Sarah Anne I Am

The other day I almost flipped over my handlebars when I was riding my bike, but instead I managed to jump off as the bike flipped over, all the while not dropping my laptop or the Italian ice I was eating. Sure, I have a bruise from the incident, but based on how successfully I avoided a lot of problems, I am pretty proud.

Tonight God did some awesome things. Technically it was last night. And let’s be realistic- God does awesome things all the time. But witnessing them more clearly and appreciating them a little more fully is INCREDIBLE. Less than six hours ago I watched God give people words to share with the body. I watched Him bring people to their knees. I watched Him talk to people, touch people’s hearts, and bring His children back to Him from places where they had chosen to ignore Him. I am not trying to be dramatic, because I don’t want to- this was not a dramatic evening. It was quiet. It was simple. It was straightforward. And it was absolutely beautiful. God didn’t ask us to put on a big show, and we didn’t try to. One of my dearest friends got up with her guitar and we sang. Then we prayed. The Spirit very clearly impressed upon me what He wanted, and so we didn’t pray in groups like I thought was a great idea- we went off on our own and got real with God. Slowly several of us quietly moved ...

Show me a passage in the Bible where Christ mocks the church. Seriously, show me. Find me one where He makes fun of His followers. Where He calls them names, even in jest. Where He belittles them. Know of any? I don’t. Maybe I missed it, and if I did, please correct me. But I do not know of any place in the Bible where Jesus mocks the church. Corrects them, rebukes their behavior, gets angry and flips over tables- yes. Mocks them- no. We need to stop making fun of people. We need to stop calling names. We need to stop belittling. We need to stop shaming, discriminating, and abusing others. There is no place for this kind of behavior in Christianity, unless I am sorely mistaken- again, in which case please correct me. This is hard. I know. Controlling your tongue is hard. I know. It’s hard for me, too. But it is vital. If we truly want to love in a way that is examplary of the love of God, we MUST keep the words of our mouth from being ones that mock others . I don’t ca...

  I was walking to the office. It was morning- a little cold out, but warm enough for shorts. I had just walked past him; we’d exchanged hello’s, nice-to-see-you’s, and goofy secret smiles.   I really like you, and I really trust you. The thought was clear in my mind- and I squelched the nervous butterflies that were constantly in the pit of my stomach when I saw him, turned around, and said it aloud.   “So I really like you and I really trust you.”   He stopped and turned to face me, “You really trust me?”   “Well, yeah.”   For one of the first times in my life, being incredibly blunt had been difficult for me. But it felt like something that needed to be said, and even though I didn’t understand why, I said it. And now he was smiling again.   Of course he already knew that I liked him. We’d already talked about that, and it was clear. But somehow after knowing him for only ten days, I wanted him to know that I also tru...

Monday, September 22nd, 2008 "The Truth"   The interesting thing about life is that it’s never the same as it used to be. It is beautiful that every day really is new, and different, and changing. Maybe the real purpose behind life is this…sitting up late, listening to music that’s gentle, and writing out things you don’t understand in an attempt to sort everything out. This summer a lot happened. I can’t begin to explain it, because I don’t understand it all and I haven’t even begun to process what it all means. If in our eyes are the stories of our lives, then I have yet to learn how to read my own eyes… This summer is when things changed. Circumstances carefully layed into place by Someone far more insightful than myself all led up to a night that changed nearly everything about me…when someone I hardly knew told me they knew everything- all of the secrets that I’d hid, the precious shadows I held still- and that night every...

  I realized tonight that I’m a bit like a turtle, if only because I am so incredibly good at hiding. Except unlike most people, instead of showing the world the wonderful things about me and hiding my flaws, I try to wear my imperfections openly and end up hiding my talents in the name of humility. I want to be real with people, and so I try very hard to be open and honest about all the things I’m terrible at and all the ways I screw up. I also want to live with humility instead of pride and arrogance, and so I keep to myself the things that I am gifted in.    I’ve written hundreds of pages of fiction and hundred of pages of truth, but they are carefully tucked in folders away from prying eyes, and very few people have ever read the stories I have poured myself into.    I stay up for hours painting and drawing and creating things that make me proud to be alive and have ten working fingers, but they stay neatly in portfolios, because I don’t want to show off by p...

  I am so sick of hearing things like "He says he loves me but then he doesn’t understand me I guess we’re just not meant to be together" and "If you don’t answer when I call you then I guess you aren’t who I thought you were so you’re getting what you deserve" and "I don’t get why we go back and forth all the time why can’t we just be together always but I guess this is just life and true love hurts."   FIRST OF ALL, use commas!   Secondly, if you say things like this please don’t get offended and storm away from this blog entry in a huff. Please just hear me out.   I am not an expert on love. I am not an expert on anything, actually, but I’ve had a lot of minor experiances in a wide range of situations, some of which will probably make it into the biographical movie someone will surely make about me eventually. (I’m kidding. I doubt that will happen.) But here is (a small part of) my opinion on love.   1. People can love yo...