Bel Far Niente

There are literally no words for how peaceful I am right now.

I decided a couple of weeks ago to go and visit my dearest friend in Greensboro for a weekend simply because I had missed her greatly. I knew she had school but still, just the intention of going away for a weekend was brilliant. As the date got closer I began to try and figure out things to do at like every second which isn't new for me. I like to do things. All the time.

Is it healthy? Absolutely not.
Was I going to try and do it anyways? Absolutely.

But sometime between planning and actually leaving I decided to say 'meh' to all of it and just...be.
Best decision of my life.

There is just something about just letting yourself be your only company. I think a lot of people have that problem especially in America. We are surrounded by things to capture our attention and we gravitate towards it like moths to a flame without even thinking. By the time we realize we haven't had any time to ourselves, we are too over-planned to do anything about it which is sad. I found myself in that situation and immediately thought, "there is no possible way I can sacrifice a weekend. I have this and this...etc."
But in these moments we have to stop and consider what we are doing to ourselves. Our bodies are a temple and the temple can't have any maintenance done to it if it is constantly doing things.

I was watching Eat, Pray, Love the other day (which is a great movie, at least the Italy part. Same thing with the book. Italy = the way to go) and there's a scene when the main character is sitting in a barber shop in Rome talking with some of her Italian friends and one of the men says something that was so beautiful. He says that there is a saying in Italian, "Bel far niente - the beauty of doing nothing". He says that Italians are masters of it. They know that there is a time for everything. Not just work. 

So, in closing, treat yourself today. Make sure you are not overworking yourself and make some time to just be. Your body will thank you and you'll be happier because of it! :) 

Till Next Time...

Heart of a Worshiper...

I have a question.

If the mission of the Church is to be "fishers of men"; to go out into the world and preach of Christ's love and you are not doing any of it, how can you call yourself a church?

It's a legitimate question and I think it's a question we all need to ask ourselves as a body.

I feel like I'm writing all of this in reverse. The question wasn't the beginning but a result of what I witness no more than an hour or so ago.

I was at a rather traditional church with my family and some friends from Journey because an artist had asked my dad and two other women (who happen to go to Journey) to sing back-up for him.

Awesome!

It was something that they had done before at a church downtown and it was phenomenal so naturally I wanted to hear it again and support my daddy and my friends. The service began and I will admit, I was a little put off. But it came time for everyone to take the stage and my dad and the two ladies are sitting next to me in the audience!

I come to find out that the 'church' said to my dad and the other Journey ladies (really they only spoke to the artist and he relayed the information) and told them that they "weren't presentable" because the ladies happened to be wearing pants.

WHAT. IS. THAT.

To say that is ridiculous is an grand understatement. That is blatant ignorance and refusal let go of archaic rules. I could go on and on about women's rights to wear whatever the heck they want but this is the church. We are held to a different standard. Where in the Bible, God's holy word, does it say that women are only allowed to wear skirts and pretty dresses? I will kindly answer that for you so you don't waste your time Googling and searching biblegateway.com: the answer is NOWHERE.

In fact the Bible says the opposite. And I have to thank my beautiful friend Patience for sending me this perfect verse. In 1 Samuel 16:7 it says "But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart," 


The heart of the worshiper. That's what God cares about. He doesn't look at whether you are wearing a hat, wearing a skirt or dress or if you have tattoos covering every single pore of your body. His desire is for relationship with you. He wants your heart.

And further, how are you reaching out and fulfilling the mission Jesus set for the church? We need to meet people where we are not stand on our pulpits and expect the world to change for us.

But I have to say that the saddest part of all of this is that while I was sitting next to the Journey ladies, they were singing to God as if nothing had happened because they knew it wasn't about them. They were there to worship God, not to put on a show. And God still worked in spite of everything because the woman sitting in front of us was in tears because the ladies' voices touched her heart.

Witnessing all of this makes me value the freedom that I have to worship in my jeans and my hat :)

Till Next Time...