An Ongoing Conversation

For the past 6 months or so, I've been talking with my friend, Emily about lots of things. Some things have been personal, some goofy, and some have been spiritual.
A long time ago, when I talked to people about spiritual things, it was a lot of, "Don't do that" and "Quit or else..." I remember seeing people I loved doing things that I thought they shouldn't and telling that it was wrong. I was trying to PUSH my beliefs onto them. Or at least what push onto them what I thought were beliefs. They were really just self imposed rules that I thought meant a person was okay with God. It was a simplistic way to try and fix everyone around me. It took me a bit to realize that my approach was WAY off. You see, I am naturally bossy and SOMETIMES people don't like it. (I know, I know, no one actually likes it.) I was obviously pushing them away.
My sister Casey has said that the way I behave toward people has changed A LOT. The way I see it, people really just want to know if you believe what you're saying. They don't want you to tell them that you believe it, they want you to SHOW them. AND it's not about following a list of DOs and DON'Ts. It's about allowing yourself to be imperfect and still be loved. That is the message that Jesus told. That is the kind of person that I want to be. One that loves God and others. One that loves without condition.
For several months, Emily pushed with lots of questions. She laughed about lots of things that I told her. She couldn't believe that I thought that God had a plan even though so much crap was happening around us and to us. She couldn't believe anything that I was saying for awhile. Then something changed... I'll let you read her thoughts about all of this on another blog.