All I can think about today is 2 Cor. 2: 15 - 16, "For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?".
My pastor based his sermon on the 2nd chapter of 2 Corinthians this morning and those two verses hit my soul hard.
I love my sense of smell. I love being able to smell things. I love hold things, lift them to my nose and take sniff. I cannot imagine life without being able to smell. Life would be boring. There would be no roses; no coffee; no "I know that's my friends t-shirt (or whatever) because it smells like their house"; no campfires; no salty ocean air; life would not be what it is without your sense of smell.
Smells, aromas, they speak to us. They tell you what to draw near. They tell you what to push away. They tell you what to wear and what to wash. They tell you what is beautiful and what is nasty. They tell you what to keep and what to throw away. Your sense of smell is an amazing thing.
So here I am wondering if I smell like a sweet aroma of life to my Savior. I desire to smell like life. I desire to smell very sweet to Father Love.
What do you smell like? Is your aroma pleasing to Christ?
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
My Rescue Story
I'm sitting on my floor in my room, freezing. I have been very, very cold all day. I'm wondering if I'm getting sick. I don't normally feel cold like this. But every part of my body is extremely cold. I like cold weather. I'd rather it be cold than hot, but right now I don't feel so good being so super cold.
I had an amazing thing happen to me today. I had a gentleman come into the store and in true Southern tradition asked me where I went to church. I answered his question and then he proceeded to ask me if I was saved, I said yes, and he then asked when it happened. I shared with him how Father Love rescued me by opening my eyes at the young age of six. I could see in his face he felt very doubtful at that moment about the truthfulness of my story. He looked at me and said, "How do you know you were saved at that moment?" I told him that even at such a young age I had a desire to read God's Word, and since then I've seen and felt Him moving within my life to purify my heart and soul to be more like Christ. The overwhelming sense of gratitude for my Savior almost brought tears to my eyes.
It was a defining moment. The peace, the thankfulness, the love, the joy I felt for my Savior and for being able to share how Christ chose me, how He moved and worked in my life was almost more than this girl could handle. I am so prone to wonder. So prone to leave the God I love. But praise Him! He is so faithful! I can't help but thank Him for saving me. I am the truly the worst of all sinners.
This is one of my favorite hymns. The words speak to my soul. The music is soothing to my heart.
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.
I had an amazing thing happen to me today. I had a gentleman come into the store and in true Southern tradition asked me where I went to church. I answered his question and then he proceeded to ask me if I was saved, I said yes, and he then asked when it happened. I shared with him how Father Love rescued me by opening my eyes at the young age of six. I could see in his face he felt very doubtful at that moment about the truthfulness of my story. He looked at me and said, "How do you know you were saved at that moment?" I told him that even at such a young age I had a desire to read God's Word, and since then I've seen and felt Him moving within my life to purify my heart and soul to be more like Christ. The overwhelming sense of gratitude for my Savior almost brought tears to my eyes.
It was a defining moment. The peace, the thankfulness, the love, the joy I felt for my Savior and for being able to share how Christ chose me, how He moved and worked in my life was almost more than this girl could handle. I am so prone to wonder. So prone to leave the God I love. But praise Him! He is so faithful! I can't help but thank Him for saving me. I am the truly the worst of all sinners.
This is one of my favorite hymns. The words speak to my soul. The music is soothing to my heart.
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.
Mr. Music
All I have to say is Mr. Music is pretty amazing.
I will write more later. I have to be at work in 30 minutes. I have funny stories that cannot be told in less than 30 minutes. :)
I will write more later. I have to be at work in 30 minutes. I have funny stories that cannot be told in less than 30 minutes. :)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Er... Uh, Hello... Mr...?
I have come to the conclusion in the past couple weeks that I love people. I mean, I truly love people. I don't know when this happened but it's true. It's ridiculous. It's scary. And just because I love you with the love of the Lord the first time we meet, but don't expect me to *like* you.
That probably doesn't make any sense. I don't expect that it will. All I know is that I love people. But sometimes after you get to know someone they aren't as lovable after you spend time with them. So I'll continue to love them with the love of the Father and not necessarily like them.
I've also realized that I have no idea how to behave towards "good guys". These are the guys you bring home to Dad, that love the Lord with all of their heart, mind, soul and strength, who are respectful, kind, and just a good ol' boy. These guys scare the living daylights out of me.
Let's face it: I know how to be flirtatious, I know how to be *dirty*, I know the right (i.e. wrong) things to say. In short, I know how to get and hold the attention of a "bad boy".
Why do I bring this up? Because after coming off of a "chemistry high" with Mr. Fail, I'm failing to sense any chemistry with a "good guy". Let me introduce you to Mr. Music. Mr. Music, not only loves Jesus, but he's clean, loves his ministry, loves his family, loves people... I mean, basically, he loves everything that has to do with honoring the Lord. Which is incredible! I just don't know what to do with him. Mr. Music scares me. And I don't seem to feel any connection with him beyond a mutual love for the Lord.
That should be enough right? I don't know. And I guess at this point I'm trying to be careful that I don't brush him off just because I'm coming off of this chemistry/connection high with Mr. Fail.
So in an effort to see if Mr. Music and I have any chemistry, I'm going to a concert. Mr. Music is a rapper. Mr. Music is on tour. This is the closest Mr. Music will be to me in a long time.
We are planning to meet before the show. Hopefully, things will be very clear after coffee. Coffee clears everything up! Right...?
Pray for me. I'm nervous.
That probably doesn't make any sense. I don't expect that it will. All I know is that I love people. But sometimes after you get to know someone they aren't as lovable after you spend time with them. So I'll continue to love them with the love of the Father and not necessarily like them.
I've also realized that I have no idea how to behave towards "good guys". These are the guys you bring home to Dad, that love the Lord with all of their heart, mind, soul and strength, who are respectful, kind, and just a good ol' boy. These guys scare the living daylights out of me.
Let's face it: I know how to be flirtatious, I know how to be *dirty*, I know the right (i.e. wrong) things to say. In short, I know how to get and hold the attention of a "bad boy".
Why do I bring this up? Because after coming off of a "chemistry high" with Mr. Fail, I'm failing to sense any chemistry with a "good guy". Let me introduce you to Mr. Music. Mr. Music, not only loves Jesus, but he's clean, loves his ministry, loves his family, loves people... I mean, basically, he loves everything that has to do with honoring the Lord. Which is incredible! I just don't know what to do with him. Mr. Music scares me. And I don't seem to feel any connection with him beyond a mutual love for the Lord.
That should be enough right? I don't know. And I guess at this point I'm trying to be careful that I don't brush him off just because I'm coming off of this chemistry/connection high with Mr. Fail.
So in an effort to see if Mr. Music and I have any chemistry, I'm going to a concert. Mr. Music is a rapper. Mr. Music is on tour. This is the closest Mr. Music will be to me in a long time.
We are planning to meet before the show. Hopefully, things will be very clear after coffee. Coffee clears everything up! Right...?
Pray for me. I'm nervous.
Yeah, I Like to Hide
I've noticed a trend. When life starts to get too hard to deal with I do one of two things (sometimes both).
1. I stop blogging
2. I block everyone from my reading list.
Doesn't make for a very good blogging author to say the least. It's almost been an exact month since I've blogged. Mr. Fail was part of my reason behind that.
I knew he was no good. I knew it would not be wise for me to go out with him. But the chemistry and the connection was so strong I didn't want to give it up.
How we now just call me Miss Fail-Wanna-Be? Well, I would give you permission, but I've had my own little personal revival. Jesus shot me with His Holy Ghost machine gun and I've been sticking close to him ever since.
Basically, expect more blog post and less blocking. :) Praise the Lord, right?!
1. I stop blogging
2. I block everyone from my reading list.
Doesn't make for a very good blogging author to say the least. It's almost been an exact month since I've blogged. Mr. Fail was part of my reason behind that.
I knew he was no good. I knew it would not be wise for me to go out with him. But the chemistry and the connection was so strong I didn't want to give it up.
How we now just call me Miss Fail-Wanna-Be? Well, I would give you permission, but I've had my own little personal revival. Jesus shot me with His Holy Ghost machine gun and I've been sticking close to him ever since.
Basically, expect more blog post and less blocking. :) Praise the Lord, right?!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Fail
One aspect of this whole online dating thing I did not consider was the computer/matching programs making a mistake.
Match.com matched me up with a very sweet, funny, caring, understanding guy. I was actually really into him. And then he told me this:
"Speaking of Biblical, I do not attend church, though I will tag along with my uncle and his family on occasion. Religion is something that is more of a curiosity to me. As in, while I don't really do the church thing and such, you'd be surprised how much I study on it and the history there-in is fascinating to me in many ways. But don't get me wrong, I do have my beliefs, and I certainly consider myself spiritual if nothing else."
My heart was bruised (not broken, or cracked or anything serious like that). We had been emailing everyday for about a week. The emails kept getting longer; we shared stories about our families; talked about music, movies, time spent alone, our jobs, our pets, coffee, and more. It was good wholesome conversations over email.
After reading his email it took me two days to get the courage up to tell him that ours would not be a lasting relationship because I valued my faith too much. To be honest, I did not want to write it. I didn't want to hurt him. Plus, it just hurt period to write it out.
Now I'm in the waiting period. You know when you send a text or email or something along those sorts and then about die waiting for a response?! Yeah, I'm there.
I've thought about suing Match.com for matching me up with someone really great but that I could never be with. Mostly because they told me we matched up in our religious beliefs even though he had nothing on his profile that mentioned God, or church, etc. I thought it was a bit odd, but I trusted their matching system. And it failed me.
Match.com matched me up with a very sweet, funny, caring, understanding guy. I was actually really into him. And then he told me this:
"Speaking of Biblical, I do not attend church, though I will tag along with my uncle and his family on occasion. Religion is something that is more of a curiosity to me. As in, while I don't really do the church thing and such, you'd be surprised how much I study on it and the history there-in is fascinating to me in many ways. But don't get me wrong, I do have my beliefs, and I certainly consider myself spiritual if nothing else."
My heart was bruised (not broken, or cracked or anything serious like that). We had been emailing everyday for about a week. The emails kept getting longer; we shared stories about our families; talked about music, movies, time spent alone, our jobs, our pets, coffee, and more. It was good wholesome conversations over email.
After reading his email it took me two days to get the courage up to tell him that ours would not be a lasting relationship because I valued my faith too much. To be honest, I did not want to write it. I didn't want to hurt him. Plus, it just hurt period to write it out.
Now I'm in the waiting period. You know when you send a text or email or something along those sorts and then about die waiting for a response?! Yeah, I'm there.
I've thought about suing Match.com for matching me up with someone really great but that I could never be with. Mostly because they told me we matched up in our religious beliefs even though he had nothing on his profile that mentioned God, or church, etc. I thought it was a bit odd, but I trusted their matching system. And it failed me.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Three Little Words
One of the things eHarmony does not tell you about are the billions of questions. eHarmony has "guided communication" as a step by step process before getting into emailing.
Step 1: Get to Know Each Other
This involves you asking and then answering five questions from a list composed by eHarmony.
Questions like "What do you think of "Soul Mates"", "How often do you find yourself laughing" or "Your idea of a romantic time would be". Of course, gracious as eHarmony is, they also provide answers for you to chose from or you can write your own. Depends on what you feel like doing at that point.
Step 2: Must Haves and Can't Stands
This is where you make a list (again, they provide you with options) of what you *must haves* and *can't stands*. (wow. I bet you didn't see that coming!) You can chose anything from "Emotionally Healthy", "Sense of Humor", "Energy Level", "Patience", "Chemistry" to "Family Life" for the *must haves*. They give you a description of each choice and if you wish, with every match you can switch out your choices.
The *can't stands* include "Worrier", "Lying", "Cheating", "Mean-spirited", "Arrogant", etc, etc. These also come with descriptions.
Step 3: Learn More About Him (or Her)
At this time you are able to ask five questions of your own or pick from another list they have so kindly made available to you. For examples, questions I've been asked have been of the following nature: "What is your favorite song or praise? And why?" and "What is your purpose in life" and so on.
Step 4: eHarmony Mail
Now you are able to freely email this person through your eHarmony email account.
Okay, so now you know exactly how eHarmony works. My problem is with all of the questions. Some I do not know how to answer... Such as "What do you think are the three best traits you have to offer to a partner?"
Um. Excuse me. One, I'm not your partner. Two, isn't that a bit selfish at this point in the "relationship" to be asking that question... Hello! We are only at Step 3!
So now in order to get to the eHarmony mail I have to answer this question. I, being at a complete loss of words, decided to text some of my favorite people and ask them to describe me in three words. Some of the answers I've received:
"Compassionate, funny, and all-around incredible" (this one is sweet. not to mention I really love the person who sent it to me. which makes it even better.)
"Sarcastic, searching, and faithful" (I like the person who sent this one too... but not sure how to incorporate it into my answer...)
"Beautiful, strong-willed, gracious" (I could use the last two. Using the first would sound so, so vain.)
"Tyrant, merciful, and loving" (This might be my favorite. I am an oxymoron to this person. And that makes me wrinkle my forehead and laugh!)
"Studious, friendly, spiritual" (yeah, I ain't studin' nuthin' right now...)
"Responsible, funny and down right pretty" (okay, so my best traits are that I'm funny and pretty. That's not going to get me far in the world...)
There are more I don't have time to type all of them. If you, my dear reader, have any suggestions, please comment and help me answer. :) Have a great day!
Step 1: Get to Know Each Other
This involves you asking and then answering five questions from a list composed by eHarmony.
Questions like "What do you think of "Soul Mates"", "How often do you find yourself laughing" or "Your idea of a romantic time would be". Of course, gracious as eHarmony is, they also provide answers for you to chose from or you can write your own. Depends on what you feel like doing at that point.
Step 2: Must Haves and Can't Stands
This is where you make a list (again, they provide you with options) of what you *must haves* and *can't stands*. (wow. I bet you didn't see that coming!) You can chose anything from "Emotionally Healthy", "Sense of Humor", "Energy Level", "Patience", "Chemistry" to "Family Life" for the *must haves*. They give you a description of each choice and if you wish, with every match you can switch out your choices.
The *can't stands* include "Worrier", "Lying", "Cheating", "Mean-spirited", "Arrogant", etc, etc. These also come with descriptions.
Step 3: Learn More About Him (or Her)
At this time you are able to ask five questions of your own or pick from another list they have so kindly made available to you. For examples, questions I've been asked have been of the following nature: "What is your favorite song or praise? And why?" and "What is your purpose in life" and so on.
Step 4: eHarmony Mail
Now you are able to freely email this person through your eHarmony email account.
Okay, so now you know exactly how eHarmony works. My problem is with all of the questions. Some I do not know how to answer... Such as "What do you think are the three best traits you have to offer to a partner?"
Um. Excuse me. One, I'm not your partner. Two, isn't that a bit selfish at this point in the "relationship" to be asking that question... Hello! We are only at Step 3!
So now in order to get to the eHarmony mail I have to answer this question. I, being at a complete loss of words, decided to text some of my favorite people and ask them to describe me in three words. Some of the answers I've received:
"Compassionate, funny, and all-around incredible" (this one is sweet. not to mention I really love the person who sent it to me. which makes it even better.)
"Sarcastic, searching, and faithful" (I like the person who sent this one too... but not sure how to incorporate it into my answer...)
"Beautiful, strong-willed, gracious" (I could use the last two. Using the first would sound so, so vain.)
"Tyrant, merciful, and loving" (This might be my favorite. I am an oxymoron to this person. And that makes me wrinkle my forehead and laugh!)
"Studious, friendly, spiritual" (yeah, I ain't studin' nuthin' right now...)
"Responsible, funny and down right pretty" (okay, so my best traits are that I'm funny and pretty. That's not going to get me far in the world...)
There are more I don't have time to type all of them. If you, my dear reader, have any suggestions, please comment and help me answer. :) Have a great day!
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