The Mirror of Erised.

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."
-Albus Dumbledore


I'm rediscovering my childhood this summer by re-reading the Harry Potter series.  
It's been so much fun. :)  Sometimes, since I can't grasp the fullness and elusiveness of God, I picture Him as Albus Dumbledore.  I know He's more than that, but something tells me the Father has the same mysterious wisdom and warmness to Him. 

1.

I am learning a few things this summer.
One of them is that God does not call the equipped; He equips the called.
I have always been drawn to the story of Moses, so I was excited to begin reading Exodus through Logan and I's Bible reading.  It may be that I love Moses so much because I loved the movie "Prince of Egypt"... it's a classic.  But I think part of his appeal to me is his inherent human-ness.  He's a coward at times.  He's a murderer.  God gets angry with him.  But God uses him to conquer.  And I have always felt that if God could use cowardly, stammering, idiots like Moses, He could use me, too.  I am believing that I don't have to be equipped for God to use me.  I just have to be faithful, to be willing to respond "Yes, Lord; here I am."
The second lesson is closely related; I have learned that God desires a broken vessel.  I've learned this lesson before - many times - but it's finally beginning to sink in.  As elementary as it sounds, I will never reach perfection alone.  I am unchangeably broken, apart from the cross.  But I don't have to stay that way.  I can become victoriously freed to allow the Spirit's work in my life and to fight against darkness.  But I don't do the work.  I surrender, and Jesus shapes my brokenness into beauty.  He has been reminding me daily never to forget my weakness, because the moment I forget how weak I am alone is the moment I believe that I'm capable alone.  The Enemy has succeeded in many of our lives by convincing us that we are capable of glory and freedom apart from Jesus.  But Christ in me is the true hope of glory.  And the Spirit of the Lord brings liberty, not enslavement.

I hope you are enjoying summer with all its beauties.  Mine has consisted of a lot of this:

Breaking Free.

"God wants to reveal Himself to humans.  Each way He accomplishes this divine task is His glory.  God's glory is how He shows who He is."

"Living a life that glorifies God is synonymous with living a life that reveals God."

"God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27).

"We glorify God to the degree that we externalize the internal existence of the living Christ."



[from Beth Moore's Breaking Free]

Liar, Liar.

So I lied.
Although I do have a Tumblr now, I am going to keep posting here.
I feel like blogspot caters more towards lengthy posts... and we know I love those. :)
So I'll be posting.

Ladies, if you need a good book to read, Beth Moore's Breaking Free is so good.

Moving.

I'm moving to tumblr....
So feel free to follow me here. :)
Farewell!

There's No Place Like Home...

I love so many things about being home.  As I was driving through town today, I started making mental notes of things that I love so much about being home.  No matter how many times I come back, and no matter how long I'm away, I never get tired of coming home.
Here's a list of my favorite things about Nashville (I'm a bit biased):
1.  The people here know me, and I know them.  It's so familiar and, for lack of a better word, homey.
2.  I finally feel safe again, tucked away in the midst of rolling hills and millions of trees.
3.  The radio stations play real music; you know it's home when one station plays Dave Matthews, Michael Franti, Coldplay, Death Cab, and Adele.  Start the hallelujah chorus!
4.  Nobody, and I mean nobody drives 5 under the speed limit.  If you're not driving 5-10 mph over, you're getting blown away.
5.  The homeless people are so happy and active.  They dance on the street corners, they talk to you when your windows are rolled down (even if you don't give them money), and they take action by selling The Contributor, the local homeless-run newspaper.
6.  Nobody's shy.  If you're walking or driving through Nashville, anyone and everyone could talk to you.
7.  We'll celebrate any chance we get; shops and restaurants everywhere with no Mexican affiliation had parties on the streets today for Cinco de Mayo.
8.  This is the only place where I can listen to country music without gagging.
9.  I can drive around without the help of a GPS, and I can take any short cut I want.
10.  I have memories everywhere--thank you, sweet, sweet nostalgia.

If you've never been to Nashvegas, Cashville, Smashville, Music City... you're missing out.