Perfect Timing

As my days on campus are winding down, I'm using every minute of them to be with friends.  (As I'm sure you noticed with my lack of participation in social media outlets).

Our Suite Day ended earlier than anticipated, so I texted Stacy and asked if she wanted to play tennis.  I had about a little over an hour before I needed to be ready for dinner.

She said sure, so we headed to the courts.

There was a storm brewing on the horizon, and we had the perfect spot to watch it roll in.  Based on how often Stacy glanced up at the sky, I could tell she was nervous about this impending storm.

I'm from the Midwest.  I figured we would play until the wind picked up, it started raining, or we saw lightning.

The darker the sky got, the more often we glanced towards it.  In the distance, we could see the rain coming down.  Stacy asked me if I was a daredevil.  I'm not, but I do love watching storms roll in.

We hurried to get stray balls, wasted no time before a serve, and hit as frequently as we could.

Finally Stacy said it would have to be the last rally.

No rain, no wind, no lightning.

I disagreed but complied.  I knew she was more concerned for my safety than her own.  I knew that if something happened to me, she'd somehow contort it to where she, as the adult, was responsible.

In the two minutes it takes to drive back to my apartment, the wind picked up tremendously.  As we entered the breezeway of my building, the first few rain drops fell.

We got back quite literally at the perfect time.

If it hadn't been for Stacy having my best interests at heart, I would have kept playing.  I would have gotten wet.  I would have blown away.  I would have gotten struck by lightning.

If it weren't for God having my best interests at heart, I would not be where I am.  I would keep playing, I would blow away, I would get hurt.

Sometimes obedience is hard.  Ok, a lot of times obedience is hard.  We'd rather risk it and wait the impending storm.

But I fully believe that God has our best interests at heart.  If it is His will, He'll protect us from danger, even if He waits until the last moment to do it.

Even though we may not agree, the best thing we can do is comply to His will.

<>< Katie

The Ultimate Valentine

Happy February 14- the day singles stick out like sore thumbs and couples flaunt their relationship.

I'm not bitter.

No, really, I'm not.  My self worth is not measured in how many flowers are delivered to my doorstep today.  This may be the one day a year when my self esteem is not directly related to what I find in my mailbox. 

Valentine's Day shouldn't be about sappy cards, chocolate, and candy hearts (although, those things are nice), it should be about the same thing the other 364 days a year are about: showing love.  Why celebrate in one day what God commands us to do every day?

Even though today creates a chasm between the two, couples and singles still have something in common: someone loves them.  A spouse, a friend, a parent, a roommate...

A Creator of the Universe?  Uh, yeah!

Friends, God loves you.  Yes, you.  He loves you more than you could ever know.  He loves you so much He sacrificed His Son.  Christ relinquished His position in the eternal, wonderful heaven, came to earth in a germy manger, and lived a perfect life just to die a criminal's death.  Because of that love for you, He didn't stay dead!  Yes, for you.

Jesus provided the perfect example of love, not just for February 14 but every day.

My prayer for you today is that you find peace and comfort in the truth that God loves you.  May the Holy Spirit fill you with His love and may you radiate that love to others.

Love,
<>< Katie

False yet true?

Two blogs in two days? Wow! It must be Christmas break. :-) This one doesn't make much sense, but I've been mulling over it all day, so I have to post it.

Whenever I finish a blog and don't close the tab on my internet, the name of the blog appears followed by that post title. Since my blog is boring and just my name, it's my name followed by the title of my newest blog. Last night, it read:
Katie: Perfect.

That caught my eye. Katie: Perfect. No, no, no. Not in the slightest. No perfection here... remember the Rudolph nose and chapped hands I mentioned yesterday? Have you heard about how I learned campfires make bad sit-upons but leave great imperfections? Perfectly-shaped bodies fit perfectly into clothes, right? Then clearly I don't cut it. And there I go complaining again. Complaining, point out others' faults, and not giving the benefit of the doubt are things I do well. Plus, even though I'm an editor, I know it's only a matter of time before someone points out my own grammar mistakes.

Katie: Perfect
Definitely not.
Yet through Christ, I am made perfect. So are you.
Jesus the sinless positions Himself between you and the Father, so that God can look through Jesus-colored glasses and see us as sinless.
(Maybe that was confusing, but it makes a really pretty picture in my head.)

I hope you all have a perfect Christmas!
<>< Katie

PS: In case you are wondering, our self-decorating living room tree now has two red ornaments, a red and gold bow, and a silver tree-topper. Do you think it will be done in time for Christmas?

Perfect

I've been trying to figure out what to write about for this blog because I'm trying to be more regular in updating... these were some of my ideas:
- I could talk about how the 7 foot Christmas tree in my living room has only one ornament on it (it's red) because we lost interest after trees numbers one, two, and three.
- I could talk about wearing gloves to bed to protect my freezing cold hands with 100 little tiny paper cuts. Thank you, winter wonderland.
- I could tell how my sister thought I cut the grass yesterday (It's December and snowing, really, Tina?)
- I could talk about how annoyed I was this morning in church when everyone was texting, coddling babies, passing notes, or making faces at strangers across the sanctuary.
- I could explain how thrilled I am for the Christmas paparazzi later this week since I've got a beautiful new pimple on the end of my nose that makes me look like Rudolph and a grow-out line in my hair that is phenomenal. (I stopped dressing up for Halloween when I went to college, but I might take up dressing up for Christmas...)

Except most of those include some sort of complaining, and I'm really trying to work on that...

Or I could tell you about the some inspiration I recently received.

I had the amazing opportunity to hear Peder Eide talk about Christmas. He said something that really struck me, and I've been mulling over it ever since. He said God made a plan to save the world and it went off without a hitch. God's plan worked, and it worked the first time.

Does ANYTHING we do happen on the first time? This very sentence I've recrafted three or four times. Even the simple activities sometimes take two tries.

Yet, Jesus doesn't have a Plan B. Plan A worked and it worked perfectly. The census, the manger, the shepherds, the virgin birth, all worked perfectly.

Wow. What a perfect surprise.

Peder ended his Christmas devotion with a prayer as possibly prayed by several people vital to the Christmas story. Will you combine them and make this your prayer?
"No matter what people think or say, or even it works out completely different than I planned (Joseph). It’s all about You God (Angels). Give me more passion for what You want, logical or not. (Shepherds). Do with me as You will! (Mary)"

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
<>< Katie

It Doesn't Matter

My friend Kevin and I happened to be in the cafeteria at the same time this morning, so we ate breakfast together (actually, I ate breakfast; he ate lunch). It was nice to have a relaxed conversation with a friend. At one point, the topic rolled to something that had been bothering me. Instead of letting me dwell on it, Kevin almost immediately changed the subject to make me feel better.

"Just put it aside, Katie."
"I can't."
"No, you need to. It doesn't matter."
"But it does."
"No, the only One it matters to has already made up His mind. And He isn't going to change it no matter how hard you try."

Simple yet to profound and perfect.

<>< Katie