Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The curse is real...but so is Grace.

Our pastor preached a sermon on Colossians 3:22-4:1 over Work. It was convicting, encouraging, and refreshing as it met me right where I'm at- post-college working a job that I'm very thankful for but is not life-giving for me. Work is dear to God's heart. After all, He was and is the master worker. He created for 7 days, and then He rested. The foundations of this world began with work, and God Himself modeled for us what it is to be a hard worker, and the importance of Sabbath. 

Then, he created Adam and Eve to be workers in His garden. They were to take delight in tending to the plants and caring for the animals. Can you think of a time in which a task you were doing brought you pure joy? I think of mission trips and service projects in which carrying buckets of stones up a hill or boxing cans of food was an act of joy. Why? Because it was work offered in service to my Master, done in the fellowship of other believers. I imagine that this is what everyday in the Garden of Eden was like. Watering plants, naming animals, sowing soil in utter bliss and fellowship with creation and the Creator. But this was not to be. 

After Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord told them, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” This is the curse. We are reminded of it everyday when we slam our snooze buttons, begging the clock for just a few minutes of sleep before the workday starts. We are reminded of it everyday as we sit at our desks counting down the minutes until 5 o'clock. We are reminded of it when we open our bank accounts in frustration, realizing we "do too much and don't get paid enough". This is life, this is work, this is the curse.

 Entering into the work force post-college has been a huge learning experience for me. I really struggled through a discouraging season of college and was excited to get a "real job" in the "real world." It's been rewarding to pay our bills, earn health insurance, and have a job that is mine, but it has also been hard. I didn't know just how hard or how fast I would feel the curse of the thorns and thistles. It has been a balancing act of being thankful for the fact that I have a job and realizing that it's not what I had expected or hoped for. It is okay to admit that your job is hard, that it is not life-giving, that it doesn't make you excited or have anything to do with the passions God has given you.

 The curse is real, but so is grace. Because of grace, the Lord does a mighty work despite an apathetic attitude, despite a less-than-ideal job situation, despite difficult co-workers. As our pastor said, 'What God is doing IN me is more important that what God is doing THROUGH me." I don't often feel that my job is very worthwhile, and I rarely feel like I make a positive impact on people at my work. But for now, I rest in the fact that for this season, the Lord is doing a makeover on my heart. He's using the thorns and thistles from the curse to poke and prod at my pride, my trust, my identity until I'm pulled to my knees in surrender. 

Be encouraged, brothers and sisters. The Lord has called us to be laborers of righteousness, may we go forth and bear fruit in our individual workplaces of thorns and thistles.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Kitchen organization project

I have a secret. Deep down, I would love to be one of those awesome home organization, photographer, mom bloggers. Not because I want to be famous, but because I think it would be so much fun to do that for a living. So humor me, will you? Pretend I'm one of those big-name bloggers! Let me give you a tour of my latest project- my kitchen!

Before, that lower counter space had all of our appliances beneath it, open to everyone's view! On top was our microwave and stacks of paperwork that I didn't have a place for. Now, I have my own Kitchen Command Center- complete with cork boards, a wire organizer, files, and a curtain to cover the storage beneath.


 Found this at Marshall's. Splurged a little with my Christmas money, but so worth it!

 And...the pantry! Everything is in a tupperware with a label. And on the door is my new menu planning center. The grocery list goes on the dry-erase board, my meal calendar for the month and master shopping list on the clipboard, and dry-erase markers are handy too.
Hubby thinks I'm crazy but I just love bringing order to my home. And all of this for under $50? A bargain for sure! 

Musings of a Seminary Wife: "If I were the perfect wife..."

If I were the perfect wife...

... I would walk in the door from work every day with a smile on my face and encouraging words on my lips.

... I would never send Spencer out to the store on a last-minute ingredient run because I forgot something on my grocery list. Because, oh that's right, I'm not perfect.

... I would affirm and respect him in my actions and my words, not criticize or embarrass him.

... I would pray for him and his ministry daily.

... I would communicate my thoughts and emotions with him instead of making passive comments or choosing to be silent.

And the list could go on.

But you know what? I'm not perfect. Perfection is the thing that my earthly heart wants most. To be a perfect wife, daughter, worker, and friend. To be the perfect Christian, musician, writer, and photographer. I don't want anyone to find fault in me, my character, my words, or my actions. I shut down at criticism and conflict because it means that I did something wrong. But all of this imperfection that I speak of? It's called sin. It's called brokenness. It's called living in a fallen world, being human.

And yet it's made all the more painful when our eyes can see Christ's pure perfection. Our God is holy and blameless, and He calls us to be like Him. In my moments of blatant sinfulness and imperfection it is tempting to fall into despair. I see how perfect Christ is and how stinkin' far I fall short of that. But I choose to see hope. I choose to be thankful for these embarrassing moments of selfishness because they point me to Christ and they point me to grace. For every time that I am reminded of my sin, I am reminded of how much bigger the cross is.

If I were the perfect wife, I wouldn't be writing this post. But I'm not perfect- I am a woman with real sin, real selfishness, real imperfections. But I serve a very real God who offers grace big enough to cover me, unconditional love, and hope for new creation in a painless eternity. Hallelujah!