The Beautiful Surrender

My sister and brother in law gave my niece, Ella, a Compassion child for her birthday. Ella and the little girl have the same birthday, they both turn 4 on May 18. I thought it was a really good idea because it teaches Ella generosity and she has a pen pal until they turn 18 and maybe longer. Ella, apparently, didn’t think the idea was as cool.

You see, Jennie put the picture of the little girl up on Ella’s dresser in her room and then put Ella to bed. When she came into the room in the morning the picture was gone. This was the conversation that followed:

Jennie: Where did Deysy go?
Ella (with a strange look on her face): I put her in the toy box.
Jennie: Why?
Ella: I didn’t want her looking at me while I was asleep.

Haha! She is such a funny little kid!

This week’s shout out goes to my readers in Australia and Romania!

Leave a comment!

Extra shout out to Arabella from Switzerland and Mimmu from Finland for leaving comments on the last shout out!

Today is the first day of my last week of school.

Pray that I pass everything!

5 Things I Liked About Last Week (in no particular order):

1. buying my first set of living room furniture
2. finishing two of my five classes
3. Landmark Diner with Ruth
4. Concert with the girls
5. shopping for all things apartment with Sarah

Last night I went to the Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood concert.  I knew it would be a fun show, but I can’t say that I was really a huge fan of either one of them before I went.  I liked some of their stuff, but didn’t own any of their stuff.  I am totally buying their CDs today!  They were awesome!

I was incredibly entertained the whole time.  My favorite part of the show was when Carrie Underwood came out and sang with Keith Urban.  Awesome!

Also, during Carrie’s set she started thanking everyone for putting her on that stage, blah blah blah, and she actually started to tear up, which was kind of touching.  I wasn’t sure if she was for real or not, but then she started singing her next song and couldn’t even get through it because she was crying!  The best part was that my friend Sara started crying too and said “It’s hard being on the road.”  I started laughing very insensitively at that point.  But here are some pics from my phone:

I just bought my first couch.  I feel so grown up!

Does anyone know of a good place around Atlanta to buy a kitchen table for cheap that delivers?

I would like to take this moment to give a shout out to my readers in Switzerland and Finland!  You guys have hit the double digit mark!

Leave comments!  I want to know who you are! (Well I know who you are Mimmu, but you can still leave comments!)

I caved.  I bought new water bottles.  Good news is that I can still use the same bit valve lids, I just needed new bottles.

I figured if Nalgene is going to stop making them, then I better switch.  Of course, I still drink diet coke like it’s going out of style.  That is sure to kill me before my water bottle!

As promised, part two of what I have been learning in the book “Get Out Of That Pit” by Beth Moore.

God made me very empathetic.  I used to think this was more of a curse than a gift, but I have come to understand it more lately.  I am also a “fixer.”  I think that part comes along with being a woman.  The problem is that being empathetic and being a fixer are not a good combo!  When I am really feeling someone’s pain and God places them heavily on my heart, my first reaction is to fix it.  What I need to do is go into the trenches in prayer for that person, but I start planning out how I am going to help them.  I am getting a lot better at praying first and this point in the book emphasized that even more for me.

You see, she started talking about how God is the only one that can truly deliver us from the pit.  When I read that I immediately thought “I know that, God is the only one that can deliver me from the pit.”  The part I didn’t see coming was that I have often tried to be people’s deliverer.  Here’s where the first sledge hammer hit me in the stomach:

In our relational parallel, if a man- or woman- pulls us out of the pit, solely assuming the role of deliverer, her or she will inadvertently sell us into slavery of one kind of another almost every time.

What?!  I was totally shocked and completely convicted by that one sentence.  But it is so very true.  While God may sometimes choose to use people to deliver us, we can only find true deliverance through him.  How many times have I “fixed” things for people only to have them rely on me instead of God?  How many people have I led into slavery through my good intentions?  These were very sobering questions for me.

Nothing is more futile or leaves us more fractured than trusting man to be our God.

God can and will redeem us from the pit when we call on him.  Sometimes it’s the long way around in our minds, but only by that path will we find our freedom.  So I am going to stick to fighting for peoples hearts in the trenches of prayer.

She also mentions that when we trust humans to be our delivers, we can, in a way, suck the life out of them.  I should have learned this lesson a long time ago, because I hate to admit it, but I have had the life sucked out of me by people that I was fixing.  I am sure I have done the same to others who tried to help me.  

People can help us but they can’t heal us.  People can lift us but they can’t carry us.  On occasion people can pull us out of a pit, but they cannot keep us out.  Nor can they set our feet upon a rock.  When we come out of a put, if our idea of stability is standing on another human’s shoulders, his clay feet will inevitably crumble and we’ll take a tumble.  The job’s too big for him.

When we pull someone out of a pit we give them a false idea of who we are.  They think we can get them through anything.  The truth is that we will only disappoint.  In the end they are slaves to their disappointment and will just end up in another pit.

So my questions for you and for me are:  Are you trying to rescue someone from a pit right now?  Are you looking to someone to rescue you?  It’s time to break away from that codependency and turn to the only one that can deliver.

He has delivered us from such deadly peril, and he will deliver us.  On him we have set our hope tat he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.

2 Corinthians 1:10-11

Today I met with my friend Kathleen to work on a project for school.  Every time we get together she totally cracks me up.  Here was my favorite line:

“I am so addicted to coffee.  Before I drink it, the world looks very bleak to me.”