Deciphering the Scribbles of a Christian Life

I live in awe of the Holy Spirit every time He connects the dots in my teensy little mind.  Sights, sounds, smells, textures, tastes... they stir memories, tie experiences together, and knot knowledge in a way we can't unsee things.  Claude Hickman explains it like this:  Once someone shows you the Big Dipper,  you can't look at the sky again and NOT see it.  It's always there.  You can't unsee it.  Avery Willis and Mark Snowden explain in their book, Truth that Sticks more of how God uses our senses, to solidify our knowledge of Him.  We are created to experience God, not just to learn about Him.  Once we see Him, we can never unsee Him.  The more the dots connect, the clearer we see the whole picture.   



This morning, God started illustrating a story He's been writing on my heart.  He connected the dots between three Bible passages, two unrelated Sunday School lessons, and a Tot:

• The Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:2-3 and Hebrews 5:12-14 & 1 Peter 2:2 ~ should we still be drinking "milk" like an toddler, or should we move on to the meat (maturity).
• The Sunday School Lessons: 
• Who is our example?  Do we really have one?  - A SS teacher once asked this and everyone in the room seemed dumbfounded.  Hello!?  Just give the SS answer ~ it's Jesus.  He may seem like the impossible example, but at the same time, he's the ultimate example. 
• Another SS teacher once walked us through Exodus.  I specifically remember her lesson on one of the 10 Commandments, "You shall not take the name of hte Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain."  
• The Tot ~ the ultimate imitator of my every action.

Okay, so, this morning, I'm journaling and the Tot wants to write in her book just like me.  I pen her name, and she traces it.  She desperately wants to be able to write like me, just as I desperately want live like Jesus... (Note, one of my prayers is that I could really say I desperately want that.  Right now, I think I just kinda' want it, but I desperately want to desperately want it.  Get it?)  I look over at her tracing skills and it reminds me of how far off I am from following my ultimate example.  If my writing wasn't there, could you decipher this:

• I wonder if others can see Jesus in me?  He gives me a pattern, but sometimes, He is barely visible beneath my attempts to imitate His life?  
• I wonder if I am taking the Lord's name in vain by claiming to be a Christian.  I'm not one to say, "omg" or even something more harsh, but that's not the only way we use His name in a negative way.  If I say I am a CHRISTian, but my actions, words, and life display something else, I do not bring glory to Him.  What does my version of "Christian" look like to others?

Maybe my story is just a dot on the timeline of His story, but I see Him connecting it to others.  He created each of us, and he uses our lives to create a picture of his glory.  The picture makes it impossible for others to unsee Him.  As my story unfolds, I pray that I can hold the pen lightly and let His hand guide me, then He becomes the writer and the illustrator.  Because when I try to do it myself, even if I'm trying my best to trace the lines, it just ends in scribbles on a page.  ~ It's Plain & Simple As That.