Amazing Kinetics!

Kinetic sculpture that is! I came across this video of AMAZING kinetic wave sculptures, (thanks to my beautiful cousin Ella who so graciously sent me the link :)

I am amazed at the ambition some artists have to create and recreate their works until they have mastered an idea. There is something so awesome about the precision and mechanics of these sculptures.

The artist is Reuben Margolin, and math was clearly his strong point in school. Nature is constructed of mathematical equations, such as wavelength, crests and troughs of waves, and frequency. This artist has harnessed that knowledge and recreated delicate models of waves through geometry.
It truly is mind blowing!

Check out this video and prepare to be amazed!

At Last, My love has come along....

.... I think Etta James may have known something when she sang those words.

I just had a good laugh reading the New Living Translation. In Genesis, God created Adam and Eve. After seeing Eve for the first time in Genesis 2:23 Adam says, "At Last!"

 It made me smile thinking of this lonely person roaming around the garden. Even after seeing all of God's creation and even getting the privilege of naming each creation alongside God, he still felt something missing. He knew in his heart that God was not finished yet. Isn't that amazing? He says, 

"This one is bone from my bone,

  and flesh from my flesh!"

People were meant to be this excited about the possibilities of God. They were meant to see someone else  come to know and recognize God and say, "at last!" We are meant to have relationships built on faith! 

Step One: Confessing

Disclaimer: By reading this, you may find out more about me than you ever wanted to know.  But I’m putting it all out on the table. If you’re willing, grab a fork and dig in!

 

Confession:

I don’t know if I should set this up with any background or history of who I am, so I won’t. I guess if I’m going to title this entry as a confession, I need to keep it clean and simple. For me, this is my own personal band-aid. They say the quicker the better!

This confession takes on three parts:

1)    I am a liar.

2)    I am not a Christian

3)    I am scared to death.

 

 

Ouch. So there it is. My three part confession. Some of you who might be reading this (if you made it past my fancy disclaimer) might need to take a minute to digest this. So put your fork down and take a moment to let that sink in.

 

I think this sort of thing might be better if broken into parts again.

 

1)    I am a liar.

 

Yes. I am a liar. I have lied to myself more than anyone. However, that can be argued. I may have hurt others in my immaturity without even realizing it. If you have been hurt by this, I apologize from the bottom of my heart.

What have I lied about?

 

2)    I am not a Christian.

 

I have lied about being a Christ follower. If you have read this far, please do NOT stop reading. Let me bring some context to this.

Yes: I believe in Jesus Christ. He died for my sins and has offered me a whole new, clean, and beautiful life.

Yes: I believe in the Bible as the word of God. I believe that it is a book of instructions for living life.

Yes: I have asked God to take the wheel. I have asked Him into my heart and I meant it.

Some might say that these three points are the basis of being a Christian, and I whole-heartedly disagree.

 

Dictionary.com gives this a handful of ways to define the term “Christian.” A couple of my favorites are, “exhibiting a spirit proper to a follower of Jesus Christ” and “a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ.” Looking at these phrases, I realize that my life does not reflect the teachings of Christ.

 

I think the main thing I am trying to say is that I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I believe in the Bible. But I don’t believe I am living the life I am supposed to be living. Does that make sense?

For those of you reading this who don’t know me very well, I do sing on a worship team for an amazing church in Valdosta, House of Joy (www.houseofjoy.info).  After the very first time I visited, I felt like I was home. I knew that this church was where I was meant to be. I knew in my heart that no coincidence or accident could have brought me to that place.

Even though I cannot believe it has been almost a year now, I have been a part of a worship band that feels more like a family to me than anything else. I am humbled in a way that God chose to give me that blessing.

 

House of Joy has just begun a new journey. The current series of messages are titled “This is Who We Are.” This series describes who we are as a church. Our new and improved motto is “Love in, Love up, Love out,” Love in means love those in the church. Build meaningful relationships with those who are fellow Christ followers. Love up means to connect with God through reading His word, praying, and giving back to His church. Finally, Love out means reaching out to the community and world in which we live.

This past week the message was Love Up. While Pastor Kelly was talking about the three steps to strengthening a relationship with God, I felt a huge pang of guilt. Lets just say that reading the Bible has never been high on my list of priorities. Naturally following that, prayer has slipped dangerously close to being non-existent. Therefore, some may call me a hypocrite. And yes, I fit the bill. By being a volunteer in the church and not exercising my faith seems like a lie, doesn’t it?

 

This leads me to number three.

3) I am scared to death

 

This has been a very scary hour, writing this entire thing out. It seems too real when I know as soon as click “post,” my heart will be out there for everyone to read.

I have nothing to hide anymore. This is who I am.

 

So after all of this, you may be wondering why even bother typing this entire thing out and making a goof of myself in the first place?

I need to ask a favor. More than anything, I need prayer and advice. I know that this is the perfect time to discover and define who I know God wants me to be. I know that taking these steps will offer me an adventurous, exciting, scary, thrilling, and beautiful life in Christ.

 

So here I go. My plan is to read God’s word. Find out more about the Man I have been claiming to follow for so long. I am dropping all of my assumptions about Jesus and about my faith. I am simply going to follow this path and find out where it leads.

 

Thank you so much for making it through this confession. It means a lot to me to know that you took the time to read all of this mess that I have put out there to be read. I feel closer to you just for that, even if we have never met.

 

 

So now to conclude all of this mess, I have a couple of questions for you.

1)    Have you ever run into this realization? How did you feel? What were your fears or apprehensions?

2)    What did you do about it? Did you read the Bible? Did you pray? Did you talk to someone?

3)    If you could start your walk with God all over again, where would you begin?

 

 I know that your story of your faith is beautiful and transforming. More than anything, I would love to hear how you came to know God and build a relationship with Him. Tell me your story while I venture out to write my own.