Posts by Caroline
Self-Made Measuring Stick
It shook my heart when I read this verse:
The Lord is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion. Isaiah 30:18
Sometimes at the end of the day I find myself downright tired of trying, and the last thing I think is that God is awaiting the chance to say, “Stop trying.”
Do you have those days? We sell ourselves to trying to be the perfect wife or girlfriend, daughter, sister or the most zealous employee, creative decorator, best party planner, and thoughtful friend. We dedicate ourselves to accomplish the impossible. Yet in the end, our 24 hours in the day didn’t stretch across the 185021 hours we tried to make them. We didn’t measure up.
The first time I read this verse I felt like the Lord was saying,
“Caroline, stop trying so hard. I’m ready and waiting to pour out mercy!! I’m waiting for you to see that you need it!”
God doesn’t ask us to try harder; He’s asks us first to accept His grace. Perpetual trying (and inevitably failing) is a burden that we place on ourselves that stems from the lie—“We must try to measure up.”
The problem is: measure up to what?? The measuring stick of our performance is self-made, and it certainly doesn’t come from God!
When I try so hard in my own strength, it’s because I’m trying to meet my own standards in my own strength, instead of accepting God’s mercy and compassion that says there is no other standard but grace.
Here’s the back story to this gem of a verse,
The Israelites saw themselves as weak, and by all worldy standards… they were! Despite God’s anthem of promises to deliver from the Assyrians, the Israelites’ fear led them to make a backup plan in case God didn’t deliver. They wedded themselves to their former oppressors—the Egyptians— in order to build a wall of protection from the Assyrians. Yet as God always does, He was sure to remind them that any wall apart from Him will crumble. And that’s exactly what happened.
Despite God’s promises, the Israelites were determined to fight their own battle—and God let them. The Israelites prided themselves in their weapons and in particular–their strong horses.
Wordly strength seems so promising until the battle—the Israelites fled as soon as one enemy soldier showed up! They were left alone in defeat.
God told told the Israelites—and He tells us— that victory is found by “returning and resting; your strength will lie in quiet confidence.”
Worldly wisdom says to trust in the strong horses, become strong enough to face grief or rejection, become perfect enough to “measure up.”
True Victory realizes we’re fighting a different enemy with the Victor on our side.
Victory is not becoming perfect, but realizing perfection isn’t the goal.
Victory is realizing that we need mercy and compassion because our horses will never be strong enough.
Victory is accepting grace and full communion with the One who awaits to change the rules of our skewed game.
He longs to tell us to stop trying and see HIM.
My prayer for us:
That we might see that we need mercy and compassion and then… accept mercy and compassion.
He awaits. you.
Also check out:
CommentMerry Christmas
Merry Christmas, friends!
My family is starting a new tradition and spending the next few days in Little Rock, Arkansas. It’s not the same as piling into Grandmother’s house in Springfield like we used too– I doubt we could all fit!
We’re hanging out at my sister’s house right now, and it just took me off guard that my youngest (baby) cousin Katherine is rocking my little nephew. The baby is no longer the baby! The little ones usher in a whole new energy (and exhaustion!) to Christmas. We have to carefully talk about Santa and make sure to ration the sugar.
Yet, some things are still the same– being lazy, dodging the perpetual game of catch across the room, and retelling the same stories over and over.
This is Christmas.
May this time with family turn your heart to the little one who changed not just the shape of our traditions but the course of eternity.
Thank you Jesus.
Also check out:
Challenge #1
By definition, to organize is to
arrange in a coherent form; systematize
Honestly, organizing is the fun part. It’s when you begin to see progress underway and feel the weight of chaos fall off your shoulders. The problem is that we have to do work before we can organize. When we store items we never use, cords for who knows what, bellbottom jeans we are waiting to come back in style [guilty] we suffocate what actually needs to be organized.
There’s no point in organizing things we haven’t needed, don’t need, and won’t need.
Thus, before we can get organized, we have to get those items out of our homes for good.
Challenge #1: Donate what’s not needed.
Since I have a hard time parting with things, here are some guidelines that have helped me:
- just because it’s “nice” doesn’t deem it needed.
- Storing something does not give it more value.
- if you don’t like how it fits now, it’s not worth storing it for the 5% chance it might.
The Simple Life is buried underneath and soon to be found, so start digging and giving!
Here is a picture my roommate snapped on my way to donate my “unneeded’s.” Can ya beat it?
Challenge #1: Donate what you don’t need.
look around your closets, storage rooms, cabinets, and pantries. What have you neglected this year? Pass it on.
Also check out:
On Dreading Transitions
I love Texas right now. I love the calmness post-finals, Christmas on campus, and the mild winter.
Yet, there’s no place like home in Missouri. My dad will greet us with a welcome home sign, there’s an energy in the house that’s contagious, and there’s a warmth of just being with family.
Getting from one place to the other is the problem. Going home is a 9 hour transition through small towns in Oklahoma and inevitable Dallas traffic. Tomorrow I’m headed home, and the entire day is dedicated solely to travel— just like over 500 hours the past 4 years have been.
It’s daunting.
Tonight I caught myself mid-sentnece thinking– “I don’t even want to go home…”
What the heck?
I love love LOVE being home.
After “dissecting” this dread, here’s what I found: the only thing I dread is the transition itself.
I feel like the transition is lost time.
Travelling is needlessly expensive.
I’m envious of my Texan friends who don’t have to travel far.
and, I resent Oklahoma for its bumpy roads.
If I’m not careful, the negative, inward focus is a spiral into self-pity. Before I realize it, I’ve lost all focus on home and allowed Oklahoma to overshadow the joy of being home.
Transitioning is really just leaving one good place for another good place.
How true, how true this is with our lives.
The Lord leads us through transitions– periods of waiting, questions, or uncertainty– but He’s ultimately bringing us from one good place to another. When we focus only on the transition, we lose sight of the ultimate home– the heart of God.
May we not be drawn to self-pity as we transition, long-for, or wait.
Instead, may we be drawn to the very heart of God.
That, my friends, is the best place to be.
Also check out:
Commentthe Truth about Things
As we prepare to tackle our clutter, here are some ground rules for our things. No matter what we buy, things always take on these characteristics.
Step 1 to Project Organization: put into perspective the cause of disorganization!
1. Things inevitably grow when we are idle.
Decide to Act.
When we are idle toward our disorganization, the clutter problem grows each time we come home from the grocery store, Walmart, mall, and empty our purses. However, to act, most of us need to feel a sense of urgency. My urgency is I’m about to get married, and I want a smooth transition into my new home and lifestyle. Pinpoint your urgency, and keep it at the forefront of your mind.
2. It’s easier to let go of things when you like where they’re going.
Find a place to donate.
Whenever we’re in the moment of deciding, “do I really need this?” it’s much easier to part with something if we can envision the item in a new home. We can easily pass along the yellow purse when we know a young girl from church will treat the purse as a treasure. Or, knowing that we’re helping someone in need trumps our tendency to think we are really going to use those pinto beans in a recipe down the road. It’s helpful to think about our clutter could bless someone else.
The phrase “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” is true; now find out whose treasure is in your junk drawers. As you begin to declutter, take some time researching where you’d like to pass along your things
3. The things you save take away from what you buy.
The useless items that we pack away fill our storage areas, making what we do purchase more difficult to find when we need it. There is no a way to “rank” our clutter; thus, once we have clutter, everything we add becomes merely more clutter. Our new purchases can fall prey to the clutter trap—tossed in a drawer, forgotten, and hidden from us when we need them.
To increase the value of our purchases, we must first rid ourselves of the extras.
4. Things cost more than the price tag.
We pay for any given item when we check out. We then pay to store it in plastic containers, dressers, and cabinets. Next, we pay negatively when our purchase makes other items more difficult to find.
For example, the multiple glue guns I own require their own plastic container, add to the craft closet, and make the white paint more difficult to find. In a panic I will purchase another bottle of white paint, perpetuating the problem. Don’t look at just the price tag; look at the cost for the life of the item.
5. Things don’t make life easier.
Organization never starts will buying more.
Avoid the tendency to look at “more things” as the answer to your organization woes. Instead, first focus on what should be removed and donated. We buy multiples or purchase organizational time-savers in order to make life easier, yet it is these items that elongate the organizational process. Instead of investing in things that promise organization, invest time into managing what you do have first.
Want to take the Project Organization Challenge? Email me at caroline.gear[at]gmail.com!
What’s your organizational urgency?
Also check out:
CommentHey There
In a matter of days I'm going to marry my college sweetheart Clayton. I'll be the resident chaplain at a girls dormitory this year... which will add a few quirks to our first year of marriage. I've been adopted into Texas culture and I keep Sonic in business. I blog about faith and the struggles with faith. My first name is Jane; I'm Caroline.
Featured Post
To my single friends, I just posted a cute picture of Clayton and I on Facebook. 10 minutes later we were sitting in my driveway talking about how his stress was overwhelming me and how he was stressed because I was overwhelmed. Dumb. […]
Must-reads
Friends and follows
or, link to me with this!
