Learning and relearning His ways.

God teaches me things.  Then, what typically happens is……I forget (or ignore) what He’s taught me. And then…..He has to reteach me.  (Sometimes it hurts more the second time…why don’t I just learn my lesson?!) Probably because I’m so darn stubborn. And, I’m a know-it-all, with an ego.  With Him and in general. I can come across with some diplomacy, grace and humility, but my family (who knows me so well) sees right through it. They roll their eyes and love me through it.  My sister-in-law just calls me out straight on it. And, I love her for it. I need to be humbled, consistently. Don’t we all?

God has given me some incredible opportunities that have come out of some seriously crappy life situations. Just in the past three months, I’ve had the chance to travel to India, Egypt, Spain and Portugal. To say that God has blessed me, is an understatement. But it hasn’t come without hurting, longing, learning and re-learning along the way. Here’s a few of those “re-learnings” that I’ll expand on in the next couple blogs…

[click on the link to take you directly to those posts]

• He gets what He wants.  We are not powerful enough to mess up His plans for us.
• He uses our heartbreak, hurting and pain to create an intimacy with Him where He shows us the world through His eyes. Our hearts learn to break for what breaks His.
• He uses uncomfortable situations, such as an anxiety-driven sorority rush, to connect us with people that He knows we need.
• He does not want us to compare ourselves to others. Period.

As I type this, I’m looking out over the skyline of Lisbon.  The city is completely being remade.  Old buildings and palaces are giving way to new towers and renovations.  It reminds me that our God is a God of remaking.  We mess up.  He fixes.  As John Ortberg writes in Love Beyond Reason, we are all rag dolls.  So incredibly loved by Him, no matter how many scars we have.  And, He is the God of mulligans.  Of do-overs.  He forgives, is patient and will teach us again and again…how ever many times it takes for us to really understand something.  Sometimes that’s really exhausting for me.  I can only imagine how exhausting it is for Him.  But He remains steadfast because He wants me to be more like Jesus and be more Holy. It hurts, but I am ever-so-grateful for His steadfastness and LOVE.  Oh, how grateful I am.