Today I realized the fallibility of man. Just man. How so, you ask? Well, patience, young one, I shall tell you all and more all.
(clearing throat) (clearing throat again (morning phlem lingering till next))
By the way, If in the course of this post, I should mispel a few words, forgive me. I am back at collage and not quite ready to be atop my ball game. If you know waht I mean. ;) wink wink.
ANYWAy, I digress, I realize now how much trust i should not put on the stronger more knowledgeble but also more falsible opposite sex. Why? Well, I will tell you twice. They lie. They lie. Twice said, no thrice. They lie. Where is my proof? You ask? Well, here, between my bosom and my brain. I shall tell.
I was lingering in the long long line of our famous school deli, called appropriatly, the Cavelier Grille. When a very tall thin blonde elf looking man said to me "Did you know it is going to rain today?" Which of course I replied that I did not. The weather here is very unpredictably predictable. How is that for a conundrum? He turned to me, and handed me an umbrella. "You might need this for your lovely curls." I was flattered, and blushingly, took the umbrella, our fingers brushing and I felt a sensation when and where we touched. I thanked him shyly, and he warned me of the danger of driving in the r ain. How he knew I was going to leave campus I knew not, I only knew I must see him again.
So, having quickly finished my meal, I followed him secretly. I watched him go to class. Waited for his class to get out. All the while holding the umbrella and glancing at the blue skies. Finally he came again, and i watched him walk gracefully across gaith er lawn, with his back pack carelessly hitting his left thigh as he walked. Oh to be that backpack. I followed him to his dornm. Then, realized the error of my ways and being a nature lover, ran into the forest to cry. As i cried, it rained. How poetically just. I was thankful for the umbrella and the elf lord who gave it to me. Upon returning to my room I realized the lie.
Looking in the mirror, I realized my hair was straight. He had called my locks curls, but thus they were not so. Oh, it makes no sense. Was he not talking to me? I do not understand. My heart breaks. I returned the umbrella, by placing it underneath his window, with a lock of my straight hair. If men did not lie, I would be led astray more often.

Plans

When I didn't get into Appalachian State University, I was crushed.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do or where I would go to school.  As I was telling my boss all this she looked at me and said "Just remember, God has a plan, even when we can't see it."  It took me by surprise.  I left her office feeling just a tiny bit better than I did when I first went in.

As the semester is drawing to an end, I can't help but be reminded of that quote.  For some of us, graduation is just a few short days away.  For others of us a semester or two away.  With every passing day it seems as if the pressure to have a "plan" increases.  Right now I am trying to decide which graduate program I want to attend and where I want to be after I graduate from Montreat. It can be very frustrating not to know what comes next.  

Just like my boss said, God has a plan, I just can't see it right now.  There might be a reason he doesn't want me to see his plan right now.  It's not the right time.  God's timing is perfect.  He knows exactly what our lives look like before we were even born.  How amazing is that!  It's just a matter of faith.  Having faith in knowing God's plan is the plan that is best for your life. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.  "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

God wants the best for us.  He knows what lies up ahead of us.  All we need to do is have faith and know that God is taking care of us and has us in the palm of our hands.  One thing is for sure: even if our plans fall through, God won't.  He will be there no matter what.

Is it too hard?

A year or so ago I was at church listening to a sermon.  I hate to say this but I was kind of nodding off to sleep in the middle of the sermon.  Until something he said woke me up and grabbed my attention.

He said "God will ask you to do something that is too hard for you."  The whole congregation fell silent.  You could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet.  I'm sure I was thinking what everybody else was thinking 'You're a pastor.  You're not supposed to say that.  That's so discouraging.'  We made judgment before he finished his thought.  He continued with "But he will never ask you to do something that he can't do."  For the rest of the service I sat and contemplated what this meant.

At first I didn't understand this.  Why would God give me something that is too hard for me to do?  That would mean that I would fail and disappoint him.  Why would he do something like that?  Then I realized something.  He will ask me to do things that are too hard for me.  But only so I can rely on Him for his strength to accomplish it.  2 Corinthians 12:9 says this "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  It's comforting to know that no matter how weak I am, God is always stronger than my weaknesses.  

Footprints

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, You said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."

The Lord replied, "My son, my precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you." -Anonymous
Sometimes in life we wonder why we can't feel God. Especially when we are going through something difficult. It is in those moments that he has us in his arms, carrying us through whatever we are facing.

Run

Who runs?  Everybody runs.  Well, not everybody is a track star but we all run.  What are we running from? Perhaps the more important question is: who are we running to?

It was my junior year in college and I was sitting in a biology lab.  Not my favorite place to be. Our professor always did a devotional with us each class period.  She told us how she struggled to find a devotion for this particular week.  So she just put on her itunes and asked God to show her what she needed to teach us.  The song Run Baby Run came on by Jason Upton.  The lyrics are as follows:

I?ve been calling you to go to the city
I?ve been watching you every day
Now I?m paying for a one way ticket
for a ship that sails the opposite way

And you laugh and you cry
and you live and you die
cause you don?t really know who you are
all alone in this world
orphan boy, orphan girl
cause you don?t really know who you are

Run baby run
my hands release you
baby run baby run
just as fast as you can
run till your legs lead your heart to the real truth
you?re my daughter, my son,
so run baby run baby run

Hear me laughing as you run from your calling
see me crying, see me crying in the storms that rage
one way or another, you will be going
to obey is such an easier way 

While she played the song for us she asked us to think about the meaning of the words and the impact it has on our life.  All I could do was sit there and allow my eyes to fill with tears.  I was the runner.  She pulled me aside after class to make sure I was okay and we talked for a bit.  I was running from God.  Not even knowing the direction I was headed.  Not long after I heard that song, I knew what I had to do.  I began to talk to God and let him in on what was going on. Once I did that, I stopped running.

Everybody is running from something or someone.  The question though is who are you running to? Is it God?  Is it man?  Is it materialistic?  Whatever it is, God already knows and he cares.  Stop running.  Turn around and run to him because he's the only one that will run to you.

Life is like a paperclip

Life is like a paperclip.  Yes.  Like a paperclip.  When a paperclip is bought at the store, it's in the perfect little package.  Perfect in shape and color.  There is nothing flawed about it.  However, the paperclip will not stay in that form.  Somebody will bend it out of shape just for the amusement of it.  You can try and bend the paperclip back into the original position but it's very difficult.  It can be done though.  It just takes some time and patience.

We are like paperclips in God's eyes.  When we are born, we are perfect.  Not a scratch to our name.  As we go through life though, we get scratches, bumps, and bruises.  When we head into our teen/early adult years that is when we start to "bend out of shape."  We hang with the wrong crowd.  Do and say the wrong things.  We get into bad habits.  Pretty soon we can't even recognize who we are.  This is where God comes in and picks us up and holds us in his arms.  He molds us "back into shape."  To our original condition.  

God may let us wander down a path or two that's off course, but he will always bring us back to where we started.  God is good and he loves his children.  There is nothing we can do or say that will keep his love from us.  He will do whatever it takes to "bend us back into shape."

Can You Hear Me Now??

Can you hear me now? Ok. Good. How about now? Good. Can you hear me now? This catchy phrase was coined by the Verizon Wireless phone company. This is there slogan. Being able to communicate with people is important. Text messages and phone calls are used to send messages. However, sometime the signal is bad and the messages don't go through and the calls get dropped. This can also be true of the Christian life.

How many times when we pray to God and ask 'Can you hear me?' Our prayers feel like they're not even getting past the ceiling. We ask God 'Why aren't you answering?' 'Can you not hear me?'

This can be a very frustrating experience. Humanly, we can relate this to two friends sitting in a room together. Friend A is telling friend B about how horrible her day was and everything that went wrong. When she is finished talking, friend B looks up and says 'Oh I'm sorry. Did you say something?' The good news is: God isn't like that!

God does hear us. He just wants us to be quiet. Isaiah 65:24 says this "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear." God knows what we are going to say before we say it. And he knows how long we will talk to him about it too. God wants us to take a moment to stop asking the questions of 'Can you hear me? and Why aren't you answering?' to sit and listen in quiet. Perhaps the reason we can't hear him is because we ourselves are not quiet enough to hear him. God is listening. Are you?