How are you?

It's a simple question with a very vague response. Most Americans when asked the above question would say, "I'm good." Occasionally someone may respond with, "I'm doing alright," or "I'm okay," and that's about as deep as it gets. We ask this question of others out of courtesy, yet very few times do we truly care to hear the response. If you asked someone how they were doing and they responded with, "I'm having a horrible day," you'd feel obligated to stop, ask questions, and maybe even offer words of encouragement. Who has time for that?

Okay, so maybe that last part was slightly sarcastic, but in all honesty, how often do you genuinely care what the response is when you ask, "How are you?" Just the other day, I was walking through the store and an old high school classmate was coming toward me. I thought about dodging into a nearby aisle, but it was too late; she had already seen me! (Please tell me, I'm not the only one who does that.) As she walked by, I smiled and said hello. Then she asked the question, "How are you?" I responded exactly how you'd expect..."I'm doing well. How are you?" Only, I didn't hear her response. As I turned to look, she had already walked on by and was grabbing an item off the shelf behind me. Apparently, she didn't want to talk to me anymore than I cared to talk with her. 

Last evening, this question brought on a new meaning, or maybe it was a reminder of ponderings I'd previously had. As I was seated at the table during our school's community fish fry, someone asked the elderly man across from me the aforementioned question. He responded with, "I'm blessed!" My heart felt warm, and I could feel a smile growing on my face. It reminded me of Peru and the response given there when asked 'the question'. Christian Peruvians tend to answer honestly; then whether doing well or horrible, they tack on "pero todo bien gracias a Dios." (But everything is good, thanks to God.)

Wow! How often do we stop to think about the blessings God has poured out on our lives? How many times do we stop to thank God for the good (and bad) that He is doing around us? Even on the worst days, a Christian Peruvian, living a 3rd world lifestyle, is able to see God's hand in each situation. Then there's me, "I'm good!" wishing to dodge the question altogether...no honesty, no God-recognition, nothing but a simple, "I'm doing well."

It almost makes me sick to consider how much we have handed to us here in the great U.S.of.A, and too often we (myself included) don't ever stop to count our blessings. It's easier to focus on what we don't have, what we can't do, and ways life could be better, than to be grateful for the abundance we've already been given. 

How are you? - It's a question with a generally vague response, but it shouldn't be that way. It needs to become a conversation starter with a Christ centered response. It shouldn't just be a casual greeting in the grocery store, but it should be an honest question with an honest response. 

Live Like That

~Psalm 139:13-14, 16-18~

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well...

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand--

~Psalm 23:6~

Surely your {His} goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD

forever.

Just as the water washes away the footprints in the sand, so are our days, limited in existence. However, the impact of those days is to be determined by the choices made and love shared. God has already ordained the number of our days (Ps. 139:16). He, too, knows the decisions we will make, even before we make them. He's knows when we will give in to him, and he knows when our sinful nature will take control. However, despite my successes and failures, His goodness and love abound in me. 

I've taken extreme liking to the Sidewalk Prophets's song "Live Like That". There's a few stanzas of the song that really capture my attention and make me think twice about the way Christ is perceived (or not perceived) through my life. 

Was I love 

When no one else would show up? 

Was I Jesus to the least of those?

Was my worship more than just a song? 

I want to live like that 

And give it all I have 

So that everything I say and do 

Points to You 

Am I proof 

That You are who you say You are 

That grace can really change a heart?

Do I live like Your love is true? 

People pass 

And even if they don't know my name 

Is there evidence that I've been changed? 

When they see me, do they see You?

My prayer tonight is that when the water washes the footprints of my life away, my legacy will live on as a follower of Christ. More than that, I pray that each person I come into contact with while on this Earth would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ has saved me and that He can save them, too. I desire that my life be a mirror image of the goodness and mercy of the Lord. I desire to live life in gratitude for all that Christ has done for me.