also, Hannah Coulter's wisdom

something i wanted to remember for later:

"Living without expectations is hard but, when you can do it, good. Living without hope is harder, and that is bad. You have got to have hope, and you mustn't shirk it. Love, after all, 'hopeth all things.' But maybe you must learn, and it is hard learning, not to hope out loud, especially for other people. You must not let your hope turn into expectation."

(Hannah Coulter, p. 146)

who am i?

several recent situations have really challenged me to evaluate who i am at the core of my being. what are my primary identifying characteristics? what are my convictions? who am i when no one's looking?

this is a short working list:
grace, forgiveness
hospitality, generosity, open hands
justice - equal opportunities for all
encouragement
community, fulfilling observed needs, feeling needed

... rather, this is who i want to be.

"Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus." --Philippians 3:12-14