Just As You Are

Hello friends! I just wanted to give everyone who reads this (all 10 of you, hehe) that I have started another blog. This one is just going to focus on fun, silly, every-day stuff that goes on in my life. If you want to check it out, it's here.

Acts 15:11:
   "No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

I was reading this passage this afternoon. Here's a little background- Some of the early Christians were arguing about whether or not the Gentiles (non-Israelite origin) needed to be circumsized in order to receive Salvation. God had just recently enlightened them (Acts 11) that Salvation was also available to Gentiles, and now they were trying to discuss if they needed to adhere to the Jewish custom of circumcision.

That's when Peter shouts out, "No! They can come as they are."

I think this is a beautiful illustration of how God loves us. Broken, bruised, happy, sad, clean or unclean... God loves YOU. I think that sometimes the church does a poor job of welcoming people that may not fit into their idea of what "church folk" should be like, but that is not a reflection of Jesus' love. Jesus loves you, and you don't have to wait to clean up before you meet Him.

To Daddy

I had planned on making a post for Father's Day and it completely slipped my mind. Now I feel like a jerk...

So this is for my Daddy, one of my biggest heroes.
Dad has taught me:

• The importance of hard work.
• You serve the ones you love.
• Actions speak louder than words.
• How to have a good sense of humor.
• To mean what I say and say what I mean. I definitely got my straight-forwardness from my Dad!
• That you NEVER lay crying on the soccer field unless a bone is broken. :)
• To never judge a book by it's cover.

The reason that the last on is on there, is I often hear, "You're Dad scares me!" from people who just meet my dad. Like me, he's pretty reserved until he feels more comfortable around someone. It sort of surprises me because it's not the person that I know at all! He does come off gruff, but he has a heart of gold. We are a lot alike and I'm proud of that.