Currently it is Christmas break, and we are snowed in to our little resort week-not-end in the Wisconsin Dells. Meg and Jon are not here yet, they are still driving, and have been for quite some time! They go stuck in traffic in Chicago (where I live!!), and are now trying to drive across the flat, windy, very COLD, and dangerous expressways of WI, during a snow storm! Hoffbecks are here with us, and we are just relaxing in our rooms contemplating bed.
I can't wait to be back in Chicago, I love it there so much, and I miss all my school friends.
Recently I have been thinking a lot about what it means in Philippians 4 when it Paul says to "Let your gentleness be evident to all, the Lord is near" (hence the title of this post). I know that I really need to be more gentle, there is no question there. There are several places that I remember right now that concerns gentleness, beginning with the fruit of the spirit. Gentleness is something that we should see as an automatic response to being filled with the Holy Spirt, and living lives that glorify God. Next is when Paul tells us to clothe ourselves with it (among other things), we need to equip ourselves with gentleness for everyday life. This is something that we should have that everyone knows, they see us, and think, there is a gentle person! my friend Hanna reminds me of this a lot! She is such a beautiful person inside and out, kind and quiet. Her gentleness is very evident to everyone around her, it is just something that you recognize about her when you first get to know her.
I think that Christians should view gentleness in some of the same ways that we view joy. When walking through the streets of Chicago, you can always tell when students are Moody students, because they are so different! we shine out in the darkness, and there is such joy that radiates from us (or is that our similarity to tourists?). Gentleness is something that we should be striving for, that we are conscious in our search for it.
well, there is my first post here, I hope that you enjoyed it!
