"I'm Outraged!"

I'm outraged that people say the beginning of this phrase so often.

Just kidding, I'm not really outraged. But listen to the news, listen to people - real people. It is very likely that you will hear one of two phrases.

1) I am outraged that...

2) I'm furious about...

I guess I have become slightly calloused to these phrases. My dad, the ever observant one, brought it to my attention the other day. He asked me why I thought that people are always outraged and angry.

Although I didn't have an answer, I have been much more aware of how often people get upset over assorted things. Just check out the headlines from the last couple days. Take a peek on Facebook if you dare. You'll see links to news articles, personal opinions, people verbally attacking other people because their personal opinions are different. You'll see the anger and ultimately the sin of people pouring out of them.

Things like forests and endangered species have more protection from their outraged supporters than many unborn babies. 

It is incredibly easy to jump on a bandwagon. Speaking from experience, I am quick to judge, slow to listen, and slow to show love a lot of the time. Certain stereotypes and stories can lead me to conclusions and opinions just as fast as anyone else. But there is a problem. I don't see people's hearts. When I look at a person or hear a story, I'm making a judgement based on my opinion and perception. I don't know what is going on in their heart, what God is doing in their life, or what He has planned for them. There is only one ultimate judge. Someday every person will stand in front of Him and have to give an account for every careless word, hate-filled passion, and every sin. Yet I can scroll through my newsfeed judging people who are posting their judgements of other people. Where does it stop? 

This post isn't at all meant to be a judgment... cause I'm right there with everyone else. Instead, I hope it can be a call to action. For me, I want to be more about forgiveness, love and showing grace than jumping to conclusions, gossiping or judging. Let's be a people that shows the love of Christ in obvious ways! Let's be careful of what comes out of our mouths (and out of our fingers on social media)... Matthew 12:34 "For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." Let's stand for what is right, but let's stand in humility and love. Let's be more concerned about living as ambassadors of Christ than as ambassadors of self.

And let's be outraged at sin (especially the sin in our own lives) without condemning people or putting ourselves above others. 

The Little Moments

This post doesn't need many words, I was watching my siblings at someone else's house the other day and I just took a bunch of pictures of little things that were lovely to me. 

Reflections of the past

The past few days have inspired a few reflections on past events. 

On Sunday, the kids from youth group went roller blading... and a bunch of us dressed up 80's style. I had no idea how much work that hair was! I have a new appreciation for the photos of my parents that we've previously made fun of. We had a blast, but there is no way that I'd be willing to put that much effort into my hair and makeup on a daily basis. It was super great to look through old albums and to wonder what my kids will think about the pictures they see of me. 

In a different reflection, I was remembering back to a year ago as I finished up my one year Bible reading plan yesterday. A year ago in February I wasn't really reading consistently and I didn't really know where to start. I found a chronological plan, which I had never done before and decided to use that. At that point, a certain friend of mine reorganized the entire plan so that it started on February 24th instead of January 1st and offered to do the plan with me for accountability. I was very blessed by it back then, even more so a year later as we are finishing it up together. Maybe he thought that if we read together that we'd get to spend more time together... I guess it kind of worked out according to his plan, haha :) Time to start a new reading plan!

//psalms//

Truth is sometimes a struggle to hold on to and lies so easily creep in. But there is hope to be found in truth, and I need to cling to that with everything I have. I want to fight but sometimes the doubt and fear seem ready to drown me. When I feel like this, the best way that I've learned to fight is through reading scripture. Psalms is a place of rest and peace and so much solid truth. Knowing this, I have decided to start one of these 52projects that I've been wanting to attempt. 

In order to inspire me to hold onto truth, take pictures, and expand my editing practice, I have decided to start a photo project based around the book of Psalm. My goal is to turn photos that I take into designs, using verses from Psalms, and maybe other books as well. I'm going to aim for one a week, but I'm also not going to be stressed about it.