Bits'n'bobs

Two quotes really encouraged me yesterday and I enjoyed two videos today, so I thought I'd share them here. We have some wise words on our fear-filled imaginations and facing change, an adorable Sesame Street video embracing non-Caucasian hair (check out 1:06 and 1:28 to get an idea of my hair at its wildest!), and a wonderfully creative cover of a generic pop song. Strange juxstaposition but I don't want to clog the blog with posts containing just one link ...

On fear and our imagination:

I’ve discovered that most of the bad things I imagined never actually came true. But there have been other trials—ones I never anticipated.

That’s why Elisabeth Elliot’s wise advice has been invaluable to me in fighting fear: “There is no grace for your imagination.”

God does not sprinkle grace over every path my fear takes. He does not rush in with support and encouragement for every doomsday scenario I can imagine.

No, instead He warns me to stay off those paths: “Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil” (Ps. 37:8).

There is no grace for our imagination. That’s why our fearful imaginings produce bad fruit: anxiety, lack of joy, futile attempts to control.

There is no grace for our imagination. But God does promise sufficient, abundant grace for every real moment of our lives. That’s why the Proverbs 31 woman can “laugh at the future in contrast with being worried or fearful about it” (ESV Study Bible note on Pr. 31:25)

There is no grace for our imagination. But there will be grace for our future--the moment it arrives. (Girltalk)

On change:

Every cell in the human body regenerates, on average, every seven years. LIke snakes, in our own way, we shed our skin. Biologically, we’re brand new people. We may look the same—we probably do. The change isn’t visible—at least not in most of us—but we’re all changed. Completely. Forever.

When we say things like ‘people don’t change,’ it drives scientists crazy. Because change is literally the only constant in all of science. Energy… Matter… It’s always changing. Morphing. Merging. Growing. Dying.

It’s the way people try not to change that’s unnatural. The way we cling to what things were instead of letting them be what they are. The way we cling to old memories instead of forming new ones. The way we insist on believing, despite every scientific indication, that anything in this lifetime is permanent.

Change is constant. How we experience change… that’s up to us. It can feel like death. Or it can feel like a second chance at life. If we open our fingers… loosen our grips… go with it… it can feel like pure adrenaline. Like at any moment, we can have another chance at life. Like at any moment, we can be born all over again. (Grey's Anatomy, via Grit and Glory)