I just recently came home from a week in Florida. I was there for a Young Life conference and had a fabulous time...um...conferring. A week is a good length of time for that type of January getaway. Just long enough to stockpile some serious sunshine and then realize that I miss the Black Hills terribly.
With the exception of one half-day trip to Cocoa beach, I spent the rest of my time in Florida trapped in what I like to call the T.I.P. (Tourist Industry Prison,) a roughly 50,000 acre block of land just outside of Orlando City Limits, owned mostly by Disney, consisting entirely of theme parks and resorts, and bearing very little resemblance to the "real world" what so ever. It is sort of a realm of existence unto itself, where corporately brainwashed people are willing to pay nine dollars for a bottle of water and fifteen dollars (a piece) for collectible character pins and twenty-three dollars for a parking space, all in the name of American-style escapism. And while the palm trees are lovely and the warm, temperate climate constitutes year-round outdoor living, you never really feel like you've been outside. Thus, my quasi-vacation-invoked claustrophobia. I came home with a desperate need to just "get outdoors;" to wander on a path where you don't expect to see a friendly, underpaid, cleanly uniformed employee with gloves and a "litter-picker-upper" thingy and a trash bag around the next corner. You know, a place where the landscape hasn't been landscaped.
My plans were to spend today wandering around somewhere up in the hills. I didn't have to work, and I'm finally on the uphill side of this nasty cold-virus thing...so I was rearing to go. Unfortunately, it's just too dang cold. I mean, I'm no wimp, but jeepers! It's freezing out there! I have yet to acquire the Patagonia Capilene Baselayers (that I so smoothly sell lots of at my little shop) required to make hiking in single digit temps safe or reasonable. So I've the next best thing. Took up temporary residence at my usual corner table at a coffee shop to spend a few hours people watching, working (or at least thinking about working), writing, and catching up on my newest interest...reading. It's amazing the things that fall by the wayside when you let life control your life.
So, with that, I'm going to move across the coffee shop to a bigger table and join about half of my family for lunch. Then I'll probably move back to this table and read some more.
Life is good.
(And P.S., no, I'm not missing Florida yet.)
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Thursday, January 03, 2008
The Proverbial Elbow Jab...
"Let us consider how we may spur one another toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." - Hebrews 10:24-25
I just had coffee with an old friend who was home for the holidays. I hadn't seen him in at least two years, and not only was it good to catch up with him and see what he's up to, it was really a blessing to hear him talk about the amazing ways God is working in his life. It seems a rare thing to see someone genuinely excited about Jesus, to hear someone speak in actual anticipation of what God is doing. Here. Right now. In real life.
The conversation was a breath of fresh air. I left feeling encouraged, challenged, and more excited about what God is doing in my life and in the lives of people around me. I left with an increased desire to be in God's word. I left hoping that I bless and encourage people with my words the same way I was just blessed and encouraged.
My aforementioned coffee friend "spurred me towards love and good deeds," you could say. My Koine Greek is a little rusty so I can't tell you precisely what kind of word picture the writer of Hebrews had in mind when he wrote that verse. I did, however, check out a few other versions and found translators also using the verbs provoke, stir, encourage, stimulate, incite, motivate, and promote in place of the word "spur."
All interesting words, no? They don't all necessarily imply mere gentle suggestions. I mean, spurs - the literal kind...worn on cowboy boots...to make horses run fast - are a little uncomfortable. That's why they are effective. Now, if the horse is receptive the cowboy only needs to tap the horse with the spurs, and the horse goes, and the cowboy lays off with the spurs, right? But if the horse is stubborn, or distracted, or lazy, the cowboy's going to have to "spur" a little harder. It's going to be less comfortable.
The other interesting verb in that verse is "consider." We're not just instructed to spur people, we're told to "consider how." Give it some thought. Roll is around in your brain a bit. Think about different ways to do the "spurring." Some of us are motivated, stirred and provoked in different ways than other people. I, for instance, am the stubborn horse most of the time. I take a lot of poking. A lot of prodding. A lot of elbow jabs. And I am very grateful for my friends who are not afraid to elbow jab me on occasion.
I just had coffee with an old friend who was home for the holidays. I hadn't seen him in at least two years, and not only was it good to catch up with him and see what he's up to, it was really a blessing to hear him talk about the amazing ways God is working in his life. It seems a rare thing to see someone genuinely excited about Jesus, to hear someone speak in actual anticipation of what God is doing. Here. Right now. In real life.
The conversation was a breath of fresh air. I left feeling encouraged, challenged, and more excited about what God is doing in my life and in the lives of people around me. I left with an increased desire to be in God's word. I left hoping that I bless and encourage people with my words the same way I was just blessed and encouraged.
My aforementioned coffee friend "spurred me towards love and good deeds," you could say. My Koine Greek is a little rusty so I can't tell you precisely what kind of word picture the writer of Hebrews had in mind when he wrote that verse. I did, however, check out a few other versions and found translators also using the verbs provoke, stir, encourage, stimulate, incite, motivate, and promote in place of the word "spur."
All interesting words, no? They don't all necessarily imply mere gentle suggestions. I mean, spurs - the literal kind...worn on cowboy boots...to make horses run fast - are a little uncomfortable. That's why they are effective. Now, if the horse is receptive the cowboy only needs to tap the horse with the spurs, and the horse goes, and the cowboy lays off with the spurs, right? But if the horse is stubborn, or distracted, or lazy, the cowboy's going to have to "spur" a little harder. It's going to be less comfortable.
The other interesting verb in that verse is "consider." We're not just instructed to spur people, we're told to "consider how." Give it some thought. Roll is around in your brain a bit. Think about different ways to do the "spurring." Some of us are motivated, stirred and provoked in different ways than other people. I, for instance, am the stubborn horse most of the time. I take a lot of poking. A lot of prodding. A lot of elbow jabs. And I am very grateful for my friends who are not afraid to elbow jab me on occasion.
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