Plumb Line

My dad and I were putting tile down in our bathroom last weekend. And before we actually laid the tile me dad told me to get a "plumb line." I had heard of this before, but never in terms of laying tile. So we stretched out the line across the longest span of the bathroom into what we considered to be straight. (for purposes of illustration let's say it was perfectly straight).

We drew with blue chalk on the actual rope and then snapped it on the ground to create a nice straight blue line. I began to remove the actual plumb line. "stop!" my dad yelled. (not really YELLED but more of an exclamation) Turns out that you are supposed to leave the plumb line there the whole time.

Now the purpose of this line is to make sure that as you go down the length of the bathroom the tiles are laid in a straight line and don't slowly curve. The blue line we popped on is to make sure the plumb line is always on line. So as we went along laying tiles and making sure they were straight in respect to the plumb line. We kept checking the plumb line to make sure it was lined up with the blue chalk.

I wanted to say that Christ is the plumb line. Just like Ephesians says that he is the cornerstone. It is based on HIS perfection that we are conformed into perfection. But at the same time, the plumb line was subject to the blue chalk. So maybe Christ is the blue chalk? And the Church is the plumb line? No, maybe not.

I guess it is true that all analogies break down at some point. I guess this point was much sooner than expected...

The point is, though, that Christ is the base. He is the model. The one that we strive to imitate. The one that we are conformed to. And the one that we will be like in the end of time. So if you are trying to look like a model in a magazine or to act like your best friend or be as big as the guy next to you at the gym, I would say that you are pursuing something that is false. Not just you, me as well. We are pursuing a useless and false and probably evil goal, when we try to be conformed to anything other than Christ.

The way is straight and narrow. Even a small deviation drives us off track. I will end my rambling now, but if you're not sure as to the truth in what I'm saying, look in the Bible. It is chock full of people who have pursued false goals and been corrected (or killed). It is also full of people who pursued God and ultimately received their reward. Check it out. Let me know what you think

Maybe you have a way to make the analogy work?

responsibility

I don't wanna grow up. I'm a toys-r-us kid!

I am starting to get more responsibility at work. And it is kinda scary.

yes, I am an engineer by degree, but that doesn't mean that I should be allowed to engineer stuff!

I just feel like peter parker "with great power comes great responsiblity" but the other way around. or something. okay that actually doesn't apply. i don't have great power. i actually have no power.

point is my boss is beginning to trust me with more stuff, and i don't feel like i'm ready for it. i don't feel like i have enough experience or general knowledge to do stuff on my own.

ready for the third random childhood reference for the night? here it is: remember rugrats? I recall one episode where angelica is turning 3 (maybe 4?) and finds out that growing up requires responsibility. and in response she dresses up as a baby and tries to grow down.

random, i know. but i have that thought ingrained in my mind every time i think of responsibility.

this is usually the point that i would connect rugrats to my spiritual life and come to an amazing conclusion. as implied by my last sentence, that wont be happening this time. in all honesty, i dont have a deep connection. my boss is trusting me more and more and i don't want it. i want to be a child and not grow up. its actually a love hate realtionship.

i don't have an answer for this concern of mine. and i am also learning that it is okay to not always have answer. i didn't want to just pose problems to which i have already found a solution, cause that isn't reality. in reality i don't have all my problem solved as soon as they appear. in fact it takes a long time to find a solution. after that long time is when i will typically tell people my problem, along with how i overcame. this time i'm trying it a bit differently. :)

Rock Climbing...for God!

Okay, I don't actually know what it means to "Rock Climb for God!" but I thought it sounded cooler than "Rock Climbing." I think you would agree.

I got to go rock climbing this weekend with some great friends. And it was awful! Actually, it was great, but the next day was awful! I was sore sore and my body was fatigued. I couldn't even write! Crazy, right? Anyway, below is my deep observation of rock climbing and how it relates to the Christian faith, enjoy!

Well, for those who don't know when you're rock climbing (this is indoor rock climbing, I would never trust myself to go rock climbing on real rocks) there are two roles you are in. You are either the climber or the belay-er. The climber climbs. And the belay-er belays. The last one may need more explanation. This person is anchored to the ground to act as your lifeline. If you fall, or get tired, or reach the top and need to come down, you look the belay-person to help you. They are your support.

Now I had always thought that the person climbing did the all the work and the person standing as belay just got to stand there. Boy was I wrong. The belay-er does just as much work as the climber. I mean the life (or at least health) of the climber is literally in their hands. As the climber climbs, the belay-er must tighten the line to remove all slack. This is so the climber doesn't get tangled in the rope and so if they fall, they don't fall all the way. If the climber is exhausted, the belay-er has to hold the rope tight while the climber rests. And when the climber gets discouraged (as I often was when I climbed the wall) the belay-er acts as a coach and encourager, sometime giving the climber a little extra lift to make it to the next step.

So it got me thinking. I could write a whole post about what it means to "climb the wall of faith" and to not give up. And to reach for the top. But that is typical. And I think that we put too much emphasis on the person doing the climbing sometimes. Sometimes, our role is to be the encourager. Barnabas, if you will. Note I did not write "Barabas", but "Barnabas", BIG difference. :)

The supporting role is so often looked down on. But after this weekend, I which it wasn't. I wish I didn't look down on it so often. Let me tell you after you have climbed a wall and assume the role of belay-er, pulling the slack tight is at times more difficult than the climb itself. Encouraging the person who is doing the visible work is tough. Cause in the end, they accomplished the task, not you. They reached the top, while you held them there. I don't know how deep it can go, but I definitely want to give a shout out to all those people who take the role of the belay-er. Who struggle through that and ensure that their friend makes it to the top.

Who yell out to their discouraged friend "Right next to your right knee is a yellow one you can stand on!" Who wont let them off the wall till the complete the task they set out to complete. Who love them and give themselves for them. Thank you friend. Though I may not say it enough, you are a blessing to all.

(as a side note, I think that we often see marriage and the woman's role like the belay-er. it isn't glamorous and some may point to the wife and say you're not actually doing anything. but how far from the truth that is. The climber would fail without the belayer. That is a fact. Both are so important to the success of the climb and neither role is easy to fulfill. We may get frustrated with the other role from time to time thinking they are not doing enough or that they have it easy. But we all will struggle on the climb. And we all need one another. If this last part is encouraging, take it and be encouraged. If not, ignore it. It's in parenthesis anyway.)

you forgot the cheese!

i got off work early this evening. actually i got off on time, just for the past 6 weeks, though, I have been working late...so it's pretty much early. that has nothing to do with my story, but i just thought i would share. :)

my little sister came home with my mom and was excited because she had convinced my mom to make mac n' cheese for dinner. she loves mac n' cheese. anyway, my mom puts the macaroni on the stove to allow the noodles to cook. after about 5 min, she was in her room doing something and asked my sis to stir the noodles. my sister opens the lid and cries in anger and frustration: "mom! you forgot the cheese!"
my mom responds with "i'm not done yet, the cheese comes later"

That's the end of that story, now comes when i over spiritual-ize the story:

how often do we look at what God is doing in our lives and respond in frustration "God! You're forgetting the best part!"  We think we know how it should work. We think that we know how God's blessings need to work, and when He needs to bless us.

what if we choose to stop and listen. what if God is responding like my mom: "i'm not done yet, the best part comes later. i know it looks awful now, and nothing like you expected, but in the end, your reward is so much better than you could ever imagine."

in the end, my sister  informed me with joy that the mac n' cheese was really good! and i'm glad.

Even Process Engineering?

This morning as I was having my quiet time, I began to write about how everything points to God. The passage was talking about idol worship and I was combating that by saying that giving glory to anything other than God is wrong, because everything points to him and exists for his glory. Not crazy deep, but true.

Then I wrote out a questions that I have been struggling with for a while : "Even Process Engineering?"

That is what I do. I am a Process Engineer. That means that I engineer chemical-type processes. This includes everything from the chemistry of the plant, to determining how big a pump needs to be to get fluid from point A to point B, to meeting with other types of engineers to work out issues and questions. I have only been doing this for 5 weeks now, so my role to this point has been determining the size of pumps and tanks in the plant...Don't be fooled, it isn't as crazy fun as it sounds. No really, I know it sounds comparable to a week at Disney World, but trust...it's not.

Well, in this mundane role I have begun to question how God gets any glory from this. How does my work here, now, sizing this pump, give God any glory and advance his Kingdom?

Well, this morning when I asked myself this question, here's the answer I wrote out:

Yes. We are creating, like God. We are using the physical laws of our Lord to create a process that works every time. We relate with other people, who were made in the image of God, and who are loved by him just as I am.  So yes, even Process Engineering points back to God.

I'm not going to say that everything makes perfect sense now and that all is great! But I do feel more at peace. I do acknowledge God's ways more. And I think I can work with more purpose and joy knowing that God does receive glory from even the simplest tasks. 

God the Rock

Okay, this is a post of encouragement and teaching to primarily college students (which most of my friends fall in that category) but I think all of us need this.

I used to say, and still believe, that every semester of college is completely different than the last. There may be some similarities, but for the most part it is a completely new life. This is one of the facets of college life. Every semester you have new classes, new schedules, new friends. You don't eat with the same people at the same time at the same place because it just doesn't work like it did the semester before. And that's fine.

My only problem with this advice fell upon graduation. Okay, it's great to know that each semester will be different, but I am entering the real world where each year is the same with minor changes. Quite the opposite of college, so why is this a good thing to learn in college??? Because the biggest change is when you leave college.

here comes my rant:

While you are in college, whether you are graduating in May or just started last fall, you must strive to make God the core. God must be the Rock in your life. All that you are must be built on the Rock that is God. In fact, I will give it as a command: Build your foundation, your core, on God. This isn't an investment option.This is a necessity. Because when you get out of college everything, EVERYTHING changes. Nothing stays the same. People change, places change, schedules change, everything changes. But God.

God never changes. He is, and was, and will be forever. He is constant in an ever changing life. He is a strong rock.

And if you build your foundation on Him, when everything around changes, your core wont. It cant. If all of your life is grounded in God, and God doesn't change, your life doesn't get turned over. Things will still change, and it will still be difficult, but you will still be strong in God.

If you don't build yourself on God, your life will fall apart. It has to. All that you ever knew changes, and nothing is stable if  don't build on God.

So for everyone in college, please spend whatever time you have remaining building on the Rock. Setting solid paths and groundwork for your life in the only unchanging person. Learn to cling to God with everything and never let go. That is what it is all about.

The First Day of the Rest of my Life

I know that technically everyday is the first day or the rest of my life, but this Monday was more literally so. I began work on Monday, it started my career, which is the rest of my life. So Monday was the first day of the rest of my life.

It is so weird. I have had internships before, so the environment is not particularly new to me. But the mindset is different. At all my internships, I could say that I was leaving. If something was not great, I could say with confidence that it would soon be over. I never really had to settle in, because I would soon leave. The notion that is was temporary was always in the back (or front) of my mind.

Now, it is not temporary.

This is my job. The start of my career. The goal is to not make it short-term. Cause if it ends, that makes me jobless. There is no school to look to in a few months. There is a full-time job. And that's scary.

Also, it is hard to wrap my mind around how good God is. I don't think I ever will, but I can't even understand how good the stuff he does are. I mean, this job is a blessing in and of itself. Everyone I talk to at the company tell me that it is surprising that I got a job. How the company is just starting to hire people and that is a great time to be hired. I didn't even do anything to get the job. I can't claim it. God did it, that is for sure.

Yet, I fear. I fear that it is wrong. That the company didn't mean to hire me. That this isn't the job God wants me to have. That it is temporary. That is will not last. I fear that if I get comfortable, I will fail. And that is not true.

I need to keep reminding myself that this job is here to stay. That I am called to the workforce and God wants to use me there. That I didn't do anything to get this job, and if God wants to take it away, there is nothing that I can do to change it.

I want to share this time with you. Let you in. Allow you to join me as I figure out what it truly means to glorify God in all I do. To work heartily for the Lord, not for men. And maybe we can learn a few things out along the way.