friday video blog: imparting vision...

Imparting Vision to Gen Y from Bianca Juarez on Vimeo.

J. Vernon McGee says, You should never stand behind the pulpit without being able to say, "Thus sayeth the Lord." I wish I would have heard this quote before I responded capriciously during a recent interview.

Reason #829,827,410 why you should pray before you sit down and open your mouth.

If I am going to say anything, if I'm going to impart knowledge to anyone, if I am going to steal someones time, it should be under the auspice of giving away God's goodness. In an era of entertainment and diversion, how do we impart a vision and hope to our next generation that they are not forgotten.

We need to take ordinary and mobilize them to do extraordinary things because of an extraordinary God.

My words to the next generation are not to read a book or follow 10-steps, but rather look at my generation and the generations before and do what we COULD NOT DO. For the mistakes we've made or the foundation we laid, do your part.

For those in my generation or the generation before, what are we doing to live our and create a legacy? We only have on life to live and soon it will be passed. Only what we do for Christ Jesus will last.

What can we do? What are you doing? Do not fret. We are ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.

life is beautiful...

La vita e bella! Italian director Roberto Begnini directed one of the most amazing films where a family faced with horrific situations was able to find moments of beauty in the mundane and even painful. When all hope was lost and death triumphed, the characters whispered, Life is beautiful!

This week is a new week, I'm excited to be alive, and I didn't workout. Intentionally. I woke up eager to make moments beautiful. Instead of focusing on trying to save the world while balancing a 9-5 job, I want to chronicle what is beautiful.

Because really, if Clark Kent could save the world and manage a desk job, so can I!

Mom is cancer-free, Dad is sleeping, family is healthy. Life is beautiful.

Turning 30 and I have my health, wealth, and slept in until 5:40am. Life is beautiful!

Lost the Biggest Loser competition at my gym, but I lost seven pounds. Life is beautiful!

Jasmine's closet better than ANY store because she let me borrow anything I wanted for Easter. Life is beautiful!

Impromptu birthday dinners with amazing friends. Life is beautiful!

Food in the fridge, a roof overhead, water to drink, and a bed to sleep in. Life is beautiful!

King David and I have a lot in common. Okay, okay, so he was a king, had tons of money, and ruled people. I get that. But when I read his songs of praise in Psalms, I feel like he is writing from my mind and heart.

Psalms 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

When we feel lost in life, lack joy, or desire pleasures, they can be found in the mundane and sometimes painful moments of life. But like David emphasized, it is through God that we can whisper out, Life is beautiful!

What is God doing in YOUR life that is beautiful?

do your thang'...

She looked across the table as if she was going to admit she was preggo, selling illegal substances, or pilfering from her governmental job. She inhaled, swallowed, and braced herself for my reaction. I sat across from her and munched on the mound of warm deliciousness some people call bread. Seriously, I said, you're starting to worry me. [Note: I eat when I'm nervous.]

She pushed her bread plate away from her [Note: she doesn't eat when she's nervous] and blurted out her aspirations of becoming a ________.* With a quizzical look and arched eyebrow I replied, So what? Just do it.

For the next two hours we sat around discussing the importance of passion and guilt. Passion in doing what we want to do; guilt in what it is we want to do. She confessed her guilt was because her desire wasn't "spiritual" and it's not like teaching the bible or working for a church [Note: she was probably talking about me].

She wasn't comparing like I-want-to-be-like-you, but more of a It's-not-a-holy-job. Naturally we are inclined to compare ourselves in the discovery of God's will for our lives. It's part and parcel of our brokenness and humanity.

But what is defined as a holy job? Working for a church? OH PLEASE! A holy job is a person who desires to be holy and HAS a job. There's a lot of people who are guilt trippin' over what they're inspired to do. Why? God has created us to do great things... impossible things!

If you want to be a rapper, be a rapper who gives glory to God. You want to be a photographer, be the most amazing photographer who captures God's beauty. You want to be an deejay, actress, playwright, brain surgeon, lawyer--do it. And do it well. We are his masterpiece created for good works Ephesians 2:10 tell us.

So why struggle? If you are able to praise God with your talents, give the glory He is due, and make a living out of it, DO YOUR THANG'!

*You fill in the blank. It could possibly be what you've been praying about doing.

a great man and one sentence...

Two hundred words of goodness spew from Seth Godin everyday. How someone could be so brilliant everyday is beyond me; but I'm grateful for his insight, intellectualism, and information. In a recent article he stated many people are being brainwashed into being average. Moved yet immobilized at the same time, I thought of Clare Booth Luce, the playwright, journalist, and Republican Member of Congress.

In 1962, Luce met with President Kennedy, who was, at the time, pursuing an ambitious agenda domestically and overseas. She worried about his thinly spread priorities. A great man, she advised him, is one sentence. President Lincoln's sentence was obvious: He preserved the union and freed the slaves. So was Franklin D. Roosevelt's: He lifted us out of a great depression and helped us win a world war. What, Luce challenged the young, impatient president, what do be his sentence?

What a powerful question--not just for great presidents, but for normal folks, too. What will our legacy be? How will our one sentence change history? As you prepare for another year (probably as tough and trying as last year), remember what Clare Booth Luce asked of a president: What's your sentence?

Please pray for Haiti. If that is all you can do, it's the most you can do!

twins...

I'm not going to lie. I feel his pain. Being the second-born twin ain't easy. It's an unstated competition every. single. day. Jacob and Esau wrestled in the womb and warred before entering earth. Jas and I wrestled on living room floors, in academic settings, and on athletic fields. It comes with the territory of being a twin. But through the years we've been partners in crime, change agents for good, and hustlers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. She does it with a camera. I do it with my voice.

Several references in Genesis describe the different giftings Jacob and Esau possessed. One worked in the field. The other worked domestically. One worked closer to their father. One worked closer to their mother. One was hairy and smelled funny. One was smooth-skinned and smelled like Tide and hints of Downey. The dichotomy between them could've made a dynamic combination of biblical proportions. Instead the journey included pain, death, bitterness, and a limp.

Though not everyone is a twin, I'm sure we all struggled with a competitive spirit or jealousy or flat-out Hater Syndrome. (Don't lie, you know it's true.) Sometimes we're put in situations which cause us to focus on what we are NOT rather than what we ARE. I work in a faith-based sector, I'm close to my mom, and I'm not hairy like Jasmine.* If I focus on what God has called me to do, I don't have time to look at what I'm not good at or what I don't have. It's just that simple.

God puts people into our lives for specific purposes. Think of that one person who you're at odds with... now focus on how different you are... now try to imagine partnering with them on something, anything. How can you come together and be change agents for good?

The cool thing about Jacob and Esau is we know how the story ends. Yes, there is restitution, but it came at a cost. If both brothers were to partner in God's individual blessings, imagine what the biblical annals might have looked like! Instead of waring with our brothers and sisters in Christ, how can we partner with them? Here's a tip: start with looking at your faults before analyzing others. Thought? Comments? Stones to throw?

*I can only say this because she is on another continent at the moment and can't kick my butt. Yes, she still kicks my butt. But she's my bestest friend and I love with more than bootcamp workouts, Mama's arroz con gandules, and reading in bed.