You are not far.

Hey friends.  Thank you for your patience with me this week as I attempted to focus.  Its going fairly well.  I have enjoyed my blog-break (all of three days), but I have missed it too.  I don’t have an update on Catherine yet except that she made it out of surgery, but keep checking her blog and THANK YOU for praying.

Mild amounts of hilarity have occurred, including but not limited to: attending a photo shoot with Country Weekly at the Nashville Zoo, seeing Michael W. Smith (my first famous person sighting), watching the Georgia game with the Nashville UGA alumni, trying to find an outfit for THIS, playing the mutual friend game with a country star (don’t ask, I’m not saying), falling in love with a $200 dress that I just couldn’t bring myself to buy, watching an ungodly amount of Reba, and balancing my checkbook.  Yeah, that was really hilarious.  In a “where did that money go” kind of way.

I’m working today and I think I need to blog.  I told myself I wouldn’t until the giveaway (which may be Monday- CDs are being shipped tomorrow and I hate to giveaway without them in hand), but today’s writing has been intense.  I need the relief of a lighthearted happy blog.  I’m working on a chapter that kinda anchors the whole book- my personal struggle with self-image.  [I don’t blog about it, but apparently I write about it.]  But typing out details of specific pain-filled experiences kinda makes me relive them in my heart.  Which isn’t fun.

The upside is how much I enjoy seeing new things in the Bible when I’m researching.  For example, I’m using some scripture from Mark 12.  And as I read, I came across something I have never seen before.  After Jesus explains the most important commandments, in vs. 28-31, the teacher who questioned him then gives his response.  He agrees with Jesus, and then here is verse 34-

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.‘”

I love that.  I feel like Jesus had a sly grin when He said this, like it was a breath of fresh air.  Like, “Yeah, dude.  You’ve got it. Well played.” [That is the Annie interpretation.  Not direct translation.]

I like to be reminded that Jesus was human.  That things impressed Him.  That He enjoyed hearing others’ opinions.  That when someone actually sorta understood Him, it really meant something to Him.  That maybe He wasn’t always so alone in His thinking- every now and again, someone was “not far for the kingdom of God”.

I want to live and think and move in such a way that Jesus smiles and says, “Hey, actually, no matter what you feel, you are not far.”

From the kingdom.

From Him.

From His love.

Now that’s worth blogging about.

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