Have Peanut M&M's Ever Made You Cry?

Yeah, me neither.





Until today.





After finishing a paper for my Special Needs Education class in record time, I decided to go down to the vending machine in the lobby of our dorm. The intention was to reward myself with something sweet.





Unfortunately, the selection wasn't very good, but they had tropical Skittles... so I decided to go with that. The machine wouldn't take my dollar bill, which was frustrating. I spent more time than I should have digging through my wallet to find some spare change.





FINALLY I found 75 cents worth of coins... and pressed D1, with the intention of pressing the zero after that because the Skittles were D10.





Well... as I'm sure you've already guessed, D1 has it's own type of candy and there is an entirely separate button for D10. Which I blindly didn't notice until after I had already pushed D1.





So there I stood... watching a yellow bag of peanut M&M's fall instead of my tropical Skittles.





Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as I bent down to grab them out of the machine; a million thoughts and memories flooding my mind. Once I was back in my room, I ripped open the package, slightly annoyed that the machine wouldn't take a dollar bill and I had used all my change on the peanut M&M's that weren't even my favorite.





"But they were someones favorite."





And at that thought, tears started welling up in my eyes. I glanced around the room, frantically wanting to prevent the tears because I knew that once they started, it would be hard to get them to stop.





But my strength to control them failed when my eyes fell on a red book called "Corduroy":

I had picked this book up at a garage sale a few days before. From the outside looking in, you'd think that it was just an ordinary book. But to me, it's a book full of memories. Memories of cuddling up on the couch with my mom as she read it to me - her voice full of character and animation. I could hear her voice as my eyes took in every sentence.





So there I was... sitting on my roommates bed, eating peanut M&M's, reading "Corduroy", and crying....





Missing her.

Know Nothing

I sat down this morning, surprised that I felt so inspired to write. Ironically, I couldn't think of one meaningful thing to talk about. Suddenly this verse from 1 Corinthians popped into my mind:

"For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

Wow.

How about I write about nothing else but Jesus Christ and him crucified?

Friends, what if we really took this verse to heart? It's not the only one in the Bible like it... there are many others. What if we really did vow to know, talk about, and meditate only upon Christ? My guess is that our lives would be transformed in a greater way than we could ever imagine.

Obviously, in the every day tasks of life there are things that we need to think upon that are simply necessities - such as meals, cleaning, grocery shopping, school, etc. But what if in these daily tasks we were constantly keeping the Lord in mind... ready to go to him with any prayer or request the minute we encounter a need. There is no way that a life of total dedication and abandonment like that is ever left unchanged.

So today... as you go about those daily chores and duties, know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified! Meditate on this truth. He is more than worthy of all our affection, attention, and dedication.

Growing Slowly

"Be not afraid of growing slowly - be afraid only of standing still."

I was sitting in my cultural diversity class a few days ago and we were discussing ancient proverbs from different cultures. My teacher handed us a list and told us to look them over. I just scanned the list quickly, knowing that some of them were a bunch of hogwash. I mean, we already have a whole book of Proverbs in the Bible, right? Why did I need to read any more?

WELL...

As I was moving quickly down the list, I came to the Chinese proverbs. Suddenly, one of them caught my eye and just seemed to jump right off the page:

"Be not afraid of growing slowly - be afraid only of standing still."

Amazed, I set the paper down as I tried to grasp my mind around the deeper meaning contained within the proverb. Some people might only think about the physical aspect of growing or about growing in knowledge. But immediately, my mind jumped to my spiritual walk.

How many times in the past had I become impatient because I didn't feel close to the Lord? How many times had I wondered why I couldn't seem to make the difference for Christ that I desperately wanted to make? How many times had I tried to force myself into spiritual submission?

I wanted to grow... FAST.

I wanted to see that spiritual growth.

I wanted to become a world-changer... overnight.

But then I read this proverb and realized something. I shouldn't be afraid of growing slowly - just as long as I'm growing. When I'm frozen in my spiritual growth is the point where I should become concerned. Growing is so important... but no one can grow a tree overnight. Walking day by day with my Lord, even through the valley, is just as important as when He takes me to those spiritual mountaintops where everything looks clear.

So I just want to encourage you today... don't give up if you feel like you're growing slowly! Look for the little ways that God is working in your life... and don't you dare give up. He is not finished with you yet.