Is it possible to dissagree with God? Or maybe to just dissagree with the way He does things? Hmm...interesting. I know that I don't know as much as Him and everything. There are just some things in the Old Testament that I'm not sure I agree with.
Anyways, more on this later. I'm out for now.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
more thoughts on Grace
Processing through more of how the summer shaped me, here is another thought, or two.
In essence: I'm free. I'm His.
Let me further explain.
Without delving too much into baring my soul on the internet, I would like to say that working at Grace has shaped me in that I am free. I am free to be the woman God made me to be. (That in itself is a whole 'nother story. I learned a lot more about what that looks like, and am still learning a ton.) I am free to be crazy. I am free to be out of control, full of energy. I am free to be Ellie Potter. I am free from what others think of me. I am free to be passionate, to be crazy in love with living well. I am free to desire Christ. I am free to strive. I am free to be me.
Also, I'm His. He's got me. I'm safe with God. Does this include His plans for me? You better believe it does.
Here's a section of verses from Ephesians 1 in the message:
Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people - free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.
It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
I'm free because God is my God. Because He cares so much about me. I'm free from sin, guilt, shame, the past, the present, the future. And He's got plans for me. I feel like this summer I saw a little bit more of what those plans might be, a little bit more of who I am, of what I'm living for, of what His designs for my life are. That gets me pumped! Of course it does! It's part of my heart! It's part of my passions! I believe that God's plans for me are going to somehow line up with the passions He gives me. How cool is that? Um...uh-mazing. That the things we get excited about can be what God might want us to do? Wow...He's pretty sweet how He has everything working together so amazingly. My life, the plans He has for me, are just part of "the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone." That's pretty dang sweet...
In essence: I'm free. I'm His.
Let me further explain.
Without delving too much into baring my soul on the internet, I would like to say that working at Grace has shaped me in that I am free. I am free to be the woman God made me to be. (That in itself is a whole 'nother story. I learned a lot more about what that looks like, and am still learning a ton.) I am free to be crazy. I am free to be out of control, full of energy. I am free to be Ellie Potter. I am free from what others think of me. I am free to be passionate, to be crazy in love with living well. I am free to desire Christ. I am free to strive. I am free to be me.
Also, I'm His. He's got me. I'm safe with God. Does this include His plans for me? You better believe it does.
Here's a section of verses from Ephesians 1 in the message:
Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people - free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.
It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
I'm free because God is my God. Because He cares so much about me. I'm free from sin, guilt, shame, the past, the present, the future. And He's got plans for me. I feel like this summer I saw a little bit more of what those plans might be, a little bit more of who I am, of what I'm living for, of what His designs for my life are. That gets me pumped! Of course it does! It's part of my heart! It's part of my passions! I believe that God's plans for me are going to somehow line up with the passions He gives me. How cool is that? Um...uh-mazing. That the things we get excited about can be what God might want us to do? Wow...He's pretty sweet how He has everything working together so amazingly. My life, the plans He has for me, are just part of "the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone." That's pretty dang sweet...
Friday, August 17, 2007
Grace Adventures
need I say more? ah, but yes, I think I must.
Where to start? Well, I suppose I will preface this by saying that I'm going to try to get on here more often and write down some thoughts about how Grace has changed, impacted, and shaped my life. With that said, there is also a chance that I might get too frustrated with trying to put things into words and back down on this whole blog thing. So, anyways, that's where I'm at.
Well, for starters, in the top 5 most influential and shaping experiences of my life, I would list my summer at Grace as #1. The environment there is safe, empowering, encouraging, genuine, and well-balanced. The people there are incredible. The God that is behind all of that...wow. That's the best part for me I think, is seeing how great He is as I live life, as I learn, experience, watch, and grow.
Here are a few things that I have learned (there will probably be more later):
-The importance of communication
Wow, so true. If anybody has ever been through leadership journey, they have probably also learned this. As weird and "LJ-ish" as all of the communication stuff may seem, I think I have gained a much different perspective from living in an environment where that is put into practice. Communication is soooooo important! When you think about it, your life is full of communication. In fact, I'm pretty sure that just about anything you do is communicating! Maybe it's with other people, whether verbally or non-verbally. Maybe it's with yourself (self-talk, etc.). Maybe it's communicating with God. Life is FULL of communication. So, what does that imply? We need to communicate well. What does that look like? It looks like a lot of things....however, I will spare you all the details of going through all the little parts of what I learned about communicating well. At least at this point in time. ;)
-The faithfulness of God
This is the part that I have the hardest time describing I think. Or maybe it's just that I want to convey something so much deeper than what I end up saying. In any case, wow has God been good. I have seen His faithfulness in countless, countless situations. I see Him working in the lives of fellow staff members. I see Him working in the lives of campers. I see Him working in my life. I see Him answering prayers. I see Him bringing people to places they had no idea they were going. I see Him pouring out blessing after blessing. His faithfulness was in the rising of the sun. His faithfulness was in the worship pouring out of the heart of a camper. His faithfulness was in the energy that came out of nowhere. His faithfulness was in the encouragement from a friend. His faithfulness was in the constant reminder of His faithfulness. God is. I've found that maybe, for the first time in my life, I'm truly, honestly, ok with just that. Granted, there are moments when I get distracted. But there are also moments when I am so in awe of all that entails that I couldn't imagine wanting more.
Where to start? Well, I suppose I will preface this by saying that I'm going to try to get on here more often and write down some thoughts about how Grace has changed, impacted, and shaped my life. With that said, there is also a chance that I might get too frustrated with trying to put things into words and back down on this whole blog thing. So, anyways, that's where I'm at.
Well, for starters, in the top 5 most influential and shaping experiences of my life, I would list my summer at Grace as #1. The environment there is safe, empowering, encouraging, genuine, and well-balanced. The people there are incredible. The God that is behind all of that...wow. That's the best part for me I think, is seeing how great He is as I live life, as I learn, experience, watch, and grow.
Here are a few things that I have learned (there will probably be more later):
-The importance of communication
Wow, so true. If anybody has ever been through leadership journey, they have probably also learned this. As weird and "LJ-ish" as all of the communication stuff may seem, I think I have gained a much different perspective from living in an environment where that is put into practice. Communication is soooooo important! When you think about it, your life is full of communication. In fact, I'm pretty sure that just about anything you do is communicating! Maybe it's with other people, whether verbally or non-verbally. Maybe it's with yourself (self-talk, etc.). Maybe it's communicating with God. Life is FULL of communication. So, what does that imply? We need to communicate well. What does that look like? It looks like a lot of things....however, I will spare you all the details of going through all the little parts of what I learned about communicating well. At least at this point in time. ;)
-The faithfulness of God
This is the part that I have the hardest time describing I think. Or maybe it's just that I want to convey something so much deeper than what I end up saying. In any case, wow has God been good. I have seen His faithfulness in countless, countless situations. I see Him working in the lives of fellow staff members. I see Him working in the lives of campers. I see Him working in my life. I see Him answering prayers. I see Him bringing people to places they had no idea they were going. I see Him pouring out blessing after blessing. His faithfulness was in the rising of the sun. His faithfulness was in the worship pouring out of the heart of a camper. His faithfulness was in the energy that came out of nowhere. His faithfulness was in the encouragement from a friend. His faithfulness was in the constant reminder of His faithfulness. God is. I've found that maybe, for the first time in my life, I'm truly, honestly, ok with just that. Granted, there are moments when I get distracted. But there are also moments when I am so in awe of all that entails that I couldn't imagine wanting more.
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