I carefully scooped oatmeal into a white paper bowl and handed the bowl of warm oatmeal to an elderly man. I was working in dining hall up in a camp in Minnesota, and I always loved meal times. Our supervisor had to pick one or two people to help serve the food to the campers. During the second week, I was the only person who wanted to serve. So, I always got the chance of serving food to these people. This week was family camp, so I was serving to all sorts of people--adults, teenagers, toddlers, and even babies. It was organized in a cafeteria style. After a family was dismissed from their table, they would walk, one by one, and go through the line of food. Servers would stand in different spots and serve food. I earned the nickname 'Oatmeal Lady', since I served oatmeal every breakfast, and today was the same. After being asked by this elderly man if this was the real stuff or "a fake", I assured him that this was real oatmeal. Thanking me, he walked on his way. I glanced at the line ahead of me, preparing to scoop up more oatmeal, when I noticed something that made me laugh. A little boy, about 2 years old, stood by his mother, staring at the blueberry muffins sitting out on a tray. His mother, clearly distracted by putting bacon on his breakfast plate, didn't see what this little boy was doing, until it was too late. This blond haired boy stretched out his small hand, reached as much as he could, and finally grasped a warm muffin. Licking his lips, he took a huge bite out of the top of the muffin. Then, once only the top of the muffin was gone, he looked both ways (to make sure nobody was looking), and set the muffin back on the tray. This clearly already eaten out of muffin sat pitifully on the tray, definitely not an appealing sight to any hungry campers. Then, taking another muffin, the boy did the same thing. After his second muffin only had the top bitten off, he put it back. By this time, his whole face was light up with a smile bigger than a house. Grabbing for yet a third muffin, he opened his mouth for a huge bite. But this time, before he could feel the crumbly muffin reach his mouth, his mother realized what he was doing. Quickly snatching up the muffin, she set it back on the tray. Then, horrified by what her son had done, she scolded him lightly. Picking up the two muffins he took a bite out of, she set them on his plate, determined that he would eat even the less tasty bits of the muffin.
Isn't this what we're like in our Christian life? It sounds great to call ourselves Christians! But...we don't exactly what to live like Christians. Living for Jesus every single day of our lives? Not like, once a month? Maybe even once a week, on Sundays? So instead we decide that, we'll just take the best part. Just like the little boy biting into a muffin, he just wanted the yummy part. We often just want the title 'Christian', and leave the living for Jesus bit to someone else. Might be appealing to someone else, right?
There's no point to even calling yourself a Christian if you only want the title. If your only reason for calling yourself a Christian, is because it sounds impressive to other people, don't even bother calling yourself a Christian. We can't decide that we want to be called a Christian, but not live like one. If that little boy had tasted the bottom of those two muffins, if he had given them a chance, maybe he would have realized that it was better than he ever thought possible.
Kayla Joy
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Stumbling Steps
Sitting down on our back steps, I gently picked up my Bible and started reading from it. After reading a small passage, I glanced into the beautiful sunset just starting. The wind gently blew my hair, adding a pleasant relief to the hotness. Hearing squeals and giggles, I smiled and turned towards the noise. Our neighbors had a little girl, about a year and a half old. This little girl is the happiest girl ever. Always with a smile on her face and a hand quick to wave at anybody, she can find pleasure in the slightest things. Intrigued by placing a small cup inside a bigger one, she was finding this so amusing she just had to show her mommy. Toddling over unsteadily to her mother, she tripped on the cemented steps and landed on her knees. This only wiped the smile on her face off her for a second. The next second, she picked herself up, smiled, and continued slowly toddling towards her mother, not forgetting for a second what she found so funny.
It's much like this in our Christian walk. We set our minds on a goal--to be more Christlike--and slowly, ever so slowly, progress closer and closer to that goal. Often, throughout this walk, we stumble, much like the little girl. And stumbling can definitely be discouraging. Whether we fall on the ground from a large height, or only a small height like the little toddler, it's disappointing. It's easier to just give up on our goal all together. To say that we stumble too much and will never make it there. After all, we know that, even if we get up and try walking again, we'll stumble countless more times.
God knew we would stumble. He knew we would get discouraged. He knew we would lose focus of Him. He knew. The amazing thing? God's grace covers us. All of us. No matter how many times we stumble, He'll be there for us, reaching out His hand. No matter how many times we get discouraged, He'll be there for us, waiting for us to turn to His word and look for encouragement. No matter how many times we lose focus of Him, He'll help us refocus our attention on Him. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." His grace is sufficient for you. That grace didn't come at a cheap price. But He gave it to us because we are worth it. It doesn't matter how many times we stumble, fall into a huge pit, or mess up, He's waiting for us to turn back to Him. And when we do? He covers us with His amazing, endless grace and once again focuses our attention back on Him.
Kayla Joy
It's much like this in our Christian walk. We set our minds on a goal--to be more Christlike--and slowly, ever so slowly, progress closer and closer to that goal. Often, throughout this walk, we stumble, much like the little girl. And stumbling can definitely be discouraging. Whether we fall on the ground from a large height, or only a small height like the little toddler, it's disappointing. It's easier to just give up on our goal all together. To say that we stumble too much and will never make it there. After all, we know that, even if we get up and try walking again, we'll stumble countless more times.
God knew we would stumble. He knew we would get discouraged. He knew we would lose focus of Him. He knew. The amazing thing? God's grace covers us. All of us. No matter how many times we stumble, He'll be there for us, reaching out His hand. No matter how many times we get discouraged, He'll be there for us, waiting for us to turn to His word and look for encouragement. No matter how many times we lose focus of Him, He'll help us refocus our attention on Him. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." His grace is sufficient for you. That grace didn't come at a cheap price. But He gave it to us because we are worth it. It doesn't matter how many times we stumble, fall into a huge pit, or mess up, He's waiting for us to turn back to Him. And when we do? He covers us with His amazing, endless grace and once again focuses our attention back on Him.
Kayla Joy
Spider Love
After many times of meaning to memorize a certain verse, I decided it was official. I was going to memorize more Bible verses! Sitting down at my computer, I typed out a list of some of the Bible verses I wanted to memorize. Then I came across 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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.” Halfway through writing out this verse, I saw movement in the corner of my eye. Glancing down, I noticed a huge dirt colored brown spider crawling only inches away from my foot. Leaping out of the way, I instantly searched my room for something to kill him with. Conveniently, my sandal was right beside me. After a scary chase around my room, I finally smashed him to his death. Then I thought about the verse I had just been typing. 'Love is patient'. Well, I hadn't exactly been patient with him and compromised saying, 'Okay, I'll give you two days to get out of my house. The door is downstairs, I'll wait for you to get down there and open it for you since you don't exactly feel like getting killed today'. 'Love is kind'. Well, I hadn't exactly chosen the kindest path for this spider. 'It always protects' Hey! I'm not going to protect a spider, okay?? He's...a spider! 'Always hopes'. No way am I going to hope for this spider to not crawl up my arm in the middle of the night and suck my blood!
Another words, I hadn't been loving to this spider. Which, seeing as he's a spider, is fine. But don't we act this way towards people, too? Maybe they're difficult to get along with, always seem to be doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Maybe they're slow to understand a concept or can't seem to ever stop saying rude, hurtful words. But this Bible verse says that true love, the kind Jesus showed for us, loves the person regardless of how 'unlovable' they may seem. He loves them, even with all of their faults, just like how He loves us, even with all of our faults. If He created them and loves them, why can't we show that kind of love to everybody, not just the 'easy to love' people?
Kayla Joy
Another words, I hadn't been loving to this spider. Which, seeing as he's a spider, is fine. But don't we act this way towards people, too? Maybe they're difficult to get along with, always seem to be doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Maybe they're slow to understand a concept or can't seem to ever stop saying rude, hurtful words. But this Bible verse says that true love, the kind Jesus showed for us, loves the person regardless of how 'unlovable' they may seem. He loves them, even with all of their faults, just like how He loves us, even with all of our faults. If He created them and loves them, why can't we show that kind of love to everybody, not just the 'easy to love' people?
Kayla Joy
Thoughts on a Bible Passage
John 13:1-17 describes Jesus washing His disciples feet's. Now, I can perfectly understand the disciples washing Jesus's feet but, really? Jesus humbling Himself to the position of a servant and washing their feet? The disciples didn't deserve it, they should have been the ones washing Jesus's feet. But thankfully, God doesn't always give us what we deserve. We deserve to die on the cross for our sins, but instead Jesus took our punishment. He humbled himself to a position that we were supposed to fulfill. Someone had to do it, but instead of the ones deserving of the punishment, Jesus took it for us. Jesus, the perfect One, cared enough for us to die on the cross for sins He was completely undeserving of. Why would He do it? Because He loves us. He loves us so much that He would rather pay for our punishments than give us what we deserve. Because He took our death away and gave us life instead, can't we live for Him?
Kayla Joy
Kayla Joy
Trust in Strawberry Cheerios, or Trust in God?
One of the few cereals I liked when I was little, was cheerios. Plain cheerios were 'alright', but in my small mind, the best thing ever was to have cheerios with fresh strawberries in them. Even when I was little I always accompanied my mom to the store. I remember one particular time when she told me to pick out which kind of cereal I wanted. Naturally, I darted to the rather large section of cheerios. What seemed like hundreds of choices of cereal loomed before me, and I could spend all day deciding. Knowing that I didn't have all day to decide in, I grabbed a box with a seemingly perfect picture. In the box picture was a large shiny spoon with a mound full of cheerios stacked high on it. Milk swam in the bowl below the spoon. And, to top it all off, there were my beloved strawberries, beautifully mixed in with the cheerios, not to mention generously sprinkled on. I could already imagine biting into the plump, juicy strawberries. I quickly grabbed that picture perfect box and ran to the cart, and, as I did with all of my precious items, placed the cheerio box on the cart's childs seat. I then fumbled with the buckle. Clumsily I secured the buckle around my precious box of strawberry cheerios. Sighing contentedly, I willingly offered helpful suggestions to what we should buy, (suggestions such as begging for cookies, chips, and healthy things such as that).
The next morning I woke up rather tired, wishing I could have slept in more. Strangely enough, my tiredness vanished completely when I remember the box of cheerios. My strawberry covered cheerios. Scooting my stool over to the fridge, I climbed up and successfully took down my cheerios. I grabbed a bowl and a spoon, and sped over to the table. After requesting that my dad open the box (as most of the boxes I attempted to open turn out tattered in my frenzied attempts to open it quickly) he opened it for me. Thinking for only a second how jealous I was of him for being able to open it so perfectly, I peeked in the box. Cheerios were covering the box, but I didn't spot a single one of my juicy strawberries. Convinced they were hiding at the bottom, I started to pour myself a bowl. Only dried up old looking strawberries came out. No fresh, juicy, bright red strawberries.
I instantly questioned my dad, holding up one of the pitiful looking dried strawberries. "What are these?! The box showed juicy strawberries!" He explained gently that these were airtight strawberries, they wouldn't rot like the fresh ones would. I was instantly let down. I had mainly gotten these cheerios for the juicy strawberries--I had been cheated of them! I then demanded, "Why did the box lie?! They showed a picture of these, it has to have these in it!". Unaware that I had been expecting the juicy strawberries, my dad tried explaining to me again, but I felt I had been cheated. "This is a massive injustice! We should return the box for a box of fresh strawberries! The box says you can if you're not satisfied, and I'm not satisfied at ALL!" I remember thinking, filling with a rage. I finally settled down to eat the cheerios, disgustedly tasting all of the dried up strawberries. I stared at the box the whole time I ate, thinking if I looked upset at the the whole time, maybe it would help.
We tend to put our trust in people. Now, it's not bad to trust people, but we have to understand that they're only human, they're going to mess up. They're going to disappoint us. But if we put our trust in God, He will never forsake us. We may be disappointed because He didn't do something how we wanted Him to, but He has a good plan for us, and He's in control. I put my trust in the picture on the cereal box, sure that it would come out exactly how it said. But I was sorely disappointed, my lovely fresh envisioned strawberries were nowhere to be seen, only tiny dried up rather wilted looking bits of strawberries. Hebrews 13:5 says, "“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” People come in and out of our lives, you can't guarantee whose going to stay in your life and who won't, but you can be sure that God will. He promises never to leave or forsake us! And He doesn't false advertise like that box of cheerios did. Why don't we put our trust in the one whose perfect, who will never forsake us, and who loves us faithfully?
Kayla Joy
The next morning I woke up rather tired, wishing I could have slept in more. Strangely enough, my tiredness vanished completely when I remember the box of cheerios. My strawberry covered cheerios. Scooting my stool over to the fridge, I climbed up and successfully took down my cheerios. I grabbed a bowl and a spoon, and sped over to the table. After requesting that my dad open the box (as most of the boxes I attempted to open turn out tattered in my frenzied attempts to open it quickly) he opened it for me. Thinking for only a second how jealous I was of him for being able to open it so perfectly, I peeked in the box. Cheerios were covering the box, but I didn't spot a single one of my juicy strawberries. Convinced they were hiding at the bottom, I started to pour myself a bowl. Only dried up old looking strawberries came out. No fresh, juicy, bright red strawberries.
I instantly questioned my dad, holding up one of the pitiful looking dried strawberries. "What are these?! The box showed juicy strawberries!" He explained gently that these were airtight strawberries, they wouldn't rot like the fresh ones would. I was instantly let down. I had mainly gotten these cheerios for the juicy strawberries--I had been cheated of them! I then demanded, "Why did the box lie?! They showed a picture of these, it has to have these in it!". Unaware that I had been expecting the juicy strawberries, my dad tried explaining to me again, but I felt I had been cheated. "This is a massive injustice! We should return the box for a box of fresh strawberries! The box says you can if you're not satisfied, and I'm not satisfied at ALL!" I remember thinking, filling with a rage. I finally settled down to eat the cheerios, disgustedly tasting all of the dried up strawberries. I stared at the box the whole time I ate, thinking if I looked upset at the the whole time, maybe it would help.
We tend to put our trust in people. Now, it's not bad to trust people, but we have to understand that they're only human, they're going to mess up. They're going to disappoint us. But if we put our trust in God, He will never forsake us. We may be disappointed because He didn't do something how we wanted Him to, but He has a good plan for us, and He's in control. I put my trust in the picture on the cereal box, sure that it would come out exactly how it said. But I was sorely disappointed, my lovely fresh envisioned strawberries were nowhere to be seen, only tiny dried up rather wilted looking bits of strawberries. Hebrews 13:5 says, "“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” People come in and out of our lives, you can't guarantee whose going to stay in your life and who won't, but you can be sure that God will. He promises never to leave or forsake us! And He doesn't false advertise like that box of cheerios did. Why don't we put our trust in the one whose perfect, who will never forsake us, and who loves us faithfully?
Kayla Joy
Wandering in Circles, or Walking with a Purpose?
Pausing for a split second, I happened to glance at an ant on the wall. My first reaction was immediately to get rid of him, but I resisted this urge out of curiosity. I simply wanted to see where he was going and what he would do once he got there. Taking a seat on the floor, I watched this little black figure walk hesitantly up the wall, stopping every few seconds to glance about him. Finally, he seemed sure that he wanted to go to the top of the wall, so, zooming speedily along, he continued to make his way up the wall. Once he had reached the top, this little guy stopped to consider his options. It seemed he had forgotten why he wanted to get to the top, and, decided that, instead, the bottom of the wall looked much nicer. So, turning his body around, he started at a slower pace down the wall. This loop went on for seemingly forever, though, in reality, only a few short minutes. At arriving at the bottom of the wall, he turned straight around and made a bees line for the top, after the top turned straight around and made a bees line for the bottom. Finally, I let my cruelty take over and killed the pitiful thing.
This small black ant seemed, even to himself, to have no purpose in life. All he knew to do was, once stuck inside a room with the door shut, climb up and down the wall. He couldn’t make up his mind where to go. The instant he was on one side, he decided he wanted to be on the other. Thus, shifting constantly, he was walking in circles and getting no where.
Don’t we do the same sometimes? At times, we feel invigorated in our faith--ready to live every second for Christ! And yet, at other times, we feel dull and ordinary, not exactly determined to live for Christ. Revelation 3:15-16 says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Similarly, like the ant, we can’t decide which side to be on. So we end up being between as a compromise. We don’t want to be on one side and stay there! But this verse strongly makes its point, it’s better to be hot or cold than in between. Just like that ant--what’s the purpose of wandering from side to side?
Kayla Joy
This small black ant seemed, even to himself, to have no purpose in life. All he knew to do was, once stuck inside a room with the door shut, climb up and down the wall. He couldn’t make up his mind where to go. The instant he was on one side, he decided he wanted to be on the other. Thus, shifting constantly, he was walking in circles and getting no where.
Don’t we do the same sometimes? At times, we feel invigorated in our faith--ready to live every second for Christ! And yet, at other times, we feel dull and ordinary, not exactly determined to live for Christ. Revelation 3:15-16 says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Similarly, like the ant, we can’t decide which side to be on. So we end up being between as a compromise. We don’t want to be on one side and stay there! But this verse strongly makes its point, it’s better to be hot or cold than in between. Just like that ant--what’s the purpose of wandering from side to side?
Kayla Joy
We All Fall Down
I don't know about all dogs, but Sammy definitely wants to please us. But, he's just a dog, he sometimes disobeys us because he thinks he has a better idea. We're like Sammy, we want to please our Master, and we love our master, but, we all mess up. And sometimes, we think we know better. Sammy seems rather torn if we call him when he'd rather not listen. Sometimes, he does obey us. But there are other times that he thinks he knows better. He doesn't realize that if we had him off leash and let him dart for a squirrel, he'd run straight into a car into the street. We're like that, we love our Master, but we all mess up. We all sin and decide to do something instead of obey our Master. But the amazing thing is, He doesn't throw us in the dog pound for being bad, He lifts us up out of the muddy hole we're stuck in, wipes our tears away, and tells us that He already paid for that sin.
Kayla Joy
Kayla Joy
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