To be or not to be?

I have a confession or two (or five) to make...

The people who live with me already know that I haven't kept up with the Couch-to-5 K running plan.
I reached Week 3, but then lost my momentum.
I've stayed seated on the couch more than I've ran over the past two months.
I make excuses---my head hurts...I'm too tired...I just showered...I have too much school work...I just ate a whole cake Katherine, so give me a break---even though some are completely legitimate reasons not to run (in my mind at least).
Needless to say, my hot pink sneakers haven't lost as much tread as I thought they would've by now.

Once I fell behind, I just gave up. I had a rough couple of weeks health wise by the time I reached week 3 of the program and lost my wind. Instead of giving myself some grace, moving back to a slower pace in order to regain my strength, increase my endurance, and eventually make strides toward my goal, I decided to go sit back on the couch. It's not where I wanted to end up, nor is it where I felt like I should stay, but at least I knew I'd be comfortable there for the time being.

This kind of attitude tends to bench a lot of us. If we make one mistake, we think it's all downhill from there. We give up before we even get going. I think most people also think of their spiritual lives in the same way. We read in the Bible (2 Corinthians 5:17) about how God says that we are a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come, right? But sometimes we still feel old, act old, and look old. What then? Do we just go sit back on the couch and tell ourselves, "Oh, tomorrow I'll be a new creation" ? Sometimes, yes, that is exactly what we do.

When we do that though, when we revert back to the comfortable, old way of life, we put ourselves through an identity crisis, whether we know it or not. As believers in Christ, we are redeemed children of God, without stain or blemish in the eyes of the Almighty. We have been saved from a dark, torturous eternity separated from our Maker, and saved into a new life, full of God's goodness, mercy, and love. Our identity becomes Christ's, for that's how the Father sees us. He knows we're not perfect, but he's making us new. It may not always feel like the most comfortable choice, but we can have confidence that God will finish the work he began in each of his children, for Christ said so himself: "It is finished."

Until then, we can live each day with the hope that one day we will experience the completeness of our redemption through Jesus Christ. Even on the days we feel old, like there's nothing new about us, we can walk on with the strength we receive from God's Word, which says:

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure." (1 John 3:1-3)

52 Week Project 2012 ~ Week 29
#tobeornottobe

To be or not to be? That is the question.

Redeemed.

That is our answer.

This week I stopped listening to the voice in my head that told me I'd never be able to actually run a 5 K. I woke up early one day, made my way down to the treadmill in our basement, and walked a mile. It wasn't a lot, but it's something. At least I'm off the couch again. 

At the very end of that one mile walk, the song "Redeemed" by Big Daddy Weave came on my Pandora Radio. It perfectly summed up my reason for walking, for moving forward, for trying again. Not just in exercising, but in life. No matter the pain I feel, I always have a reason to get up in the morning. 

I am redeemed. 

Surely Alive

I'm always pleasantly surprised when Spring persuades the flowers to finally bloom. After the winter's stretch of cold, dreary days--especially when the snow doesn't even come to brighten things up a bit--I find great joy in passing gardens full of flowers on my way to and from class. Even though I'm probably allergic to all of them, their beauty never ceases to make me smile. . . and so, here you have my picture for week 14 of my 52 Week Project!

52 Week Project 2012 ~ 14/52

It's amazing how such simple things like Springtime flowers, an encouraging note, or a surprise visit from a best friend (thanks Andrea!!) can cheer us up and remind us that life really is good.


When I think about how happy those "little" things make me and think about the "big" thing, or rather the biggest thing which was Jesus Christ's death and resurrection---the reason why we celebrate Easter---I'm completely blown away, struck in utter amazement by God's love for this world.


The fact that Jesus surrendered his own human will in order to obey his Father's will, take on the sins of this world, both yours and mine, in addition to God's wrath, which was poured out upon him, so that we could have eternal life and forever be in God's presence in Heaven one day. . . surely that is the greatest love that anyone could ever know.

Because Jesus Christ overcame the cross and the grave, thus defeating sin and death, rose on the third day, and now lives and reigns victorious on High, we should offer up thanksgiving and praise everyday in response to the One who gives us life and breath.


Not only does God sustain us physically, he desires that we experience life abundant, which we can only know through an abiding relationship with Him. This spiritual life that he offers is available to anyone who puts his or her hope and trust in Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross, resurrection, and life.

In confidence, we can proclaim, as Kristian Stanfield writes, 

"My God's not dead, He's surely alive, and He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion!!" 

(this song has been stuck in my head all weekend. I couldn't help but share it. Hope you all like it!)

I hope that on this Easter day, we'll all rejoice in the life that we can have in Christ. May we never cease to smile at its amazing goodness. Just as winter passes and spring brings new life, Jesus' death and resurrection allows us the chance to be made new, to live again---to smile our way through the storms---and to experience love that transforms us into who we were created to be regardless of the season in which we find ourselves. 

Battling for the New

52 Week Project 2012 ~ 5/52
Taken at Midtown Scholar in Harrisburg, PA

A slight breeze of uneasiness often comes over me when I try something new for the very first time. Whether or not the uneasiness blows from the hovering clouds retaining my fear of the unknown, my insecurity, or my doubt, it has the notorious ability of keeping me up at night. At the beginning of the week, I moved my stuff back to Messiah for the start of the spring semester. Initially, I had the hardest time falling asleep in my newly arranged room, but I somehow seemed to wake up ready to take on each new day with a strange, nervous energy. If you’ve met me, you know that I am the farthest from being a morning person. However, the odd combination of excitement and uneasiness rolled me out of bed, most days before my alarm even told me to! And, like most other college students, that rarely ever happens to me.

It has surely been a week full of new experiences—new classes, professors, and books; new hall mates, laughter, and friendships; new blessings, hardships, and opportunities. The picture for week 5 of my 52 Week Project was taken in the Poetry section of Midtown Scholar, an old bookstore/coffe house renovated from a movie theater located somewhere in the city Harrisburg (except I couldn't tell you where because today was my first time visiting the place...another new experience of mine!).  All this newness got me thinking about both the fear and the joy which so often surrounds the new.

We always have a choice when it comes to stepping out and trying new things. We can either allow fear to paralyze us, keeping us stuck in the ways of the old, or we can overcome that fear, and thereby, take hold of the joy, satisfaction, and blessing, which accompanies the new.

Now I realize that not all new things are necessarily good, and sometimes fear protects us from naively entering into dangerous circumstances. However, I think you know that's not the kind of fear I'm talking about. There comes a time when we must put off the old and put on the new, whether we’re fearful or not.

As Christians in particular, who have been made new in Christ, the time has already come. But in case you missed the memo, the time is now. Regardless of your past regrets, regardless of your past mistakes, whether you messed up a year ago or 5 minutes ago, in Christ, you are a new creation. The old has gone; the sin, all of it, has been forgiven, wiped out, erased. Because of Christ’s blood that was shed for you, your future is spotless. You can now clothe yourself with his righteousness, holiness, and dignity. Fear and shame need not hold you back from the joy of the Lord, the joy of your salvation, the joy of living as one who's been made new.

If you’re still feeling a breeze of uneasiness, if you’re stuck in the shadow of the cloud of the unknown, if you have yet to experience this newness in Christ, I would encourage you to take the steps necessary for you to personally overcome whatever fear and doubt are holding you back from acquiring such joy. 

Ask questions. There are answers.

Cry out to God. He hears you.

Let Christ’s love revive your weary soul. He longs to do so.

God, the maker of Heaven and Earth, longs to be in relation with you, longs to make you whole, longs to make you new. Don’t let your fear of abandoning your old ways disguise the ultimate blessing of God’s redeeming grace.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” ~ Luke 11:9-10