I've been MIA for a while. Life is just so...well, life. :D We've been working hard in school to be where I want us to be before Christmas, we are preparing for a new puppy, Cora is going to be in a production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever next weekend, and I've finished my Christmas shopping! WOOHOO! Exciting stuff!!
Side note: I asked Emma what I should blog about and without missing a beat she said, "You can blog about how cute I am!" While I'm not going to devote an entire blog post to Emma's cute factor (not right now anyway, lol), I do want to take a minute and point out that she's so stinkin' cute, I can't stand it, lol. xoxo
A couple of days ago, Patrick decided to stop by the store to pick up a few things. While he was there, he decided the girls needed new crayons so he picked up a box. Have I mentioned how much I love that man?? When he got home, I stared aghast at the box of Dollar General brand crayons in his hands. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I was like, "Are you for real?" He knows we are a CRAYOLA family. There is simply no substitution for a brand new box of Crayola crayons! The way they smell, the way they glide across the paper, the even color, ahhhhh... Anyway, he couldn't believe that the "Geddes" brand crayons weren't going to be just as fabulous. It took him all of two seconds of coloring to realize that just because the box might say the same thing, and the colors might be similar, there is simply no substitution for the real deal.
I don't want to preach at you (or maybe I do), but I find so many people are substituting fakes for the real deal. Everyone is looking for something. And if you look long enough you will find exactly what you're looking for. Stands to reason, huh? We were made for one thing, and one thing only: To glorify our Father in heaven. You can choose Him, or you can choose something less. "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad." Matthew 12:30 If you choose a substitution (the world, your family, your job, alcohol, drugs, sex, your church, etc) over God, your results might look similar, but you've chosen less than what He wants for you. You might smile, you might even be happy, but you will never be whole. Like that box of cheap crayons, your choices might look close to the real thing, but your results will not be God's best for you!
Now, some of those things I listed above aren't even bad choices. And like Patrick with the crayons, you might be choosing with love in your heart, but still you will not be whole without a life that puts God in first place. He is the real deal. To illustrate my point further, think about this: Let's say you take those cheapo crayons (the substitutions) and color a picture (your life). Your picture might look like all the white space is filled. From a distance, it might even look finished. But when you get up close, you can see the uneven color, the gaps, the pieces of crayon that fell off and got stuck to the paper. You get what I'm saying, yes? Putting God first doesn't mean that you won't get out of the lines every now and then, but it does mean that you will be creating a masterpiece that glorifies Him.
I don't know about you, but I've tried the Wal-mart brand, the Kmart brand, the Dollar General brand, and I keep coming back to Crayola. Why accept the substitutions? Go ahead and choose God's very best for you! He wants you to take it. In fact, He's already paid the price to give it to you.
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10
Excellent post Nakia!
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