Purpose

First Blog Goal: Hone Layers

I meant for this blog to be recreational–a way to cultivate a couple of my layers: my creative side and my playful side. My partial vision was for it to be fun, whimsical and at times a bit goofy–the stuff that brings life to life. However, it wasn’t long before I realized that my layers can’t be separated so easily.

Like an Onion, But Not!

Unlike an onion, however, these layers are fused together. As one they form our personality. Some layers run very deep, emerging in everything we do.

My love for Jesus is one of my deepest layers. Because nothing can separate those who know Jesus from His love, He is ever present in my life. This, too, is expressed in what I write. (Really, I can’t help it. I love God, and all that it means to belong to Him is too good not to express and share.)

Nevertheless, even our deepest layers can go dry. This can happen quite easily when times get tough if we don’t continue to draw water from the well, who is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Nicknames

I chose to use a nickname for my blog title because I’m very sentimental. More than that, nicknames are powerful. Not only are they an expression of our fondness for one another, but they can also remind us who we are or who we’re meant to be.

My greatest love (Jesus) sometimes chose nicknames for His disciples. He called them His friends because they knew His business. (John 15:15 ) Therefore, God chose new names to remind His people of their purpose.

Nicknames can also reflect the characteristics that we need to keep in check or abandon. For example: when my husband started calling me “The Garbage Fairy.” Though I found this quite humorous, I didn’t love the nickname! Who wants garbage as a name? (Lol.) Fairy is cute though. The full explanation can be found on my other blog at the link above.

Go and Sow

Pippi, however, is a great nickname! It not only expresses my playful side, but it also reminds me of my purpose: to go and sow, since a pip is a seed.

I rushed this new blog. (No Surprise there. I’m known to be an over eager beaver.) I wasn’t entirely off course, but by using my gifts purely for recreation, I was risking straying from my God given purpose. It wasn’t long before I realized that what I was writing wasn’t purely recreational as I’d planned. Therefore, I can’t keep it to myself.

People can make all kinds of plans, but only the Lord’s plan will happen.

Proverbs 19:21 New Century Version (NCV)

Simon Peter

I’m not the only one who misses the mark. One of the 12 disciples of Jesus, named Simon, needed a nickname too. Jesus named Him Peter which means Rock. (For a full explanation read John MacArthur’s blog post here.)

MacArthur points out that when Peter would get off course, Jesus would refer to him as Simon to point out that he was acting like his old self, but if He wanted to commend him, He would refer to him as Peter. Sometimes He was even called Simon Peter. It’s worth reading MacArthur’s full blog series on this gung-ho man of God. (I can relate to many of his personality quirks myself.)

Second Blog Goal: Enjoyment

Life can get hard. In times like these we can lose our wonder and joy. This means that we do need reminders to enjoy life.

This includes enjoying the presence of God. Encouraging others to draw close to Him and know Him makes our joy complete (or full) because it’s exactly what we, who are called to share the good news about Jesus, were made for.

“We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!”

1 John 1-3(MSG)

I love writing. Therefore, there’s always an element of enjoyment (including some fun and play at times), but since those layers are inseparable, there will definitely be some deeper more meaningful tones to my writing as well. Pippi promptly, passionately proceeds, but Pippi also needs prompting! We all need the Holy Spirit to help us stay the course.

–Tina (Aka Pippi), but please call me Tina or give me a new nickname! I’m very sentimental when it comes to those affectionate names that connect us at heart.