Today, while digging through some boxes of books in our closet I ran across this photo... And I immediately thought "Wow! This place truly is so gorgeous! How could I ever forget that we used to live in a castle!" Yes, you read that right! When we first got married and worked at a children's home, we lived in this castle! Knox's first home was a castle... I can't wait for the day when we get to tell him that! I started thinking, "Why don't we tell more people about this!? It's one of the coolest things we've ever done!" And I have to admit.. when we first moved in, it's one of the first things we told people when we met them.. because it was so dang awesome! But after a while the novelty wore off, life got tough, living in a castle actually got difficult (because somebody has to clean that thing... and when you're living it.. that person is you!) and we actually just kinda forgot that we lived in a castle. It just became normal. Every day we would come home and just walk into a castle like it was nothing. Until we would meet someone new and they would find out we lived there and ask a bunch of questions, or until we would pull into the drive after a lengthy vacation, then we would remember how cool it was! But every time our excitement would build back up, we would inevitably get back into every day life and the awesomeness would eventually wear off again, until one day this awesome experience of living in a castle would become just a memory that's shoved into a box in the back of our closet... After a minute of looking at this photo and thinking back on the joys and trials during that season of life, God used this little moment to speak to me, as he often does. He reminded me that... I often treat Jesus' sacrifice the same way that I treated living in a castle. And I think it's something that all modern American Christians do at one point or another. Sure, your experience may be different than living in a castle, but we all know what it's like for the novelty and excitement of something new and awesome to wear off until it just becomes this memory that gets drowned out by the trials and routine of life. The same thing happens to our Faith. When we first meet Jesus and decide to commit our lives to Him we are so excited about it and spend a good chunk of our time and energy thinking about our new relationship, studying scripture, pursuing God's plan for us, and especially telling everyone we know about this new amazing thing that we have discovered! But then life happens. And while we don't forget about Jesus altogether, our Faith just becomes normal. We still pray and go to church, just as I would still go home to a castle, but the excitement wears off and soon enough it just becomes this thing that we do. We don't think about the magnitude and the awesomeness of it all anymore. Except when Easter or Christmas roll around or when someone new asks us about it. Even for those of us who are heavily involved in ministry and volunteering, church can become more about programming, curriculum, numbers, and getting things done, than about remembering that Jesus actually died for us. We get so wrapped up in our day to day check lists, and even in making sure that we do all that we can to invite others to church and produce an atmosphere where they feel welcome and safe... which is a great thing! But sometimes we get so busy that we forget to sit back and thank God for the sacrifice he made and just bask in the Glory of all that He is and does. It's so easy to get distracted by WHAT we are doing that we forget WHY we are doing it. And I never want to get lost in that. So today I am thankful that God still speaks and that He gave me a simple reminder to pause and think about just how amazing He is and how grateful I am that Christ laid down his life for me. Because I never want to get so busy working FOR Him that I forget to spend time WITH Him. Here's to hoping this little reminder goes beyond just helping me, but encourages someone else to remember Jesus and the WHY of it all today too! God Bless, Marin Yep! There's a castle in Texas for those of you who didn't know! The Texas Pythian Home is a non-profit basic child care facility in the DFW area. They do some awesome things for the kids who live there and give tours, so you should check them out!
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Marin HudsonMarin likes to stay up late and write. But sometimes Percy will write as well. :) Archives
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