Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
Don’t get me wrong—I love my phone. I love that I can text, make calls, go online, make notes, and set timers using one portable device. It can be used for great things, from tithing online to staying in touch with missionaries. But when we use our phones rather than pay attention to the people we're with, we communicate that we care more about our phones (and ourselves) than them.
But the truth is that the shocked, unable-to-respond, shunning Christians are probably hiding something from you, too. Even though their struggles are as real as yours, it’s unlikely that they’ll share them. As I talked about in Part 1, being authentic is hard. It’s easiest to hide because other Christians might judge us or reject us if we’re honest.
But there's more to Halloween than gooey candy and cute costumes. There's also more to Halloween than evil witches and creepy goblins. This holiday requires us to determine—and discuss—our convictions.
I saw pain in the eyes of the 20-something single woman taking pictures on her phone. I saw it in the eyes of the young mom holding a curly-haired toddler. I saw it in the eyes of the older man, looking off into the distance. The passengers on that tractor ride may have been noticeably hurting—but often the hurt in people’s lives isn’t so noticeable.
The announcer didn’t call my name. He didn’t hand me a certificate. He didn’t congratulate me. He just called off other people’s names and written pieces and awards. And I just sat quietly in my chair and wondered why I had lost—again.
Yet again, I had to rush through my quiet time to get ready for class this morning. Yet again, I felt a twinge of guilt for cutting this time short. But yet again, I did nothing about it. In fact, I did it the next day and the day after that and the day after that. I couldn't understand why making my quiet time a priority was so difficult.
When I first saw the commercial for Frozen over two years ago, I was immediately turned off by it. I thought that it'd be a cheesy movie about a wintry land that was home to an annoying snowman. But I was very wrong. This movie has the most insightful elements of any Disney animated movie I've ever seen. Through watching it many times, I’ve identified five major principles that Frozen teaches us about life.
When I first saw the commercial for Frozen over two years ago, I was immediately turned off by it. I thought that it'd be a cheesy movie about a wintry land that was home to an annoying snowman. But I was very wrong. This movie has the most insightful elements of any Disney animated movie I've ever seen. Through watching it many times, I’ve identified five major principles that Frozen teaches us about life.
Last month, I served for the first time ever at a food pantry. I’d helped with the behind-the-scenes work at a food pantry once, but I’d never been there while people actually got their food. In short, my experience was different than I’d expected.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 