I'm A Describer

Definition:

DESCRIBE

• To convey an idea or impression of, characterize
• To give an account of in speech or writing
• To represent pictorially; depict
• To trace the form or outline of

Synonyms: narrate, recite, recount, relate, report.


I had an epiphany last night after reading in Jeremiah 10. I was writing some notes on it and got one line in...and picked up my journal instead. What are your real reasons Ashley for learning scripture, reading the bible, and seeking wisdom and knowledge of who God is? What is the purpose? If I gained all this 'stuff' that I knew in my head and my heart...what am I uniquely suppose to do with it all? I know we are called to share it....but everyone hears things so different, everyone communicates so different...how am I suppose to share it with people...I am not fluent in speaking with people I don't know and even those I do.  "Make Him the focus....the eye in the sky...whom I am DESCRIBING." The word 'describing' which I journaled resonated in my head. OH. I was made to Describe who Jesus is to people. I am gifted at describing things....relating...connecting...representing. I have always seen something and connected it to something else...that's how my mind works. It's a describing train...the boxcars being words, pictures, feelings, ideas.

God made my purpose a little more clear last night...to desrcibe this mystery of the gospel in all avenues of my life whether in....painting, photography, music, writing, cake, and on and on...wherever else He takes me. I knew all my talents were connected to Him, but when put in terms of DESCRIBING Him to the world instead of the words telling...sharing...explaining...talking...speaking...etc...it came full circle and really made sense to me. In painting I describe whats going on in my soul through color and images. In music I describe through emotion and an inner cry/connection. In photography I describe the essence and splendor of a moment. In writing I describe with relating, words, emotion, experiences, ideas and thoughts. With cake I describe with creation, color, senses, and joy. In all aspects of life....if I can deny myself from living in the flesh (flesh meaning my own desires as a human when I'm not filled with the spirit )....and be so in tune and one with His heartbeat and will...then I should be describing Him fully in all I do, make, say, create. Loving someone well by sacrificing my time or whatever I put aside is a reflection of His love...it's a form of describing him to another person...even without words or explanation. Describing Him is a train with endless boxcars...Jesus is in the Engine AND at the Caboose.

,
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
 ~Colossians 1:15-17


I was always looking for and running to the Chief Engineer heading up the cars running the show. I didn't realize He was at the beginning and the end. He's the image. God is invisible and I have to describe Jesus' image. He is in all things and everything points back to the cross...so I have to describe that. Maybe that is how and why I understand my Savior so visibly. It is this gift He has given me of connecting things--->images...emotions...truths...experiences...people....ideas...thoughts....And since He is in all things...connecting everything back to Him makes complete sense to me. It flows...it congeals...it all lines up. God has described Jesus to me...now I get to describe Jesus to others. What an awesome thing to get to describe...especially when everything and I mean everything points to Him....He is the glue that holds us all together....He is the butter in the cake mix...He is the essential ingredient.


So when people ask me what I do for a living....maybe I'll say..."I'm a Describer."

YET

Habakkuk.
hmm. funny word. sounds like something a animal might quack out. It's not an animal cackle, it's a book in the Old Testament. Root word in Hebrew meaning "embrace." Well that's much prettier isn't it?

It's a short book, 3 chapters..2 & an inkblot pages long in my bible wedged between Nahum and Zephaniah (haha, now that word sounds like a sneeze...God Bless You). I don't have a recollection of ever reading this. I found it to be full. Habakkuk was a prophet, a countryman of Judah. Basically he is asking God some really straight up questions like 'Where you at...when are you gonna show up...how long...why are you runnin the show this way?' And God responds by saying basically 'watch what I do and be amazed, wait, and I'll handle it in my time and way.' My favorite part was at the end where Habakkuk says "YET I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior." He's like..."even though fig trees don't bud and the vines are grapeless and the pens are sheepless and all the cows have taken a vacation which means no hamburgers for Friday night dinners...Yet everything around me is all dried up...and it doesn't make sense...I rejoice." I love the word YET in the passage. Yet all this...I don't care...whatever...I trust you Lord. FAITH. good stuff. Pretty sure we can all learn a lesson from that and apply it to our life. I tell myself...suck it up and rejoice...I don't have to understand now...the beauty of it all is YET to come!

"His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden." ~Habakkuk 3:4
 

This reminded me of a painting I did a while back when I was 'searching' for the Lord. I painted a hand with rays flashing out from it. Didn't know what all the images and thoughts in my head meant at the time and still don't completely. I remember I felt a battle between my mind and my heart and the only way I could explain it was to paint it. God was saying...'stop thinking so much...stop trying to make sense of everything and analyze me and life...just believe and all will be added to you.' Hence the cross jabbing through the brain in the painting....the battle. It's like I couldn't walk up those steps through the door to see the otherside until I LET GO and just trusted Him with everything. Then I had eyes to see what I had been trying to figure out the whole time. Jesus was the bridge, the key, the connecting point to the mystery of this power to live free and understand.

 Anywho...when I was reading this scripture in Habakkuk on Monday it triggered a memory of the hand I painted. The next morning I was teaching my preschool art class and we were making Australian hand print paintings where they would make lines or 'rays' coming from their hand and the scripture popped in my head.  And a funny added bonus last night...a slide show of pictures arrived on my computer screen saver...and the second photo...there it was...the painting.
Back then I didn't understand who Jesus was YET...or how he was/is connected to everything in my life, in the universe, in all creation. I was like Chapter 1 & 2 Habakkuk...asking questions...trying to get answers from God...about what was going on around me and inside me...challenging and questioning what I didn't get or what didn't make sense to my human mind or worldly views I had collected on my shelf along with intellect and experiences...I let those things define who God was to me instead of letting God reveal to me who He really is. Oh what a lengthy mistake I dragged with me all those years. The truth was sitting under my nightstand in a green covered book entitled "Holy Bible" which made me cringe back then everytime I thought about opening it. The mysterious power...this power that flashes in rays from God's hand, I realized I never let penetrate my heart...I only looked at it from afar like a firework show. How much more dazzeling to be in the sky right next to the lights. It took the Chapter 3 Habakkuk perspective to open my eyes. Throw up my hands. Rejoice, have faith in the unknown...have faith in Jesus Christ and trust who the word says He is, who God says he is...and just believe that...then wait...and watch...and be utterly amazed. And so I did...and I was amazed...and I still am...and I continue to be...flash by flash...yet by yet.

"For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."~Colossians 3:3

HIDDEN...with Christ...in God...
Like in the earlier scripture ...'rays flashed from his hand, where his power was HIDDEN." ~Habakkuk 3:4

God's power is hidden in His hand...Christ is in God's hand, He is the power...and we who put our faith in Christ and lose our lives for him...this mysterious faith...are hidden with him...in God's hand.

Habakkuk.

EMBRACE.




DAILY DOSE

Okay so this is neither here nor there. Just some funny things the kids did today. This is a class of 3 and 4 year olds so you can imagine the ridiculousness that takes place in that room.

*QUESTION: What snack did you bring today?
  ANSWER: Gram-crappers.

* A little boy had a costume horse head on today. He paced back and forth walking towards the wall...touching it with his horse nose...then pivot turned and paced about 15 feet touching the horse nose to the room support beam...over and over he repeated the process over and over. I watched him for a good minute.

SHOE POLISH FOR THE SOUL

Ditch the morning latte...A Loving way to spend your $3.

I was in Dallas last week at a stoplight and I read a bumper sticker on a car in front of me that said "God is Pro Life." I thought yes He is...which led to thinking other things. Like... 'that's cool that person has a bumper sticker that proclaims that statement for other people to see. It's cool that person is being bold and isn't afraid of what others think. Man, why aren't there more things in this city in front of my face that I can look at about God...about Jesus? Why are there all these other words, advertisements, and visuals to look at, but no truth to look at? Why don't we have scripture on our cars?" Ding ding ding...we have a winner. What if all the believers in this city wrote the word of God on their cars with shoe polish. Can you imagine?? Well I imagined it...and it's awesome. Think about how many people see your car a day...going to work--->coming back from work--->going to the gym--->at the drivethru--->at stoplights--->ummm everywhere. Then multiply that and think of how many eyeballs would gaze at the WORD OF GOD if all your family did it, your friends, your community group, your church.

When you are on your way to the grocery store for milk...those who don't know Jesus and those who do know Jesus will be parked behind your bumper. Let's share what our eyes have seen and our ears have heard with people...let's not keep this hope just to ourselves that Christ has given us. Let's give light to it. Isaiah 55:11 says: "So is the word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Who knows what God would do in someone's life...or what person He will make your car cross paths with that day. Maybe...encourage, save, lift up, comfort, give hope, restore, speak to, give wisdom and understanding, change hearts, give peace, love?


So...yesterday I heard the calling again and I turned into the grocery store and bought a $2.99 stick of white liquid shoe polish. As I was pulling out of the parking lot I started having doubts and all these scenes played out in my head of people persecuting me for it...BUT THEN...a red truck passed in front of me slowly and in the corner of the windshield on the bottom right hand side was a big smiley face :) written in..that's right...Shoe polish. It was like God was giving me the thumbs up...waving the flag to push toward the goal...and smiling at me. I got home and was searching in my bible for a chosen scripture and the first one I flipped to was blocked off in a pen marking. Matthew 24:9. My eyes caught it and it read, "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and yo u will be hated by all nations because of me."  Well that is okay I thought. I expect that. I am going to ACTS 20:24 this thing and keep trucking. I got a scripture from a note card I had taped on my mirror, Romans 5:8. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." I painted the letters onto my SUV's back windshield. The words speak for themselves, I don't have to do anything except press the gas.


This morning I felt humble as I drove to work at 8 am. Traffic on either side, in front, and behind me. I wondered who was reading it. I wondered as I switched lanes who I would be in front of next. Who had God aligned for my white Kia Dottie to pass or slow down in front of? Who walked by it in the parking lot today? Did a little kid sitting in the backseat ask their mom who Christ was and what the words meant on the car? Was there a believer who was having a bad morning and then became hopeful after reading that...remembering God's love for them? So many hopeful scenarios...I'll never know....and I think that's the cool thing about it...because God gets all the glory, we aren't in control of the people who see or don't see it...He is...therefore we can not boast. "Offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." ~ Romans 6:13 Be His instrument. Let your car be an instrument for righteousness.

So...anyone who has 3 bucks laying around...buy a stick of shoe polish and choose a scripture to share with God's people. Proclaim Him boldly on your car like that one person did with a bumper sticker in a creative way. Get your family, friends, community group to do it with you. We as people who have been blessed by Him to know the mystery of the gospel have a responsibility and longing to share that love with others of  this eternal and glorious hope that Jesus brings to all who know Him. "I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of god for the salvation of everyone who believes." Romans 1:16. Join in on sharing the gospel with your city...one shoe polish scripture at a time. I'm going to switch it up every week I think. Acts 20:24 "However I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me---the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.""

WARNING-SIDE EFFECTS: Putting scripture on the back of your car may make you into a more graceful and kind driver. (knowing I was representing the Lord today while behind the wheel caused me to not drive as fast or cut anybody off)

My So Called Life

Revamping my blogging habits and crossing over from writing about cakes and bridging over to the spoonfuls of the sweet life God pours out in front of my eyes everyday. This blog used to be for my business Icing & Aprons and it's sister blog is still up and running http://www.icingandapronsblog.com/ . After weeks and months of thoughts, stories, and revelations I've decided today to layout the roads being paved out in my mind and put these tire tracks to paper...well I guess it would be...to the computer screen and keyboard. I couldn't figure out what to title this blogging adventure. Then like the wind blows, my favorite TV series growing up as a teenager swirled into my head, "My So Called Life."


This was a TV show about a high school girl growing up going through all those typical high school experiences. Angela played by Claire Danes was a character I was intrigued by as I instinctively cuddled up to her misfit corks that I related to. Reserved, quiet, dreamer, observer, disconnected, thinker...not typical. Not to mention the guy she adored was Jordan Catallano, an equally mysterious loner who wore a skinny black leather choker around his neck...a fashion statement I found myself replicating for years. I liked Angela's perspective on life, her search for meaning in everything and her deep awareness and questions for life that surpassed the everyday worldly views and trendy topics. Between her and Keri Russell's artsy college character in "Felicity" I found comfort in meshing with their seemingly normal outer shell appearance and strange inside soul. They were different and it was okay...I didn't feel alone. Until that is I faced that..they were TV characters.


Well I'm not Angela, and I'm not Felicity...I'm Ashley. Through trucking around these years and making my own tracks...I've come to a place of being 'okay' with who I am...not based on any fictional character or script. I'm at this place by the grace of God and through the acceptance of Jesus Christ. My life apart from Christ is a road map of overlapping and cris cross tire tracks...a jumbled up mess...dead ends, U-turns, empty tanks, and wrecks (I have no idea how this car analogy has come into play...but here it is VROOM).


I always wanted to embrace my inner hippie and rent a van and take off down the road and drive cross country until the vehicle broke down or I missed my family too much. I could experience the unknown, capture snapshots of my adventure, take river baths, spit unrythmic annoying tunes from a harmonica, and eat beef jerky for dinner...in this whimsical hope of one day documenting and sharing stories of my wild foot prints around America..or Europe.


Well, in some weird way...I'm living that dream and desire. Jesus has allowed me through the power of the Holy Spirit to go where the wind takes me, to experience this mystery of the unknown, and dive into the rivers of change and freedom. I am taking snapshots of these moments...of these times and I'm using myself as a harmonic instrument for God. I am at a new 'state-line' every week it feels like. Growing, seeing, learning, loving, forgiving, embracing, allowing change, walking in purpose.


So here I am. I came to a stoplight in life with a fork in the road. I chose the narrow path to life and threw up the duces to the wide path that leads to destruction. Jesus is now in the truck driver's seat hands on the wheel and I'm chilling next to Him with a skinny black choker around my neck, chompin down on a stick of beef jerkey. It's the best road trip I've ever been on and the only one with a clear and purposeful destination. I'm one happy hippie. So through the lens of God's video camera and His script....this is my so called life.