The Image of God

According to recent tradition, I'm going to post something another of my friends wrote. I know, I should be writing, but my friends are just so deep and insightful! So, in the next few days, I think I'll being doing more of this...
This time, I'm going to let Heather do the talking. (There's a link to her blog just to the right--check it out! This isn't the only great thing she's written.) Heather is someone who I just really like, and who I respect even more. She has this amazing heart for God that always inspires me. We often joke we share a mind since we always seem to be thinking about the same things. But this one took me a little by surprise when she brought up something I often experience but usually try to forget about. I love a friend who will step on your toes.

Francis Chan talked to us about praying and God in a way that COMPLETELY shook me. I seriously..no joke..was soo scared when he was talking about this. It was unbelievable.So he started off the entire conference by saying that he isn't meaning to judge, but that he's not sure how many of us really mean it when we sing:"There is none more High and Holy, King of Kings, the One and Only, You are adored, You are the Lord of all" Hmmm. so honestly, I was kinda offended by this. I know that I shouldn't have been, because what he said is soo true! I can truthfully say that I don't always put my whole heart into worshipping. I often find myself thinking about other things when I'm worshipping! How awful is that?! There are also many times when I know I am worshipping God full heartedly, but shouldn't that be the case all the time? Francis talked about how when we pray, we are praying to an ALMIGHTY God who deserves ALL of our attention!So why is it that when you're praying at night, it goes like this:"Dear God, thank you so much for this amazing day! You are so awesome! and ohmygoodness he is sooo cutee!! I can't wait to see him tomorrow! ahh I can't believe what happened today....crazy! oh crap..and God, thank you helping me to understand that you will always be there for me! no matter what! oh boy i can't wait for next friday!! it's gonna be soooo much fun!! and camp adventure! oh I hope I have a good co counselor! Mexico too!! woo!! ughh..I have algebra on tuesday..YUCK! oh shoot..sorry God! In Jesus name I pray, amen"Ok. So maybe it's just me. But I seem to have a lot of trouble staying on topic and FOCUSING on ONLY God..which is soo horrible!But then Francis helped us to see what God really looks like.Which is not a young guy with a white, flowing beard.Or a tall man with a long, brown beard.Say you have a friend, his name is Tyler.Tyler is kind of stalky, with short brown hair, and very muscular.But you don't want to believe he looks like that, so you think he is tall and thin, with long blonde hair.Your other friend Maddie thinks that Tyler is short and round, with jet black, and spiked hair.Woah! What does he really look like then? Does your believing that he looks one way mean that's what he looks like? NO! It just means you're delusional...but you can't change the way he looks because that's what you think!It's the same way with God!We have this vision of Him in our heads, and for everyone He is different! But God even tells us what He looks like..if we would just take the time to read it!Seriously. Read that description of God, when Francis described it, it gave me shivers, it was SO real to me! I can't imagine falling asleep while praying with THATimage of God in my head!After you read that, think.."If God is for me, who can be against me?"

Paint

So, I didn't actually write this. It was written by one of my dear dear friends, Eleny. Let me take just a second to advertise, like any good friend would--Eleny is someone who I look up to and love dearly. We have experienced some hard things, and I am so proud to be friends with such a wonderful person. Haha, now I've got her all embarrassed... Anyway, back on subject. She posted it on Facebook (haha...you know me and my addiction...), and I absolutely loved it. Meant to post this sooner, but oh well. I have been cursed with procrastination...anyway, I hope you like it as much as I did.

I often wish I could write something profound, something deep, and something that makes people think. But I never know where to start or what to say. Plus I never know if what I want to say will make sense. However, I guess I'll give it a shot. I was standing in front of my kitchen counter and sitting on it was a paint can. There was paint still on it left over from when someone poured it, but it was dry. Bored, I started peeling of the dry paint, it was very rubbery... Ok, wow, yeah real profound statement. But, when I was peeling of the paint from the can, I started thinking. I started thinking that we, as Christians, are sort of like paint. This is a strange analogy I know. Please bear with me, I can explain. Paint can be used to create something beautiful, but if it is left to dry, it can become rubbery and useless. God created us to be something beautiful. He created us in the image of Him. He created us to glorify Him, isn't that beautiful? He wants us to be in a relationship with Him. He wants us to be constantly working to become closer to Him. If we stray from God, or slack in our relationship with Christ we become spiritually dry. Why? Because we are not being constantly filled with the Living Water. We become "rubbery". The word "rubbery" means lacking firmness or stiffness. If we are not frequently spending time with God, what does it do to us? It wears us down spiritually. Joshua 1:8 says, "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Psalm 1:2-3 says, "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." If we are continually in the Word and spending time with God, we will be able to stand firm and not be "rubbery" spiritually. Every Christian has a "drought" in their walk with God. We all have times where we feel on fire for God or where we feel like we aren't changing or growing. Personally, I get stuck in that drought a lot. I feel like I'm not satisfied with where I'm at with God. Why do we get stuck in that rut? I honestly do not know. I just wish that it didn't happen. I want to have a constant fire for God, but sometimes my flame fades a little. Please pray for me, for yourself, and for other Christians in your life. Pray that we can get out of our spiritual droughts whenever we fall into them.

Ms. Cadoodlebob

My little sister is one of the most unique and wonderful people I know. She's one of the people you just have to know. To quote her, she "has her own ways." I love her to death.

The other night, we were in her room when I noticed something on the floor across the room that looked familiar. Two puppets she had made years ago. You know the type, brown bag bodies and red yarn hair. She laughed when I asked about them. "Yes, Ms. Cadoodlebob and Anna." I do not hold myself responsible for remembering all of her fun ideas, so I was still a little foggy. I asked her to elaborate. This is the story she told me:

Ms. Cadoodlebob is a Ms. , not a Mrs. She never married, but adopted 4 boys. Sadly, all of them died because she made them go swimming. Being paper bags, all of them perished. When I asked if she was sad about that, Lindsay said, "No, not really...you see, she didn't really know them."
I was a little surprised. "She adopted children she didn't know?"
She replied, "Well, paper bags don't have affections." I asked why she had adopted. "She was lonely," Lindsay said.
"So, she adopted them for her own benefit?"
"Yes. Ms. Cadoodlebob is quite abnormal."

So that story is funny, yes. But I realized as she was telling it that she had stumbled upon a lot of truth as she told it. Stick with me for a second...

I think some people think of God kind of like they would think of Ms. Cadoodlebob. They think that God doesn't know us, or want to. They think he asks us to do things we can't do. They think that , like paper bags, God "has no affections." God doesn't adopt us for His benefit, He adopts us for our own benefit. (Not to say God doesn't enjoy us--I believe He loves us so much He can hardly help it.) And God is in no way abnormal...we are. We put God in boxes...or paper bags. Thank goodness He loves us more than Ms. Cadoodlebob ever loved her children.

uncool...

I am officially identifying myself as a loser by writing this post...want to hear the reasons?

1. I just posted yesterday. uncool.
2. The Superbowl is on, and I'm doing this. uncool.
3. I don't have all that much to even say right now. uncool.
4. I have something new bouncing around in my head, and I'm not writing about it. uncool.
5. (This technically isn't a reason, but my next post will be called "Oh, You're a Person? Because You Look an Awful Lot Like a Gold Cow..." if that gets you interested.)
6. I'm really only doing this because I want to write on the blog for the sake of writing on it. uncool.

So not only am I wasting my time right now, I am wasting yours. Way to go, Allie. Oh well. Maybe this made you smile...just keep in mind I haven't had much sleep this weekend.

PS-Thank God I don't have to be cool.:)