"After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He (Jesus) said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.'And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring…” Mark 3:5, 6
I am an organizer – I love to put things in place, and if they don’t have a place, I find one for them. I like things neat. I like clean lines and clutter free environments. I like color coded filing systems and alphabetized CD collections. I like order.
As much as I like order, I like the chaos of natural beauty even more. I love hiking and seeing the plants spilling over each other and the trees tops colliding and mingling their branches – I love gardens with the climbing roses, creeping wisteria and the cascading limbs of willows.
I guess I like semblance of order but tolerate chaos if it is beautiful in form and pleasant to the senses. I have a hard time with chaos if it is not agreeable and leaves me with a feeling of discord.
What causes you discord? What causes disharmony in your soul? What makes you uncomfortable? AND, how much can you tolerate before you act against the dissonance?
I was confronted with this recently. Discord, disharmony, dissonance surfaced – in a very disagreeable way. I wish I could say it is smoothed over and back on the ordered harmonious side of things – but it is not. I have reached my limit, I have tolerated enough and I would rather face the natural beauty of chaos than cover up dissension any longer.
Have you ever been there? Have you ever had to take a stand for what you believe in, what you hold dear, your values? Have you stood in the stream of popular opinion and done a 180 to face up stream flow - only to have it seem as if everyone is against your way of life, your thinking, your decision? Have you gone against harmony, tolerance, and order to create unwanted, but badly needed, change?
Jesus did this all the time. He did it to alter thinking paradigms and to define new behavior patterns. He cleared a temple, he faced off with Pharisees, he put mud in a guys eyes…he was all about natural, and unnatural chaos - if it brought about change. Change for the better, that is - change of an individual, a group or a nation.
Over what are you causing change? For what are you standing firm? Where is your limit? I knew when I had reached mine - will you know when you have reached yours?
Updates:
Living – The Johnson House SOLD! The hunt for a new residence continues. We have until April 30th.
Work – Training continues, it is less than two weeks to our HUGE retreat - and of course the usual “challenges” that go with conference planning are surfacing (we need babysitters, volunteers to help with odd tasks, and shuttle service people to/from the airport)
Relationships – making new ones, deepening old ones, dating a guy…
Health – My left ankle is almost back to normal - is it still a bit swollen and complains at night sometimes but I am not limping any more!
Requests:
Housing – I am with my relatives but when the Johnsons find their new abode I will probably be moving.
Work – The Big Weekend retreat (March 28-30) and international leader’s conference (March 24-28) are fast approaching, pray that I will have a constant attitude of praise amidst all the conference planning challenges and usual office chaos.
Relationships - deepening of present ones, start of new ones and that God will be present.
Financing - If you are interested in contributing, please see ‘Contribute’ at http://www.repurposing.biz/ on the left of the page, or visit http://www.denaandrews.blogspot.com/ and read the footer for additional info.
Dena
PS Frank Coble is heading to the Ukraine in August with http://www.businessmissiontrips.org/ – contact him at fwcoble@yahoo.com if you are interested in joining!
I am an organizer – I love to put things in place, and if they don’t have a place, I find one for them. I like things neat. I like clean lines and clutter free environments. I like color coded filing systems and alphabetized CD collections. I like order.
As much as I like order, I like the chaos of natural beauty even more. I love hiking and seeing the plants spilling over each other and the trees tops colliding and mingling their branches – I love gardens with the climbing roses, creeping wisteria and the cascading limbs of willows.
I guess I like semblance of order but tolerate chaos if it is beautiful in form and pleasant to the senses. I have a hard time with chaos if it is not agreeable and leaves me with a feeling of discord.
What causes you discord? What causes disharmony in your soul? What makes you uncomfortable? AND, how much can you tolerate before you act against the dissonance?
I was confronted with this recently. Discord, disharmony, dissonance surfaced – in a very disagreeable way. I wish I could say it is smoothed over and back on the ordered harmonious side of things – but it is not. I have reached my limit, I have tolerated enough and I would rather face the natural beauty of chaos than cover up dissension any longer.
Have you ever been there? Have you ever had to take a stand for what you believe in, what you hold dear, your values? Have you stood in the stream of popular opinion and done a 180 to face up stream flow - only to have it seem as if everyone is against your way of life, your thinking, your decision? Have you gone against harmony, tolerance, and order to create unwanted, but badly needed, change?
Jesus did this all the time. He did it to alter thinking paradigms and to define new behavior patterns. He cleared a temple, he faced off with Pharisees, he put mud in a guys eyes…he was all about natural, and unnatural chaos - if it brought about change. Change for the better, that is - change of an individual, a group or a nation.
Over what are you causing change? For what are you standing firm? Where is your limit? I knew when I had reached mine - will you know when you have reached yours?
Updates:
Living – The Johnson House SOLD! The hunt for a new residence continues. We have until April 30th.
Work – Training continues, it is less than two weeks to our HUGE retreat - and of course the usual “challenges” that go with conference planning are surfacing (we need babysitters, volunteers to help with odd tasks, and shuttle service people to/from the airport)
Relationships – making new ones, deepening old ones, dating a guy…
Health – My left ankle is almost back to normal - is it still a bit swollen and complains at night sometimes but I am not limping any more!
Requests:
Housing – I am with my relatives but when the Johnsons find their new abode I will probably be moving.
Work – The Big Weekend retreat (March 28-30) and international leader’s conference (March 24-28) are fast approaching, pray that I will have a constant attitude of praise amidst all the conference planning challenges and usual office chaos.
Relationships - deepening of present ones, start of new ones and that God will be present.
Financing - If you are interested in contributing, please see ‘Contribute’ at http://www.repurposing.biz/ on the left of the page, or visit http://www.denaandrews.blogspot.com/ and read the footer for additional info.
Dena
PS Frank Coble is heading to the Ukraine in August with http://www.businessmissiontrips.org/ – contact him at fwcoble@yahoo.com if you are interested in joining!
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