When Lights Are Too Bright...

I've recently been meditating on the metaphor God gave us of being lights to the world.

Matthew 5:16
^" In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

We understand that we've been called to be a light to the world, but what kind of light exactly?

What started this thinking process most recently is the increasing amount of Christians that I see who are so quick and eager to correct others for doing wrong (myself sometimes included in that!). While I know it happens a lot outside of the internet, I think social media has made it that much easier for us to express our thoughts and opinions freely. We feel comfortable hiding behind a computer screen when we attack someone else for doing or saying something that we don't particularly agree with. But is this how Christians should act? Is this aggressive, sometimes violent, portrayal of faith an accurate representation of who Christ is? What kind of light is that?

I like to think of it like this (and I'm paraphrasing a message given by my brother a few years back):

There are a multitude of different kinds of light. There are flashlights, headlights, lamps, candles, lights for the garage, lights for the closet, chandeliers, sunlight, moonlight, the list goes on! All have the same purpose: to help you see things better. But what happens when one of those lights is used incorrectly? Let's take the flashlight, for example, because I think it's one of the closest things we have to the kind of light God wants us to be. When a flashlight is used correctly, it helps you find your way at night or it can help you see into places that are really dark. You point the light in the direction of the path or the thing that you want to illuminate. If you and a friend are walking together, you can both see the path clearly when the light is pointed in the right direction. However, if you take that light and you shine it in your friend's eyes, they can't see the path and neither can you because you're shining it at your friend and not at the path!

God calls His word a "lamp" to our feet.

 Psalm 119:105
"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path."

A lamp is a soft light. It's a light that is just enough to help you see, but not so much that you're blinded by it. Too often Christians are shining their light in people's eyes as opposed to illuminating the path...

My thinking is this--if you are supposed to be a light, your light should shine just enough to help others walk the path. It's a quiet kind of light. The very fact that you follow the Lord and are eager to walk in his ways is enough. His light shines through you--your LIFE becomes the flashlight. When you get overzealous and too eager to be in each other's faces about who is right and who is wrong, neither of you is walking the path. You're just blinding each other. The same is true if you're too busy boasting about how great of a Christian you are or acting "holier than thou". Your light is pointing at you and not at the path. Being God's light requires humility. It's a gentle, kind, and beautiful kind of light. It's friendly and welcoming and beckons others to walk in it.

While I know it's a growing process that's going to take a lot of time and effort to achieve, that's the kind of light--the kind of Christian, I want to be.

--Kayla

 

Daily Journal

It's been awhile since I've posted on my blog, mostly because I haven't really been cooking much or really doing much worth posting ;-) However, I started to think that maybe the little things I HAVE been doing would be good to share. 

Recently, I purchased a beautiful journal from an amazing company called Trades of  Hope (Trades of Hope is a company devoted to empowering women out of poverty using the home party model. To find out more about it, click the link above)! When my journal finally arrived, I realized how ornate it was and I actually thought that it seemed too pretty to write in! Eventually, I decided to make it a daily journal. I wanted it to be something relaxed and not very formal. I just wanted to jot down little thoughts or questions I had during the day about life or God or anything at all really. It was just going to be a way of releasing my mind, but it has become so much more than that in the last month...

Something I realized as I started writing was that I have many more questions than I do just random thoughts. My innermost doubts and fears surround things like, "Am I going to be safe?" or "Does God love me even when it feels like no one else does?" I've found such freedom in letting my fears and worries come out of my head and down onto paper. It's like I can examine each thought and process it more fully and the best part is that I can pray over it and open my Bible to look for answers to my questions. 

The Bible talks about bringing our thoughts into captivity (2 Corinthians 10) and for so much of my life I've let my thoughts run wild. I've battled anxiety for a good portion of my life and I've been known to speak my mind a little "too" freely sometimes. Every day I am working on it and I'm growing and maturing and changing, but I don't think I've spent enough time meditating on this idea. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says,  

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 

Something I've learned from writing down these questions is that at the end of the day, the biggest enemy I have in the world is often myself. The biggest arguments I'm having are ones that are stirring in my soul. My doubts and fears are so often contrary to the knowledge of God. If I fail to take those thoughts captive, I'm binding myself to fear and finding no freedom from it. I'm falling prey to the desires of the world and the hopelessness of the world. Instead of taking my thoughts captive, I'm being held captive by my thoughts...

If you're struggling with wild thoughts like I have been, take time to write them down. Get them out of your head so you can release them from your mind and take your thoughts to God so he can give you peace.

I'll be praying for anyone who reads this today.

--Kayla

Celebrating A Legacy

With Mamaw & Papaw at our wedding

The passing of a loved one is probably the hardest thing that we, as humans, are forced to deal with in our lifetimes. Today is a day that I'm reminded of a special, one of a kind woman who would have been celebrating her 86th birthday. Jon's grandmother, Sarah, (or "Mamaw", as she was affectionately known) passed away just a few short months ago... I can't help but think of her today and what a wonderful a woman she was. I remember meeting her and feeling her warmth almost immediately. She had an air about her that was so friendly and yet so feisty at the same time.

Mamaw was outspoken and I felt a kindred spirit to her that way. She always said it like it was and Jon and I felt the affects of that after we'd been dating for several years. Whenever we'd see her, she'd ask if we were going to get married anytime soon... ;-) When we finally tied the knot, we somehow ended up seeing all of Jon's family the very next day--including Mamaw. I remember Mamaw putting her arm around Jon and acting a little sheepish as she smiled and said, "Well... Did ya get lucky??" She was never afraid to be bold. She was never afraid to be humorous. I don't know a single person who didn't feel unconditionally loved by her... I feel so blessed that I was able to know her, love her, and be loved by her over the past five years and I feel blessed immeasurably by the legacy of love she left behind. I think all of her children and grandchildren (and all of their spouses) would agree that she is someone we all look up to, admire, and want to be like.

I think one of the things that makes the passing of a grandparent hard is the seeming loss of connection to a piece of the past. Mamaw had so many stories and telling them brought her so much joy--and it brought her family joy too. Something I learned about Mamaw after she passed was that she was meticulous at documenting things. She documented phone calls and kept records of all the cute and wonderful things her grandchildren had said. She was a painter and every painting was numbered, dated, and signed. She wrote poetry, took tons of photos, and kept a draft on her computer of the story of her life with Papaw...

I don't think I saw the value in doing little things like that until now. How blessed we are to still feel connected in some way to her through all the beautiful documentations she made. We can still feel her emotion and her laughter and we can still see her beauty through the things she left behind. I just marvel at her and the kind of person she was. She was generous, patient, loving, caring, compassionate, bold, brave, daring, and she just simply radiated beauty. Most importantly, she was a shining example of the Proverbs 31 woman. She loved the Lord and she cheerfully and faithfully served him and everyone she met...

So today I celebrate the legacy of a wonderful woman, whom my husband and I miss so dearly. Happy Birthday, Mamaw. We love you.

The last family picture we all took together.. How I cherish this now.

"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.' Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."
--Proverbs 31: 28-31 

--Kayla

Bountiful Harvest

What our garden looks like today.

Today I went out to the garden to harvest. It's so awesome to be able to pick fresh produce right from your backyard! Today we had quite a bounty. I'm so grateful for the blessing of fresh food. Every time I'm in the garden, I'm reminded of the verse in 2 Corinthians...

"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." 
-2 Corinthians 9:6-12

Today's harvest!

I'm reminded that in order to reap a bountiful harvest, you have to be willing to put in the work. It takes a lot more work to plant a lot of plants than it does to plant a few, but if you plant more you get more out of it. The same is true for our Christian walk. The more work we put in to learn God's way, the more grace we will receive and the more fruit we will bear as Christians. The more generous and kind we are to others, the more generous and kind God is to us.

Having a garden this year has been such a wonderful hands-on way of learning about God. So many of the scriptures have come to life for me and I feel so blessed to be learning in this way.

Today, sow bountifully in your life so that you may also reap bountifully, not just for yourself, but so that you may also be a bountiful blessing to others.

--Kayla