"If you want to be a worshiper of God, you've got to do something with what you've been given."
“Worshiping always involves doing. It means getting your
hands dirty. It means being vulnerable and open and sometimes hurt by people
who break your heart or call you names. It means dancing when you don’t know
how. It means telling jokes that fall flat, writing things you’ll later find
embarrassing. It means making lots of mistakes. It means living the kind of
life where every little thing doesn’t tie up perfectly at the end.
This is the kind of life that makes us a worshiper. It’s the
kind of life where we can’t help but end each day with our hands lifted high,
thanking God for the ways He graciously accepts even our worst mistakes, the
way He uses every experience to teach us, the way He wiggles His way into the
story we’re writing.”
I love these quotes. I have been a “doer” all my life. It is
hard for me to not do. And I have grown up in a culture of worshiping God. I
have looked at and learned about many ways of worship and could never put my
finger on how to describe the times when worship actually felt like a meaningful
experience to me. There were years when it didn’t.
But I love this approach to worship, because it is so much bigger
than a church or a faith. It is a way of thinking about how you live your life.
That last sentence captures it all: “It’s the kind of life where we can’t help
but end each day with our hands lifted high, thanking God for the ways He
graciously accepts even our worst mistakes, the way He uses every experience to
teach us, the way He wiggles His way into the story we’re writing.” Being taught
through experience. Being grateful for that education and that experience.
Being more used to help others and to live a more vibrant life. That is a type
of worship I can wrap my brain and my life around.
Which brings me to the purpose of today's post. I am changing the genre of my blog. Ever
since I wrote my first “Hopeful Thoughts” post, I have been incapable of writing about design, DIY, or anything non-philosophical. (Other than the barn sale. But
that is another thing somehow.) I have started so many posts, about “how to
paint an apple basket a broken chevron”, about “how to build a desk out of a
door and two filing cabinets”, “what to do when your stuff doesn’t sell”. They are all started, with pictures and everything,
but I can’t seem to finish them. That is not the fate of this blog. That is not
what I am best at writing.
My unique competence in this world is seeing the potential
in anything, bad or good. It is seeing the hand of God in all things and in making
educated guesses as to where all this pain and nonsense we call life might be
going. My passion is understanding how the Universe will use me for good, with
all of my fears and weaknesses and blunders and power and wisdom and strength. And
this is what my blog needs to be about from now on.
For those of you who read for my design advice, bless you
for thinking I have any to give. If there is wisdom to be had in the projects I
am working on, I will share them, but know they will no longer be the point. For
those who read for my stories, hold on to your hats, because I think many
stories that I have been too shy to share, may come spilling out of these
pages. And for those of you who read because you think I might have something valuable
to say or because I make you laugh, or simply because you know me and love me, Thank
you from the bottom of my heart.
So here I go, on a journey inspired by a desire to worship through the way I live my daily life.
May we all find joy and laughter and strength and gratitude along the way. If
you are leaving, thank you so much for being here this long. And if you are
staying, thank you for allowing me to change. It takes courage to let our friends
become something other than what we thought they were. Bless you all!
Talk to you soon,
CM Shaw
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