a thought, and a recommendation

I told some girls one night at church that they should never trap themselves in a box before God does. Then I realized that I have been doing this to myself. What I mean by this phrase is that sometimes I will get into this mindset where I am in a jail cell and suffering for Christ. Yet if you look at my life I am not in a jail cell! Some must think at times that I am uptight or just negative. And I wonder if Paul ever felt upright or negative while he was in jail, because it seems like he may have had more joy because he saw people in jail come to Christ! whoa. That would be amazing! I think I get trapped by not setting my hopes up because I should always expect the worst, because God glorifies Himself through weakness right? But then I was thinking lately, God doesn't just use evil to do good, but uses good to do good! I heard yesterday morning that God is actually searching for those that he can bless!

Anyways, I am watching the movie Anywhere but Here, and this movie makes me tear up. It is really sad, but very good. It is about a mother who sacrifices everything for her daughter, and shows the imperfection of herself. Like one time she sleeps through the whole weekend and finally on Monday morning before school, her daughter has to drag her out of bed. This mother is single and raising this child, while just not getting it all together, not being able to pay the bills and just emotionally drained, but you can see the love she has for her daughter. In the end her daughter wants to go away to school in Rhode Island but her mother feels betrayed, or more at a loss, because she will lose her daughter. In the end the mother sells her car to help get her daughter to college. This I believe is a picture of genuine sacrifice in love, in the sense of daily living. Ofcourse Christ is the picture of ultimate sacrfice, but how much do we actually give of our life in living (not death)? I recommend watching this movie to remind you of being real with the people you love, loving them even through your failures.