Moving to Tumblr!

I'm moving my blog to tumblr! It is easier and I am already on it most days, so it will be easier for me to remember to post hopefully! When I post on tumblr it will automatically post a link to my facebook feed, so that should make things tons easier! Or you can go to the url: http://jeremiah2nine11.tumblr.com/

Enjoy!! <3

=)

I am soooo glad our God is so big. Because honestly, I have so many issues and problems and things that happen in life that I would be out of luck with on my own. And I don't even have to worry about being an attention hog, because it's not like I have to worry about taking up all of God's time. He's never like-Hey, Kimber, I know you've got a lot on your mind, but, I'm kinda booked tonight and I have an early morning..sooo...could you just give me the highlights? NO. Thank goodness gracious gravy. And I just can't get over that he's never too busy for all the junk, or even all the great stuff that's happening. I love that he loves to hear about all that too. Like how I got a call from the yearbook today or how I didn't have to sit alone at lunch. I'm sure you're laughing now, but I will tell you what those things are big deals. Then there's the slightly bigger stuff-the stuff that isn't so great. Like how I hate awkward situations and wish the world would just be rid of them straight away. Or how I sometimes just want to steal a few select people and take them away to a secret place where I can completely monopolize their time and attention. Selfish? Maybe. Honest? Yes. And then, after all that, there's the real life-big deal-no joke-kinda makes you sick inside- kinda stuff. Like how someone you really care about gets hurt really really bad by someone they really cared about and you just want to bash that person's face in but you know that wouldn't actually help your friend be less eternally scarred. Or how you know that someone just needs a good friend, someone to talk to, but you aren't in the same city as them. Or how someone who isn't supposed to die is taken from the people that really need them. And what do you do when all that is just pressing, pressing down on you like a huge bag of junk that no one wants-like empty pizza boxes and broken toys. It sucks. There's no simpler way to put it. And I just honestly don't know what people do when they don't have Jesus to talk to. I know that could sound cheesy but I honestly wonder it. Like, I grew up in the church. I grew up learning that when you had a problem or something you needed to get out, even if no one else in the world was there, there was one who was. And you didn't even have to call him or see if he's busy or if he wants to hang out. You just talk. Now that's the ultimate form of communication. And that's why God always trumps people and their man-made communication devices. Because no matter how freaky insane technology gets, it will never get as close as God does. Why? Because when it's person to person, there's always someone on the other end who can say no. Someone who can say I'm busy or I can't talk or just doesn't answer at all. But not so with our God! And it just makes me wanna scream because when I'm at that point when I'm so overwhelmed by nerves or unsureness(word?) or doubt or sadness or happiness or whatever(!), it's just like a no brainer. Of course he's going to listen. And that's wonderfully reassuring. And I don't really know how but I just want people to get that. To know what it's like to have that friend-in the truest definition-connotation and denotation-that is so always and completely ok with you pouring out your heart and your mind and just whatever is troubling you or whatever you're thinking about. God just loves to talk to us, just like I love to talk to my friends, but on an even more extreme level. Like, I know that my friends get to a point when they get tired of listening-hey, I'm guilty as charged too! And that's because we're not perfect, which includes not being perfect listeners. But God...(which is such a wonderful phrase and so applicable for all kinds of situations and scenarios)..he is the perfect listener. Which is what everyone wants right? Well, at least every girl..and a lot of guys I think, even if they don't admit it.

So that's it, that's what's on my mind. How much God loves us and how wonderful it is that he is there. always. always. always.

I'm eating spaghetti right now, just thought I'd share that with you all. It's supremely yummy. Maybe it's that spaghetti is just an inspirational food, or maybe something's finally ready to come out of the wood here. I haven't written in a while. I won't apologize for that, but I'm excited to be writing right now for the very reason I started this blog: I just love what happens when an individual puts pen to paper, or here, fingers to keys. God does some pretty epic stuff in the lives of tons of people everyday, and it's part of our job to share that in some way, be it the spoken word, art, music, or, my personal favorite: writing.

So, that said, I'm thoroughly happy to be writing again. God's been doing some awesome stuff in and around me. First off, I am very blessed to be in Cincinnati right now. Although it's not where I'm going to be forever, I have no doubt in my mind that once again, God knew what he was doing. Suprise, I know. Naw, it shouldn't really be a suprise at all, somehow, it always is though. Ha. Humans are dumb. You'd think we'd get that God knows the right plan, but somehow we pull a Peter and ask him if he's sure he wants to take that route. (Mark 8:32-this was in the sermon Sunday at my church and I was floored. I had never noticed this before, but Mark says taht Peter rebuked Jesus! "What was he thinking?!" we say, but I'd need more than just my fingers and toes to count how many times I've done the exact same thing. I find it interesting, and so completely human, that we hold Bible characters to such a high standard. They're people just like us, and I guarantee we mess up just as much as they did. When we hear about their failures, though, what do we do? We ask how they could've been so silly to do or say or think that. Oh irony, how I'm amused by thee.)

Sorry, that was a really long parenthetical...I feel like I may be all over the place today, so just bear with me =] Aaaannnyyyway....basically God's blessed me with some pretty cool people and opportunities in nati city. Lately, I think that, instead of showing me personally things so much, God has been using other people to teach me. See, I've been trying to pay more attention to those around me. It's good to take the focus off yourself. And it's remarkable how, when you stop looking just at yourself, what you can learn from others about me, myself and I.

I have always believed that other people was one of the greatest blessings God ever gave us. He uses friends to show us our faults and our strengths, to encourage us, and to hone us into better versions of ourselves. I want to share with you now what some of these people have been teaching me lately.

1. This remarkable girl isn't intimidated or scared of anything, or so she claims. I'm seeing day by day that a lot of us put up strong fronts so no one sees our weaknesses, myself included. We think that only putting out the elements of our person that we feel confidence in, or that we think will be the most protective and undamageable, is our best bet to making it through this life unscarred. That's a lie though, a suprisingly widely beleived lie, but a lie none the less. Not letting anyone see the real me only damages that person inside that's being supressed and confined. Catapillars can't stay in their cocoons forever.

2. I can only handle this individual in small doses. Some people just rub you the wrong way, I guess. But they're still there, so what do ya do? Come to find out, lots of people have problems. While that's not an excuse for acting a certain way, maybe I'd understand them a bit better if I took into account that I'm not the only one who's had a hard time growing up. Believe it or not, I think that most of us have. This individual teaches me patience, no matter how stubborn I am to learn.

3. Some people, like this one, are just easy to mess with. It's funny to throw those verbal punches, all with the claim of "jk" attatched. Now, I love a good joke. I throw them because I can take them in return. I've realized that not all people are like me, though. Sometimes jokes can hurt just as much as the real thing. I'm not ok with hurting a friend, even if we did get a good laugh out of it. Plus, how many times do our "just kiddings" actually have a hint of truth behind them? I'd say that, at least for me, quite a lot of the time. Sometimes, well, probably a lot of the time, I should just keep my mouth shut.

4. This individual has the biggest heart in the world I've determined. She loves and cares about people waaay more than most, just like God asks us to. Funny thing is, if you knew her past, it'd suprise you that her heart is still in good enough tact to love so much. Sometimes it seems, though, that the hearts that are the most damaged are the most loving. Not, always, but when that damaged heart chooses to push all the junk aside and love people anyway, even though they've hurt you in unspeakable ways, that is true bravery. To love despite, that's bravery, and that's something I want to have.

5. This girl has made me aware how much I judge people. Labels characterize our society, and it's hard not to slap a label on someone before you even find out their name, not to mention anything deeper than that. This girl doesn't always make the right choices, but who does?! See, in our minds we have declared certain sins worse than others, and we're quick to judge each other as we see fit. But I've been realizing that frankly, we all have issues, and to God, we're all sinners. But you know what? We all know who still loved us and died for us, despite our issues: good ole JC. Why on earth, then, would I refuse to love someone because they still mess up? Well, then I say, "I didn't say I didn't love them!" But I don't see how we can treat someone with disdain or judgment and still say we love them. It's just ridiculous to judge someone for their faults when we have our own log sticking out of our eye. This one is a hard thing to get over, because, unfortunatly, it comes so naturally to us. I have to stop judging, though, and instead, love those people, so that maybe, just maybe, I can be a true friend, and help them be better, and*, at the same time, allow them to do the same for me.

(*it truly pained me to write that run-on, but I felt it necessary.)

6. The last thing on my heart right now is something that a bunch of people have been showing me, but one in particular. I wrote a blog a while back about being beautifully made by our Creator, and truly embracing and believing that. I think maybe I forgot about that for a while. Especially for girls, its a hard thing to remember. Always comparing, always feeling unsatisfactory, always trying to be perfect: that's us, ladies. But that is NOT who we were created to be. This friend of mine wrote something quite moving the other day. She said, "My body was not meant to be used for men to lust after. It was not made to seduce men. It was made for the sole purpose of glorifying, praising, and honoring my Creator." And I was just so blow away by that insight, because it's so true, yet I've never thought of it like that before. I don't know why exactly God made me the way he did, but it's not like he messed up or just threw me together. No I was formed, crafted, and created by a perfect God who is in the business of producing nothing less than perfection. Forgetting that is detrimental, but realizing it is like looking in the mirror and seeing a completely different person. Maybe I was made with imperfections-according to society, that is-because God wanted me to give him the glory for creating me that way, or so I could find my fulfillment in him, not others, or maybe so I could help someone in their struggle for body peace. Whatever the reason be, I know that to my creator, I am perfect.

On that same note, I find myself astonished at the cutting remarks we ladies are so good at producing. We do this, at least I do, to make ourselves feel better, to take the focus off our imperfections by putting the focus on the shortcomings of others. I have found that there is almost no other force among women that is more harmful than cutting each other down. So I'm trying hard to replace these hurtful, judgmental, and unnecessary comments with only compliments. Uplifting each other should be our first priority, not judgment.

So there I am, lots of stuff going on, and a lot to figure out. But I think the bottom line of all this is that we're all God's creations, none better than another. I think that a grasp on that can change our world, one life at a time. Spread the love <3

Open Door Policy

I am sitting on facebook right now, but I don't feel too bad about it because I just cleaned our entire room as a suprise for Abby, my roommate. So as I was sitting here doing whatever people do when they are on facebook...basically nothing, and I noticed an old friend of mine's status. We went to middle school together, and that got me thinking about those days that seem sooooo long ago. I went to a small Christian school, with a grand total of eight kids in my eighth grade class. Because of that small number of people, I think, we all became very close over the course of those years. Today, we have all gone our separate ways, but still I'm friends with all of them on facebook. So as I sat there thinking about those days, remembering our friendships and the unique bond that the eight of us had, I started thinking about the people we have all become today. As I try to remember what each of us is doing now, it's really incredible how different each of us are. All of us are at different colleges, I believe, community, private, and public. We all have different interests, majors, activities, and jobs. Some of us are single, others have significant others, and I think one is even married. We are in different places, and we are headed, most likely, even further apart. Perhaps in eighth grade we were not all that different, but now that we have each grown up, I am struck that no two of us are even remotely similar, apart from our faith.

As I thought of all these potentially dividing factors I was struck at the amazing power of Christ to bring people together. Yea, it was eighth grade, and none of us chose to go to that certain school, but we ended up there, and I know I have been blessed from those days. Despite our different lives today and the people we have become, God brought together eight people that year that would go out to all different corners of life. Now, I will not claim that we are all still best friends. I would say instead that we are old friends, but not in the same sense that that phrase is most often used. Rather, I use it to say that we once knew each other, maybe not anymore today than the "acquaintance" type of facebook friends, but we still share a link that cannot be broken: the link of brothers and sisters in Christ.

And so I marvel at the power of Christ to bring the most random and unlikely people together for his incredible, yet unknown purposes. This same principle is seen everyday in the church. In youth groups kids from all different schools are brought together by Christ to learn from each other. In Bible studies and Sunday school classes, people of all ages, pasts, and futures come together to learn about Christ, and, I think, to learn from each other.

But this principle or idea, whatever you want to think of it as, doesn't only stop in Christian environments. And so I realize the vital importance of having a heart and mind open to new people. See, you never know what person God might bring into your life at the most random time, or even at the most normal. Yea, God might use a new experience or place to give you new relationships, but who's to say that he won't use a normal, everyday circumstance, too? If I go into life with a closed mind to new friendships, I could miss out on an individual that God wants me to be there for during that hard time because I have empathy for their hardship. I might lose the chance to have a unique and incredible friend who always cheers me up, or I might shut off my heart to someone who God will use to teach me a valuable lesson.

Looking back, there's no doubt that God brought the eight of us together for a reason. I don't doubt that you have people in your life that God has done the exact same thing with. Rarely, at the point of meeting someone, do you realize a) whether they will be a lasting friend, or b) how they will impact your life. But you know who does know? God. But if we shut ourselves off to new people and friendships, I wonder how much we could miss out on. I don't know about you, but my guess is that, like me, you'd like to have as many meaningfull people in your life as possible. The thing is, we can't pick and choose "meaningfull people" out of a crowd to be our friends. It doesn't work that way. Rather, our all-knowing Creator does the picking and choosing. Frankly, I'm glad for that, mostly because I know He can pick the people He wants to be in my life way better than I would be able to, but also because a life full of suprises is indeed one full of unforgettable people, friendships, and experiences. So ask and trust God to bring the right people into your life. Open up the door of your heart and your mind. After all, you never know who's going to walk in.