Allow Love into Your Life

I recently started going back to church.  I had been to Community Bible Church a few times before and really enjoyed the whole atmosphere.  Despite the fact that it’s a huge church, the word “community” is quite befitting as the members there make you feel so welcome.  Plus, I’ve never been to a service where I didn’t walk away feeling uplifted.  Needless to say, I started going back there again and found this Sunday’s message especially powerful.  The pastor focused on a particular chapter within 1 Corinthians that talked about love.  Just read it – it’s incredibly inspirational:   

“Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” – 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

Isn’t that amazing?  I cried during this message because I’m guilty of doing the exact opposite of a lot of the things that this passage references.  I’m absolutely impatient when it comes to achievement in my personal life and I tend to define success by whether or not I have attained a particular goal within a certain timeframe as compared to my peers.  And it’s not to say that I’m not successful – I suppose it has more to do with the fact that I envisioned my life going a bit differently at this point – you know, married and blissfully happy in a beautiful colonial-style home with a dog, cat and the possibility of children sometime in the future.  Well, that’s not exactly where I am at this point in my life.  And then I allow myself to get angry because I didn’t make the right decisions to get where I should be.  Talk about a vicious cycle of self-pity.   

This passage reminded me just how easily we all fall into the trap of looking at the glass half empty.  What I’m learning as I get older is that I can’t define my success by comparing myself to others because you know what that gets you?  A life of utter misery.  No one wants that.  Things aren’t always going to go the way you planned, but that doesn’t mean that you should let it stop you from enjoying the life you have.  Instead of letting jealousy get the best of you, appreciate others for their success, try to learn from them and remember that no one person is better than the other based on the limiting terms we use to define success.  Challenge:  redefine success to match the life that you already have.  Believe me, these are lessons I have to remind myself of on a daily basis.     

I’m trying my best to let love encompass my life and allow God to guide me in the direction that He sees fit.  In the end, it’s not about how important or successful each person is, it’s about loving one another for who we are and remembering that our differences are what make each individual so beautiful.       

In Times of Disaster, Hope Will Prevail

By now, we've all witnessed the mass devistation caused by the massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, March 11, 2011.  As I watched the forceful waters pummel anything and everything in sight, one of the first things I heard someone say was, "Just another sign that we are living in the end times."  When you're young, that is the ABSOLUTE LAST thing that you want to hear.  Thoughts started racing through my mind, "It can't be--I have so much life to live!"  But then I regrouped and remembered that this natural disaster is not about me or the end of time:  it's a reaffirmation as to how fragile life really is and the fact that it can be taken away in the blink of an eye. 

Sometimes it takes a disaster of epic proportions to make us realize just how important eachother is.  It's an awesome sight to see complete strangers come together to help one another.  Whether it's through donations, volunteering or encouraging words, we did this during September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami in Indonesia, the Earthquake in Haiti and I know that we will do it for our friends in Japan.  That's the amazing thing about the human spirit - it can be broken, even shattered, but through the kind words and honest actions of people, it can start to be made whole again.  So, I want to encourage each and everyone of you out there - take the time to tell those around you just how how much they matter.  More importantly, remember to lift eachother up in times of need.