Food For Thought...

If there is one thing that discredits the message of the Cross more than anything else, it's "Christians" behaving no differently than non-Christians.  If someone were asked whether or not they thought you were a Christ follower, what would they say?  If someone were to ask the same question of me, I ashamedly have to admit that they'd probably say I'm just a good person.  This breaks my heart more than I can say.

Sure, I can be moral.  I can refuse to curse, gossip, steal, etc.  Does that make me a Christian?  Not by a long shot.  Refusing to behave badly doesn't save me from the just wrath of a Holy and Righteous God.  It doesn't cover the punishment I DESERVE for sinning against Him.

That's why God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us.  We had/have no hope apart from Him.

Jesus Christ lived a perfect, righteous, and sinless life, something we could never do.  Then he bore the weight of our sin and just wrath of God.  He took it all upon Himself so that we wouldn't have to.  


If we truly understood what was done on our behalf, why wouldn't our lives reflect it?  If you realized what you were saved from, the unfathomable wrath of a God you sinned against and the punishment of eternal damnation and separation from Him, the last thing you would be trying to do is lead a good life.  Jesus Christ deserves SO much more than that.  Even devoting our entire lives to bringing glory and honor to Him wouldn't be enough to say "thank you". 

The problem I'm facing with all of this, is that I can't seem to re-ignite the passion I had when the reality of Christ's love for me first hit home.

You know...(2)

It's even harder to not wallow in self-pity.  God, help me dwell on You and not myself.

You know...

It's hard to not be self-critical. gah

"I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by"

You know those times when you have the perfect opportunity to say something witty, but can't because you're utterly incapable of thinking quickly on your feet?  You also know those times when you think of said-witty-comment, after the conversation's over, but still feel the need to say it anyways?  So you tell someone (who wasn't involved in the aforementioned conversation) about it, only to realize that it in doing so, it completely defeats the purpose?  Yeah.  I do that all the time. 

Lol.

Hi Summer! Bye Summer!...wait...it's only July?...oh

Well, unintentionally (mostly) it's been almost a month (possibly longer) since I've been on here.  Oh well.  In my defense, this summer has been hectic, particularly this past month.  June 2-12, Jon and I flew to MD to surprise my brother for his high school graduation and my youngest sister for her 15th birthday.  We were quite surprised upon our arrival to see that that they were ACTUALLY surprised by our surprise.  There were several times when our cover of "not being able to come" was almost blown, but fortunately for Jon and I, my siblings apparently are dense. Operation Surprise-Trent-and-Natalie was a rousing success.  Go figure.

From thence onward, I've been busy playing catch-up with work, due to aforementioned MD vacation.  The nice thing about being so busy is that by the time 2:30PM roles around (which is when I get off) I'm usually surprised at how quickly it got there.  I do enjoy staying busy, but I'm also looking forward to when it'll slow down a bit.  I'll have to wait till September/October - though that's largely contingent upon the weather...and OK weather has had a knack for surprising me.  It'll probably be December if I'm being honest. =)

In other news, Jon and I were thinking about moving to a renovated house in our little neighborhood, but we both decided that for the fairly substantial increase in rent (compared to what we pay now, which is really good), it wasn't worth the hassle.  We'd mostly be upgrading in aesthetics and decreasing in functionality.  Where we live now, it's the opposite, but thankfully at least one of those aforementioned qualities can be addressed in our current location.  Here's to saving money!  Woohoo!

Well, that's all for now.  I've got another blog in the works - different in nature from this and will probably garner more feedback (which will be greatly appreciated).  I figured though, that I'd at least give an update on the goings on here.  As my father would say: I'm alive and well my avid followers - fear not! (I am my father's daughter).

Peace!

You are who you choose to be

Here's a little background information behind this blog.

My brother, Trent, has a rare bone disease called McCune Albright Syndrome which consists primarily of Fibrous Dysplasia (makes the bones brittle and easily breakable) and endocrine system abnormalities (like Hyperthyriodism - thankfully it's no longer an issue).  When Trent was diagnosed with this disease, my parents didn't knowhow to navigate this new phase in their lives.  It was then that they received the best advice they ever could have: "treat him normally".  And they did.  Trent is a perfectly normal, hilarious, intelligent, wonderful, loving, and sometimes annoying little brother whom I love more than I can say.

Despite the severity of his disease, Trent's life-long doctor, Dr. Stanton, was determined to make that statement/advice a reality.  His main goal was to keep Trent out of a wheelchair and walking.  Here is the note my brother wrote to Dr. Stanton after his graduation:

I choked up reading it.

Dr. Stanton:

Thank you so much for your kindness in sending me the check for $75.00 for my graduation. I plan on continuing at our local community college then hopefully transfer to Grove City College.

Thanks to you I am not in a wheelchair and I have lived a relatively normal life. That is the greatest gift I was ever given and on graduation day I was reminded of that gift as I walked down the aisle.

Thank you for everything.

Trent

He's a testament to the fact that you aren't defined by your circumstances, challenges, disabilities, etc.  Thank you to the doctors who gave my parents that invaluable advice.  Thank you to the doctors that have enabled Trent to lead a normal life.  Mostly, thank You God for Your never ending mercies, grace, and love. God truly is sufficient.

Talkin' talkin' talkin' talk..

You know those people who are easy to talk to? The ones who naturally keep a conversation flowing from one topic to the next without batting an eye?  Or those who make it easier to (cliche alert!) be yourself and are genuinely interested in what's being said? I know a few people like that.  No matter what you're talking about, they make you feel like what you're saying is interesting or important.  They are some of the sweetest and kindest people you will ever meet, and I would love to be like that.

Recently, I've been more aware of my conversation skills (or lack thereof).  I've come to the realization that, despite not being the stereotypical home-schooler, I have managed to mostly become....brace yourselves...socially awkward.  I know.  It's true.  I'm sure many of you are thinking right now, "No!" or "It's not possible! Jennifer is the coolest person ever!!" or "Oh the humanity!".  I know.  I was thinking the same thing.

But it's true.  I, Jennifer Lynn Moore am almost entirely conversationally inept.  I wish that was where it ended, but unfortunately, there's more.  I'm even worse when I have to actually MEET people and get to know them. Seriously, if I had a reality TV show,  my audience would quickly drop off due to death-by-cringe.  I'm the most awkward person ever when it comes to interacting with humanity.

Seriously though, all joking aside, I've found it quite difficult to talk to people.  Once we've moved past the usual pleasantries of a conversation, I find it nearly impossible to come up with something to talk about that isn't redundant, shallow, not worth discussing, etc.  I'm already utterly hopeless when it comes to stimulating conversation - heaven help me if I actually have to begin a discussion.  It's not that I'm not interested or not listening to the other person/people - I just don't know how to both listen AND contribute...I think....I don't know.

I'm not sure if what I'm saying makes any sense.  All I know is I could definitely use some pointers about how not to be a conversation killer. 

How do you people do it?!