Archive for the ‘Relationships’ Category:
My Little Man
There is a little man who has captured my heart. He has blue eyes and blond hair and little peachy cheeks. He looks up to me and likes to hold my hand. Last night, we watched Toy Story and played on his drum-set while singing, “Little Bunny Fou-Fou.”
He is two-and-a-half years old.
He is my baby brother.
Last night, we shared snack time. He climbed up into his little chair and wanted two Go-Gurts. “One for you and one for me!” he said.
I look at this little man and I love him. We have the same father, and we have the same blood. We are bonded together forever in that way, because we have the same family. We are also bonded by the bonds of love. I understand this best when we spend time together, singing songs and sharing snacks.
So it is with the family of God. By Jesus’ blood, we believers are bonded together and share the same Father. We have the same blood forever. However, we don’t fully understand this joy until we spend time together as brothers and sisters enjoying this special bond and sharing our love for each other and for our Father—sometimes this involves singing songs and also sharing snacks! (Colossians 3:16, Psalm 34:8, Mark 14:21-23)
Confessions of a Hard Heart
This week I was sitting with some people telling “inspiring stories” in their Christian lives. Many of the people around in the room were edified as a woman explained her most intimate moment with God, or as a young man told a story of how God provided for him after he prayed. Typically, I rolled my eyes and kept my mouth shut.
Then I realized, theses people do not have a problem, I do. These people’s faith was not naïve, nor were their stories unbiblical. The problem was that I was unwilling to hear them. It was not that their stories were not powerful, but that my heart was (and likely still is) hard. Here was a real moment to find fellowship with other Christians, and I blew it.
On Heart-Guarding…
To finish up the series on heart-guarding where we have sought out the help of ninja-men like Chuck Norris and looked to novels by Jane Austen, I’d like to mention a woman who has influenced me a lot through her books and also another more contemporary writer and see what we can understand.
A school of thought that perhaps supports the sensible side of things in Austin’s novel is from Elisabeth Elliot. I have gleaned from reading her books Passion and Purity and Quest for Love that a woman should “keep her own counsel” and “aim first at loving God.” Ms. Elliot encourages gentlemen to be forthright with the women to whom they are attracted and encourages women to keep quiet with her feelings until “after the proposal.” This doesn’t seem to leave much room for exuberance, but it does kind of make room for a quiet adventure—kind of like Miss Dashwood experienced I’m sure. It seems a little extreme to some and I’m sure Miss Maryanne would find Ms. Elliot’s ideas absurd; however, I would consider Ms. Elliot’s advice to be somewhat a bit of a heart-guarding experience, although, honestly, to me, it just doesn’t sound like any fun. I like to gush, and so that is why I was attracted to the next author!
