bad habits

Today's Chat-A-Chini question is: What habit would you most like to get rid of?

Hmm. Do you ever trick yourself into thinking that a bad habit is just the way it is? That it is the way you were wired and that you can't help but act a certain way? Or how about you excuse yourself and say "This action is only temporary, I am excused for acting in a foolish way since it's only a short period of time."

I have been there many times. Each and every one of us have habits, probably many of them. Some of mine include: washing my dishes every night before bed, praying when I wake up and before I go to sleep, only buying shirts when I'm shopping unless I am forced to shop for pants, etc. I think you get the idea!

Out of all of the habits that I have, I think I would like to get rid of the feeling I get often that I am owed something. Whether it be from my family, friends, co-workers or God, I sometimes feel that I am owed an apology or a thank you, or that I deserve to be praised for certain actions. Certainly, it is nice to get an apology when someone has wronged you and a thank you when you have done something nice, but it is definitely not owed to me by any means.

There ya have it, the habit I would most like to rid myself of.

How about you? Any habits you could do without?

the posture of worship

Tonight at SPCC, I was reminded about what worship truly is. Corporate worship has always been my favorite part of a service, the place where I encounter God most. This is still true today, but I was reminded that this is not all worship is.

Worship is a posture. It is being willing to lay face down in front of God. A time where we give and it is about God rather than a time where we get and it is about us.

I can't tell you how many times I have left a service and said "It's too bad, I didn't get much out of worship tonight." This is not the way that it should be. And furthermore, worship is something I need to do everyday. The way I live my life should be a form of worship to God. I have not thought about it in this way in quite some time. It was very sobering, hearing the message tonight. A great reminder this Advent season to bow down before our Creator and just simply be with Him.

After all, that is what He wants. Just to spend time with His children. To hold us and to love us.. but we somehow manage to count this as a waste of time or just another thing on our list.

Will anyone join me this Advent season in working towards better worship posture?

Laurance: My Christmas Child

This Christmas, I am partnering with Compassion to try and find a sponsor for a little boy named Laurance from Tanzania. He is 6 years old and lives with his parents and 2 siblings. His parents seldom work and it is only due to his partnership with Compassion that he has a chance to attend bible studies and church services.

However, without a sponsor, Laurance has little chance of staying in school because he will eventually need to help out at home with chores and then later in life go to work. As most of us know, in order to break the cycle of poverty, we need to educate the young.

This is our chance.. to pray for this little boy, at least for the month of December. I will post things every few days as reminders about this and encouraging verses to help with prayer, etc. Please join me in this, it would mean so much to surround to this little boy with prayers and the love of God.

If while praying you feel led to sponsor little Laurance or another child from Compassion, please let me know and I can help you with the steps. Thank you and I hope that you will join me and Compassion in helping out "My Christmas Child".

So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
--Job 5:16

Happy Day

With it being the end of the semester, and everyone freaking out.. I just want to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Day!! It is so easy to get wrapped up in the stress: the papers and the projects then going to work and shopping for the holidays.

I have really learned this semester the importance of slowing down, prioritizing and playing. I just encourage everyone, and myself, to take some time to relax and to breathe.. to sing a silly song or color a picture. Counterproductive? Hardly! Things like this help us to let out some steam and take a look at the big picture.

So everyone-- Have a Happy Day, today- tomorrow and always :)

You never know how far a smile goes.

When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives everyday that the sun rises.

-The Alchemist

You are God's own possession. 1 Peter 2:9

God loves you simply because He has chosen to do so.

He loves you when you don't feel lovely.
He loves you when no one else loves you.
Others may abandon you, divorce you, and ignore you, but God will love you.
Always. No matter what.

hypocrites

Here is a quotation from a column written by Terry Mattingly that I came across when reading a friend's blog.

"It's a good thing when sinners continue to oppose sin, even if they are still struggling with sin in their own lives...Sometimes, hypocrisy is what allows sinful people to be decent while they try to do what's right."

What do you think about this?

Insignificant?

How many days a week do we wake up feeling significant? How many times do we punch into work thinking "this day at work is going to really make a difference"? How many times do our hearts scream "HEY! This matters.. what you are doing matters.. YOU MATTER!"

Probably not too often unless we are deliberate about staying in God's word and reminding ourselves that we are a part the body of Christ, a significant part. I know personally that I can get very bent of shape when I suddenly question my worth and the value of my everyday actions. While listening to a motivational speech by Caplan Mobray, I, along with the rest of the audience were challenged with the question "Do you know why you are doing what you are doing today and how it is going to shape where you are tomorrow?" I felt confident in answering this question with a yes. I knew on a worldly level why I am in the RA position, why I am finishing up my degree, etc. However, after reflecting further I realized that this was looking at what I am doing now as a means to an end. This view means that all of the small things I do outside of getting my degree or making money and gaining work experience, etc. are insignificant. That the service I do, the smiles and encouragement I give, the quiet times I have, the laughter I share with Steve... and the list goes on.. is insignificant. What an awful view!

Then tonight I came across a great excerpt from one of Archbishop Desmond Tutu's sermons that challenged me to revisit what I am doing in view of God's eyes.

Have you seen a symphony orchestra? There is a chap at the back carrying a triangle. Now and again the conductor will point to him and he will play "ting". That might seem so insignificant, but in the conception of the composer something irreplaceable would be lost to the total beauty of the symphony if that "ting" did not happen.

I am a member of God's symphony orchestra. I may get the honor of being the chap who plays the triangle, but perhaps I am "less" than that and I only get to clap along in the background. No matter what my role, I have one!! And that is amazing. There is a will that God has for my life, that fits me into His grand puzzle of children. A plan for my life that offers me so many divine opportunities that they can't possibly be looked at as insignificant.

If you are like me and you sometimes doubt your worth, beat yourself up about a project or area of your life that seems to be going nowhere, or simply feel that nothing you do matters, take comfort in knowing that YOU are a member of God's orchestra, of His family and His plan. You were born with a purpose and all God wants is to be able to reveal it to you and help you live it.

You and I are the most significant to God. After all, we are His hands.. His heart.. His plan.

The ABCs of God's Goodness: Z

You guessed it: zealous.

Not only is this about the only z word I could think of, but it is so frequently used in describing our God.

To be zealous is to be full of zeal, to have an eagerness towards a person, a dedication to them and to be filled with desire when they come to mind. And who fits this desciption better than God? Nobody!! All to often we don't want to admit to ourselves that God loves us and is zealous towards us because we are ashamed of our actions and sins. But every second of every day God is shouting to us simply by existing that He is so eager for us to know Him, that He is dedicated beyond any measure to His people and that He desires to shape our hearts.

Our God is a zealous God indeed.

And wow!! That completes the ABCs of God's Goodness. Thank you for sticking around from A-Z. It took quite awhile. This has been a great way for me to remind myself just how good God is and to renew His promises in my heart. I hope that it has been a blessing to you as well.

The ABCs of God's Goodness: Y

God is yours.

How amazing to think that God, who is mine..is also yours. Your God watches over you every moment of every day. Your God has a great plan for your life. Your God loves you more than you could every fathom... just let that sit for a while. He is yours.

Chat-a-Chini 4

Q: What do you think would have to change in your life before you could have more fun?

A: This question was perfect for today because I was planning to post a great poem I read about attitude. I need to change my attitude before I can have more fun. I am a firm believer in the fact that we are able to choose our attitude in any situation and we can do so by changing the way we look at certain situations. If I could just learn to change my attitude in some situations, I bet I would have much more fun!!

ATTITUDE

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude to me, is more important than facts.
It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than apprearaces, giftedness, or skill.
It will make or break a company, a church, a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one thing we have, and that is our attitude.
I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it.
And so it is with you.. we are in charge of our attitude.
~Charles Swindoll

There ya have it! Now, I think that I am pretty good at choosing to be optimistic in almost every situation, but that is not the only attitude I can and should choose. I hope to start putting on a fun attitude so that I allow more fun to happen to me instead of blocking it out with a straight face and a "go-getter" attitude.

Chat-a-Chini 3

Q: What are your favorite ways to renew your energy?

A: If you talked to my mom or anyone older than me in my family, they would answer this and say "Chelsea has never needed to renew energy! She has always been hyper and full of energy!" My boyfriend would probably tell you that I'm pretty crazy most of the time and my friends would all agree that I have a ton of energy.

However, in my old age (haha) I am finding that I do need to find ways to renew my energy, because it is no longer sustained regardless of what I do, the way that it once was. Here are a few ways I like to renew my energy:

*swim! it takes a lot of energy but someone I always come out of the pool ready to go
*sleep- for obvious reasons
*pray
*workship all alone in my room, clapping, crying, on my knees or jumping up and down
*spend time with emma and lanna- if you don't know, these two little girls are my boss' daughters whom I get the priveledge of babysitting.
*laugh- usually when steve is around, i always get a really great, belly cramping laugh that fills me with an energy like no other

How do you like to renew your energy?

Starfish

As a man walked a desolate beach one cold, gray morning he began to see another figure, far in the distance. Slowly the two approached each other, and he could make out a local native who kept leaning down, picking something up and throwing it out into the water. Time and again he hurled things into the ocean.

As the distance between them continued to narrow, the man could see that the native was picking up starfish that had been washed upon the beach and, one at a time, was throwing them back into the water.

Puzzled, the man approached the native and asked what he was doing. "I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don't throw back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."

"But there must be thousands or starfish on this beach," the man replied. "You can't possibly get to all of them. There are just too many. And this same thing is probably happening on hundreds of beaches up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"

The local native smiled, bent down and picked up another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea he replied, "Made a difference to that one!"

Each of us is but one person: limited, burdened with our own cares and responsibilities. We may feel there is so much to be done, and we have to little to give. We're usually short of everything, especially time and money. When we leave this shore, there will still be millions of starfish stranded on the beach. Maybe we can't change the whole world, but there isn't one of us who can't help change one person's whole world. One at a time. We DO make a difference.

~author unknown

Chat-a-Chini 3

Q: What is the most important lesson you have learned?

A: In all of my life, I have learned so many lessons that I hold close to my heart and with great importance. I have learned some lessons by watching other people make mistakes but the majority of my lessons learned have happened only after I have fallen on my face.

After I let God into my life and my heart, I saw Him working in me and teaching me things daily. The most important lesson He has taught me thus far (and I don't think it will always remain the most important) is that of self-respect. I look around at so many people who seem to lack a lot of self-respect and it makes my heart truly sad. I have been in this position and know how hurtful it is to oneself and others and each day I am grateful that I have learned this lesson.

What lessons have you learned that are high on your importance list?

Chat-a-Chini 2

Q: What is the purpose of life?

A: Some say that the purpose of life is to live a happy and fulfilling life. I used to buy into this idea but after many years of searching and wondering what my purpose was, I was saved by grace. Along with this, I was shown that our purpose as children of God is to serve Him. This looks differently for each of us so I can't speak on behalf of everyone with specifics. As for myself, I am still seeking what my purpose is. For now, I know that I am called to loved others and love God and I have been shown many ways to do that. I really have a heart for children, global missions and for individuals who are incarcerated, struggle with addiction, etc. As time goes on, I'm sure I will be shown my purpose more clearly :)

What do you think your purpose is?

Chat-a-Chini 1

Q: What do you think the most important idea of this century/all time is?

I think that the idea of genuinely loving others and allowing others and God to genuinely love us is the most important idea, both of this century and all time. Unfortunately, if this is just an idea, it won't necessarily be put into practice which I think is the current state of all people. We all fall on different parts of the continuum, and each of us has room to improve.

How would you answer this question?

Chat-a-Chini

Chat-a-Chini is a really great game that I have never seen in stores, but am told that it is there. Joanna introduced it to the staff last year and we used to play at the end of each staff meeting. I have since gotten a copy of the "game" and play it as much as possible!

It is a bunch of pieces of paper each with a question on it. You pick the question- you answer it! Pretty easy. The questions range from "Do you believe there is intelligent life in outer space" to "What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast" to "What is the greatest lesson you have ever learned" and "What is your concept of God". I have decided that I want to start a "Chat-a-Chini series" on my blog. My ABCs of God's Goodness will be finished soon and I like the idea of having something constant.

So, somedays they will be silly questions that take me one word or sentence to answer. Other days, I may have longer more in depth answers :) I hope you enjoy and let me know if you want to get together and play sometime!

The ABCs of God's Goodness: X

This one is compliments of Steve :)

God is X.

Referring to a variable which can represent anything, at any time, whenever it needs to. God can take the shape and form of whatever beauty or grace he needs to, in any equation in life. God is the divine variable of life :-)

He is also a constant though... figure that one out.

I want to share today's "Everyday Blessing" from a book that I read daily.

October 20

"God, examine me and know my heart... lead me on the road to everlasting life." Psalm 139: 23-24

You don't have to be like the world to have an impact on the world. You don't have to be like the crowd to change the crowd. You don't have to lower yourself down to their level to lift them up to your level. Holiness doesn't seek to be odd. Holiness seeks to be like God.

The ABCs of God's Goodness: W

Our God is willing!

Last night during the sermon, Vince brought up a great truth. God didn't create us out of necessity.. He did it because he wanted to. He did so willingly. He doesn't forgive us, deliver us from temptation, redeem us or love us because He has to... He wants to! He delights in us and is forever a willing God.

PS. Letter X is next. What on earth might I use for that? Please leave ideas!