Wednesday, August 10, 2011

ramblings of a ragamuffin.

Ah, the blogging world. Hello out there. I'm Erin. I'm going to skip introductions and just get right into it. That's how I do things. You know how everyone has a bucket list? I would say, without a doubt, writing a blog is on my bucket list. And for the sake of gaining life experience and checking things off my bucket list, here I am. Writing a blog.

I read a book last summer, and I'm in the middle of round two right now (because it's just that good). It's The Ragamuffin Gospel. If you haven't read it, I would highly suggest it. I would say, without a doubt, it has challenged and changed the way I think about myself and my life and the ways God is working in both of those things. It's given me ideas to wrestle through and sit in awe of, things to think through and pray through, and things that have seriously flipped my thinking upside down.

It's also given me inspiration and motivation to get my fingertips moving and start this bucket list adventure of a blog. It also, coincidentally, gave me a great alliteration of a title. Am I a ragamuffin? Yep. Do I ramble? You betcha. Time to start a blog, Erin! But in all seriousness, I love the word ragamuffin. I like how it rolls around on my tongue and feels heavy and full and like nothing I've ever heard before. The first time I heard the word (which was before I read the book) I thought it was some sort of an oat bran, whole grain, filled with dried prunes healthy muffin. Then, my dear friend at the time Maggie gave me the book as a gift and told me it would change my life. It did, so thanks for that Maggie.

And sorry to report, but ragamuffins aren't food (although I know your mouth was watering at the description). Ragamuffins are beat-up, burnt out, weary, downtrodden, broken, lowly, and outcast people. Ragamuffins are the people Jesus came to minister to. They were the beggars, women, children, sick, lame, tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners. Jesus shares life with these people who are so on the outskirts of society.  He came for broken, sinful, beat-up, weary people. In some way or another, aren't we all ragamuffins?

And Jesus comes to rescue us from that. He comes to pick us up in our brokenness and make us whole. To take a peek into The Ragamuffin Gospel, Jesus' "grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life... It strikes us when year after year, the longed-for perfection does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. At that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness" (27). Jesus comes into our broken, sinful, beat-up lives and brings us grace, hope, redemption, and life to the full; the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

That's God's story. And it's living in each of us. It's true in my own life. On my own, I am a sinful, broken, far-from-perfect, mess of a person. But Jesus has come in and brought hope when I felt like I was headed nowhere, redemption in the messiest of situations, and unconditional, unwavering grace when I absolutely do nothing to deserve it. It's so true that "the men and women who are truly filled with light are those who have gazed deeply into the darkness of their imperfect existence" (23). It's only when we realize how seriously broken, how deeply dark and unfulfilled our lives are that we can be given (and appreciate) the gift of true light and true life from Jesus. Holler. Doesn't that just make you want to dance up and down with excitement?

So, that's where I write from. A sinner who has been saved by grace. A broken, incomplete person who has been filled with life from the Giver of Life. A girl who has experienced ultimate freedom in the arms of her Savior. A girl who by absolutely no means has her life figured out, but who is leaning into Jesus, letting Him lead the way. And I get it wrong a lot of the time, but over and over again I am shown grace by my Father in Heaven. Through and through, I am a ragamuffin. Welcome to my life.

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