Home » Articles posted by Krysten (Page 15)

Author Archives: Krysten

Moments, Day 21: Board of Directors.

Posted on by | 1 Comment

I am just kicking myself for not paying better attention to where I’m going when I read a blog that I linked through from a blog I found, by clicking through some other blog I love to read. Usually it’s no biggie, because eventually I’ll find it again. Unless of course I’m looking for it specifically so I can link back to it when I refer to it in one of my posts. Such is the case today.

So I read this awesome post yesterday, which I believe was titled “Board of Directors” (I already googled it, didn’t find what I was looking for.) A writer/speaker was talking about how she met for lunch with a group of lady friends who, along with her, would be speaking at an upcoming women’s conference. During their lunch conversation they got to talking about how their lives were super busy with all the writing, speaking, traveling, and general living (you know, like raising kids and being married and cooking and cleaning and worshiping God and stuff) they had to fit into that same 24 hours that we all get. One of them (I think it was the author) said how she was kind of starting to get the feeling that all the opportunities that her writing had brought her (traveling to speak, etc..) was actually starting to hinder those other important areas of her life. She seemed to give off the feeling that she was needing to say “no” to some stuff in order to keep her priorities in check.

So the group of ladies started talking about how they needed a personal board of directors to help them making important decisions like which book deals to take and which speaking engagements to accept or decline. Some folks who knew enough and cared enough about each of them to say the hardest word that many of us ever have to say…no. That way, those good-but-just-short-of-the-best items never make their way onto their calendars or to-do lists for them to fret over. Yep, it sure would be nice to have a Board of Directors that you could take that stuff to in order to help you make important decisions.

Then, the author shared, the ladies realized that they didn’t have to be the CEO of some multi-gazillion-dollar corporation…they could have a board of directors, right there in the middle of their crazy, everyday lives. In fact, they realized that in being close friends who cared about one another and shared some of the same life aspects, they could be each other’s board of directors. What a cool thought!

I was thinking that I certainly do have a wonderful group of close friends that I could call on to be my Board of Directors. As a  matter of fact, they kind of already are and they may not even know it. I suppose they were chosen for the task just by being so important to me. I naturally run decisions by them and talk about my fears and screw-ups and share the cool parts of my day-to-day operation. They give opinions, share stories, and give feedback (without ever even getting paid for it!) It was cool to think that I already have that Board of Directors in place in my life.

I bet if we all thought about it for a moment, most of us probably already have a Board. Maybe you have a dozen members on yours. Maybe it’s only one member for the time being. Think. Really think about it. If you cannot even think of one person that you have this type of relationship with, then may I lovingly challenge you to ask yourself…why not? Is there something keeping you from making these friendships? Or do you have several friends but something has just kept you from growing close enough to anyone to feel comfortable sharing your life’s details with? Whatever the situation, ask God to reveal to you the reason behind your lack of friend-relationships. He made you for relationship, which is the primary way that we give and receive His love. In relationships with friends, we give and receive phileo  love, which is the Greek word for the fondness that we feel toward someone who we simply enjoy being around, someone we are kindred spirits with, and who energizes us with their presence.  Think of Philadelphia…the city of brotherly love.

Who are you getting your phileo from these days? Who is helping you make the big decisions? Who is syncing your calendar and keeping it prioritized in the right way?

Moments, Day 20: Off the Wagon

Posted on by | Leave a comment

Well today I fell a bit off the leave-school-by-5:00-every-night-no-matter-what wagon. I know…I know!!

About this same time every year (and again right when school resumes after Christmas break) I tend to get this feeling. This terrible, awful feeling. I have named it the drowning feeling. It literally feels like my chest is being pressed on with a heavy anvil. I feel like I can’t take a completely deep breath. I literally feel like I am drowning.

Multiple deadlines, kids with learning problems, overinvolved parents, parents who don’t give a rip about their kid, upcoming conferences, keeping organized records, remembering all the changes with buses and medical issues and whose grandmother died last weekend and what birthdays are coming up, creating lessons, making copies, trying to do something halfway creative and fun in between all the ludicrous assessments and such. And the papers. OH, the PAPERS!! If I never saw another piece of paper in my life I would be perfectly fine with that. Teachers have WAY too many papers. UGH.

I wonder sometimes if I’m having an anxiety attack when I have the drowning feeling. I’m not really sure, but I know that when the feeling comes over me, it means I have some catching up to do. And I simply must do it. So the other night when I was supposed to leave right after school, I walked into my room after a meeting and saw it. Stuff. Everywhere. EVERY-WHERE. Then I remembered some upcoming deadlines I needed to meet. And a bunch of papers that need grading. And those report cards that have to be entered and updated and corrected. And not to mention I didn’t yet have a single thing prepared for the following week.

There’s the drowning…..

So instead of coming right home I called Todd and told him that I was having that feeling again so I just had to stay and get a little bit of stuff accomplished or I may very well bring that feeling home with me for the weekend. He  mercifully didn’t even act annoyed. I know when he hears it in my voice, there’s just no way around it. So I stayed and I got several things done. I felt better. A little. Sigh.

You know what?  I realized later that I didn’t do the one thing I should have done…pray. Whenever I get anxious about anything in my life, I take a second and ask God to calm me and refocus me and help me get whatever business done that I need to get done. And He always comes through for me. So why is it that when it comes to my work, I forget to do that very important thing?? Hmmmm.

Even though I fell off the wagon, I plan to climb right back on. I can’t promise I’ll be perfect from here on out, but at least I am giving it a try. And I’m really enjoying the moments I’m not missing now that I’ve started reprioritizing my life. So when things don’t go right, I’m going to remind myself to just stop,  pray, and learn to get back on the wagon.

Moments, Day 19: The Biggest Conversation

Posted on by | 1 Comment

My beloved friend Mary sent me this a few days ago. I’ve been wanting to write about it ever since, but it’s kind of hard to even process for me right now. I’m sorry that I don’t have the original source to refer to right off hand…somehow I think I’ll probably be forgiven. Give this puppy a read:

Jesus our Lord summons us to holiness, humility, simplicity and contentment. He also promises us his rest. We confess, however, that we have often allowed unholy desires to disturb our inner tranquility. So without the constant renewal of Christ’s peace in our hearts, our emphasis on simple living will be one-sided.
Our Christian obedience demands a simple life-style, irrespective of the needs of others. Nevertheless, the facts that 800 million people are destitute and that 10,000 die of starvation every day make any other life-style indefensible.
While some of us have been called to live among the poor, and others to open our homes to the needy, all of us are determined to develop a simpler life-style. We intend to reexamine our income and expenditure, in order to manage on less and give away more. We lay down no rules or regulations, for either ourselves or others. Yet we resolve to renounce waste and oppose extravagance in personal living, clothing and housing, travel and church buildings. We also accept the distinction between necessities and luxuries, creative hobbies and empty status symbols, modesty and vanity, occasional celebrations and normal routine, and between the service of God and slavery to fashion. Where to draw the line requires conscientious thought and decision by us, together with members of our family. Those of us who belong to the West need the help of our Third World brothers and sisters in evaluating our standards of spending. Those of us who live in the Third World acknowledge that we too are exposed to the temptation to covetousness. So we need each other’s understanding, encouragement and prayers.

Wow. Mary and I have had this nearly-two-year-long conversation going about what it means and looks like to live simply and generously in a culture of comfort and excess. We know that the simple posture of our hearts makes the difference, but we’ve been searching for that practical application and have so far not settled on an answer that satisfies either of us fully. I have a feeling that we both think the whole “well, God knows you have a generous heart” answer seems a little dry and cop-out-ish to us both. So we’re wondering how God can use us and show us these details of life while we’re at the same time skewed in the direction of our crazy culture. We’re wondering how God can use us to bless others in a way that is sacrificial, a little (or a lot!??) uncomfortable, and just say to Him: Whatever You want, Lord. (And mean it.)

This passage above sums everything up in just about the closest thing I’ve ever seen to an answer. Any thoughts about this? Please share. I’ll try to dissect parts of this to write on later. But this moment is dedicated to the sheer awe I felt at how wonderfully my heart has been articulated in this agreement. Now, for the courage to live it out… 

 

 

Moments, Day 18: The Teacher Being Taught

Posted on by | Leave a comment

By vocation, and by calling, I am a teacher. I am blessed enough to get to spend my days alongside 23 beautiful little souls, impressing upon them everything I can about life and the love of learning. And some days I get so wrapped up in teaching that I forget that I desperately need to be taught, too.

This week I’ve been getting up [extra] early to spend time with God. Real time, not just the showertime prayer I had been giving Him as of late. Real undivided attention…time just for Him without anything else I’m multitasking with. Monday I got up and thanked Him for my day, my wonderful life, His very own presence in me (CA-RAZY, I know!!) I sang some songs to Him, thanked Him some more, asked him for loads of stuff on behalf of my husband, and asked Him to speak to me in some little way.

I sat there. Nothing. I sat longer and waited. Nuthin. I listened. Not a peep. I was starting to get frustrated, because after all I had gotten up at 4:30 instead of  my usual 5:00, and I was there just to spend time with Him and have a great life-altering conversation. But so far, it had been completely one-sided. So, after waiting for what seemed like an eternity (probably something like 4.3 minutes) I finally asked Him to show me something in His word that He had in mind for me.

Now, I know there are a lot of good bibles out there. Probably a lot that aren’t wrinkly and half torn and missing 2/3 of the concordance and all the cool maps. There are more “grown-up bibles” that don’t have all the notes in them like mine does. I keep thinking that I oughtta get me one of those grown-up bibles someday. But there’s something about that ratty bible, the first one I ever owned, because its like it knows me. This bible, and it’s Author, speak to me without fail when that’s what I ask for. Hmm…seems like I’ve heard that somewhere…if you lack wisdom you can ask for it! : )

So my wrinkly bible opens up to Psalm 86. I read through the beginning and then saw what I knew was just for me:

“Teach me your way, O LORD,   and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,  that I may fear your name.”

I thought of one of my favorite songs…What Do I Know of Holy? by Addison Road. One of the lines sings…

“…I think I’ve made you too small….I’ve never feared You at all, no….”

Which reminded me of some other lovely words from scripture: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

 It was clear to me that God was wanting to teach me something, which was kind of weird because I’d been asking Him to show me how to be closer to Him, to have a better relationship with Him. And here He goes wanting to school me on something. Not what I ordered, but I was still okay with it (like I have a choice!) because my heart is so divided at times. I needed this so badly.

Then later that day I checked the biblegateway.com verse of the day, which is a regular habit for me. And wouldn’t you know…?

“The LORD confides in those who fear him;  he makes his covenant known to them. -Psalm 25:14”

Huh. So God does want to reveal more of Himself to me in our relationship, our covenant. He wants to make the whole of our covenant with each other known to me. Apparently I need to make a couple of adjustments before that can happen, like having that healthy fear of Him again (or for the first time, maybe?) It’s something I’ve noticed in myself lately, but this really shows me that He wants me to go back to basics, to learn rather than be a teacher right now. I’m so thankful for His gentle nudge, His quiet confirmation in these things.
Althought I know it’s not what I expected, I am so looking forward to being taught, just being taught by the master teacher Himself. It might take a long time. It will likely take a lot longer than I’d wanted. But it will be worth it. Please pray that I can be a good pupil.

This post is part of a series called 31 Days of Making Moments. If you’re new to the series, feel free to click here and you can view all posts in the “31 Days” category and learn what the whole making moments thing is about. Thanks for stopping by!

Moments, Day 17: Starting to Win

Posted on by | Leave a comment

Today I did it. I finally hit a goal that I’ve been working toward for what seems like FOREVER!!! I was running tonight and finally, finally ran 3 miles straight!!

So in the overall world of running, that may not seem like any big whoop-dee-doo. But believe me, for this girl, it’s practically a miracle! It was a milestone I’ve been trying to reach for some time, but couldn’t seem to get myself over that 2.7 mile hump. Thinking back to when I started running back in late May of this year with the Couch-to-5K program, I remember when I couldn’t believe that I would even be able to run for 8 minutes straight. Each day the periods of alternating walking and running changed a bit, slowly increasing the amount of running and decreasing the amount of walking. The program is 9 weeks long and you basically go from sitting on your duff to being able to run the equivalent time for a 5K, which is about 30 minutes. Except that I’m in the slow kids’ class. It took me even longer (about 12 weeks) to even complete the 9 week Couch to 5K program, because I had to do some weeks’ routines twice since it was to difficult for me to move on. I remember a conversation near the beginning of this running journey, when I was only running about 3 minutes at a time and practically dying by that third minute. I was lamenting to a friend of mine, who had already done the program in the past, about how I just couldn’t see how I would ever be able to make it a full 30 minutes. He told me “you’ll be surprised in a few weeks by what you’ll be able to do.” And I really was. I still remember the first day I ran 8 minutes straight! It might as well have been the Boston Marathon for me that day. And I was really, really over the top the first time my friend Amanda invited me to run with her. I was very hesitant. I’d never run alongside anyone before, and I was sure that I would be embarrassed by the fact that I’d be slowing her down. But you know what? That was the day I really felt like I could do it, because we were side by side and I ran a whole 25 minutes straight. Even though my version of running is the slowest on earth, I still did it. And I think that was my point of no return. I couldn’t believe I’d gone from agonizing over running for 3 minutes and now I was almost able to do 10 times that!

Even though I’ve been running since then, time constraints have always put me at about 30-35 minutes, and I could never do more than about 2.7 miles during that time. I’m just slow, that’s all there is to it. I’m getting faster, but that term is relative!

I have my moments when I’m thinking what are you so excited about? So big deal, you’re running about as fast as most normal people walk! Are you really doing much of anything? But I know that is just a bunch of trash talk to try to knock me off track. I am not concerned with running super fast. I am not concerned with doing this whole thing perfectly. I am just concerned with doing it at all.

I do have some goals in my sights. My very first race is coming up on Thanksgiving day, when I’ll be running 4 miles. I’m so excited I can hardly stand it. I have no misconceptions about it…I know I’m not going to win the race or even come in 2nd, 3rd, or 10th! But I’m definitely going to win my race that day, which is just to finish at all. In fact, I think in many ways I’ve already won the race, just because I started.

“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” -John Bingham, former couch-potato-turned-runner, author of several books including The Courage to Start, and completely inspiring guy.

Moments, Day 15 & 16: Wonderful Weekend

Posted on by | 1 Comment

Okay so I am cheating a little bit because I’m combining posts for two days. But hey, who’s gonna stop me??

I just have to say that I had such a wonderful weekend. There was no big trip planned or anything huge like that. In fact it was very busy. Todd and I had a lot to do, but the best part was that we did most of it together. I’m just aching to spend more time with him these days…we are both super busy throughout the week and we’re almost always going in different directions. But this weekend we just hung out together. In fact, he was originally planning to be out of town hunting this weekend, but decided to stay home to hang out with his girl, as he puts it. I was on cloud nine!

After hanging out all day Saturday, we finally felt a little bit “caught up” with one another. Not that we hadn’t spoken all week or anything, but we’ve just been giving each other the quick highlights of the most urgent stuff. But when you only get to see the instant replay of a football game, you miss all the little stuff that may not be technically as important but is just as fun. Like when one of the players picks a wedgie, or gets caught cussing right at the moment that the camera is on him. The funny, everyday stuff. (I can’t believe I just even mentioned football…just for the record, I have no understanding of that sport whatsoever and cannot fathom why it takes so dang long to play a game. Quit starting and stopping 5 million times already!!!) I may not know much about football, but I do know that the instant replay of a few scenes isn’t the same as enjoying the whole game.

This weekend we got to enjoy the whole game together. It was nice just sharing the everyday details, no matter how humdrum they seem, because the details are an important part of how our moments are made.

Moments, Day 14: Eyes Forward

Posted on by | Leave a comment

So today I was out for a run, and was just jogging along and had turned off the country road where I begin my route. I was just chugging along on the sidewalk, coming up to the main part of town where there are several homes and businesses along the busy street. I’d been coming up this stretch of the main street for a while now, at least 4 or 5 minutes, when all of a sudden I was startled by movement right in front of me. It was a man, another runner, coming right toward me and passing on my right. I was actually so startled by him that I literally yelled out loud in surprise (okay, it was more like I yelped out loud  like one of those yappy little dogs no one can stand.) I probably scared that poor dude to death, but  it freaked me out. Not only was that guy running right toward me and I didn’t even notice him until he was about 3 feet in front of my face, but there was another guy about 6 feet away on my other side talking on his cell phone right outside of one of the businesses I was about to run by. Here I was running right toward two big strangers and had no clue until they were RIGHT there.

Now don’t get me wrong. I was running in broad daylight around noon, and I was on the busiest street in my town. I wasn’t in any particular danger, nor did these men seem like shady fellas. My point is that, although I tend to be pretty aware of my surroundings and even run with a good posture, my eyes were obviously not focused ahead of me like they should have been. I don’t even know where the heck I was looking, but I didn’t have my eyes forward, and because of it, I could have run into a difficult or even dangerous situation. What if I had tripped on something and gotten hurt? What if that wasn’t in the middle of the day…then I could have been in a tough spot. What if one of those men was a shady character and took advantage of the fact that I was oblivious? What if that had been a car coming at me instead of a person?? Lots of What Ifs ran through my mind about the fact that although I was plugging right along in my routine, seemingly doing everything just fine, I was not paying close attention to my situation, and therefore almost got myself in trouble.

Ain’t that like life?

How many times have we just been going through the motions of life, thinking that we’re just muddling along in our routines without anything to worry about, then all of a sudden we are blindsided by something that was right there in front of us? Maybe there was no real reason to be afraid, but we get too comfortable and stop paying attention to the things right in front of us…then before we know it, we’re shaken. We’re startled, and we stumble. Or we are going through the motions and we are missing things that could potentially be good in front of our eyes, and once we notice them, they’re already gone.

I want to keep my eyes focused on what’s around me. It’s great to have goals and in some cases even routines. But I don’t want to miss the things right in front of me…those things that could cause me to trip up, or the things that I need to see that could otherwise run right past me.

Moments, Day 13: A Good Woman is Hard to Find

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Ladies, most of us are pretty familiar with Proverbs 31, right?  Many times we look at that and see an unattainable vision of wifely  perfection, a person that we will never be, so we give up on it altogether…

I challenge you to take a new look at Proverbs 31, a little chunk at a time. Consider this part, beginning in verse 10, quoted here from The Message:

“A good woman is hard to find,
   and worth far more than diamonds.
Her husband trusts her without reserve,
   and never has reason to regret it.
Never spiteful, she treats him generously
   all her life long.”

(Did you like the upgrade from rubies to diamonds?) : ) It’s true that a good woman  is hard to find these days, especially with many of us growing up without anyone to show us what real love and respect looks and feels like in a marriage. So when a godly man finds a woman who truly is good to him, you better believe he thinks she’s the most valuable thing around. He reciprocates by treating her like the princess she is.

I can hear you now…Seriously, Krysten? You’re talkin’ fairy tales here…

No, ladies, I am not. We all want a man that feels that way toward us, and some of us are even blessed enough to have it. But those of us who have it know that it’s not because we’re lucky. It’s because we’ve purposed ourselves to take actions that help make sure the rest of the verses above are true of us. Think about your relationship. Can your husband trust you without reserve? Can he trust you not to frivilously overspend money and wreck the family budget or to not talk about intimate details of your love life with your mother (um, yeah..that’s not appropriate) or to pray for him on a daily basis or to encourage him in his passions? Believe me, I don’t hit all those marks perfectly either, but they are always in my sights. Does he ever have a reason to regret placing his trust in you? Have you betrayed his confidence or mocked one of his pursuits in front of your friends? Have you emasculated him with your words in an ettempt to prove how much better/smarter/more efficient at handling things you really are?  Hits hard sometimes, doesn’t it?

Let’s look at the rest of those verses…Are you spiteful toward your husband or do you treat him generously? Do you live on the quid pro quo system where you never do anything special for him unless he’s done something good for you? Are you withholding yourself from him physically because he didn’t put his dishes in the dishwasher last night for the 100th time? It’s time to rethink your motives and your approach.

Life isn’t perfect, and husbands and wives certainly aren’t either. We all fail each other in a thousand little ways…all I am saying is that it should be our goal not to. Your husband is THE most important person in your life, second only to Jesus Himself.  That’s right…your husband comes right after God and right before your kids. That’s before your kids. Many of you won’t agree with me or just can’t accept that for some reason. But think about it…what good is it to raise a child that can put away their toys and socks in an orderly manner, say please and thank you, read above grade-level, and perform well in several sports, if they grow up to live in dysfunctional, unloving relationships because they never saw one that worked?? What would you rather have for your child…the ability to be a good task-manager, or the ability to love and be loved well? The best way you can teach your kids to love is to be an example of unselfish, sacrificial love. And God has created marriage with that purpose in mind…for us to learn how to love and sacrificially serve another human being. Have you ever thought that marriages are meant to last a lifetime because it may very well take that long to become good at being a sacrificial, loving person? Just a thought.

How beautiful that God gives us infinite opportunites to serve, love, fail, forgive, and try again right along side another person we’ve promised to share this whole thing called life with! So ladies, take a moment to contemplate the verses above. Not so you can start to beat yourself up all over again for falling short  of this ideal, but rather to look at these as targets to keep in your sights on a daily basis. Choose one that you’ve had difficulty with and focus on it. For example, I struggle to be generous with Todd sometimes, specifically with my time. I have a lot of things I want to do (including write!) and when we are actually home together I know that my time would be best spent hanging out with him and talking face-to-face, asking how work is going for him, encouraging him in his newest pursuits, doing little things to show my love for him etc… (and by the way, in that same time he’s doing all those same things for me!) But usually I find myself  rushing off to work extra early in the morning instead of making him a little breakfast snack, reading countless books instead of engaging him in great conversation, and leaving giant piles of unfolded laundry around while I write, rather than taking 20 minutes to put everything away properly just because I know how he enjoys an uncluttered environment. I’m definitely not perfect at it, but I’m getting better. Realizing (maybe even admitting?) there’s something to work on is the first big step. Then taking a little measure toward the goal is one more step. .

After all, isn’t it worth it? Isn’t your man worth it? Isn’t your marriage worth it? Even if (and especially when!) it costs me a few minutes of my precious, hurried time, I want to treat my husband generously all my life long so he knows that he is most definitely worth it.

Moments, Day 12: Grab your crayons

Posted on by | Leave a comment

Read this in Brennan Manning’s Ragamuffin Gospel this week. No more excuses, peeps…

“Let us suppose you give your three-year-old daughter a coloring book and a box of crayons for her birthday. The following day, with the proud smile only a little one can muster, she presents her first pictures for inspection. She has colored the sun black, the grass purple, and the sky green. In the lower right-hand corner, she has added woozy wonders of floating slabs and hovering rings; on the left, a panoply of colorful, carefree squiggles, You marvel at her bold strokes and intuit that her psyche is railing against its own cosmic puniness in the face of a big, ugly world. Later at the office you share with your staff your daughter’s first artistic effort and you make veiled references to the early work of van Gogh. A little child cannot do a bad coloring; nor can a child of God do a bad prayer.”

Wow. Time to get my crayons out.  Imagine our Father’s delight!

Moments, Day 11: And another interesting thing…

Posted on by | Leave a comment

So if you don’t go to my church, then…

1. I am so sorry (haha)

2. It’s okay because you can still listen to our pastor’s awesome teaching by clicking here.

Between the article I talked about in yesterday’s post and last week’s sermon on Oct. 9th, I am still thinking of this whole interesting-vs-interested thing. The more I thought about it, the more the whole thing seems to go with what our pastor was teaching about. He basically said that Christianity is not the one true religion in the world. (Don’t freak out, keep reading…) As far as a religion goes, one is just about as true (and useless) as another, if all you’re looking for is a religion to affiliate yourself with. Heck, if that’s all I was after, I would go with the easiest one to follow. You know, just to make sure I could get all the stuff “right.”

But I wasn’t looking for a religion when I stumbled into what resembled one. I wasn’t looking for something or someone interesting. I had already found that many times over. One of my many majors in college  (told you I was ADD!) was comparative religion. I found all religions interesting, and their leaders and gurus the most interesting of all. I mean seriously…the Buddha? Interesting dude. A prince who had everything and had been kept from ever seeing any suffering or negative anything? Then one day he sees some unsavory stuff and renounces the whole bit just to sit under a tree for many days in order to figure out the meaning of life? That’s a pretty cool story, don’t you think? Very interesting. And Jainism? Man, that one really interests me. The fact that the “do no harm” motto really goes the distance in that religion just puts me in awe. A Jain is charged with doing no harm to life. Any life. Can you imagine going through life never killing a spider or a mosquito? I couldn’t make it one stinkin’ day on that program. But…it’s very interesting. I have always been interested, and maybe perhaps even a bit fascinated by people who seemed like they really could devote their lives to something outside of what they could see. I thought they were all a bunch of wackos, too, but hey…they were interesting.

Although I had enjoyed studying and learning all kinds of details about the world’s religions, I knew I could never actually be one of those wackos.  I mean, seriously…that stuff was interesting, but a bunch of rituals and chants and stuff?? That’s nothing to write home about. Besides, I was much too rational for all that nonsense.

Enter Jesus. I wasn’t looking for Him. I wasn’t out to become a Christian, that’s for dang sure. In fact, I thought of all the religions in the world, that was the last one I would ever be caught dead associating with. Truly. But I was looking to prove that Jesus was a myth. I was looking for proof that my friend, who had said some hard words to me about this Jesus, was actually being brainwashed into some weirdo Christian cult. Seriously, that’s how my journey started…before I started to get it…I slowly saw that my friend was not even involved in a religion. He had a strange and beautiful relationship with something…with Someone that I couldn’t see. I started to see that other people had this relationship with Jesus too…and it was different than the religious stuff I had seen before. In fact, the two seemed to have little to do with each other.

Now I had always thought Jesus was pretty interesting, as much as any other religious figure, just not interesting enough to sit for three hours in a dress on Sunday mornings when I’d rather be sleeping in. But what I came to find out was that He was the only one of these “religious” folks who was interested in people. In fact, it seemed He was rather interested in me. And I was way, way cool with that. I fell in love with a quickness, and in very small ways every year since then, I’ve realized that He is still interested in me and in everything I do, say, think… After all, He created me. He created plans for me…things that only I can do. He is crazy about me and can’t get enough of me and can’t wait to get back to me! And guess what?? He doesn’t even care for religion! He loves His people and hates to see them all twisted up in religion to the point where they don’t notice how interested He is in their lives and they don’t have time to be interested in Him. He rejects the ideas that some “religious” folks have that say you have to do more, be more, act perfect in order to be on the A List. Not at all. He’s interested in theives. He’s interested in people who sell their bodies to make a living. He’s interested in people who sleep with their friend’s wife then murder to cover it up. He’s interested in people who cheat on their taxes. And people who don’t. Jesus is interested in YOU and in me. That’s the difference between Christianity as a religion and as a beautiful expression of God’s great love for us. We have to let everyone know that while Jesus may be interesting, He is interested in every last detail of the lives of every last one of us.