Held in Awe

For Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and He is to be held in awe above all gods. (1 Chronicles 16:25) This verse struck me tonight, after the line of other verses preceding it. I wonder because what do I hold in awe above God? I was thinking along those lines tonight as I sat talking with some friends about ministry and having the time in college to devote to working to specifically spread knowledge about Christ. In early years I thought I was on earth to enjoy life and soak up all it had to offer. Then in more recent years I've adopted this I'm here in college to study and have a little fun on the side for sure mindset. But you know? That's still not why I'm here. Sure I can glorify God in my studies- that's a common misconception that I don't think we all realize- that in ALL things we can glorify God. But I'm not here to study, I'm here to Glorify God. That means allowing Him to reign and control time. Control the hours in my day to devote toward where He would have me be, not where I think is best. Am I holding in awe getting an A in that class over Glorifying God? Am I holding in awe trying to hang out with friends as much as possible over being where He would have me? There are so many things that are great things to do but still can be held in awe above God if we are not totally looking to him for our daily necessities- right down to the core details of what to do with each moment we have. Seek the Lord and His Strenth; seek His Presence CONTINUALLY! (vs.11)

Mississippi

I seem to not be very consistent with my updates, I really am going to try harder- time really does slip away so quickly. Anyway, my Mississippi spring break trip down to Bay St. Louis for hurrican relief was amazing.

There was this guy in my group that was great- well most of the guys were great but particularly this guy. He's got one of those smiles that lights up a room and really listens when you talk and remembers things. (No crush, so let's not go there k? haha) He reminded me so much of Jesus when I was down there that it made me really enjoy being in his presence. He was always making sure I was safe, but then again always right in the middle of the fun, making up stories, running around and helping out more than anyone else was. He did all the small jobs, the ones that most people wouldn't have wanted to waste their time on. We all kind of laughed and complained all at the same time because we had one of those houses that had hardly been touched since the hurricane and so much rain had come that my best suggestion was to bulldoze and start over. But we had the task of roofing this rotten monstrosity. A few of us mucked out the rest of the inside that was destroyed by sitting there too long. So the big deal is that this was the first time I was not angry about kind of wasting time. This guy was content and encouraging and I realized that maybe my thought process about time management needed adjusting. I'm one of those make the most of each moment people, that's why I didn't like going out to loud places in early college or being in big crowds- because you're conversations with peole lack substance. I was shown in Mississippi that just because I may not be doing what would build a lot or help the most I was spending time doing good and that time was worth it. I realized that time is a precious thing but that doesn't mean that we have to be busy for all of it or that we know how to fill it best. I try so hard to make things perfect when maybe I just need to let them fall and let God work things out the best way they can be. To build eternal things, even if the process is much slower, is better than building a thousand temporal- even if the temporal is what shows other people your hard work.

Kindness

I was sitting in class on Tuesday waiting a few minutes before it started (I know shock that I was early) when one of my classmates came in. He's in a wheel chair and always makes his way up to the front and scoots a few desks around and settles in on the window side of the room against the wall in the front. His positioning makes no difference but on this particular day there were a number of desks in his way and before I could even think of a way to help this guy that usually sits close (they don't know each other, we just are creatures of habit and sit in the same places every day), this guy gets up and pulls around a few desks very casually and makes just the perfect space for him. The greatest thing to me was that it wasn't charity, it wasn't because he felt sorry for him, it wasn't to be noticed, it was second nature. It wasn't a choice, it was an instinct. What if I lived my life more life that? That kindness would be apart of me, not something I have to practice. What if I spoke to people on the streets like I was genuinely glad to see them and to find out how they were? What if I helped people not because I wanted to be noted as a great person but because that's who I am and what i stand for? These are questions that I have, challenges that i hope I listen to, but mainly these are words that humble because so much of our day we can choose to make about ourselves or we can choose to make others more important and God most important of all.