Beginning

To be a blogger, one must actually blog? Okay here we go.

I have a feeling these first many will be boring and pointless, so you are more than welcome to skip them and come back when I actually have something worthwhile to say, assuming that ever happens!

Today started out with a major sneezing attack as my body continually fights off allergens. I now sit here, a tissue box within arms reach, and a growing pile of used tissues. Don't worry I am not going to give you a play by play of my daily events, so you can move your little arrow away from the close button! I just wanted to post a picture from my phone and see if it actually worked! And it did, yay!

I thought I would share something that we talked about in the latest group I am visiting as we study about love, and why its the mark of a Christian.Our exercise was really interesting and I encourage you to take some time to do this too: Read the following passages and create a definition of love based on what these verses reveal to us and then leave a comment please :)

• John 13: 34-35
• 1 John 4: 7-8
• 1 Corinthians 13:13
• Romans 13:8a
• Matthew 22: 37-40

Then think about how you and the church (as a whole) are doing with this. This is not an exercise in feeling bad for ourselves, my leader listed off tons of encouraging things the christian community does in the name of love, hospitals built, orphanages begun, shelters, soup kitchens, etc... Rather it is just a checking point for us to see how we are doing according to God's definition of love found in the above verses and especially in 1 Corinthian 13: 4-7,

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud
It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.

I know that I struggle greatly with showing love as love is supposed to be shown. I do not always trust people, I do keep record of wrongs done to me, I lose hope sometimes, I need God to remind me and help me to love like he loves. God is love. I am so grateful for a God who doesn't not demand that I be perfect at loving those around me. He is always working on me, and though it is painful at times, it is always always for my good.

side note: it took me about an hour and a half to write this...I kept getting distracted. I need to get better at time management.