Thou Shalt Not Covet

The tenth Commandment continues to challenge me beyond understanding. Today I am confessing that being jealous of others is the ‘thorn in my side.’ The sin that sneaks in and tries to take over my heart. The sin that humbles me and strengthens my prayer life. The sin that keeps me close to Jesus as I am constantly reminded that I need a Savior.

There are times in life that I feel completely satisfied and thankful for the life I have. However, there are times that I forget to count my blessings and start counting others people’s blessings instead. I notice the cool things going on in other people’s lives and I start comparing myself to them. Eventually, I start wanting to live their lives. I start wanting their house, their children, their vacations, their cameras, their jobs, their friends…the list goes on and on.

Lately, I have felt jealous of some people who are close to me. I wish I had their talent, I wish I had their opportunities…

While thinking about all the things I wish I had, I decided to write the post below – as a reminder of the things that I am thankful for. Not surprisingly, I have a lot to be thankful for! Still, the feelings of jealousy remain and once again I am reminded that I am in constant need of God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness.

Once again I am reminded that I need to trust God and seek first His kingdom. I am reminded that God has a plan and a purpose for my life – and that plan and purpose is unique. It will not look like the plan and purpose he has for everyone I know. I am reminded to ask, seek, knock.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:7-11

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow! Time is flying by and soon we will enter the year of 2011. Can you believe it? Doesn’t it feel like Y2K was just last year? Remember the chaos?

As I prepare to enter another year, I can’t help but think of the many things that happened in my life this past year. I have a lot to be thankful for.

-          I am thankful for another year of life – I will soon be 25, but I often talk about how I still feel like I am 17…but perhaps a bit more grown up.

-          I am thankful for the time to dive into photography and the many opportunities that challenged me in exciting ways.

-          I am thankful for my Dgroup girls (High school and Junior High bible study) and all the things we have learned together.

-          I am thankful for good friends that bring joy to my heart - I miss those of you who are far away.

-          I am thankful for God’s divine patience, love, grace and mercy.

-          I am thankful for tulip fields for they take my breath away.

-          I am thankful for John - God has blessed me with a wonderful husband.

-          I am thankful for friends who took the time (and money) to come visit from faraway places.

-          I am thankful for many fun date nights.

-          I am thankful for my family – I don’t know what I would do without such wonderful people in my life.

-          I am thankful for John’s fast recovery after intestine surgery – seeing him hurting was so hard.

-          I am thankful for legs that can hike and a body that allows me to do nearly anything I want.

-          I am thankful for one more year of marriage and the ways it has challenged me to grow closer to the Lord.

-          I am thankful for all the times I got to see God’s creation while hiking and camping.

-          I am thankful for vacation time with family.

-          I am thankful for the opportunity to see many friends get married this past summer. May the lord bless their marriage all the days of their lives!

-          I am thankful for the beautiful coffee table my sister made just for me!

-          I am thankful for my new camera.

-          I am thankful for a new job.

-          I am thankful for a safe drive home despite the snow.

-          I am thankful for the gift of Jesus.

-          I am thankful for the ways life’s circumstances has strengthened my faith.

-          I am thankful for a car that has not broken down!

-          I am thankful for the opportunity to serve my community.

I am thankful for a lot of things – and a list like this one helps me remember the many ways God has provided. I am thankful for a loving and compassionate God who calls me his own!

I hope you all take the time to write a list of things you are thankful for. Sometimes it is easy to see the not-so-good-things in life, but if we take the time to reflect a bit, we begin to see that great things have happened as well.

What is Your Personality Like?

A coworker asked me if I had ever taken the ‘Myers-Briggs/Jung Personality Type’ test and I told her that I haven’t. I have not taken those tests not because I have never heard of them (everyone has heard of them!), but because I was always skeptical. One of my Communication professors at the University of Washington always talked about how those tests were plain garbage…so I didn’t see the point in wasting my time to find out something that isn’t really valuable.

But that coworker sent me a link to the test…and I had some time in my hands…so I took the test.

The results?

ENFJ

Unsure of what that meant, I did a bit of research and here is what J. Butt and M.M. Heiss have to say about people like myself:

“ENFJs are the benevolent 'pedagogues' of humanity. They have tremendous charisma by which many are drawn into their nurturant tutelage and/or grand schemes. Many ENFJs have tremendous power to manipulate others with their phenomenal interpersonal skills and unique salesmanship. But it's usually not meant as manipulation -- ENFJs generally believe in their dreams, and see themselves as helpers and enablers, which they usually are.

ENFJs are global learners. They see the big picture. The ENFJs focus is expansive. Some can juggle an amazing number of responsibilities or projects simultaneously. Many ENFJs have tremendous entrepreneurial ability.

ENFJs are, by definition, Js, with whom we associate organization and decisiveness. But they don't resemble the SJs or even the NTJs in organization of the environment nor occasional recalcitrance. ENFJs are organized in the arena of interpersonal affairs. Their offices may or may not be cluttered, but their conclusions (reached through feelings) about people and motives are drawn much more quickly and are more resilient than those of their NFP counterparts.

ENFJs know and appreciate people. Like most NFs, (and Feelers in general), they are apt to neglect themselves and their own needs for the needs of others. They have thinner psychological boundaries than most, and are at risk for being hurt or even abused by less sensitive people. ENFJs often take on more of the burdens of others than they can bear."

For those of you who know me well, what do you think? Does this sound like me?

Snowglobe

The snow came back!

The Simple Things in Life

Today was a really cold day! So cold that I never removed my wool jacket or my gloves at church. Oh, I should also mention that it snowed - although it didn't last for long.


Today I got to go to a retirement home with a couple of young man and women from church. We sang hymns, read from the bible and learned about having the heart of a servant. We sat in cushioned chairs and introduced ourselves to elderly man and women. I got to talk to Bert for a while and enjoyed every minute of it. He told me about his days in the army, his trips to the country side of France, his desire to learn more languages...We talked about volcanoes and astronomy. I told him a bit about my life and he wants me to come back and bring John with me. He told me he would like to meet my husband. (The fact that I have a husband still tickles me - even though we have been married for over two years!)


Today I went grocery shopping and for the first time ever, had a Costco hot dog for dinner with John. Despite our many trips to Costco during the past two years, we never had their hot dogs. Today was the perfect day for that because I didn't have anything ready for dinner at home.


Today I got to snuggle with John for a long time. There is no better way to keep warm these days.


Today was a good day! It was full of simple memories that brought joy to my heart.

The Importance of Solitude

I recently spent some time reading about the spiritual discipline of solitude and I wanted to share with you all a little bit about what I am learning by reading the book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.

To tell you the truth, when I think of the word ‘solitude’ my mind immediately travels to negative memories. I think of feeling lonely. Without friends.  Without family nearby.

Growing up in a Western society where we are all encouraged to become comfortable with noise and crowds, the thought of solitude and even silence can seem a bit daunting. However, I have been learning that my connotations of the word ‘solitude’ are very different from the kind of solitude God call us to.

As a matter of fact, Jesus himself practiced solitude!

Mark 1:35

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Matthew 14:23

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.

Luke 4:42

At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them.

What is the point of solitude? A couple of things come to mind, the one that speaks loudest to me is: to pray and to hear the voice of God. People like Elijah, Habakkuk and Paul stepped away from their daily routines to be able to hear the voice of heaven better. While one does not need to be far away from their routines in order to hear God, I have found that many times life can get so loud (literally and figuratively) that I cannot focus on what really matters. As a matter of fact, life can be loud even when I am alone.

Donald S. Whitney writes:

“Many of us need to realize the addiction we have to noise. It’s one thing to listen to the television, tape player, or radio while ironing or doing other chores, but it’s another thing habitually to turn one of these on immediately upon entering a room just to have sound. Even worse is to feel that it’s necessary to have background noise during Bible intake or prayer. I believe that convenience of sound has contributed to the spiritual shallowness of contemporary western Christianity. The advent of affordable, portable sound systems, for instance, has been a mixed blessing. The negative side is that now we don’t have to go anywhere without human voices. As a result we are less frequently alone with our own thoughts and God’s voices…”

How convicting this is to me! As a person who does not like to be alone, I have used music to distract the brain – to fool myself into thinking that I am not alone. However, I have hardly ever taken my time alone to “gaze on Christ with the eyes of my soul” (Tozer). This intimate time with God is not only precious, but it is needed! Time alone with our creator tends to air out the mind and iron out the wrinkles of the soul. It brings us back to our purpose. It brings us back to focus. It brings us back to abundant life.

In My Head

Well, yesterday's post was short, but I suppose it was full of things that have been in my thoughts. If you don't really care about what is going on in my head, stop reading immediately! If you have nothing better to do at the moment, keep reading.

I am really tired. I can hardly think about anything other than being tired. My days have been long and full of new information...and my poor brain is overwhelmed. Unfortunately, I also have a cold which does not help me feel better. So, I think today is going to be a day full of cough drops, vitamin C and lots of water.

While I try to adapt to a new routine and work life, I find myself REALLY missing photography. To clarify, I have not given up on photography, I just have not had a lot of time to think about it...but I miss it! So, if any of you are in need of holiday pictures, or if you know someone who is looking for a photographer please tell them about me. My little fingers are itching to take some photos and I miss spending time with Adobe Lightroom.

While there are many more thing going on in my head, I am afraid I will have to end it here because I need to get going. I will be posting a longer blog post on the topic of  solitude this weekend, when I have more time to write.

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!