Lord, make me free like a baby birdie

Yesterday morning Baby Bear came running inside and asked Mama Bird and I to check out the baby birds in the nest a bird built in our patio cover. We went outside to see their growth and realized the birds were ready to get spread their wings and fly.

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We were all so excited for them, but with two dogs running amuck in the yard grew nervous. We put Pennie (our bird-obsessed pup) away in the dog run and Calvin (our pain-in-the-neck old man terrier) took off in the house to avoid the pen. We watched as baby birdie one leaped from the nest, flapped his wings clumsily, and then hit the ground. Baby birdie pulled himself up into a pretty little posture and as he did so, Calvin came running out of the house and gobbled the birdie up in one bite.

It was such a sad little moment. We yelled at him no and he finally dropped the baby birdie, but he was already dead. We locked Calvin in the dog run before baby birdie two decided to get his flight on. No movement from the nest left Mama Bird and I bored so we went in to finish getting ready for the day. Suddenly Baby Bear said the other bird came out of the nest and we had to see. Baby birdie two was sort of a hot feathery mess laying face down on the ground. We thought he too had died. Suddenly a little flap of the wing and he was all put back together!

Baby Bear had to leave for school but laid down his compassionate, animal-loving law. No dogs out until baby birdie two was gone. The backyard needed to be searched before the dogs could be free to roam. We all agreed.

Baby birdie two flew the coop yesterday sometime. Thank goodness, all alive and well. But as I think of the excitement of the morning, I can't help but think of God. Of His love and provisions for us.

But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger, and did not arouse His wrath." -Psalm 78:38

Just like Baby Bear did for the birdie, God provides for us to fly, to soar, and to fall without being gobbled up by a ready-to-pounce enemy (or Jack Russell Terrier!). Much like the dog run, God's grace and mercy keeps us from becoming history before our time. Much like a backyard free of dogs for many hours, God gives us time and space to grow while delivering us from deadly danger.

This Friday afternoon, I pray for the freedom to grow and spread my wings while taking comfort in the grace of the God who provides safety for me. I pray that I can lean into the beautiful heart of God that loves my feathery mess of a self... Even when I'm not quite ready to fly. I pray with much thanksgiving for the sweet baby birds that gave me a lesson while doing precisely what God made them to do, if only I could hold tight to my purpose like them.

Sharing is Caring

I'm at one of those points in my life when I get it. (It's temporary I promise.) God has been working really diligently to make me understand what it means to share. He has revealed to me that sharing truly is about showing others how much you love and care about them.

Recent events in my life have shown me a little piece of God's great heart... And how He longs for me to act it out. 

In Luke 6:38 God says, 

"Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressured down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with measure you use, it will be measured to you." 

Being the fond of cooking gal that I am, this relates so well to me... The more cookies you make, the more you have to share, the more people have the opportunity to enjoy your talent. 

Listening to a trusted, close friend hate on one of my most celebrated efforts truly broke my heart. I was crushed to have someone I love make it obvious she was disinterested in sharing in my accomplishment. I left the conversation frustrated and hurt... But I knew full well God had a hand in this. I reexamined my goals, I rediscovered my passion and started a new project of my very own that went on to win a couple awards. As I thought (many times over and over) on the painful conversation, I first realized the importance of sharing. 

We are taught at a young age that "sharing is caring". With such a trite little phrase, it's easy to take the true implications of sharing for granted. 

In Acts 20:35 Luke writes,

"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" 

It is the heart of God for us to share in everything we do. Why does it seem competition, getting ahead, and being the best beat out growing, experiencing, sharing together? 

As you grow in your blogging, pay it forward and help someone just starting out... They're blessed to have your help and advice. As you grow in your relationship or marriage, pay it forward and share in your ups and downs with younger relationships... They'll be blessed to have your wisdom. 

As you grow and share... You will be blessed.

Who wants to share with you today? 

Who needs you to care enough to share with them? 

P.S. Are you ready for this week's Simply Sweet Ingredient Challenge? 

Get together your hummus for tomorrow's post!

What Did Jesus Do?

As a child going to church as a family was an important Sunday morning activity. I would head off to class with one goal in mind: learn what God was teaching so I could share with mom and dad. (Yep, I wasn't so into real live application yet) One Sunday in particular, I remember proudly wearing a woven bracelet home from Sunday School and giving my parents a lesson on what Jesus would do.

For years, or maybe more like decades, I spent so much time thinking about the ways that I was not honoring Jesus. I wasn't doing what he or His Almighty Father would want me to be accomplishing. And that led to lots of frustration. Until this past week, something clicked. I got it. Jesus doesn't want me to dedicate all my time worrying about what he would do, but instead he wants me to lean into what he did do.

In taking on the cross, Jesus overcame the finality, the everlasting damage of death and rendered it harmless. Upon the cross, Jesus cleansed our pained, sinful souls restoring their utmost beauty and splendor. Conquering the cross shifted the world's paradigm: Jesus redefined strength, transformed power, muted death, healed sorrow, and radicalized love.

But did Jesus do all this with a worry about us being more like him? Nope. He did this out of his unending, undeniable, unfathomable love, mercy, grace for us. Jesus didn't take on the cross to weigh us down, to sink our already waterlogged ship, instead he conquered the cross to show us his undying love for us.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30 

God didn't sacrifice His only son out of pity for us. He understood the reality of the situation, we were lost, sinful souls who needed a savior, who needed His son. It's not about our works or becoming perfect, it's about leaning into the love, grace, mercy, wonder, righteousness that was granted to us upon the cross. We must stop working so darn hard to get Him to love on us, and take in what is already there for our enjoyment.

The gift God gave us of His beloved son on the cross centuries ago was unprecedented. He unleashed His immeasurable wrath upon His own child to ensure life unlimited to the children who acted in direct defiance of Him. Oh, how He must love us.



As Easter nears this Sunday, remember we are here. We are here for a reason. But we are here only by His unending grace and mercy. Remember what Jesus did for us and enjoy it. Don't worry about all your shortcomings and failures (God knows how many times I've listed every time I've disappointed myself), but instead focus on the wholeness, the forgiveness we have because of His amazing son, Jesus.

Happy Easter Season my dear friends!

I hope you can receive the amazing things Jesus did just for you. 

Enjoy this time with family to realize oh, how He loves you.

Me as a Soaked, Seeping Sponge

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"And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, 

but for him who died for them and was raised again." 

-2 Corinthians 5:15

At church on Sunday the pastor gave an amazing message about the radical love of Christ and the way we, as His children, are called, asked to love as He did, radically. He went on to illustrate the way the character of a Christian is revealed through the toughest of tribulations we face. 

He said, "When life gets tight and we are squeezed, what comes out of us?" 

Being a kitchen loving gal, I could only think of my pretty pink sponges. When I'm done cleaning the kitchen and the sponge is water logged, I am sure to squeeze out the excess water so it doesn't get stinky. Sometimes, I'm surprised at the color of the liquid that spews from it's pores. For example, today I roasted beets. That magenta color they are known for leaked out onto my counter, so I wiped it up thinking nothing of it. After dinner, I squeezed hot pink water from my pink sponge, a pleasant surprise. But sometimes, nasty brown water comes out. And I want to puke knowing that dirtiness came from my seemingly clean counters. 

I found myself wondering, when life squeezes me out to make sure I don't get stinky inside, does something pretty and pink come from inside me as a result of my loving self, or does brown nastiness spew out grossing out others (and myself)? 

With the grace of God, I am working towards the pretty pink liquid, spewing out love and grace, mercy and patience, self-control and gratitude when life calls for anything but such lovely things. It's not easy, in fact, I'm sure if you squeezed me tight enough right now something closer to brown would flow from deep within me, but I'm trying and, for me, that works. God doesn't need my pretty and pink, but He asks me to work towards it in order to glorify the great works He is baking within my little soul. 

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "yes" in Christ. 

And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God."

-2 Corinthians 1:20

What would be squeezed out of your sweet spongey self? 

Is it pretty and pink? Or stinky and dirty like me?

Drippy Drop, Drippy Drop

One of my all-time favorite worship songs is "Ancient Skies" by the Michael Gungor Band. I listen to worship and country while I'm running... This song seems to beg me to play it over and over. I always get caught thinking, repeating, meditating (and not in the ommmmmm kind of way) over the lyrics.

"You're amazing. Creation cries, so will I, You're amazing." 

As I listen to the sweet melody of the Michael Gungor Band, I can't help but think about all of the things in God's green earth that scream of His glory. In fact, while I'm running, I often think about the way my body is a wondrous tool He so perfectly created. The complexity of the human body is far beyond my capacity to comprehend, but I'm going to share the amazingly orchestrated process behind an uncontrollable bodily function: sweating. Yep, I'm writing a God blog about sweating.

Don't you wish your back looked this good?
I do too!

Have you ever considered all of the process behind the thin layer of water that covers your entire being when you're working out really hard? Me neither. Until Michael Gungor got me thinking. In order to sweat a person needs to raise their core temperature enough to set off the sensors in the thermosensitive neurons found in the preoptic and anterior regions of the hypothalamus. This little bundle of neurons then sends a signal to the sweat glands found all over the surface of the body, that it's time to drop the surface temperature in order to cool the core. Whoa. Yep, all that, just for the watery stuff that keeps you cool.

Now, I'm not going to end it there. You see, humans and horses are the only mammals with the capacity to sweat in extreme amounts. God made us special. We don't pant like dogs because our bodies air condition through water evaporation. And the actual contents of our sweat... That's a whole other kind of awesome.

Lactate, the chemical that makes muscles sore after a really tough workout, is excreted in our sweat. It's not just salt and water, it's chemicals that are not necessarily helpful in recovery from an intense workout.   Also, the composition of sweat acclimatizes... Yep, when you're sweating in the heat it emits a different "recipe" of sweat than in mild warmth or cold. It's complicated. And, not that you should skip sunscreen, but sweat has an anti-ultraviolet radiation protection component to it.

"For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can see his invisible qualities -His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God." - Romans 1:20

Sweat isn't just a random function of the body. In fact, it's a perfectly orchestrated cooling mechanism God equipped our bodies with. Think on Him in all the little things that your body is constantly doing for you... Do you ever think about how to sweat, or make your heart beat, or to digest your favorite sweet treats? Nope, I didn't think so.

Take a moment to appreciate the amazing tool that God gave you in your body today. 

When you're pushing your body... Whether it be to chase that little one down at the park, or lift that last box into the new house, or with your trainer who hasn't an ounce of mercy, think about the gift He created so carefully, so well-thought out, just for you.

And finally, the topic for tomorrow's Top Ten Tuesday:
Favorite, Couldn't Cook Without, Kitchen Tools!