hangenout with liz

Someone got it right. Last night as I walked through Wal-Mart I happened to gaze upon the Valentines Day decor and gifts and realized that, once again, my little dream of roses and chocolate would be over. Not that I'm depressed, rather I'm just anxious for God's plan to be revealed to me. As I looked upon the roses and the gifts and cards, something dawned on me. The cards had a theme, and it wasn't love. Cards read, "I love you because you remember me even when I'm crabby," or "I love you because of all the things you do for me, even the little things." True, love without action isn't love at all, but shouldn't love have to do more with the other person than you? I'd like to see a card that says, "I love you and want whatever's best for you, even if that means you dump me without warning, forget it's Valentines Day, smash my car, burn my toast, and forget my birthday. That's love. Love isn't jealous of others, it's not easily provoked, it's not puffed up. Love does not seek her own. Again, Love does not seek her own. Maybe if we stopped seeking, and started serving others, then we'd find love. God loves us like this. What has He ever gained from creating us? We failed Him in the very beginning and we continue to bring pain and heartache to Him every time we fail Him. We crucified His only Son, and sin as though we don't know He exisits. Yet out of His deep love for us He gives, and gives, and gives, and gives again and again and again. Love is never easy, and it's never about us. Now, when I'm at the store, I see roses in an entirely new light. Now, I notice the thorns.

The jocks, the losers, the home schoolers, the popular, the athletic. We all know them. We all do it too. Classify people according to the outward appearance and actions. However, are we always right? I happen to have the gift of sterotyping. Today at lunch I found myself watching people and I had a somewhat amazing thought. What if we didn't sterotype? What if we just switched it up entirely and ate with a different group? What if we didn't see sterotypes, but we saw the person. We saw the freshman eating lunch alone, and not the sheltered home schooler. We saw the guy playing pool by himself and not just a brain without a group. What if we didn't classify people as brains, or stuck up, because they happen to be "popular." Jesus saw people as people, and that's how I want to see them.