Am I standing by the door?

This past Sunday, our pastor gave an excellent message on how Jesus Christ is the good Shepherd, and the door for His flock, and at the end of the sermon, he read the poem 'I Stand by the Door' by Samuel Shoemaker.  It made me wonder.....am I standing by the door?  When others see me, do they see Jesus shining in every single thing I do, every word I say?  

I Stand by the Door

        ~ Samuel Shoemaker 

"I stand by the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out.
The door is the most important door in the world -
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There is no use my going way inside and staying there,
When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where the door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men,
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it.
So I stand by the door.

The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door - the door to God.
The most important thing that any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands
And put it on the latch - the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man's own touch.

Men die outside the door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter.
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live on the other side of it - live because they have not found it.

Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him.
So I stand by the door.

Go in great saints; go all the way in -
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics.
It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in.
Sometimes venture in a little farther,
But my place seems closer to the opening.
So I stand by the door.

There is another reason why I stand there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very great and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia
And want to get out. 'Let me out!' they cry.
And the people way inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled.
For the old life, they have seen too much:
One taste of God and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving - preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door
But would like to run away. So for them too,
I stand by the door.

I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door.
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply and stay in too long
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there too.

Where? Outside the door -
Thousands of them. Millions of them.
But - more important for me -
One of them, two of them, ten of them.
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
So I shall stand by the door and wait
For those who seek it.

I had rather be a door-keeper
So I stand by the door."

Bex <3

Tis the season....

....for the best. fruit. ever. :)

Hope that you all are having a blessed week!!  It's been cool and rainy all day, so I think it's the perfect night to curl up with a good book :)

Bex <3

A summer experiment

So I was browsing Pinterest the other day, and I came across the neatest picture of a child's hands, and it sparked an idea :)  I have always been fascinated with hands...they get scraped, bruised, and dirtied, yet they remain such a vital part of our bodies.  A simple dictionary definition defines 'hand' as "The end part of a person's arm beyond the wrist, including the palm, fingers, and thumb."  But hands are so much more than that, aren't they?  As the adage says, 'you never know what you have until you lose it', and I think that so many of us take our hands for granted until we are made aware of what our lives would be like without them.  I've also found it interesting how many times the Bible references the 'hand of God' and its role in our lives, one of my favorites being Job 12:10: "In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind."  God holds every living thing in the palm of his hand!!

Anyway, I decided to embark on a summer experiment :)  My challenge?  Take pictures of as many hands as possible.  On some, the skin will be dry and chapped from hours of serving others.  On some, the skin will be faded and wrinkled from year after year of living  a long and full life.  So I invite you to join me in my explorations as we continue to discover that each and every individual truly is 'fearfully and wonderfully made' :)

Bex <3

Good medicine :)

I was just going through some pictures from the weekend, and wanted to share some 'medicine' with you :)

There is nothing quite like a joy-filled, gap-toothed smile to brighten your day!!  I think the Bible says it best...

"A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." 

                    ~ Proverbs 17:22

So, who will you give good medicine to today? :)

Bex <3

Heart's desire...

"My quest: know Him.  Show Him."

                           ~ John Piper

Bex <3

A very {Tangled} day :)

Wow....how do you encapsulate so much awesomeness into words?? :)  I have known Elsa for pretty much as long as I can remember, yet no matter how often we get together, I always walk away with a smile on my face :)  To make a long story short, if you know us at all, we share a mutual love of Tangled, which usually represents itself in both of us spouting out random quotes and songs at opportune moments.  

Since Elsa is an amazing seamstress, she made her own Rapunzel dress, which in my humble opinion is even prettier than the real thing :D  All winter long, we've talked and dreamed about doing a photoshoot, and yesterday we finally got around to it (frying pan and all!!).  Needless to say, I haven't had so much fun for a long time, and we definitely agreed to do this more often!!  And we made the corporate decision to (hopefully) return with return someday with a significant 'someone' who just might happen to look like....

Anyway.....enjoy :)

"Frying pans!!  Who knew, right?"

This next one wasn't even a 'planned' pose, but it turned out to be one of my favorites!! (not to mention that it's very 'Rapunzel-y' :D)

There was a whole bed of gorgeous yellow foxglove right next to the Hartwood mansion, and I LOVE how it looked with her purple dress!!

Movie version:

Elsa version (minus Flynn):

Quick side note: we were up around the mansion doing some different poses, when these little girls walked by.  They glanced over and their jaws hit the ground :D  You could tell they thought they'd died and went to heaven - I mean, it's Rapunzel incarnated!! :P  One of them said, "Where's your Pascal?"  Anyway, I couldn't help but think they looked like these little girls:

But back to the photoshoot :)

This frying pan weighs about 10 pounds, so we eventually resorted to propping it against something :)  I definitely give Rapunzel much more credit for wielding one for the whole movie!!

Elsa, my almost-sister, it sounds cliche, but I truly couldn't ask for a better friend!!  You are genuinely beautiful,  both inside and out, and I know that the Lord is going to use you in so many amazing ways!!  Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your 'Tangled day'!  (and btw - you should totally use the above stance/expression in CX ;D  just sayin'....)

Bex <3

{Sneak Peek}

Oh. my.  Just wait until you see the gorgeousness that I got to work with today!!  This was my first ever 'real' photoshoot, and I must say that my model was pretty easy to work with :D  Elsa, I had so much fun quoting Tangled lines and traipsing around Hartwood!!  Thanks so much for an awesome afternoon :)

More to come very soon :)

Bex <3