Archive | E ‘ N O T E S

Growing into this

butterfly-shirt-misselainious-blogWhen I was ten I had the privilege of going on a trip of a lifetime to Greece with my family and my Yia yia.  People had blatantly told me that it was a bit of a bummer that a ten year old was taking the trip since I wouldn’t remember it.  Well that was enough for my feisty little self to give a silent promise to my heart that I would soak it in and remember every last little thing I possibly could.  To this day it is still one of the most vivid trips of my life and the details I remember are incredible.

On that trip I had only one desire for a souvenir.  I wanted to find a white Grecian dress.  Alas it was insanely difficult to find one and in the end I settled for a little white dress.  I outgrew it far too quickly.  But while we were on one of the islands my brother wanted to find a t-shirt.  We went in this tacky touristy shop and while he made his selection I walked around.  I hadn’t gone in with the expectation of getting something but then I spotted a bright cobalt blue shirt with five artsy colorful butterflies on it.  I was hesitant to ask for it but something about that shirt made me bold.  “Daddy can I get that butterfly shirt.”  My sweet father happily obliged.  Since the shop didn’t carry children’s sizes I got a small but it still hung on me.  I didn’t care.  I loved it.

Through the years I wore it over and over and as time passed and my closet got cleaned out again and again that butterfly shirt stayed.  I’m 28 now and I still have that shirt.  And yes, I still wear it because I adore it.  Eighteen years later it fits a little differently now.  That’s because it actually fits.  I’ve grown into it.  It no longer hangs on me.

I think there are a lot of things in life like that.  We get them and we love (or we don’t…) them but they don’t quite fit us.  Yet.  Some things take time to grow into.  Sometimes it is friendship, sometimes it is knowledge, and sometimes it’s just life experience.  Thinking about this idea of growing into things reminded me of a quote I read forever ago in Corrie ten Boom’s book The Hiding Place.

“He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing.  At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor.
‘Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?’ he said.
I stood up and tugged at it.  It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.
‘It’s too heavy,’ I said.
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge.  Some knowledge is too heavy for children.  When you are older and stronger, you can bear it.  For now you must trust me to carry it for you.’”

It’s okay for things to take time.  Maybe there are things in your life right now that don’t make a lot of sense because you’re still growing into them.  You’re still putting on weight and substance that make you, you.  You’re forming still and eventually that thing that feels too big will fit you perfectly.

~

Friends, this month after much consideration I’ll be taking off the month of October from blogging to work on a project I just keep putting off.  I’m really excited about it and can’t wait to tell you all about it so stay tuned!  I will still be sharing though in the Dear Wednesday email (only one a week so you don’t have to worry about me spamming you 😉 ) so if you like what you find on the blog that’s more of the same but a little more personal.  Plus I’ll probably share there first what I’m working on so if you want to stay in the loop that’s the best way to do it. 🙂  Just leave your email address and first name below, email me at misselaini [ @ ] gmail.com (remove brackets + spaces), or sign up HERE! (Make sure you check your email to confirm and your promotions inbox for weekly emails.)  I look forward to being back on here in November!

Posted on September 26, 2016 by |

A door of hope

elaini-house-21We walk through life and experience so many ups and downs and twists and turns.  Sometimes we seem stuck in one place and the variance seems small.  I don’t know about you but I’ve definitely experienced different seasons of discouragement and challenge.  There have been times when I’ve felt stuck in a valley with no hope for any view from the mountaintops.

I was telling someone recently that over the years there have been times when I felt like every door was locked or shut in my face and I was stuck in a room with so many doors but no way to get out.

So recently as I was reading my Bible I came across a passage that stood out to me because it talked about a door and a valley.  The next day I saw a similar passage which surprised me since I wasn’t looking for it.  I knew that the Lord was speaking to me.

“And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.  And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.” (Hosea 2:15, ESV emphasis added)

“Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me.” (Isaiah 65:10, ESV emphasis added)

My eyes glanced down to the footnote.  The word Achor in the Bible means trouble.  Yes, the valley of trouble.  Have you been in a valley of trouble lately?  We’ve all been there at some point or will be in the future but that’s not what surprised me.  What is so beautiful is the next picture the verse in Hosea gives us.  The Lord will turn the Valley of Trouble into A Door Of Hope.  The Lord always gives us a door out of the valley of trouble with a door of hope.

The other passage says that the Valley of Achor will become a place for herds to lie down in.  It reminds me of the famous passage in Psalm 23.  “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:1-3 ESV)  The Shepherd brings the sheep into a place of rest.

In our trouble we need to find rest and the best place to find it is in the Lord.  We need to find a door of hope and when we pause we realize that Jesus is our door of hope because he’s the ultimate reason for hope.  When we put our hope in him and what he’s done he will never let us down.

Those who seek the Lord shall find him.  If you’re in the valley of trouble today remember there is always a door of Hope in Jesus.  May you walk in and through him.

P.S.  Need more encouragement in your life?  I’ve started a Dear Wednesday encouragement crew and if you’d like to be a part of it (and not miss out on the Wednesday post!) make sure to leave your email below or sign up here!  I’m excited to send you mail on Wednesday!

{Photo of me by: Christa Taylor}

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Posted on September 19, 2016 by |

Warped

warped-misselainious-blogWhen we moved a few years back we inherited all sorts or quirks in this new house. Flowers sprung up that we had no idea existed, floor boards squeaked in odd places, the toilet was pink…but it took us a while to realize a few of them. For some reason the bathroom mirror is warped. The realization was long in coming that these mirrors reacted to an object like a funny mirror at an amusement park. You know those mirrors that are endlessly hilarious because they make you look too short or too long or too something-other-than-what-you-really are? Yeah, well that’s our bathroom mirror.

The thing is it’s subtle enough to not realize that it’s making you look terrible (our poor guests). You just stand there fidgeting with your hair or wondering if it’s the lighting in the bathroom that’s making you look a little off that day. Of course there was finally that moment when my mom and I were standing there looking at the refection and we had an “ah ha” moment. It took looking somewhere else to see the truth about how we looked that day.

I think we do this all the time as humans. We look to the wrong thing to tell us who we are. We often choose a jumbled look at reality. We choose the funny mirror. What is the solution though to a warped mirror?

You see, where we turn our gaze matters. If we’re looking into a warped mirror we will see the wrong view of ourselves. It might be amusing or scary at first but in reality it’s not telling us the truth. I believe that the only person that can give us an accurate picture of who we are is Jesus. Do you know what picture he sees of his children? He sees them as completely righteous, holy, loved. While we often see the worst version of ourselves he looks at us and says, “there is now no condemnation.” The truth is that we get his perfect record. Yes, at one time we were more flawed and sinful than we can even begin to dream but that mirror has been thrown out. It doesn’t get to tell us who we are any more.

Instead of looking into a messed up mirror we need to look through the lens of scripture. “The looked to him and were radiant and their faces will never be ashamed.” I know I’ve quoted that verse from Psalm 34:5 several times on here but it’s because it teaches me so many things. I’ve got to stop looking at myself and start looking at Jesus. When I see who he really is then I’m changed. He has said he sees me with the perfect record of his Son. From where I’m standing that view looks pretty beautiful.

P.S.  Need more encouragement in your life?  I’ve started a Dear Wednesday encouragement crew and if you’d like to be a part of it (and not miss out on the Wednesday post!) make sure to leave your email below or sign up here!  I’m excited to send you mail on Wednesday!

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Posted on September 12, 2016 by |

Unplugged

Unplugged | Misselainious blogThere I was lying in the sunshine on the outside lounge last Sunday trying to get some rest.  My phone kept buzzing and my mind kept racing thinking of all the things I should be doing.  And then I sighed and realized that I didn’t even know how to rest well.  Inhale, exhale, breath in and out.

We’ve been trained to go, go, go and to accomplish as much as we can in as short as time possible.  I mean I get impatient if my computer takes longer than 6 seconds to load a page!  We’re always on.  Now days most people don’t even turn off their phones at night.

Yet as I tried to relax on Sunday I began to realize that being able to turn off sometimes is really important.  We need to figure out how to just be.  At least I do.  Do you know how to just lie down and look at the sky?  I hurt my back really bad last week and I wasn’t able to sit.  I had to stand up or lie down and since I was hurting lying down was the best option.

Since I turn my phone off every night I decided to leave it off for the next day even though I wasn’t able to do anything.  Yes, I was tempted to look at social media or text friends.  Instead I stared at the ceiling and felt my heart beat.  Later I moved outside and as I watched the pure blue expanse above me a hawk drifted into view.  It soared simply by being.  It didn’t flap its wings for minutes at a time as it floated on the wind currents.

With my phone off and lying on my back I rested.  I disconnected and unplugged and it was so peaceful.  My mind wasn’t racing and I simply was able to notice what was going on around me.  It made me think of this beautiful quote by Anne Lamott.  “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”

When was the last time you unplugged even if just for a few minutes?  We’ve come to view rest and simply being as so negative in our fast paced, instant world but I think we’re missing out on the actual living part a lot of times.

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”  John Lubbock

Are you always feeling like you’re running?  Do you feel like you can’t turn your mind off from feeling like there’s always more to do?  Maybe just unplug your phone and stay off your computer for a bit and go lie in the grass.  You won’t miss anything important on your phone but you might miss the important aspect of rest if you don’t unplug every now and then.  Maybe if we’d just stop flapping our wings so much we’d actually soar.

“Technology can be our best friend, and technology can also be the biggest party pooper of our lives.  It interrupts our own story, interrupts our ability to have a thought or a daydream, to imagine something wonderful, because we’re too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone.” Steven Spielberg

P.S.  Hey friend, want more encouragement in your life?  I’ve started a Dear Wednesday encouragement crew and if you’d like to be a part of it (and not miss out on the Wednesday post!) make sure to leave your email below or sign up here!  I’m excited to send you mail on Wednesday!

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Posted on August 29, 2016 by |

Fun, free encouragement postcards!

Fun FREE encouragement postcards 2 | Misselainious blog Fun FREE encouragement postcards | Misselainious blogHello friends, as you probably know by now one of my favorite things in life is to encourage people.  There are so many great things that come from giving encouragement.  A) You make someone’s day better B) You get more joy yourself and C) it’s free! (or in this case only a few cents for the stamp). 🙂  I’ve made up some fun and FREE encouragement postcards for you to brighten someone’s inbox with.

Don’t you love getting mail?  I know I do! It always makes my day better to receive a little note at my door.  Sometimes though I get stuck in a rut and don’t send anything for far too long because in my head it’s always going to take longer than it actually does.  But a postcard takes even less time!  Plus postcards just remind me of summer.  You don’t have to be on a trip to send one!

These fun encouragement postcards have simple sayings like, “Hugs & Besos (kisses)” or “You are my luce del sole (sunshine)”.  There’s also one that says, “Cheering you on.”

So friends I hope you’ll take second and print one or four of these out, write a little note, and stick it in the mail for someone you want to encourage.  If this isn’t on your summer fun to do list then it should be!  You can get these cheerful postcards here. 🙂  And if you’re already part of the encouragement crew I’ll send you the link on Wednesday!

(Just as a side note you’ll want to make sure you use card stock to print on and once you’ve printed the front of the postcard you’ll need to flip it over and stick it back through the printer to make them double sided.)

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Posted on August 22, 2016 by |

Running away

Running away | Misselainious blogYou know how you can read something over and over and enjoy it but then you read it later and something sticks out like blaring neon lights?  Well that happened to me last week when I was reading in Jonah.  It may only be four chapters but there’s a lot there.

God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah instead gets on a boat going the other direction.  It’s rather comical if you think about it because while we try to run, God is everywhere so we can’t really ever get away from Him.  Jonah is essentially saying, “I’d rather go anywhere but there even if it means I run as fast and hard from your presence as I can.”

I have to admit I’m a lot like Jonah.  God tells me things and sometimes it sounds unpleasant or I’m just being stubborn and I don’t want to do it.  I run but when we disobey God we are the ones that loose.  We miss out on the presence of the God of the universe and the very One who is love Himself.

Jonah tries to change the outcome of the story God is writing but thankfully he can’t.  You see God wants to make His love known to people that are running as fast as they can from Him.  He’s a God of mercy and grace.  He has a plan to rescue 120,000 people in Nineveh.  Yet Jonah runs.

Here’s what struck me this time.  Not only does Jonah end up going to Nineveh and rescuing thousands of people (because he gets swallowed by a huge fish and repents) but the people on the boat Jonah is fleeing in see the awesome power of God.  “So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.  Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.” (Jonah 1:15-16 ESV)

God saw those men on the boat and he cared about them.  If Jonah had obeyed they wouldn’t have seen God show up like He did.  They wouldn’t have had an encounter with the living God.

Here’s what I think we need to hear.  We need to hear that our mistakes, running, and yes, even sin, is being worked for good if we’re in Christ.  “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 ESV)  Did you read that?  ALL things.  Not just some things but all things work together for good for those that love Christ Jesus.

Jonah straight up sins and runs from God (and he should and does repent), even so we get a glimpse of something amazing.  Jonah was in the belly of a huge fish for three days and nights.  He got buried but God brought him back to accomplish the work he had for Jonah.  He rescued Jonah from running so that a whole city could find mercy.  Hundreds of years later Jesus would choose not to run.  He stayed so that we could stop racing away from God’s presence.  You see Jesus was buried in a tomb for three days so that we don’t have to run from God anymore.  Jesus was in the belly of the earth for three days so that all things will work together for our good in Christ Jesus.

You haven’t gone too deep or run too far for God’s love and grace to reach you.  God displays his glory and mercy even through our mistakes.

P.S.  Hey friend, want more encouragement in your life?  I’ve started a Dear Wednesday encouragement crew and if you’d like to be a part of it (and not miss out on the Wednesday post!) make sure to leave your email below or sign up here!  I’m excited to send you mail on Wednesday!

{Photo by: Paige Whiting}

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Posted on August 15, 2016 by |

What is in your hands?

What do you have in your hands? | Misselainious blogSometimes it can feel like we have no resources. Sometimes it can feel like we don’t have enough to do this, that, or the other thing. Sometimes we don’t know what’s in our hand. Do you ever feel this way? Do you ever just wish someone would lend you a hand? Well I have some good news for you today my friend!

This past month I’ve been reading in Exodus and I’ve discovered some things that have made me stop and wonder. No, not the plagues. I’m talking about the part where God calls Moses. This time as I read through a few things came to light that have really encouraged and challenged me.

Moses is out tending some sheep. He’s just minding his own business when God calls him to do something pretty crazy. God wants Moses to lead His people out of slavery. If that isn’t a job upgrade I don’t know what is. Moses is terrified and I can’t say I blame him. He didn’t yet recognize who God is and how God enables people.

So how does God enable us? “Then Moses answered, ‘But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ The Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ He said, ‘A staff.’ And he said, ‘Throw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it.’” (Exodus 4:1-3)

I am learning that God often enables us with the thing we already have in our hands. A lot of times we miss it because it looks so ordinary. It looks like a shepherd’s staff, just a stick. It looks like our current job, family, relationships, hobbies…even limitations. The everyday things are what we hold in our hands. Maybe we’ve gotten stuck in moving forward because all we see is that we’re holding an ordinary stick. It is an ordinary stick but here’s where we begin to recognize who God is.

God takes what is in our hands and he does something amazing with it when we are willing to listen to him and surrender it before him. Moses had to throw it down before the Lord. It changed into something he wasn’t expecting, a snake. And Moses ran from it. Are you scared of what the Lord might show you? God then tells Moses to pick it back up and the snake returns to a staff.

See the thing is, God enabled the staff to change. God is always at work to enable us to use the ordinary things for His glory. He wants us to partner with him in the big things he’s doing just by being faithful with what we have.

“What has God given you? Moses had a stick, David had a slingshot, and Paul had a pen. Mother Teresa possessed a love for the poor; Billy Graham, a gift for preaching; and Joni Eareckson Tada, a disability. What did they have in common? A willingness to let God use whatever they had, even when it didn’t seem very useful. If you will assess what you have to offer in terms of your time, your treasure, and your talents, you will have a better understanding of how you might uniquely serve.” ~ Richard Stearns

My friends it gets better though. You see before we get to the verses in chapter four about Moses’ hand we learn about God’s hand. “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.” (Exodus 3:19) God is telling us His hand will do the work. His hand will bring us freedom. His hand will accomplish great things. Many years later He’d show us again what was in His hand with His Son Jesus.

You know what Jesus had in his hands? Jesus had nails in his hands. He had nails so that we don’t have to be afraid. He had nails so that we can be healed. He had nails so that we can have resources. He had nails so that we can have help and hope. He had nails in his hands so that I can raise my hands in surrender and worship and live free. Because of what he took in his hands we can offer back to him what is in ours so that he might use it in incredible ways. What is in your hands today friends? If God can use an ordinary stick or some nails he can use what you have too.

“Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.” (Psalm 98:1-2)

P.S.  Hey friend, want more encouragement in your life?  I’ve started a Dear Wednesday encouragement crew and if you’d like to be a part of it (and not miss out on the Wednesday post!) make sure to leave your email below or sign up here!  I’m excited to send you mail on Wednesday!

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Posted on August 1, 2016 by |

Something new!

Something new! | Misselainious blogHello friends!  So you might have noticed that the categories have changed a bit on my blog.  They aren’t new but I’ve decided to take out a bunch of them and focus in on a few.  Honestly it’s kind of a scary decision for me but one I’ve been leaning towards for a while now.  It’s not that I don’t LOVE making things or putting together outfit posts but what I’ve realized is that what I care about most is encouraging you.

You all have been so amazing these past five (?!) years of blogging.  Thank you for sticking with me through quite a few ups, downs, and changes! 🙂  I hope this change will be the best one yet (and that maybe I’ll finally figure out what in the world I’m doing haha).

I’ve been brainstorming how I can encourage you a bit more easily and I’ve decided to try something entirely new to me.  It may take a little working out but I think it’s going to be a breath of fresh air.  That’s my hope anyways.  One of my favorite movies is You’ve Got Mail.  I smile when Kathleen Kelly goes to her computer in the morning and waits for it to turn on as she narrates this scene, “I go online, and my breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words: You’ve got mail.”  While our mailboxes don’t talk to us anymore I want you to have that sweet feeling in the form of mail encouragement, from me to you.

Instead of doing a Wednesday post on here like I’ve been doing for the past six months I’m going to deliver it straight to you!  I want it to be a boost for your Wednesday, a little mid-week-pick-up email to brighten up your inbox.  So if you want to get those encouraging posts all you have to do is leave your email address in the comments below and I’ll make sure you get them!  Easy peasy.  I’m excited for you all to be a part of the original crew + I don’t want you to miss out, so make sure to leave your email below or sign up here!  Who doesn’t need a little more encouragement in their lives?!  I’m excited to send you mail on Wednesday!

xxx
Yours truly

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Posted on July 25, 2016 by |

No or not yet

No or not yet | Misselainious blogWe were sitting in the sun drinking smoothies.  “I saw on social media the other day that someone was thanking God for answered prayers because they got a yes to what they wanted.  They didn’t even have to wait that long.”  “Funny how no one talks about all the times prayers get answered…with a no or not the way we want them to be fulfilled.”  We laughed.

Friends, I think this is an important topic.  I want us to have a conversation about prayer because it can be a tricky subject.  Have you been praying for something for a long time and not seen it get answered with a yes?  Are you discouraged because you feel like God isn’t listening?  Does prayer even matter?

First of all, YES! Prayer matters.  Prayer doesn’t have to be some big scary thing.  Prayer is the opportunity to talk to God about whatever is on your heart.  Prayer is an opportunity to thank Him for who He is and what he has done.  Prayer is also a time to acknowledge that he is God and we are not.

So what about all those prayers that seem unanswered?  What about all the times the answer is no or not yet?  We don’t talk about that too much do we in Christian circles.  Yet we should.  Because there’s a lot of people walking around (myself included at times!) thinking that God doesn’t love us or that he’s not good because we didn’t get the “yes” we were looking for.  That’s a dangerous place to be.  Or maybe you’ve been told by people that it’s just because you don’t have enough faith.  LET ME STOP YOU RIGHT THERE.  It’s not about the amount of faith that makes your prayers effective.  It’s about the God we serve that makes them effective.  It’s not about the perfection or persuasion of our prayers it’s about the power of God.

Prayer changes us and makes us stronger even as we acknowledge our need.  Prayer reminds us of who God is.  Prayer helps us flex our trust muscles.

Just because your prayer isn’t getting answered the way you want doesn’t mean God doesn’t hear you or care.  He does hear you and he does care.  There are so many reasons God answers prayer with a “no” or “not yet”.  I was mulling this over in my head when it struck me like a ton of bricks.  The best answer to this is Jesus.  I think about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane pouring his soul out in agony asking the Father three times to give him another answer even though he knows what the answer will be.  He doesn’t want to go to the cross.  No one in their right mind would.  So he prays and he asks his Father for a different answer.  The answer from God to his Son is no.  The King of the universe kneels in a garden and asks for a yes but then willingly submits to the no because he cares more about his Father’s will than his own.  Words cannot express how grateful I am for that “no” because without that “no” I would be hopeless.  Without that “no” I don’t get the biggest and most important “yes” of my life from God.

Friends, I don’t know what prayers you’re praying that haven’t been answered with a yes.  Maybe you’ve given up on prayer altogether.  While sometimes prayers get answered with a no many times it’s just a “not yet”.  And if it is a definite no please remember that God is working for your good.  He can see the whole picture while we can only see a part.  My prayer for us today is that we would trust him with all the answers he gives knowing that he accepted the hardest “no” ever.  He went to the cross even though it cost him so much because he submitted to his Father’s will and wanted to have a relationship with us.  Regardless of the answer keep talking to Him because it’s always worth it.

(Need to hear more of the same?  Here’s a blog post I wrote a while ago about Stop Saying God is Good…)

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Posted on June 29, 2016 by |

She loved

Handmade Valentine's Day cards 2016 misselainious“For she loved much.”  I want to be a woman who loves much.  So often though I’m tripped up by looking at myself.  I flounder about wondering if small acts of love matter and then I realize I’m doing most of them for all the wrong reasons.  I was flipping through my Bible when I came across this story and it turned my heart over in wonder again at who we are and more importantly who Jesus is.

“Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.  Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’  And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.'”  Luke 7:44-48

We clearly know from the story that this woman was a sinner.  She was messy.  So am I.  She sees Jesus though and her soul weeps out everything in it.  She doesn’t say a word but her actions scream love.  She wasn’t worried about what other people thought of her because she instinctively knew who Jesus was.  She wasn’t afraid of him and all she wanted to do was be near him and honor him in the best way she knew how, by giving herself.

And Jesus welcomes her just as she is.  He lets her touch him, he lets her kiss him.  How beautiful and mind boggling is that picture?  Here’s this woman who is unwelcome in that house but she comes anyway.  Here is Jesus disregarding the cultural norms and seeing who this woman truly is and turning to her with compassion.

Then he tells her what we all need and long to hear.  Her sins are forgiven.  Our sins are forgiven friends by the only one that can, Jesus.  What freedom that should bring to our hearts.  And because we’ve been forgiven much we can love much.  What a profound reality that Christ wants us to love much.  It makes me think of the verse in 1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

      “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”    (Matthew 25:37-40)

When you think that the small things you’re doing in love don’t matter think again.  The small acts of love and embracing of others has great value.  May we never overlook the “least of these” because Jesus didn’t.  He didn’t overlook us and that should cause our hearts to rejoice and pour out everything we have for him and those he puts in our path.

Posted on June 22, 2016 by |

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