effect our relationship with God and with others. (Examples: read your Bible every day for a week, take a friend out to lunch and pay for it to bless them, offer to pray for someone every day-- and then actually pray for them!)
Creativity challenges: Stretch your creative limits...these will be anything that gets the creative juices in us flowing. Wherever the wind blows, find something creative. (Examples: draw a picture to express an emotion you're feeling, write a short story with a surprising ending, take photos of cool or unusual things around your house. Anything fun you can come up with.)
Project challenges: Things that get you up and active! Project challenges are physical; whether feeding your body in a better way, exercising more, doing things for others, or making art projects that involve you doing something...give these a try. (Examples: go for a bike ride or walk every day, experiment with making different foods, go somewhere new in your town/city to explore.)
Each week, we will be striving towards completing these challenges-- this will sometimes be easier than before, but other times it will be more difficult. To get things started, here's what I'm going to personally be challenged to do this week:
Life: I just deleted my Facebook and Pinterest apps from my phone...so this week I am going to try and rely less on technology, so that I have free time to focus on other things that are more important.
Creativity: I am finishing up a photo project that's been in the works for over a year.
Project: I am going to try to work out every day for physical therapy (knee surgery 12 weeks ago- yay!) to continue to strengthen my knee and get better.
"La vie est faite de petite choses..." Life is made of the little things.
~Laurel
The Apple
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."
~Genesis 3:1-13; 22-24
Culture is a funny thing. It dictates what people say, do, wear, think, and even believe about right and wrong. How do we really know what is right and what is wrong, if everyone in every culture seems to have a different standard? Our culture says that Harry Potter is great. Our culture says that How I Met Your Mother is funny. We tell ourselves that the apple is only slightly poisoned; eating just one or two bites, or even eating the whole apple, won't kill you. Just don't eat too much, right? But all of this carnal stuff...it seeps into our lives and slowly kills us. Ruins us. Dishonors us before a great and perfect God.
The Bible says that false prophets, the sexually immoral, and many other people who practice sin as a lifestyle should be severely punished for their crimes. Do we recognize how important sin is to God, how deeply He feels about such things? He doesn't say, 'Oh, it's okay. That isn't entirely bad, it's only partly bad. It'll just poison you a little, so go for it. Have fun. Enjoy all of those things because they make you feel good temporarily.' He's actually really clear in His views of sin. We, as believers and (hopefully) followers of Christ, should be equally clear about our stand against sin. There's no middle ground when it comes to sin, no area where something is only partly bad. It's either right or it's wrong. It's either pleasing in the eyes of the Lord, or it isn't. If it is bad, we are commanded by God to kill that sin and have no more of it.
But, you see, Satan will use things that look harmless to get us away from Christ. I was told recently, "If Satan can't get you to sin, he will get you to be distracted." We spend more time on Pinterest and Facebook than we do with our LORD in His word, in prayer, and in honest fellowship with other believers. The apple looks good at first-- it'll taste good, too. We'll eat it and see that we don't immediately drop dead. So, we'll go back for seconds, thirds, fourths, etc. until we've been fully and irrevocably poisoned.
The truth of the matter is that our sin separates us from God. There's no other way about it, and there's no "relative truth" to it. Even after we're saved, we can still fall into sin-- often times, this happens without us knowing it. Putting trash into our lives by the things we watch, listen to, read, and talk about...these things all detract from our relationship with Christ. We have been given the precious and beautiful opportunity to serve God and to be used by Him in great ways, but we squander it when we turn from the things of Him and set our eyes on the things of this world.
Seriously. You can't take movies with you to heaven. You can't take that hot hollywood actor to heaven. You can't take your Pinterest board or all your followers on Instagram, all the music that's filled with profanities or immoral content-- none of it. So when we spend our time focusing on those things, all we're doing is playing in a dumpster full of trash. We roll around in it, we eat it and fill our stomachs with garbage. We make it our house and live in it. God is offering us a shining gold crown and beautiful clothes (better than any fashion icon's latest trend!) and instead we trade it for rotten banana peels and soiled diapers. Yuck.
At first we may see the trash we're stepping into and think, 'This isn't so good.' But the longer you stay there, the less it'll bother you. You'll get used to the smell, and after a week with no bath you probably won't notice the dirt and grime so much. You will get used to eating those rotten foods, and the garbage heap you call your house won't look so bad because you'll get used to it. Is that really what we want? I know it's not what I want, but without Christ's daily help to guide me and keep me on track, that's where I end up.
Despite what culture tells us-- that the garbage heap is fun and looks great and everybody's doing it so you might as well join in on the great times-- those things really do ensnare us. We're all in danger of being pulled into the trash can of life. The world is already there, and they're having the time of their lives. But think about this: If you ever saw some crazy people having a party in a dumpster, covered in muck, would you really want to join? I wouldn't...I'd run in the opposite direction!
I challenge you to take a healthy evaluation of your life and ask yourself if there are things in your life that should be given up and taken out to better your life. I know I did; after hearing several very profound messages related to this subject (studying through 2 Timothy 2:14-26), I deleted my Facebook and Pinterest apps from my phone. Let me tell you, it's only been a day since I did this and already I am finding it very difficult to fill my time with other things. I didn't realize how much time I spend away from Christ and glued to worthless things until I got rid of them.
So I ask you...what is something in your life you can give up in order to live a better, fuller, more righteous life for Christ?
"How many things don't matter when we think of eternity?...If we believe what [God] says about hell, that should move us...Eternity is very real; everybody dies. Are you prepared to meet the LORD?" ~Pastor Eric Cartier
~Laurel
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."
~Genesis 3:1-13; 22-24
Culture is a funny thing. It dictates what people say, do, wear, think, and even believe about right and wrong. How do we really know what is right and what is wrong, if everyone in every culture seems to have a different standard? Our culture says that Harry Potter is great. Our culture says that How I Met Your Mother is funny. We tell ourselves that the apple is only slightly poisoned; eating just one or two bites, or even eating the whole apple, won't kill you. Just don't eat too much, right? But all of this carnal stuff...it seeps into our lives and slowly kills us. Ruins us. Dishonors us before a great and perfect God.
The Bible says that false prophets, the sexually immoral, and many other people who practice sin as a lifestyle should be severely punished for their crimes. Do we recognize how important sin is to God, how deeply He feels about such things? He doesn't say, 'Oh, it's okay. That isn't entirely bad, it's only partly bad. It'll just poison you a little, so go for it. Have fun. Enjoy all of those things because they make you feel good temporarily.' He's actually really clear in His views of sin. We, as believers and (hopefully) followers of Christ, should be equally clear about our stand against sin. There's no middle ground when it comes to sin, no area where something is only partly bad. It's either right or it's wrong. It's either pleasing in the eyes of the Lord, or it isn't. If it is bad, we are commanded by God to kill that sin and have no more of it.
But, you see, Satan will use things that look harmless to get us away from Christ. I was told recently, "If Satan can't get you to sin, he will get you to be distracted." We spend more time on Pinterest and Facebook than we do with our LORD in His word, in prayer, and in honest fellowship with other believers. The apple looks good at first-- it'll taste good, too. We'll eat it and see that we don't immediately drop dead. So, we'll go back for seconds, thirds, fourths, etc. until we've been fully and irrevocably poisoned.
The truth of the matter is that our sin separates us from God. There's no other way about it, and there's no "relative truth" to it. Even after we're saved, we can still fall into sin-- often times, this happens without us knowing it. Putting trash into our lives by the things we watch, listen to, read, and talk about...these things all detract from our relationship with Christ. We have been given the precious and beautiful opportunity to serve God and to be used by Him in great ways, but we squander it when we turn from the things of Him and set our eyes on the things of this world.
Seriously. You can't take movies with you to heaven. You can't take that hot hollywood actor to heaven. You can't take your Pinterest board or all your followers on Instagram, all the music that's filled with profanities or immoral content-- none of it. So when we spend our time focusing on those things, all we're doing is playing in a dumpster full of trash. We roll around in it, we eat it and fill our stomachs with garbage. We make it our house and live in it. God is offering us a shining gold crown and beautiful clothes (better than any fashion icon's latest trend!) and instead we trade it for rotten banana peels and soiled diapers. Yuck.
At first we may see the trash we're stepping into and think, 'This isn't so good.' But the longer you stay there, the less it'll bother you. You'll get used to the smell, and after a week with no bath you probably won't notice the dirt and grime so much. You will get used to eating those rotten foods, and the garbage heap you call your house won't look so bad because you'll get used to it. Is that really what we want? I know it's not what I want, but without Christ's daily help to guide me and keep me on track, that's where I end up.
Despite what culture tells us-- that the garbage heap is fun and looks great and everybody's doing it so you might as well join in on the great times-- those things really do ensnare us. We're all in danger of being pulled into the trash can of life. The world is already there, and they're having the time of their lives. But think about this: If you ever saw some crazy people having a party in a dumpster, covered in muck, would you really want to join? I wouldn't...I'd run in the opposite direction!
I challenge you to take a healthy evaluation of your life and ask yourself if there are things in your life that should be given up and taken out to better your life. I know I did; after hearing several very profound messages related to this subject (studying through 2 Timothy 2:14-26), I deleted my Facebook and Pinterest apps from my phone. Let me tell you, it's only been a day since I did this and already I am finding it very difficult to fill my time with other things. I didn't realize how much time I spend away from Christ and glued to worthless things until I got rid of them.
So I ask you...what is something in your life you can give up in order to live a better, fuller, more righteous life for Christ?
"How many things don't matter when we think of eternity?...If we believe what [God] says about hell, that should move us...Eternity is very real; everybody dies. Are you prepared to meet the LORD?" ~Pastor Eric Cartier
~Laurel
Apr 13, 2014
Some of the Latest Adventures!
**Warning, totally random photos are scattered throughout this blog post
WOW. That’s all I can really say right now is—WOW. As I think about all of the crazy
adventures I have had over the past few years, months, and even weeks, of my
life, all I can say is, “wow.” Even now, as I stare out my window and see the
sun hitting the gorgeous mountains, all I can say is, “wow.”
When I think about who God is and the fact that He cares about me—A
HEART-BREAKING SINNER—enough to show up in my life on a daily basis, caring for
me, talking with me, guiding me, living life with and GIVING LIFE TO me all
I can say is… “W O W.”
 |
| Plane selfie with the ever-lovely Jessie Gingrich that was taken when we got stuck at the airport because of a delay in customs (another good story for another time) |
As some of you may know, I had the opportunity to go to
Brazil this past March to share the mighty Love of the Lord with His people
there. While I was in Brazil, I learned a lot about the importance of the body and
how each and every one of us have an extremely important role to play as a part
in God’s kingdom. I learned a lot about stepping outside of my comfort zone and
what it really looks like to trust God to lead me—to step out in faith. I could
spend years simply talking about the ways that God proved Himself beyond
faithful before, during, and after this trip… but instead, I want to focus on
one specific thing He has done and is doing that has completely blown my mind.
I did not know that while I was in Brazil, God would be preparing me to continue to take His good news to other parts of the globe, but He was. I didn’t know God was preparing to send me out to Germany—but He was.
I did not know that while I was in Brazil, God would be preparing me to continue to take His good news to other parts of the globe, but He was. I didn’t know God was preparing to send me out to Germany—but He was.
 |
| A lady wearing an amazing cat sweater I saw at the Miami airport |
The story begins when I got home from Brazil. The first
night I came back I had been thinking about a team that I’d heard of that was
going to Germany and I thought, “That would be really cool if I could be a part
of that, but honestly, that’s a preposterous, idea. I just got back from
Brazil. Surely there’s no place for me on that team and I really need to focus
on readjusting to life in America and reflecting on Brazil…”
 |
| My pitty-ful snapchats while we were seperated from the rest of the group on the way home from Brazil. |
The next day, my art teacher (who is in charge of this trip)
mentioned something about the trip to Germany on Facebook. This had been one of
many things surrounding Germany that had come up in the past few months so I
thought, “Well. The team has already been meeting for months. I’m almost
certain there is no place for me here, but I might as well ask about it. I
think God might be nudging this on me and who am I to stand in His way? Even
though the answer will likely be ‘no,’ I can at least tell Him I tried, right?”
So I asked about the trip, and much to my surprise, it was like they had a spot
that they were keeping open, waiting just for me to join the team.
I had a date set to meet with my teacher to discuss details
of the trip, but before going I told God, “Alright Lord… I don’t know if this
is really where you want me to be or not, but after this meeting today, I’ll be
able to tell, so show me ever-so-explicitly what your will is for me.”
And of course… He did.
 |
| Someone shipped their goat to the airport-- needless to say, it made my day :) |
As I learned more about the trip it was like each and every
detail was piercing my heart, hitting on thoughts and ideas that had been
stirring within me just over the past few weeks on my trip to Brazil. It was
especially clear to me when I was asked, “So do you do photography? Because we
don’t have anyone on our American team to lead the photography workshop…” And
of course (I know God was smiling at me now) I can teach a photography
workshop, but NOT ONLY that…
It just so happened that while I was in Brazil, I had a
conversation with one of the members on that team about the importance of art
and expression in the church. One of my largest passions is for people to
worship God through whatever their passions are! Sports, music, film, drawing,
painting, banking, cleaning, nursing, racing, beautifying—whatever! I just
think it’s so neat that we all have certain things that we are passionate about
and we can use those God-given passions to praise God.
So while I was in Brazil,
I was talking to another woman on our team about this topic and specifically
photography. She was just starting to get back into taking photos after a bit
of a break, as was I, and so as we shared our love of photography, I was
reminded of a man that I follow on Instagram named Pete Halvorsen. Pete went to
Africa and helped kids there by teaching them about taking photos and helping
them get a hold of their own cameras to share the Lord’s love in this way.
However, as I shared that with Cynthia, I had no idea that God would be
listening and (better yet) using that conversation to show me where I needed to
be now, but here we are— God and I, on a daily adventure.
So there it is! I will be going to Germany in August, roughly
August 9th- August 25th. We will be doing an English
Explosion Camp where we teach ages 13-18 English classes while also putting on
multiple other workshops and shining the light of Christ along the way.
I'm hoping to get better at this whole blogging shindig and do a better job at taking ya'll on this journey with me by keeping you updated on what's going on. I was considering doing a missions series of blog posts, but honestly I don't see myself being able to follow through with that one... maybe I should make it my challenge, eh? Tell me what you think!
In the meantime in between time,
Live, learn, love, leave a legacy,
& StAy CrEatIve,
-Emma
Apr 6, 2014
The Perfect Battle
Think for a second about your all-time favorite fight scene. Is this your idea of the perfect battle? Maybe it's from a war movie, maybe it's an action film, perhaps it's something historical, or even fantasy. Whatever scene you pictured, now imagine yourself in the scene. I don't know about you, but when I put myself in the battle scene scenario, my first thought is "Ouch," because I probably wouldn't make it very long...
But let's take a look at another fight that occurs almost every day in almost every way amongst almost everyone. It is SO hard to try fighting what I like to call the "Perfect Battle." This is the battle against being perfect. I would absolutely love it if everyone around me could see me as a perfect person, but (obviously) that's impossible because I'm not "perfect" and sometimes that can be a hard thing to cope with.
How can I be happy with myself if I can't see myself as perfect? I have to redefine my standards. In fact, I have to completely change them so that this human definition of "perfect" is out of the equation-- FOR GOOD.
Many people (debatably most people) hold themselves to a standard of "perfect" without even noticing. If you are constantly unhappy with yourself, even when you are trying to live life to the best of your ability, then I'd say it's probably because you're striving for the unreachable mark of perfection. There are MANY reasons why perfection won't work, so let's take a look at a few.
1. Jesus was/is the only perfect person- therefore, perfection is unacheivable.
2. We don't actually know what perfection looks like- therefore, perfection is unacheivable.
Did you catch that? Perfection is unacheivable. Many years ago, a man named Jesus, the son of God, lived on Earth and being fully man and fully God, He was the only person to ever live a perfect life. Because we are all humans and therefore all sinners, we will never be perfect.
Not only that, but even with the example of Jesus, we still don't know exactly what perfect means... did perfect mean that he automatically knew right from wrong all the time? Did perfect mean that he had to develop his character or that it just came naturally? You could spend hours trying to answer questions such as these and still not know the exact truth.
Especially when we throw in our personal opinions, there is not a single specific definition of perfect. When it comes to beauty, I might think that the most beautiful person on earth would have brown hair and green eyes and red freckles. Whereas you might believe that red freckles and brown hair are an unattractive quality. I can't even think of the most beautiful person on Earth. I can think of multiple people that might be considered "the most beautiful people on Earth" (aesthetically), but neither is more beautiful than the other, they're simply different from each other-- beautiful in different ways. The same concept goes for personality types.
During a recent time in which I was fighting "The Perfect Battle", I was able to write a poem that brought me back to the truth about how life is meant to be lived. Here it is:
The most amazing part of all this is that if you're a part of the kingdom of Christ, He sees you as perfect even with those imperfections.
The most "perfect" version of you is the one who has joy, knowing that "perfection" doesn't exist and isn't an option.
The most "perfect" version of you is the one who embraces the freckles that you may or may not see as perfect and accepts the fact that you might be able to accomplish everything today, or you might not.
Live, Learn, Love, Leave a Legacy,
& Stay Creative,
 |
| From the movie Narnia: Prince Caspian |
But let's take a look at another fight that occurs almost every day in almost every way amongst almost everyone. It is SO hard to try fighting what I like to call the "Perfect Battle." This is the battle against being perfect. I would absolutely love it if everyone around me could see me as a perfect person, but (obviously) that's impossible because I'm not "perfect" and sometimes that can be a hard thing to cope with.
How can I be happy with myself if I can't see myself as perfect? I have to redefine my standards. In fact, I have to completely change them so that this human definition of "perfect" is out of the equation-- FOR GOOD.
Many people (debatably most people) hold themselves to a standard of "perfect" without even noticing. If you are constantly unhappy with yourself, even when you are trying to live life to the best of your ability, then I'd say it's probably because you're striving for the unreachable mark of perfection. There are MANY reasons why perfection won't work, so let's take a look at a few.
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| Courtesy of Todaymade.com |
2. We don't actually know what perfection looks like- therefore, perfection is unacheivable.
Did you catch that? Perfection is unacheivable. Many years ago, a man named Jesus, the son of God, lived on Earth and being fully man and fully God, He was the only person to ever live a perfect life. Because we are all humans and therefore all sinners, we will never be perfect.
Not only that, but even with the example of Jesus, we still don't know exactly what perfect means... did perfect mean that he automatically knew right from wrong all the time? Did perfect mean that he had to develop his character or that it just came naturally? You could spend hours trying to answer questions such as these and still not know the exact truth.
Especially when we throw in our personal opinions, there is not a single specific definition of perfect. When it comes to beauty, I might think that the most beautiful person on earth would have brown hair and green eyes and red freckles. Whereas you might believe that red freckles and brown hair are an unattractive quality. I can't even think of the most beautiful person on Earth. I can think of multiple people that might be considered "the most beautiful people on Earth" (aesthetically), but neither is more beautiful than the other, they're simply different from each other-- beautiful in different ways. The same concept goes for personality types.
During a recent time in which I was fighting "The Perfect Battle", I was able to write a poem that brought me back to the truth about how life is meant to be lived. Here it is:
Be Ugly.
Be broken.
Be loved, be free.
Remember that the chains of this world do not bind me.
Be open- palms out for what the Lord has in store.
Rest in the joy of His grace and remember what you live for.
No rules, no laws, no restrictions, or reservations--
Take God out of your "perfect" box, and live in the true meaning of Salvation.
The most "perfect" version of you is the one who has joy, knowing that "perfection" doesn't exist and isn't an option.
The most "perfect" version of you is the one who embraces the freckles that you may or may not see as perfect and accepts the fact that you might be able to accomplish everything today, or you might not.
Live, Learn, Love, Leave a Legacy,
& Stay Creative,
Emma
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