Is it pride?

I really enjoy my walks to and from work. (It helps that it only takes 15 minutes ;) My route takes me through the original (can't really call it 'old') part of town - so I get to enjoy a variety of the many mature trees along the way. As I heard once, cardinals are at home in or by mature trees. So I was not surprised when I heard the sweet trill of this red bird on my way into work this morning.

There are not too many birds that I can identify by sound, but the cardinal is one of them. I immediately stopped and looked around - trying to find it. It didn't take me long to spot the bright red beauty atop the peak of a yellow brick century home. Such a beautiful bird with such a pleasant voice! There he was, standing where everyone could see and hear him. He is so lucky to have both physical beauty and a great voice and he knows it too! The thought suddenly struck me - he's quite proud of himself! Well, the nerve of him to think he's so much better than the other birds! Wait a second, I tell myself, is it really pride? Or is he just looking and sounding and being as God created Him? Would it be better if he hid away and called out softly so very few could hear him? I wouldn't think him proud then, but then again, I probably wouldn't notice him at all. I wouldn't be able to appreciate his beauty or hear his song. Is that better?

How often do I hide out of fear of what others might think of me? What are the beautiful things about me that God has given for me to share with others? And what do I see in the people around me? What beauty are they showing and giving that I am missing or ignoring? What beauty are they hiding that I can help them discover and share with the world?

My challenge to myself and you today is to look for and celebrate the beauty around you!

2-note bird

2 note bird is my favourite bird. Not because it's the best in the looks or sound department. I actually don't even know what it looks like, let alone what species of bird it is! (This explains my name for her.) All I know is that sometimes when I'm walking to work I hear her. She has only 2 notes that she sings over and over again - high, loud, and clear.

What is it that fascinates me so much about this bird? I don't know what she looks like and she only ever sings 2 notes - hmmm, sounds pretty boring when you put it that way. It's not what she sings that I love, it's the way she sings them. She only has 2 notes, but she uses them. She does not sit and feel sorry for herself because she does not have more notes to sing. She sings the notes she has been given - without apology. She does what she's best at and I believe she loves it :)

I love to find life lessons in the every day things around me. So I ask myself, 'what is it that I can learn from 2-note bird?' All too often I find myself wishing I had more or different gifts. I wish I could sing better, play the piano better, create beautiful pieces of art, be an athlete, be more intelligent...the list goes on. But 2-note bird teaches me that I don't need more gifts to be happy and to bless others. I need to be thankful for the gifts that God has already given me and to use them to the fullest.

Lord, help me today to use the gifts you've given me and to help others recognize and take joy in their gifts too!

Beauty

What is beauty? What is true beauty?

We Christian women often hear that true beauty is not about what we see on the outside. "It's what's on the inside that counts!" So we often say. I find that I am quite capable in dialoguing on this very issue and how important it is that we believe it. (All the while I can be worrying about what I have to wear to an event the next day!) But this doesn't concern me so much. I know that it is something I need to continually surrender - over and over again.

What concerns me more is not the part about beauty not being on the outside. It's the part about beauty that's supposed to be on the inside that makes me bite my lip, hold my breath and worry - "what if I'm not beautiful on the inside?"

How do I define a beautiful woman?

If I'm honest I would say that a beautiful woman is kind, gracious, giving, hospitable, hardworking, smiles and laughs a lot, makes everyone she meets feel like they are special. Basically she exudes all the fruit of the Spirit perfectly all the time. She also has the spiritual gifts of mercy, compassion, faith, giving, and helping.

Looking back at what I just wrote makes me laugh - I know it is absurd!

In my last post I spoke about how I limit God. Now I'm limiting God's creation.

God created me unique. He created me with the personality and giftings that He particularly wanted me to have! And that is beautiful!

My God is HUGE!

As I was walking to work this morning I found myself gazing up into the bright, deep blue sky. (While still glancing down as appropriate to avoid any serious injury.) It is the kind of sky that I can get lost in. I reminds me how big God is and how small I am. Many people are fascinated by the study of the universe - particularly its immense size. (Most will say it is limitless.) But this is not what I find most incredible. I know God is big. I know that God is bigger than my limited mind can comprehend. I simply choose to accept this as fact.

But here's where it gets tricky for me. Since I accept that God is infinitely bigger than me, I also accept that I am therefore very small indeed. So if I am truly so very small and only one of billions of people on this very small planet, how is it that this huger-than-I-can-ever-understand God knows me and loves me?

Maybe the truth is that I have a misguided understanding of the character of God's huge-ness. Maybe God's limitless size actually enables Him to be intimate with billions of people continually. Maybe God's huge-ness is not just about size, but about His capacity to know and love.

I am reminded that I have an Enemy. He tells me that I am too small and insignificant for this big God to know me, let alone love me. So when I am tempted to believe that I don't really matter - I know it is my enemy at work. The Bible is overflowing with God's words of love for His children. I often take much joy in reading them. But my enemy says - "Well, you don't really think those words are for you, do you?! You're not that important. God said these things to other people, not you."

The truth that I know is: God is HUGE. God KNOWS me! God LOVES me! "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief." Mark 9:24