tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40600773254671508672024-03-13T09:46:33.469-07:00Perfectly Imperfectletting go and landing in graceTeri McHarguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15901506491504153623noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4060077325467150867.post-35812032506845140472012-02-18T09:01:00.000-08:002012-02-18T09:04:18.621-08:00Chasing Teri<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">Chasing Teri</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">There it is – just out of reach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been analyzing my previous failures and adjusting my plan of attack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time I’ll do it right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will pray in just the right way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will read my Bible more often. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will be kinder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will be more generous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will spend more time serving in the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will be happier and more grateful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will be less selfish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will love better and give more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this time, God will be pleased! This time I’ll catch it and keep it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time I will be at peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">What am I chasing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am chasing perfection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I fail at every attempt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when I try my hardest, I am constantly confronted with my own inadequacy and a feeling that God is disappointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ah, but there is Satan’s lie:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that God <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">expects</i> me to be perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I buy into that lie, I go round and round in an endless, futile circle like a dog chasing its tail. He is intent on catching that one part of himself that seems unattainable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when he catches it, what is he to do with it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he hangs onto it, he continues to go in a circle and he inflicts pain on himself!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he lets it go, it is a reminder of something that must still be attained, and so the chase begins again.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Trying to be perfect, to be “good enough” keeps my focus on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">me</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God would have my focus be solely on Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knows that everything I need flows from relationship with Him and everything I’m <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> has been perfected for me in Jesus Christ. Therefore, peace comes not from chasing myself for some illusive perfection, but from resting in Jesus and responding to God's grace .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Jesus, I find complete acceptance <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">as I am</i>, and complete satisfaction in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">who He is.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">C.S. Lewis describes it this way:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“In perfect cyclic movement, being, power and joy descended from God to man in the form of gift and returned from man to God in the form of obedient love and ecstatic adoration.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">God, give me new eyes to see You and only You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remind me to respond to you and to stop chasing myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Help me to lay down my expectations of my own perfection and revel in your gift of acceptance.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.”</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">John 15:5, 9</span></div>Teri McHarguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15901506491504153623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4060077325467150867.post-10943493452498154562011-12-16T09:13:00.000-08:002011-12-16T09:13:46.217-08:00Thorns<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div align="right" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>"...to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh… </em></span></div><div align="right" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. </em></span></div><div align="right" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” </em></span></div><div align="right" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, </em></span></div><div align="right" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>so that the power of Christ can work through me." --</em></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>2 Corinthians 12:7-9</em></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXhjZXq_FB0q7Afvm1qpFqk8jY2A6FDn2DRKRjZPmcXcalGDzz76A1Ao3Mz4sL-DCi-xwoszntMFED_LlIGUC0rvqeH4ZnW0h-9nnp5u0CmDv6PLYbizPKO6xOcdJlt3d6Hoqlo8Xk2sPh/s1600/Crown+of+thorns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXhjZXq_FB0q7Afvm1qpFqk8jY2A6FDn2DRKRjZPmcXcalGDzz76A1Ao3Mz4sL-DCi-xwoszntMFED_LlIGUC0rvqeH4ZnW0h-9nnp5u0CmDv6PLYbizPKO6xOcdJlt3d6Hoqlo8Xk2sPh/s200/Crown+of+thorns.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Do you have a “thorn in your flesh”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something in your life that makes you limp? </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some thorns poke us and irritate us. Others are a constant source of pain. Many times our thorns bring us to our knees, begging God to take them away and give us relief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many times our thorns hold us prisoner in the “why” of it all.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">My "thorn in the flesh" is depression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is an invisible thorn that has quietly embedded itself under the surface and remains hidden until the surrounding environment is ripe for it to flare up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can trace evidences of it back to my adolescence and am finally convinced that this is a thorn I will not be rid of. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">My thorn causes me shame and most of the time I am successful at keeping it hidden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the aposle Paul said he chose to boast about his thorn. Paul had some fantastic spiritual experiences that could have been the theme for his testimony - supernatural things God had done in his life – things very few people had experienced. He had every right to boast about these experiences and God would have been glorified in his story. But Paul chose to boast only in his weaknesses, because he wanted his message to be relatable and “thorns” are universal. </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In dealing repeatedly with his own thorn, Paul came to realize that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“divine power is best displayed against the backdrop of human weaknesses*.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> To Paul, t</span>here was a better message than, “Look what fantastic things have happened to me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It was,</span> “I am consistently weak and God’s grace is consistenly enough.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His power is activated by our inabilities, and He receives glory in a way that gives others hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">“When Paul came to the end of himself, </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Christ alone was seen."*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">While we would never choose them for ourselves, our thorns bring a greater depth to our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pain makes us seek God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Need makes us search.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we find is God’s grace -not always relief, but the grace to put one foot in front of the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our perspective is changed from helplessness to hope when God gives us answers we didn’t expect and strength we could never muster on our own. </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>"So I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, </em></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."</em></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>2 Cor. 12:10</em></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">* Quotes are taken from <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">David K. Lowrey, <u>Bible Knowledge Commentary</u> </span></span></div>Teri McHarguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15901506491504153623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4060077325467150867.post-91745453743039160252011-11-18T08:07:00.000-08:002011-11-19T15:24:58.414-08:00Raggedy Ann<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I grew up technology free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite childhood toys were books and dolls that inspired imagination in my play and developed a nurturing spirit in my heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite doll was Raggedy Ann. I recently had a desire to see her again,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> s</span>o I opened the trunk that holds touchable memories and there she was, nestled cozily on top of a soft quilt, beaming up at me with that painted smile and those shiny, black button eyes!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">As I held her in my hands, the child in me was recreated and I reveled in the sight of her familiarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her little white apron adorned a classic, blue flowered dress; red and white stockings ended in black shoe-feet and a large loop of red yarn was the crowning glory on top of her head. She was exactly as I remembered:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>perfect! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of course there were other things I didn’t notice at first glance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A faint, brown stain rimmed her mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her red yarn hair was faded, worn and matted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ribbon that fastened her apron was no more than a blue string.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ann’s bloomers had lost their elasticity and kept creeping down around her candy-stripe legs. (Poor thing!) The years of loving had taken their toll on her. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvluvbD4NBTbFeX7_6Rn33CcZr8p2ucuzL6heeynU0jK4CFER5IjIO32shAl7XUi4loP70QBBoAdAhtK3GueEZvEf-r9pDLmeMPabrhzx7UEhzpXoIReitk0c5b0lfjS7A3ha3CUzA2UN/s1600/i+love+you.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvluvbD4NBTbFeX7_6Rn33CcZr8p2ucuzL6heeynU0jK4CFER5IjIO32shAl7XUi4loP70QBBoAdAhtK3GueEZvEf-r9pDLmeMPabrhzx7UEhzpXoIReitk0c5b0lfjS7A3ha3CUzA2UN/s200/i+love+you.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">One thing about Ann has remained miraculously intact:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the red heart on her chest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It still boldly reads “I Love You”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> A</span>s a child, I loved to hunt for it under the folds of her dress to be sure it was still there. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like a sweet secret between us that I could “find” anytime I wished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It never changed; it always read the same thing, “I love you”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I loved Ann because she said it first.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Raggedy Ann reminds me of how God must see us - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> w</span>orn ragged by trying to be "enough" in a world of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>all things shiny and sophisticated. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>But God sees our imperfections as an invitation for His grace.</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><em> </em> </span>He asks us to come to Him exactly as we are – stained faces and saggy bloomers – so that He can love us into the image of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And our hearts say, “I love You”, because He said it first</span>. </span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We love him, because he first loved us. </span></em></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">1 John 4:19</span></em></div>Teri McHarguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15901506491504153623noreply@blogger.com7