Sharing is Caring

Last week, I saw my friend from Hilo in the cafe near my apartment.  We got to talking about religion, and I was blessed with the opportunity to share my testimony with her. (She's the one I mentioned in my spoken word-testimony.)

To my surprise, she ended up actually accepting my invitation to Nightlife (I can't tell you how many times I am rejected.. sigh!)

Anyway, I'm sharing this with you all because today, while  I should have been working on an essay for school, I ended up wasting time on MySpace, and I came across her latest blog entry.  I should probably ask her if I can share what she wrote, so if this entry is gone later, you know why!  :P  

But she's an amazing writer, and I thought you'd all enjoy hearing what she experienced at Nightlife last Sunday:

"Meek and unfamiliar, I entered a family that was not my own. A pastor that was not my own. And songs that were not my own. The music was beautiful. Not just because it was music, but these kids’ souls were soaring out of their mouths as they praised. I didn’t get a cd because I was too shy to claim my virginity to their night. But I did get something else. And all I can say about that is how amazing it was. I came out to shine. Amazing.

There is an impression left on me that surpasses touch. I woke up the next day to spend it in the pleasure from the little touches of my love. And I could still feel the touch that was beyond physical. I am the moon in the day, and my thorns were honestly gone. Mentally ashamed no more, physically abused no longer. It worked, my Jesus, it worked. I come out now when it is appropriate and inappropriate, no schedule, my heart is not confined. My feet are not my only lillies. I flew around today. Mind, body, and soul. I always knew I have always been blessed, but proof came in corporeal touch, love came in phenomenal grace. I must have always had my wings. Like I have always had the dream to fly. And tonight, I fly to the moon. I am coming home."

Isn't that beautiful?  She's a super talented wahine, and it's so great to know she experienced grace.

There are so many times when I chicken out on being a witness.  I don't know why, but when it comes to talking about Jesus with people my age, I get really shy, especially if I don't know their views on Christianity.  I've been asking God for forgiveness on this issue, and I believe he used my friend's experience with grace to remind me of the grace I receive from Him as well.

I hope that I've learned my lesson by now... Jesus' love is to be proclaimed!

As I wrote in an earlier entry, God is HUMANGOUS, GINORMOUS, GABAZILLION METERS CUBED BIG --- there's no way I can contain Him within the narrow shell of my own life.

Of course, Jesus lives regardless of whether we share His love, but we can't deny that not everybody knows the reality of Jesus.  And when it comes to sharing Jesus, it really is a matter of life or death... maybe not to us (heck, we have nothing to lose), but to the person we don't witness to.

And I'm not saying that we should blab on and on about Jesus to everybody, but when God gives us the opportunity to share about Him, we might as well do it boldly.  I pray we attune our senses to the world around us so that we may recognize divine appointments amidst the fray of our daily lives.  And even when the enemy tricks us into being too shy or too lazy to share Jesus, I pray we will not be bogged down by regret or guilt and instead fix our eyes on the next opportunity.  

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. - Philemon 1:6

Here's a poem for you all... perhaps it has some relevance to this blog?  :P

As the guy in the movie "Into the Wild" says, happiness is only real when it is shared.  =)

Jesus' love is real whether we share it or not, but as any kindergartner will tell you, sharing is caring! 

There in the slippery gutter
I saw life today
Where there should have been none.

A single white flower
Grew from the cement's deep wound.
Its un-trampled brilliance
Was an unexpected lantern
For my downcast eyes.

I picked the holy blossom,
Snapped its fragile stem
And preserved its sweet petals
Under pages heavy with God's word.

In my bedroom I rejoiced --
This flag of hope
Was mine.

I placed it on my dusty windowsill
But it did not catch the sunlight.
I cried for its diminished luster
And wished I had understood
The purpose of beauty.