Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Tall Tales vs. Truth


So a while ago I picked up this book entitled Perfectly Unique, written by a woman named Annie Downs.  To tell the truth, I wasn't really reading it for me, but I was thinking about using it as a teaching tool for my small group of sixth grade girls so of course I was giving it a quick scan first.  While "scanning," the bold title of chapter two jumped out at me: Mind.  I was intrigued.  All the other chapters were named after various body parts young girls commonly feel insecure about:  eyes, ears, mouth, hands, knees, and feet...How was the mind being related to all this?  I began to read:
{Your mind.  It's just a container.  But a fragile container, don't forget.  So your first duty with your brain is to protect it.  Things are going to fill it...It's up to you to decided what.}
Even if you aren't a twelve-year-old girl on the verge of puberty, you can't deny the truth in that.  We are falling prey to lies constantly.  "I'm so ugly...I'm dumb...I have no talents...S/he is a WAY better person than I am...If only..."  Even if you don't believe every lie that pops into your head throughout the day, if you don't shut it down immediately, it's there.  And it gnaws at your brain until you actually start giving in to it; believing it.  Real talk, people:  I struggle with this.  Especially after being exposed to the university environment where GPA is everything and everyone's only concern seems to be their own success.  Things that used to come naturally to me didn't seem to come so naturally anymore.  I actually had to study for tests (which, I suppose, shouldn't have been new to me).  I felt worthless every time I made a mistake academically, and I allowed it to crush me.  The lie I was so often believing was that I was worthless.  The truth?

  Source

I am chosen.  I am royalty.  I am part of a holy nation and I belong to God.  Of course I knew this, but it wasn't until this year after going to Passion (which I might talk about a little bit later) that I really started to believe it.  And once I started to believe it, it began to shut down some of those lies I was letting fill my precious mind container.   A couple weeks ago it seemed like my professor had nothing good to say about a project of mine.  I just though to myself:  "It's okay.  He must not know I'm part of a royal priesthood."  It actually made me want to laugh out loud, because the Truth literally set my mind free from the falsehood I was feeding it.  What I was filled with instead was pure joy.

Annie Downs had the genius idea of making these "Lie vs. Truth" cards.  The idea is that on one side of the card, you write down a lie you often believe, and on the other side you write the Truth of what scripture actually says on that matter.  For example, I made one saying "I am not chosen" on one side, and on the other side I wrote 1 Peter 2:9 (the verse you just read above).  So whenever I'm falling captive to the lie of worthlessness again, I just flip over my card and remember that I'm part of a chosen generation (NBD).  I encourage you to make some Lie vs. Truth cards of your own and carry them with you everywhere you go, or make them for someone you know who needs them!  Here are some examples of a few I made.













 I challenge you to shut down the lies and grow some Truth flowers in your mind garden today.



Saturday, March 22, 2014

Smitten with the Mitten: In Every. Single. Season.



"Smitten with the Mitten."  I'm sure you've heard the phrase.  I feel like I'm seeing it everywhere these days—on shirts, bumper stickers, this adorable watercolor on Etsy, and, (sometimes seemingly without reason), hashtags (*shudder*).  So you would think you would see all these Mitten-loving maniacs blowing up social media with how much they love Michigan weather, right?  Ha.

Indeed, this winter was a doozy.  The Great Lakes were frozen for almost the entire season (which I guess is a record breaker), Grand Rapids experienced an accumulation of 111 inches of snow (which is over 9 feet...I know—I did the math on my phone calculator) and I'm pretty sure I heard it was warmer in the South Pole multiple times throughout the Polar Vortex.  I admit, I got a little tired of going to bed with the promise of sunshine in the morning and waking up to four feet of snow to shovel off my car.  And I was a tad pouty when I triumphantly packed away my winter coat after the third consecutive day of 40 degree weather, only to have to dig it back out the next day due to another unexpected snowfall.  I got pretty darn tired of it.

Recently a friend mentioned how tired she was of seeing all the negative posts about the weather on Facebook (i.e. "Remind me why I live in Michigan again??") , and I agreed with her wholeheartedly.  I would be lying if I hadn't wished I lived somewhere—anywhere—else at times.  Long winters can be draining, and Spring Fever comes an-itching.  There are times when I wanted to take a blow torch to my front yard, just so I could catch a glimpse of grass.  But friends, I would not trade my homeland's s schizophrenic weather habits for anything.  This 14 week winter has made me so grateful for the hope of springtime.  I even found this little guy burrowing its way through a bank of snow by my front porch.  





If he can do it, so can I.

So I challenge you, if the 30% chance of snow on Tuesday turns into a 100% chance and you feel like stabbing the frozen ground with a steak knife until it thaws, resist the urge.  Bundle up and join me in celebration for the chance to put off shaving our legs for another day.  It is my hope that you will choose to let your grumbling give way to gladness.



As for me, I shall remain smitten.



Thursday, March 20, 2014

My Pilot

My first blog post.  I've been stewing ideas in my mind for days.  DAYS.   But one question I could just not answer:  where in the world to begin?  I came to the conclusion that a simple introduction just might be the solution.





Hi!  My name is Reina.  I'm a native Michigander living in and loving the little city of Kalamazoo.  I attend Western Michigan University where I am currently working towards a BFA in Graphic Design, all the while trying to shed some Jesus light in the Western community.  I lead worship at gracespring Bible Church in Richland, and LOVE it.  It is probably the most rewarding thing in my life.  I am the eldest of three children, reigning (ha) over my 18 year old sister who also attends Western (but may be leaving the state soon—BOO) and my brother who is a freshman in high school and just signed up to take driver's training.  (This took me by surprise when he informed me of this last week...I've basically held the illusion that he's been in 6th grade for the past four years).  Anyways, they're both super great and I love them to death.  I have parents too.  Also great.


A horrible picture that we both
hate and love at the same time.


So back to the blog thing...I've been trying to figure out what exactly this is going to be, and I've come to the conclusion that it just might be a little bit of everything.  My goal is to spread a little more sunshine into the world, so I'm hoping that's what this will be—a little dose of positivity; an encouraging word to inspire you to do some good during your day...Maybe just a giggle.  Either way, I hope you enjoy what you read.

Salutations (picked that one up from Charlotte's web),





Monday, March 17, 2014

COMING SOON!

Here's a picture of a wiener dog dressed like a school bus to hold you over.