Jon Nungester-Living from the Inside Out

Well, we just had our carpet in our house cleaned recently.  It was an all day event.  We had a guy come out and hook up his van to a vaccum looking device that was also hooked up to our hose.  It seemed to be a whole lot for just cleaning carpets, but he did a great job!  That afternoon we came back in to amazingly clean carpets.  However, when the carpet dried we noticed a strip that was still dirty right in the middle of the floor.  We thought it was a shadow or that the carpet was pushed in the wrong direction, but after ruling both of these out we realized that it was a strip of dirty carpet.  We thought about just leaving it and letting it be, but the more we looked at it the more we could not stand it.  We had to get it removed!  We called the carpet cleaning guy and he came out and recleaned that section.  Now our entire carpet is clean!!!

I was thinking about how we as Christians sometimes live.  We give Jesus our hearts, bt want to keep just one little thing.  We want to hold onto just one little area of our former lives and not give Christ full reign.  But, that thing whatever it may be remains and begins to fester in our lives.  The Holy Spirit continues to remind you that your “dirty strip” still is there, but we say that we can “live with it.”  Finally, we call in the expert and He comes in and cleans us out thoroughly.  Christ will always be there when we call!

I was driving into work the other day and was approaching a stop sign.  I noticed in my rearview mirror a police car.  I made sure I used my blinker, stopped completely, and focused on my speed.  After stopping completely I made the turn and noticed in my rearview mirror that the police officer went right through the stop sign and went on his way.  It made me think how unfair it is that the people who keep and uphold the laws can break it so easily.  I mean, have you ever had a CHP car zoom by you on the freeway?  This situation made me think of Romans Chapter 2, “For it is not those who hear (or uphold) the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” (emphasis added)

Integrity is not speaking truth in front of a crowd, it is what you do when no one is looking.

I took this shot of Katie the other day after she fed herself for the first time.  It was an avocado and she ended up getting some into her mouth.  This picture reminded me of the life that we lead.  Man, can we mess things up or what?  We can become so dirty and so sticky and gross that we don’t feel like anyone can ever love us.  But, I am sure that God sees us the same way I see Katie.  i love her to death and I picked her up and I took her into her bath and cleaned her up and made things right again.  I love how God shows His forgiveness to me every day in simple things.  I hope you all understand how much the Creator of the Universe loves you and no matter what you have done He loves you and He will pick you up, clean you off, and set you in a new direction.

OK, many of you have been on my case for not updating my blog and sharing my thoughts.  I have a very good excuse for this…I have been swamped.  I never knew having a kiddo would be so tiring and time-consuming.  I always thought, “oh, when I am at home taking care of Katie I will be able to get a ton of work done.”  Boy was I wrong!!!  She needs so much attention and needs to constantly be played with.  She is so much fun though.  She laughs so loud and not just a giggle, but a full on belly laugh.  So cool!

Well, I hope to begin again and post comments.  Keep me accountable and if you read this let me know.  I would love to hear how many people actually care about my thoughts.