Luke 2:14

Reading: Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Listening to: Dark is the Way, Light is a Place, Anberlin

It's getting to be that time of year.

You know, the time for snow and the subsequent and obligatory cup of cocoa after being out in it too long.  And the carols you've heard a million times before and will hear a million times again.  And the yearly viewing of It's a Wonderful Life.  And the plastic light-up Rudolph on your lawn.  Oh yeah, and the coming of the Savior to earth.

I like all the things on this list, save one.  The whole Savior thing?  I love that.  

Happy December.

Pigeons Get Justified Too

Reading: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Listening to: Band on the Run by Paul McCartney and Wings

I’m going to ask a stupid question:  Have you ever read John 1:32 in Greek?

Well, I did yesterday in my Ancient Greek class.  What I found out?  The dove coming out of heaven and landing on Jesus can also be translated as being a pigeon.  Yes.  A pigeon descending on Christ. 
 
I totally love the image of a pigeon.  Pigeons are always shown as disgusting nuisances.  Think about George and the pigeons on Seinfeld ("Don't we have a deal with the pigeons?"  "Of course we have a deal. They get out of the way of our cars, we look the other way on the statue defecation.").  Or how about Franz Leibkind and his pigeon posse in The Producers (“He keeps boids. Dirty... disgusting... filthy... lice-ridden boids. You used to be able to sit out on the stoop like a person. Not anymore! No, sir! Boids!... You get my drift?”)?  Pigeons have a gross factor that puts them into sub groups along with cockroaches, mildew, and that loogie spat onto the sidewalk through which you will inevitably walk.
 
Here’s the kicker: God doesn’t see them that way.  To Him, pigeons are just as beautiful and handy as their more graceful cousin, the dove.  It doesn’t matter if it was a dove or a pigeon descending on Jesus, because God can use anything (and by extension, anybody) to bring His promise down.  That’s why He’s God!

Here’s the application:  Just because a person seems more like a dove than a pigeon doesn’t mean he or she is more righteous or loved than that pigeon over there.  In fact… remember the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector?  Which one of them went home justified?

Keep it real readers.  Doves, pigeons… in the end, they’re both just peristera.

A Prayer

Dear God,

Why?

And when I'm ready to know, will you tell me?

Amen.

Going Medieval

Reading:  How to Stay a Christian in College
Listening to: A Knight's Tale soundtrack 

I’m having a hard time finding hope for myself, and by extension, my generation.

My history prof commented (vehemently) that my generation has more in common with the squirrels on campus than with the Christians he is teaching us about.  More in common with tiny mammals gathering nuts and making more tiny mammals to gather nuts than with the most basic medieval Christian.

I feel like an alien.

Luckily, I have other aliens around me, maybe not spatially, but emotionally.  God gave us the church community to help us in this crazy, squirrel infested world.  And I know that even if my support system is in California, Utah, Arkansas, they are all as close to me as if they were in the same dorm.

It's taken me awhile to get this post off the ground.  Throughout the writing of it, this verse has been bouncing around my head.
Isaiah 59:1...

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

Squirrels- you got nothin' on me.

(To be continued?  Most likely...)

Chiggars and Sweet Tea

Listening to: "Burn Me Down" (House of Heroes)
Reading: The Imitation of Christ (Thomas A Kempis) *even though the prof wants me to wait ;)*

I can be a VERY negative person.  Seriously.  You give me a situation, any situation, and instead of the silver lining I will find the hair ball clogging up the pipe.  So when I moved to College Town, I was absolutely positive I was going to hate everything about it.  My food, my dorm, my profs, my classmates-- every molecule of the place was going to be against me.

You know why I was so sure of this?  Because I'm insecure.  I don't feel *safe* here, no one *knows* me here.I looked up at God and said (or yelled, as the case may be): WHY ME?  WHY HERE?


I wanted to find a way out of this place.  Did I really need more education anyways?  What was I going to do with it anyway?  There are so many places I would rather be than living in a strange place where I am just as much on the outside as I have been in other schools.

You know what I needed?  A big ol' slap in the face.

You know what God gave me?  Reassurance.

He gave me friends who listened to my whining and encouraged me to pray about it.  The advice I received through these various conversations boils down to this:

You've gotta take the chiggars with the sweet tea.

There's always going to be something I won't like about... well, about everything.  But God can always show you the parts that will edify, amuse, delight and excite you.  You just have to be ready to meet Him halfway.


So, little by little, I've discovered that the food is actually DELICIOUS.  My dorm and the girls I share the hall with is actually FUN.  My professors KNOW WHAT THEY"RE TALKING ABOUT.  My classmates are (mostly) HERE TO LEARN.   

These are some major positives, and I owe the finding of them strictly to The Big Man in the Sky.

James 1:17

"Every good and perfect gift is from GOD, who does not change like shifting shadows."

I hope YOU find everything good and perfect in your own lives.

-Kylie

It's Kind of Like a Rosary, Only Not

Listening to:  “New Surrender” (Anberlin)
Still reading:  A Wild Sheep Chase (Haruki Murakami)

My favorite hobby these days is bracelet making.  Hokey sounding?  Maybe.  Still, hear me out…

The thing I love the most about bracelets is the action--it’s like meditation.  The repetition frees my mind to think and pray about issues I’m having, questions I have about God and His word, or all the great stuff happening to me.  Each knot belongs to a new thought.

Here’s the other thing I love-- they make great encourager gifts for friends.  This is what my bracelets are most often for.  If you’ve known me for any small amount of time, you probably have, or are going to get, one of my bracelets.  Even if you’re male, so watch out. 

When I start out making a bracelet for someone, I sift through the different media (twine, embroidery floss, paper string, etc) and colors I have on hand until I find the perfect string for him/her.  Something that reminds me of them in any way. 

When I start the actual weaving, I have to say, I have sort of a spiritual experience akin to the meditation I was talking about before.  As I braid the threads, I can’t help thinking of the person for whom the bracelet is meant.  I remember fun times, special talks, certain looks.  I remember these things, and every time I end up praising and thanking God for my friend.

Then, before long, the bracelet is finished, tailored as perfectly as possible to my victim’s (hem hem) wrist.  It is then sent on it’s way, full of prayers and thanksgiving for you.

Still sound hokey?   I don’t think so.

Showing it Off

 Listening to:  "Instincts" (Ivoryline)
Reading:  A Wild Sheep Chase (Haruki Murakami)

I start school in a hatful of days.  Let’s see, do I have everything packed? 

Socks?  Check.
Shampoo?  Check.
Tooth brush?  Check.
Discipleship?  Wait a second…

Jesus tells us, as he did his own disciple in Matthew 28, to make disciples of all nations.  Not to sit in the back of the classroom quietly wearing a cross and hoping someone notices but secretly hoping they don’t ask you why you wear it.  Option B has always been me.  This time I’m going with curtain A. 

Like the song says,
“Be strong and courageous and do not be afraid
The LORD goes with you each and every day”

Just a short thought, but an important one.