These are thoughts for my husband or maybe things I've said in recent days. I have a few blogs, but I felt this one was more appropriate, since the Bible tells us that God is love and love comes from God (I John 4:8). I'll be adding to these as I go, and you may see these on Twitter as well. You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SaraNesbitt.
I saw forever. It was looking at me from a pair of whiskey brown eyes that danced with love & laughter over a dimpled smile. It is my Love.
True love sits quietly, like the deep, still waters of the sound, shimmering with "in love" resting on top like a golden gossamer fog.
A million years would not give me enough time to give you all the love in my heart.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
How Hard Is It To Encourage Someone?
I'll cut right to the answer: It's not hard at all.
Dave Miller is a local guy now living in Virginia; we first encountered each other on Twitter, and while he's certainly big on sharing God's love, he also encourages his followers - those on Twitter and those who subscribe to his daily email devotional at http://www.devotionalchopshop.com/ - to encourage each other. Here's his most recent post about that:
Dave Miller is a local guy now living in Virginia; we first encountered each other on Twitter, and while he's certainly big on sharing God's love, he also encourages his followers - those on Twitter and those who subscribe to his daily email devotional at http://www.devotionalchopshop.com/ - to encourage each other. Here's his most recent post about that:
Eight days in and the Word of the Year is still Encouragement.
Wanting to take Dave's advice to heart and put it into practice - we all like being encouraged, right? - I thought about how to make that happen without it coming across as forced, fakey or too "take one for the home team!" chintzy. It was only after the fact that I realized how I encourage others in just little ways.
Text to my 19-year-old cousin in college: "Have a great semester. Kick some academic ass! I'm very proud of u."
He sent back: "LOL. I'll try."
Me: "Not try. Do."
Easy encouragement.
Feeding my baby cereal this morning gave me another opportunity to speak words of encouragement, though she doesn't understand them. "You're doing a great job! Just a little bit more to go."
Encouraging older children is also easy. "How proud you must've felt when your teacher told you how well you've been behaving this week!"
So, as you interact and engage with people - family members, spouses, children, friends or mere acquaintances - find some way to encourage them. Encouraging people is the best way to ensure they keep doing well.
You can follow Dave Miller at Twitter: http://twitter.com/haywoodstubble.
Text to my 19-year-old cousin in college: "Have a great semester. Kick some academic ass! I'm very proud of u."
He sent back: "LOL. I'll try."
Me: "Not try. Do."
Easy encouragement.
Feeding my baby cereal this morning gave me another opportunity to speak words of encouragement, though she doesn't understand them. "You're doing a great job! Just a little bit more to go."
Encouraging older children is also easy. "How proud you must've felt when your teacher told you how well you've been behaving this week!"
So, as you interact and engage with people - family members, spouses, children, friends or mere acquaintances - find some way to encourage them. Encouraging people is the best way to ensure they keep doing well.
You can follow Dave Miller at Twitter: http://twitter.com/haywoodstubble.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Who's It All About?
In recent days, I've been seeing posts on Twitter to the effect of
"I'm crap, but God is good."
"I'm dust, but still I trust."
"I'm such a horrible sinner but God's grace has saved me."
I... I... I.
Does adding God as an afterthought in a second independent clause somehow make it OK to put oneself first? All these posts speak truth about how loving, patient and gracious God is, and yes, God is certainly all these things. However, it's hardly truly necessary to focus on our own brokenness and fallenness in order to make God look good. God looks amazing in stark contrast to our tendency to be unloving, impatient and lacking in graciousness. The Almighty certainly doesn't need our pitiful humanity to make God look better. That'd be like this vain, skinny, pretty, insecure girl I knew in high school who'd befriend all the fat, less attractive girls in order to make herself look better. God doesn't need to do that.
On Twitter, in blogs and even to a degree without our circles at church, I'm noticing a tendency to play up how fallen, sinful, terrible we are. In fact, it's almost becoming a contest of self-centered, ego-driven verbal self-flagellation. "I'm so sinful, I just can't control my temper." "Well, I'm such a sinner, I am struggling with alcoholism." (Really? That person seems to have it so together! Pillar of the community, lovely family, beautiful home.) "You think that's bad, I'm such a rotten sinner that I can't control my kids anymore. I just can't be the kind of example they need." And on it goes, each proclamation getting worse and worse and all of them ending with some form of "But God is so good!" It's like we take pride in how fallen we are, thinking if we brag about that, then God will be glorified, because, hey, look at us now.
Step down, folks! God's not glorified by you bragging about your sins. In fact, you're giving the rest of us a bad name, because the rest of us know we're sinners saved by grace, but we don't give our sins more attention than they need or deserve. Christians bragging about their fallenness just makes non-believers look at us and say, "Why should I want to join them? They're worse than I am!" Yeah, so what that you've got areas of brokenness in your life? So what that you commit sins? So what? So, it's NOT about how "bad" you are!
Step down off that throne that's not rightfully yours. When people brag about how fallen they are, it's still bragging, despite who's the subject of the second clause. You're drawing attention to yourself, not to God. Just hush up about how horrible you are and give God the glory.
"God saved me from my sins by God's grace."
"God sent Jesus to save us from our sins."
God's grace is free, but not cheap."
God... God... God.
"I'm crap, but God is good."
"I'm dust, but still I trust."
"I'm such a horrible sinner but God's grace has saved me."
I... I... I.
Does adding God as an afterthought in a second independent clause somehow make it OK to put oneself first? All these posts speak truth about how loving, patient and gracious God is, and yes, God is certainly all these things. However, it's hardly truly necessary to focus on our own brokenness and fallenness in order to make God look good. God looks amazing in stark contrast to our tendency to be unloving, impatient and lacking in graciousness. The Almighty certainly doesn't need our pitiful humanity to make God look better. That'd be like this vain, skinny, pretty, insecure girl I knew in high school who'd befriend all the fat, less attractive girls in order to make herself look better. God doesn't need to do that.
On Twitter, in blogs and even to a degree without our circles at church, I'm noticing a tendency to play up how fallen, sinful, terrible we are. In fact, it's almost becoming a contest of self-centered, ego-driven verbal self-flagellation. "I'm so sinful, I just can't control my temper." "Well, I'm such a sinner, I am struggling with alcoholism." (Really? That person seems to have it so together! Pillar of the community, lovely family, beautiful home.) "You think that's bad, I'm such a rotten sinner that I can't control my kids anymore. I just can't be the kind of example they need." And on it goes, each proclamation getting worse and worse and all of them ending with some form of "But God is so good!" It's like we take pride in how fallen we are, thinking if we brag about that, then God will be glorified, because, hey, look at us now.
Step down, folks! God's not glorified by you bragging about your sins. In fact, you're giving the rest of us a bad name, because the rest of us know we're sinners saved by grace, but we don't give our sins more attention than they need or deserve. Christians bragging about their fallenness just makes non-believers look at us and say, "Why should I want to join them? They're worse than I am!" Yeah, so what that you've got areas of brokenness in your life? So what that you commit sins? So what? So, it's NOT about how "bad" you are!
Step down off that throne that's not rightfully yours. When people brag about how fallen they are, it's still bragging, despite who's the subject of the second clause. You're drawing attention to yourself, not to God. Just hush up about how horrible you are and give God the glory.
"God saved me from my sins by God's grace."
"God sent Jesus to save us from our sins."
God's grace is free, but not cheap."
God... God... God.
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