Enjoyment of Life

I'm totally a Groupon junkie.  I'm either daily on the website or scrolling through every email I get from the company just to see if there's any new adventure for me to go on, new class-be it art or exercise-to try, new product, or new restaurant.  Since moving to Houston a year ago and since coming from a small town, Groupon has been my tour guide, if you will, around this new city as well as my courage to go out and do something new.

My something new today, thanks to Groupon was a yoga class.  Well, truthfully, I tried "Yoga in the Park" last summer a couple of times, which takes place at Discovery Green (fun, free thing to do if you live in the Houston area), but that yoga class was more for simple stretching and breathing.  The yoga class I went to today was the real deal.  Balance and strength are definitely lacking for me, but I am determined to milk this Groupon for all its worth, which is unlimited yoga classes for a month.  Therefore, I have committed myself to doing yoga every day for the next 30 days with the exception of the week I will be out-of-town.  My goals are to strengthen and find my balance.

Why am I telling you all of this?  One, my gratitude for companies like Groupon, who make it possible for people like me to afford a new adventure; and yes, yoga counts as an adventure.  Two, don't be afraid to try something new.  I met some new people today, I got out of my monotonous routine, I pushed myself both physically and mentally, and I did something good for my body.  Three, God wants us to enjoy life.  He wants us to spread our wings, soar new heights, see new sights.  He wants us to interact with others and the world around us.  There is so much beauty in this world.  There is so much to see and do.  I encourage you to be bold, be brave, and go try something new.  Enjoy this life.  It is precious.  It is quick to change.  It is temporal.  Let us glorify God in everything we do. Namaste.

"So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun."

Ecclesiastes 8:15

Chosen to be Christ to Somebody

 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Peter 2:9

Chosen.  We are all chosen to be somebody.  We are all chosen to be somebody to somebody else.  That somebody we ought to be is Christ.  I love the saying, "You may be the only Bible people read."  How true.  I like to think you may be the only Christ people know.  Therefore, who we are in Christ is reflected in what we do and in what we say.  If we are to be Christ's ambassadors, or ones who represent Him, then we are to love with the same life-changing love He gives to us.

The problem I face is that life sucks all the love out of me: deadlines, appointments, bills, emails, texts, phone calls, plans to make, plans to change, people to spend time with, meetings to schedule, laundry to fold, books to read, papers to file, toilets to scrub, doors to fix, holes to fill, dishes to wash, groceries to buy, food to cook, closets to organize, movies to watch, news to keep up with, church to attend, Bible study work to complete, teeth to brush, clothes to buy, clothes to give away, exercise needed, and sleep to be had at some point.  Life-changing love isn't going to happen until my life changes.  I have been easily entangled by all the life-sucking piranhas aforementioned.  I haven't allowed the life-changing and the life-giving love of Christ to fill me.

"Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name."
Deuteronomy 10:15-20

We are all chosen to love and to be loved by the one and only true God.  Therefore, let us not be stiff-necked any longer.  Let us not allow ourselves to be entitled to receive; but rather, let us give without expectation and without condition.  Let us not let life suck all the love out of us because if we spend quality time every day with the Lord of Love, then we will never be dry.  Hold fast to the life-changing, life-giving Source of love.  Then, others will know Christ lives in us and they will want to know more about what it means to be chosen.

Be a Champion

Love this talk by Rita Pierson...

Our attitudes every day can either reflect light or deflect it.  Live today with a desire to shine brightly.  By doing so, you will be a champion to whomever you encounter.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:14-16