I want to assure you all, dear sisters, that it is with a great amount of shame that I type up this post…a post that I know will be lacking in so many ways. First off, my most sincere apologies for our (the authors) apathy these past few weeks when it comes to writing. Our only excuse I assume is that we are all very busy…honestly, I don’t know what’s going on right now with our other authors as I haven’t talked to any of them for a few weeks. See, sometimes life has a way of taking a hold of your days and taking off, hardly giving you enough time to realize that time is slipping through your fingers. I wish I could save time, or freeze it, even just to sit for a moment and collect my thoughts.
This post is also going to be lacking because I am too tired at the moment to really make an effort to express through words what is going on in my heart. Have you ever sat and thought about what God is teaching you? Try and write out one page of things that you are wrestling with, lessons you are learning, blessings that have touched your heart…
One thing I would like to share with you is this: when are you most vulnerable? What situations, circumstances, people, or emotions leave your heart wide open? Are you afraid to be trusting with your heart? Who do you find it harder to trust–God, yourself, or others?
This is sort of a “from my heart”, spurr of the moment post…just to let you all know I love you, I haven’t forgotten you, I hope you are doing well…
A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. For the Lord God is our Light and Protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what is right. O Lord Almighty, happy are those who trust in You.
~Psalm 84:10-12
Such a beautiful passage, one that many of you are probably familiar with. Better is one day in His courts, better is one day in His house, than thousands elsewhere! This familiar passage, especially the sentence about being a gatekeeper in the house of the Lord, became very real to me. One afternoon this past week I read this passage immediately thought of our own gatekeeper, Paul. Here in Libreville we live in a house that has a concrete wall around it. Every time we drive in and out the guard opens and shuts the big gate for us. So many times I have thought to myself, “What a boring job! Sitting all day in a little shack, waiting to open and close the gate at the bidding of others.” Indeed, it is not a job I would take readily. So when I read this passage, I was immediately struck with the message of the verse: so often we say to God, “Lord, I am willing to move to a desolate village in Africa and plant a church for you! If you ask me to move to the slums of Detroit and minister to gang members I will do it.” But what if God asked you to be His gatekeeper? Sitting day by day outside of His house, not necessarily at His feet, opening and closing the gate. Silence, solitude, not being in the thick of the action. Would you be just as willing to answer that call? Would I?
What exactly is the Trinity? In all honesty, I don’t have enough faith in my “understanding” of this complex subject to even begin to try to write a devotion about this wonderful mystery about our God. But, I did just hear something cool that I wanted to share with you all! Saint Patrick used a 3-leaf clover to pictoriphy the idea of the Trinity–3 in one. Three leaves, one clover. One leave on its own would not be a complete clover, and thus…there would be no clover. Take away a leaf and the clover would not be complete. Only when the three leaves are there is the plant complete and perfect.
May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your purposes. – Psalm 20:4
O my child, I need you for Myself. I have purposes for your life beyond your comprehension. Yes, I have truth concerning Myself to give to you that is deeper, richer, and more wonderful than your understanding has yet imagined.
Open wide your heart to Me. I will fill you with My Holy Spirit, and in so doing I will satisfy the deepest longings of your soul.
said “goodmorning to God” thanked Him sand a praise song prayed for someone else
said a kind word to someone else laughed danced
reflected on Jesus’ sacrifice
invited the Holy Spirit into my day smiled at someone asked for forgiveness
ate abundantly of the fruits of the Spirit
When I was getting ready to leave for Africa, I had to pack up some of my clothing and personal items that I did not want my family to be poking through while I was gone. So I crawled down into our dusty crawl-space and pulled up a big cardboard box to put away my treasures for a while. I found that it was very satisfying to (semi)neatly pack my things, knowing that after I taped it up and hid it back in the crawl space it would remain untouched for the next 4 months. When I go back home and open it up, everything will be exactly as I put it, a little treasure chest of familiarity and comfort.
I know you have probably heard this many times, but I think that we like to do the same thing with God–put Him neatly in a nice little box, easy for us to find yet often hidden away for only our rediscovery. And when we lift the flaps of that box to peak inside, we know exactly what we want to see. Only when someone else (of course we wouldn’t, we know that the contents would be disturbed) takes that box and shakes it up are the contents rearranged, often placed in a different order, a different dimension.
Upon arriving in Gabon, my leader told me that her goal is that any team or intern who comes to serve might be forced to take God out of their box after seeing how their family in Christ here in Gabon live and perceive our Lord. That statement just got me to thinking about how I really have put God and Christianity in a box. I am often critical of other worship styles, behaviors, or attitudes that I observe or experience. Sometimes I find myself thinking that because some people haven’t been able to go to Bible studies or read devotional or educational books that they aren’t as strong of Christians as those who have (such as me). But I have found that here in this third-world country the simple, often times poor people that I encounter have a deeper heart for God than I will ever hope to have. They have simple words to describe what they know and understand about God yet I can tell that they love Him more than anything.
Psalm 119:11 says “I have hidden Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You”. Sisters, remember that while we are to learn and live by God’s commands we must also know that God did not write the Bible with just us Americans in mind. You have family in Christ around the world who hold different views on family, praise, and other issues that are simply dictated differently from ours by their culture. It is most essential to remember that God loves us all equally and He is not there for us to box up…rather, He is taking us out of our boxes to experience His world.
Life is hard sometimes, isn’t it? Yeah, I knew it would be, the minute Eve took a bite of that forbidden fruit. I guess that’s what you get from humans, though…you aren’t gods, obviously. I am God. And only I could do anything about the fact that sin and suffering entered the world that dark day at the beginning of time. So you know what I decided to do? I came to earth to be a human with you, to live among you, minister to you, love on you, and ultimately, die for you. Why? So that you would be redeemed! And because I promised that I would come (Isaiah 53:4-6).
Sometimes I think you forget something though, my daughter. It was because I love you that I sent my Son to die for you (John 3:16). I am Love. I know what perfect love is like, and that is selfless love that will do anything for others. I pray that you can live out that kind of love towards those around you (John 15:13).
Oh, one more thing. I have plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11). Yes, for YOU. Do you love Me? Do you trust Me? Ok, so maybe you don’t trust Me ALL the time, but if you profess faith in Me, I have big plans for you. So you know what is so amazing about that? You don’t have to worry about the future! I have it in My hands. Which are much stronger than your hands. These plans are going to rock your world. They are plans for your good, so take hope from them because there are great things in store for your future! How do you know they are going to be great? Because they are My plans, and I am great.
Don’t lose hope. Don’t stop loving. And don’t stop breathing, because with each breath you are praising Me. Why? Because I am giving it to you.
(Note from the author: The views expressed in this article do not necessarily express the collective opinions of all of the Sister to Sister authors. Additionally, your opinion may differ from mine, which I respect! If you have any concerns, leave a comment or email us at sistertosisterblog@gmail.com ~ Olivia)
Ok, stop for a moment and let me explain myself. You are probably thinking, “Why on earth did she post the song “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train on a Christian girl’s blog?? ” And perhaps your concern is justified. Or I realize that at least one of you is probably gagging and thinking, “I can’t get away from this stupid song!” Believe me, my desire is not to torture or offend anyone. But I love to find and explore how Biblical and secular ideas can be paralleled in popular media, especially in media that wasn’t necessarily produced with any intention of relating to…Jesus *gasp*.
I recently finished reading a devotional book on the Song of Solomon by Lisa Harper called What Every Girl Wants (I would recommend it!). In this book she gives a witty, interesting commentary on the Song of Songs with historical notes and such and such. On a side bar note thing she wrote something interesting: When the term brother os sister is used in Biblical poetry, it is an expression of endearment, common in Ancient Near East literature. The phrasing does not imply an incestuous relationship; it refers to closeness and permanence.
Song of Solomon 5: 1 — “I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk.” So then the wheels in my head started turning and I thought, “Where have I heard before of a man using the phrase ‘sister’ as a romantic endearment??” Then it hit me–”Hey, Soul Sister!” What an exciting parallel! In the well-known song, the singer serenades the girl of his dreams–a beautiful, one-of-a-kind, rug-cutting girl who seems to have caught his heart in her two hands.
Song of Solomon 4: 9 — “You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes.”
Guess what? There are still more similarities between the song and the Bible book! The lyrics that stand out to me very strongly are, “I want the world to see you be with me.” In the Song of Songs, Solomon (most likely) does not hide his adoration for his bride. He praises her beauty in front of every other woman in Jerusalem. He takes her as his bride and delights in her every moment he can. In essence, he is say, “I want the world to see you be with me!”
Something I tell my parents all the time concerning music and movies is, “You guys interpret this stuff as dirty instead of interpreting it in a wholesome way.” What I mean to say is, our culture has trained our minds to hear something that could be considered “inappropriate” and immediately label it as so. Now I’m not saying that we need to start interpreting everything in a different light. What I am saying is that sometimes it is possible to take, for example, a song that is open for interpration and look at it (or listen to it) from a Biblical perspective. After thinking through the similarities between Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister” and the Song of Songs, I enjoy listening to the song so much more. To me, even though the writers of this song probably didn’t have any intention of making these connections, I love taking something so secular and sing along while glorifying God!
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I sat down to watch the second episode of Downton Abbey with great anticipation. Partly to see if my opinion of it would improve and partly to see if they would stick something else “icky” in there. I realized halfway through the really there is no major plot to this series. Each episode simply follows the everyday life of the family and servants at the Abbey. Usually these events might not be noticed but when combined with the costumes and acting the series becomes a celebrated and highly anticipated one by British and American audiences.
The major plot of this episode is the arrival of the “mysterious” Evelyn Napier, a correspondent of Mary Crawley’s. Turns out this character plays a very minor role because he is overshadowed by a companion that he brings to stay at Downton—a young, handsome Turkish Diplomat who seems smitten with Lady Mary at first sight. What could have evolved into a romantic relationship ended up being a lust-filled folly. In the course of one night Lady Mary loses her dignity and the diplomat dies in her bed.
Bates, Lord Crawley’s valet, has a serious limp that, in the first episode, was an obvious hindrance to Bates’ livelihood at Downton. In an effort to correct the limp he purchases a corrective device that only mauls his leg even more. Viewers are given a glimpse at his bloodied and bruised leg. On the bright side, Bates further roots himself into viewer’s hearts as an honorable man when he overcomes his shame of his limp and throws the device into the pond.
Gwen, another maid at Downton, is discovered to own a typewriter. Her desire is to become a secretary because she does not enjoy working as a housemaid. Although she knows that she has a better job than someone of her birth usually would, she also knows that she has a chance at doing something else if she works hard. Some of the staff support her and others don’t. The youngest Crawley daughter, Sybil, tells Gwen that she supports her desire to be a secretary and even offers to write a letter of recommendation.
Objectionable Content
During their first rendezvous, the Turk and Mary sneak into a room next to the parlor and have a make-out session. He then implores her to allow him to come to her room that night. She refuses him but obviously not strongly enough because that night he goes to her room. After some debate he finally convinces Mary (after pushing her on the bed and kissing her for a while) that their late-night encounter isn’t such a bad idea. Viewers are spared anything more. Later that night viewers see the dead Turk laying in Mary’s bed as she, Anna (the maid), and Lady Cora Crawley try to decide what to do with the corpse. The scene could have almost been funny if it wasn’t so…bizarre (I’m still trying to decide if I am amused or disturbed).
Other than a 30-second lecture from her mother Mary receives no reprimand (probably because only Anna and Lady Cora know about the affair). Mary realizes the shame to her reputation she would have if anyone finds out and she compromises Anna and her mother to help her hide her shame. Out of love and loyalty, I suppose, do they comply.
Before he journeys to his “lady love’s” room, the Turkish diplomat is propositioned by the bitter gay footman Thomas. Even though Thomas merely strokes the Turk’s cheek it is an uncomfortable scene. The diplomat gets Thomas to take him to Mary’s room in exchange for silence on the matter.
Overall, this episode left me feeling: good about Bates (and Anna—I think there is something going on there!), even more annoyed at Thomas, and utterly disgusted at the jealous looks Matthew (the heir of Downton) cast towards the Turk as he flirted with Mary. I still do not like Mary in the least bit and utterly do not want her and Matthew together. But that’s just my opinion. I look forward to see how following episodes develop and if the Crawley family and servants will grow in virtue as the series progresses.
Our purpose is that you all may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that you may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that you may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ Jesus. ~ Col. 2:2
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