I have come to the conclusion that the word "we" is the most dangerous word in the English language.
Hear me out on this one.
Example: "Sorry Mom, I broke your favorite vase"
"Sorry Mom, we broke your favorite vase."
See the difference? Stay with me.
The difference between the two sentences is tremendous and extremely consequential. In sentence one, you have someone owning up to their sin and being totally honest, in sentence two, you have someone dragging another person into a situation that should only be between the vase breaker and their mother. Now even though Brother and Sister Bearenstien might have broken the vase together, (Like my reference there?) they need to own up to the sin separately. The problem with apologizing as a group is that no one really owns the sin, instead, a group apologizes for something individuals caused. You could say "Yeah mom, we are really sorry," and you don't have to be sorry because it is not you that is sorry, the group is sorry. It is the difference of getting a letter of apology from a big company, or a personal letter of apology from the company's president. You would feel much better with the later.
My point is I feel that all to often, instead of owning our sins as individuals, we wrap other people up into it to make ourselves feel better, and there is absolutely no redemption. Apologies are not about about saying the right words, but the heart attitude, and you can only know the condition of your own heart, never the heart of others. It is all about accountability.
Now I hope you understand why I believe the word "We" is the most dangerous word in the English language.
Goodnight!
Danielle Fife
July 26, 2011
April 24, 2011
Listening to God
It's kinda funny what happens when you listen to God.
Actually, it's not that funny.
I want to tell you a story, about listening to God, and where it has landed me.
Last year at the homeschool convention, my mom and I walked past one of the many booths. The guy standing there tried to hand us a flier. Naturally, like anyone else would have, we refused. We got about five feet away and we stopped. God had told us to go back and talk to the guy at the booth.
So we did.
The man at the booth was telling me about this Spanish class he taught when I saw on the back wall a picture of someone I knew. "Hey, is that Chris Riegg?" The man looked at me kinda funny, "Yeah, that's my son Christopher." I had met Chris at Teenpact (I will leave this for a later post) the year before, and realized this couldn't be a coincidence. So, I listened to God, and I signed up for the Spanish class.
About six months later, Mr. Riegg sent out an email about the Mexico Mission trip. I naturally assumed, as the stupid American I am, "I don't have time to be traveling around to foreign countries and serving God!" So I said, no. My mom decided, however, that I needed to go to the first meeting to "see what it was all about". So, I went.
At that first meeting, I sat down, with the mindset of, "Well, I will listen, but I am not going, I have no reason to." Then two spunky, kind, sweet girls sat down next to me, determined to change my mind, or maybe it was God.... Macaela and Hannah told me all about the wonderful trip the year before and how happy they were that I was going. While I watched the amazing video of last year's trip, God spoke to me. He asked me one question, "What do you have to lose?" So, my parents and I got back into our car, and I told my parents that I needed to go. Like the awesome parents they are, they said, "If God wants you to." So I prayed about it, and I went.
On this mission trip (with some of the most amazing people ever) to Rancho Santa Marta, there happened to be several debaters from a local debate club. During the course of this week, Adam, Shelby, Macaela, Chris, Matthew, and Hannah convinced me I needed to go see what this NCFCA stuff was about. So they invited me to come watch Regionals a few weeks later. So... yeah, I listened to God and I went.
At the NCFCA Regionals, I watched all these amazing people (plus many more that I had met at TeenPact before, but that's another story) compete in speech and debate. I was moved and convicted by these not-so-average teens, on fire for their savior, having fun, learning, and bonding together while doing something very close to my heart. So what did I do next?
I listened to God, introduced myself to their debate coach, and now I am going to join NCFCA this fall for speech and debate. I have new amazing Godly friends who I love (and love me too :), all because I listened to my Lord, my Life, my Redeemer, my Savior, and my Lover who has great plans for me if only I will listen.
You know what the best part is? I couldn't be happier.
It is kinda funny what happens when you listen to God, and I kinda like it.
With His love,
Danielle <3
Actually, it's not that funny.
I want to tell you a story, about listening to God, and where it has landed me.
Last year at the homeschool convention, my mom and I walked past one of the many booths. The guy standing there tried to hand us a flier. Naturally, like anyone else would have, we refused. We got about five feet away and we stopped. God had told us to go back and talk to the guy at the booth.
So we did.
The man at the booth was telling me about this Spanish class he taught when I saw on the back wall a picture of someone I knew. "Hey, is that Chris Riegg?" The man looked at me kinda funny, "Yeah, that's my son Christopher." I had met Chris at Teenpact (I will leave this for a later post) the year before, and realized this couldn't be a coincidence. So, I listened to God, and I signed up for the Spanish class.
About six months later, Mr. Riegg sent out an email about the Mexico Mission trip. I naturally assumed, as the stupid American I am, "I don't have time to be traveling around to foreign countries and serving God!" So I said, no. My mom decided, however, that I needed to go to the first meeting to "see what it was all about". So, I went.
At that first meeting, I sat down, with the mindset of, "Well, I will listen, but I am not going, I have no reason to." Then two spunky, kind, sweet girls sat down next to me, determined to change my mind, or maybe it was God.... Macaela and Hannah told me all about the wonderful trip the year before and how happy they were that I was going. While I watched the amazing video of last year's trip, God spoke to me. He asked me one question, "What do you have to lose?" So, my parents and I got back into our car, and I told my parents that I needed to go. Like the awesome parents they are, they said, "If God wants you to." So I prayed about it, and I went.
On this mission trip (with some of the most amazing people ever) to Rancho Santa Marta, there happened to be several debaters from a local debate club. During the course of this week, Adam, Shelby, Macaela, Chris, Matthew, and Hannah convinced me I needed to go see what this NCFCA stuff was about. So they invited me to come watch Regionals a few weeks later. So... yeah, I listened to God and I went.
At the NCFCA Regionals, I watched all these amazing people (plus many more that I had met at TeenPact before, but that's another story) compete in speech and debate. I was moved and convicted by these not-so-average teens, on fire for their savior, having fun, learning, and bonding together while doing something very close to my heart. So what did I do next?
I listened to God, introduced myself to their debate coach, and now I am going to join NCFCA this fall for speech and debate. I have new amazing Godly friends who I love (and love me too :), all because I listened to my Lord, my Life, my Redeemer, my Savior, and my Lover who has great plans for me if only I will listen.
You know what the best part is? I couldn't be happier.
It is kinda funny what happens when you listen to God, and I kinda like it.
With His love,
Danielle <3
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