English, the one subject you must take almost every year of your life from the beginning of kindergarten, learning the ABC’s and then into college, reading books and writing an analysis. For me, personally,… More
serving Him on purpose
“Focus on one aspect of your life or one interest of yours” – this was the base of our assignment for our first blog post. At first when I read this, I was somewhat worried about the focus I would choose. For what do I want people to remember me ? For what is one thing for which I live? And then, it clicked. I live, because He gave His life for mine. I immediately thought of these lyrics from one of my favorite songs, “I’m forgiven, because You were forsaken. I’m accepted; You were condemned. I’m alive and well. Your spirit is within me because You died and rose again.”
If you’re reading this, you may be thinking who is this I am writing about? The answer is God. My relationship with Him is far above anything else in this life, because without Him, I would amount to nothing. I am where I am today because of all His blessings on me. I am not perfect, and I don’t strive to be, He didn’t create me for that purpose. However, He created me for a purpose, just as He created you and everyone else. You and I are here for a reason, and God has instilled in me that I am here to serve Him; to spread His love and word to those I come in contact with everyday and everywhere.
I have been blessed to have been born into a family, who raised me in church before I was ever born. Since I can remember my parents have had me in church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening. God gave me such God-fearing, loving parents to show me the importance of having a relationship with Him. And, let me just be honest, I have not always been successful in serving Him. I often fail because remember… I am human – in the flesh.
Recently, I purchased something called a “Journal the Word” bible. This is a bible with wide, lined margins so that I can easily journal, doodle, and take notes. I absolutely love my journal bible, because I have plenty of room to be creative! Now, once again, I am not perfect at writing and doodling, but I wanted to be able to do this for my relationship with Him. And, it is so amazing how I can read a verse and God puts a few significant words in my heart and it just flows from my hand right onto the page. His word is beautiful, and I live by it.
If you were to ask me “Why can I always see the best in every situation?” and “how do I stay positive through the hills and valleys?” (a great song), I’d answer “because He didn’t have to come down to earth. He didn’t have to suffer in the flesh, but He did it anyways, for you and for me.” Therefore, because He lives in my heart, I can live everyday with the assurance and exceeding joy that this world is just my temporary home and that one day I’ll live in my forever home with my awesome God. But until then, I have a purpose here on earth, which is to show God’s love as He showed it to me on the cross and that is what I intend to do – serve Him on purpose with a purpose and finish the race well.
Go and Sin No More
In the play of Creature, main character, Margery Kempe is portrayed a sinner. No surprise there, she is human after all and none are perfect. Throughout the entire play Margery faces trials and temptations. The play starts with Margery being a new mother and a wife, and being that this is her first time at these stages of life, it’s scary and makes her seem psychotic to everyone around her. Along with being new to the parts of a wife and mother, she went through a difficult childbirth and began seeing visions of both the devil, and Jesus. All throughout this play is a topic of faith and religion for the majority of the characters.
Father Thomas reads in his cell at St. Margaret’s Church, “what is sweetest in Love is her tempestuousness, to die of hunger for her is to feed and taste; Her despair is assurance; Her sorest wounding is all curing, to waste away for her sake is to be in repose; Her tender care enlarges our wounds, her table is hunger” (23). And Margery speaking to Father Thomas states, “he says…I should ask Him for no more than love – for only love can win what it wills” (26).
Readers witness Margery’s trial she faces throughout the play, as she is trying to follow Jesus and be a Christian women, mother and wife. Father Thomas, Jacob and some others in the story encourage and uplift her to stay strong and faithful to Jesus, but Margery’s husband, John is completely working against her faith and relationship with Jesus. John tempts Margery with worldly things, he lusts for her body and tells her how stupid it is how she believes and trusts in this God of hers. John mocks Margery when she speaks of how great heaven is and will be when she goes, and of how great her God is. Margery continues trying to be the saint God wants her to be, but everyone and everything in her life is making it harder.
Margery can’t seem to defeat all the worldly things, but somehow, she continues to persevere through. Love is a sweet thing in life, but it’s not always a bed of roses. It comes with sin, which leads to heartaches and trials. Love arises many emotions and can cause conflict, but this can also make the love stronger. Love tempts and pushes past the comfort zone, it is always giving. Even when it is dying, it is still living. It is not always easy, but it is rewarding even if the reward does not come in that moment, like in Creature. Although Margery is facing the battles of life’s unseen circumstance, she believes in her heart that one day she will see Jesus face to face in beautiful heaven and that gets her through each valley. She is it at peace with her life, even when craziness strikes on a day to day basis, she sees the mountaintop and the One who will get her up there if she keeps her faith strong in God.
Works Cited
Schreck, Heidi. Creature. Samuel French, 2011.
alissa crawford 