Rwanda, I see your hurt
Rwanda, I smell the corpses in the dirt
your voice of a thousand angels cry out
"Lord help us" but we doubt
How can the suffering be greater?
We need help now, not later.
For what good will our bodies do
if they are left in the streets cold and blue
Rwanda, your children are dying
Rwanda, in the streets there are thousands lying
we wait for relief, we pray to be free
from this genocide that you will never see
I know we are a world away
but the least you can do for us is pray.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Live intentionally
This is one of my favorite quotes
that I just ran across today...
Live with intention
walk to the edge
listen hard
practice wellness
play with abandon
laugh
choose with no regret
continue to learn
appreciate your friends
do what you love
live as if this is all there is
that I just ran across today...
Live with intention
walk to the edge
listen hard
practice wellness
play with abandon
laugh
choose with no regret
continue to learn
appreciate your friends
do what you love
live as if this is all there is
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The Five
Today I was talking to a good friend about relationships and friendships. I came to the conclusion that there are 5 things that make up a good relationship. There may be more but these are what I have kind of boiled my thoughts down to. Looking at friendships now, ones that have disintegrated, and ones that have lasted I saw common threads through them. A Great Relationship needs....
1. Love
A love that is not selfish but instead like a servant's heart. We all need to be loved. However if we always focus on ourselves then not only are others not loved but we keep the love for ourselves but our own love will never bring us joy. So if we give all our love to others and others do the same then everyone's needs will be met.
2. Communication
I think is is a huge part of relationships. Whether you are just feeling a little sad or hurt about something don't hide it or stiffle it. Express your concerns and feelings to those you have a relationship with so that they know why you are acting the way you are. Keep those around you informed of your life (in a healthy way don't use this as an excuse to be a drama queen or king) so that they will know what is going on and how to help you if you do need help.
3. Honesty and Trust
I think these go together because honesty builds trust. Even if a person does something bad or something you disagree with, if they are honest about the situation you will be able to respect them more as a person cause you know they are trying to always be honest with you. This opens up the way for trust which is huge in a relationship. Love also contributes to Trust.
4. Balance
You will always have different things you do with different friends but if they are a lasting close friend then they will share all moments with you. Great friends share moments of strife and pain along with moments of joy and celebration. I have had a friend who only came to me with her problems, crying. As a friend I wanted to be there for her of course. So time after time i would console her and try to help her out with her problems or what she was stressed about. That was our whole relationship. It was unhealthy. I have other friends who I only have good times with. Those are fun but shallow at the same time. You don't get to know the person's fears, desires, dreams, past, etc... I have other friends who I can have deep meaningful conversations with. For a good relationship there must be a balance between all three (and there are more parts that play into this but these are just a few examples). A friend comforts and listens but that is not all they do. Friends have to have fun together but if that is all that is there it will quickly fall apart. Friends need to have deep conversations. This is a hard one because you have to build trust in order for this to happen. These can't be forced.
5. God focused
This is the most crucial part. I think all the other catagories will fall into place if both people in the relationship put God first. Now I know that we all fall short and mess up, including me, but if you both are constantly trying to put God first in your relationship it will last a lifetime. I just thought of an old song from my childhood that illustrates this... "friends will not say never when the lords the lord of them, and its hard to let you go in the fathers hands we know that a lifetime's not too long to live as friends."
1. Love
A love that is not selfish but instead like a servant's heart. We all need to be loved. However if we always focus on ourselves then not only are others not loved but we keep the love for ourselves but our own love will never bring us joy. So if we give all our love to others and others do the same then everyone's needs will be met.
2. Communication
I think is is a huge part of relationships. Whether you are just feeling a little sad or hurt about something don't hide it or stiffle it. Express your concerns and feelings to those you have a relationship with so that they know why you are acting the way you are. Keep those around you informed of your life (in a healthy way don't use this as an excuse to be a drama queen or king) so that they will know what is going on and how to help you if you do need help.
3. Honesty and Trust
I think these go together because honesty builds trust. Even if a person does something bad or something you disagree with, if they are honest about the situation you will be able to respect them more as a person cause you know they are trying to always be honest with you. This opens up the way for trust which is huge in a relationship. Love also contributes to Trust.
4. Balance
You will always have different things you do with different friends but if they are a lasting close friend then they will share all moments with you. Great friends share moments of strife and pain along with moments of joy and celebration. I have had a friend who only came to me with her problems, crying. As a friend I wanted to be there for her of course. So time after time i would console her and try to help her out with her problems or what she was stressed about. That was our whole relationship. It was unhealthy. I have other friends who I only have good times with. Those are fun but shallow at the same time. You don't get to know the person's fears, desires, dreams, past, etc... I have other friends who I can have deep meaningful conversations with. For a good relationship there must be a balance between all three (and there are more parts that play into this but these are just a few examples). A friend comforts and listens but that is not all they do. Friends have to have fun together but if that is all that is there it will quickly fall apart. Friends need to have deep conversations. This is a hard one because you have to build trust in order for this to happen. These can't be forced.
5. God focused
This is the most crucial part. I think all the other catagories will fall into place if both people in the relationship put God first. Now I know that we all fall short and mess up, including me, but if you both are constantly trying to put God first in your relationship it will last a lifetime. I just thought of an old song from my childhood that illustrates this... "friends will not say never when the lords the lord of them, and its hard to let you go in the fathers hands we know that a lifetime's not too long to live as friends."
Finding pure joy in everyday things
Last night I saw the curious case of benjamin button and it made me think about a lot of things.
One part he said I was getting paid to do something I would have done for free. However he was scrubbing the bird poop off the deck of a grungy tug boat. See he just wanted to experience life, the good, the bad, the new. He saw it all took it all in. This is in a way how I wish to experience life. I want to do so many things just to experience life fully. I am not talking about the usual things people want to do before they die like bungee jump or sky dive or travel the world, even thought I would love to do adventurous things and they are a part of it. However what I am talking about is waking up and living in each moment of your life. Truly stopping to feel the sun's warmth on your face, stepping outside and filling your lungs with cold winter air, exhaling to see your breath, appreciate a slow walk across a wooden floor with your bare feet, the smell of air. I want to appreciate not just the comfortable things or good things in my life but I want to appreciate some things that I see as the bad things as well...cause it is all apart of life. I don't want to appreciate sin that is not what I am talking about but jobs or things that others would look down on or turn away in disgust I want to find the joy in it. Just pure joy in getting to experience life to the fullest.
Last night on the way to the movie I saw Venus shining brightly underneath the moon. At first I saw it all as flat a crescent shaped moon and a planet that looks just to be like a star....but then I truly comprehended the enormity of it. I saw the gray part of the rest of the moon the part that wasn't lit up and I could then picture it as a sphere in the sky but not just in the sky....I imagined all of space and then i looked past the moon not under it but past it and saw Venus. I pondered how a huge planet made of rock could look so bright. It was because of the sun's reflection I know but that bright, brighter than any diamond. It was a gorgeous stone set against the velvet blue black of the sky. I felt small in relation to everything but I actually enjoyed the feeling. It gave me a small glimpse at the magnitude of God. He has all of it in His hands. I was speechless.
One part he said I was getting paid to do something I would have done for free. However he was scrubbing the bird poop off the deck of a grungy tug boat. See he just wanted to experience life, the good, the bad, the new. He saw it all took it all in. This is in a way how I wish to experience life. I want to do so many things just to experience life fully. I am not talking about the usual things people want to do before they die like bungee jump or sky dive or travel the world, even thought I would love to do adventurous things and they are a part of it. However what I am talking about is waking up and living in each moment of your life. Truly stopping to feel the sun's warmth on your face, stepping outside and filling your lungs with cold winter air, exhaling to see your breath, appreciate a slow walk across a wooden floor with your bare feet, the smell of air. I want to appreciate not just the comfortable things or good things in my life but I want to appreciate some things that I see as the bad things as well...cause it is all apart of life. I don't want to appreciate sin that is not what I am talking about but jobs or things that others would look down on or turn away in disgust I want to find the joy in it. Just pure joy in getting to experience life to the fullest.
Last night on the way to the movie I saw Venus shining brightly underneath the moon. At first I saw it all as flat a crescent shaped moon and a planet that looks just to be like a star....but then I truly comprehended the enormity of it. I saw the gray part of the rest of the moon the part that wasn't lit up and I could then picture it as a sphere in the sky but not just in the sky....I imagined all of space and then i looked past the moon not under it but past it and saw Venus. I pondered how a huge planet made of rock could look so bright. It was because of the sun's reflection I know but that bright, brighter than any diamond. It was a gorgeous stone set against the velvet blue black of the sky. I felt small in relation to everything but I actually enjoyed the feeling. It gave me a small glimpse at the magnitude of God. He has all of it in His hands. I was speechless.
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