Chaotic Christmas

http://christian-backgrounds.com/christian-wallpapers-backgrounds/desktop-wallpapers/picture/christmas/568-jesus-birth-and-the-star

Every week at church, I lead a kindergarten small group. For the last few weeks, we have been doing various Christmas crafts during the small group time. Last Sunday, one of the activities was to cut out all of the different characters from the nativity- the shepherds, the wise men, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the animals, the angel- and glue them all to a picture of an empty stable on a sheet of paper. But there was an issue with the craft; the stable was WAY too small for all of those little paper characters! The kids in my small group had a difficult time fitting all of the little shepherds and magi and other people into the picture. But, many of them somehow managed to squeeze them all as neatly as possible onto the paper with Joseph and Mary and the baby in the center with the shepherds, animals, and wise men surrounding them. However, one little girl didn't even try to arrange the people in the typical manger scene way. In fact, she didn't even put baby Jesus on the ground of the stable, she glued him floating in the air in the middle of the paper! Then, she put all of the other little characters in a big, unorganized blob-like formation around him. At first, this really bothered me. Then, it occurred to me how well this depicted the Christmas story. While most people picture the nativity scene as a serene picture of rustic shepherds with their cute, fluffy sheep, a sweet, adoring Mary, and a holy baby wrapped in clean, white cloths with a little ring of light around his head, I don't believe that the actual event was like this at all. I mean seriously, the baby was born in a STABLE, probably surrounded by dirty, smelly animals and soiled hay and cow manure. That's the opposite of serene. I kind of wonder if the stable was more like this picture...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2007/1510680324_0d799c6279.jpg

But yet, as crazy as it may have seemed, as chaotic as the strange circumstances surrounding the story may have appeared, there was still something greater. In the midst of the nativity story, I'll bet that Mary and Joseph wondered why they had to stay in a stable, why they had to put their newborn son in a dirty, nasty manger. But even when it seemed all chaotic and unorganized, everything added to a bigger picture. Each character, each circumstance, was all about God's plan to save the world. So in the end, it didn't matter that everything wasn't serene and perfect and Hallmark card worthy, because God had something better than that. He had a greater plan. So even when circumstances seem so meaningless and trials make us feel like God doesn't care about us, we can look at the Christmas story and realize that there is something bigger at work in our lives. This reminds me of the lyrics of one of my favorite songs.
"All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us
All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You."
- Beautiful Things by The Michael Gungor Band

So despite chaos and seemingly useless pain, God makes beautiful things out of dust.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
<3 Clara 

Irrational fears

http://www.gumbyworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/gumby-waving-driving.jpg

Here are my top three irrational fears:

1. Clowns
2. Cabbage Patch Kids
3. Gumby
I don't know if anyone else is like me in this, but Gumby really is frightening! He (or it, whatever it is) gives me this icky feeling inside whenever I see pictures of him. But on a more serious note, there are so many things to be afraid of. All of us have had questions at one time or another like: What if an earthquake happens where I live? What if I have an internet stalker? What if someone who I'm close to becomes severely ill or passes away? What if I suddenly have to move to Greenland and leave behind all of my friends from school and church? Or, the classic one for teenage girls, "What if I'm forever alone and never find my significant other?"
The sad part is, all of these fears have to do with "I, me, my". Fear itself is a selfish thing. Although it may have to do with someone other than yourself such as a close friend, in the end, all great fears boil down to one common subject: you. But what is there to do about it? Well, there's this amazing verse that I find myself reciting many times. "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
In the end, these fears are so ridiculous. God has such an awesome plan already, why are you fretting about what it is? And why spend so much time worrying what will happen to you when you could go out and help others who are facing those types of trials? If you can help those who are moving away from their home, or who have lost a loved one or who are struggling with the idea of being single, you can go and help them. It will allow you to spread God's love and realize that it isn't all about you; a win-win situation!

When it rains it pours

The saying "when it rains it pours" is very common, yes. But I never realized its true significance until this past week. To begin the week, my gerbil Reepicheep (named after the Chronicles of Narnia) died of old age, which was quite sad. Then the next day, Wednesday, at around 10:30 in the morning, a switch in the circuit board in my house broke and we lost electricity! Of course, I have lived without electricity before, but I have never had to go without it in my own house for more than about thirty minutes. Before I knew it, I was working at the library to get internet and using candles for light whenever I was at home. To make matters worse, the handyman of my house, my dad, was out of town and wasn't coming home until Thursday night. Also, that Wednesday night was the coldest night since the beginning of this winter and we didn't have any heat since the electricity was down. When my dad finally got home the following night, we had been living without electricity for more than twenty-four hours; he came home to a freezing cold house and he also had happened to lose one of his suitcases at the airport, which was quite frustrating as well. He began to work on fixing it as soon as possible, and unfortunately enough that involved removing the entire circuit board and replacing it. If things couldn't get worse, he was parked in the Home Depot parking lot to get supplies to fix the circuit board on Friday and when he tried to start the car to leave, he realized that the starter in the engine had stopped working! So, not only did we have a gerbil death, a cold dark house, and lost luggage, but also a broken down car! Thankfully, my dad is virtually a jock of all trades and after a long day of working on the circuit board, the lights came on (and I've never been happier to switch on a light). The following day, Saturday, he was able to fix the car and a person from the airport also found his luggage and returned it to us. Although I'm still recovering a little bit and catching up on the schoolwork that I didn't get to do because it was saved on an electronic storage device, I am glad that it happened. Why? Because I learned through the whole thing how much I have to be thankful for. How else would I have realized how blessed I am to have electric lighting and heat and a functional microwave? Without this crazy experience, I would still take it for granted.

Letters

Did you know that there are twenty-six letters in the English alphabet? Well, if you didn't before now, I am truly genuinely sorry for you and I suggest that you go through first grade again. But that's beside the point. Have you ever thought of how many different words can be formed from each letter? Take for example the letter "f". There are many lovely things that start with the letter "f" such as  Flamingos, Ferris wheels, Funny jokes, Frozen lemonade (I love that stuff), French Fries, Flying saucers, Flying squirrels, Flying tomatoes(well, that's actually not that lovely, especially if you were an actor in ancient Roman times, because back then people would throw tomatoes at the actors onstage if they didn't like the performance! I don't think I would be able to eat ketchup after that...), Flan ( a delicious Mexican custard), Flowers, and many more Fabulous things! But, there are also many bad things that start with the letter "f". Failure, Frustration, Frightening images, Felines (I'm just kidding- really I am...) and even distasteful, offensive words as well. It reminds me of the things in life. Just as how there are lots and lots of letters in the alphabet, there are lots and lots of circumstances and events in each of our lives. However, just as how each letter can be used to form something good or something bad, every day, every moment in our lives can be used for good or for bad. Every moment we have a chance to shine and reflect God's glory, or we have a chance to follow our sinful natures and turn away from Him. Psalm 90:12 says, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." The truth is, all of us are going to die someday which means that our days are limited. In this verse, we are reminded of this fact. Looking at this, it really makes me feel like it is even more important to give each moment of my life to Christ. Although I'm not perfect, I want to keep depending on Him so I can reflect His love with my life.

PUFFINS!! and sparrows

these puffins that look like they're having a conversation :)
http://www.isleauhaut.com/images/puffin2.jpg

I just wanted to take the time to talk about my most favorite animal ever. PUFFINS!
Why do I like them so much? Well, for one thing, they're really super duper cute and it makes me quite happy to see one. They have huge, pretty beaks and tiny eyes and they're round and look kind of soft and feathery. What's not to love? Another reason why I like them so much is because of the noise they make. Here's a link to a website I found with a puffin noise.
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/atlantic-puffin/
Isn't it so amusing that God actually created an animal that sounds almost identical to a lawnmower? It makes me love Him all the more when I think about the ridiculous variety of animals that he invented Himself. Talk about creativity! From giraffes to butterflies to hippopotamuses (and let's not forgot those irresistibly adorable puffins), God dreamed up every single type of animal and knows each of them. Now, this actually reminds me of another type of bird as well. Sparrows. There's a pretty famous verse in the Bible about sparrows: it's
Matthew 10:29, which says, "Aren't two sparrows sold for only a penny? But not one of them falls to the ground without your Father knowing it.(NIrV)"
I did some research on sparrows a few years ago, and I found out that they were brought to the United States from Europe and Asia as pets. As soon as they started getting loose into the wild, though, people soon realized that the cute little birds were quite a nuisance. In fact, in the early 1900s, store owners started giving pennies to children who brought in sparrow heads! Wow! That's pretty gross (but I know some fairly "violent" people that would actually enjoy doing that... but I won't say anymore about them)
But, the point is, God cares about every tiny sparrow. Every time one of those little Victorian  children shot down a sparrow to earn a penny so they could go buy candy or whatever those kids bought with their money back then, God knew about it. Now, I'm not trying to say that we should treat animals like equals; definitely not! Nor am I trying to say that we have leeway to treat them poorly. We were put in dominion over them, so we need to find a balance between valuing them as animals and treating them kindly, and valuing them overly as equals to humans and as emotional, spiritual creatures. But, that is another topic for another discussion. The point I want to get across is this.
"So don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows." Matthew 10:31 (NIrV)
That's it. God cares SO much for the animals that he gives them each a unique appearance, and even personality. If he cares that much for each puffin and each sparrow, than can you imagine how much he infinitely loves YOU, the one he created in his image; uniquely and wonderful, and the one he sent his only son to die for?
That's a lot of love!

House Sparrow

The Mario Kart Analogy

Lakitu
 http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mario/images/6/66/Lakitu_NSMB.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080320015213

I don't know about any of you, but I am a fan of the highly addictive video game called Mario Kart. If you aren't familiar with this video game, it is basically a racing game where the player drives around a go-kart and tries to get to the finish line first. Simple enough, right? Well, there are a few added challenges in the game. The first is that you and other players can use various "weapons" to slow each other down. The second challenge is the track itself. It can be nearly impossible to navigate some of the tracks, especially when there are crazy drops and twists and turns. Here's a picture of one of the worst tracks, ever and it's called Rainbow Road...

Rainbow Road
http://images.eurogamer.net/modojo.com/features/735/rainbowroadDS.jpg

 Notice that you could easily fall off both edges... yikes... that's why I don't particularly like this track.
However, when you see this, you're probably thinking, "what in the WORLD does this have to do with God?"
Well, there's this character in the game that I find interesting. It's name is Lakitu. In the game, whenever you fall off the edge of the road (which happens quite often to me, especially on Rainbow Road) or land in water or fall into a volcano( and yes, there is a track with one of those...), it flies over on its little cloud thing and rescues you. Also, if you get disoriented during gameplay and start to go backwards, it flies down and holds out a useful little sign that tells you to turn around! For some strange reason, I was pondering  this Bible verse the other day and it actually reminded me of Lakitu.
"Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory." Psalm 50:15 (NLT)
Here's another verse,
"He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name." Psalm 23:3 (NLT)
I don't know about you, but sometimes my life really feels like that Rainbow Road. I fall off the edge every five seconds and feel like I'm dragging behind everyone else. But, it's so comforting to think that there is someone there who will guide you in the right direction and save you every time you fall; even if you do it over and over again, he's still there to rescue you. There's my thought on video games and God; who knew that they could relate to each other?

Lakitu saving Mario
http://boomansion.net/media/artwork/smk/lakitu2.jpg

The purpose of everything

This is my very first post and I'd just like to say why I'm even starting this blog. Basically, the reason that I even had the inclination to start a blog is that I love writing and I wanted a way to use my writing skills to glorify God.  I want every post to be a reminder that everything has a amazing purpose. The truth is, whether or not you feel like your life is full of potential, it really does has a specific purpose; glorifying God. I really love to think that my life can be used to do so much. Every event that occurs in my world, every place that I go, and every good and bad thing that happens to me is for a specific reason. It makes me so glad that no matter what happens to each of us, it's all to strengthen our faith and endurance so we can truly pursue God's will and what purpose he has for all of us. So, I hope that this blog can be used to show the purpose and potential that every Christian has within their life. Lastly, to end this post, I'm going to write down a quote that's highly overused and scientifically incorrect, but a pretty good poetic metaphor.
"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."
So go and shoot for your potential and reach for your purpose in life! Even if you don't accomplish whatever you were hoping for, you can know that God has something a bajillion times better for you anyway. After all, the moon is just a big hunk of rock; stars are made out of PLASMA! That's a lot cooler.