Every ice cream cone you eat is a race: you versus the melting ice cream.
On Wednesday, I lost the race when a drop of chocolate ice cream landed on my Carolina-blue shirt. Of course, I was devastated and used every means available to remove the evidence.
After all, this wasn't just any blue t-shirt. This t-shirt was purchased as part of a fundraiser to send my friend Hannah to eleven countries in eleven months through The World Race. Hannah is important to me, and I want to proudly wear her missions shirt to support her. I don't want it to have chocolate ice cream stains on it.
Wait just a second.
What's the shirt for? Hannah's mission work through The World Race. I wonder if she has Shout wipes in her pack. I wonder if she's going to come home unstained after visiting eleven countries in eleven months.
I doubt it.
Friends, God doesn't call us to look as nice as pristine as we can. We're called to get dirty.
Jesus got dirty: He washed sore, dusty feet. (See John 13:1-17)
Jesus got dirty: He spent His time with tax collectors. (See Matthew 9:9-13)
Jesus got dirty: He wept when His friend died. (See John 11:1-44)
Jesus got dirty: He touched lepers. (See Matthew 8:1-4)
Jesus got dirty: He spit on His own fingers to heal. (See Mark 7:32-35)
Jesus got dirty: He was whipped, mocked, and crucified. (See Luke 22:47-24:12)
Jesus got dirty; why don't we?
Do I care more about the chocolate stain on Hannah's Race shirt than the people she's going to be ministering to, loving, and serving? Of course not. At least not anymore.
Do you?
<>< Katie
PS: The stain washed out of my shirt, but I don't want this lesson to wash out of my heart.
Showing posts with label blue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blue. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2011
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Irony
Nikki came up to me the other day and genuinely said, "Katie, I just want you to know that I love you. I know I pick on you a lot, sometimes too much, but I love you."
I told her I loved her, too, and went to give her a hug. As I got close, she burst out laughing. She backed away from me and kept laughing.
"What?"
She didn't say anything. She didn't have to. It was then that I remembered I have blue lines running across my face. I was in an event on campus where I let the freshmen paint blue lines horizonally across my face.
Well, I came home and wiped them off with paper towel and water then a make-up remover wipe and saw a huge difference, but I still had blue lines across my face. They kind of looked like veins. So I hopped in the shower, used some soap, some eye make-up remover...
Now my face is so dry it's ready to fall off, but the blue lines ain't goin' anywhere. And Nikki's laughing at me immediately after apologizing for picking on me incessantly.
<>< Katie
I told her I loved her, too, and went to give her a hug. As I got close, she burst out laughing. She backed away from me and kept laughing.
"What?"
She didn't say anything. She didn't have to. It was then that I remembered I have blue lines running across my face. I was in an event on campus where I let the freshmen paint blue lines horizonally across my face.
Well, I came home and wiped them off with paper towel and water then a make-up remover wipe and saw a huge difference, but I still had blue lines across my face. They kind of looked like veins. So I hopped in the shower, used some soap, some eye make-up remover...
Now my face is so dry it's ready to fall off, but the blue lines ain't goin' anywhere. And Nikki's laughing at me immediately after apologizing for picking on me incessantly.
<>< Katie
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Does this match?
Even though I'm not doing anything particularly strenuous during the day, I'm ready for bed by the end of it. The other night, I trudged back to my apartment sometime between 8:30 and 9. I was ready to take a shower, put on my pajamas, and chill for the next few hours. It was going to be great.
Then I remembered the prayer walk at 10pm. I took a shower and opted against walking around campus in my pajamas because they're really classy. I put on a "better," comfy outfit instead. My only non-pajama sweatpants are bright blue, and they match literally nothing. I call them my dentist pants because they look like scrubs. I didn't want to dirty another shirt, so I pulled on a brown wife-beater tank top. Ok, not runway attire but not bad for lounging around either. Until I put on my black Chacos and red pull-over polar fleece. Except at the prayer walk it was too hot for the polar fleece, so I tied it around my waist. Oh, and my hair was still wet from the shower. Maybe my pajamas would have been a better choice.
Honestly, I didn't really care. Or at least I didn't think I did. It was dark and people could only see my silhouette. However, the further we prayer walked the more annoyed with myself I became. Why did I have to bring the polar fleece? (Oh, yeah, I'm from the north were the temperature drops dramatically at night. I forget it doesn't do that here). Why did I buy/ why do I wear the dentist pants? Maybe some other shoes would have been a better choice. Why am I so awkwardly skinny?
It was in that awful self-loathing session that I realized I am comfortable in who I am.
Huh? Let me explain.
Even though I looked like a dope, I didn't run from a social event. In fact, I made jokes about wanting to return to the 90s and the drown rat look I was sporting. I can laugh at myself. I dropped my socks in the toilet for goodness sake!
As I was thinking about this I realized that in the days and months to come girls who have worse image problems than I do are going to walk these same sidewalks. My heart broke for them. What may be a love-sass for me might be devastating for them. I began to petition to the Lord to heal their insecurities, give them comfort, and show them acceptance. Let them see that they are beautiful on the inside and out. Let them feel loved.
I've said this before and I'll say it again: tell her she's beautiful.
"You are altogether beautiful, My love; there is no flaw in you."
- Song of Solomon 4:7
I love you all,
<>< Katie
Then I remembered the prayer walk at 10pm. I took a shower and opted against walking around campus in my pajamas because they're really classy. I put on a "better," comfy outfit instead. My only non-pajama sweatpants are bright blue, and they match literally nothing. I call them my dentist pants because they look like scrubs. I didn't want to dirty another shirt, so I pulled on a brown wife-beater tank top. Ok, not runway attire but not bad for lounging around either. Until I put on my black Chacos and red pull-over polar fleece. Except at the prayer walk it was too hot for the polar fleece, so I tied it around my waist. Oh, and my hair was still wet from the shower. Maybe my pajamas would have been a better choice.
Honestly, I didn't really care. Or at least I didn't think I did. It was dark and people could only see my silhouette. However, the further we prayer walked the more annoyed with myself I became. Why did I have to bring the polar fleece? (Oh, yeah, I'm from the north were the temperature drops dramatically at night. I forget it doesn't do that here). Why did I buy/ why do I wear the dentist pants? Maybe some other shoes would have been a better choice. Why am I so awkwardly skinny?
It was in that awful self-loathing session that I realized I am comfortable in who I am.
Huh? Let me explain.
Even though I looked like a dope, I didn't run from a social event. In fact, I made jokes about wanting to return to the 90s and the drown rat look I was sporting. I can laugh at myself. I dropped my socks in the toilet for goodness sake!
As I was thinking about this I realized that in the days and months to come girls who have worse image problems than I do are going to walk these same sidewalks. My heart broke for them. What may be a love-sass for me might be devastating for them. I began to petition to the Lord to heal their insecurities, give them comfort, and show them acceptance. Let them see that they are beautiful on the inside and out. Let them feel loved.
I've said this before and I'll say it again: tell her she's beautiful.
"You are altogether beautiful, My love; there is no flaw in you."
- Song of Solomon 4:7
I love you all,
<>< Katie
Monday, July 5, 2010
See the blue; be the blue
My summer days have been pretty much the same: check blogger for updates, facebook, read blogs, check blogger for updates, write a new blog, read a chapter, work on novel (50,000 words!), check blogger for updates, read a chapter, work on novel, check blogger for updates...
When I finally tear myself away from the computer, I head to the basement to work on my scrapbook. Directly above my workstation is a window that leads to a hole in our backyard. When we first punched holes in the walls to add the windows, we put flowers in the terraced dug-out because they were pretty. Well, the years have gone by and so have the flowers.
The other day I was banished to the basement (tornado warning?). After cranking out a few pages, I looked up and saw this:
That's the best photo I could get without climbing on the counter and sitting in the window well in a "super safe way," sorry. There is one small clump of blue flowers in a huge sea of green. I looked at those blue flowers and smiled.
That's how we're supposed to be: one blue flower in a sea of green. We're supposed to stand out in the crowd. Stand strong for Christ, even when we're alone. Daily show His grace, mercy, joy, and compassion even when it isn't easy. We're supposed to be the blue.
A couple of hours later, I was still thinking about this God moment when I remembered the title of disc two in my car: See the Blue by Peder Eide.
The back of the CD case says,
<>< Katie
When I finally tear myself away from the computer, I head to the basement to work on my scrapbook. Directly above my workstation is a window that leads to a hole in our backyard. When we first punched holes in the walls to add the windows, we put flowers in the terraced dug-out because they were pretty. Well, the years have gone by and so have the flowers.
The other day I was banished to the basement (tornado warning?). After cranking out a few pages, I looked up and saw this:
That's the best photo I could get without climbing on the counter and sitting in the window well in a "super safe way," sorry. There is one small clump of blue flowers in a huge sea of green. I looked at those blue flowers and smiled.
That's how we're supposed to be: one blue flower in a sea of green. We're supposed to stand out in the crowd. Stand strong for Christ, even when we're alone. Daily show His grace, mercy, joy, and compassion even when it isn't easy. We're supposed to be the blue.
A couple of hours later, I was still thinking about this God moment when I remembered the title of disc two in my car: See the Blue by Peder Eide.
The back of the CD case says,
If you look around yourself right now - even as you read this- and look for the color blue, you will most likely find many things that are blue. The color stands out when you look for it. It has always been there, but it's when you look for it that you find it! The same goes for God's presence, God's fingerprint, God's grace, and God's still small voice. It's always there, but often we don't notice it, hear it, or see it until we look for it."Do you see the blue? Can you be the blue?
<>< Katie
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Blue
I don't know if it is like this on all college campuses, but here you cannot spend time on campus without having at least one story about our housekeeping staff. The housekeepers LOVE to talk. Perhaps that's an understatement. They will start up conversation with anyone and everyone. Last year, a trip to the bathroom that should have taken eight steps took forty-five minutes because Miss Jessie caught me and I was without a good exit excuse.
Now that I no longer live in the dorms, I am no longer forced to interact with them as frequently as I once did. However, I still see them around campus. Just yesterday, Miss Anna had no problem interpreting my prayer to tell me about how she working double shift in order to attend the funeral of former housekeeper the next day. I figure God wouldn't mind if I spent five minutes talking to her while she changed the garbage bag in the prayer room.
Except that they're long winded, Miss Jessie and Miss Patty never have bothered me because I can understand them. It's the older women like Miss Rose and Miss Joy that make me nervous because they have the thickest accents I have ever heard. With Miss Rose, my motto has always been smile and nod politely as she tells me all of the gossip for the week.
With Miss Joy, smile and nod doesn't work. In the words of one of my professors, "Miss Joy was a housekeeper for almost a million years, so when she retired they invited her to audit any classes she wants. As I'm sure you've noticed, that means she sleeps through them all."
When she'd speak up in class, all eight of us (including the professor) would listen intently trying to hack through her deep drawl and old age to formulate some comprehensible statement and interpret it for the rest of the class. I could understand maybe three words every fifteen.
<>< Katie
Now that I no longer live in the dorms, I am no longer forced to interact with them as frequently as I once did. However, I still see them around campus. Just yesterday, Miss Anna had no problem interpreting my prayer to tell me about how she working double shift in order to attend the funeral of former housekeeper the next day. I figure God wouldn't mind if I spent five minutes talking to her while she changed the garbage bag in the prayer room.
Except that they're long winded, Miss Jessie and Miss Patty never have bothered me because I can understand them. It's the older women like Miss Rose and Miss Joy that make me nervous because they have the thickest accents I have ever heard. With Miss Rose, my motto has always been smile and nod politely as she tells me all of the gossip for the week.
With Miss Joy, smile and nod doesn't work. In the words of one of my professors, "Miss Joy was a housekeeper for almost a million years, so when she retired they invited her to audit any classes she wants. As I'm sure you've noticed, that means she sleeps through them all."
When she'd speak up in class, all eight of us (including the professor) would listen intently trying to hack through her deep drawl and old age to formulate some comprehensible statement and interpret it for the rest of the class. I could understand maybe three words every fifteen.
Since then, she's gotten older and her health has deteriorated taking some of her verbal skills with it. This means if I could understand one word before I can't understand anything now. That's a problem because like all of our other housekeepers, Miss Joy loves to talk. I knew I was in trouble when I spotted her sitting outside the cafeteria after dinner tonight.
"Good evening, Miss Joy," I said. There was no way around it; I had to acknowledge her presence.
"Hello. Slkjadansdmasd," she responded.
"Excuse me?"
"I like your blue coat."
"Thank you," I said. It's purple, I thought to myself. Everything I own is purple; Wonder Jacket is no exception. Poor Wonder Jacket is often confused to be blue and now she's feeling blue because of it (I just decided that if my coat has a name it should have feelings, too). Instead of correcting Miss Joy, I let it go.
"Yes, I think blue is your color."
"Thank you very much," I said trying to appear flattered as I walked away insulted.
BLUE?! My color? No you didn't! Purple is my color! A quick glance around my room confirms this. From my desk I see the following purple items: two backpacks, two Nalgenes, two blankets, four pens, my watch, post-it notes, tennis shoes, slippers, a purse, a hammock... Today even my sweater and socks are purple! My world is purple.
Blue is not my color.
See the blue? There's not much of it: blue books, blue pen (professors prefer blue to purple; why is that?), blue jump drive, blue tissue box (only because Wal-mart was out of purple), blue jeans, blue hand... No, not mine. Well, yes mine. It's made from paper and hanging on the wall above my desk. It's my reminder to see the blue.
In 2008, Peder Eide released a CD entitled See the Blue. The whole idea is that blue is everywhere around us but if we're not looking for it we don't see it. Likewise, God is everywhere around us but if we're not looking for Him we don't see Him.
Even though she insulted my jacket and me, Miss Joy reminded me to see the blue, to open my eyes and see God. Thank you! Maybe I will hold the door for you again.
View the Blue,<>< Katie
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