We inevitably become like the people we most admire, or whose lives have provided the greatest warnings. Here is my list!
1. Mother:-The definition of true beauty and my heart's greatest joy. Period.
2. Father:-My life's biggest heartache--and hence, the place of my truest growth-in forgiving a lifetime of absence.
3. Jessica Mumley:-The woman who taught me that our greatest freedoms come in confronting our demons. I have never grown as much under someone's mentorship as I did under hers.
4. Amber Parsons (nee Stover): Everything I know about loving people well through simple acts, I learned from her. I have never met a person who communicates love as well as this woman!
5. My cousin Sarah:-The Bible speaks of tying love and faithfulness around your neck...and this woman does it well. A rock of faith, she is.
6. Brady Bobbink:-The definition of faithfulness and living simply. I love this man and count myself privileged to have been in his flock!
7. Barbara Kisley:-She is facilitator and hostess extraordinare! Never met a better facilitator...she's that good!
8. Jillian Comrie:-The strongest young woman I know! She's like a secret weapon; sweet and genuinely loving, but with the ability to weather storms with grace and endurance. She's just lovely!
9. Martin Karanja:-my cousin and one of my best friends. The best man I have ever met!!! Faithful, great listener, kind, passionate about life and his family, and ambitious.
10. Shelley DeMars:-The best boss I've ever had! Hardworking, funny, kind, nurturing-I am dreading the day I'll have to work for someone else.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Words. Nuclear weapons or Penicillin?
Let's clarify a few things first.
I'm a geek.
The geeks shall inherit the earth!
It's a curious thing to me how what we say has so much power. I love words. In sentences, in moving Presidential speeches, in powerful sermons, in captivating novels. I am so amazed by how much words can heal and how deeply they can wound.
God Himself created all that we see around us (other than us humans) using just words. He spoke and creation came to be. Think on that for a moment! We create when we use words, just like He did. We build up or we tear down. Words can be the oxygen that resuscitate a dead being, or they can be the ingredient we add to create a fire.In my own life, the power of words is awakening some realities. Where I used to write "should" in my journal, I now write, "I hope to." A silly substitution, I understand. But for someone who needs to accept the limitations that come with being human, it's a small step in the right direction."Should" suggests that I am somehow idiotic for not acting in the appropriate manner to begin with. It suggests that had I been a smarter individual, I wouldn'tneed to be facing that specific issue. "I hope to", on the other hand, recognizes that I am human and continually growing and maturing. There's a future in "I hope to." There's only self-inflicted punishment with "should." Those who know me and love me enough to call me out have noticed a pattern of having and setting unrealistic goals/standards, and putting unfair pressure on myself. As I've sought God in prayer, I've realized that one of the easiest changes I can make is in my language.
While it seems elementary to point out that words have the power to break our bones (metaphorically speaking), I want to recognize their power so I can be kept accountable on how I use this tool. I welled up in tears recently as I heard a girl berate another woman based on her physical appearance. If you know me at all, you know I have a deep-seated anger at women speaking ill of their bodies based on unfair and unrealistic media-established standards based on vain and simplistic views of what it means to be beautiful. I seethe even thinking about it. But I digress...
The most wounding part about it was that through this conversation I saw through her words into a heart that believed lies that had led to unfair standards set for herself and others, and worst of all, a standard of living that was far from the abundant life Jesus desires that we enjoy in Him. Her words were mere vowels and consonants strung together according to her, but I could hear her cries for freedom from within her self-instituted jail cell as she spoke. And I cried. For her. For women. For the future we are creating for our daughters. In the brief moments following this interaction, I chose to think on the positive ways I had heard words used growing up that had helped avert deep insecurities and unhealthy behaviors in that particular area. Words that had created a fortress of real security-building up my personhood rather than calling it into question. Words that had encouraged. Words that have become cornerstone beliefs.
Words build, words tear down, words build bridges,and words create realities.
I'm a geek.
The geeks shall inherit the earth!
It's a curious thing to me how what we say has so much power. I love words. In sentences, in moving Presidential speeches, in powerful sermons, in captivating novels. I am so amazed by how much words can heal and how deeply they can wound.
God Himself created all that we see around us (other than us humans) using just words. He spoke and creation came to be. Think on that for a moment! We create when we use words, just like He did. We build up or we tear down. Words can be the oxygen that resuscitate a dead being, or they can be the ingredient we add to create a fire.In my own life, the power of words is awakening some realities. Where I used to write "should" in my journal, I now write, "I hope to." A silly substitution, I understand. But for someone who needs to accept the limitations that come with being human, it's a small step in the right direction."Should" suggests that I am somehow idiotic for not acting in the appropriate manner to begin with. It suggests that had I been a smarter individual, I wouldn'tneed to be facing that specific issue. "I hope to", on the other hand, recognizes that I am human and continually growing and maturing. There's a future in "I hope to." There's only self-inflicted punishment with "should." Those who know me and love me enough to call me out have noticed a pattern of having and setting unrealistic goals/standards, and putting unfair pressure on myself. As I've sought God in prayer, I've realized that one of the easiest changes I can make is in my language.
While it seems elementary to point out that words have the power to break our bones (metaphorically speaking), I want to recognize their power so I can be kept accountable on how I use this tool. I welled up in tears recently as I heard a girl berate another woman based on her physical appearance. If you know me at all, you know I have a deep-seated anger at women speaking ill of their bodies based on unfair and unrealistic media-established standards based on vain and simplistic views of what it means to be beautiful. I seethe even thinking about it. But I digress...
The most wounding part about it was that through this conversation I saw through her words into a heart that believed lies that had led to unfair standards set for herself and others, and worst of all, a standard of living that was far from the abundant life Jesus desires that we enjoy in Him. Her words were mere vowels and consonants strung together according to her, but I could hear her cries for freedom from within her self-instituted jail cell as she spoke. And I cried. For her. For women. For the future we are creating for our daughters. In the brief moments following this interaction, I chose to think on the positive ways I had heard words used growing up that had helped avert deep insecurities and unhealthy behaviors in that particular area. Words that had created a fortress of real security-building up my personhood rather than calling it into question. Words that had encouraged. Words that have become cornerstone beliefs.
Words build, words tear down, words build bridges,and words create realities.
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