It's hard.
It's hard to be thankful when you don't know when your next paycheck is coming (or from where). It's hard to be thankful when your best friends are 900 miles away. It's hard to be thankful when your office is the most central location of your parents' home, when your internal clock has no idea what time of the year it is, or when you don't have any idea what your calendar will look like even a month from now. It's hard to be thankful; it's easy to host a pity party.
Every once in awhile, I let the tears roll. They're good. They're healthy. But once they come, they're hard to stop.
Like Job, I speak bluntly and harshly to the Lord. While it's nice to get those feelings out on paper, it doesn't usually solve much. (Did I just say that out loud?) I still don't know what's next. I'm still playing pin the tail on the donkey.
And still even here, I have a lot to be thankful for. Did I not wake up this morning breathing and refreshed? When I rolled over and put my feet on the floor, did they not stay there and hold my weight? (No peanut gallery comments, please). Was there not toothpaste in the tube, toilet paper on the roll, and soap in the dispenser? Is there food in the pantry and hot water in the shower? Do I have a jacket, shoes, and gasoline?
Have I not people who love and care about me? People who encourage me and pour into me? Scripture tucked away in my heart? Is the Lord not in this limbo, this barren desert, this hideous time in between?
Life is hard. Yet still there is so much to be thankful for even if they're the small, simple things we tend to take for granted. Even if it's the tears and the angry words. Even if it's the promise, "I will be with you always to the very end of the age" (See Matthew 28).
Even if nothing else goes correctly, that one reason alone is enough to bring thanksgiving to my lips again and again.
<>< Katie
Showing posts with label care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label care. Show all posts
Friday, November 25, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Have You Eaten?
In preparing for my upcoming trip to China, I met with a teacher from my high school to learn more about the culture. He also taught me some helpful phrases (here's to not speaking Spanish to Chinese people!).
We started at the beginning:
ni how
Hello
Then he said there's another phrase I'll hear more often:
ni chi le ma
Have you eaten?
He said it's not really a question of whether or not you've eaten. It used to be back when there was a famine in China. But now it has become more of a greeting.
"Like here asking 'How are you?' No one cares; it's not any of my business if you've eaten or not," he said.
America, when we ask "How are you?" Do we really care?
More often than not, the answer is no.
I heard a story once about professor and a student walking opposite ways down the hallway. The professor greeted the student and asked how he was. The student answered, and they both continued to walk towards each other. In that moment of awkwardness, again the professor asked, "How are you?" Again the student answered before they finally passed and went on their way.
That professor didn't care how the student was doing; he just wanted something to say.
I'm guilty of it, too. People ask how I am and I say "Good" before I even think about the question. In being more conscious of this, I have started to say, "No, that's a lie. I'm ok."
Of course, you can't spill your soul to everyone you meet, but it is vital to have at least one someone to whom you can say, "I'm not ok and this is why."
Take it from someone who doesn't have constant access to that kind of friend anymore... it's not easy being alone.
Because we're not intended to be alone!
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Hebrews 12:1-3 (emphasis mine)
Let's re-claim "How are you?" and only ask if when you mean it.
But it's hard.
For me, when I really mean it, I'm trying to train myself to ask, "Are you having a good day?"
What about you? Do you have any tips?
Wo chi le
I've eaten
<>< Katie
PS: It is grammatically correct to answer "Good" OR "Well" to "How are you?" However, it would be incorrect to answer "Good" to "How are you doing" unless you are actually doing good... and serving in a soup kitchen, working on a mission trip, loving the Lord's people...
We started at the beginning:
ni how
Hello
Then he said there's another phrase I'll hear more often:
ni chi le ma
Have you eaten?
He said it's not really a question of whether or not you've eaten. It used to be back when there was a famine in China. But now it has become more of a greeting.
"Like here asking 'How are you?' No one cares; it's not any of my business if you've eaten or not," he said.
America, when we ask "How are you?" Do we really care?
More often than not, the answer is no.
I heard a story once about professor and a student walking opposite ways down the hallway. The professor greeted the student and asked how he was. The student answered, and they both continued to walk towards each other. In that moment of awkwardness, again the professor asked, "How are you?" Again the student answered before they finally passed and went on their way.
That professor didn't care how the student was doing; he just wanted something to say.
I'm guilty of it, too. People ask how I am and I say "Good" before I even think about the question. In being more conscious of this, I have started to say, "No, that's a lie. I'm ok."
Of course, you can't spill your soul to everyone you meet, but it is vital to have at least one someone to whom you can say, "I'm not ok and this is why."
Take it from someone who doesn't have constant access to that kind of friend anymore... it's not easy being alone.
Because we're not intended to be alone!
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Hebrews 12:1-3 (emphasis mine)
Let's re-claim "How are you?" and only ask if when you mean it.
But it's hard.
For me, when I really mean it, I'm trying to train myself to ask, "Are you having a good day?"
What about you? Do you have any tips?
Wo chi le
I've eaten
<>< Katie
PS: It is grammatically correct to answer "Good" OR "Well" to "How are you?" However, it would be incorrect to answer "Good" to "How are you doing" unless you are actually doing good... and serving in a soup kitchen, working on a mission trip, loving the Lord's people...
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Light Your World
It was somewhere between 11:30pm and midnight. I turned off the light and began the stringray shuffle towards my bed. About 3/4 of the way there I stopped, contemplating a Lambeau Leap into bed just to entertain Jennifer. Jennifer! I turned around and shuffled back towards the blinking light switch. As soon as I hit it, my roommate Jennifer and I doubled over in laughter.
Well, I doubled over; she almost fell out of bed. It wasn't really that funny, but we laughed until our stomachs hurt. Everything's funnier in the middle of the night, right?
She had been reading when I walked in from the bathroom, turned off the light, and headed to bed.
Here's the kicker: I totally knew she was reading and turned out the light without thinking anything of it!
Here's the second kicker: She didn't say anything!
I guess you had to be there. We laughed until we couldn't breathe. That could be hazardous to your health.
You know what else could be hazardous to your health? Absent-mindedly going through life. Turning off the light before you get into bed despite the fact that your roommate is reading. Making it your goal to get from Point A to Point B as fast as you can without noticing the people you pass on your way. Every day counting down until the next day when you can sleep in.
I consider myself pretty observant and friendly. I noticed Jen was reading. I wave to snowplow drivers. I address people by name when I pass them on campus.
But get me in the caf and I am in a zone! Sure, I'll talk if I'm in line, but most people tell me they saw me in the caf but I looked like I was in a hurry, so they didn't say hi. In the caf, sometimes I don't acknowledge people until they call my name. Clueless.
What if we took the time to notice the other people in the caf? Instead of just seeing bodies in between us and the milk, what if we saw the faces of God's children? What if we actually payed attention to what we were doing rather than doing it half-heartedly or rush?
What if we left the light on for someone?
What if we cared?
<>< Katie
Well, I doubled over; she almost fell out of bed. It wasn't really that funny, but we laughed until our stomachs hurt. Everything's funnier in the middle of the night, right?
She had been reading when I walked in from the bathroom, turned off the light, and headed to bed.
Here's the kicker: I totally knew she was reading and turned out the light without thinking anything of it!
Here's the second kicker: She didn't say anything!
I guess you had to be there. We laughed until we couldn't breathe. That could be hazardous to your health.
You know what else could be hazardous to your health? Absent-mindedly going through life. Turning off the light before you get into bed despite the fact that your roommate is reading. Making it your goal to get from Point A to Point B as fast as you can without noticing the people you pass on your way. Every day counting down until the next day when you can sleep in.
I consider myself pretty observant and friendly. I noticed Jen was reading. I wave to snowplow drivers. I address people by name when I pass them on campus.
But get me in the caf and I am in a zone! Sure, I'll talk if I'm in line, but most people tell me they saw me in the caf but I looked like I was in a hurry, so they didn't say hi. In the caf, sometimes I don't acknowledge people until they call my name. Clueless.
What if we took the time to notice the other people in the caf? Instead of just seeing bodies in between us and the milk, what if we saw the faces of God's children? What if we actually payed attention to what we were doing rather than doing it half-heartedly or rush?
What if we left the light on for someone?
What if we cared?
<>< Katie
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