Author Archives: Rebekah Roper

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08/22/2011

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Espressos and Cream

the shape of each leaf is a mystery

too deep to comprehend.

a million miracles surround me

while i complain that there’s

not enough room for cream in my espresso.

-Steven James

This quote struck a chord in my heart, reminding me that I’ve misplaced my sense of wonder somewhere in the mundane routine of my life. I’ve failed to let myself be captivated by the beauty that surrounds me because I’ve immersed myself for too long in the trivial.

And I find myself having to repent for being so hard to impress. For being shallow enough to think that the cream and espresso sized things actually matter. For being too distracted to even take notice of the glorious surprises God creates just for me.

It’s time to return to that “once upon a time” adventure. To recapture the wonder of the fairytales. To allow myself to be fascinated by the familiar.

As the Little Mermaid wanted to be “part of that world”, as Cinderella wanted “more than a dream”, I want so much more than days that are filled with espressos and cream.

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08/18/2011

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Embrace Truth

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No Condemnation

Sharm.

The word echoes through my mind as hauntingly as it echoed through the dorm at Ashagram.

Sharm.

Shame.

The thing that most keeps them from approaching the throne of God.

Sharm.

It’s one Hindi word I’ll remember for a lifetime because it’s the one that moves my heart to tears as I wonder why these beautiful women feel shame for a sin they did not commit. They didn’t choose the life of a prostitute. It was forced upon each one of them. Yet they feel responsible for the wrong that was done to them. As if there was something they could have done to keep it from happening.

It’s easy to feel sympathy for these women. So simple for me to tell them that they have no need to be ashamed. But I know that I’ve done it too. I’ve taken the blame for something that was not within my power to control. I’ve felt guilt over circumstances that I couldn’t change. I’ve lived with so many “what if’s”.

Sharm.

Shame.

Whether it’s truly mine to bear or not, I’ve allowed it to keep me from approaching the throne of God on more than one occasion. I’m willing to bet it’s hindered you as well.

We’re afraid to approach God. Afraid of what His response to us may be. We’re afraid of His judgment, or maybe His mercy. Yes, it’s quite possible to fear forgiveness. So we live in our sharm. We abide in our shame as if forgiveness is only a dream.

But we don’t have to live that way. We don’t have to stay confined within the walls of self-condemnation.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” –Romans 8:1-2

 So come now, little one. Out of the sharm. Out of your shame.  Freedom awaits you here in the Light.

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08/15/2011

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Hearing it from You

One of the students in my youth group posed the question: “Why do some people find it so hard to open up to God when He knows everything anyway?”

A leader volunteered that maybe it’s because we tend to think that if we suppress something, it will go away. She suggested that maybe people are afraid to open up because when you talk about something, you can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.

I could see truth in her statement, and maybe that really resonates with you, but I found that my silence resulted from something else entirely. My problem lay directly in the ending of my young friend’s question. God already knows everything… so why bother telling Him about it?

It took me a long time before I realized that God actually likes hearing from me. Yes, He already knows the things that are in my heart, but He wants to hear them from my mouth. To know that I want Him to know. Maybe that thought is hard to wrap Your mind around, so let me phrase it this way:

My aunt used to regale me with tales of “Samantha this” and “Samantha that”. While I loved hearing what my little cousin was doing, nothing delighted me more than when Samantha herself would walk up to me in wide-eyed wonder exclaiming, “Guess what?”

She could tell me the same story I had heard only five minutes earlier from her mom, yet I would hang on Samantha’s every word. Why? Because I loved hearing the story from her point of view, seeing it through her eyes. I loved the childlike enthusiasm. I loved the fact that she wanted me to be privy to the many facets of her life.

So be reminded that, yes, God already knows the intimate details of your life, but He also cares greatly about you. Nothing delights Him more than when one of His children approaches Him in wide-eyed wonder and says, “Guess what?”

So go ahead and give it a try. Your heavenly Father is waiting to hear from you.

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08/12/2011

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Letting Hope Out of the Box

I’ve found that the reoccurring theme in my life recently has been about taking risks, trusting the unseen and embracing the unfamiliar. In pondering all these things, I’m brought back to the lesson of Pandora’s Box.

Now, for those of you who haven’t brushed up on your Greek mythology in the past few years, Pandora is the woman who is accredited for releasing evil into the world. See, Pandora was the guardian of a box. A box that was never to be opened. Of course, in this mythological twist on the story of Adam and Eve, Pandora’s curiosity got the best of her and the box didn’t stay closed. The moment it was opened, a myriad of evil creatures rushed out into the world. Pandora struggled to shut the lid and revoke her bad decision, but it was too late. Pandora had been burned. And what’s a girl to do when she’s just released a whole horde of evil into the world?

Then came a tiny voice, begging to be set free. But Pandora was afraid. She had caused so much harm already. What if this made it worse? But for some reason, Pandora decided to take the risk. She decided to trust this thing that she couldn’t see. Tenaciously she opened the box… and hope floated out on butterfly wings.

Now, I don’t believe for a moment that this is truly how darkness entered the world, but pretend for a moment that it was. What would have happened if Pandora had allowed her original mistake to keep her from trusting the small voice? What if she had been too afraid to risk again? To trust again? What if Pandora had left hope in the box? What kind of world would we live in today?

It’s so easy to become embittered by life. When bad things happen, we harden our hearts. When people hurt us, we close ourselves off. We’re afraid to risk again. To trust again. And so we leave hope in the box.

Today I encourage you to learn from Pandora. Set aside your disappointments, disenchantments and past mistakes. Take the risk, trust the unseen and let hope out of the box.

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08/06/2011

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Celebrating Dreams

Lately, my mind has been filled with dreams. I talked about them a lot when I was in India (perhaps because my very presence there was the fulfillment of a twelve-year-old dream). This past weekend, I met the infant son of my childhood best friend, causing me to remember all the years we played with baby dolls and dreamed of the day we would be mothers together. A couple days ago, I celebrated the seventh anniversary of my cousin Leah’s birth. It would take a whole separate blog to explain that dream.

But today, I celebrate yet another dream. It was one year ago today that I hesitantly took a step toward fulfilling a dream God had birthed in my heart a short time earlier. A dream that is now the blog you’re reading. This past year has been a long, hard journey filled with questions, doubts, and fears, but it has also been one of the most rewarding years of my life. (I find that the challenging years usually are.) It has been a beautiful thing to watch these lifelong dreams unfold before my very eyes.

God gives us dreams for a reason, but Satan is so quick to discourage us when that dream isn’t instantly fulfilled. We forget the preparation needed to make that dream a reality. We forget that sometimes it takes twelve years. And we begin to wonder if we were right about the dream in the first place.

But God’s timing is perfect. And dreams do come true. The dreams we’ve known all our lives, and the dreams we haven’t yet dared to dream.

So may we always take a day to celebrate our dreams, and may we live all the other days in pursuit of them.

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08/03/2011

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Fairytale Fallacies

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The Purpose of a Fairytale

You may have heard the quote: “Disney gave me unrealistic expectations of men.” I’m not sure who invented that statement, but I have to question their accuracy. We have a tendency to blame fairytales for our distorted views of what love should look like, but you never see anyone blaming Disney for making us believe that animals can talk. You never hear anyone complaining, “Oh man, and I really thought last night would be the night Peter Pan showed up at my window.” And when’s the last time you tried to kiss a frog?

Let’s face it, we’re not really expecting to take a bite of a poisoned apple and wait for our Prince to come wake us from a comatose state. No one really expects that to happen. So why are we blaming Snow White for our troubles? Sounds to me like she had it a lot worse than I do.

Fairytales weren’t written to give you a distorted view of romance; they were written to instill hope in the hearts of those who want to give up on living. Prince Charming aside, fairytales are all about chasing your dreams and finding the courage to step into the unknown. That’s the true romance and adventure of a fairytale.

Though many of us still love fairytales to this day, we started watching them as small children – back in our “boys are icky” days. I know that I, personally, did not watch Cinderella for the wedding scene at the end, but for the music and the mice and the adventure that led up to that fateful moment at the ball. When she met Prince Charming, I wasn’t sighing because it was romantic, I was shouting, “Take that, you evil stepsisters!” That was Cinderella’s real victory. She lived as a sweet-hearted servant until she finally rose to the princess position that she deserved.

So stop blaming Disney for your broken dreams, and read the rest of the story. There’s so much more to life than finding Prince Charming. Happily ever after is the end of the story… Try living once upon a time.

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07/27/2011

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Touch the World

I watched Nim’s Island the other night. Not my favorite movie, but it happened to spark something in my heart on this particular night. If you haven’t seen the movie, when eleven-year-old Nim’s father gets lost at sea, she sends a distress call to the adventure hero, Alex Rover. Unfortunately, Alex Rover is actually Alexandra Rover – a novelist who happens to be “mildly agoraphobic” and hasn’t left her apartment in six months. But when she gets this email from Nim, she finds herself on a rescue mission.

So in this particular scene, Alexandra stands just inside the door of her apartment, unable to move. Her fictional character Alex Rover (who often makes appearances in the flesh), stands outside the door with his arm extended to her. “Take my hand, Alexandra. Touch the world.”

A rather panicked Alexandra gives the classic response: “I don’t want to touch the world. It’s not sanitary!”

Story of my life. Well, not the unsanitary part. If anything, I probably have an underdeveloped fear of germs. But I can relate to the fear of “touching the world”. I generally shy away from such adventures because it’s not easy, not safe, not practical, not “me”… The list goes on. (I’m pretty much a master at coming up with excuses.)

I feel a lot like Alexandra Rover. I feel like I’m standing at the doorway of an incredible adventure, but I’m too afraid to take the next step because I’m not sure what the next step even is. And there God stands, reaching out to me. “Take my hand, Rebekah. Touch the world.”

I don’t want to touch the world. I do, but I don’t. I do, but I’m scared. I do, but… I do. I do want to touch the world. I do want to leave a mark here. I do want to take God’s hand and step out into the unknown. I do… even when I don’t.

The same arm He extends to me is extended to you. So come along with me. Forget your fears, take His hand, and touch the world.

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07/22/2011

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Sing-Along Scriptures

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Singing in the Rain

One of my coworkers recently delivered a communion message that was unlike any other I’d ever heard. He read the story out of Mark 14 and put a huge emphasis on verse 26: “Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.” I don’t know that I’d ever really seen that verse before, but I know now that I’ll never forget it.

My coworker painted a picture of that moment. A picture of twelve men singing a song of praise with God in their midst. A picture of twelve men who have no idea that their faith is about to be tested in a way I could never even dream of being tested.

Then my coworker delivered a challenge that is probably more memorable than his sermon content. “If you knew the hardships that were coming, would you still sing a hymn?”

Could I still praise God if I knew that my life was about to fall apart? Could I still bless His name if I knew my faith was about to be shaken to the core? Would I still sing if my world was consumed by darkness? It’s easy to sing when life is going well, but how many people can truly praise God when everything in life comes crashing down?

All of my life, in every season... I want to look like this guy.

I love dancing in the rain… Real rain… The kind that falls from the sky and brings life to all green things. But when it comes to spiritual rain… The kind that floods in and devastates your soul… That, I’m not so good at handling. That doesn’t make me want to sing and dance; it makes me want to scream and curl up in the fetal position.

But I feel like God is asking me to trust Him with my whole heart. To believe that every circumstance He sends my way is truly meant for my good. In the end, I want to be singing in the rain.

So I’ll answer my coworker in faith. “Yes. Yes, I will be the one who sings regardless of my circumstances.” May God help me fulfill that promise.

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07/20/2011

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Life Like a River

I waded down the river of an Indian jungle. Took another unsure step. The rock beneath my foot shifted, causing me to stumble. A hand reached out to steady me. I smiled at Sunil – my friend and my guide. We walked hand-in-hand down the river. Occasionally, he would guide me to the other side, telling me it was safer to walk there. I trusted him. After all, he knew this river better than I did. All the way down and all the way back up, I didn’t fall once. Yes, there were a few times that I stumbled – even a time that I lost my shoe – but Sunil’s firm grip on my hand kept me upright.

When Sunil asked me to think about why God brought me to India and what purpose it would play in my life now, my mind drifted back to the river. That river, much like my life, is unpredictable. I never know if my next step is going to be steady, or if the rocks of life are going to slip out from underneath my feet. But life, much like that river, is so much easier to manage when you don’t have to walk it alone.

I think we lose so much of life’s adventure in the planning. I’m one of those people who loves to know what’s going to happen ahead of time. Taking a step into the unknown can be unnerving. When the water is deeper than we anticipated, it can be downright scary. But sort of like my Indian guide was there for me, God is there to hold our hand, to keep us from falling, and to guide us to safety.

I used to think I had my life all figured out, but I’ve come to a place where I have no idea what God is doing with my life right now. I can barely see the next step, let alone what’s going to happen a few weeks into the future. But for the first time in my life, I feel like it’s okay to not know. For now, I’ll just keep holding onto Jesus as I take an unsteady step into the river that is my life.