my roommate.

In flirting around with different ideas of writing a blog about my roommate, and how to best encompass the reality that is my roomie, this is the current result...

Where do you even start really? Do I make it a separate blog full of little commentary and moments that radiate joy and my thankfulness in God's sovereignty for our friendship the past few years? Do I write out every phrase that makes me laugh until my side cramps and eyes tear? Do I tell of how she knows all the words to Beauty & the Beast or how looking at a photograph of herself smiling makes her smile all the more? Or what about deciding she wanted a puppy only to decide she didn't want to deal with poop until babies were in the picture? Or her kindness in waiting a month to rub in her team beating mine in the World Series?

But none of that even does justice to her heart for justice and others, or her love to bake in order to share or her love of beef.

I guess this is just an introduction to my roomie. A dialogue of thoughts. I'm not sure if it will continue much more or often past here. But here it is for now.

Maybe our lives would make a better sitcom than blog, it does more justice to all the sound effects.

masterpiece.

Walking into a living room, you take in the couches, coffee table, lighting, and art. Over the couch against the wall is a larger piece of art.

It is the target to which the eye is drawn.

The pride of any artist's home.

If in the middle of taking in your surroundings, how would you feel if there was a large portrait of you over the couch?

The artist placed it there as evidence of his prized workmanship.

The house you are in belongs to Christ, He wishes to show you off to the world so they may see His hands in you. Are you a little thrown off to see your mug in a portrait on someone's wall? Do you critique the image hoping your hair was just a little different or a touch of photoshop was performed? Do you try to cover it up or place someone else's image in its stead?

Christ has you as His masterpiece on display for all to see. Do you act in a way that brings the attention and acclaim back to the creator? Or do you smudge off His signature for your own?

"What is we were an abstract self-portrait of God because we were made in His image?"

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Eph 2:10

On a different note, we are looking through Ephesians this semester for Bible Study. As we approached Eph. 2:1-10, I loved a few of the titles for the passage the women had to share and wanted to pass them along!

1. Jesus loves Zombies - (based on the whole death to life theme)

2. Proud to be a Zombie - (someone had the same idea)

3. The Painter - (focusing more on the artist persona of God)

4. Wanted: Dead or Alive - (I love the Bon Jovi reference here!)

5. From Death to Life now Seated with Christ - (a little more straight forward)

"spread the love like dandelions"

::spread the love like dandelions::

I read this phrase online today and thought it to be an interesting thing. Spreading love like dandelions spread their seeds...

When we were younger, we had a crop of dandelions growing in the backyard. I loved to pick them up and blow them to watch them fly away in the wind. Like so many others, I would fluctuate between waving them around in my hands, blowing on them, and inspecting them with my fingers to see how soft they were. I wanted the seeds to go everywhere so I would never be without them.

My father would try to stop us and use his weed killers to get rid of them all, but tried and true, year after year, the dandelions would return. When I was in middle school or high school, I stopped noticing. I stopped looking down to see if they were there, or if I did noticed them, I would just rush by not thinking anything of them.

Last Wednesday, I picked up a dandelion with my teammates and blew the seeds all around the small grass patch we found them at. There were many there already, but I wonder how many will be there next season, or the season after that!

Why can't we desire to spread the hope and truth of Jesus's love in the same way dandelion seeds burst forth? Imagine if all the seeds planted new dandelions, how many would be new the next season as a result! I think sometimes we go about forgetting of those little seeds we could be spreading. Ones that lead our co-workers to see the fruit in our lives or the other mom in your kid's class to ask why you are able to stay so calm with pre-schoolers.

Are you always willing to share love, truth, and your life? As my boss so gracefully put today, "it is called the Great Commission, not the great suggestion."

Who are you living your life for? Where are you spreading seeds?

For my snowed in friends...

I thought since you were couped up, you may enjoy one of my recent favorite worship songs.