Just Do It, Abide.

Last year I wrote a blog titled, “Just Do It.” The point of this blog post was basically just to discuss my problem with being so passive and waiting all the time, and the revelation I had, inspired by God and Nike, to just do it.

After writing this post, one of my friends asked, what is it, exactly? How do we know what to do? At the time I didn’t have an answer for him. Now I think things are a little clearer, and turns out, it's not as hard as we may think.

Cam once told me that being a Christian is taking the journey to Christlikeness. Did I say that right, Cam? Anyway, it wasn’t until I heard on the radio that God’s will for us isn’t just a big plan for our lives, but it’s also for us to become Christ-like that I connected the two. Our journey, our path, our walk, and God’s will for us are pretty much the same thing! Seems obvious now, doesn’t it? We may never know what it is exactly at that moment, but it is to be Christ-like. We know what that is:]

At church on Sunday, Pastor was talking about abiding. Abiding means to remain; to wait; to stay connected; to be steadfast; endure. This is what we need to do! This is the it!!!! The concept of abiding comes from John 15 (the first part) and it’s mentioned 15 times… so yeah, it’s important. So as we abide in Him, He also abides in us:] and as a result, we become more like Him! Wooo we did it.

Anyway… I’ll say it again, Just do it. Remain in Him, abide in Him. Be like Him!

Now, I know this still isn’t very specific, but that’s ok. Just do what God wants you to do, be who God wants you to be. If you don’t know, then ask Him! If you make a mistake, or make the wrong decision, just thank God for His grace and keep walking. Pick up the stones and keep walking. We usually don’t know exactly what God wants us to do, or what job He wants us to have, etc. But we do know He wants us to be Christ-like, we know He wants us to abide, so don't freak out because you don't know what it may be specifically. Take a break and just do it, be like Him.

Pickles, NO!

I recently became a proud parent of a 10 month old cat named Captain Pickles. He is so sweet and soo lovable. He is also the most curious cat in the world, I swear.

The first morning with Captain while I was drying my hair I heard a mysterious ticking noise coming from the kitchen. I turned off the hair dryer, and discovered that Captain had jumped onto the stove and managed to turn the gas on at the same time. I immediately set Pickles on the floor and turned the gas off. “God, please keep this cat from killing himself and burning down the apartment while I’m at class.” I prayed.

It has been two weeks now, and the apartment is still standing, and Pickles is as curious as ever. I have to be on my guard every second to make sure he’s not going to knock over the coffee pot, or jump on my dresser and eat an earring. I even have to make sure I put the lid down on the toilet or he will dive in!

I love him soooo much that the other day I got him a very special present, a spray bottle. He hates it, and I hate it.

Anyway… being a parent is completely new to me. I’ve only ever been the child. One of the most interesting things that I have noticed is that I don’t mind these things about Pickles. He could go from his litter box, to the toilet, knock over the coffee pot and eat all my cheese, be soaking wet from the spray bottle and I would still love for him to lay on my pillow next to my head while I sleep, and he does:]

God welcomes us to do the same. When we do things that we know are wrong, when we fall and make mistakes, God still wants us to go to Him for rest. God still welcomes us when we break everything that is good for us, when we are covered in the mud of guilt, soaked from consequences of selfish decisions, and lost within our own curiosity of the world and what it offers. God STILL wants us to come lay with Him, He STILL adores us. God says, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28).

Sometimes when God doesn’t do what I ask Him to, or when something goes wrong I get frustrated instead of going to Him. I need to recognize that in these moments, God is not spraying me for fun, or to punish me, but he is teaching me. He has my best interest at heart and doesn’t want me to get hurt or to break things, He loves me so much that He would rather me get mad at him than allow me to hurt myself. Similar to when I try to discipline Pickles, He hates it, and I hate it.

Then, when I am filthy with sin and guilt, He still invites me to rest with Him. Too bad shame likes to keep me from doing this sometimes. I’m glad Pickles doesn’t feel like he needs to sleep in the corner for what He did. I want him to rest with me!

I’m really glad that even though I spray Pickles and keep him from doing the things he wants to do (toilet diving) he still wants to be my friend. And even when he knows he’s dirty, or bad, or wet, he will still come to me and rest on my pillow. I think this is a lesson we can all learn from Captain Pickles.

Chocolent.

Today is the first day of lent! You guys are probably thinking, "Omg, Is she Catholic now?" Ha, you might not really be thinking that, but no, I'm not Catholic, nor am I considering being Catholic, but the concept of lent is very intriguing.

This past Sunday, that cold white stuff that falls from the sky prevented us from getting to our usual church on time. With a friend coming alllll the way to Alfred from Houghton, we were forced to wait so she could drive safely and we could attend church together, what a brave soul she is!

Anyhoo, while considering our options, we figured we'd be about 20 minutes late to any church we could think of, but then Alyssa (that brave soul) had an idea, "How about the Catholic church?"

After a moment of hesitation I responded, "Umm, oh kay. That's better than nothin' I guess."

So, off we went! This was the second time I have been to a Catholic service, I believe it is called Mass? and I'm not going to lie, I wasn't particularly excited, but its always interesting to see how people choose to connect with God in different ways. <-- controversial?

Catholic services are short: stand up, sit down, sing a little, pray, listen, communion, etc. Basically, you do what you gotta do and then you are free to go, not to bad. But! This day, when the priest mentioned lent, the congregation seemed to liven up the ever so tiniest bit. I'm not sure why, really. Were they excited? Were they surprised? Alarmed? Scared? I don't know.

But then I got to thinkin', "Hmmmm, lleeennnnttttt. What would I give up?" It didn't really take me long to figure out that I would give up chocolate, ha. Then I figured, why not? Its pretty much just a little fast, I could totallyyyyy give up chocolate for 40 days for God!

The priest made us take little lent booklets on our way out. No big deal. Then later we talked about lent a little bit further. I spose I'll try it!

Since I pretty much want chocolate alll the time, this will give me a good opportunity to rely on God for something I take for granted. Every time I want chocolate, which happens a lot I'll be reminded of God's huge sacrifice and I will rely on His strength to give Him my tiny one.

So, I got the little book, day one: I wrote down my sacrifices, let's see how this thing goes!