i think too much. i drink water regularly. i'm far from perfect. my cup overflows on this website on somewhat of a regular basis and it's a lot of mumbling. just give it a chance. maybe you'll laugh or cry.
before you read watch this video. it's strange, but the lights out made me think. ha, what a surprise. anyway, i've been thinking a lot about perspective lately. our perspective on life. our perspective on God. our perspective on what we have to do. our perspective on everything. and i'm not sure about you, but i feel like i have rather rigid perspectives on things. i think that i should do certain things and that that's what should be done then, but really shouldn't we focus less on our rigid and constricted views for everything. so my words of wisdom for today are just to look at things with an open mind. look using a panoramic view. be open to the good. and the bad.
so it's monday and that means i was at some type of dentist. today i visited the orthodontist who think that it would be best to do a root canal as soon as possible. so next tuesday i'll have a root canal. the belief of the orthodontist is that all the luck has been on our side so far and if i get out of this with only one root canal i should start playing the lottery. ha-ha! i'm not to upset besides the fact that i still can't eat anything super solid. oh and at least two more weeks before i resume softball and band. i'm getting there. and as dory, from finding nemo, would say 'just keep swimming'. much love and peace, dmaloney
today is an interesting day in the christian church. in my mind it's the forgotten day. and a day of preparation. a day to gather our things for easter. maybe it's the ham. maybe it's the dye for the eggs. whatever we are doing we're often preparing for the resurrection, and lately it has been on my mind that today should be a day similar to good friday. a day where we mourn, not prepare. the disciples didn't know what would happen.
it's like knowing the end of the story and allowing it to influence the way you read the rest of the book. i could very well be wrong, but i really believe that today should be sad, like good friday. all i'm asking of you is that today you spent some time in prayer to say thank you. to say thank you for the amazing gift. there's no need to be eloquent just say thank you. much love and peace, dmaloney
today is good friday. it's a day of darkness. and today as jesus has nails driven into his hands and feet i can't help but think of the audio adrenaline song 'hands and feet' . today we mourn. today is friday but just remember that sunday is coming.
so it's that time. you're probably wondering what time? well, it's thursday, holy thursday, it's also time for a lovely lineup on nbc and grey's anatomy. and for some reason grey's anatomy always makes me think about huge life topics. lately the show has been focusing on topics like the choice to have children, but that's not the point. in tonight's episode a husband had to watch his wife taken off life support, not by his choice, but by his wife's choice three years prior. also in tonight's show a female police officer was wounded and lost her uterus in a surgery complication. the woman's story made me think about how often we have things that we love that hurt the people that love us most. this woman loved her police work and her husband. her husband loved her deeply, but after seven years wanted to settle down and finally have kids. unfortunately there were other plans for them.
i think that there is a lot that we can take from this story, and that this takes place in our lives often. (not this exact story, but you understand the point) we much too often disappoint the people who love us most for something that we love. i feel that i have a way to work on this. not as the woman, but as the husband. what do we do when someone we love continually disappoints us with something that they adore? what can we do?
so i recently watched Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie and it made me think about the story of Jonah. so here is the link to watch the movie and here's a selection from the first chapter of Jonah :
The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." 3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD. 4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish." 7 Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?" 9 He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." 10 This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.) 11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?" 12 "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you." 13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased." 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.
this is the part of the story that i want to focus on. this is the part that makes me think the most.
in this story we have jonah and in this story jonah is one of the biggest prophets of the time. he is popular and when he has something to say everyone drops what they're doing. he has total respect of the people and when he speaks they believe (and it is) coming directly from the Lord. so one time God tells jonah that he needs him to go to nineveh. during this time nineveh is the bottom of the bottom. it's horrible. the city is full of greedy people that don't know right from wrong. anyway, jonah is like yeah right.. i would go anywhere but there.. i can't save those people they're horrible people. God insist that jonah make the journey, but the next day jonah heads out of town to tarshish. (the opposite direction of nineveh) and from there we all know the story.
but in this story jonah is a big part of the faith of the people at the time. they believe what he said to be the word of God. and jonah was a leader for God and a follower of God. he was a prophet because he had a sound relationship with God. but this great relationship failed when jonah didn't want to go to nineveh. for lack of a better term, jonah "rocked the boat" on the great relationship he and God had because he was afraid. he didn't want to waste his time on people he felt we're already a lost cause.
this story makes me reflect on this weekends youth leaders conference. we talked a lot about "servant leadership" and i think that jonah's story is a story of a leader who was afraid to be a servant leader. see jonah was happy in the town he was in. he was even comfortable leaving and going to anywhere in israel. but was afraid and unwilling to travel to nineveh. jonah was afraid to do "God's dirty work" he didn't want to travel to tell people unwilling to listen that they would perish.
i believe that God often puts our faith to very similar tests. tests of servant leadership. God knows when we are faithfully following him and he knows when he can test us. so he sends test to check our faith. in these tests he has a do things outside of our comfort zone. maybe it's that feeling you get inside that says you should go talk to them. or maybe it's a call to stay in the kitchen a scrub a pot.
now those examples aren't examples exactly like jonah's but they are still a call to something that we are uncomfortable with and a call to be something bigger than ourselves.
so maybe the next time you'll think twice about that person you thought was a lost cause. jonah thought nineveh was a lost cause yet the city changed their ways and turned to the Lord. the story of jonah tells all about grace, mercy, and forgiveness, but i think that the bigger lesson is in his leadership.
we can be comfortable in our own leadership positions, but we need to comfortable anywhere. God calls us to be more than leaders. he calls us to servant leadership. it's a big concept but if you can grasp it and, more importantly, but it in to practice you'll be a better person. God is calling you to go sit at the other table in the cafeteria. he is calling you the kid sitting by himself. but the question is how will you respond?
will you be jonah? will you turn and run the other way in fear or will you willingly accept the challenge? will you be a servant leader for God? the choices are yours. do what you please, but just remember you could end up inside a fish for three days!
go attack your nineveh! much love and peace, dmaloney
