Organic Thoughts

Josh, you inspire me!
The following is the worship thought I wrote for my amazing Organic Chemistry class :)

My older brother, Josh, was my best friend growing up. He was also my biggest enemy. While we got along for the most part, every now and then, the cat and dog in us would come out.

I remember one day at my grandparents’ house, Josh did something to upset me. What it was, I don’t recall. I was pretty much a germaphobe, so any of his little "manliness” demonstrations, which included giving me Wet Willies or rubbing his boogers on my face, were sometimes enough to make me behave, as my mother said, savage-like.

Well, whatever my brother did that day, made me so angry that I decided to kick him in where a guy should never be kicked. Before I kicked him, he had been laughing, but now he was down on the floor in pain. Then he looked and me and as I soon I saw his face (whoa!), I took off running for my life!

So my grandparents’ house is pretty big and is built on a hill out in the country and trying to run around it is quite the challenge, but that is what I decided to do. I jumped over a safety baby gate knocking it down on my way out. I ran down the side of the house, which was downhill, getting caught in bush and having to dodge the crazy goat that was tied up back there. This goat was pretty fearsome and had once gotten loose and charged at my great grandmother who ran into the outhouse for safety and had her trapped in there until my grandpa came home a couple of hours later. So I was still running and was now going uphill through a super muddy area and was then climbing up over a wall to get on the front porch. Josh was still chasing me, so I had to run around again. By the third time around, I was getting tired. Normally I could outrun my brother, but with his adrenaline rush, I thought he’d certainly get me. We were in the muddy area, and he was so close to me. Josh had been yelling at me most of the time in his squeaky, pre-puberty voice saying, "Imma get you!," but then I heard this manly, ferocious voice behind me yell “STOP!” I turned around to look at my brother, wondering how in the world he could sound like that. He was only like nine or ten, and I had never heard Josh yell like that.

When I turned around, I saw my grandpa grabbing Josh by the collar of his shirt. Then my grandpa picked him up by his shoulders and brought him inside. I could not feel my legs anymore and I sank down right in the mud. I looked down at my arms and legs and they were so scratched and muddy. Ugly is exactly what I was and felt. I don’t know remember, thankfully, what disciplinary actions my mom used for us, but I do remember the relief of having my grandpa “save” me. Later I found out that my grandpa had witnessed the entire chase and had been trying to stop for quite some time.

This reminds me of God’s grace toward us. We go and make best friends with the devil, and then try to get out of the mess we created by our own means. All we can think to do is run around in a big proverbial muddy circle. God calls out to us from the beginning, but we refuse to take the time to listen to His voice. We are hurt, scared, filthy with sin and totally deserving the beat-down of death that is about to come upon us when God steps in and grabs Satan by the collar, and says “For the wages of sin are death ,but the gift of God is eternal life.”

God is not always going to save us from the little consequences of what happens for breaking His law of love, but He has promised to save those who choose to follow Him from eternal death. Stop running circles in the mud; make Christ your best friend and then your path, though bumpy, will be sure and ultimately sweet.

Sing Your Song

She was scribbling away with the crayons I'd just given her.
She stopped coloring and then she looked up at me.
I could tell she was about to ask a question.
"What is your talent?" she asked me.
"Uhhh...uuhhhh, " was the only vocalizations I, a third year college student, could utter.
"I don't know."
"Everyone has a talent. Are you an artist?"
I chuckled. You would too if you've ever seen any of my 'drawings.'
"Let's see...I love singing."
"Oh me,too!" Her smile was so big! "Sing!"
"Huuh? Sing?"
She was nodding her little head off.
"Sing a song or nanana."
I felt really shy but ended up lala-ing some little Disney tune.
"Oooh, you can sing!"
Then next thing I heard were her little crayons scribbling on a paper.

Why did it take me so long to answer that simple question? What are my other talents I began thinking? Was I using them enough? "Use it or lose it" and the parable of the talents came to mind.
The wicked servant in that parable had been the one who was misusing that talent his master had given him by not using it at all.
Misuse, at least for me, could also be done by using the talent for selfish motives.
What a pity it would be if my Jesus came back and found me abusing the precious gifts He had given me, the gift to smile, the gift to befriend, the gift of music, the gift of teaching, the gift of knowledge, ect. because I had become selfishly selective on whom I would share my talents with or when it was more convenient. Or I could blame the misuse on my shyness. "Ooh, I am just too shy; I can't do that!"

For every excuse we come up with the Lord has a storeroom of promises to strengthen, humble, and guide us.

When we say WHO AM I to bear this responsibility? WHO AM I to be at fault? WHO AM I to make a difference? WHO AM I to talk to them?

To Moses, He said, "Certainly I will be with thee...Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say."

To Gideon, He said “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

To Isaiah, He said (through an angel), "your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

To Jeremiah, "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you."

To me, to us, He says, " My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command."

Lay down your selfishness, lay down your time, lay down your preconceptions of others, lay down your life and just, love!

His love compels me to "bear fruit—fruit that will last."

Lord, forgive me for the selfishness that has too often come between the life and talents You have given me and Your will. Thank you for using a little, curious child to remind me.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Focused under the Scope of Reality

Everything became so real today.
The past few weeks I have been working in a cancer biology lab. Amazing cannot describe my experience thus far. Truly, I feel like I have found my niche. Yes, I still have more to learn about research, but a career in research is all about eternal learning.
But today I was checking out some breast cancer tissue slides under the scope. These came fresh from the hospital. My mentor gave me the paper that had some hush hush info on it and asked me to read about a particular slide we were looking at. As I read through the paper, it hit me. My hands nearly tremble as I type this right now. The tissue on this slide came from a real person who is right now battling for cancer. The blood on this slide is the blood of a woman who probably has a career, a passion, a family. The cells on this slide are from a woman who knows what love is and what pain is. The tumor I saw on that slide was from a woman who was probably trying to do all she could to fight for herself and for her family. That blood was hers and the battle is on all of us. All of us who are getting an education not only in cancer research, but as physicians, as educators, as counselors, pastors, factory workers, sales associate, ect. Life as a human is just as intertwined as the cells and proteins in our body. We make contact and impressions with each other. I know that the person who discovered that molecule x could reduce tumors in people like the woman on the slide, the person who administered molecule x to the woman on the slide, and the person who deeply smiled in the grocery line at the woman who's blood is on the slide are all equally important.
Today, like no other, the focus became so clear, that all that I do, say, and think should be for the benefit of my God and to the benefit of all my brothers and sisters in this world, including my sister who owns the blood on that slide but shares the battle for her life with us.

I got onto this computer with the greatest urge to write. The urge was nearly a necessity. My fingers were "hungry" to type all the thoughts that have been collecting in my mind.Let me describe it for you.

Have you ever seen a pot of boiling water with the lid closed? When you remove the lid, I am most sure you recall, there are droplets of condensation on the lid that either stick to the lid (temporarily) or fall back into the pot. Well, I decided today that it was the time I picked up the lid to my brain and stop constricting those droplets of imagination from falling back into the pot. Twas quite a cruelty to hinder them from freeing themselves into the big great air where they could take flight. Imagine that! You and your buddies, do use your imagination, have collaborated together some genius plan. After a little work and heat, you've overcome some of the opposing forces and your plan begins to rise. It up it goes, higher and higher AND...PING! You hit a hard spot of which there is no way to go but back down to where you started, back down into the masses and confusion of pre-collaboration.
Now you can empathize with that little water droplet in the pot. Hahaha!

There are two lessons to be learned or asked from this very silly illustration.

1. Open up the lid to your brain. Let what's inside escape (filtered of course) , when necessary and appropriate. What's the point of having a good dream, a goal, a talent if you only keep it to yourself?



2. Unfortunately, not all of us can win the lottery. Hard work is nearly always essential to achievement. Don't be discouraged, rather be encouraged! As says T. Edison " Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration."

Take 3 deep breaths and count to...

Take 3 deep breaths and count to _. Yup, we can finish it off. Count to ten. Why this pause? Most secular cousellors will stay that this ten second pause will give you time to collect your thoughts and think about the possible consequences of what you are wanting to do when angry.
I, think, as Christian, that taking some time during anger for silencing your thoughts of anger is an invitation to let someone else speak to you. Truly I think two people speak in this self- silence: Satan and God. Satan speaks in an appealing way to entice you to carry out the sinful action. "Yeah, Naomi. You should do that. It's not hurting anyone. You deserve it after a long, hard day. It's normal to feel that way. It's a natural part of being human. Nothing is wrong with it. " And God on the other hand speaks His promises.

Genesis 4:7

"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."

Wow! This is a beautiful promise! This is the story of Cain, Abel, and God. Here God is speaking to Cain who is angry at his brother Abel.  And God speaks to Cain right before he even commits the murder. Yeah, Cain is probably pondering and harboring sinful anger in his heart, but Cain receives a promise from God. The promise is that Cain shall rule over the sin that lieth at the door.

Synopsis:
Cain went against God's plan, and God did not accept it. Cain got angry and jealous. God approached Cain and told him his sin and offered help. Cain rejected the help and got in more trouble and tried to hide it. God takes away the very thing that Cain misused. Cain then felt the pain, expressed it to God, and God had MERCY.


Extra Comments
Cain took out Abel.
God took out the misused talent.
Cain's attempt to solve the problem was to get rid of Abel. Short term fixture. God who gave the gift of gardening, took away the gift of gardening because it was the source of the problem.

1. Misuse of Talent
2. Dissapproval by God
3. Anger and Jealousy
4. God sees and offers help
5. Cain does Cain's will
6. Consequences result
7. Cain is sorry
8. God has mercy

Overall Theme: God's ways are the best ways.

Challenge: Live it out!

God has blessed me with many talents. Will I value them more than I value God? Will it come to the point that God takes away the talents He purposed me to have because I am doing more wrong with them than the good He planned I should do?

When I sin, do I listen for the promises of God?

How do I get to the point where I apply the principle that God's ways are best? I hear about it, I read about it, and I even WRITE about it? How do I live it? I live it when I surrender daily to God. I live it when I wake up in the morning and put Him first even if means being late to a class perchance my alarm did not go off. I live it when I put Him foremost in all thing, not just when God is conveniant. Living it means that I still read and study my Bible even when I have absolutely no desire and maybe even anger to even open up the Bible.
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." His word is ALIVE and active when I am dead.
Living it means listening to the still small voice that offers direction and order for my steps. It means praying my head off when temptation crawls in. It means knowing and believing His promise are true.

This story makes me love God more. He doesn't give Cain what he deserves. But I love God because He still wants to help my stubborn heart. He wants to hold me in heaven and tell me how much He loves me. He wants to walk with me. I was created by God and for God, but He lets me choose. How could I not love you? Sin wants me, but you want me even more. Please speak to me.

This is what it should like

Picture: This is what it should look like...
Is there such a thing as politely rude or rudely politely?
What if a stranger where to tell you..."THANK YOU FOR PUTTING THAT AWAY.''
You smile at the stranger not really knowing what in the world they are talking about. Then you begin to wonder why the smile on your face is NOT being reflected on the face of this stranger. Aren't smiles supposed to be contagious? The stranger...let's give the stranger the name Mr. Glare A. Lote....is just staring at you with no smile, no visible affection, and no welcoming words.

It was the first time I met Mr. Glare, and those were the first words I ever heard him say. The words that followed were colder than ice. He was talking about my cellphone; I discovered after he repeated himself, and I sarcastically give him credit for taking the time to explain what he was referring to when my smile turned into a gap of confusion.

I had been standing about ten feet from the door of the sanctuary of a church when this took place. I had been calling a friend who I was supposed to meet with at the church, and Mr. Glare did not like it. When I understood what was being told me, I wanted to cry for many reasons. Yeah, I felt shame, and it hurt me that someone treated me that way. Maybe I was in the wrong to have my cellphone out in the pre-lobby of the church, especially if it was bringing offense to a brother.
But what really hurts me now is that if that had been my first visit to a church, I would never have wanted to come back.

Am I too radical? Is this too liberal? I once did not understand this, how people would let other people "kick" them out of church with their glares, remarks, or inaction. But I felt it tonight.

But how many people have actually visited a church for the first time and been turned away by Mr. Glare A. Lote with their "welcoming dismissal." This is what breaks my heart.
What happened to the Mr. and Mrs. Care A. Lot? The ones who take you in with hugs and get to know you first? When they correct you, they do it with tactful care.

Am I a Ms. Glare A. Lote? I may not say a word, but what I do or don't, may send a child of creation one step farther from being a child of re-creation.

Let's consider the words we speak, the silence we keep, the actions we do and don't, and who we represent in careful consideration.

"Whatesoever things are pure, whatsoever things are just...think of these" and act on them because "He [God] first loved us."