Love. It draws strong emotion. We love our cell phones and big TV's and tablets. We love the new restaurant in town. We love our hair color and designer shoes and craigslist find. We love our bank and our favorite barista and our local Target.
Sometimes I forget that love is right here. Real love. The kind of love that seeps into our souls and changes us. The kind of love that makes us better, more whole. The kind of love that grounds us and sets our hearts on fire. The kind of love worth living for.
I get buried and don't see. I get stressed over bills and frustrated over piles of laundry. I get overwhelmed with a busy schedule and emotionally drained over bad news. I get tired. I get bored. I get run down by the daily grind.
So often I don't see it. I don't see real love.
I'm beginning to learn something profound. I'm finally starting to learn to look.
It's in the peanut butter smeared faces of my little ones. It's in the strength of my husband praying before we eat. It's in the callus hands of my grandfather and the wrinkled eyes of my grandmother. It's in the 'I love you' I hear nearly every time I talk to my mom. It's in the mirror-it's the blessing of my life. It's the giggles I hear from a 2 year old when I tickle her and the gut wrenching laughter that comes from my 3 year old when I tell a joke. It's the smell of my baby. Real love is the feeling of another soul hugging you so tight you become one. It's in the smelly, cattle stuffed barn where a babe lay in a manager-the tiny infant that changed the world-that changed your world. It's in the message of the crucifixion cross. It's in the crisp, cool air of a fall day and the wonder of God's creation.
Love is not a was or a will be. It is a now. It is a here. Whether we choose to see it or not. It is the present.
Pause with me, will you? Remember to look for, listen to and admire the love around you. In your home, on the street, on the internet. It's here. Don't overlook it. Choose to be present to see it. To thank God that nothing can ever separate us from His love. He chooses to lavish us with His love daily. Regardless of bad choices we make, lies we tell, souls we hurt or bodies we defile. He gives you much to love. So much to appreciate and see as love.
Know that you are loved. You are never forgotten. You are a now. You are a here.
Go see it. Go ponder it. Go take it in. Go be it.
With love,
Chels
"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love..."
Romans 8:38a (NLT)
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Breathe in-Breathe out
I have a little exercise for you to do. DONT WORRY. It's quick and painless (and even good for you!). Here it is....
Take a deep breath. Like a really deep breath. The kind that makes you pause for a few seconds and not think entirely straight and perfectly straight all at the same time.
Now let it out. Breathe out. Fully. Make sure you feel empty. Like the kind of empty that feels weak and full at the same time.
What a weird way to start a blog post, right?! Hang with me.
I've been thinking about this whole breathing thing. Recently I found myself in another conversation with God about how to fully love my husband. The day in-day out kind of stuff. How can I encourage him when he gets home from work if I am dog tired from my day with our three littles. How in the world can I have energy to go to him and hug him and offer a genuine listening ear when I am so ready for dead silence and just time to think-alone. (Which believe me, is much more difficult than it seems when you're caring for three children under the age of 4. )
"How God, how!?"
Here's what he replied... "Chelsia, breathe in so you can breathe out".
Do you hear it?...He told me I have to breathe HIM in in order to breathe HIM out to my husband.
The truth is simple. If we want to offer our spouses (or any other relationship) true love, grace, wisdom, honesty and encouragement we have to be filled with that. I can't expect to speak truth into my husbands life if I am not spending time filling myself with that truth. We can't give someone something we don't have. I can't speak kind words and have a heart of respect and love if I am not going to the one who fills me with those very things.
It's literally impossible.
You may be thinking "I've heard this a thousand times! It still doesn't help". I get it. It's old news. I'm writing to myself when I say that we have to choose to believe it with our souls.
Nothing takes root unless we plant it.
I like the way Psalm 19:7-9 points us to the life-giving greatness of God. The translation in the "The Message" is pretty cool.
"The revelation of God is whole
and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear
and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right,
showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain
and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate
down to the nth degree."
When we breathe in God-His truth from the Bible-we get complete access to all of this. He holds nothing of himself from us. The God of the universe, whose glory is declared by the heavens, the only one the mountains will bow to, who controls water, light, dark and all things under the sun, offers to fill you and me with all things glorious so that we can breathe those things into others.
We don't have to 'fake' love or 'fake' forgiveness or 'fake' affection towards our spouse. I'm over that. I'm over striving to give something I don't have. I resolve to go to the giver in order to get what I need. You wouldn't go to the grocery store to buy gasoline for your vehicle so why look inward for something we don't have and cant give-unless of course God has filled us with it.
How about you? How do you fill this in...."I wish I___________". Do you wish you were more patient when your kids mess up? Do you wish you had the right thing to say to your friend whose getting a divorce? Do you wish you were more loving to the impossibly annoying co-worker?
Just remember this...it's as easy as breathe in-breathe out.
Chels
"May the words of the mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14
Take a deep breath. Like a really deep breath. The kind that makes you pause for a few seconds and not think entirely straight and perfectly straight all at the same time.
Now let it out. Breathe out. Fully. Make sure you feel empty. Like the kind of empty that feels weak and full at the same time.
What a weird way to start a blog post, right?! Hang with me.
I've been thinking about this whole breathing thing. Recently I found myself in another conversation with God about how to fully love my husband. The day in-day out kind of stuff. How can I encourage him when he gets home from work if I am dog tired from my day with our three littles. How in the world can I have energy to go to him and hug him and offer a genuine listening ear when I am so ready for dead silence and just time to think-alone. (Which believe me, is much more difficult than it seems when you're caring for three children under the age of 4. )
"How God, how!?"
Here's what he replied... "Chelsia, breathe in so you can breathe out".
Do you hear it?...He told me I have to breathe HIM in in order to breathe HIM out to my husband.
The truth is simple. If we want to offer our spouses (or any other relationship) true love, grace, wisdom, honesty and encouragement we have to be filled with that. I can't expect to speak truth into my husbands life if I am not spending time filling myself with that truth. We can't give someone something we don't have. I can't speak kind words and have a heart of respect and love if I am not going to the one who fills me with those very things.
It's literally impossible.
You may be thinking "I've heard this a thousand times! It still doesn't help". I get it. It's old news. I'm writing to myself when I say that we have to choose to believe it with our souls.
Nothing takes root unless we plant it.
I like the way Psalm 19:7-9 points us to the life-giving greatness of God. The translation in the "The Message" is pretty cool.
"The revelation of God is whole
and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear
and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right,
showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain
and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate
down to the nth degree."
When we breathe in God-His truth from the Bible-we get complete access to all of this. He holds nothing of himself from us. The God of the universe, whose glory is declared by the heavens, the only one the mountains will bow to, who controls water, light, dark and all things under the sun, offers to fill you and me with all things glorious so that we can breathe those things into others.
We don't have to 'fake' love or 'fake' forgiveness or 'fake' affection towards our spouse. I'm over that. I'm over striving to give something I don't have. I resolve to go to the giver in order to get what I need. You wouldn't go to the grocery store to buy gasoline for your vehicle so why look inward for something we don't have and cant give-unless of course God has filled us with it.
How about you? How do you fill this in...."I wish I___________". Do you wish you were more patient when your kids mess up? Do you wish you had the right thing to say to your friend whose getting a divorce? Do you wish you were more loving to the impossibly annoying co-worker?
Just remember this...it's as easy as breathe in-breathe out.
Chels
"May the words of the mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Blogger by Faith
Welcome!
So here I am, a 'blogger by faith'. What is that you ask? Simply put, someone who isn't sure they're cut out for reaching people with exciting words and perfect punctuation and relevant information but who chooses to do it because the God of the universe says to.
And when He says to move-we move.
How am I moving? Authentic living. That's what I'm about. Choosing to be real, raw, transparent. Knowing that is the way to break chains, bulldoze barriers and live deeper. I am so ready to take off the superficial masks and get deeper. I am so ready to be obedient and start writing. Right here-on this blog. God asked me to. So I guess if I am going to 'preach' it to other people, I better live it out!
All for the sake of Christ. For HIS name alone.
This is the place I will wrestle that out. I will expose myself in order to free others and encourage others to experience true life with Jesus. It's messy. Like, really messy. But so whole. So pure. So good.
Right here, I will open up about the anything and everything God calls me to write about. If He asks me to write it, it'll be here.
I'm liking you already for reading this to the end :) Hang with me friend. God has a lot to say-amazingly He's asked to say some of it through me. Why? I don't know. I guess because He uses the most unlikely to walk on water and break ground and win wars.
I am the unlikely.
I am a 'blogger by faith'.
Chelsia
So here I am, a 'blogger by faith'. What is that you ask? Simply put, someone who isn't sure they're cut out for reaching people with exciting words and perfect punctuation and relevant information but who chooses to do it because the God of the universe says to.
And when He says to move-we move.
How am I moving? Authentic living. That's what I'm about. Choosing to be real, raw, transparent. Knowing that is the way to break chains, bulldoze barriers and live deeper. I am so ready to take off the superficial masks and get deeper. I am so ready to be obedient and start writing. Right here-on this blog. God asked me to. So I guess if I am going to 'preach' it to other people, I better live it out!
All for the sake of Christ. For HIS name alone.
This is the place I will wrestle that out. I will expose myself in order to free others and encourage others to experience true life with Jesus. It's messy. Like, really messy. But so whole. So pure. So good.
Right here, I will open up about the anything and everything God calls me to write about. If He asks me to write it, it'll be here.
I'm liking you already for reading this to the end :) Hang with me friend. God has a lot to say-amazingly He's asked to say some of it through me. Why? I don't know. I guess because He uses the most unlikely to walk on water and break ground and win wars.
I am the unlikely.
I am a 'blogger by faith'.
Chelsia
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