more of Him less of me

Do you remember how you celebrated your fifth birthday?  your fifteenth?  your tenth?  Do you Em?  I don’t.  I don’t remember how I celebrated my sixteenth, my eighteenth, my twenty-first or my 30th.  Come to think of it I don’t even remember what I did on the big 4-0.  I do remember what I did on my twenty-seventh though.  Celebration.  It’s all in how you look at it. 

bressicajinegar:

Thank you, Em, for posting that lovely blog about yourself…on my own Tumblr. I’m sure you can only imagine how confused I was when I logged back in. Seriously though, a friend in need is a friend indeed. (That is the saying, right?)

P.S. I hate my computer.

Ya, so I gave in and read He’s Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. Although some of the chapters proved themselves to be morally wrong by my standards, the book was overall very helpful to those guy situations that all girls have. To end the book, they authors asked the readers to make their list of standards to go by. Rules: Do not date a guy who does not go by your own standards. Even if it’s just one of them.

MY SUPER-HELPFUL STANDARDS THAT I WILL NEVER EVER FORGET OR FORSAKE NO MATTER HOW ATTRACTIVE I THINK HE IS:

1. I will not go out with a guy who does not love God and has not accepted Jesus as his personal savior.
2. I will not go out with a guy who does not believe in staying pure until marriage/does not believe touch is a big deal.
3. I WILL NOT go out with a guy who drinks or does drugs of any kind.
4. I will not go out with a guy who is clearly not a good, kind, loving, and chivalrous person.
5. I will not go out with a guy who cusses and talks bad about other people.
6. I will not go out with a guy who does not care to listen or talk to me.
7. I will not go out with a guy who does not like to have fun.
8. I will not go out with a guy who does not act interested in me. i.e. Asking me questions, getting to know me better, etc. 
9. I will not go out with a guy who is not respectful toward women.
10. I will not go out with a guy who does not know how and when to be serious. (For example: Laughing during a funeral.)

(Source: amazon.com)

One week at camp this summer at a closing staff meeting we did this thing called “Put Ups” where basically we would just put up people (in front of everyone else) for everything they do and for that specific person for being all around being awesome.

So, someone would say.. “I would like to put up _____ because _______.”

It was an all around uplifting time, and a great encouragement to me especially.

Then, on Saturday, when I was at a worship appreciation party for church we did something very similar. We went around in a circle and when it came to the person we just said encouraging words and things we see people as i.e. a leader, a humble person, a helpful person, etc.

It struck me, why don’t we do this all the time? I would encourage this in everyday life rather than just a few random occasions. People should constantly be building each other up. I find people tearing each other down constantly and it is exasperating and heart-breaking. God sent us here to show His everlasting love. Even just a, “Hey, I like your shirt!”, has the potential to mean the world to someone. The truth of the matter is, no one knows what a person is going through emotionally. They could be having a bad day, week, month, YEAR.. and a simple “put up” or just a few encouraging words could change their life. As weird as that sounds, it is SO true. So, I challenge you to “put up” AT LEAST one person a day. Can you do it?

I hardly remember my first trip to the zoo, but I imagine that it was a tremendously big deal. I bet I longingly stared at each and every animal which we passed by. I imagine thoughts were running through my head like: “I wonder what it would be like to run like that animal.” or “I wonder what it would be like to BE that animal.” I did, however, establish a superb memory of the zoo in my head.

I guess with a fond memory of the zoo in my mind, it makes it easier to go back. I was sitting outside in the scorching hot sun on my lime green towel when it dawned on me: Today is Thursday! Thursday just so happens to be free day at the zoo. My friend, Mary, had coincidentally asked me if I would like to do anything later today. Delighted in the opportunity, I brought up going to the zoo. And it was set. My two brothers, Daniel and David, Mary, and my friend Chuck would set forth with five water bottles in hand on an adventure to the Zoo, which might as well have been the Sahara desert. 

As soon as we arrived at the zoo, we stepped out of the car and into the sauna. It was so ridiculously hot. None of us had to move very much before we started glistening with sweat. We visited the alligators, the prairie dogs, the kookaburras, the reptiles, the zebras, and of course the petting zoo. My brother David absolutely ADORES the petting zoo. He calls it the “Farm”. We saw three baby goats, and some mama goats with babies on the way (or at least we thought). As soon as I put the quarter in the food machine, a bunch of goats ran up and surrounded me. It was so entertaining. The goats followed the food. One goat also chewed up David’s sleeve. What an experience. By the time we were done with the goats, all of us were completely soaked in sweat. We tried walking in the shade, but we couldn’t escape the humidity. Finally, we decided a train ride with the breeze blowing in our faces would be the best idea to cool off. We grabbed a snow cone and cho-cho’ed down the trackes enjoying the scenery, but mostly the breeze.

Despite all of the sweat and complaints from today at the zoo, we all had a blast! One thing I thought of in particular from today was the way the goats instinctively knew what was going to happen when I put the quarter into the food machine. They followed whoever had the food as well. I think, just like the goats, we should instinctively know which path to choose in particular situations. If we have two decisions to make, choice A involving something we know we shouldn’t do and choice B being the better decision, we should instinctively follow that choice. I also believe the goats behavior I witnessed today at the zoo should be like our behavior when we follow our Lord. Drawn out to any opportunity we can, seeking Him in every way, having our eyes, ears, nose, and anything else ready to find Him in any place.

“Jesus said, ‘I am the good Shepard. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.’” John 10:14