The Simply Complex

Early this morning I trucked along my 20 minute walk to work, grumbling-wishing I was still on Thanksgiving vacation, wishing I wasn't working on a Sunday, wishing it wasn't so cold. As I was walking, complaining to myself and furthering my awful mood, I heard a little bit of crunching. Little did I realize that this crunching would completely turn around my mood.

Before I left for Thanksgiving, which was wonderful, by the way, the trees had turned color and the beautiful oranges, reds, and yellows filled the trees. The leaves were beginning to fall, just enough to hint raking, but not enough to demand it. Due to my late arrival back home, I did not spy the beautiful piles of orange and red lining the neighborhood streets. Then, this morning, they went unnoticed because my focus was elsewhere- mainly on my bad mood. Thanks to my beautifully weathered clogs- my favorite and well used shoes- the leaves did not go unnoticed for long. I don't know if you have ever worn clogs before, but they tend to make one stomp, not in a frightful way, but they are quite heavy, so they tend to come hard against the ground. Today, this stomping was well welcomed. As I heard the crunching underneath my tread, I soon felt the crisp feeling when one remembers that it is the beginning of winter. I felt renewed and alive. The simplest beauty of autumn, the falling of the leaves, renewed me this morning.

Over the summer, as I was reading Proverbs, I stumbled across a verse that said,

"How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?" Proverbs 1:22

I decided then and there that I hated being simple. I am complex. I want to be complex. I want to feel complex. Yet, there is complexity in what is viewed as simple. The changing of the leaves, how simple. It happens every year around this time. Yet, how beautifully complex.

Today friends, I hope that you will not forget the beautiful truth of simple complexity. Do not be simple, but remember that that which seems simple, may actually be complex. Revive yourself in the simply complex.  

The Beginning

Grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy a window into my life

Have you ever had the urge to just write everything down? Sometimes I get this feeling which wells up so intensely. Feelings are hard for me. I look at them and think they are not logical. I feel like emotion gets in the way. But, I want to have feelings. I want to recognize them and I want to understand that they are ok.

So here I am, trying to figure out this messy thing called life. If you read my about me, you can figure out my worldviews on life. Maybe seeing my vantage point will allow for a clarity of understanding. But a quick word about the title may bring things into prospective. I love Jesus, plain and simple. All of my posts will center around that last sentence. It's a powerful one for sure. But usually, it's a hard one to swallow. So here comes in the meaning of the title- In the book of Hosea, God tells Hosea, an Old Testament prophet, to pursue and marry a prostitute named Gomer. The ongoings between Hosea and Gomer is a picture of the troubled relationship between God and Israel. Hosea is steadfast and constant with Gomer. Hosea pursues Gomer, yet still feels outraged at her promiscuous life. Hosea offers her everything and Gomer would rather return to her filth. The same is true with God. He is steadfast with Israel. He has made promises to them, which he intends on keeping. He is constant. He pursues them beautifully, yet they return to the filth of idol worship. So in this time of pursuit and prostitution, God says, 

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope."

mmm beautiful. (side note: I say mmm a lot. It's my best expression of that feeling where you take your first sip of coffee at 6am and although everything around you is hazy, everything in that moment is right.)

So, the Valley of Achor is a term in the Bible used to mean trouble- Valley of trouble. Life sucks sometimes- Can I say that? But it's true, our world is broken and messed up. Our lives are broken and messed up. But the beautiful fact is that God comes into our Valley of trouble, allures us into the wilderness, speaks tenderly to us, and turns our trouble into a door of hope. That's what I desire to show through this blog. I want to be real. I want to show brokenness. But I also want to show the realness that is the Gospel. The realness that turns my Valley of Achor into a door of Hope.

Needless to say, blogs are not my thing. I think I'm more scared of them than anything. I'm scared that everyone will know everything about me- that people will look at that and say, "Wow, she's dumb- I can't believe she is sharing that with the entire world." Well, here I am. Here is my life: the good points, the bad points, the messy points, the pondering points...everything." I guess this is more for me than anything. I want to see how the Lord is good. I want to feel that- so I'm going to show myself through my own life. I don't really care if anyone reads this, but the idea that someone is, peaks my curiosity. We all go through Valleys of Achor, so perhaps mine will match up with yours and we can share that together. Or perhaps mine will show you your door of hope.


P.S. Gomer means completion in Hebrew. Let that marinate for awhile :)