Gifting & Character

Gifting is not

impressive to God.

He is the giver of

gifts. He wants

surrendered

hearts.

We should be

unmoved by

Christians and

their gifting if

character isn’t

present.

There are two

distinctly different

ways in which we

can be used by

God..

1. God using all things

for His glory without

our obedience

2. God using our

obedience for

His glory

Either way, glory

belongs to God

The first happens

when we use our

gifting without

being in true

relationship with

the Lord.

The second

happens when

our relationship

with the Lord

goes ahead of

our ministry.

Our gifts are filthy,

rags and clanging

symbols and

unacceptable

offerings…

if they are

presented apart

from closeness and

partnership with

God.

Proximal Love & Christ’s Cross

In Jesus, we see the love

proximity brings…

Jesus was destined for the cross

but He followed through when

He had a way out because of the

LOVE He had for us. 

Jesus went to the cross- not

because He was judging dirty

sinners, but because He so loved

a broken world. 

Maybe Jesus took on flesh and

allowed Himself to be inflicted

with all the ills we face in this

fallen state to feel the suffering,

not just imagine it. 

I wonder if Jesus became God

incarnate because He wanted to

experience our humanity, to heal

us out of proximal love. 

When we get into close proximity

to pain and suffering, it takes us

from blind judgement to stark

awareness.

Creators & Consumers

It’s hard out here for content creators & consumers right now with these platforms…

The recent shifts are difficult to reckon with for those of us who have used these spaces to share photo + writing based content & foster community for years.

The recent shifts are more media & less social. They don’t help us find community, diversify what we see, or press into what’s good for us.

This a good time to remember that the responsibility has never been on these platforms in the first place. But if you don’t actively seek out what you want to consume, these platforms WILL consume you.

You will be discipled by social media, for better or worse.

So here’s your reminder to do more discovering of what works for your creativity + online community & less chasing what works for Instagram.

Also, reminder that if you create valuable, save & store it in multiple spaces. Our intellectual property isn’t meant to live on somebody else’s platform. It just takes up space here for the time being. and deserves to be saved forever and repurposed elsewhere as we so desire.

Miracles & Fluctuations of the Body

Miracles & Fluctuations of the Body

My body is a miracle. Yours is too. No matter what they look like & how they may change…

People have been making unsolicited comments about my bodily fluctuations my entire life. I’m learning how to set boundaries in this area instead of just cringing & saying “thank you” or giving explanations.

The older I get, the more ANY comments on my body’s fluctuations are unwelcome— including the seemingly positive ones.

Woman’s bodies are always changing & will be our entire lives— I’ve learned to make friends with that fact. I am learning to move with the the changes & to have no ideal except health.

Women who have gone to great lengths to learn to love their bodies & care for them are not obligated to respond to unsolicited inquiries & passing remarks about them.

Woman’s bodies fluctuate constantly. We are going through a cycle of hormones & bodily changes every single month, every season, for our whole lives.

There are a million and one factors that contribute to how we may look on any given day.

I carry weight around my hips. When I’m in seasons of daily running I lose breast fat. Some days I’m bloated on my period. Some days I wake up with a flat stomach. Some days I have water weight. Some days I’m fasting. Some days I’ve eaten a big meal. Some days I forget to eat. Some of us have thyroid issues.

The list goes on and on and on…

What if we avoided making unsolicited comments on each other’s bodies altogether?

What if we instead, we learned to widen our compliments to encompass truly beneficial achievements and joys in the lives of each other?

Christians & the Camps we Choose

Christians & the Camps we Choose

Don’t buy the lie that to tell the truth about Christians+church, you must choose a camp…

Either “the church has been doing the work perfectly all along” or “the church has done nothing and needs to start”

Neither paints the full, true picture.

Historical Christianity has been Jesus’s hands and feet in the world in innumerable, effective, unquestionable ways.

Historical Christianity has also been flawed, broken, and faltered in devastating, heartbreaking, incredibly human ways.

We have done good work and more needs to be done. That’s been God’s plan for His body all along. Our lack has also been within His sovereign awareness all along. He’s strong in it.

I pray we are burdened to do more. I pray we are encouraged by the long history we are part of.

The church will continue to do what the church has always done. Imperfectly, but earnestly.
Godspeed.