#blessed

Last week I had to prepare a sermon on Blessings based off Matthew 5:1-15.  This was a tough one folks.  Despite the verse being filled with "Blessed are the..." the endings just don't make sense in our earthly minds.  How was I supposed to explain to a group of kiddos preschool and up that "Blessed are the poor," and "Blessed are the meek," when logically you are going, "Whaaa?" (Insert Despicable Me minion verse here).

Due to my lack of creativity and inspiration, I chose to go to the trusty Google to help me out.  I read through a variety of children's sermons on the topic, but I still wasn't finding quite what I wanted.  I was getting a little worried that this one was not going to work out, but silly me, God provides.  As we were driving home from our ski vacation on Friday, I was able to pull some up that I could take pieces from and work with with.  Giving credit where credit is due, here are the links:

What is a Blessing? - Sermons 4 Kids

The Beatitudes - Blessed are You!

The Sermon on the Mount - DLTK Bibles stories for children

The general idea I took from these is a blessing is not something that happens to you, it is receiving God's love and letting it work through you.  That way even in the hard times, you are still blessed b/c you always have God's love.  I spoke with the kids about this on Sunday morning, and explained that even when bad things happen (get sick, parent loses job, etc.) that we are still blessed if we allow ourselves to feel God's love and show it to others.

For our later group, I got a little more specific in the message and their mission behind it.  We talked about the #blessed that we often see on social media.  We talked again about the true meaning of a blessings and how it is gotten misconstrued.  As Jessica Bennet a writer for the New York times put it, "calling something “blessed” has become the go-to term for those who want to boast about an accomplishment while pretending to be humble, fish for a compliment, acknowledge a success (without sounding too conceited), or purposely elicit envy."

I am not trying to call anyone out here, but how often do we see the status posts such as:
"I am having an epic hair day! #blessed"
"We get to embarrass USC three times in one season. #blessed"
"I live the life I deserve. #blessed"
"Chipotle for lunch. #blessed"
"Returned to my apartment to find a new shower head...that actually provides water pressure. #GodisGood #blessed"
"I'm laying on a beach in the Dominican Republic with a pina colada in my hand and no worries #TheLife #Blessed"

These are actual statuses that I found on the internet from searching #blessed.  None of these are people that I know, and I did not include the names to protect the innocent.  I am not bashing on people who are thankful for the things in their life, so please know that.  We just need to start recognizing and differentiating being blessed and having good things or gifts that happen in our life.

"I am having an epic hair day. #blessed" - Well that means I go most days without being blessed, not to mention those that suffer from illness or medical treatments that cause their hair to fall out.

"We get to embarrass USC three times in one season. #blessed" - I never knew that one person's blessing meant another's failure.

"I live the life I deserve. #blessed" - Um, I know that people work hard and many get rewarded for this effort, but what about those who work hard with no reward.  What about those in Africa who are born into villages where they do no have the luxury of modern medicine.  Are they living the "blessed" life they deserve?  Don't even get me started on Jesus's life.  Basically homeless, persecuted, and eventually crucified.

"Chipotle for lunch. #blessed" - For those who cannot afford Chipotle or even some ramen noodles, I guess they are out of luck.

"Returned to my apartment to find a new shower head...that actually provides water pressure. "GodisGood #blessed" - It makes me wonder about those who do not even have clean water drink, much less bathrooms to shower in.

 "I'm laying on a beach in the Dominican Republic with a pina colada in my hand and no worries #TheLife #Blessed" - Folks if this is the requirement for being blessed, then I will never be!

I know I am being a little sarcastic here, but I hop you get my point.  Again I truly believe that these are all things to be thankful for, but calling them blessings may be inappropriate, as it leaves others out of the possibility of being "blessed" when truly every person can be.

I encouraged the kids in our program to help change the #blessed connotation.  I challenged them to show God's love somehow this week to someone else and have them put it out there on social media (if they had an account or ask their parents to put it on theirs) with the #blessed.

Maybe we can all do this, and other can realize that they do not have the rich, successful, beautiful by the world's standards, etc. to be #blessed.  God's blessings are for everyone.

Someone Pinch Me

So while on vacation with my family this spring break, I received some awesome news.  I was checking my email on the very slow (I mean dial up could have beaten it) internet connection in the town we were staying at, and I get an email from For the Love Team.  SQUEAL!!!

Now backtrack a week ago, I was looking at Facebook, and I saw this...

Of course I jump on, apply less than an hour after the original post, then proceed to check Facebook and email a ridiculous amount of times for the rest of the week.  When I hadn't heard anything before we left on vacation, I had convinced myself that they were still sorting through everything, since I had read on Facebook that they had about 5000 applicants and only 500 spots (WOW!).  A little part of me knew my chances were slim and prepared for the worst.  I went on vacation vowing not to be obsessed with checking email, and I did pretty good. I was just checking that night for the first time the whole day, and up the email popped!  

I had to read it twice to make sure I was not just reading what I wanted to read!  It started off with the best message from Jen herself, then went on to explain the details of the launch team.  I seriously have been on cloud 9 since!  If you haven't realized it by now, I am slightly obsessed with Jen (in a healthy, love her perspective and message way, although I am a little starstruck at the thought of seeing her at Women of Faith this year!)  I am currently leading an online study on her book 7, and her other book I read earlier this year, Interrupted, has completely ruined my life for good!

I am honored and a little overwhelmed at the opportunity to be a part of the release of her new book, For the Love.  I still feel like I am dreaming, but it's for real!! While I can't divulge any information yet, be on the lookout for tidbits from the book (I have have only just started, and I am already loving it!) and information on how to pre-order it.  If you keep up with Jen Hatmaker on Facebook or on Jen's blog, you have seen her mention the book For the Love as she has gone through the writing process.  The full title is For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards.  Just the title has me nodding and saying, "Yes!"

While this is a journey that I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be on, here I am!  I can't wait to see what God has in store for me with this one!  Stay tuned....