Mayan the Tortoise

I want to be like a tortoise. Mayan the Red-footed Colombian Tortoise to be more specific. Those of you in Mrs. Lund's biology class would know him (those in bio last year would know HER as Maya, but yes, Lund has discovered that her beloved wanderer is actually a boy!) and you probably remember his silly wandering and attempts to destroy his cage. Well anyways, Mayan is such a thoughtful tortoise. Funny that an animal should be considered thoughtful, but that's how I see it. I was watching him today during study hall, and every move his makes is careful and deliberate. Each step and turn of his head, he seems to be considering before acting. I think that's something we could all learn from. Weighing our options, praying, asking for guidance- those are the kinds of things we should be doing ALL THE TIME. Our actions have a BIG impact on the future, so much more than little Mayan's. If he can take the time to decide which direction he's gonna walk inside a classroom, I think we can take the time to decide how we'll react when someone insults us or how far we'll go to help someone. Be like Mayan, don't rush through life. Consider the possibilities!
Though thoughtful, Mayan is not always reasonable. However, he is always persistent in his quest, no matter how impossible. Mayan will try absolutely anything. For example, during study hall he attempted to fit through a 3-inch across opening in a box. Now, Mayan is no small tortoise, his shell is at least 8 inches in diameter. He wanted to get through that opening though, and he tried and tried until I finally moved the box so he wouldn't hurt himself. Earlier, he tried eating my finger. He didn't make much progress, because my finger was on the other side of the glass of his cage, but that didn't stop him from opening his mouth as wide as it would open and bonking it into the glass repeatedly (it was quite hilarious, Mayan makes me smile :D). All I could think of was "What amazing determination!" What if everybody had the determination of that little tortoise? I wish I did. I wish had the strength to continue, unfazed, even after my head kept hitting the glass or my shell kept getting stuck in an opening. To press on even when the world seems it was built to trap me in, because maybe one more time is all it takes. Maybe we're 2 feet away from the finish line of a 40 mile sprint (inside joke) when we decide to give up. So I hope next time you're discouraged, you'll think of Mayan giving his all to break through barriers, and you'll do the same.

Unashamed Love

Hola everybody!
I hope everyone had a good day today. I just got an idea for a post as I was singing at Whiteout (my youth band) rehearsal, and I wanted to get it out before I forgot about it! I'm going to attach a video to this post that I'd really like you to watch before reading, although you don't have to, it's a great video. (shown to me by James, by the way. I thought he should get credit for the revealing of this wonderful little bit)

Does everyone know the song Undignified? "I will dance, I will sing, to be mad for my King. Nothing Lord is hindering this passion in my soul! And I'll become even more undignified than this!" Or how about the song Unashamed Love? "You are worthy- of a childlike faith and of my honest praise and of my unashamed love." And then there's the song Sing Sing Sing. "We will sing, sing, sing, grateful that you hear us when we SHOUT YOUR PRAISE, life high the name of Jesus!"
See any connection here? A pattern maybe? Dancing, singing, passionate, unashamed, shouting! Is this the kind of behavior we expect from Christians? Especially Christians OUTSIDE of church and church events? What would you do if you saw someone walking down the street, singing and dancing and praising God? Would YOU ever be seen praising God in public- among unbelievers?
I loved learning about the Second Great Awakening in US History this year, especially the revival meetings. How cool would it be to have lived in the 19th Century and gone to one of those? To see people shouting and feeling the Holy Spirit move them, then leaving the meetings and being so full of joy and hope that you just had to go out and tell others about it! Of course, my public school curriculum kind of portrayed revival meetings as places where evangelists took advantage of people's emotions and status, but I'm hoping there was more to it than that. I know God can fill people's lives in a very dramatic, visible way.
The other side of this point that I feel I should quickly explain, is that we're not supposed to act like a Christian just so other people will see how "good" we are or how strong our faith is. Personally I would consider that statement to apply mostly in a church setting, where everyone shares your beliefs and would compare themselves to you. In a public setting, like downtown or at school, I would focus more on not being ashamed than on not being show-offy (basically, NEVER be show-offy!)
So hey, let's stop oppressing ourselves, shall we? Let's stop hindering the advancement of the Kingdom due to our own fear of rejection. John 15:18 says "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." We have to be consistent, not hypocrites and NOT ASHAMED! It's hard, I know. At first maybe get together with some friends and plan to pass out little notecards with bible verses on them or something. Or during the summer, play Christian music in your car with the windows down! Give the world a glimpse of your heart. Allow God to shine through you, not only in a subtle, "morally christian" way, but in a big, "I'M SO FULL OF JOY I CAN'T STOP PRAISING MY GOD!" kind of way.


Here's the video:
O Praise Him
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEezCFSPuH0

Giving Good Gifts & I Himmelen

Okay, so to start this post off I'm going to post the words of a song that I'm currently memorizing for Bella Voce. It's in Swedish, and it's up to you to find out what it means in English (I know, but I don't want to take the time to type the English as well as Swedish)

Oh, and the spelling is often going to be how it's pronounced rather than how it's actually spelled so... good luck translating it if you were actually planning on doing that. :)

I Himmelen, I Himmelen dar heren Gud sjelv bor. Hur har-lig bliver sell he-e-ten hur oo- ut sag likt stor. Der an sikte mot an sikte. Jag e vigt e vigt Gud far se. Se heren seba ot.

I Himmelen, I Himmelen vad klar het hog o-ren. Ej shelva soo len lik na-ar den, ut i-sitt mid dags shen. Den sool som aldrig ne der goor. O ej vigt o fer mer kad stor, ar heren seba ot.

I himmelen, I himmelen vad sella ut-tan tal. Av anglar na o hel goo-o nen, vad glansi aransal. Min shell skall bliva des salik, av e vig he tens ska terrik. Hos heren seba ot.

There! Thanks for stumbling through that with me. I have 3 and a half more hours to have it completely done. Anyways, we're well into the Christmas season now (at least according to Disney, they had Christmas trees up before thanksgiving!) so I decided to write a little bit about giving. The fact that I'm thinking about wish lists and shopping contributed to this, as well as a book I just finished- God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew, AND the fact that I was just reading through Proverbs and I noticed a lot of verses dealing with wealth and riches. So here goes.

In regards to giving, the bible talks mostly about giving necessities- food to the hungry, help to the helpless, that kind of thing. James 1:27a says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress[.]" We are called to take care of the less fortunate. Proverbs 22:16 says "He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich- both come to poverty." I was a bit shocked when I read this verse. "We're not supposed to give gifts to the rich?" I thought to myself. Honestly, I'm not gonna say much about that verse cuz I'm still pondering it myself. I just invite you to meditate on that for a moment.

Now I want to talk about giving to the poor. Charity is an honorable thing in our society today. Almost everyone sees it as a good thing to give your spare money or old clothes to those who need them. Proverbs 22:9 says "A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor." So, we're supposed to share with those who are poor, who have less than we do. In return for blessing others, God promises to bless US. It's a win-win situation, if you trust God to keep his promise. In God's Smuggler, Andrew was talking about how he never asked for money from churches where he spoke or in articles he wrote. He just trusted that God would provide everything necessary for his work, and God did. I encourage you to read the book yourself, because it's not too long or difficult to read. In it are countless instances where Andrew and his fellow missionaries chose to give their money to the needy rather than use it for something they wanted- even something as important as school tuition or toothpaste, and God ended up providing for their needs and even some of their wants. The funny thing is, God really demanded their trust. Often the money for a payment or the plans for a mission didn't come until the very last minute, requiring total submission to God from his followers. The way I see it, fear holds a lot of people back from giving. They forget God's promises and fear poverty. The bible assures us that we have nothing to fear- God will take care of the caretakers.

Mother Teresa once said "Love until it hurts, and until you've given a piece of yourself away." Wow! What would the world look like if everyone gave beyond what was convenient and sacrificed some of their lifestyle to help others, keeping in mind that God says he will bless the generous. We'd all be blessing each other with gifts and being blessed by God and by others and life would be pretty great. The first step? Start the trend. Give up something you don't need and give the money you save to someone who needs it. OR if you are pretty short on luxuries already, remember to trust God, and don't shy away from giving what you do have to those who ask for it. Remember, Jesus said that if a man asks you to walk a mile with him, you should accompany him for 2 miles, and if you have 2 cloaks and someone asks you for one of them, you should give it to him. Give what you have, not only what you were just going to throw away otherwise. In Matthew 15, a boy willingly gave all he had to eat, which was a small amount, but Jesus blessed it and used the boy's offering to bless both the boy and over 5,000 others with a full stomach plus leftovers. Think about if the boy had kept his meal to himself, fearful that if he gave it to God he would go hungry. The meal might not have even satisfied him if he hadn't trusted God with his wellbeing. Be like that boy. Give all you have and then watch and see as God multiplies your offering until you get back more than you gave in the first place.

Okay so I feel like I've rambled on a lot, and it's taken me an insanely long time to write all this cuz I'm so distracted, so I'm just gonna finish up with a bunch of verses that I found.

Regarding material possessions and true value- Proverbs 16:16 "How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!" (Another verse supporting the name of this blog, mas que la plata- more than silver)

Proverbs 11:24-25 "One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty."

Proverbs 11:28 "Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf."

Proverbs 13:7 (this one took a little more time for me to understand- it's saying to not live extravagantly, but humbly- which means giving away your abundance!) "One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth."

Proverbs 28:20 "A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished."