HONOURING GOD… in everything.
This post is inspired by a lunch date I had with one of my good friends, Brooke. As we sat across from each other, picking away at scrumptious meat & potatoes, and a brekky plate of pancakes and fruit, (we wanted a little of everything, alright?) I was inspired (as usual, when speaking with this girl) by her constant language and life of “honouring God.” Even in the “minor” parts of life, she spoke of desiring a God-glorifying outcome. It got me thinking about my own personal life, and whether the parts of my day to day walking, talking, eating and breathing are God-honouring or not. This is what I’m exploring in this post…
Piano Accompaniment
As most of you know, I work as a music teacher, and several of my students have registered to do their AMEB exams this month, and my work manager asked if I would like to accompany them. This has turned into a challenging and interesting task. I’d been excited about it since the opportunity first came, but now that we are a few days out from the exam, I am more nervous than excited, and trying to figure out how excellently I’ll realistically be able to execute this!
So the question I’m discussing in this post… What does it look like to honour God in this scenario? Well, these students are God’s kids. So honouring them means honouring God as well. This requires practicing my part so that I can serve them well. It means showing up on time to the exam and giving my absolute best (even though I’m not the one being evaluated, and regardless of nerves). So maybe honouring God in this scenario means putting my butt on the piano bench and practicing… a lot!
[later insert: all my students passed!]
Files, Files, Files
Last night I was up until midnight just moving around files in Finder on my MacBook Pro. Why? Because I have about 4 external hard drives, all with various files on them, some organised, some not, some updated, some old. Many of these files are things like treasured video clips, photos, documents, written work… You could say I’m a bit of a pack rat for digital keepsakes (hey, at least it doesn’t take up (too much) physical space!). But these are things I value. I believe God has put it in my heart to be a photographer and videographer and “creative” in general. And so IF my files are unorganised, it takes me a while to find images, videos and written work to show people. What is the use of creating if the platform on which to share it – my Macbook Pro – is so bogged down and disorganised that I end up never getting around to it? So when I really think about it… Maybe honouring God in this scenario is organising external hard drives?!
Better Me, Please
*most personal one*
This year has been an interesting journey when it comes to relationships. I am very blessed to be surrounded by people that are constantly gracious and forgiving, even in times when I don’t treat them great. I’ve had to step back and evaluate what it means to be a good friend. For a while I thought sacrifice and putting others first meant being a good friend. There are elements to this that are true, but I think it disqualifies itself when putting others first means putting yourself below the “health line” as it were. If I start going over and above for someone else, at the risk of my own stability, I’m not honouring myself, and by not giving my best to another person, I’m actually doing no one any favours. And so… What if honouring God in relational scenarios means asking for space, in order to spend time with just Jesus, and “reset” yourself?