Help?

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You won't find the answers until you learn to question,
You won't appear stupid, just ask for directions,
You're insecure and it clouds your perception
So stop and listen and learn a lesson in love... without condition.

 We were born into this world with the help of our mothers, who carried us in their womb for almost a year. Until the age of two, we are virtually helpless, requiring considerable attention and assistance. Until the age of eighteen, we are legal bound to receive help from our parents.


 Basically, NATURE and SOCIETY are insisting that we as human beings require assistance in our journey through this life.

Which begs the question: Why is it so hard for us to ask for help???

I am horrible about asking for help. I have to get really, REALLY lost before stopping to ask for directions. This translates to life as well. In the past, I've been terrible about asking for help before I'm buried.

Last year, I made a move across several American states to take a teaching job. I recall a family member calling to ask me if they could help transport my things. Thinking this was too great of a convenience, I refused the help. They insisted, and won the argument in the end. They drove 2000 miles to help me move in to my new place.

When I started the new job, I quickly began to sink. With no family, no friends, and no life to speak of,  I had no choice but to be consumed with work. Within months, I was severely ill, burnt out, and miserable.

At my lowest point, I sent an urgent email to a professional acquaintance, saying HELP!!!! Within days, she was in my office with a stack of music and perfect solutions to all of my dilemmas at work.

Weeks later, I was relaying this to a woman in a support position above me. She had investigated into how my year was going, and I gave her a generic answer. Not accepting this, she probed further. That was when I told her. Her response was simply Why didn't you ask for HELP??

I replied that I had indeed asked for help, but even I knew the ball had been dropped. I should have milked every resource I had. Instead, I took the high road, not wanting to seem incompetent.

After the school year ended, I met with a college mentor back home. When I relayed the year's events to him, he praised me for how I handled things. As I registered confusion, he explained that the greatest professional step a person can take is to ask for help.

We are surrounded by people of all ages who have had all kinds of experiences. Although I've encountered difficulty in my professional life, I've always known the value of turning to those who have gone before, and who have a vested interest in keeping me from making the same mistakes they've made.

All of this leads me to say that there are so many of us who exchange the gift of God for our own understanding. I don't know about you, but my understanding is affected by circumstances, perception, etc.  With the biggest decisions of my life, I always find myself going to God. The scripture says, Lean not on your own understanding, but on every word that comes from God. 

Asking for help and guidance doesn't mean you're stupid or incompetent. If anything, it makes you stronger, more able, and more apt to making decisions that you won't regret later.

For You...

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I thought of this song just tonight. I just had this feeling that someone reading this might just need to be comforted a little. My prayers are with you.

Being Broken

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Broken:

1.) Forcibly separated into two or more pieces; fractured

2.) Sundered by separation

3.) Having been violated

4.) Incomplete; disordered

5.) Subdued totally; humbled; weak and infirm

6.) Crushed by grief

7.) Bankrupt

8.) Not functioning; out of order

Years ago, I used to think often on the idea of brokeness...

"We have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us."  - 2 Corinthians 4:7

Back then, I would visualize a clay pot being smashed to pieces. I understood the idea of God crafting us into His image. Then, time would harden us until we were of no further value to our cause on this earth.

So... God would break us and rebuild us from scratch.

At the time, I believed moments of brokeness to be painful, difficult situations when we felt that we had no choice but to cling to God.

A decade later, I find it more and more difficult to navigate these moments of brokeness. It's one thing to have your heart broken... to find out that your great love has chosen another, or the financing fell through on your first home, etc.

It's another thing altogether to quickly pick up the pieces of your life and forge ahead at this quick pace we call adulthood.

As a child, I could bury myself in a prayer closet. As an adult, I sometimes am faced with realities such as, There are 200 people waiting on me, and I can't afford to be broken right now.

So...here's the question: What happened to those moments of spiritual brokeness? and will I ever have them again?

"We are pressured in every way, but not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; we are persecuted,  but not abandoned; we are struck down, but not destroyed." - 2 Cor 4:8-9

Perhaps we are all supposed to be spiritual weight lifters...don't laugh. Maybe the condition of brokeness is supposed to change as we grow. Perhaps, we are to react differently to situations as we grow in Christ. The Bible says there is a time for everything under the sun. Maybe there is a time for running to the prayer closet and isolating ourselves from further danger. And perhaps there is a time for standing in the full armor of God (Eph 6:11) to fight through the perilous moments in life.

I believe we will always have moments of brokeness. Some of those moments will crush us and leave us feeling violated and we will go to God with our faces buried in the carpet, begging for His comfort.

However, more and more, I would like to know that I am standing and facing my giants with renewed faith and strength of will. Maybe that's one of the major points of being broken.

Missing Love...

Beyond the environment, the economy, or any other global issue we are dealing with right now, we have a looming crisis of a much greater importance...



We have a deficit that grows daily. With all the commandments and precepts that God gave us in the old testament, there were TWO that He imparted upon entering into the new covenant with us...

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

-Luke 10:27

We have become so consumed with the three S's that we have lost sight of our true meaning in this world.

1.) SUCCESS - everyone wants to believe that their life has meaning and value...unfortunately, too many of us search for meaning in the affirmation and praise of the most random cross section of people... a boss, a significant other, a fortune teller... we put our worth in the hands of people who have no business or expertise to define our worth.

2.) STABILITY - we like the familiar routine... whenever someone or something interferes with the normal function of our day, we get irritable. There are important things to be done, and there just isn't time for anything else.

3.) SECURITY - we are constantly exchanging the comfort and security of God for a faithless existence. We say, I can make it on my own. Then the bottom drops out and we are in a crisis of belief. Even then, we are still searching for our own solution.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding."

-Proverbs 3:5

If love began to rule my life, I believe the world would change. The word love is uttered so many times in the Bible in reference to God, that I have come to believe that God is the ultimate lover.

I read somewhere the account of a Christian martyr who was quoted as saying, "I would rather serve a God who would die for His creation, rather than a god who would ask his creation to die for him." Upon hearing this, I was moved to think on the love of God. What if our own love for each other was as great as the love He demonstrates?

Where do we start?

People the world over, regardless of age, culture, demographic, religion, etc. admittedly recognize that there is evil in this world. Like the toxins we emit into the atmosphere, we are constantly emitting some form of hate. Just because we refrain from symbols and physical destruction doesn't mean that we aren't part of the problem.

How much energy does it take to absorb the poison from a poisoness situation? How many minutes our of our life does it take to show love and understanding instead of bitterness and pride. How are our actions defined by love, versus personal gain?

If we miss the boat on a lot of issues, I pray that love will still remain at the core of our existence.

"I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. "

-Anne Frank

Lost

[Luke 15:11 - 24]

"A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me. So he distributed the assets to them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living."

Everyone loses their head once in a while. We do silly, foolish things. I'm horrible about paying bills on time. I get busy, I forget, and then there's this overwhelming sense of guilt when I have to fork over the money for a fee. So, that twenty dollar skirt from Kohls becomes $50.

Then there are more serious incidences of foolishness... like texting while driving, stealing from work, or engaging in substance abuse.

And finally, there is that moment when foolishness takes us to a point where we feel we can never return. I heard a story once about a father who got a call from work while taking his infant son to the doctor. He made a brief stop at work, only to be stuck there for two hours. As he was leaving the building, he suddenly realized that he had left his infant son in the car. The child didn't make it.

It's so common to think that our moments of foolishness have taken us to a place from which we can never expect to return. We reach out for affirmation...from a spouse, from a boss, from a parent, even from our own children. Sometimes, however, the feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness are overwhelming.

"After he spent everything, a severe famine struck the country and he had nothing. Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill himself from the [pig food], but no one would give him any."

The consequences of foolishness can lead us to believe that we are unworthy of anything good. People settle for the meagerest portions. Some choose to ignore their dreams in favor of a safer road, free from the embarrassment of failure. Some end up in unfulfilled relationships because they feel they can't do any better. The result is a life of circles...circling around, trying to find fulfillment in less than what was intended for us.

"When he came to his senses, he said How many of my father's hired hands have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger! I'll get up, go to my father, and say, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired hands."

The difference between strength and weakness is not wisdom. True strength lies in our ability to get up after we fall (even if it's a deafening THUD!). It's okay to admit our weakness and it's okay to ask for help. What do we really stand to lose?

"But when his son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him..."

When life seems empty, and nothing will fill the deepest void (the void no one knows about), the creator of mankind is standing off at a distance, waiting for you to come home. All it takes is one step in his direction, and He will come running full speed to your rescue...

"...the father said, Let's celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found!"

With all our foolish steps in life, perhaps that first step toward God will be the best leap of faith we will ever take.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog Burning, Passionate Love. The blog was created to share with you my testimony of love and acceptance in God. I hope you take away something important, no matter what your beliefs or background.

Enjoy!