I took a fast from Facebook because I was getting bogged down in emails, appointments, blogs to be written, etc., etc.  In other words, I was getting crushed under the pile of thinking I was pretty important.  Jesus really is a genius when it comes to knowing how our hearts work.  Just when I start to think I’m really important, I trip down the stairs, get a speeding ticket, and cannot think of a single think to write.  I miss appointments, hurt peoples’ feelings, and spend a lot of time telling my friends and family all that I’m doing without asking anything about them.  He is good to remind me that I am human and desperately in need of grace from Him and others.

During my fast I read a few books instead of comparing my status updates to my 524 Facebook friends or linking to the 189 connections I have on Linkedin or trying to earn more than my 142 points on thumbtack (I am a Gold Member) or leaving words of wisdom for my 177 followers on Twitter.  One of these wonderful books reminded me of the only truth I need to live smack-dab-in-the-middle-of every day:  “The kingdom narratives oppose the world’s narratives:  You are valuable to God.  God loves you no matter what.  Your worth is not dependent on your performance or on what others think of you.  Your worth is found in the loving eyes of God.  If you win, God loves you.  If you lose, God loves you.  If you fast and pray and give your money to the poor, God loves, you.  If you are sinful and selfish, God loves you.  He is a covenant God, and his love never changes.  You are valuable, precious and worth dying for — just as you are” (The Good and Beautiful Life by James Bryan Smith).

I think the next salvation story by my friend Terri is perfect for this theme. Terri used to live in Denver, but now lives on the East Coast.  She’s a beautiful woman with a rich and complicated story.  I love that she is finding salvation in simply looking at what is right in front of her.  I know when I do that I discover at least one gift every day, and I don’t want to miss a single one of them because I’m delusional with ideas about my own grandeur or busyness.

FROM TERRI:
Sometimes I see beauty in simple things.  When it happens, and I just happen to be able to capture it, I’m so pleased with myself that I just have to giggle and smile to myself.  I guess others outside are doing spectacular things with their lives and I get envious.  After it’s all said and done, I turn away from envy and choose contentment…gratitude for blessings, and joy that runneth over.
From peace that surpasses all understanding to a good belly laugh, I hope I never, ever miss this beauty in my search for purpose.  Though it is but a speck of joy deep within that seems to be pushing through the dirty sadness of the night, a good cry which waters and renews that speck, transforms it into a quiet, yet victorious, morning surrender that the rest of the world cannot possibly comprehend.
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I would love to hear about the your daily gifts as you live in the middle of The Truth that
you are valuable, precious, and worth dying for.
“We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice.  But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death when we were of no use whatever to him.”

Roman 5, The Message 

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