Earlier this week I emptied our entire attic onto the back deck. The reason is that we are gearing up to put our house on the market. We've lived here almost 16 years, our entire marriage! We never intended to live in this house for that long but I firmly believe that it is God who guides our steps if we are wholeheartedly seeking Him! It's been His plan that we stay and honestly, it's been the past five years that we have seen the most fruit in our efforts to "love your neighbor as yourself." My life goal is found in the words of Jesus...
We have tried to reach out and love our neighbors, be the hands and feet of Jesus. It hasn't been easy, this neighborhood is extremely diverse and connecting cross-culturally can be challenging. Let's face it, it is so much easier to connect with people who are like us but I've found the benefit of diversity is gaining a much deeper grasp on this world and more importantly on who God is.
Seeing life (the good, the bad and the REALLY ugly) outside of my own little perspective has given me a much bigger picture of God. After all, we (all of mankind) are a reflection of Him.
Genesis 1:27 "So God created mankind in His own image,
in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them."
in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them."
"In His image" what does that really mean? I don't know for sure but what I picture is taking all of humanity in all it's racial and cultural diversity, lining us all up in a row in front of a mirrow and the reflection we see is somewhat of a picture of God. God is so much more than I can understand and grasp. It's really hard to explain but as I see life being lived so differently amongst those around me, I get the sense that God cares deeply about the heart not necessarily the way we do things. I know I'm not explaining this very well but my goal is to put this into words before we leave this house. I've learned so much here and it is with mixed feelings that we try and leave.
Enough of the meaning of life...I found some really cool stuff hiding in our attic like...
Old posters that hung in my room in high school (me and my niece in the mid-80's)
My elementary lunchbox (oh how I LOVED Annie!)
My wedding dress
A keepsake box of things from my boys (all 3 of them wore these footed pj's, I miss my babies!)
Crazy old family pictures (my brother and his family in the mid-90's)
I found a bagillion boxes of books and old papers that belong to my husband and much to my chagrin, he barely sorted/purged them. Oh well, I guess Lord willing, we will be moving them to our next house!
Dan needs to carry all the stuff he wouldn't purge or go through into the new house.
ReplyDeleteJenny Deming