joie de vivre

Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple.

Look closely. The beautiful may be small.

Joy comes to us in moments - ordinary moments. We risk missing out on joy when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary.

Nothing has transformed my life more than realizing that it’s a waste of time to evaluate my worthiness by weighing the reaction of the people in the stands.

Slowly, I began to see that Jesus doesn’t call us to a life of ascent where we move further and further away from the things of this world. Rather, I believe he calls us to a life of descent, of downward mobility, where we move down into the trenches of real life, real pain, real hope in our own lives and in the lives of others.

Love is not making someone feel good; it is not avoiding conflict; it is not merely getting along. Love is a commitment to see Christ grow in the heart of the other by offering a strength that disrupts patterns of idolatry and a tenderness that invites reconciliation and hope. Love will be tender and long-suffering; it will also be bold and wounding. If it involves one without the other, then it is an offer of something less than God’s character. We are told that God is a God of mercy and strength (Psalm 62:11). To love others is to give them a taste of the full character of God.

Why do we love the flower when we are loved by the Gardner? Why do we love the shadow when the sun shines brightly upon us? Jesus has offered Himself to us, so why do we choose the world? We must be willing to let Christ mold us and change us, teaching our hearts to love the Gardner who makes us beautiful, and the sun who gives us life. For, in the end, it is Jesus.

Marriage isn’t 50/50, it’s 100/100. When you gave your vows you weren’t giving half of yourself, you were giving your whole self, everything you are. So you don’t give half of your self, expecting your spouse to meet you halfway. Real love is when you give your whole self, expecting nothing in return. And when two people both show that selfless love, it paints a beautiful picture of what marriage is really about.