Bel Cambiamento : Beautiful Change

I've been in full on fall mode in my brain for three months now ... (I rush in to things that excite me.) Yesterday as I was driving, I realized that the leaves were JUST NOW beginning to take on dramatic new hues. My heart swelled up like the Grinch's, only mine was never "two sizes too small." (I just googled "how many times too small was the Grinch's heart." So there's that little giggle for your Wednesday.) I wanted to take pictures of everything I saw, but quickly realized that I would not get any work done if I did. The scenery here in Alabama is just gorgeous in the fall. I live in Birmingham and used to work in Cullman and it is a true story that I planned to leave my house thirty minutes earlier than usual all through the fall last year so that I could drive highway 31 north through Hanceville instead of taking I65, just so I could look at trees. (I am the neatest person you will ever meet. And by "neat" I mean "weird." But I'm okay with it and I rock it.) 

Yesterday as I was driving home listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack and finger-tap dancing on the steering wheel, I began thinkin about all this beautiful change. What does this change mean and how is it applicable in our lives? The answer slapped me in the face and I had an "a-ha" moment like I sometimes have while I'm driving (and I pray I can remember it so I can write about it later ... Which most of the time doesn't happen.) 

Change is beautiful. Beautifully painful, at times, but beautiful nonetheless. You see, we love to see the leaves change colors because it means so many things. Changing leaves indicates football is happening, cooler weather is here (or around the corner if you're in the south, or if you're in Alabama ... Cooler weather is here sometimes, except on those rare occassions when summer decides it didn't have enough of a say this year and rears it's nasty head for a day or two here and there. I'm a ginger. We don't do summer.) All this is similar to change that happens in our lives. It's so exciting to feel the change of starting a new school for your little ones, or preparing for college, or starting a new job, or moving to a new home. And just as fall is a brief season, so too is the honeymoon phase of change. 

As we move into these new aspects of our lives and eventually get the ball rolling with all the new happenings in our lives, we are sometimes overwhelmed with questions about why we ever wanted the change or wether or not we can really handle what we've gotten ourselves into. This is my favorite part of the process. You see: leaves fall off of trees to prepare a way for new life. Sometimes our spirits feel as though we are not good enough for the change we've embarked on, or they question the decisions we make because things aren't quite as easy as we once imagined them to be. 

Spring always comes, dear friends. You can stand in the wake of the difficulty that is brought about by the changing seasons in your life because of the hope that is given to you by the Lord that created you. You see, winter serves it's own purpose. Though it may seem barren and cold and exhausting, it's a season of preparation. Winter prepares our world for the new life that the spring weather has to offer. Hang in there, friends. There's new life for you around the corner. 

What I find fascinating about our adoration of fall is that we all know how short lived it truly is. We understand that winter and it's lack of color and frigid temps is imminent, and yet we race into fall like it's more exciting than finding $1000 randomly on the street. I find it so amazing and truly beautiful that we as humans embrace such beautiful change while we know what's coming. Guys, we are a brave people. And we do this in life, too. We take on change full force, KNOWING that it isn't going to be all "sunshine and rainbows." Be proud of that. Stand strong today and know that you're a brave one. 

I feel so strongly about this subject because change is a beautiful thing and I think that we sometimes roll through the seasons mindlessly, not really realizing what is actually taking place in our spirit. God uses change to mold us and to shape us and to teach us. Whatever you're going through right now, I want you to stop in your tracks and just look around. What are you learning? What has God shown you? How has your spirit changed? How will you use all of this in the subsequent processes of the events that will be unavoidable? Allow Him to strengthen your resolve and pray that He forces you to stop and regroup so that you can take it all in and gain His perspective on how to move forward. Involve Him in every aspect of what you're doing. You will be more than amazed at what He shows you. 

For the Love of Christ

Agenda - \ə-ˈjen-də\ - an underlying often ideological plan or program. We all have our own. They're as specific as we are. As I sit in my living room on my lovely couch that was given to me by my wonderful grandparents and type this blog while I listen to electronica music, it is becoming so apparent to me that I am not your typical 27 year old. I was waiting in an office the other day with two other pharma reps waiting to see a doctor, both of which had competing products to mine ... lovely enough, and both were in serious relationships ... were model thin ... and thought that blogging was definitely not something that they would ever take part in. I'm so not typical. I'm not rail thin, all my jewelry costs less than $3 a piece for the most part, I enjoy writing and I'm not afraid to let the world read and silently - or not so silently - critique my musings. It takes all types, I presume. But the two ladies who were kind enough to entertain my chatter while we waited were also very different from eachother. One, a very business like woman with FABULOUS hair and her mission to reach the top was written all over her face (I hope she reaches her goal.) The other rep in the room had a smile that I can only describe as the most pleasant breath of fresh air. Both lovely people to chat with and both had a very kind disposition ... but a very apparent agenda, specific to their company's direction.

Later in the day I was approached by a man in a purple Jesus t-shirt who wanted to know if I knew Jesus loved me. Now ... had he just said "Jesus loves you," I think I would've been less irritated by this strangers' invasive questioning about my spiritual life. I'm a very open person. I like to share things that happen in my life with the masses ... thus the blog ... but a stranger asking questions about my spiritual life felt almost as strange as if he were to have asked me when my last ENT Dr. appointment was and if all the things were still situated correctly in my nasal cavity. I'm sorry, I know that's maybe a weird visual ... but he asked questions about my "innards" and wasn't leaving without an answer. I was so tempted to say, "Hi, I'm Ryn ..," just to prove a point. I responded with a "yes" and a smile, but on the inside my brain was churning with frustrations. He doesn't know it, but he was the one that turned the can opener that one last turn to open up a can of worms that had been slowly opening for weeks.

I visited a new friend in the hospital and discussed his approach with her. She thought it was just as odd as I did. What she thought was even more odd was the fact that this very point has been so heavy on my heart for the past few weeks (slash months.) Almost like he was divinely positioned in the elevator waiting area to meet me there. I rode home from the hospital trying to put into words exactly what irritated me about this man and question. Maybe "irritated" is a strong word. But nonetheless, I wanted to understand why I was so offput by his questioning.

I just had a lengthy discussion with a man in my life who never ceases to show me the other side of the canvas with a level of grace and complete lack of judgement that blow my mind and make me want to be better at life things. "Maybe his extremism leads him to think constantly that he may never see a certain person again ... or maybe this person will die and I was the only one who ever had a chance to question his spirituality." And while I agree with this wonderful grace-speaking man, I maintain my position. A position that I've grown to be very passionate about in the last few months and that is this: His will, not my own.

This is a touchy subject because several things could tie into this. Maybe it has to do with personality. Maybe spiritual maturity is in question. Or maybe ... just maybe ... it's a personal preference. Whatever ... it didn't jive with me and it likely wont jive with others so I think this post is still somewhat valid (I hope.) What made this man care about my eternity and not my first name? If I were a person who wasn't of the Christian faith ... or any faith ... what would my immediate response have been? Our delivery to people, whether it be in word or in action, should be carefully considered with regard to the person. I don't know that Christ, if I were unfamiliar with Him, would approach me on an elevator and question my faith without first showing me how much he genuinely cared about who I am. I DO believe He has all authority under heaven to question me and to evaluate me. My point is this: do HIS WORK, not whatever preconceived notion you have of what being missional looks like. If you feel like you are to be missonal with people, be in meditaion and prayer about what that means for each person that you meet. Ask God to speak into your spirit and instruct you on how to approach it.

One relationship at a time. If I were "unchurched" and someone approached me and didn't give a flitter about who I was or what I struggled with, but then preached to me that Jesus wanted a personal relationship with me ... would I really know what that level of sincereity looked like? "Well, if you don't really care about me and you're just here to prove your point, man whom I've only just met, then why should I have any reason at all to believe that there's a man named Jesus who loved me enough to die for me?"

This filters into so many realms of mission and outreach. Last night, I asked Meredith a question and she thought it was a decent point. If I want to recruit you for my team because I think it's the best team in the world, but I tell you how wrong you are for all the things you do and I judge you ... before even giving the coach a chance to do what he does best ... how effective is that? But if I come to you and I show you how much I care about you and your potential, and then put every ounce of trust in the Coach ... the outcome could be vastly different. To Pastor Kevin's point, there is a way to speak truth and to speak it in love. We are not capable of doing that without the constant presence of an almighty God.

We all have spiritual gifts, i.e. - girls in the waiting room. But just as the girls in the waiting room, our agenda or direction should not come from us but from our maker just as theirs came from their company. Why is it so easy for us to do what our employer wants us to do, but not what our creator wants us to do? Each of our gifts should be prayed over and utilized as He sees fit. Now, knowing that to be true, it stands to reason then that we are all different. I don't think anyone would argue that point. SO ... if we are all different and we all have spiritual gifts, shouldn't we consider that we desparately need God's guidance when we are approaching His creations with His message? Please understand that I absolutely love the enthusiasm of this purple Jesus shirt man and I wish him the best, but I also wish him discernment. We are a spirit that inhabits a vessel and when we seek His will and His direction, He will give it. If we can trust that He will lend His direction, then we also need to trust that we can befriend a person who struggles with something and that God will protect us and use that frienship with speak amazing life into someone. We need to be his hands and feet, not His iron fist and steel toed work boot. Our vulnerability as humans is really what shows His power. We need to trust that He will rule over people with an iron fist if He needs to. And honestly, that's his decision. Stop ostracizing people for their past or their present. Just be there for them and love on them the way Jesus has loved you in your sin.

Should we do good things just to do good things (i.e., our agenda), Or should we do good things for the Love of Christ. Be willing to identify yourself as a "least of these," and stop looking down on poeple because they sin differently than you. But most of all, being mean spirited and hateful and judgemental just because someone else's struggle makes you feel uncomfortable only lends itself to spiritual decay and strife for both parties.

It's not our show. It's His show and He so graciously lets us be the stagehands. Don't be the reason that someone leaves the theater.