Living in Reality?

If, by some good fortune:), you know me in real life, you likely know that I value realness... authenticity. Somewhere along the way this has become an important way of life. There is no reason to diminish God's character and power by denying the tough things of life or refusing to ask the hard questions. God is good for it all, he can handle it.

But there is this thing about reality... it is not always easy to see and determine.

Here's something true - Christ lives in me. Christ lives in me, changes me and defines me. This is more true than the frustrations I feel about lost pictures or the anxieties of feeding our little money pit. So when I came across this article, it really appealed to my heart. Hope welled up in me. There was a time in my life when these words would have rubbed me the wrong way. But when I've come to the end of all that is me, I can only rely on the reality that Christ is pleased with me. And that makes me smile.

When I smile through the bad, I wonder about betraying the circumstances that God has laid before me, but embracing the idea that Christ is pleased with me and cares deeply about my heart is the greater reality. I'm talking about more than smiling through the tough times here. When I live according to the reality of my changed heart and not my circumstances, there is living hope. Something that not only gets me through the day, but helps me thrive.
If you read this article, I'd be curious to know what you think.

These verses are still washing over me:

30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Steep your life in God-reality...

My friend Kristen is living this out. You can read about her God-reality here.
Happy note: Rick just told me that he thinks all of our pictures got saved on his ipod just before our Feb. trip!