Dream Like a Child

Today was the last day of Dayspring until early December and my homework is barely enough for the two weeks I have off. I've been thinking about so many different things today that I don't even know what my initial thoughts were this morning, except for my generic Monday morning thoughts. I do wish that I was with Abbie Buckman tonight, as family night has been rather lame and excruciatingly (and unfortunately) boring. School was good today, though, and I am looking forward to my first time sleeping in tomorrow morning since school started...7:30 or earlier has been my fate every other morning.

I suppose one constant thought today has been to think like a child again...to enjoy every moment of sheer innocence that you can find. Dream like a child every chance that you get, because God puts desires in our hearts for a reason. Be bold like a child- don't be afraid to dance in the rain or lay in the grass and look at the clouds. And most of all forgive like a child. Don't be afraid to let go. Remember when you were little and you would get angry, but the next morning (or in some cases, 10 minutes later) its like it never happened? Don't be afraid to let go...even if its embarassing and puts a little humility on your ego. It's ok to forgive people...and even be wrong sometimes (did I just go there?).

I guess a big one for me has been the whole forgive and be wrong one- I hate being wrong. And when I am, I do everything I can to hide that fact. But sometimes you just have to break down and be wrong- and the hardest part is saying "ok, I'm wrong and I'm sorry." But relationships are so much more important than being right, and its not worth a friendship, or even putting a dent in a relationship, in order to be right. There's a big difference between being right and being righteous.

Like I said earlier, random thoughts...bear with me. Colossians 2:6-7: So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

I love this- its so much more than just recieving Christ and quite honestly having a relationship with him- it goes deeper than that. Freaking LIVE in him- like, everything. Isn't that a cool concept? Every moment. Every dish you load, word you speak, text you send....the whole nine yards. When I think of living in him, I don't think of all the things I "can't" do. I tend to think about all the things I get to do...I get some freakin awesome opportunities that no one else gets. I get to see visions and angels. I get to worship, and laugh. I have somewhere to go that listens and lets me cry. I have someone to play with when everyone else is busy....I have whatever I need. He IS whatever, or whoever I need him to be. If I need a father, he's all mine. If I need authority, I have it. If I need comfort...he's the best.

Next part: be rooted. I think of what everyone else thinks of when I hear this. A tree. But you know what I found out when I was researching Colossians 2:7? Almost every book of the bible has something to say about a tree. They are an important example, even if they seem like an automatic answer and overused. You know what else is cool? Proverbs says this- a life filled with righteousness is a fruit-bearing tree. (that goes back to righteousness. Maybe this stuff isn't so random!) A fruit bearing tree? Yep. So we live in him, we root in him, and we all become trees. And you know what? I did some research- and the majority of fruit trees (apple, pear, oranges...etc. make 144,000 pieces of fruit in their lifetime. Uh huh. Like I said, we're fruit trees :)

Strengthened in faith as you were taught (or we "know our way around" faith). We've been there, done that. When Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians, he knew that he was writing to a church that was already strong in faith, and in other words, he didn't need to start from scratch as he did with some other churches he wrote to. These people weren't baby believers, they knew what they were doing. His goal in this letter was to build up these mature believers, and to respond to a threat to the church at Colossae. So, I think that was his main purpose in this part of the scripture. Paul is one of my favorite people :)

"And overflow with thankfulness." I don't know about you, but I can't hear the word "thankfulness" without thinking about second grade sunday school when the answer to every question was "jesus" or "the devil", we went around the room saying what we were "thankful" for at thanksgiving time, and we made turkeys out of construction paper. And that bugs me. So thankful according to Merriam Webster: a consciousness of a benefit recieved, expressive of thanks, or well pleased (sorry, that helps get the picture out of my head.)

Thankfulness is something that we all hear about, all the time (especially at this time of year), and quite honestly is something I am not. I get so sick of thankfulness being cheesy arts and crafts projects, simple words that we utter around the room, and advertisements for Turkey Day. I'm ready for it to be a heart issue. I just finished a speech for my speech and debate class about how Americans take so much for granted, and how we can change that...it is a serious thing for me. And its something I need to work on. If we can't learn how to be happy with what we have, where we are, then how do we ever expect to be happy? Thankfulness isn't all about being happy, but its about being satisfied- happiness usually comes as a side-effect.

Hmmm...ok, well I think I have pretty much worn this entry out on Colossians. I hope you all have gotten SOMETHING out of my scattered-brainness of today. Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving if I don't update before then, and remember to take thankfulness to heart. (isn't it ironic that God handed me that scripture at Thanksgiving time? Huh, I hadn't even thought about that. Sweet.)

Abby