Birthday Wishes From Another Generation

I don’t know what it is, but I love receiving letters from grandparents. There is just something about every pen stroke and wording that pulls me into a different time, even if the letter was meant for the present. I wish I could write like that, be eloquent like that… maybe it comes with age?

All goes to say, I love what my grandma wrote me this year for my birthday!

My dearest Jordan,

 Well, here we are, in a few days you will have another birthday, Praise God for you and the great blessing you are to our whole family. I feel so happy. In my mind’s eye I can still see you hanging on to your Daddy’s finger and eyes locked on his as they were on their way to measure you and weigh you. A strong baby you were then and are now! Your Daddy’s face was of great love and surprise, his hair looked so red and his eyes and mouth had such a lovely smile, I can remember thinking, “I feel really sorry for anyone that would dare separate your hand from his fingers,” they didn’t. Your Mom was finally resting for a bit, you made her work so hard and many hours, the truth is you too worked so hard. The real miracle of life before Auntie Ivonne and myself, we hug and laugh and thanked God for the gift of a healthy life and His awesome gift to our family. Well, so as you can see, those are some of the memories you engraved in my mind and heart. God is good dearest one,  always remember His infinite love and care,  His hands holding you and guiding you, don’t ever entertain a thought that it isn’t so. He loves you.

 Have a great birthday my Beanie,

 Lots of Love and Kiss Kiss,

 Grandma Hi.

Weak Made Strong.

Quite often I find myself sitting with my guitar in my lap, looking at my hands, and wondering why on earth I still can’t play bar chords. Or I listen to my voice, realizing that I’m not a great vocalist and I wonder how people can even listen to me sing half of the time… though I don’t always think this, these thoughts do cross my mind… I… am… weak. Why is God using unskilled and unequipped me?

I don’t have what it takes to be a worship leader. I don’t have what it takes to care for my fellow peers. I’m insufficient.

You know, I love reading Paul’s letters to the churches in the New Testament. I have been reading out of Corinthians and this morning, like a few mornings before, I came across a passage that dealt with weakness. And Paul, the last person who I would ever think of as weak, simply said this:

“But he (God) said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I (Paul) will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecution, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Wow. In our weaknesses, Christ is strong. In our weaknesses, Christ’s glory and power shines through us! 

You see, God operates on entirely different terms. He, ‘chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong’ and he, ‘choose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise’ (1 Corinthians 1:27-29) 

Think of Moses and the burning bush and about how many times Moses was desperately trying to explain to God how unskilled and unequipped he was to free the Jews under Pharoh’s reign. Yet, God says this to him!:

“WHO HAS MADE MAN’S MOUTH? WHO MAKES HIM MUTE, OR DEAF, OR SEEING, OR BLIND? IS IT NOT I, THE LORD?” - Exodus 4:11 (and it’s not all in caps in the bible, but I wanted you to sense the power behind the statement!)

Folks, God knows what He’s doing. Even when it doesn’t make sense, He knows what He’s doing. Even when we feel like we don’t have much for God to use, HE KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING. God operates on a heavenly level, our brains can’t comprehend those things in this flesh and blood life and world that we live in!

Now, I don’t want you to think that these words and statements are a free ride for you to not continue to practice or spend time in what the Lord has called you too. God’s still expects us to wisely use the talents and time that he has given us. We must not be like the servant in the Parable of the Talents from the book of Matthew, who hid his talents away and did nothing to multiply them! That is foolish! Use your skills to the best of your ability and let God take care of the rest! 

I hope this is encouraging for you all, and is comforting to you as it was for me! Remember God is in control, He has a plan, AND He knows what He is doing!

Living a Life of Love

Lately, I have been thinking much about what I want to do with myself, how to better my skills and trade so I can get somewhere in this life and have a “cool” job. Ultimately, a life of those things would be nothing without living it out with love. My desires are selfish, my goals are not to better people’s walk with Christ, or to show them how much love our Savior has to offer us.

Love first, work later. God takes care of the rest.

“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” - 1 Corinthians 13: 8-10

I need to shift gears and figure out how to love those that are around me using the skills that I have. I need to keep that reason in the forefront of my mind so I don’t forget that love should always come first.