Life Begins At The End Of Your Comfort Zone

A little boy was running along a beach with fists full of broken shells. As he reached down for another shell, something in the water catches his eye. He turned his head and saw a beautiful and elaborate starfish laying in the sand about 30 feet away. He got excited and started running towards it, only to make it about 5 feet before turning back and running 10 feet in the opposite direction. He turned back and ran at the starfish again, making it about 15 feet this time. 10 feet further than he was when he originally started, but yet again he turned back and ran to his parents once more. He began to look frustrated and unsure, his parents cheered him on, “Go! Go get your starfish!” He looked determined; he faced that starfish, and ran at it, his mind claiming it. He got only a few feet from it this time. He hesitated. His parents yelled across the sand, “Pick it up!” but instead of picking it up he threw himself into the sand and screamed “But my hands are full of shells!”

For him to be able to pick up this beautiful starfish, he would have to drop his broken shells. To pick up the great, he would have to let go of the good.

I’m a lot like this little boy. The good in my life, I value so much that I can’t seem to let go of it, even if it means getting something great. Getting something beautiful, something priceless, in return. Even though I see this great powerful God, I grasp ever so tightly onto the things in my life that come between me and him. I hold onto the things that are so valuable to me, even If they’re only holding me back from having a stronger relationship with Christ.

To get the great we have to trust that it will outweigh the good.

We have to trust God, trust that he knows best, and trust that he will provide. Only once we learn to trust and give over everything to God, will we be able to grow in our relationship with him on the next level.

But you see, trust is something I have trouble with. Ill confess here and now that trust issues are webbed into the fibers of my entire being. Ill confess here and now that I don’t trust God. It’s not something I’m proud of, but I’d rather be honest about it then to pretend to be something I’m not. Over the years I’ve worked on giving it all to God, and plenty of times I have. I’ve given everything to God plenty of times, but I always seem to pull it all back. It’s like I tie a string to it, and as soon as I start feeling uncomfortable I pull all my troubles back. I’m comfortable with having my own problems. It’s almost become like… a hobby. Working through my problems, and working through other people’s problems for them, whether they want me to or not. And I think that’s part of what makes letting go of my problems so hard… problems are like a security blanket to me. Now I want to make clear that I’m not using this as an excuse, because it would be pathetic to even attempt that. 

What I’m trying to say is that It’s something I’m not comfortable with… But where would we be today if we only did what we were comfortable with? And I know that’s kind of cliché, but really think about it for a minute.

God calls us to work for him. He calls us to do what’s hard.. It doesn’t matter if it’s something we’re comfortable with or not. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Was Christ comfortable dying on the cross for our sins? No, he wasn’t. But he did it because he loves us.

HE
LOVES
US.

If we love him, truly and fully love him… in the end we’d do anything for him. We might stumble along the way, or question him, and originally tell God no.. in the end if we truly love him and call him Lord, then our life’s are his.

Someday I pray to give up my broken shells completely, and pick up that starfish. Someday I pray that ill be able to fully give up my mess of what I call life, and pick up instead a unshakable relationship with the man who sent his son to die for me.

I pray for the faith to take the first step without seeing the whole staircase. 

Ten Ways To Get The RIGHT Guy To Like You

Ladies... please watch this. its worth your time. Dont settle, and do set boundaries... You will never regret it. 

SONG OF SOLOMON 4:7

"YOU ARE ALL TOGETHER BEAUTIFUL, MY DARLING, BEAUTIFUL IN EVERY WAY."

At The Very Core Of Me

Theres this constant desire, need, and passion... to write, instilled within me. Theres a voice inside me, that wont be still. A voice that roars, louder than anything else inside me. A voice that controls my utmost being. A voice that comes out when i write. 

If you know me well, you know i struggle with words, but when i write, words just flow from me. Somehow when i write all of those problems just dissapear. That voice speaks, and its a beautiful thing to watch unfold. 

Now this voice, for a while i didnt know where it was coming from. I thought maybe it was just me in pure and simple form. I thought maybe it was just the person inside me, that hadnt been completely formed yet. But as ive grown up that voice has only grown stronger and stronger. That overwhelming power that i feel when i write has only become more and more a part of me. And the more i started to think about it, the more confused i got. When i had struggled with thinking through my confused tangents for what i felt was long enough, i finally decided to take some time to write.

I took time to write about writing? Not entirely... i took time to write about what happens to me when i write. I took time to journal about the passion that overcomes me when i pull out that elegant book of blank paper. About the feeling of power i feel when i pick up that pen. About the fire that sparks in my heart and as my writing continues into a full flame.... a flame that continues to burn bright even after my writing is finished. 

I took time to write about the voice inside me, begging to be heard. The voice that wont remain quiet, that wont remain still. The voice that overpowers everything around me and everything i think i am. The voice that shows me how i actually feel, and who i actually am. 

I heard a quote once, something along the lines of 

"There are thousands of thoughts within a man that he does not know of until he picks up a pen to write."

And that quote couldnt stand more true.

The more i write, the more i discover not only about the world around me and the people in it, but the more i discover about myself. Myself at the very core.

You see, most people think they know who they are.. but i dont think you can fully know who you are without writing out your thoughts.

When i write my thoughts on a blank peice of paper, i can literally look at a peice of myself laying in front of me. Although some papers may have smudges or ramen stains... They all have a few things in common. Theyre all me, all of those papers are me. They all have my handwriting and my thoughts, and even a little peice of my heart. They all are from that voice inside of me. Inspired by who i am and my life trials and experiences. They all bring that flame inside of me to a whole 'nother level. A level thats so pure and powerful that ive simply become addicted to writing. 

So ill end with this, 

I write because there is a voice within me that will not be still.

Sting

"I want to keep walking away from the person I was a moment ago, because a mind was made for figure things out, not to read the same page recurrently." -Donald Miller


Correction, growth, refinement. I have this inherent, burning desire to see myself progress. There's a lengthy list of flaws that need to be pruned. I'm prideful. Unkind. Lazy, irresponsible, rude, and above all, selfish. Perhaps you haven't noticed... Perhaps I hide it all quite skillfully. I certainly hope not; I want to be open and vulnerable about my failures, because it's what makes me human, and it's what makes the cross so sweet. As a Christ-follower I can step out of the shadows and reveal my faults; that's when they're washed away. When I'm weak, then I am strong. It's hard, though. I mean, who really wants to shout their flaws from the rooftops? It doesn't sound too terribly appetizing... That gets me thinking, though--- if at any point I'm not willing to openly confess that my heart is rotting in sin from the inside out--- Do I really want to be transformed? When I'm transparent about my sin, it brings glory to God through what Christ is doing in my life. Isn't my silence really just me denying, holding onto that which I don't want to admit or give up? I occasionally have to reassess, then, if that's truly what I'm looking for. I can honestly say that I want change, but I think sometimes I'd prefer if that change wasn't internal. Sanctification is hard: it stings. It's not what we want by nature. It's going against the grain; it's dragging yourself upstream--- against the current--- toward something that, you have to remind yourself repeatedly, is actually better for you. I catch myself desiring change in my life (instead of in my heart) simply because I'm not content with my current circumstances. But I'm not content with the circumstances God has placed me in because of a deeper issue. This world is tainted by sin and will never satisfy any of us-- so where should I be finding my contentment, really?


God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

20/20

I'm struggling. 
I'm struggling with the state of the world around me.
But more importantly, I'm struggling with the state of my own undeserving heart.


The more I know of God, the more obvious my own inadequacy becomes.
Which makes sense, right? 
You think your socks are clean until you buy a new pair.
They're a pure, dazzling, flawless white. And your old socks, though freshly washed, don't seem so perfect anymore. And they won't-- not ever again. Because you thought you knew what "white" meant before that trip to Target; you really did. But now you know you were wrong. 
You think you see the world as it is until you get glasses for the first time.
And suddenly you realize those green blobs you've been staring at are leaves. And you can see eyelashes, and fine print, and the grain of your hardwood floors in a bright new crispness that you never knew existed. And can you ever go back to life without glasses? Impossible-- because now YOU SEE HOW BLIND YOU WERE. 


And ain't that the truth?


The more glimpses we catch of the absolute love, power and holiness of our Creator...
The more apparent our own crappiness becomes.
And the more we comprehend our depravity... 
The more we clearly see our desperate need to cling to the cross.


Which is why it's hard for me to see people who say they love God reacting differently to His majesty. And I've thought over this and wrestled with risking sounding prideful, but here it is:
If you really know Jesus, and you really see what He went through, and you really comprehend that He did it BECAUSE of you --willingly-- for your sake and the sake of humanity.... How can you see yourself as more righteous than others who don't know what you know?
THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE
THAT THE GUILTLESS SON OF GOD WAS CRUCIFIED FOR THEIR FOLLIES.
you do.
If you are what you say you are, then you've tasted the reality of Christ's unbelievable grace in your life. And that shouldn't make us feel superior to other people---
it should make us fall down on our faces and mourn.
Like, wail in agony over the fact that,
WE ARE THE THORNS IN HIS CROWN
WE ARE THE BEADS OF SWEAT ON HIS BROW
WE ARE THE NAILS IN HIS WRISTS
and He loves us anyway.


Which is the most amazing fact ever. But that shouldn't make you feel like you've received forgiveness because you're somehow better than others. We should feel overwhelmingly loved, yes-- but also overwhelmingly humbled that He chose to save us. US! In the rotten, sinful, unworthy state we were in. You know what else is cool? You have a brand new pair of glasses with which to inspect your old, nasty, stained socks; as we understand more of God, it isn't our pride that should increase...
it's our humility.


"That's why we love Jesus so much more than religion.
Religion is only for the good people, that's what they think.
Those who are religious and think they're good, they're the worst of all.
Jesus is for everyone else; the sinners, the broken, the rebels,
the hard-hearted, stiff-necked nobodies from nowhere;
the illiterate, the poor, the outcasts,
the marginalized, weak failures....
If we deserved His gift, it wouldn't be grace.
You know that Jesus wants to be with you,
not because you are amazing, but because He is?
He is the God of grace."

Religion Versus Jesus

There's a problem if people only know youre a Christian by your facebook....

The church is a hospital for the broken. 

Poetry is pure inspiration.