Learning to Love!

It has been a long time since I have written anything anywhere but on paper or Facebook! I has been an especially long time since I have written anything on any of my blogs this one in particular! My life has not been short on the occasional inspired thought I guess it is about time to start sharing them again!

In my small group at church we have been revisiting some old principles for me. We had started reviewing the Five Love Languages. For some you may have never heard of them if not I highly recommend the book, it is a quick read and may teach you more about yourself and those that you love then you can even imagine! It will change the way you perceive and understand giving and receiving love!
For those that have heard of the Love Languages the rest will make sense!

For those of my friends that don't know my primary love languages are Quality Time with an Eleven out of Thirty and Physical Touch with a Ten out of Thirty! Apparently not leaving very much room for the rest! Which is somewhat incorrect... As far as for me receiving love they are basically dead on but don't for a second think I don't know how to give in other forms of love that are not my primary! As most of my friends that are primarily Words of Affirmation can probably tell you that I do my best to ensure they feel loved constantly! I love people and the ones in my life are so important to me! As a Quality Time person just the fact that you want to spend time with me long enough to remember my name and have a conversation with me that lasts more than five minutes makes me feel loved and if you started the conversation off with an appropriate hug this encourages me to want to find out how I can show you love the way you best receive love! Erica for example is one of my closest friends and for a while earlier this year when I couldn't drive she would occasionally call me and say hey I need to runs some errands do you wanna tag along! Which to me says Hey can I spend an hour or so with you just hanging out one on one! This is like one of the best ways you can make me feel loved! Be willing to live your life with me one on one! Well my goal after the first time that happened was find out how to make Erica feel equally loved! Erica's primary love language is Words of Affirmation she is especially fond of the written word such as Journals, Postcards & Letters! This inspired an idea from something I used to do back in middle school! A shared journal! It is basically a journal where you write the other person a letter and then they read it and write you back on the next page. We trade ours back and forth a couple times a week. It is like having a pen pal that you see on a weekly basis! I love it and I hope it blesses her as much as those trips errand running bless me!

I have found that learning about how people give and receive love can improve your relationships tremendously! My relationships my family, my close friends and even my friends that may not have been close before are starting to become very close! I love that loving and being loved is really becoming less of a chore and more of a joy! Now if only I can find a friend that need a back massage once in a while! I think giving physical touch blesses me like receiving! Hahaha!

Much love y'all!
Alicia Zinn

The Non-Interference Rule

Dearest friends and family... This is not an angry rave of a single woman... I am anything but that... I am single but I am so far from angry... I am so content in my singleness the thought of a relationship just seems unnecessary not that I am one of those soap-boxing single girls raving about how I love being single so much that I swear off men completely... I am just so content in my relationship with God right now that is what simply occupy my thinking to the point that most of the time I forget that I am single or I am so happy living this way with Jesus that I forget other people do it differently... but this is mostly a precursor to the next part hence the "pre" I digress!

So here's the thing... I am single! I absolutely love all of my not single friends! I want you in my life! I would never trade the memories, the moments or the time I spend with you!
BUT... I am single and have been since... well birth... So I have chosen to take a none interference role in the aspect in my friends lives... which includes but is not limited to my girls, spiritual family, real family & friends! Which means... As far as your relationship with your significant other is concerned unless the Lord is yelling... GET OUT NOW! To you and you aren't listening! I have no opinions on how or who you are dating! Upon the request for advice on your relationship, or about if you are good for each other or good together, or whatever my answer will generally be the same!

What is the Lord telling you about your relationship?

Now I am not saying I don't want to know how you are doing or what new things you have learned about one another! I love that stuff... I simply choose not to speak into matters of the heart because I am human and no matter how well I hear from the Lord I still filter it through my opinions and understanding of the situation... which is often one sided... Know I am praying for you and your relationship! I am a very faithful prayer and I hold the covenant of Marriage very sacredly and pray that on each of your journeys toward it is literally moment by moment guided by the hand of the Lord the writer of the most incredible love story of all time.

I truly pray that for each of those in my life!

I love you all!
Alicia

Happy Valentines & Singles Awareness Day

So I have been around for 26 Valentines Days! Granted I have only remembered or fully experienced the last 20 or so of them. I can for the most part say that besides my amazing brother who loving remembers me and a few messengers of the Lord who have graciously forwarded His message of love for me... I have never had a Valentine... at least in the sense that the word applies! I know that would make most people think "Oh so you must Celebrate Singles Awareness Day!"... Well actually I have in previous years really celebrated Singles Awareness in protest of Valentines... But this year has been different! I will say that I was very Aware I was Single this afternoon when a young man came into our class to serenade his girlfriend... But this morning I was awakened by a text that suggested I check my doorstep where I found a single red rose carefully wrapped & delivered by the hands of my wonderful brother! I know it just looks like my brother is my Valentine again... But that is not the case not just because Paul is someones Valentine already! (She is a very lucky young lady!) But also because the Lord has had me in a very different place this year! My relationship with God has been changed signification in the last year! The Lord asked me to allow Him to romance me this year... He has begun to woo me in ways that honestly no man could or will ever be able to measure up to! Lets just say the bar has been set pretty high and that I am head over heals in love with my Savior and well it is amazing! Right now I love people! Because He loves people! And He lets me be His hands to deliver gifts, hugs, time, money or words to His people on His behalf! It is the most incredibly and honoring thing I have ever done in my life! I truly understand the scripture that says I love because He first loved us! Really the whole Chapter of 1 John 4 speaks louder in this case... By the way for all of you! When the Lord loves He loves with all He is by the way is Everything! If you don't know this... Well I recommend you let Him love you! Because it will Change your life! For all those who are Anti-Valentines for the sheer case of the fact that you think it is a stupid holiday made up by Chocolate & Flower companies! Well take this to heart... Men of God! That is mostly who I am addressing right now! See Valentines not as a holiday celebrated by the world with chocolates or flowers but as an Opportunity...An Opportunity to show the woman you love that she is sweeter than her favorite chocolate or more beautiful than her favorite flower... and that she is worth going out of your way to make her feel special in as way that says she is the incredible woman God has created her to be! Just remember that she is the daughter of a King... The King of Kings... Thus a Princess... Be the Knight! But I just want to say in a side note that will be at least a future blog post... You don't need to be "The Knight in Shining Armor" as a man of God you have battles to fight go out and fight them! Get your armor dirty!

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!
Alicia Zinn

Ordinary with a little Extra!

Life is full of moments where we are waiting to see what happens next. It seems I have been in a season of that... Waiting... Have you ever been in the middle of a crowd of people and just stopped for a moment to look around and see what is going on? I have a couple in a couple of different crowds. Once in the middle of a concert watching  the people around you jumping and yelling or singing along. Several times in airports. Watching people run on their way to their various destinations. Even on a busy mall on a Saturday afternoon late in the fall. The fact of the matter isn't really gonna change. People from all different backgrounds in the middle of what may be a very ordinary moment to them: Enjoying the music of the band they came to see. Running to catch a plane or to baggage claim off to see family they haven't seen in a while or to vacation at Disney world or an important business meeting or job Interview. Running around to stores shopping for this and that getting ready for the big date or shopping for that special someone to give them the perfect gift for Christmas or Picking up that ring and putting the details on his plans.
I guess many of those moments are not as ordinary as I made them sound at first. But I mean how often do people in the most ordinary moments forget that so many others may be in the middle of a moment that is Extraordinary! I am the type of person that in my apparently ordinary moments seek out the Extra for my Ordinary! I have found that with the Lord it is not far to look. The joy in a child's eyes when they just see their mom or dad for the first time in 5 minutes, hours, days or months! I know that every moment with the Lord is incredibly extraordinary! Because He is very Extraordinary! I mean as people we can only be with so many people at a time... If I wanted time with someone like the president or a Celebrity I would likely be too ordinary to be considered as a audience with someone who is that important. But the Creator of universe the One that considered the every intimate facet of my heart takes the time to be available to enjoy even the ordinary moments with me!

Home Ec·o·nom·ics

Home Ec·o·nom·ics: noun - Cooking and other aspects of household management, esp. as taught at school

Home /hōm/ adverb - 1. To the place where one lives 2. In or at the place where one lives 3. To the end or conclusion of a race or something difficult 4. To or toward home plate 5. To the intended or correct position

Ec·o·nom·ics /ˌekəˈnämiks/ /ˌēkə-/ noun - 1. The branch of knowledge concerned with the production, consumption, and transfer of wealth 2. The condition of a region or group as regards material prosperity

So recently I offered to teach my 'little Sister' Kristen how to make homemade chicken soup from scratch... Which spawned an inquiry that... Well... Made my day and inspired a new found passion. Kristen asked if I would be interested in teaching her and maybe one or two other home school students a Home Economics class. This has inspired me to really apply myself even more to learn how God wants us to run a household and how to best train others how to manage a home God's Way!

It makes me wish I would have taken that Marriage and Family Class from the McWilliams at CFNI that my brother still rants and raves about. But besides that I am very excited about the opportunity... Even though right now it is only a possibility! This is a passion I have had for some time now. I remember when I first started at CFNI I found that allot of young ladies my age never had the opportunity to learn even the basics of cooking, cleaning, budgeting and things like that... Those are just a few things that a good Home Ec course should cover. So I am currently delving into great biblical teaching taught by Devi Titus & Larry Burkett. If you have any great resources I am putting a request out to all my friends please feel free to message me or post info in comments or on my wall!

God Bless!

Alicia Zinn

A life...

One life can change the course of... Well... everything. Many of us forget how significant one life can be. I could tell you right now that if one human interaction in my life had not been there no matter how insignificant it may have seemed. The course of my life would not have remained the same. I often find myself thinking of how significant each life can be when I hear of the loss of life. Last night it was reported that a man, Osama bin Laden, had lost his life. The truth of the matter is if his name had not been mentioned in association with the tragedy of September 11, 2001 none of us would even know his name. I know that on occasion I have found myself just as guilty as the next guy feeling that he deserved it or that he had it coming after what he did. But the only way that justice can be found is not in retaliation... no matter how good we think we will feel after the fact... But rather in Redemption!

It is the only answer that God ever planned on having! Even from the very beginning. God never intended for us to have to live in a world where death even existed! But as soon as things changed He still had a plan but His plan did not include sticking it to the one that started this whole thing. Because we as created beings are unable in our own power to live beyond the created world beyond death we are powerless on our own. He knew from the beginning that if things were going to make a turn for the worst He being the Creator of Life would have to sacrifice His own life in order to conquer death. God had a plan to redeem EVERY man! His desire is that we are ALL redeemed! Even those that our finite minds believe are beyond or undeserving of redemption. Such as a man that many Americans hold responsible for the death of thousands. Our justice system is built upon the understanding that every American is by there constitutional rights Innocent until Proven Guilty. My understanding of the Word of God is quite the opposite as far as sin is concerned well everyman is really Guilty! No questions asked... But that isn't it... We do in fact get a trial... We have one choice before that trial which comes at death... We can choose to represent ourself or to let an Advocate take our case. This Advocate is available to everyman. His name is Jesus. He has already pled Guilty. He even paid the only price of sin which is death. But having lived without sin the laws of death had no hold on Him. He conquered death so that in the end if we have chosen Jesus as our Advocate. When the Judge sees that we are represented by Jesus. The Judge will Move for a dismissal of all charges because the price has already been paid!

But the thing about that is to remember is that even the worst of us... Terrorists, Serial Killers, Rapists, Occult Leaders and So on... Jesus paid for those sins too. Because when God looks at us He doesn't see what we have done but rather He sees us for Who we are in Jesus! Redeemed with a clean slate. A little reminder to Christians out there who are religious about the Law. We don't live by the Law because we need to live within these parameters to stay clean. We live life in a way that brings honor to the name we have chosen to represent in our faith... It's not about rules or laws. It's about doing the right thing cause well its right. Not because we don't want to do the wrong thing.

All this to say One life... A single life can make all the difference in the world!

I love Y'all!
Alicia Zinn

An Unexpected turn...

Life is full of unexpected changes... Especially when you are on a journey towards the future... Mine has journey has recently taken an unexpected turn and I am looking forward to what the Lord is doing in my life... For those of you who haven't heard from me or through the grapevine I have news... Due to a recent cutback in hours at my current job I have come to the realization that in this small town a full-time job means anything over 20 hours... I have been barely scraping by on 32 hours a week at my job and after my trip home to NC I came back to be informed by my boss that my hours were to be cut back to as little as 25 hours a week. Upon receiving this news I promptly informed my boss that there is no way I can survive on less hours and that if this was going to be the case she should expect my notice soon... I had been praying about several possibilities that I had in front of me... I could get a second job and continue to strain to make ends meet... I could quit and try and find another full time job in town and hope its enough to continue living somewhere I honestly cant afford to live... Or consider and option that was offered to me a few months ago that I had been thinking about for a while... In Dec before my lease was up My father open handedly presented me with an offer... I could pack up all my furniture and things into storage and pack my car up with my clothes and things I need to live and move back home to live with them and get a job in Charlotte where Full-time means at least 40 hours a week and jobs are a bit more plentiful... And then when the grant comes through and Wild Fire is ready for me then I can pack back up and move back to Texas... At the time things were going pretty well and I was keeping my head above water... But January saw a turn around in my job and financial situation and I could see that the Lord was moving some of the Wild Fire Staff into new places... After allot of prayer and a two and a half hour conversation with Toni Hellums... I realized that the wise thing for me to do right now was to move home for a season... So in about three weeks my mother will be flying down to Texas to ride with me back home to NC... I want to thank everyone who has been praying for me through this season... I am so thankful for the people the Lord has placed in my life!

God Bless y'all! Alicia