for 9-11...SHINE ON

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLyDOa40ueE
I saw this video and had to pull it up on youtube to see if it was there to add the link here....I love it...it isn't a spectucularly-made video, but if you watch it, you see thewonderful simplicity and the point. This is the 2nd Christian"SHINE" song written in the past decade that I have loved. From the perspective of a follower of Jesus, it reminds me to just 'keep going' when I feel discouraged.

There is a great verse I came across a few years ago....sometimes, you can read and read and reread something in the Bible and then something new about something familiar will grab hold of you...well, for me, the verse came back to 'hit me in the head like a falling brick.'

1 Corinthians 15.58--'Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you (let nothing change you from the purposes God calls you to). Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor IN THE LORD is not in vain.

To summarize what we are called for in conjunction with this video, it is to LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD ....and TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBORS AS YOURSELF....when we do this, HE SHINES from within us where HE LIVES in us.

I love this video...especially for today. Life can be hectic...stressful...emotional....yet still can be great bc He is there walking with us. Right now, I'm up late....waiting a bit to go wake up my middle baby who needs to wake up every 2 hours due to a big bump in the noggin today....I'm supposed to be studying but needed a break. I was thinking of my day and thinking of how I experienced a HUGE blessing today....totally HUGE. I spoke to my old Somali friend and one of her sons. (When people around here hear "Somali" they conjure up an instant stereotype and apply it to all Somalis it seems...same with the name "Hussein".) Her son was translating. It was sooo good to hear his voice and hear him telling me how he loves school--math and soccer--that he is moving soon and a little worried --I could tell--and various conversation tidbits. In the background, I could hear his mom telling him some things to translate to me when she wasn't on the phone herself trying. But before I hung up, I told Hussein that no matter where he lived, I'd always remember him and his family. Before he hung up, I heard his mom in the background yell my name and say "I love you!" and Hussein also then said it too and they kept repeating it. It was something his mom used to say to me when she first moved here...she'd hug me and say "white sister--I love you." She had few choices of learned English words, but her actions were genuine.

With 9-11 approaching, there is a prayer campaign out there for our nation for healing. While many people--whether American or some other nationality--tend to stereotype and lump certain nationalities or races altogether as good or bad, I adamantly refuse to choose to hate someone bc of their stereotyped identity. My Somali friend, is like me--not perfect--can make mistakes--but she is as dear as other friends I've made in this lifetime. So, my campaign for 9-11 is for prayer too, but more than prayer, attitude and action is needed....there are people in our communities who are here, and, while I'm speaking to followers of Jesus right now, we, as followers of Jesus need to follow His example. I can think of many people who have tried to unplug the lights when I wasn't also unplugging them myself....sometimes I've grown from it and had to change courses, but still kept on in the way I could when I'd remember to not let the light go out.....so, for 9-11...we restart by "loving the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength" and "love our neighbors as we love ourself."

And then, He will SHINE from within us.

My prayer is that those around us will come to understand that Light that shines in the darkness as we follow His commandments to love.
Blessings...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLyDOa40ueE