The Cup

Something crunches beneath my tires as I parallel park outside of a Christian bookstore. Coming around to pay the meter, I see the crunching came from what used to be a coffee cup that is now smashed to smithereens. Clearly, I was not the first one to run it over.

"You alone hold my broken cup."

I can't help but smile at the irony of the moment. Over coffee a few days before, I had a conversation about (among other things) parking meters, Christian books, and cracked cups.

"You alone hold my broken cup. My heart's so dusty and dry."

Two days earlier I stood in the audience and listened to singer/songwriter Peder Eide talk about cracked cups.

We all have cups. God pours out love, affirmation, encouragement intending to fill our cup until it overflows. Yet fear, abandonment, rejection, etc. have cracked our cups. Some cracks are bigger than others yet still the goodness of God leaks out and the cup never overflows. This is not what God intended.

"I'll ache 'til You make me whole."

As an audience, we extended our hand-cups into the air, handing them to our Abba Father like a small child hands a broken object to a parent. Individually we identified a specific crack and asked Him to fix it.

"Abba, this belongs to You."

I had just spent the last hour closely examining the multiple cracks in my cup. The cracks that are causing fast leaks and those that are slower. The causes of the cracks and the repercussions of them. The need for the Lord to repair the cracks and fill my cup.

"Abba, this belongs to You. This belongs to You, Abba Father."

Mending takes time, especially when your cup has been run over... twice.  Especially when the cause of the cracks lead to multiple, "Oh, Honey"s.  Yet when you, when I, lift our broken cups before the Lord, He graciously repairs them and pours into them until they are overflowing.  He fills them until it's not the former cracks or even the cup itself that can be seen but rather His love pouring over the edges.

"I thirst for You, Jesus, fill me up!"

<>< Katie

Lyrics from "Make Me Whole" and "Abba, I Belong to You" by Peder Eide.

Obama for Chocolate?

My apologizes, blog friends. Surprisingly, I've been a bit lacking in the "what to say" area.

I was in an informal meeting with my advisor sometime last week and a different professor came in and gave him a piece of chocolate. She announced that it was Obama's favorite kind of candy, and to celebrate her birthday, she was sharing it with the department. My advisor was a big Obama fan, and... well... I voted for McCain-Palin. My advisor told the other professor that I went out partying the night he was elected. The other professor began to open her box of chocolates before I informed her that it wasn't true. She closed the box and said, "Awe, I was going to give you chocolate if it was true."

For a brief moment, I contemplated lying and telling her I did support Obama I just didn't go out partying once he was elected. For a piece of chocolate? She doesn't have any idea that I didn't vote for him and she has no way of seeing my ballot. It's a free piece of chocolate! I ultimately let it go without saying anything, but something about that moment struck me. Would you abandon everything you believe and support for a piece of chocolate?

Maybe lying about who I voted for in order to get a piece of chocolate isn't like I'm abandoning everything I believe, but is it too far fetched? How often does Satan try and feed us lies (delicious, chocolatey lies) in order to get us to turn away from God? At the same time, do we consider hiding Jesus because it's the popular thing to do? Do we conform to the pattern of this world for a simple piece of chocolate?

I have never eaten President Obama's favorite kind of chocolate. I probably never will because I don't have any idea what it is. But I know my heart was true. I did not back down from my beliefs to gain a simple piece of candy. God has better things waiting for the faithful (even if our new president has a good taste in chocolate).

Don't read too far into this (or play devil's advocate) and think I'm calling Obama Satan or something silly like that... Regardless of whether or not I voted for him, Obama is now my president and therefore deserves my prayers. I trust he will lead this country better than I could. I know I won't agree with everything he does, but I will respect him for his decisions (even if I think they're absurd and wrong).

In Christ,
<>< Katie

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2