Positivity - why is it so important?

pos·i·tiv·i·ty

  [poz-i-tiv-i-tee]

1. The state or character of being positive: a positivity that accepts the world as it is.

pos·i·tive

  [poz-i-tiv]

1. Tending towards progress or improvement; moving in a beneficial direction.

I work in a customer service role within a financial institution, so every day I see people from all different walks of life. I get the opportunity to get to know the regulars, help those who have enquiries, and offer my sympathies to those who are doing it tough. However, the stigma that often goes with financial institutions is that "all we want is your money". Which, isn't exactly true. But that's not where I want to go, I want to talk about the importance of positivity.

I desire to live in positivity. I desire to live as one who accepts the world as it is - that doesn't mean I don't want to change it, but I do accept it. I see where we are as a society, and I get that. Things sadden me, and there are things that encourage me to fire up and get passionate, but I never want to dwell so much on what's wrong with the world that I forget that I have the ability to bring a change - no matter how small or large. Mahatma Gandhi is often quoted in contexts such as this, his famous words, "be the change you want to see in the world" are incredible. Luke 6:31-34 (MSG) puts it like this, "Here is a simple rule of thumb for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the loveable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that's charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that." Talk about telling it how it is. How do you like to be served, with a frown or with a smile? Do you like it when the person at the McDonald's window is grumpy, or happy? Do you love jumping on an airplane for the holiday of a lifetime and your flight hostess looks like she wants to jump off the plane, or would you rather her be cheerful? Clearly, most people would choose the happier of the two. Everyone wants to be served by someone who seems like they genuinely want to be there, no one wants to be treated like a second grade citizen, so why would it be okay for me to treat others like they're not worthy of my service?

Wearing a smile, asking someone how their day is (and actually waiting for a response) can make someones day, it can change their mindset. Do you want to be part of the problem or part of the solution? Positivity is a step in the right direction, it's never misplaced. It's not always easy, but at the end of the day - it's so worth it. Make someone else's day and you may just find it makes yours too.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)

Christian Clichés.

Don't jump to any conclusions from the title of this post, but I just want to talk about Christian Cliché's for a second. Maybe, not so much clichés, but I guess the things that in a Pentecostal church, I've seen many become accustomed to. (myself included)

Obviously in such a blessed western world country such as Australia, it's so easy to take things for granted. But when it comes to God, and a relationship with Christ, there are some things that just shouldn't be taken for granted. So really, this post is more for me. I want to highlight to myself some things that can be said, and some things that can be done simply out of habit.

Example: Songs like I Will Exalt. "Your presence is, all I need, it's all I want, all I seek and without it, without it there's no meaning." Sorry, but what? ALL I need? ALL I want? ALL I seek? Without it there's NO meaning? They're such definite statements! Why would I even want to think that, let alone declare it with my mouth through song? Are you telling me I'm not the king of the world, that there's something and someONE better than me? Are you telling me that I shouldn't seek to develop further in my studies, career, life? That God is everything? ....Well, yeah. One famous scripture puts it like this, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." (Matt. 6:33 NLT)

So all I've gotta do is seek Him and everything I need will be mine? Cool. Good to know. So, uh, how exactly do I do that? Just seek Him, and Him alone? Yeah, good question Tash. Do I have the answer? No, I definitely don't. I mean, to me it seems impossible. To just seek God, and absolutely trust Him to pull through with everything I need? Come on now, that's crazy talk! And I guess it is, but if I knew the answers to everything, if I could answer every single "why", if I could do everything on my own... There'd be no need for faith. I couldn't live like that. I couldn't live in denial of the fact that I was called for a higher purpose than just an average 9-5 life. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I just know in my own strength I can only go so far. But with Christ... There's no limits. The only limits are the ones I create. "He's a limitless God, limited to the measure of my faith." (Thanks Ps. James!)

This post didn't really end up the way I intended... But I think I just learnt a good lesson. That's the whole point of this blog, I want to teach myself as well as share my thoughts with whoever reads this. So thank you - to the 135 people who have read my past three blogs.... Thank you. 

"Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am." - Philippians 4:13, MSG.

Over-thought, over-processed, not enough sense.

I am a thinker. Or, maybe more accurately, I am an over thinker. I process everything through deep thought and "meditation" I suppose. I never want to come to an incorrect conclusion, and I never want to act without knowing the outcome first. Although, having said that, I also love spontaneity and adventure, so quite often my personality is a paradox. However, of late I've been thinking on the concept of love. What is it? Why do most popular movies, songs and books have love as a major theme? Why is the topic of marriage, and gay marriage absolutely everywhere we look? What is it about love that is so desirable, and why do we all want a part in it?

As a Christian, I think the answer is simple: God created us to love, and be loved. To recreate, to spread joy and happiness. He created us with the intention that we wouldn't stay alone - that we'd love Him, and love the others He created.

So I believe I am a being created for love. Previously I've mentioned that I believe I'm created for worship, and I definitely believe that they link in. To worship, for me, means to bring glory and honour to God. Therefore if I'm created to love, and I want to bring glory and honour to God, the best way to do that is to love... and attempt to do so unconditionally. Somehow though, this creates a bit of trouble in my mind. See although I'm ready and wanting to love anyone and everyone without condition, something in the way the world is today makes me think that maybe it's not safe. It's dangerous to love. People let you down, and it hurts. And that's true. Sometimes people do let you down, and sometimes they do things you don't expect, meaning the love and trust you've put into them feels betrayed and discarded. I don't want to live in that fear though.

I've grown up in a life where friends came and went quite quickly. I wasn't sure why they'd leave so eagerly, so I formed the belief that it was my fault. After reading this quote in Stasi Eldredge's book Captivating I sort of realised I wasn't the only one.... "What makes her journey so frustrating is that she isn't sure what is wrong with her. She simply fears that somehow she is not enough." and that's it! I fear that, always! I don't want to wake up one morning and find out that all my friends are gone, because that hurts. I think the thing that hurts me the most is having a friendship that I hold so dear and so close to my heart end. Whether it ends slowly, through circumstance or whatever - it hurts just the same. I don't place my trust easy, so when someone walks away with it, my heart is saddened.

However! There's hope through the sadness. God created me for love, so he created me to love and to be loved. So I know, regardless of whatever is happening in my life, there's a God that cares enough about me to love me unconditionally. It makes my heart sing. Through all days, through everything, I can rest in the knowledge that I am loved. And so are you! If only you knew! The friends that may leave, the people that may say nasty things - they're all wrong.... He loves you! Your heart, your mind, everything you do right and wrong, it's all loved by the one who made you. Nothing can take that away, ever.

My greatest hope is that I would live in a generation that raises the next to know how precious and loved they really are. Love is undying, and the most important thing on earth.

"Oh, my heart sings."

"From the north, to the south. From the east to the west, let everything that has breath praise."

What is praise?

Praise... Worship... It's been on my heart so much lately. Actually, it never leaves my heart. And messages from church over the past week and the introduction of this song into our youth ministry has triggered deep thought about it. I can't help but analyse and try to decipher meaning, and find the meaning that is applicable for me. I'm an analytical person, which in someways entirely contradicts my personality, but it's something that is so important to me.

This is how I see it:

God created man, he created the seas and the land, he created the animals, the plants, from the smallest thing to the largest... You get the point, he created it all. He gave me breath, and he ordained my life from the get go and from the minute I was born he had hope that I would follow the plan he has for me. Time after time, I've said "no." "No, not now God." "Why me?" "I can't." "That's not something I feel comfortable with." And last week, it hit me. God, the Father, sent His son. As in, His child. His precious, precious child with whom He is well pleased, to earth. He walked without a single blemish. And then he died, the death of a sinner. A death of shame, and he carried everything that I was to do wrong, and God let it happen. He knew full well every time I would sin, He knew I'd deny Him, He knew I'd refuse His call, and He knew I'd come back to it. He did it with the knowledge that one day I'd be here living for Him. But not only did He do it knowing that about me, He did it with the knowledge of everyone and what they would do with their lives.

So where does worship come in? It comes in here... I am one human amongst 7 billion in this world we live in, and I have the privilege of sitting here in my warm bedroom on my laptop, typing to strangers. God chose me to live, and he chose me to do specific things in life. I could say no to the things he set on my heart, very easily so I could turn it all away. But I had this realisation; God chose me. Who am I to say no to perfect love? Who am I to think that I'm so clever I can do life on my own? Who am I to think that I'm too good for grace? So why would I not worship? Not just on a Sunday morning when I'm standing on the platform as part of the worship team, but every day of my life. When I go to work. When I come home from work. When I hang out with my friends. When I arrive at church. When I leave church. When I'm at parties. When I'm on my own in my bedroom.

So again I find myself asking, so what are you getting at Tash?! I'm getting at this, worship is the act of giving back to God the glory he sent down to earth. Worship is returning to Him what is rightfully His, whether it be my finance, the talents/gifts He's given me, my time, my heart, anything and everything. It's all worship, every single bit of it. So this is how I'm trying to live, with the mindset that everything I do is worship. I walk in to work with my head held high, knowing that I'm about to encounter people who don't know what I know about hope and love, and some people who do. I walk into church knowing I get to celebrate my faith with like-minded people. I go into my studies knowing that good grades glorify God. Everything I do, I do to the best of my ability so that I can worship Him every single day. Standing on a platform with a microphone isn't the most important way I worship. It's an honour, and a privilege, but God has called me to more than just that. And I'm determined to live like that.

Everything that has breath, Praise the Lord. (Psalm 148)

The reason for the blog...

So it's 2013, and I'm just jumping on board the "blog bandwagon". I decided to steer clear of Tumblr due to content that one can be exposed to, and I chose blogger as I want this to be a space for me to express my faith in a forum that can be shared with others. Here I will shamelessly post my faith journey, and I hope that it can encourage others as they walk in theirs.

I feel the best place to start a blog is to tell all who may one day stumble upon this exactly who I am.

My name is Natasha Gardner, and at this moment in time, I'm 18 years old. I'm from the city of Adelaide, and that is in South Australia. I've live here my whole life, but I've traveled to five other countries in the time I've been alive. I work at a Credit Union, and no, I'm not academically qualified for it. I finished year twelve in 2011 with a final score of 77.15, nothing special, but enough to get me into the field I desired. I dropped maths in year ten, but due to my bubbly nature and history in customer service, I landed the job at the Credit Union in March 2013. I'm of the belief that this was a God-ordained job, and so I go to work every day with the attitude that it's God who I'm representing and this is exactly where I should be for the time being. I am studying ministry by correspondence through the Sydney college, Alphacrucis. I've been doing this since March 2013, and so far have received good grades. I'm passionate about my studies, and I am so, so incredibly passionate about God and spreading His love to everyone I meet. I'm a youth leader at Edge Church, and I adore it. I don't think I would want to be anywhere else, and for this season of my life I truly believe that Edge is my home. The people, the culture and the attitude towards people who aren't in the church is amazing. The community focus makes my heart happy and it is good and honest work. As well as being part of the youth team, I'm part of the music team. I love that too. I'm passionate about worship, and whilst music is only one way to display worship, there's something about music that just shifts a mood. It creates something so beautiful, so pure, so true, nothing can take that away. I love to worship, so I love to serve in God's house. If I'm in God's house, I'm in my element. I'm learning that God's house isn't only the four walls of the church though. God's house is wherever His people are, and His people are everywhere. My place of work can be God's house. Whilst I don't preach to them every day, through my day to day life I believe I can bring a positive atmosphere and somewhere that people truly love to work.

What I want from life, is to bring joy to the lives of others while glorifying my King. I want everyone to experience the love that I feel, and be stretched and challenged and grow in the wonderful ways that I get to! It's not always easy, and quite often I question myself, but every day is new, and every day brings new challenges. I'm excited for my future, and the future of those around me. I love my friends with everything I have, I love my God with everything I have, and I love life with my whole entire heart.

I try to live a positive life, my heart beats for positivity and hope and truth and love. My heart beats to worship. 

In a nutshell, I'm just sold out for Christ and I can't wait to see this world changed.