In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal. I love this verse for two reasons:
1. "Letting go" is something I struggle with on the daily 2. I love the word-picture of "reckless love" I love people. Which I think is a gift 99% of the time. However, sometimes I want to be liked by others so much that I become completely rooted in their approval. I lose my head and forget who I really want to be living for. Thankfully God is in my heart. So even when my head's not in the game, He's still there coaching me. It's good to remember that holding onto life just as it is, without Jesus, doesn't have lasting value. But letting go of everything and clinging recklessly to love--to Christ changes everything. What does it even mean to be reckless in my love? All I can know is the ridiculous affection and grace I see working in my life every day from Jesus. When I think about Reckless I imagine euphoric freedom. It's an action without boundaries or motive.Websters dictionary defines reckless as "without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action." In many contexts recklessness is not a positive trait. But how amazing would reckless love be? To love without thinking or caring about the consequence of your love would indeed be incredible. Not jealous love or selfish love. But genuine, unscripted love that isn't stopped by thought or consequence. God set the bar high for love, He is the most reckless in His love. Even if you don't believe in God, the idea of reckless love is incredible. This verse has given me part two of my life purpose. 1. To help people live a better story. 2. To be reckless in my love. Do you have a hard time letting go? How are you reckless in your love?
0 Comments
Saidah is a new friend. She’s the beautiful bundle of joy front and center with an orange button.
I met Saidah on Tuesday night last week; this picture was taken Friday morning. In three short days she stole the hearts of me and my high-school friends. I learned from a guy named Bob that love is contagious. And Bob learned it from a guy named Jesus, so it must be true. Last week I got the privilege to bring six amazing young women to a camp called Washington Family Ranch. The beginning of our week was a little rough. We didn’t know each other very well, and had to try a lot of new things we didn’t always like. By the halfway point we were friends but we were tired. Then our new friend arrived. Not only is love contagious, love unifies. Saidah was our server in the dining hall from Tuesday night- Friday morning. She smiled, she laughed, and she wore hot red lipstick and always had something nice to say. By our third meal with her we were screaming and clapping before she even reached the table. We didn’t know how it happened but we loved her. We loved her together because she loved us. Our last meal with her we decided to write her a letter. It was a tattered, three-page novel written in green gel pen. It was love. Then in the passion of our love we decided to get a group photo with the girl who filled up our hearts every meal. Pay attention, because this is how love works. When we sat down I started quickly shoveling food in my mouth because our shenanigans had used up most of breakfast. I looked up when my girls started pointing out a huddled group of kids behind us. Another cabin had seen us and realized they wanted to love on their Saidah. So they jumped up and ran to her too. That’s what love is like. We pass it on without even understanding it sometimes. We see it, we feel it, and then all we want is to be a part of it. To the girls of Cabin 212- Thanks for living life with me. I hope I grow up to be like you someday. (Or your uncle.) A real conversation always contains an invitation. You are inviting another person to reveal herself or himself to you, to tell you who they are or what they want.
David Whyte People need to be invited. Often we get too busy to pause and let people join us in our adventures. Or like me, we get snooty. We decide people don't deserve parts in our stories. They aren't good enough for us to invite them. The problem is, real relationships start with an invitation. We all need to know that we are wanted. I'm speaking out of experience when I say that my most life-changing relationships have all started with an invitation. My sophomore year of college I was a wee babe. I didn't really have a life plan or passion for anything. I loved having fun and going to Wal-Mart. I didn't have a job or a car. I never left campus except to buy snacks and occasionally go to church. One Monday night I got invited to this thing called Young Life. They needed leaders, apparently. That's where I met Amanda, John, Caitlin, and Mat. Even though I had a lot of growing-up to do, they didn't hesitate to invite me into their stories. They saw who I was becoming before I did and invested in my story. The invitation they extended, the love, and the grace they gave me changed me. It also initiated life-long friendships. Unscripted love happens when we ask people to join us in our adventures, even when it's inconvenient. This week I am thinking about who I need to be inviting into my story. Who will you invite? This Monday I experienced something I can only describe as "pulling a Lily."
Tomorrow I get to watch a dear friend, Amanda Field, get married to a new friend, Michael Griffith.
Right now I'm trying this thing called intentionality. I'm a little bit crazy, so doing life on purpose is new for me. Part of my new habit is a productivity system called Storyline. Storyline is a book written by Donald Miller. He wrote it in four months after he decided to follow the schedule he made, found here: http://storylineblog.com/sps/. This schedule asks questions like, "what are you looking forward to?" and " what is your life theme for the day?" It forces me to think about what my life is going to mean today. This is hard, because I am not a very reflective person. Usually I plan my life around very imaginative circumstances and wishful thinking without challenging myself with what's realistic. This means I talk big and dream big, and then often live little. I create a cycle of being displeased with who I am and where I am, because I see myself as President of the United States instead of a busser at Red Lobster. Taking the time to say, "this is what I care about today, this is what matters to me, these are my priorities," brings peace and rallies around the idea that I may not be extraordinary, but I am doing stuff. I found a blogger who did a post featuring intentional living over a five day period here: http://newlifesteward.com/intentional-walking-with-god/ What she has to say is down to earth, uplifting, and doable. Right-away she shared two important points: #1. No amount of planning and intentionality makes it possible for one person to do it all. #2. The first step in living intentionally is to make choices. These points are key because all to often I think people take intentional living to mean "perfect" living. Also, being intentional requires making choices about what is important. There is no way to include everything and still come out on top. As a more whimsical human being I excel at being vibrant and present. People who meet me find me charming and enjoy the fireworks of our new friendship. However, I struggle to be consistent with my passions. I'm an ADD hype girl with an audience who is ready for more than words of encouragement and intermittent acts of service. What I have learned? True love is an act of everyday faithfulness, not sporadic inspiration. What does it mean to be faithful? I think faithfulness is about making a plan, sharing the plan, and acting on it. I have always been a pro at making plans. I have been ok at sharing them. And I am horrible at doing them. Because halfway into most of them I realize they are bat-crap-crazy. Today I'm living with a new set of blueprints. This free bird is getting a flight plan. Because love and whimsy lose their worth when we don't pair them with purpose. My guess is I'm behind on the times. My peers probably have this figured out already. But this is me living life on purpose, because sometimes the pants of your seat just isn't enough. Photo Cred: Tim Walker First, SUCH a good movie. Seriously, go watch it. Right now. Second, yesterday I was feeling a little tired of my "normal" life and my everyday problems. So I decided to dream a little. I think it's ok to dream once and awhile. Thinking about the future helps give me hope. Dreaming helps me relax and refocus on WHY the things I'm doing now matter. When I think about where I'm GOING it helps me be happier about where I AM. This is what I came up with for my bucket-list: -have coffee with Bob Goff, and be real friends. and maybe sweet maria too?! -learn how to slow dance. like really, because right now its bad. -buy land in the mountains by my parent's and grandparent's cabins. -get a tattoo -meet a guy I dig, plan a kick-ass wedding, and ham it up. -have balloons and confetti released from the ceiling like I'm a rockstar. -be on YL camp program. -have babies. (from Africa or from my uterus, either one is good) -get a contract with Lonely Planet as a writer -graduate nursing school, be the best nurse ever. -go to Mardi Gras in Louisiana, and PARTY. but not too hard. -buy a kayak, and go every weekend. rain or shine. -experience the miracle of dog birth, take care of a litter of puppies and give them away. -own a rooster -write a book -go to something fancy enough to wear my Hollywood dress. you would understand if you saw it. -be an aunt (no pressure, Ally) -make up my own holiday -watch a conjoined twin surgery Where we are is so little about what we have or what we want, but who we choose to be moment by moment. Don't let yourself get stuck in the muck of today. It's just one day, one time, one place. Look at the big picture and inspire yourself to continue on. Our lives do not develop in one moment, but in a long string of choices made each day, every hour, and any second. Dream big about who you want to be. Then stand-tall, set yourself straight, and walk towards the future. Take a risk in each moment to invest in tomorrow. Be bold enough to choose who you are this second, today. You don't have a say in who you were yesterday, but you have a voice in who you are today and tomorrow. I think we forget how much freedom we have to choose our own paths. There is so much you can't change in this life. The one thing you can always change is your direction. Don't give-up on today. The moments that feel like they don't mean anything are leading to tomorrow. Changing diapers or doing homework or going to work all play a part in our wildest dreams. We must choose to give meaning to these times in our lives because how we live in today dictates the life we wake-up to tomorrow. This is me when I was eight. I had no idea who I was becoming or who I wanted to be.
Believe it or not, I still have that jacket sitting in my closet. I grew into it, I became a person. Now I look ahead 14 years and think what kind of legacy will I live along the way? How can I move towards that woman today? [There's a fish posing with me. It definitely wasn't my first one, but we were fishing in the rain and I think my dad was trying to keep me hyped.] It's Wednesday, again. And I brought along some friends. Today I asked anyone I could this question: What makes you feel awkward? These are their answers: Quiet people. When I am the last person to pick up on sarcasm that I dont understand. When I have to admit I am a failure. When I am at a party, and the couple people I know are talking to someone else. When I am right, but cant tell them, and have to listen to them talk anyways. One thing that makes me feel awkward is when I am hanging out with a group but I only know one or two people in the group and everyone in the group is reminiscing about funny things that have happened to them and I am just sitting there like "I dont know what to do." I always feel awkward when my parents talk about me to my family members. When people give me praise or compliments, or when they have heard about me before I meet them. When people stare at me for a long period of time. Peeing in a public bathroom! Having someone like you and you don like the back and everything just becomes really awkward. When my kids scream in the super market and everyone stares. When someone stands over you watching you and you know they are there but dont want them there. When you go up for a high five and they dont return it. When someone I dont know talks to me. Personal space violations_ When someone waves at me and its not actually at me. I feel awkward when someone gives a political viewpoint that I know is opposite of mine (or someone that were with). When Im with someone who loudly complains in a restaurant. When Im about to poop in a public restroom and somebody walks in to the bathroom. When people are really emotional in public and you dont know what to do. Getting rejected in public. Unanswered questions Meeting your girlfriends parents for the first time. Giving presentations that you dont know anything about. When Im not confident in the way I fixed my hair or the outfit I wore and people stare at me for a long time. When I mess-up in front of an audience. I get so awkward when people I dont know well start getting too personal. Hugging the wrong person. Sitting next to people I have a crush on. Walking into the wrong classroom. “When a Viagra commercial comes on while sitting next to my dad. When Im talking to someone and they spit on me Or when youre at someones house for the first couple times, and you finish before the rest of the family and just have to awkwardly sit there and wait, Being around a couple that is arguing Its really awkward when someone gives me a compliment because I dont know how to react. It makes me feel awful. I feel awkward when I say something and people dont understand. When guys flirt with me or show any interest at all I just want to run and hide. When I dont want people to give me hugs and I say no. I feel awkward when everyone is staring at me
|
AuthorMy name is Lily. Archives
October 2016
Categories |