Heart of Jesus

What does it mean to have the heart of Jesus? I don't think we will ever quite know. We aren't perfect. We aren't in His mind. But we can ask for wisdom. We can ask for help. He gladly helps us in our time of need.

This past week, Paris, France experienced unspeakable horror. Many people lost their lives and many are injured. In the wake of that, many states decided to not accept any Syrian refugees after President Obama said our country was open to taking in some. I have seen mixed reactions. I have seen some people (the majority) be excited about that. Then I have seen the rare few question why we wouldn't.

Before you get the wrong idea, I agree with both sides. How, you say?  I'm not one to follow crowds. I sorta just don't go along with the crowds very easily. I don't mind speaking my mind. I don't mind standing up for what I think is right. I don't mind people not liking me for my opinion either. It's not because I like confrontation and making people upset. I just feel "ok" with not being the most liked person. Everyone wants acceptance, but hey, sometimes we have to go a different route to change the world!

I agree that we should be focusing on our own country and helping the homeless here. There are so many that need a warm place to stay, a job, a meal, etc. There are hundreds of thousands of veterans that aren't receiving hard earned benefits that they should be getting, no questions asked. There is money being siphoned out to who knows what and who knows where that the government just throws away. There are many, many, many needs in our country that needs to be addressed. Like the crazy Obama Care insurance thing. It's downright crazy to fine people for not having insurance when the reason the don't have it is most likely because they can't afford it. Sure, go ahead and fine people who don't have money. That's real smart. (Not...read the sarcasm). Of course, there are a lot of other issues in our country that needs addressing.

But does that diminish the needs of others as well? No. While I do see people's points on how dangerous it is to open our country to people who could very possibly be terrorists, what about all the innocent ones as well? We can't ignore the need. Do I have a solution? No. I don't. I honestly don't know much about this whole situation with the Syrian refugees. I don't keep up with the news much. But I do know the heart of God wants us to meet needs.

Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.

Job 31:32 says, "...but no stranger had to spend the night in the streets, for my door was always open to travelers."

Hebrews 13:2 "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so, some have shown hospitality to angels."

James 2:15, 16 "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food. If one of you says, 'Go in peace. Keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?"

There are other scriptures as well that go along the same lines. I don't think Jesus was talking about just people from our neighborhood, or the homeless person on the street. He wants our hearts and minds to be open to everyone who is in need. That is his heart. What is the kingdom of God without some risks and danger? His whole kingdom is built upon people who dared to be different, who dared to stand out, who dared to do the thing that everyone else wasn't willing to risk their lives to do. 

There are needy people out there and if they come to my hometown, I hope to welcome them with open arms despite their religion and what they stand for. Maybe, just maybe, showing compassion, love and acceptance, their hearts will yearn for what I have; Jesus. Maybe they'll want to know more. Maybe they'll give their hearts to Jesus. Maybe if we dare to do the unthinkable and the seemingly irrational, we can change the world. I've never seen anyone change the world or become something in this world without putting their necks out a little! Jesus was killed for who He was. I think risking to love some people, despite what others think, is worth it. 

And if you find my post here offensive, then maybe reading the much revered, much lookup-ed to, Jen Hatmakers post and comments, might help you. I am copying and pasting what she had to say earlier today on this subject.

"It really can be dreadful, this Jesus life. Just dreadful. I completely agree and suffer through all the same anxiety about it. I really do. I desire about 64% of Jesus. That is about all of Him and His ways I can handle. I really mean this. For every 6 things I like about Jesus' stuff, there are 4 that I am totally willing to ignore or discredit. I do it every day, you guys. I look several things in the eye and say NOPE. I hover around a D-. 

Take Matthew 25, for example. What a disaster! Jesus so deeply identifies himself with the prisoner and the hungry and the stranger and the naked and poor, He says, "When you consider them and their plight, imagine that it is actually Me you are serving." 

Let me tell you something, Jesus: LOW BLOW. I do NOT want to see your face in the faces of these complicated, hurting, needy people. When I see a prisoner, I want to see "criminal." When I see the homeless, I want to see "addict." When I see a refugee, I want to see "threat" or at least "financial drain." 

What I do not want to see is your sweet face. 

Why couldn't you identify with more stable people? We like you in the faces of our children and best friends, for example. We like you in our government and in our Family Friendly Movies. We like you in our pretty churches and gated neighborhoods. 

We do not want to see you in the faces of the poor. That sucks. Now you are really messing with us. You do realize what this sort of holy identification will cost and require, right?

Why?? Why did you have to say all that in Matthew 25? I very much prefer Christian rules to this nonsense. (And it is nonsense, Jesus. Your ways do not make any sort of conventional sense.) I know we are to live this death and resurrection with you, but I only like the resurrection part. I'm serious. I want to skip the death part because it is too hard and requires way too much dying. Rules! You know we prefer rules! If we just dress modestly and don't say the f-word, can we call it a day? 

It is so hard down here, Jesus. People are so hurt and scared and abused and confused. We want to follow you but your ways are so terrifying sometimes. Thanks for looking into our faces and seeing "brothers and sisters" instead of cowards and charlatans. You have always elevated our status. I guess if you can see us through miraculous eyes then maybe we have the capacity to look at others and see, well, you. 

All this is so hard, Jesus. This world is so banged up. We need you. Help us. Strengthen our faith. Help us trust you. Break our hearts if you must. Give us new eyes to see." ---Jen Hatmaker

She responded to a jilted fan, after the fan told her she was being manipulative and trying to convince people it was ok to accept "possible terrorists" and "dangerous people" into our country. Here is her response:

 I assure you I have no desire to manipulate you. This post is true. Every word. I do, in fact, find following Jesus very hard and sometimes terrible. I do ignore at least 40% of what He said. Blatantly. And what remains of Matthew 25 is simply this: after saying welcoming in the stranger is like welcoming in Himself, I am stuck concluding that Jesus meant it. So at the bare minimum, our posture toward refugees should at least be riddled with compassion, and to its bitter end, we are supposed to be something like a loving host. (And alas, I'm permanently stuck with these "rose colored Jesus glasses," I'm afraid. I'm like lasik-ed. It's hopeless. )

Following Jesus is hard, guys. It's hard. Living for Jesus isn't all snowflakes and lollipops. It's not all fun and games. We can't just accept one person and not the other. I don't care if there is a terrorist standing before my face. I will chose to love him. I will chose to show him the power of Jesus' love. I will stare him in the eye and welcome him. I will chose to follow God wherever it leads me, because it is there, that I am most safe. Let's impact the world with Love. Let's impact the world by daring the be different, by daring to be Jesus to those who are full of hate, violence and murder. 

Starbucks and Christianity: My Thoughts

It's a cup. It's a cute red cup with the Starbucks logo on it.

The reason I mention the logo, is because I want to talk about the origin of it. Did you know the logo is Greek? And the meaning behind it is obsession, addiction and death? There is another meaning as well, where it's called a "siren" and it's associated with the ocean. In mythology, Sailors would become so fixated on it that they would crash on rocks and ultimately, die. 

Ok. So we are all worked up that there aren't more Christmas decorations on the cup, and it doesn't say, "Merry Christmas" on it. Well, some people are worked up. At this moment in time, it's an, "I can't even" moment. Why aren't we more worked up about the logo they have, if we are going to be upset at anything? Which I still don't think we should be upset about. Let me expound. There are hundreds of companies out there that support abortion. Here is a list of just a few: Adobe Systems (if you use a computer and download videos, or watch youtube, then you probably use a system of theirs), Bank of America, Chevron (the gas company), CIGNA (insurance), Coca-Cola, eBay, Este Lauder, Fannie Mae, Gap (including Baby Gap...oh dear, all those cute clothes!!),  General Electric (oh no, better not cook our food on them again!), Home Depot (better not build houses or fix things!), JP Morgan Chase Corp, Macy's, Nike, Office Depot, Proctor and Gamble, Quest Diagnostics (better not go to the doctor and get our blood tested!), ....wait for it....STARBUCKS, Tiffany & Co. (better not go buying your girl a nice ring or necklace), Time Warner (don't have TV or internet), Oh heavens no...USPS...better not send any mail!, Walt Disney (don't buy any Disney products or go have a family vacation there),  Wells Fargo and Whole Foods. 

Gasp. If we are to get up in arms about the lack of a #MerryChristmas on Starbucks cup that has a logo that depicts obsession, addiction and death, then I think we should also be in arms about all these companies (plus a ton others) who support little babies being murdered. Let's go march around them with signs, shouting our full disapproval. Let's create a hashtag for all these companies and express our downright indignation over that atrocity. 

I'm joking. If we were to get up in arms over all the bad things that different companies support or do/not do, then I am pretty sure that we'd never take a step outside our homes. Oh wait! I bet we wouldn't even have homes because we wouldn't be able to go to Home Depot to get supplies to build those homes. 

Christians, let me tell you something. People are turned off by you when you find something so silly to be offended over! Here's a point I want to make. My grandfather used to be a Dallas, Texas policeman. He would spend his "off" time, sometimes helping large churches with their parking on Sunday's. He saw people fighting over parking spots and being rude to each other, on their way to church. It made him feel like Christians were just hypocrites. Of course, it is each person's choice to become a Christian and love God, but the way we, as Christians, act really does matter. We have people observing us all over the place and if we can't leave a legacy of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control, how are we to expect them to want to follow Christ? We can't. If we can't leave a good example, then they have nothing to follow. 

Alright, I'll turn it back on myself. I have taught my kids to not chew ice, because it is bad for their teeth. During this pregnancy, I have become anemic, thus causing me to crave ice. Our new home has an ice maker on the refrigerator, and it crushes it as well! Yum. More of an, "Oops." Because I have found myself filling my cup with crushed ice and chewing on it. My kids walked up to me and said, "Mommy! You're not supposed to be chewing the ice! It's bad for your teeth!" I have found myself struggling (even as I type this) to not want to chew on ice. Here I am, a mommy who is trying to raise her kids to be obedient and healthy. Yet I spoke one thing and did another, leaving a bad example to my kids. *not mommy of the year*.  I say all that to show how, when we preach love, yet we find joy in having "some good natured fun" by asking the barista at Starbucks to write, "Merry Christmas" as our name, we are being hypocrites. First of all, it's lying. Our names aren't, "Merry Christmas." You look silly doing that. And secondly, you're just showing that barista that you're offended over something that is completely irrelevant. If you want to have more impact, why don't you go into Starbucks some evening and say, "Merry Christmas" to the patrons and baristas. Sit and have a nice conversation with the barista that is on break. Ask him/her how she's doing. Show an interest in their lives. Be Jesus to them. Show love. 

Jesus' mission on earth was to love people. He wants to see people's lives changed, renewed, filled with hope and joy. Let's be the ones who bring the peace and joy this season, instead of passive aggressive making fun of a silly, red cup at Starbucks. 

Giving 100%

Last night I was watching Dancing with the Stars and my favorite dancer is Bindi Irwin. She is adorably cute, outgoing, full of life and most of all, she gives 100% to every dance she does. If she trips up, she keeps going and gives even more "spit fire" to her dance to make up for the mistake.  The judges commented last night on how they loved her ability to give everything to every single dance. You could sense the pride they had in her. Despite not holding her shoulders and head back quite right in the dance, they kept commenting on how they loved her fortitude and willingness to plow ahead. They were also amazed she kept at the practicing despite her feet being torn up and even losing a couple of toe nails! She superglued them on! Now that's what I call someone who has fortitude and is completely undaunted. 

How many love it when they see someone just plowing through life despite what life hands them? How many people are inspired by their actions when someone gets hurt, or injured or has a whole bunch of lemons handed to them in life, yet they never complain and keep at it? 

I know I am completely floored, encouraged, inspired and want to be like them, when I see a person like that. 

Giving 100% is difficult sometimes. Sometimes we have things weighing us down, whether it be finances, illness, pain, fear, depression, and so on and we just can't seem to get our feet back under us. There have been days I've not even wanted to crawl out of bed. I've not always been the most positive, uplifting person. But I realized last night that those, "We all have bad days, it's ok" saying, really is a saying we give meaning to by choice! We don't have to have "bad days!" Bad days happen. It's inevitable. But what makes it bad for us is our choices and our attitude. We chose to let the bad days bring us down. We chose to slum around in a pity party. We chose to allow the stress and frustrations of life bring us down. 

I saw on Dancing with the Stars last night, the wince on Bindi's face when Derek asked her if she was ok. She kept saying, "I'm fine. Let's keep going! I've got to keep going!" It didn't matter that she literally had holes on the bottoms of her feet, or that her toe nails were falling off. It didn't matter that her ribcage hurt and was bruised from practicing. She saw the goal in sight. She knew she had a purpose, a reason, to keep at it. 

Some of us have to stop and say, "Well, where is my purpose? Where is my goal?" Some of us feel lost on a daily basis, not knowing which way is up and which way is down. We feel overwhelmed because life keeps handing us lemons and we've made so much lemonade, we're sick of it. We just want iced tea now. (analogy!) But sometimes we have to just keep smiling. That is what becomes our goal. Smile. Be happy. Chose, chose, chose happiness. Every day is a choice to be happy or depressed. If you don't have a huge goal to reach, set little goals. 

Here's a few ideas I came up with for myself, because right now, I don't have a lot going on in my life to have goals for. 

1. Brush my hair every day and do something nice with it, at least twice a week. 

2. Enjoy the sunshine on my face. The extra vitamin D is always good. 

3. Enjoy the prattling, the non-stop prattling, of my kids. (Heaven help me!)

4. Clean up the house every night before bed. Waking up to a relatively clean home always makes one feel better. 

5. Do something to make someone else smile. Helping others always brings a smile to my face and heart!

After having my baby, I plan on having some work out goals and goals for eating healthy, etc. Life always has something to offer that is good, no matter what bad things are happening. Let's learn to give 100% during every circumstance in our life. Let's let our lives inspire others to be happy! When we give 100% in the face of struggles, we will be laying the groundwork in our hearts as well as others to be women of fortitude. Undaunted. Fearless. Lionesses. We can do this, ladies! Let's be the inspiration we want to see in the world!