Between God and His Children

When my friend first told me she hated her own appearance, I immediately replied, "You are just being silly. God loves you and He thinks you're beautiful. He made you beautiful! You should think that!" She did not tell me about how she hated herself anymore. Problem solved, right?

A couple of weeks ago, my dad and I were discussing some of the mistakes of my past. "They keep coming back as if to haunt me," I told him one night.

"It makes me wonder if you truly understand the role of God's love and forgiveness in your life. Still, nothing I can say can convince you to let go of your guilt, that is between you and God."

Whoa. That was not a response I had ever heard before. "Nothing I can say can convince you..." 

How often do we think that telling someone they are being ridiculous is helpful or encouraging? Why do we think we can provide some sort of comfort by making someone feel bad about personal struggles? What can be gained from saying to a friend, "You are being stupid," when they are hurting and truly believe the lies that Satan is feeding them? It is not like they want to feel this way. Nobody wants to be depressed about their self-image or about whether or not they are truly forgiven.  

I mentioned earlier about telling my friend she was being silly and how she did not tell me things like that anymore. Problem solved, right? She must have heard my words, believed them, and miraculously realized she was beautiful, right? Wrong.

In a recent conversation, now two years later, that same friend mentioned to me her struggle with self-image again. Before she went on, though, she said, "Please don't tell me I shouldn't feel this way. I know God thinks I'm beautiful and stuff, but the problem is, I have trouble believing it. Everyone keeps telling me that, and it doesn't help!"

This time I knew how to respond. "I wasn't going to say that," I told my friend. "Nothing I can say will convince you of your own beauty and self-worth. That is between you and God. That is a personal conversation and struggle that you will need to work through with Him. I will be here to support you when you need it, but I'm not going to tell you are stupid for feeling that way. I will pray for you, I will pray with you and I will be here to talk with you when you need me. I promise."

Guys, all I'm trying to say is that we need to quit trying to make people feel bad for their lack of self-value in attempts to convince them otherwise. Pray for them. Encourage them. Be there for them. But let God work in their hearts as only He can. Leave it between God and His children.

-Andrea

Heartstrings

Play my heartstrings, you of love.
Show my heart how to adore.
Play my heartstrings, you of grace.
Let the healing burst forth.
Play my heartstrings, you of mercy.
Don't contain what is made new.
Play my heartstrings, you of wisdom.
Ask me questions I don't know.
Play my heartstrings, you of power.
Move the weakness to your use.
Play my heartstrings, you of art.
Bring your colors to my mind.
Play my heartstrings, you of words.
Give me courage to speak in truth.
Play my heartstrings, you of security.
Hold your child in your arms.
Play my heartstrings, you of music.
Hear the melody in my voice.
Play my heartstrings, you of strength.
You are so worthy of what I cannot give.
Play my heartstrings, you of understanding.
And let not my praise be lacking.

-Andrea

"You are so . . . Pure!"

"It's you, Katniss. Can't you see?" he says.
"What's me?" I say.
"Why they're all acting like this. Finnick with his sugar cubes and Chaff kissing you and that whole thing with Johanna stripping down. They're playing with you because you're so . . . you know."
"No, I don't," I say. And I really have no idea what he's talking about.
"It's like when you wouldn't look at me naked in the arena even though I was half dead. You're so . . . pure," he says finally.
"I am not!" I say.
"They're just teasing you."
"No, they're laughing at me, and so are you!"

This exchange between the famous characters Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen is from Catching Fire, the second installment of the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Our dad read this book aloud to us each night before bed. On the night when he came to this conversation, he stopped, put the book aside for a moment and looked at each of us four kids.

"Guys," he said, "there is absolutely nothing wrong with being pure. Even if people are laughing at you."

Only recently, since I started working as a waitress, have I begun to understand exactly what my dad was saying. Yesterday at work, two of my coworkers were having a rather bawdy conversation about their love lives. Upon my entering the area where they were talking, they began talking quieter and when they'd finished, one of them said, "I certainly hope you didn't hear any of that! Since I have gotten to know you, I just want to put earmuffs on you! You're just so pure!"
At first, I was irritated by her words. As her coworker, I did not want her or anyone else treating me differently! Then, I was reminded of my dad's words: It's ok to be pure. So I thanked her and told her I appreciated it, and then I walked away.

As Christians, I think to be known as pure is one of the biggest compliments that we can receive. Matthew 5:8 says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." While we are still sinful creatures, deserving of death, we have a calling to purify ourselves. We are to be set apart and noticeably so. If people are mocking us for being pure, or seeming naive (even if you aren't as naive as they think), it means they have noticed something. They see us as different, and we should consider ourselves blessed if they choose to treat us as so!
One of the best ways we can be a testimony to Christ and bring people to Christ is by example. Striving to live purely, speak purely, and think purely will stand out. It may be a planted seed, the beginning of a person's own salvation.  

One final note: there is a difference between being "pure" and being "naive." Naiveté is the lack of experience, wisdom, or judgement. It is the idea of being blind to "worldly" things around us. Purity is freedom from contamination. It is being aware of the unclean things in this world, but not allowing them to change us, affect us, or define us.

Guys, it is ok to be pure.

-Andrea

I See Colors

I was talking with a younger friend of mine the other day, trying to describe someone in the room and she had no idea who I was talking about until I said, "Do you see that black guy over there? The girl next to him, that's who I am talking about!"
The look of mock horror on my friends face made it very difficult for me to not roll my eyes. "We don't allow racists here!"She joked.
"Oh, they don't know they're black? My bad," I responded.

 I was probably more sarcastic than I should have been. Still, why is it so many people get shocked when I describe a black person as... black? It bothers me that some people try to act like there is no such thing as different skin tones! Yes, I agree there is only one race --being the human race, but that does not mean that there is only one color skin!
God created a beautiful tapestry of personality, character, originality, and color in his people. Pretending that these differences do not exist does not glorify God and his amazing creativity! There is beauty in diversity and pretending like we do not notice that black people are black and white people are white defiles that beauty.
Now, I understand the concerns some people might have about what I am saying. So let me clarify, I do not want anyone to identify a person only as black, white, asian, or hispanic. We have to remember that we are all human beings. All of us have personalities, thoughts, cares, things that annoy us, and things that make us laugh, cry, and get angry. No one person is the same and no one person deserves to be grouped together with anyone else simply because of his social status, age, or skin color.
I am only suggesting we stop pretending that we are color blind. Stop trying to see the world through a gray lens and instead praise God for what he has created, because guys, it is an amazing creation if you didn't already know!

I grew up with this song while growing up in a multi-ethnic church in the Washington D.C area. I think the lyrics are fitting:

"Pardon me, your epidermis is showing, mister
I couldn't help but note your shade of melanin
I tip my hat to the colorful arrangement
Cause I see the beauty in the tones of our skin 
We've gotta come together
And thank the Maker of us all 
We're colored people, and we live in a tainted place
We're colored people, and they call us the human race
We've got a history so full of mistakes
And we are colored people who depend on a Holy Grace." -"Colored People," D.C Talk 

-Andrea

Why a Blog? Why now?

"Why on earth would you ever want to be a blogger?"

I asked myself this question a few weeks ago when the prospect of creating what I thought of as an online diary first became somewhat desirable. I have had blogs in the past. They were littered with trivial things and were viewed only by my closest friend, my little brother, and on occasion my parents. I started blogs with the sole desire to be heard. I felt the opinion of a home schooled junior higher was one that should be read by the world and that it was worthy of an appearance on the internet.
Soon enough, these blogs became personal diaries. They were venues for me to boast in my accomplishments and creativity. Let me be clear, I was not even in high school when I created these blogs, so my accomplishments were limited. As I got older, I began to feel sickened at the thought of writing another blog post that would serve only me and would never even be read. 

Finally, months before I began my Freshman year of high school, I deleted every blog site I had ever created (and there were far too many to count). I was free of them and took up journaling where there was a cover and binding. 

My history with blogging is why I asked myself this question before I created this page. Why a blog? Why now?

Well...

1. I love to write Poetry, stories, papers, speeches, you name it. I want to use this blog as a place to put my thoughts and writings that are appropriate for those who are not living within my own head/heart.

2. I have learned to keep my trivial thoughts either in my head or between the covers of a private journal. I will try not to burden you with them.

3. I have felt God laying things on my heart that are too long to put in a Facebook status, or even a Facebook Note (and who really reads those anyways, besides the people you tag?).

4. It will give me a better, more beneficial activity to take part in than pinning pictures of funny jokes or pretty dresses to my Pinterest boards.


There is no promise that this blog will be read by any one, or that my words will ever mean anything to anybody. That's ok with me, though. No matter what happens, my mom will always tell me I am a great writer and then she will encourage me to keep at it. 

-Andrea