Childlike Faith, pt. 2: Life in Color

children: they're raw. what they don't know, they don't try to cover up. they're real. they seem to find joy in the smallest of things-- even a little rock. but most importantly, they help us see what we can't. 

as children, they're able to see joy in the smallest of things. when i was young, i remember being furious when my parents tried to toss out my rock collection. they'd sternly state, "it's trash, and it belongs out in the yard!" "no it's not! it's MY rock collection. MY special rock collection!!!! don't touch it!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!" i'd wail back. as a child, (you could see i was one wack child,) but guess i must have seen something in each rock that i took the time, care, and effort to meticulously pick out every single one... and then name them. something in my child's heart found joy in God's creation of a rock. yup. hard to believe, right? (well unfortunately, today, i'd probably do the same as what my parents did if i saw a pile of rocks sitting in my room.)

but that's why Jesus loves children so much, and constantly presses us to maintain this childlike faith. john 1:12 says, "the light came to darkness, and for those who could see it... for those who believed, he gave the privilege to become the children of God!" children can see the light in the midst of darkness. they have this supernatural ability to relentlessly cling a glimmer of unrealistic hope in the midst of despair and wail and fight for it until they get their way. children don't fear rejection. failure. judgement. they're innocently free to choose to do whatever they want, and willing to take big risks. that's why they learn so fast. 

did you know... children laugh an average of 500x a day, while the average adult laughs 15x a day? so where is our joy? so often, as adults we've learned to live in this grey world without much light or color... and although we long to see the world in color, the pressures in our life have forced us to be complacent with the greys, and then we grow numb to it. we accept grey years to be the norm, and fall into the mundane cycles of life. 

but sometimes, in the midst of our busyness, we've forgetten that God wants to invite us to step into the light, and live in a world of color-- but we are scared to take that risk and step out in faith and believe, because we've become so comfortable to a grey world. what would it look like if we lived life from a child's perspective once again? what would the potential for God to work in us, and through us, then be like? i think it could be crazy... for once, we'd actually start seeing and experiencing the supernatural God-moments we've been longing for.

God sent Jesus into this world for us to see him, feel him, and hear him in a real way. all he asks of us is to humble ourselves in order to have a child-like faith. we still don't know everything. we still don't have it all together. and God tells us, that it's okay. it's okay to be a child. this is the perspective i'm asking God for in 2013. 

Childlike Faith, pt. 1: Merry Christmas

i love kids. i love them because they keep things so simple and real. to them, yes is yes, and no means "i don't like it, whether i'm on the receiving or giving end, so it's tantrum time." 

but i really believe that there's a reason why Jesus loved the children so much. throughout his ministry, it was clear that children were near and dear to him. in matthew 18, he says, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me."

more on this tomorrow, but for now, i leave you with this: 
"and she was like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna have the son of God!" ...my personal favorite is the donkey butt shove. but then there's also the walking star with twinkling hands. oh, and the real poop! and the part where the 3rd king loses his present b/c it blows away.... hahahah! it's all too much for me to handle. i love it and can't get enough! i keep on watching it over and over again...

this is indeed, the simple joy of Christmas. Merry Christmas, my dear friends! :o) 

Dream Job Fridays: Making Beats

so i just realized that this awesome percussion musical theatre group, STOMP, is coming to Sagniaw, MI only for a one evening performance on February 17, 2013! (please email me if you would like to go with!)

could you imagine if your life was dedicated to making beats and moves like this? i think i would love it... lately i've been really missing my musician and dance days. perhaps the corporate world just isn't for me? man, i always love me a darn good beat. 

if you have time over the holidays, this is a definite must-watch. (my favorite part is from 1:02:20-1:19:30) 

proof

too often, we demand that God prove his love to us. "God if you would just help me to find a good parking spot.... if you would just give me an A in this class... if you would grant me that awesome job that i want....." -- the list goes on --   ".....then, i would know that you really love me." 

but Romans 5:8 (NRSV) says, "But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." 

sometimes, all it takes is that we stop looking at our circumstances and what we don't have, and start looking to the cross. because there, all proof was declared, and there, it was all finished. 

oh, the little reminders. 

oh, how He loves us, yeah, how He loves us.

sales and discomfort

one of my business school professors posted a blog this morning that highlighted a NYTimes article, saying: 

Some businesses go to any extent to get you to buy. The New York Times recently described the lengths stores will go to to make you uncomfortable so that you'll buy more. Why? "Experts" in marketing have discovered that the louder, the more repetitive, the more crowded -- hell, the more irritating -- the more people will buy.

then he really got me thinking: what if we were comfortable with being uncomfortable? isn't that exactly what the Gospel message asks us to be? why is it then, when we smell any sense of imminent discomfort, that we as American Christians are so quick to run as far away from it as we can? that we'll be the first ones to try to seize the situation into our own control, just to get out of any uncomfortable situations? 

if the Gospel message puts people at discomfort, and the Gospel message is what we need (regardless if we are Christ-followers or not), we need to learn how to be okay with discomfort and not run away from it. otherwise, for those of us who do call ourselves Christ-followers, we're really not living out the Gospel if we're comfortable. and why then, are we so fearful of putting people at discomfort that we'll go to the great extent of tiptoeing around one another?

clearly retailers have learned how to be comfortable with the uncomfortable in order to achieve goals of higher sales. can we be retailers for Christ to achieve more salvations, the more convincing, eternal bottom line?

(btw, go check out Merit that he promoted on his blog post and take care of your last minute Christmas shopping there. it's pretty legit. gosh, i miss Michael Gordon and his class. coolest prof ever.)

weekend therapy

i'm so thankful for a therapeutic weekend. after a very stressful week (probably the most stressful i've had in about a year), i still had a flurry of responsibilities and meetings scheduled for a packed weekend (not the definition of "therapeutic" to me, by any means). 

to my surprise, even though all of the extreme introvert inside of me just wanted to retreat away into some little corner of this world to be on my own (which unfortunately, that was not an option this weekend), it turned out to be a very therapeutic one. i remember leaving work on friday and taking a deep breath in to brace myself for a stressful and tiring weekend. 

though i didn't plan it this way, this weekend was spent with people in ann arbor that mean a lot to me. the friends i was supposed to be encouraging and supporting ended up in turn also being encouragement and support for me (and they probably didn't know it). we even got to put up our christmas tree on friday evening! 

i think it was a good opportunity to be reminded that i will always have responsibilities that i need to be faithful to, even if it's not at a good time or i don't feel like it in the moment. those responsibilities will only continue to grow as we get older, but instead of having the wrong attitude, to look for the blessings embedded in them.... there are A LOT! (thanks for teaching that to me again this weekend, friends.)

for those of you who spent part of it with me, thank you! :)  

[and a mini shoutout to UNDEFEATED (since we had a mini-reunion last night), you guys are the best!!]

christmas wishlist

just in case any of you would like to help, here's my wishlist for this year. primarily music. love. ahhhhhhh!

1. Lindsey Stirling's Album. Have a listen on my previous post. SO ah-may-zingggg!

2. Mary Poppins Original Live Broadway Cast Recording. 


3. Lion King Original Broadway Cast Recording. 

4. Yum Yum Dim Sum. Yup. 


5. And then for the nerdy me, 3 books that I want to read: 
    

6. and lastly, a red knit scarf. 



oh, and PS: ONE DAY UNTIL WE CAN OFFICIALLY LISTEN TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!