The Thing About Being an Open Book . . .

. . . is that people are more inclined to read you. And, the thing about having more people read you, is that they want to edit you and change you to match what is written in their book. Let me explain.

I've been having conversations with my co-worker about the differences in our beliefs. He is LDS and I am a born-again Christian. The conversations start out as just, "what do you believe about this?" and become, "but what about this? What about this? Haven't you read this?"

I'm not God, so, not being God, I am not in the business of changing people's hearts. I know that only God can do that. So, I talk to people about my faith, but not to convince them of anything or change their minds, just to present new possibilities, plant seeds. It seems, though, that whenever I do that, the person I'm talking to tries to start arguing and tries to change my mind about whatever it is that I am telling them I believe.

For instance, I told my co-worker something that I believe, he told me what he thought on the subject, I told him I disagreed because the Bible says nothing about whatever it was he was talking about, and his reply was, "well, what is faith?" as in, you should just have faith that what I'm saying is true. Pish Posh. He wanted me to have faith that what he believes was true, but not to have faith that what I believe was true. Now that is a contradiction if ever I heard one.

Don't worry, though, my book is being rewritten, but by God, not by other books. Only one book can change my heart, and that is God's Book, His Living Word. I will not be tossed about by the waves, but will stand strong on the Rock of my salvation. Praise the Lord that He is good and faithful and will bring to completion the work He began in me. And pray, for those whose names are not written on the palm of His hand that they will have soft hearts, open eyes, receptive ears and they will turn and be healed.

Sabbath Rest

I love discovering things in the Bible. The Holy Spirit has really been making scripture come alive to me lately. It's funny how you can read something a million times, but the million-and-first time you read it, you see something that you hadn't before. Anyway, God reveals so many things to me lately that I don't know where to begin. This is just one lesson that he has taught me.

I was reading Isaiah 58 in the Message (love the Message) and came across this passage:

"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD's holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
then you will find your joy in the LORD . . ." (Isaiah 58:13-14, NIV)

"If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don't use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God's holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,'
making money, running here and there—
Then you'll be free to enjoy God! . . ." (Isaiah 58:13-14, the Message)

Do you see what I mean? The Message says the same thing, but makes the meaning so much clearer. Anyway, about the meaning. The Israelites looked at this passage and saw, "Don't do anything on the Sabbath." However, I think it is pretty clear that what the passage says is, "Don't do anything for personal gain on the Sabbath." Making dinner, cleaning house, visiting friends and family, helping your neighbor move, these weren't allowed on the Sabbath, but why? Matthew 12:10-12 says, "and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, 'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?' He said to them, 'If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.'" (NIV). Do good on the Sabbath. Set aside one day for the Lord that doesn't involve work, but don't forgo doing good. The Sabbath rest isn't about doing nothing, it's about doing what is good and right and pleasing to God.

Anyway, I know it isn't a huge revelation, I just always find it interesting when I discover passages that I know the Israelites misunderstood. Jesus came here and clarified so much of what was said in the Old Testament. He didn't change it, there wasn't anything that He said that contradicted the Old Testament. He simply revealed the true meaning. I find that fascinating. I've said it before and I'll say it again, anybody who thinks that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are different, or that God somehow changed between them, isn't reading the same Bible that I'm reading.

An Open Book

I've felt challenged lately to really tell people the things that are happening in my life that really matter. It's so easy when somebody says, "how are you doing?" to just tell them about work, or what you did over the weekend, or how your family is. How much better would it be, though, if we could all tell people exactly what is happening in our lives, good or bad, on a more personal level?

There are all kinds of passages in the Bible that talk about the heart. I think that one of the most misunderstood is Proverbs 4:23, which says, " Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." I am a person who naturally puts up barriers between myself and others out of fear that I will be hurt. There are so many things wrong with that attitude that I won't even go into it now, but, suffice it to say that barriers are not what this passage is talking about. So many people look at this as a command to keep ourselves separated from others, but I think that it is talking about keeping sin out of our hearts. Phillipians 4:4-7 states:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This passage tells me that the peace of God, which is the fruit of the Spirit, will guard my heart and my mind. I don't need to guard it, God will do it for me. If I am in God's will, He will guard my heart from sin, but not necessarily from pain. That's where the peace comes in. One cannot possibly live or affect those around him without taking some risks, without the possibility of getting hurt.

I want people to know the real me. I would love for them to see all of my faults and see that my strength comes from my God. Why would I hide that? In my weakness He is strong. I should celebrate my faults because they allow God's glory to be revealed in my life. I'm not saying it's easy, nor am I saying that I am at the point where I am a totally open book. I'm just saying that I've been letting my guard down a little more often lately and it feels like the right thing to do.

You Are Not Alone

Well, it's been some time (a week, I think) since I wrote anything here. That might be because nothing really exciting happened. Well, that's not true, just nothing that I've felt the urge to write about. Anyway, a few things have happened that I thought I'd share.

Last weekend was Memorial Day and my husband, seven of our friends, two dogs, and I went backpacking. I am really, really not in backpacking shape, so I was pretty sore for about four days afterward, but I had a really great time. In fact, I had quite a unique backpacking experience. You see, hmm how do I put this? I'm really slow, at least on the uphill, and usually that makes for a pretty miserable time for me.

It used to go something like this: I'm the last one in line and I'm waaaay back. Everybody feels like they have to wait for me and I want them to because I don't enjoy being alone, so I'm miserable. I resent them for not waiting for me and I'm in a lot of pain because, rather than be alone, I will push myself beyond what I am capable of so that I am completely exhausted, usually about a half mile before we get to our destination.

My new philosophy is a little different and a lot more enjoyable. You see, instead of being miserable because I was alone, I enjoyed my alone time. I talked with God, sang to God, stopped and looked at the flowers and the trees. I went at my own pace and loved it. I won't get into the things that didn't go exactly as planned on this little one night trip (time was a factor, as well as snow), but let's just say that I wasn't the only one who wasn't in backpacking shape (my dog couldn't walk without hobbling for several days).

Other than that, work was work. My co-workers are pretty irritating because they bicker like children all day long, but I try not to get involved. I did tell one of them that I found it incredibly irritating that he was late everyday, but that was because I didn't want to be complaining about it behind his back. If he knows that I disapprove then at least it isn't a secret that it's not okay. [Incidentally, the day after I told him that he was ten minutes early.]

Yesterday was my five year anniversary. It's amazing how much can change in five years. But I'll tell you what hasn't changed, I still love my husband very much and enjoy spending time with him. We had quite an adventure yesterday. We stopped at the Hole in Brigham City for doughnuts on the way down to SLC where we had lunch at the Red Iguana (delicious). We then went down to Sandy where the running store that my husband runs for is, and he picked up a Garmin GPS, which he is so excited about using I can't stand it. Then we went back up to SLC to get massages (wonderful), walk around the Gateway (boring), watch an IMAX movie about dinosaurs (I love dinosaurs, it was awesome), and have dinner at Biaggi's (also delicious). After that we headed out of SLC and went to Crystal Hot Springs, which is just outside of Honeyville, UT (the water is very salty/kind of nasty) and then home with enough time to watch a Netflix movie. A great time was had by all.

And now it's Saturday. Thus far I have slept in, eaten breakfast, bought groceries, gone to the Gardener's Market, gone to Macey's for $1.00 bratwurst, and done some reading. It's a typical Logan Saturday and I couldn't be happier. You know, now that I'm feeling better, I don't feel this urgent need to get out of here and closer to my family. Not that I don't want to be closer to my family, because I do, I just don't need to. I'm content for maybe the first time in my life and that's definitely worth something. I can't wait to see what the future holds, but I'm happy right now.