Shattering Paradigms September 6, 2008

Ok, so God has been doing some pretty mind-altering stuff in my life lately. It’s like He’s taking the way I think of things and showing me brand new ways to look at them. Some of the things He is showing me are new concepts to me. A lot are not new ideas or things I have never heard or been taught before, but it’s just like He is not just providing the info, but also the ability to see what that info really means in my life. I thought I would share some of those here and would LOVE to hear the things God is teaching you, too!

• Jesus does not flee from my life ever (John 10:13-14). Sometimes other people do, but Jesus never does.
• Jesus is not supposed to be the filling station in my life. He is the very source of it at every moment, not just some place I go when I need a fill-up. I can’t expect to spend time with Him and then not need to do that again for a while. I need Him all the time, every day.
• Keeping God’s commands preserves joy (John 15:11).
• My worth is stable and established. The proof? God’s love displayed through Jesus on the cross.
• Everyone else’s worth is as unchangeable as is mine because Jesus declared it so to Himself and the world from the cross.
• Knowing my unchanging value and worth and trusting God’s goodness at all times are the 2 keys to being content in every situation.
• Faith is trusting God enough to do what He says. This is why obedience is equivalent to us showing God that we love Him. When we know Who He is and trust Him, we do what He says. When we love Him, we do what He says (I John 3:16-22).
• It is up to God to keep me from stumbling, not me. He is the one who is able, not me. Sticking with Him is my part (Jude 24).
• I do what I do because I am called to it. Not because of my skills or lack of skills, not because of my education or lack of education, not because of connections or lack of connections, not because of options or lack of options. I do my job because it is what God has called me to do. He can change that when He wants and He can keep me at it for as long as He wants. I work for Him.

Green is my favorite color

This is one of the reasons Gretchen’s idea was so appealing to me. Recently Rome has acquired a fleet of green bicycles that you can rent for $5 per day for $25 for a year of unlimited use. I would put a link to the website with info on it here, but that would require the website listed on the bike brochure to actually have info about the bikes on it. So, the bike program has a few kinks to work out still – like the fact that the Visitor’s Center is listed as renting bikes and actually has them on hand (we saw them there today) but is at this time unable to rent them since they do not have the right forms. But, I digress from the real point of this blog…

So, Hawthorne Suites does indeed have the bikes AND the right forms so Gretchen and I rented a couple today. After a few rounds of the parking lot to get used to them, off to the Forum trail and the new foot bridge we went. I felt like I should be a in a movie with birds signing, lovely music in the background, a bell on my handlebars and a basket of flowers on the front as I road. That is what my mind was saying. All other parts of my body were saying, “Whoa, it has been a looooooong time since you have ridden a bike!” People who were unfortunate enough to be in my path were saying things like, “whoa, who let that girl on a bike and does she know that it has brakes and that the handlebars turn?!?!?” ( I have never been so great on a bike. My sister will gladly share the story of when I hit a parked car on a bike with anyone who asks and some who don’t.)

But, really, the bikes are a really cool deal. A dad and his son rented some at the same time we did and it was cool to see them riding together and having a great time. The area around the new foot bridge is really nice, too, and quite bike friendly. Some other rental places have trail access to Ridge Ferry Park which is really cool and soon Ridge Ferry is supposed to have a rental spot, too. So, if you are looking for a fun way to see Rome, the $5/day bikes are not a bad choice.

And, to the lady with the giraffe print purse, I am sorry. I had just come down off an incline and trying to navigate a turn without losing speed. I apologize for the close call, but you should know your purse was cute!