The Note-Card

The other day I decided to go for a run. As I reached the end of my route I slowed down to a jog and as I was rounding a corner I noticed a folded note-card on the ground. I stopped to pick it up. I noticed that the note card wasn't crumbled up or anything, but folded almost perfectly. I picked it up and opened it. There was only one word inside and it read: "alone". Intrigued, I folded the paper back up and ran back to the house. I got ready for work and left. Instantly forgetting about the notecard accidentally leaving it back at the house. The inked in word, "alone", was burned in my head. This note-card and word meant so much more than a simple piece of paper and a possible spelling word. It represents every single person out there going through problems, having a hard time, and ultimately living their life without God. From the outside most everyone seems fine. You can't tell they are hurting or crumbled up inside. They many not be perfect but they look like they're doing pretty well. But what we don't see is that inside they are in need of help, they are hurt, they are alone, they are in need of someone to just sit and listen to them. We never notice these people because we are too busy running in our own world, we hardly every take the time to slow down for any body else. When we do seem to talk to these people we tend to forget about them moments later, only to remember them days or hours after. There are millions and millions of those note-cards out there waiting for us to stop and pick them up. Next time we might find ourselves running, we should stop and pray to God to help us to walk. We should ask Him to give us the eyes to see His lost people and to to give us the heart to help them. So that He can lead us to His people, His note-cards that are scattered all over that may read; "help", "lost", "afraid", "given up", or even "alone".

We thought we knew. We never knew.

I spent a couple of hours hanging out with friends discussing different opinions on theology and life in general. During the discussion I realized how much we think we know about things and stick firm with it without ever hearing the other side to things. Even if we don't state our opinion and just listen to everyone else we would learn so much as long as it is with an open mind. A lot of the times we just take what we know and live off of it. We don't take the time to hear other people or to learn how things could be done. By learning from other people we can either learn the truth about topics or realize that we were right and have more ground to stand firm.

The Sights of Music

I went to midnight mass this morning to start off my wonderful Christmas day. It was very interesting. We began by singing and as the organ began to play I noticed there was nobody on stage playing or even singing. I turned towards the music and it was coming from behind and above me in a balcony. There was a choir singing and musicians behind them. I turned back around and sang some of the words along with them thinking how awkward it was to be facing away from the music. I started to think some more as the next song began and I looked up towards a statue of Jesus on the cross which was at the head of the room. I realized that we don't need to see the music be preformed in order for us to praise God. We listen to music. We hear the words. We don't need to see someone else sing the words. I realized that the congregation and the choir were both singing together towards Jesus at the cross. We weren't singing to each other but together and at the same time apart for the glory of our Lord. That was when I realized that we don't need to see our worship music for it to be real because music isn't for the eyes but for the ears.

Give it up

If Jesus knocked on your door and said leave your family and don't say good bye, follow me. Would you? If he walked up to you and said, you're dad is going to die tomorrow but I want you to leave him now and follow me would you? What if you got a bonus at work and He was chilling by your car after you got off and he told you to take that bonus and give it away would you? That is exactly what Jesus asked people and asks of us now. Luke 9:61-62 says "Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” 62.But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” He told that man, if you are to follow me, you will give up everything. Leave it behind and give it up for me. Tuesday night I was sitting in service and the speaker was talking about how people in Haiti live off of less than 10 dollars a day. I thought, I can do that. But really, we rely so much on money and our things that we don't realize that we can plow threw 100 dollars in a day without a sweat. The Pastor Sunday was talking about a man named John Wesley decided that he could live off of 28pounds a year and give away the rest if he made any more(this was about 1731 at the time). At first he made 30pounds so he gave away 2 and kept 28. A year or two went by and he made more but still only kept 28pounds. By the fourth year he was making 1400pounds, and yet he still only kept 28pounds of it, giving the rest to charity and such. Today he would be making about $160,000 a year and yet he lived on only about $20,000 annually. How crazy awesome is that!? What is stopping all of us from only living on what we need? Why do we actually need all the rest? Why can't we give it all up and follow Jesus without worry? We don't have to know exactly where our money is suppose to go to at the beginning. It could be just a tithe to the church and once we start God will show us where He wants our money. We don't have to start huge as long as we are giving it truly to honor Him.

Clutch and Go

So the Maxima I had been driving broke down and is now all fixed up which is very handy. It is a standard and it has been fun getting back into the swing of driving it. I'll admit that when ever I don't shift in time or give it too much gas I get aggravated after a while, but I'm getting a lot better. As I was driving home I was thinking about some stuff in my life that is bothersome and shouldn't be. I came up to a stop sign  and as I started to go I didn't let the clutch out enough and wasn't giving it enough gas so it was a super slow and some what delayed start that was a little frustrating. At the next stop sign I tried to figure out how to fix the problem. I gave it more gas and let go of the clutch a little sooner and the car began to go smoother than before. As I was doing this I was still thinking about things and what I came to realize is that I need to learn to let go of things better, just like the clutch. If I would just let go sooner and press the gas more I would be able to drive smoother. So once I start to let go of things I can begin to have fun and complete things in my life and go about it more happily. I think that if we just try to accept that we need to let go of things, or let things not bother us anymore we will be able to enjoy things more. We need to remember that God will be next to us when ever we need help driving through tough times.

I have it in my pocket, sorry it's hard to see

I was sitting on the couch today and a friend was on the other couch while we watch the Ou Osu game. She said how she was cold and wanted a blanket and right after that my sister pointed to a blanket that she was sitting on. I thought it was kind of funny because I bet that happens to us all the time. I bet there are many times when we want what we already have, like money for instance. Many times we make enough to keep us going yet we still want more. Or say we have a decent coat but we still say we need one as we ware our current one. I just thought I was interesting how we want what we already have. Next time I think how I want something I am going to step back to see if I have it or even need it for that matter.  

Awesome Theaters

I went to the movies with a friend at the dollar theater today. The dollar theater is a huge switch from our theater uptown which is more high class. This theater however was much smaller, less clean and the screen even had been cut and stitched back together. It didn’t even matter how the theater was or that our movie stopped working towards the end, even though my friend kept making fun of it. Ultimately it doesn’t matter about the quality or fanciness of the event or place but about the company we share it with.