I've been learning a lesson recently. One that I thought I knew, but apparently I didn't.
"...for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
Nothing. Absolutely Nothing.
Nothing of worth that is.
Why do we try to do life without him?
Why do we think that our way is better than His way?
Why do we think we can accomplish more without Him?
"...for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
Nothing. Absolutely Nothing.
Showing posts with label life lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life lessons. Show all posts
Monday, February 20, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
I don't want Happy
We all want to be happy. Happiness is a much sought after feeling in our society. I want to be happy. Happy in my marriage. Happy in my parenting. Happy with my "job" as homemaker. Happy in life.
But as much as we seek this feeling. It escapes us. Its a game of hide and seek that we play. We seek after it. Eventually after looking under several spots, we think we have found it. But somehow, it escapes us again. Why won't it stay and hang out for a while?
Happiness is not what we want. What we are really seeking after is joy. Joy is not a feeling. It doesn't escape us. It is a deep down from within state of being that comes even when things aren't great. Everything doesn't have to be perfect in our lives with joy.
Why? Because joy doesn't come from a circumstance, but from the Lord. He is the creator of joy, and only he can give it to us.
I find I have sought after other things to bring me joy. After all, I just want to enjoy life while I'm here.
Sometimes I end up in this pit of dissatisfaction. Things aren't what I thought they would be. Something like a fun day, a good meal, a phone call from a friend, or a funny tv show can pick me up from that pit. And I'm happy. But eventually the cycle continues and I find myself worn out by the rise and fall of my emotions.
I want a more stable emotional state. When things are well, I want joy. When things are bad, I want joy. Regardless, its still the same God in charge of it all. And the same source of joy. Him. Not my circumstances.
So I don't want happy. I want joy. Joy in marriage. Joy in parenting. Joy in my job. Joy in life. Good or bad. Joy.
But as much as we seek this feeling. It escapes us. Its a game of hide and seek that we play. We seek after it. Eventually after looking under several spots, we think we have found it. But somehow, it escapes us again. Why won't it stay and hang out for a while?
Happiness is not what we want. What we are really seeking after is joy. Joy is not a feeling. It doesn't escape us. It is a deep down from within state of being that comes even when things aren't great. Everything doesn't have to be perfect in our lives with joy.
Why? Because joy doesn't come from a circumstance, but from the Lord. He is the creator of joy, and only he can give it to us.
I find I have sought after other things to bring me joy. After all, I just want to enjoy life while I'm here.
Sometimes I end up in this pit of dissatisfaction. Things aren't what I thought they would be. Something like a fun day, a good meal, a phone call from a friend, or a funny tv show can pick me up from that pit. And I'm happy. But eventually the cycle continues and I find myself worn out by the rise and fall of my emotions.
I want a more stable emotional state. When things are well, I want joy. When things are bad, I want joy. Regardless, its still the same God in charge of it all. And the same source of joy. Him. Not my circumstances.
So I don't want happy. I want joy. Joy in marriage. Joy in parenting. Joy in my job. Joy in life. Good or bad. Joy.
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.
Abide in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,
just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
These things I have spoken to you,
that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."
John 15:9-11
Saturday, December 10, 2011
The First of Many Lasts
I am finally updating our blog! Sorry to all my faithful family members and friends who have probably given up on me. Life has just been too much recently. I've been busy cleaning house over and over again for our showings. The good news is we have had a lot of traffic in our house. But that has been a lot of work for me. Our house has now been on the market for 37 days, and we waiting for the Lord to bring us our buyer.
Last week we picked out our house in NC, so things are moving along. We are excited for our new adventure God has for us in NC, but are focusing now on closing out relationships here. We had our last Bible Study at CBS this week. We have so loved that while we have been here, and we will miss it. We also had our last regular youth group this week. There will be many lasts coming up, and we will take them one by one.
God has been teaching us a lot through this process. We are so grateful for this time, and what he is doing in our lives.
Last week we picked out our house in NC, so things are moving along. We are excited for our new adventure God has for us in NC, but are focusing now on closing out relationships here. We had our last Bible Study at CBS this week. We have so loved that while we have been here, and we will miss it. We also had our last regular youth group this week. There will be many lasts coming up, and we will take them one by one.
God has been teaching us a lot through this process. We are so grateful for this time, and what he is doing in our lives.
"Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him, and he will act." Psalm 37:5
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
A Whole Lotta Sass
It's been a long day...a long week actually. We first met with our realtor last Thursday and it has been an intense couple of days. It started with the news that we had to sell our home for A LOT less than what we thought. Then that we needed to get the house on the market last weekend. Those two pieces of information were enough to send me over the edge. I have barely hung on this week, literally clinging to every bit of truth and wisdom I could get. And honestly, cause we just need to be real here, most of it came from others.
Today we finalized all the paper work and it will officially be on the market in 24 hours-ish. So all that said, I've learned a lot about real estate this week. So I thought I'd give you...Katie's List of Things to Know About Real Estate.
(And let me just preface this with I'm tired and there will be a whole lotta MacPherson cynicism and sarcasm.)
1. If only we let our houses look as good as they do when they are on the market.
2. Now is NOT the time to SELL. The bottom line is our house has depreciated and thankfully not under what we still owe. But we are not going make barely anything on this sale and we have put so much into it. It's really frustrating knowing your so-called investment was not really a worthy investment after all. Everything right now is about the buyer. You're just so at their mercy and its a horrible feeling.
3. The market is NOT getting better. Yes things are selling, but the prices are horrible. see #1 - It's a BUYERS market.
4. When staging a house, make it look as if no kids exist.
5. When staging a house, in addition to #3 make it look as if no one exists.
6. When people ask to help, let them help. You can't do it alone.
7. The only thing that would make it easier is if those kids mentioned in #3 didn't really exist. Let me clarify...I want them to exist, just not in the current home that is currently on the market. Following the terrors around picking up every single thing they displace is, well, tiring.
8. I hate comps. They killed us. That one blasted house that sold two months ago is going to hurt us. Gotta love the comps.
9. And speaking of comps...did you know the only thing that matters is your square footage, beds, and baths. That's it! Don't bother with the remodeling, redecorating, redesigning. Thanks HGTV! Everything you taught me, DOES. NOT. APPLY.
Today we finalized all the paper work and it will officially be on the market in 24 hours-ish. So all that said, I've learned a lot about real estate this week. So I thought I'd give you...Katie's List of Things to Know About Real Estate.
(And let me just preface this with I'm tired and there will be a whole lotta MacPherson cynicism and sarcasm.)
1. If only we let our houses look as good as they do when they are on the market.
2. Now is NOT the time to SELL. The bottom line is our house has depreciated and thankfully not under what we still owe. But we are not going make barely anything on this sale and we have put so much into it. It's really frustrating knowing your so-called investment was not really a worthy investment after all. Everything right now is about the buyer. You're just so at their mercy and its a horrible feeling.
3. The market is NOT getting better. Yes things are selling, but the prices are horrible. see #1 - It's a BUYERS market.
4. When staging a house, make it look as if no kids exist.
5. When staging a house, in addition to #3 make it look as if no one exists.
6. When people ask to help, let them help. You can't do it alone.
7. The only thing that would make it easier is if those kids mentioned in #3 didn't really exist. Let me clarify...I want them to exist, just not in the current home that is currently on the market. Following the terrors around picking up every single thing they displace is, well, tiring.
8. I hate comps. They killed us. That one blasted house that sold two months ago is going to hurt us. Gotta love the comps.
9. And speaking of comps...did you know the only thing that matters is your square footage, beds, and baths. That's it! Don't bother with the remodeling, redecorating, redesigning. Thanks HGTV! Everything you taught me, DOES. NOT. APPLY.
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