It's been a pretty incredible week. It's been a pretty incredible month to be honest. I am having so much fun! I'm not sure where I decided I was on a mission of fun but fun I am having and continue to chase.
Life is tough and I work through my crap but somehow I think God just teaches you to put it all together. He's faithful when it's hard but he's gracious when it's lovely too. He's bringing salvations around me, he's giving me more and more friends, he's building my character and somehow in the midst of the fun a lot of stuff is breaking off as well. I'm comfortable walking in who I am. It's as if I found my stride of who I am and as long as I stay grounded in that truth I live in a freedom I never understood before.
I think it makes people want to be around me more too. I knew the hard part was worth it, there would be sweet breakthrough, but I love how it's always more than you expect or dream. I love how it feels differently than you can imagine. I love how God always exceeds my expectations and builds his will in my life and fruit bears in the hard and the easy.
Have fun this weekend. Laugh till you cry, dance in a circle, do something crazy, and laugh a bit more, When the weekend comes to an end and you prepare for your week remember to thank God. Let your fun be your full worship because he said he came to give life abundantly right? So live abundantly this weekend.
I dare you!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Destruction of Town
My friend Josh had a birthday and we threw him a party. They've had this picture hanging in their kitchen that is the ugliest picture I've ever seen and I hate this thing.
After the party we were standing in the kitchen discussing the need for a redecoration of the walls when Josh decided in honor of his birthday we needed to destroy it and I should have the honors. I was so excited.
"Ginny, what instrument of destruction would you like to use on this?" he asked me.
"Hmmmmmm, Nick's head." I answered in jest.
The next thing I knew I'm standing on the back porch and this is what ensues!
After the party we were standing in the kitchen discussing the need for a redecoration of the walls when Josh decided in honor of his birthday we needed to destroy it and I should have the honors. I was so excited.
"Ginny, what instrument of destruction would you like to use on this?" he asked me.
"Hmmmmmm, Nick's head." I answered in jest.
The next thing I knew I'm standing on the back porch and this is what ensues!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Pivot
When I worked at my other job, the one I was wanting out of so badly, I would pray in the morning on the way in. Every morning as I drove to work I gave my day to God, asking him to bless it and bring him praise, because when I lived in Nashville I learned how to really worship. Somehow the experience there taught me my whole life is an act of worship. If it's all his anyhow the minimum I can do is give it back to him. As with many ideas about God and how he works, there are many themes I find fascinating, including this one, and how they can swirl deeply within me making no sense to me in a way I perfectly understand.
Since I have been working at the new job I have gotten a bit quieter. I drive to work and think about nothing really, I drive home doing the same thing. I use my brain extensively at work, my job before was mind-numbing. I love the challenge but there has been an adjustment to say the least.
This morning as I drove to work I all of a sudden prayed for my day. I thanked God for it, and gave it to him. I prayed for blessing and favor, for Jesus to be relevant and radiant through me. I can’t remember when I prayed that prayer last but I know this prayer was the turning point in my day.
A couple of weeks ago there was a conflict at work, nothing to speak of but an area of growth and opportunity for me for sure. I applied the changes to what needed to happen and today there was acknowledgement and breakthrough. It was nice to be in an environment where you are appreciated and thanked. I'm not used to that in an office environment. Blessing number one.
Then while on lunch I was scrolling through twitter and was tagged in a tweet talking about ginnysims, and it was the most wonderful tweet. The whole reason I write is to highlight God and his goodness moving within us. Maybe along the way, help someone notice the areas his goodness is moving in their own life, too. I also just like knowing I'm not the only one. Knowing you aren't alone makes things a hell of a lot easier. So since I know I respond to likeness I believe others do as well.
The beautiful part for me was: Sure, it was awesome to have someone say something nice about my writing, but it was more awesome to hear them say they connect to it and was refreshed. The idea of knowing by just putting myself out there in raw truth, God breaths on it and uses it to connect and refresh people is awesome! Only God can do that, make no mistake my writing is not that good. That he would find something favorable to the point of use is beyond words and I am beyond grateful. Blessing number two.
I believe this whole day has been framed by my one prayer this morning. Even in writing I was struggling getting the right piece to put up on the blog last night and by getting back to my everyday God blessed it and poof, a piece to post! I used to hate the everyday. It was so boring. But now it's consistent every-days joining together, revealing life-changing encouraging power to other people's every-days.
I didn't think I wanted to admit this before, but I can now see there is power in the everyday. Specifically, in MY everyday – so why can't my everyday be power enough to change the world? Well, at least my part of it?
Good thing blogs are on the WORLD WIDE web...you never know one day soon God could just blow on this little blog and everything will change!
Since I have been working at the new job I have gotten a bit quieter. I drive to work and think about nothing really, I drive home doing the same thing. I use my brain extensively at work, my job before was mind-numbing. I love the challenge but there has been an adjustment to say the least.
This morning as I drove to work I all of a sudden prayed for my day. I thanked God for it, and gave it to him. I prayed for blessing and favor, for Jesus to be relevant and radiant through me. I can’t remember when I prayed that prayer last but I know this prayer was the turning point in my day.
A couple of weeks ago there was a conflict at work, nothing to speak of but an area of growth and opportunity for me for sure. I applied the changes to what needed to happen and today there was acknowledgement and breakthrough. It was nice to be in an environment where you are appreciated and thanked. I'm not used to that in an office environment. Blessing number one.
Then while on lunch I was scrolling through twitter and was tagged in a tweet talking about ginnysims, and it was the most wonderful tweet. The whole reason I write is to highlight God and his goodness moving within us. Maybe along the way, help someone notice the areas his goodness is moving in their own life, too. I also just like knowing I'm not the only one. Knowing you aren't alone makes things a hell of a lot easier. So since I know I respond to likeness I believe others do as well.
The beautiful part for me was: Sure, it was awesome to have someone say something nice about my writing, but it was more awesome to hear them say they connect to it and was refreshed. The idea of knowing by just putting myself out there in raw truth, God breaths on it and uses it to connect and refresh people is awesome! Only God can do that, make no mistake my writing is not that good. That he would find something favorable to the point of use is beyond words and I am beyond grateful. Blessing number two.
I believe this whole day has been framed by my one prayer this morning. Even in writing I was struggling getting the right piece to put up on the blog last night and by getting back to my everyday God blessed it and poof, a piece to post! I used to hate the everyday. It was so boring. But now it's consistent every-days joining together, revealing life-changing encouraging power to other people's every-days.
I didn't think I wanted to admit this before, but I can now see there is power in the everyday. Specifically, in MY everyday – so why can't my everyday be power enough to change the world? Well, at least my part of it?
Good thing blogs are on the WORLD WIDE web...you never know one day soon God could just blow on this little blog and everything will change!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Hermatidrosis
I'm standing in the garden. He's bent double on his knees and from a distance I can see sweat dripping off his forehead as I hear the faintest cry. He gets up and leaves and from a distance I see him arrested. I walk over to where he was and I stand over the drops of sweat that have fallen to the ground. I bend closer and realize it's not sweat; it's blood.
I can't stop thinking about the garden.
I'm standing in a police square. He's bound, being shouted at and all I can hear are the loud cracks of a whip and the tearing of flesh. I don't understand what is going on.
I'm standing on a hill and men are nailing that man to a cross. As the hammer falls I turn my eyes away and realize I am bound in chains firmly rooted deeply in the ground and can't get up. It's as if my arms and legs are buried in the ground and all I can move is my head. When I look up they've hoisted a cross with him nailed to it; as it slams into place he finds his breath, looks up, and locks his eyes on mine.
He hangs there, never taking his eyes off of mine and all I do is blink. He’s hanging from a cross and all I do is sit in my chains watching, and despite my inactivity he still hangs there. I wonder if as he looked at me he saw me now, from this moment, standing in church with my arms raised singing until my lungs give out. Does he see me with my hands raised singing, "Holy are you God, Holy is your name?" I wonder if I helped motivate him to stay on that cross?
I’m standing in my now. My chains are broken and I move freely, but I can’t stop thinking about the garden, I can’t stop hearing the whip, and I can’t stop seeing the cross. It has changed the way I see everything. It has changed the way I see people and the way I see myself. It changed everything because He sees me.
I don’t know if the foreknowledge of my freedom helped keep him on the cross but I know it shows me someone motivated by love. I want to be a person motivated by love. The love from the son hanging on the cross motivates me to love people better. I pray I never forget the garden, I pray I always remember the sound of the whip, and I always want to keep a fresh revelation of Jesus hanging on the cross. Because with out it I am nothing but a bound emotionless broken person who can’t see beyond my own chains.
By living in the freedom of the release from the chains I am able to see people better, to always remember I was once bound as well and only the love of a savior set me free. His love motivates me to keep those things in the fore front of my mind so I might love people better; to encourage them to love others setting off a chain reaction of life-changing, hope building, determined people motivated by love.
I can't stop thinking about the garden.
I'm standing in a police square. He's bound, being shouted at and all I can hear are the loud cracks of a whip and the tearing of flesh. I don't understand what is going on.
I'm standing on a hill and men are nailing that man to a cross. As the hammer falls I turn my eyes away and realize I am bound in chains firmly rooted deeply in the ground and can't get up. It's as if my arms and legs are buried in the ground and all I can move is my head. When I look up they've hoisted a cross with him nailed to it; as it slams into place he finds his breath, looks up, and locks his eyes on mine.
He hangs there, never taking his eyes off of mine and all I do is blink. He’s hanging from a cross and all I do is sit in my chains watching, and despite my inactivity he still hangs there. I wonder if as he looked at me he saw me now, from this moment, standing in church with my arms raised singing until my lungs give out. Does he see me with my hands raised singing, "Holy are you God, Holy is your name?" I wonder if I helped motivate him to stay on that cross?
I’m standing in my now. My chains are broken and I move freely, but I can’t stop thinking about the garden, I can’t stop hearing the whip, and I can’t stop seeing the cross. It has changed the way I see everything. It has changed the way I see people and the way I see myself. It changed everything because He sees me.
I don’t know if the foreknowledge of my freedom helped keep him on the cross but I know it shows me someone motivated by love. I want to be a person motivated by love. The love from the son hanging on the cross motivates me to love people better. I pray I never forget the garden, I pray I always remember the sound of the whip, and I always want to keep a fresh revelation of Jesus hanging on the cross. Because with out it I am nothing but a bound emotionless broken person who can’t see beyond my own chains.
By living in the freedom of the release from the chains I am able to see people better, to always remember I was once bound as well and only the love of a savior set me free. His love motivates me to keep those things in the fore front of my mind so I might love people better; to encourage them to love others setting off a chain reaction of life-changing, hope building, determined people motivated by love.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
EFC and a Song...
On Friday I went to my first live action fight. Whew Lord, the anxiety! But oddly enough I ended up having so much fun. In the beginning they started it with the Star Spangled Banner. The flag was on the screens and we all stood with our hand over our hearts.
It reminded me when I was a kid living in Jacksonville, Florida. My grandmother, whom we called Nana, was visiting and she and my mother took my little brother and me to see the Rescuers at the movie theater. It was during the time when they still played the National Anthem at the beginning of a movie. I don't remember much as I was maybe 6 or 7 but what I do remember is being in the large dark theater next to my Nana as she stood alone with her hand over heart in the middle of the theater and proudly sang along.
My grandmother passed away in April, but on Friday as I stood with my hand over my heart and remembered her in the theater in Jacksonville, I was so proud of her. I was proud to be her granddaughter. I love her heritage she passed down, she was a woman of high integrity and it is in the moments I remember things about her character I notice what she deposited in me. I feel as if she would be humbled and proud to know who I am today and how much she's shaped my life.
Next time you stand for the National Anthem maybe you'll think of Virginia Palmes, my Nana who for sure is standing with you, singing along making sure she's hitting the high note.
It reminded me when I was a kid living in Jacksonville, Florida. My grandmother, whom we called Nana, was visiting and she and my mother took my little brother and me to see the Rescuers at the movie theater. It was during the time when they still played the National Anthem at the beginning of a movie. I don't remember much as I was maybe 6 or 7 but what I do remember is being in the large dark theater next to my Nana as she stood alone with her hand over heart in the middle of the theater and proudly sang along.
My grandmother passed away in April, but on Friday as I stood with my hand over my heart and remembered her in the theater in Jacksonville, I was so proud of her. I was proud to be her granddaughter. I love her heritage she passed down, she was a woman of high integrity and it is in the moments I remember things about her character I notice what she deposited in me. I feel as if she would be humbled and proud to know who I am today and how much she's shaped my life.
Next time you stand for the National Anthem maybe you'll think of Virginia Palmes, my Nana who for sure is standing with you, singing along making sure she's hitting the high note.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
MBTI
When I started working at my new job I not only had to fill out the normal paperwork for the government but I also filled out a personality test called Myers-Briggs. My friend Angie has talked to me about it before so I was familiar but I had never taken it.
On our intranet all employees are listed with a photo providing directory type information along with your personality type; which you can click on to get the description.
It's fascinating really I don't know why...maybe because people intrigue me. I found out I am an ENFP which means:
Words to describe the ENFP do not come easy because of their seeming complexity. Like a flash flood their interest, enthusiasm and energy can flow (maybe a better word is explode) into life situations. Representing five percent (5%) of the general population they see life as an exciting drama, and always in term of possibilities. Their enthusiasm can be overwhelming and they usually have great impact on others. So energizing are they that others will continue to follow long after the force that moved them is now channeled into other things. Because “Perception” is dominant it is called perceptive energy – the ability of this type to “see” possibilities in the external world, and in people, and to believe it is original with them. Suddenly they feel a mission and with that there is a charge of emotional energy to set that “mission” in motion.
Keen and penetrating observers the ENFP can concentrate great energy on a single focus, so much so it can be physically detrimental to them. They enjoy the process of creating something whether ideas or projects, but are not too much interested in the follow through.
Characteristically optimistic, this type is marked with a fierce independence, disliking subordination themselves and strongly believing in autonomy for all.
A natural leader, the ENFP works best in situations where he or she is boss or working as an independent contractor. Concerned with people and skillful at handling them the ENFP does best where new people and new situations demand fresh approaches and will allow the spontaneous energy application the ENFP is prone to employ.
The biggest problems faced by the ENFP are their dislike of routine and their tendency to make mistakes in judgment. They will tend to lose interest once problems have been solved. Self-discipline is necessary to prevent wasted time and failure to complete what is started.
Mistakes can arise as a result of focusing on data that confirms their own biases. The way they “saw” it may have been correct, but to their own discomfort their conclusion could be wrong.
It's surprising how accurate it is. Those psychologist, they're pretty smart.
On our intranet all employees are listed with a photo providing directory type information along with your personality type; which you can click on to get the description.
It's fascinating really I don't know why...maybe because people intrigue me. I found out I am an ENFP which means:
Words to describe the ENFP do not come easy because of their seeming complexity. Like a flash flood their interest, enthusiasm and energy can flow (maybe a better word is explode) into life situations. Representing five percent (5%) of the general population they see life as an exciting drama, and always in term of possibilities. Their enthusiasm can be overwhelming and they usually have great impact on others. So energizing are they that others will continue to follow long after the force that moved them is now channeled into other things. Because “Perception” is dominant it is called perceptive energy – the ability of this type to “see” possibilities in the external world, and in people, and to believe it is original with them. Suddenly they feel a mission and with that there is a charge of emotional energy to set that “mission” in motion.
Keen and penetrating observers the ENFP can concentrate great energy on a single focus, so much so it can be physically detrimental to them. They enjoy the process of creating something whether ideas or projects, but are not too much interested in the follow through.
Characteristically optimistic, this type is marked with a fierce independence, disliking subordination themselves and strongly believing in autonomy for all.
A natural leader, the ENFP works best in situations where he or she is boss or working as an independent contractor. Concerned with people and skillful at handling them the ENFP does best where new people and new situations demand fresh approaches and will allow the spontaneous energy application the ENFP is prone to employ.
The biggest problems faced by the ENFP are their dislike of routine and their tendency to make mistakes in judgment. They will tend to lose interest once problems have been solved. Self-discipline is necessary to prevent wasted time and failure to complete what is started.
Mistakes can arise as a result of focusing on data that confirms their own biases. The way they “saw” it may have been correct, but to their own discomfort their conclusion could be wrong.
It's surprising how accurate it is. Those psychologist, they're pretty smart.
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