I've casually been thinking of a good and solid New Year's resolutions for this year and I've finally figured it out.  Well, at least one.  Tonight we celebrated both of my roommates birthdays...one is one the 8th and the other is on the 10th.  It was an amazing party!  Lots of fun had by all with great decorations, food, and location.  All around an amazingly awesome time!  But anyway.  As I enjoyed the evening, watched them enjoy the evening and then later as we were looking at pictures when we got home, I was just so very grateful to God putting them in my life.  I LOVE these girls!  They know me and have walked with me through some very difficult situations.  They've been supportive, compassionate, and honest.  We aren't always crazy by the things each other does, but I always love them.  Tonight was another of those times where I was reminded of how much I love them tonight.  And how often I keep that to myself.

So that's my resolution for this year.  I resolve to be more vocal in my love, support, and accountability of others, to write more cards and letters to let others know how vital and inspirational they are, to challenge and sharpen a sister or brother, to be an encouragement in good times and bad, to give of my time and resources rather than constantly run to and fro, to allow God to minister to His children through me.  I thrive in situations where I'm given verbal feedback yet I rarely respond in like manner.  This year I will give what I often crave rather than take from another.  Not for myself, my ego, or to feel good about what I've done, but for that person who also desires the affirmation of a job well done, who wants to know someone is on their side.

To give unselfishly
to love the least of these
Jesus I'm learning how to live with open hands
All these treasures that I own
will never satisfy my soul
Jesus I lay them at your throne with open hands

I lift my hands open wide
let the whole world see
how you love, how you died, how you set me free
free at last, I surrender all I am with open hands, with open hands

To finally let go of my plans
these earthly kingdoms built of sand
Jesus at your cross I stand with open hands

You took the nails, You bore the crown
You hung your head, Your love poured out
You took my place, You paid the price
so Jesus now I will give my life

Last month I went into a patient's room for some random reason and saw she had a book titled "This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women" sitting on her table.  It looked interesting so I snapped a picture of the book front (make no mistake...I took a picture of the book not the patient...no HIPPA violations here!) and borrowed it from the library.  It's been an amazing read!  The book is based on a NPR radio series that originally aired in 1950.  It's a collection of short essays from people you've heard of to some you'll never hear of, but amazing all.  Each person was asked to think about and explain what they believe, what has brought them to their current personal beliefs in life.  The essayists are extremely diverse in their beliefs, but what I adore is that they don't just write about religious beliefs or laws or whatever.  Their writings "reveal the American spirit."  They believe in love, family, pride, adoption, God, the lack of God, equality.  It humbles me as I catch these glimpses into the lives of others and hear their stories and the experiences that have led them to their current beliefs.

I'm still in the midst of the book, but it, as well as the fact that I'm just days into a new year, naturally led me to consider this for myself.  Not in a religious beliefs sort of way because I'm firmly planted in my Christian faith, but as I see what other people stand for/believe in/represent to others it made me question my life.  Added to that, I was watching tv and one character called another a "side part and curl under" kinda girl.  She was referring to those women whose hair is parted on the side and curled under because they just want to get by without much attention or making waves in life.  They're too afraid to take a risk...so afraid they won't even take risks to stand out with something as menial as hair.  (I write this blog for myself, but I realize others read it as well.  Which is why I feel the need to clarify something here for the readers who aren't African American (AA) women.  I'm well aware that hair is definitely more important than "menial" to women...especially AA women.  Books and songs and essays have been written, and much better than I shall ever do, on the topic of hair and the AA woman.  However, that isn't the point at the moment and as such hair is being labeled "menial" for the purpose of the bigger picture.)

And so I wonder.  In what ways have I kept the status quo simply for the sake of not making others uncomfortable?  Or putting myself in a place that makes me nervous or fearful?  What do I believe?  In what areas am I a "side part and curl under" girl?  Because I know I am literally and figuratively.

Maybe it's simply the newness of the year, but I can't help but be excited about 2011.  I truly feel like God has a huge things planned for me.  Already I've been faced with some huge future decisions that may come to fruition in the next few months and I'm way excited about it!  Change isn't always easy or fun.  No doubt I will be required to give up some things and some people that I love, but I don't want to forever be a "side part and curl under" kinda person.  I want to explore and live and discover.  I want to see and know what's out there.  I want to experience and fully embrace what He has in store for me.

I want to know what I believe.

This is a post from this summer that I started and never finished.  It still holds true for me so I decided to go ahead and finish it up and post it...

I was born and raised in TX.  I consider and will always consider myself Texan.  I don't, however, consider Texas a Southern state.  There is much Southern influence, but we aren't Southern.  We're our own brand of Southern hospitality mixed in with some Wild West adventure and good ol' Texas kick ass attitude.  And even though I no longer live in TX, old Southern influenced habits die hard.  Specifically in reference to church, my first reaction is to dress up for church and never leave home without my Bible.

Which is why I've struggled with the new technology age I find myself apart of and what it means for the Body of Christ.

I attend the Saturday night services which is admittedly more relaxed than the traditional Sunday morning services-even at my laid back church.  However, I recently attended Sunday morning services and was brought up short by a random couple I saw heading to their seats.  They carried cups of coffee and keys.  Nothing else.

Where were their Bibles?  I was struck by the fact that they appeared comfortable in the church setting-they were not carrying the typical visitor gift bags and they walked right in to seats without seeking the direction of the greeters-so I assumed they were regulars.  And they didn't have Bibles.  My first thought was I Thes. 5:20-21 where Paul urges the Thessalonians to not scoff at prophecies, but to test everything that is said.  I've heard several pastors, including my own, say not to automatically believe everything he says, to verify, and know the Word for yourself.  It instantly made me sad for them, for me, for this culture that automatically accepts the words of others without question.  Is this the type of Christianity/church atmosphere my nephew and niece will grow up in?  A world of Christians simply waiting for the church to project Scripture onto a screen with no one seeking the truth for themselves?

I saw a guy the other night using his iPhone as a Bible.  I think it's great that people can easily access Scripture from wherever they are, but I remember easily accessing Scripture with the pocket Bible in my backpack.  Our lead pastor even made a joke about how he knew the people pulling out their phones were looking at the Bible and not texting.  It just makes me sad.  I know how my thoughts can run away with me, but in that moment I mourned the loss of simpler times...if growing up in the 80's can be considered simpler times.  I don't believe that not carrying a Bible to church makes one less of a Christian or less knowledgeable about the Bible, but I do know 10 years ago you'd be harder pressed to find those in church without their Bible than you would now.  What will the next 10 years look like?

It's not that I think going to church without a Bible is sinful.  It's what could grow out of this new freedom that worries me.  I can't and won't even begin question anothers relationship with Christ.  Heck, it's often the ones with the Bibles and in leadership who are the furthest from God.  But I worry that the Body is setting herself up for failure.  I did some searching on this and found that Bible sales in bookstores, Christian or otherwise, have decreased over the last couple of years.  But online Bible sales have gone up.  And this isn't just buying Bibles online, but buying online versions of the Bible.  The Bible has gone from a book to a PDF file on our computers.

I personally find great pleasure in sitting with my Bible and a cup of coffee or tea in my reading nook and learning more about Him.  I worry our desire for instant gratification in everything will and has caused us to squeeze Jesus into even more of a tiny drop of our lives.  If we can get our Jesus fix on the go, why get up earlier in the morning?  This isn't to say I don't try to squeeze Jesus into my life or that you'll always find me up at 5am reading my Bible.  More often than not, I fail at getting up early and reading my Bible.  Sometimes my time with Him is prayer while at work, listening to a sermon online or that I've downloaded to listen to while driving, or a worship CD on my way to work.  I know there are multitudes of ways to spend time with Him.  I just fear that the old tried and true way, reading the Bible, is disappearing.

Thoughts?

I've often heard of guys saying they get snubbed by women while trying to do the gentlemanly thing.  But I've never been witness to it.  Until this week.

When you work at Duke, you have to park in one place and then take a bus to the hospital.  And they charge monthly for parking miles from where I need to be!  Anyway.  I was on the bus and it was overcrowded as usual when several women got on at the last stop.  After a couple of seconds the gentleman next to me stood up and offered his seat to one of the women standing.  I thought it was an extremely nice thing to do considering I've only seen one person give their seat up and it was a woman standing so that a pregnant woman could sit.  Anyway, home slice had the audacity to look him  up and down, look at her friend as if she was annoyed he'd offered and said no.  I was livid.  The gentleman stood for the remainder of the ride leaving the seat open for her and she never took it.

I must confess that I don't know if they knew each other so maybe her response was because she knew that would lead to him asking her out again or they had a history and she was trying to not complicate things.  I dunno.  I also find those scenarios highly unlikely.  I know I shouldn't speculate when I don't know the full story, but I was outraged to see her snub him the way she did.  And was probably talking about not having a good man within hours of that ride.  Okay, again, I probably shouldn't say that.  I don't know either of them.  But I do know women.  And the look she gave her friend wasn't one of shocked appreciation, but one of indignation and outrage that he'd do something as backwoods as offer her his seat.

What has become of our society that women snub men for things like that?  I'm not the type of women to stand at a door until a man opens it or runs to get the door for myself.  I simply fully appreciate and thank the man who does.  I love being treated like a lady.  Sadly, I think women have worked so hard to be considered equals to men that they've lost the sense of what it means to be treated like a woman.  And what burns me up even more is that we aren't equal to men anyway.  Any poll or survey will tell you women still make less than men and to be a woman who makes more you have to be young and hot.   I heard John Tesh (yes, I listen and enjoy "Intelligence for Your Life") say that the highest earning man is slightly overweight, in his 30's, married with a family.  The highest earning female, still making less than the man, is size 4 to 6, young, dresses well, and wears heels.  Um, what!?!  So with these kind of odds stacked against women I can somewhat understand women's disdain for men...somewhat.

I still think she acted ugly towards the gentleman on the bus.  I don't think women will be getting equal pay anytime soon.  I hate that men are getting burned for treating women as women and are now starting to treat women as asexual beings who can do for themselves.  And I really hate that those of us who appreciate a good man treating us like women are getting the shaft because other women only want independence and equality from men.  And don't get me started on the proven and sad trend of dating and marriage for the college-educated black woman.  It makes me sad to see how sin has changed our world and how far we are from what God's original plan was.  May we turn back to the foundation of our creation and of this great country and seek God's face.

“To be right with God has often meant to be in trouble with men.” A.W. Tozer

This quote aptly sums up something my mom and I have recently talked about, something I've been struggling to walk out.  My life has been about having friends, being accepted by others, not rocking the boat.  I've lived in a small cubicle of space when God tells my heart I'm meant to live unbound and free.  I've fettered myself to a prison wall of my own sins...fear, insecurity, self loathing, pride.

This day I'm choosing to walk in the freedom He has given me, to be opposite of my peers, to live differently from what society says is the norm for my demographic, to not be afraid to be who He called me to be and to do what He calls me to do...even if it means losing everything.  I've lost much this year yet He has stayed constant.  His love never fails.

Abba, may I not lose sight of my eternal home for comfort on this temporary Earth.  Continue to take from what I use as an idol.  I surrender my life to You.  I give up my life for You, that I may one day find it again.  Create in me a pure heart.

Jesus is teaching me about grace.  It's blowing the perceptions I've held right out of the water.  I'm realizing that I don't understand it at all, I still haven't fully accepted it, and I've not extended much of it to others.  Theologically speaking, I would consider it a basic tenet of Christianity; yet 22 years into this journey of mine and I've still not even begun to know what it looks like.  Much less embrace it and live it out.

But I woke up today with a better understanding of it than I ever have.  And it literally made me smile even before I opened my eyes.

And it's through the lense of this newfound nugget of understanding that I want to read and listen to every sermon, verse, and hymn that mentions grace.  I have literally become enraptured with this trait, this gift, this facet of God.  So much so, that I went to the library and checked out Philip Yancey's book "What's So Amazing About Grace?" in an effort to better understand.  I want, no, I need someone to flesh out all that's running through my head, to help me think it straight.  I can't wait to dive in!

"If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life." ~Paul Miller, A Praying Life

"Prayerlessness isn't an issue of self-discipline, but of extreme arrogance or unbelief." ~JD Greear

*****
I've been mulling over these statements the last few days since JD said them as apart of his sermon a couple of weeks ago.  Hearing and trying to digest these statements was like a personal storm of thunder and lightning in my being.  It was convicting.  It was hard to hear.  And it was true.  Truer than I'd like to admit.

I have struggled with this never ending battle of being really consistent about reading my Bible and praying followed by a drought-ish time of not doing either and not being able to break out of the pattern.  I've always considered it a lack of discipline to not be able to get myself out of that pattern, which in some ways it definitely is, but lately I've come to realize it's more than that.  It's a lack of belief in His power in my life that's the issue.  Honestly, I wish it were just an issue of self-discpline.  That would be easier to overcome.  But no.  It's my lack of belief in His desire to be apart of my life.  Not a major issue at all...just the foundation of my faith.  Ugh.

It's not like I don't believe the Bible, the Trinity, or the life and works of Christ.  I adamantly believe in the miracles Jesus performed, that He lived sinlessly, that the Bible is inerrant, etc.  But what I struggle with accepting that He, in spite of my very petty very selfish life, wants me to ask Him for anything and everything, that He longs to be near me.  It's hard for me to accept.  I know this has been an issue in my life for a very long time, but it hasn't been until recently, as God continues to open my heart and work on the layers of sin and hurt, I've begun to understand.  The depth of my unbelief and confusion has done such damage in my life, in relationships.  It breaks my heart to know through this I've hurt those I care about.

But I'm choosing to seek Him.  To seek healing, restoration, and hope.  To find peace.  To know the acceptance of the One who wants me more than any other.  I want to know Him as the Strong Tower like David, the Protector like Daniel, the Redeemer like Paul.  I want to know Him for myself.