By Britton Johnston It's early. 6:30 a.m. to be exact. A winning touch down dream is abruptly ended by a voice at my door saying, "time to get up for school!" Not to mention the bright first light of Genesis that she so flipped on without hesitation. There wasn't much that go me angrier than my mom turning on that first light in the morning before school. In that moment, I was being formed. It's early evening. 5:30 p.m. I think it was. My Half-Windsor knot is tied like I like it. I walk up to a little white house. Her red dress is just like I had pictured it and a good part of my body is already sweating. There was nothing more that could've made that night any better, or me more excited. In that moment, I was being formed. It's late. 2:30 a.m. maybe, I can't remember. A whimper wakes me up and I gather my wits about me. Heading to the kitchen to make a bottle. I repent for my frustration of being woken up. There's not a person in the world I'd rather have helped back to sleep that night. In that moment, I was being formed. During my time at the 18 Inch Journey, this phrase was commonly used; "We are FOUND in God and FORMED in family." What that means is this: God finds us, saves us, then places us in an environment where He will slowly but surely form us into who He has called us to be. It took me the whole summer of 2014 to understand this, and i'm still trying to understand it, if I'm being honest. It's often the simplest things that take the longest time for our hearts to understand. "Family" can mean a bunch of different things for many people. For some it carries a negative connotation, and for others "family" means the Brady Bunch, and that's all they've ever known. For most of us though, our families are those people we do life with. Family encompasses our blood family, friends, Church, and anyone else we can squeeze into the category. There's a security and safety in family that the world doesn't offer. It's the game field where we live out the truths we've learned in Christ. I've learned most times the things I thought I knew, I hadn't really learned, because I couldn't live them out in a family context. It's not uncommon for the Lord to speak a word to my heart about patience, but it's not until I get home with family that the word is tested and proved true. Scripture says this about our family relationships: 1 John 4:20 -- If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother who he has seen cannot love God who he has not seen. Our love for God is lived out in our family, and if it's not then it probably wasn't love for God at all. Simply put: God uses family to form us into who He is calling us to be. If you can live out your faith in family then you've truly grasped it. What is God forming in you through your family? and What truths and principles is He calling of you to live out in your family context?
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We in the Johnston house have had some run ins with a teething baby. Our tiny disciple wants to be held, caudled, and snuggled to sleep during the day. We want to give her what she wants, but we also want clean clothes, clean dishes, and fresh food to eat. We also have had errands to run, things to be done, and a job that has to be worked because there are only so many paid days off in a year, all while keeping our girl happy. Oh yes, and trying to sleep ourselves. Needless to say it has been overwhelming.
(Before you hit me with a “babies don’t keep” or “this won’t last forever” hang on, and keep reading.) Do you ever have just one of those days? You know when we feel like we are having the utmost worst days of our lives and there is just nothing we think could make us feel better. I mean everything goes wrong, and we just are so overwhelmed we finally burst over something that really isn’t that important, like a slow coffee pot. Or a loved one that hasn’t done anything wrong and just wants a hug. No confessing here, you know, just trying to help up understand. You didn't get enough sleep, baby or puppy didn’t sleep, or you just did not have enough coffee and you are just ready to rip everybody’s face off. You have a toddler in the home that is always on the go, and you are constantly running around. You wake up and its horrible weather, and you had a day full of outside plans and now everybody is confined to the walls of your house. Maybe you don’t have a babe, but you got into a fight with somebody first thing in the morning. You forgot your school stuff at home. Your schedule is booked, your day is ruined, and there just isn’t enough caffeine in the world to keep you alive today. You know, just one of those days. Ever had one? Don’t know where to look or what to do to feel better. Maybe its just me, but often I feel like we look to the wrong things for encouragement, or to simmer our tempers and heated mouths. More coffee, MTV marathons, snacks, or whatever yours may be. As much as I’d like to say that every time I get upset, I pray and pull out my Bible first. Sorry, Pastor’s wife fail (ha!). That just doesn’t happen every single time. Sometimes, a girl can just feel so overwhelmed she can’t think straight. This may be me just counseling to myself here, and thinking out loud as we go, but maybe you can get some encouragement from it as well. Here are some things I need to try and remember as I go, knee deep in the trenches of what feels like a never-ending streak of drowning in my bad days. 1.Remember all of the things we are encountering all have a purpose and a hidden message. Try and look for the lesson in the day, or the thing you might can learn from the situation. Take a minute to look past the surface and dig a little deeper. Not saying you will always be able to figure it out in the moment, but you can at least cling to the truth that it has a purpose. 2. "When the dog bites, When the bee stings, When I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, And then I don't feel so bad” Whatever it may be, whatever brings you joy, or puts a smile on your face, remember them; just like the song says. Sometimes, it is the smallest of things that can bring you the greatest joy. Maybe you can become a bit of a grumpy gills, think of, or surround yourself with some of your favorite things; friends, flowers, your favorite worship song, chocolate, or a dang good plate of french fries and a big ole milk shake. 3. Pray about it, and be thankful for every trial and tribulations. Even if it is hard to be thankful for the things, and hard to see in the moment, they all have a purpose. Some of the worst things that have happened to me have actually been some of the best things to happen. Pray for guidance with thankful, trusting hearts. 4. Romans 15: 2-3a “We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. 3 For even Christ didn't live to please himself.” If there is just nothing you can do to make yourself feel better, make somebody else feel better. If you are looking for encouragement, encourage somebody else. If you are looking for a compliment, compliment somebody else. If you are having a bad day, try and make somebody else's day. It may be just what you need to break yourself free from your frustrations. Let’s agree to find common ground here. Our days may look different, but we may be dealing with the same things. To agree to knowing what we should do during these times, but not always remembering to do them. To agree to let somebody close to us in on our struggles, and allow them to speak some truth into our lives. Maybe even just share these things and allow them to remind you of them. Be encouraged by knowing you are not alone, and this too shall pass. I used to have a blog. Back in my college days, and for a little while right after I graduated. Good ole Google Blogger. I wasn't trying to get a lot of followers, become a famous author, or be a devotional writer; I just had a new found passion to sharing my thoughts, other than just running my mouth.
So like any other amateur, wanna be writer, I had to have a cool catchy name. I heard a song one time on the radio called One Life to Love. I remember thinking how true of a statement that was, and how perfect it would be for a blog title. One life to love. Kind of like YOLO (you only live once). You know, that little phrase you use to excuse the thing you did that you knew you probably shouldn't have. It's sort of like that, but not quite. It sounds pretty self-explanatory, but if you think about it, it is so much more. If you have a today, you have a yesterday. If you have a yesterday, you have a past. Life is full of wrongs, rights, memories, heartache, joy, love, chaos, grace, pain, growth, change, and yesterdays. Life is full of a past with no promise of a future, but an ever present present. You get one life. No do overs. You get grace, and second chances through grace, but no do overs. So again, if you have a today you have a yesterday. If you have a yesterday, you have a past. Whenever the word "past" is mentioned more often than not it hits a tender spot in the heart. It carries such a strong negative connotation. I hate that. I hate that so many people, cling to their past with white knuckles and a grimace, afraid to let anybody see it. Like keeping it hidden in their secret place means it doesn’t exist. From the deepest part of my heart, I do not want that to be as true as it is. God tells us through scripture that He has come to give us life that we may have it abundantly (John 10:10). Not once in that verse or throughout scripture does it say, "you get to have an abundant life if you keep your past a secret" "you get to have an abundant life if you never make a bad decision" "you get to have an abundant life if you have a past" In your one life, the one life you were given to love, you get to life it abundantly because of the Gospel. Because of The Messiah, you are free to claim that abundant life. You get to make some choices in that life and some choices are made for you. But, one choice is yours, and only yours. You have to choose to claim grace, and claim the forgiveness for your past; all the good, the bad, and the ugly. You have to choose to let that past (you know the one you white knuckle and try to hide from every one to see) refine you and not define you. You have been given one life to love; you can either let that past define you or refine you, but YOU get to choose. If you take nothing from the jumbled mess that is the overflow of my heart, take this with you. You have been given one life to live and one life to love; you can either let that past define you or refine you, but YOU get to choose. My prayer for you is that you will choose to live life on purpose. That you will have abundant life. That you will come to the point where yesterday will stay yesterday, tomorrow will be tomorrow, and your today will be your only focus. That you will let your yesterday make you better, and you will come to truly love the one life you have been given. |