my best friend

Today I feel like bragging. I wish I could think of a better word than bragging, but since it is essentially what I will be doing, the word itself will suffice. Words, however, will fail me as I attempt the action because I am quite certain that I am not word-savvy enough or poetically equipped to properly brag about my best friend, but one can try.

I am undeniably, incredibly proud of my best friend. The reasons for this are unlimited, but for the sake of writing a blog and not a book, I will limit myself to one particular area of her life, her job. She is a teacher. A wonderful teacher. Her teaching ideas and commitment to children alone make her great and make me proud, but what makes me proudest regarding her job is who she is when she is there. Daily, I hear stories and occurrences that happen in her school. Sometimes, they make me laugh at the candidness of children. Sometimes, it breaks my heart at what some of those children endure. Sometimes, they frustrate me because of the lack of professionalism. But always, they make me proud of my best friend. My best friend loves on those children. Even if she couldn't teach the material, I sincerely believe she would be changing them. I hear how she loves those children in the way she talks about them- always with respect and compassion. When I hear a story about a little boy or girl who doesn't receive love at home, I am so thankful that they are one of her students because I know that that child will not walk away without knowing how it feels to be loved. I am so proud of my best friend.

A couple weekends ago, at church, the man speaking told three stories he remembered from school. None of those stories reflected positive recollections of teachers. I found it sad that he had such experiences while in school, due to what his teachers did and said, but at the same time, I was proud because sitting next to me was my best friend and she is a loving, compassionate teacher. And when the time comes for her students to recall their childhood education, they will find nothing bad to say about the teacher who loved them.

I mentioned earlier that I was limiting this blog to just one reason that I am proud of my best friend in an effort to reduce the length, but find even in writing about this one reason, I am having to limit myself because there are so many reasons to be proud within the one. I also mentioned that words would probably fail me as I wrote. Reading back what I have now written, I can honestly say that my words have failed miserably. All I know is that my best friend is changing lives with her love and I am proud of her. I'm pretty sure Jesus is too. :)

Week 3: Shi Weihan was sentenced to three years in prison for printing Bibles to give away. Pray God's Word spreads.

Compassion

This past summer I read the book The Wounded Healer by Henri Nouwen. I will admit that I do not remember what the majority of the book was about. I'm not sure I could even state the main point. All I remember from my reading is one paragraph dealing with compassion. This paragraph made me stop and think while I was reading. This paragraph makes me stop and think daily, months after I have even returned the book. I like to think that I understand what compassion is. I even like to think that I understand what it means to act with compassion, but in reading this paragraph, I realize how skewed and how far off my definition of compassion is.

"Through compassion, it is possible to recognize that the craving for love that men feel resides also in our own hearts, that the cruelty that the world knows all too well is also rooted in our own impulses. Through compassion, we also sense our hope for forgiveness in our friend's eyes and our hatred in their bitter mouths. When they kill, we know we could have done it. When they give life, we know that we can do the same. For a compassionate man, nothing human is alien: no joy, no sorrow, no way of living, and no way of dying."-Nouwen

It's hard for me to comprehend and live out that kind of compassion. I think often times, I get stuck thinking, "What kind of person would do or say that..", when the truth is apart from Jesus, I am just as capable of those offenses. I am just as capable to steal, lie, cheat, and even murder as those who do, but how lucky I am to know Jesus and His peace so that I do not. I think compassion is realizing that "nothing human is alien" and responding in that realization.

Week 2: Muslim extremists attacked Christian families, burned 50 homes and killed livestock in Pakistan. Pray families find peace. I'd also like to add pray for the extremists to know the love of Christ and turn their lives over to Him.

We Speak for Nations..

Too often I take what I have for granted. This is not a new thought, but rather a reoccurring realization. I'd like to say I woke up this morning thankful for the bed that I slept on or the roof over my head, but those thoughts didn't cross my mind. I am thankful for both, but I expect them both and consequently take both for granted. It frustrates me that I regard such things as expectations. What makes me so special that I expect a bed while millions of others go to sleep at night in the streets? Too often I take what I have for granted. What drives me the craziest about that statement is the fact that I know it. I look around the room right now and it blows me away how blessed I am. Today, I am acknowledging that I take things for granted and I am thankful for what I have been given, but what about tomorrow? I said that this was a reoccurring realization. I did not, however, specify how often that realization reoccurs, probably because I'm embarrassed to admit how little I realize it. I am too consumed with what I don't have to realize what I do. Does it really matter the size of my bed or the quality of my mattress, when the fact of the matter is, I have one?

Unfortunately, I don't just take materalistic things for granted. I neglect to appreciate my faith and the freedom I have to express it. I receive a magizine in the mail called the Voice of the Martyrs. The magizine talks about the millions of Christians who are persecuted for their faith. It's not name-calling persecution these people are faced with, it's life or death. People in these nations are beaten, thrown into jail, and have their homes raided simply for owning a Bible. I read the stories and am amazed by their testimonies. I think if I were in their shoes, I would fear being a Chrisitan, but all they mention is their hope and determination to share the love of Christ. It boggles my mind and frustrates me to no end to know that I take that freedom for granted. People are dying over a freedom that I don't take time to consider.

About a month ago, I recieved a flyer in the mail that said who will you pray for today? On the back it had 14 days of prayer. Each day there was something to pray about for those in persecuted nations. I decided today to stop taking that freedom for granted and to thank my God for that freedom and pray for those who don't have it. I believe that Jesus is the only hope for every nation and I believe He hears His peoples prayers.

I don't know if anyone is reading this, but if you are I really hope that you join me in these prayers. I've decided to do 14 weeks of prayer instead of 14 days because I want to learn more about each Nation and really commit sometime to praying for their needs. I want to stop taking things for granted.

Week 1 prayer: Ruth is a widow whose husband was killed in a religious riot in Nigeria. Pray for Nigerian widows.

Heart's Desires

It's ackward starting a blog. The first blog is the first impression- it ultimately determines if people will come back to read your blog, or even continue reading the first post at all. It's ackward because who am I that you should read what I write. I'm not an award winning author and I don't have a plethora of inspirtational quotes stored up to share. Instead, I spell things wrong and use grammar incorrectly, more often than not. I'm not sure if you will ever get anything out of what is written or why you should even read the next few lines. I don't know those answers. All I can tell you is why this blog exists.

It exists simply because I lost sleep over it last night. For someone who has never really desired to write a blog, losing sleep over the idea of one seems pretty ridicioulous. Trust me, I felt ridicioulous. I hate sharing my feelings and would much rather always be on the listening end in a conversation so the intent of this blog is not to tell you my day play-by-play, although sometimes that may sneak in. It's to address a few desires of my heart: 1- Writing. I like to write, even if I'm not good at it. I love to read what people write, especially if they are good at it. There's just something about writing and how each word is intentional and serves a purpose that is so profound, at least to me. 2- I have an undying love for the people of this world who are forgotten, lonely, and in need. So many ideas come in and out of my head on how to be a remedy, even if only for a second, to these people that often times the idea is never thought twice. I want to think twice about those things so forgive me if this is ever a place where all I am doing is sorting out my thoughts on these matters. To me, that is a really important "doing". 3- There are several organizations that I believe in with my whole heart. Financially, I can't always offer monetary gifts to these organizations, but I try to stay updated with what they are doing and give what I can, when I can. As I mentioned before, I believe in these organizations and will probably as times use this blog as an opportuitunity to share what the organization does and ways that you can get involved.

So that's why this blog exists. Even if no one ever reads what it written, I'll be content because I'm addressing some of my heart's desires. :)