we're in this thing together

There's an air everywhere
Of inconsideration and despair
I don't consider you
And you don't consider me
And it's well understood
That we don't care

How quickly we forget that we don't have walk this road alone.  That God gave us each other for a reason-- to help one another through this crazy thing that we call life and search for Him.  Together.

*Raises hand*  I'm guilty of being anti-social.  I like spending time with myself, weird as it may seem.  I love snuggling up on the couch with a good book and a mug of hot green tea and no one to disturb me.  I love turning "The Best Thing" all the way up when no one's home and sliding around in my socks playing the worst version of the air guitar known to man.  I love baking cupcakes in the kitchen and making a mess with no one to tell me to be more careful.  Yeah, I'm definitely not your typical teenager that has plans every Friday night.  But I think God wants us to "hang" with other people.  Especially other Christians.

Now the large group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common.  And the apostles were giving testimony with great power to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on all of them.  --Acts 4:32-33 [HCSB]

"Of one heart and mind."  That means instead of being people, we should be like one person.  Now I'm not saying that you should ditch your individuality and become like everyone else.  Nothing like that.  We're all part of the body, and we all have different roles to play.

So the body is not one part but many.  If the foot should say, "Because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body," in spite of this it still belongs to the body.  And if the ear should say, "Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body," in spite of this it still belongs to the body.  If the whole body were an eye where would the hearing be?  If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

Now there are many parts, yet one body.
So the eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!"  Or again, the head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you!"  But even more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary.
--1 Corinthians 12:14-18, 20-22

Don'tcha see?  We need each other.  We need to be together.  To encourage.  To pick each other up.  To laugh.  To cry.  To just know someone's there.

You know we don't have to wait until the end of the night
Just to say that something's wrong and maybe nobody's right
We're all victims in a battle we never had to fight
It's okay, it's alright.  Steady now, we're in this thing together
--Steady Now, Brandon Heath

Don't worry, guys.  We're in this thing together.

And I'm glad.

better

"Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken love until the time is right." --Song of Solomon 8:4 [NLT]

Beautiful words that hold truth beyond measure.  "Don't awaken love before it's time."  Simple enough, right?  Simple, it is.  But it's also hard.  Not in the way some of us may think, though.

As a Christian girl, I haven't had much experience with the whole dating thing.  Actually, I haven't had any.  I've never been kissed, never held hands... I don't think I've even been truly alone with a boy (minus my Dad, haha!).  So most people would find me pretty much clueless.  But when it comes to waiting, I'm the expert.

I turned sixteen this past October, and when I did, the privelege of dating came with it.  Obviously I didn't run to find a boyfriend, and there (obviously) wasn't a line of anxious guys lined up at my front door.  But I still found my attention gravitating towards the male species.  I wondered what they thought of me, if they talked about me, if any of them liked me.  It was an ongoing thought, seemingly never ending.

But when God said, "Hey, how 'bout Kenya and teaching kids?" He added, "... and focus on that for a while."  Translation: Drop the boy thing, it's ridiculous.  Then when I read the verse above, I realized I was trying to awaken love before it's time.  Not as vigorously as some girls, but I was.  As much as I didn't want to admit it to myself, I wanted a guy to notice me.  And though some have (and still do), I shouldn't have picked my brain to pieces trying to figure out whether he might be My Guy.  God's got a plan.  And when the time is right, He'll show me My Guy.

Though many chick flicks are simply unrealistic, there's one line that perked my ears.  And surprisingly, I don't think it's a bunch of smooth-talking.  I think it reflects what love is supposed to be like.

"Jamie... she has faith in me.  She makes me wanna be different.  Better." --Landon, A Walk to Remember

Love-- true love-- will make you, well, like he said.  Better.  You'll uplift them and they'll uplift you.  Everyone will know it's right, because it is.  Sure, no relationship is perfect and everyone has bumps in the road.  But overall, both of you will shine brighter individually.  And together in Christ, you'll be genuinely reflecting true Love.

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

all you need is love

Valentine's Day.  Oh how the singulars dread it.  Though they despise the day and the starry-eyed couples, they dream of a guy knocking on their door, bearing red roses and divine chocolates with mousse in the middle.  Or something equally elegant.  But instead, they're alone, left with their bowl of cookie dough ice cream and tear stains on their cheeks from watching The Notebook.

I'm a singular (my term for a single person haha ;)).  I've never had a boyfriend in my life.  16 Valentine's Days have passed, and I've survived each and every one without shedding a tear.  I've never had a secret admirer leave me flowers or a handsome gentleman buy me anything.  It's been me, myself, and I for as long as I can remember.

So many people feel the need to have a 'significant other' around this holiday, but I don't think that's the only kind of love Valentine's Day is about.

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy Valentine's if you do have a significant other.  By all means, be all smiles and giggles and sweet stuff like that!  But for those of you who don't--

Why not love on people that really need it?  There are so many people who walk through life without ever knowing what it truly means to be loved.  Maybe it's an outcast at your school.  A homeless person on the side of the road.  A child overseas.

So this Valentine's Day, I encourage all you singulars (and non-singulars!) to just love on people.  Help someone out with their homework.  Give out candy to random strangers.  Share a verse with your best friend.  Or your blog readers.. ;)

If I could speak all the languages of the earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.  If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing.  If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing. --1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Love on people, guys.  Tell them about the True Love and how He gave Himself.  If you don't, what's any of this worth?

Nothing.

"The best thing to hold on to in life is each other."  --Audrey Hepburn

Reading Between the Lines

*note: this came about during a  free write in creative writing.  i have no idea how i thought of it, but.. here it is.

Some guys are like open books.  Oh, you know.  The ones that want the whole world to know anything and everything about them. The ones that yell random things from rooftops and could care less who or what is listening.  Some guys, on the other hand, are like closed books, no words evident but the title and possibly a summary on the back or inside of the cover.  But some guys are like books that are shoved behind all of the other books.

In a sense, the kind of guys I'm speaking of are classics.  Like The Screw Tapes by C.S. Lewis or perhaps a collection of poems by Tennyson.  They're known by everyone, and yet, everyone doesn't notice all they have to offer.  Then one day, an unsuspecting reader stumbles upon one of these wonderful books.  She gently blows the dust off and carefully turns the pages. Once she starts reading, she just can't get enough of it.  She loves everything about it; the way the words flow in perfect rhythm as she reads them, the tattered pages and their creased corners to mark previous readers' places.  How the font is perfectly simple, how it smells of different colognes and perfumes and smoke from a pipe.  Each and every detail is perfect in each and every way to her. Though people point out its flaws, the imperfections only make her love the book more.

This book isn't an easy read, though.  It's inspiring yet nonsensical, serious yet humorous.  She loves the book, she just doesn't understand all of it.  So she begins to try and read between the lines.  The girl can't help but wonder if there's something more to discover amidst the sentences that captivate her so.  She observes and examines the off-white spaces, and realizes there's room for someone else to write.  But it's due at the library today.

So she enters the library and explains she'd like to renew the book.  Even buy the book.  But the librarian explains that it's on hold and that someone else is waiting to read it.  Reluctantly, she hands the lady her beloved books and heaves a sigh, desperately wishing the book was hers.  Just hers.

At school the next day, she sees another girl carrying her book, and she can't help but feel spiteful.  The other girl doesn't understand how precious the book is.  How the sound of turning its pages is magical and how the coffee stain on page 34 gives it character.  She doesn't notice how each imperfection adds to its perfectness.  She just treats it as any other book, nothing special.

The girl longs to save her book, but she knows it's not really hers for the taking.  It belongs to no one, not even her who studied and noted every individual characteristic.  The girl who tried to read between the lines and wants so badly to fill them in with inklings of her own heart.

Some girls are like open books, like some guys are like open books.  Some are closed books as well.  Some are classics shoved to the back of the shelf, well known, but people don't take time to notice the important details.

One day, a guy finds a book as he's searching the library shelves.  He picks it up and eagerly opens the cover.  He reads between the lines and sees there's room for his thoughts there.  That someone cared to leave enough space for him. And slowly, he begins to fill in the blank lines with words he's never gotten to say.

THE END.

"this is not a suggestion, create disciples."

This lyric from "After the Music Stops" by Lecrae caught my attention.  I was sitting in English, listening to my Pandora, and it washed over me like an unexpected tidal wave.  The rest of the words had just flown through my headphones, but these came out as clear as day.

"This is not a suggestion, create disciples."

Although my relationship with God has strengthened these past few months, my relationships with others haven't.  I'm rather... skittish.. when it comes to reaching out.  People, in a sense, scare me.  They're cruel, judgmental, excluding, and anything but gracious.  And because I've been rejected all too many times, I tend to shy away from anyone I think could hurt me, even if unintentionally.  I go sprinting in the opposite direction, trying to keep my heart in tact.  I don't want to be sitting on the floor, picking up the shattered pieces yet once again.

"This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples -- when they see the love you have for each other."
--John 13:35

Notice the red letters.  That's right-- Jesus said that.  Not God via Matthew, Luke, Paul, or Timothy.  God himself said that.  He also had (something along the lines of) this conversation with Peter.

"Peter, do you love me?"
"Yes, Jesus, I do."
"Then feed my sheep."

Repeat X 2.

God treasures His children; He loves His lambs.  So why don't we?  We're supposed to reflect Him in every way.  Maybe, like me, you're scared of being hurt.  Maybe social class or status is making divisions between you and others.  And if you're unsure of what it is, I encourage you to search your heart until you do, and rip it to shreds like an essay you received with an F on it. Then follow His command.

Love God.  Love people.  It's not a suggestion.  Create disciples.