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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Thankful, Oh so thankful

This week, as Thanksgiving is upon us, I am choosing to focus on being thankful for my framily. Yes you read it correctly, my framily. A dear friend used that term with me yesterday and I chose to steal it.

You see, as a child I remember huge family Thanksgivings. Meals with my grandma and pap, aunts, uncles, cousins, mom, dad and my brother. But this year, Dad has been gone for seven years, mom has been gone for 3 years. My family of 5 has dwindled and I have but one child left at home with me on Thanksgiving. And all those aunts, uncles and cousins are on the other side of the country. And I began to feel sad. It's a typical thing around this time of year, the holiday blues. But I didn't want to stay in holiday blue land. It didn't seem like a fun place for a visit and I certainly didn't want to live there.

So my dear friend said that we don't get to chose our family but God chooses our framily. These are the friends that have chosen to be in your life and love you no matter what. These are the friends that God has placed in your life to do life together and to build one another up.

I have family that has chosen to apart from me, I have family that is geographically apart, and I have family that is dancing with the Lord but still apart from me. But instead, I will focus on the many people in my life that I now call framily. I love them and they love me. We are doing life together and building one another up and they have chosen me and I have chosen them. Now I'm not naming names, because I don't want to leave anyone out, but come on guys, you know who you are. You are important to me and I hope you know it because love has feet and you should know it because i've shown it. So today I think about you and I am thankful for you.

You have made a difference in my life and I am blessed to call you my framily and I thank God that you are a part of my life and that He has allowed me to be a part of yours.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Beautiful Things

I heard a new song in church today that touched and inspired me and I thought I would share. It's called Beautiful Things. The chorus repeats "you make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of dust. You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of US."

Here's why I love this song. I am anything but beautiful. I'm getting better, but Jesus is really what is beautiful. But i listen to this song and I think back on my life. I remember with guilt and pain all the times I was far less than beautiful. All the times I was downright ugly and dirty. I was deceptive or hateful, seemingly without character, and full of sin. I mean, I seriously can look back at my life through the years, especially my younger years and see dirt and grime. The Lord hates sin and if sin makes us ugly, at times, I was horrifying. And then I look at where I am now. And I am brought to my knees in tears, and gratefulness. Because, if God had just looked at me and seen someone who was ugly and couldn't be used, that's where I would have stayed. But he looked at me and saw a beautiful diamond and decided I was worth the effort.

He began His great work in me. And today, I have a life I never thought was possible. And, although I am far from perfect, I can see where God is making me beautiful. He makes me new! He has been washing off the dirt, chipping away the things that needed to come off, tearing down walls and burning away chaffe. He has a lot of work still to do but I am so very grateful that when He looked at me so many years ago, He saw me as He intended...beautiful. I am so thankful that He makes me new and in spite of myself, can still make me beautiful.

If Christ can take someone like me and make me new and beautiful, He can do the same with you!