I'm A Christian by Maya Angelou

sdmsanjose · Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 29

I'm A Christian by Maya Angelou-2

When I say ... "I am a Christian," I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'.
I'm whispering "I was lost,
now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say, "I am a Christian,"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble,
and need CHRIST to be my guide.

When I say ... "I am a Christian," I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak, and need HIS strength to carry on.

When I say ... "I am a Christian," I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed, and need God to clean my mess.

When I say ... "I am a Christian," I'm not claiming to be perfect.
my flaws are far too visible,
but God believes I am worth it.

When I say ... "I am a Christian," I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not holier than thou.
I'm just a simple sinner
who received God's good grace somehow.

Katie · Joined: 01 Apr 2008 Posts: 36 Location: Arkansas

Thank you for posting that!

I read that yesterday in one of my emails and it gave me tears and chills.

God is so good!

Being a Christian is certainly not easy. I don't think it is suppose to be easy, but it is so rewarding.

Tenderhearts · Site Admin Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 51 Location: Midwest

That was beautiful, Stan. I love Maya Angelou and have never seen this one.
_________________
"What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God."

sdmsanjose · Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 29

KATIE said:
â€œGod is so good!
Being a Christian is certainly not easy. I don't think it is suppose to be easy, but it is so rewarding.â€

Katie
Your statement says a lot to me.

â€œGod is goodâ€ and He has been very good to me all my life.

â€œBeing a Christian is certainly not easyâ€ I am now finding that to be so true sometimes. When it comes to hard times in life I feel that I have been pampered for many years so it was easy for me to say God Is good. Now that my youngest son Joshua is an addict and destroying his life things are not so easy. However, I will tell you that in my opinion God is GREAT!!

God showed His grace and mercy to my son in 2007 and was involved in getting my son to go to an inpatient Christian rehabilitation center that incorporated the 12-step program. My son graduated from that program and was clean for 5 months for the first time in 13 years!! He was beaming and so were we, he wanted to be around family, opened up his heart to us, and was the person God made him to be.

His grandfather was so impressed with Josh that he let him live in his 3-bedroom Southern Arizona home with him. Then in the summer grandpa left to go to his mountain home in Northern Arizona and left Josh alone in the house. Josh made bad choices and he is now back in the drug lifestyle. We have not seen him since Thankgiving-2007.

No matter the outcome of my sonâ€™s addiction I am able to say without hesitation that God owes us nothing, God is SOOOO good, and He has already given us more than we deserve. However, since our God is so benevolent He just may reach down and give us more mercy and grace.

Katie, my life is no longer so easy but I know that Christianity is real for me. Thank you for saying so much with so little words.

Stan

DeVon
Those words by Maya Angelou express a whole lot of my view of Christianity. I just cannot say things as good as Maya. I am so glad that you and Katie responded so positively to her words, which is an encouragement to me and lifts me up. Thank you my dear.

Stan

Katie · Joined: 01 Apr 2008 Posts: 36 Location: Arkansas

Stan...............God is GREAT!

Have you ever read the book of "JOB"?

I have faith that God NEVER gives us more than we can handle.

If you read my LONG story about my trials with not being able to pray and questioning God and so on...........what I did not mention in that story is during that time.....while my son was hospitalized in ICU
1) my aunt died - from a simple back surgery
2) my brother and cousin were in a very bad car wreck............killing my cousin and hurting my brother seriously
3) my uncle committed suicide.

I went through all of that and at the time it seemed to a WHOLE lot, but GOD NEVER gave me more than I could handle. He carried me through a lot of that. I know that he is carrying you too! He is making you stronger!

It is a pleasure to meet you Stan!

Much love,
Katie

sdmsanjose · Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 29

Katieâ€™s quote
Have you ever read the book of "JOB"?

I have read Job several times. I must admit that the first few times of reading it I was disturbed. I thought why would God allow such a good man as Job to suffer so much?

I got some help with accepting the book of Job from a man (Kirby) in our Sunday school class. Kirby was not considered as one of the more gifted people but rather slow and quite. Kirby had just lost his youngest son Tim in a fire. Timâ€™s home caught on fire and he thought that his baby boy was still in the house and he would not come out; he was looking for his baby. The firemen tried to get him out but he would not come out. Tim died looking for his son who was taken out by the mother and Tim nor anyone else knew that at the time

We were studying Job and the teacher asked Kirby why Job had to suffer so much and Kirby only said three words. Kirby said, â€œGod is sovereignâ€ He did not say it with anger, or resentment, he said it with conviction. That really made an impression on me as to how Kirby could say that without resentment, or anger but with acceptance and conviction. That is when I started grasping some of the meaning of Job. I have come to the conclusion that God does not owe us anything and that one of the purposes of mankind on this earth is to glorify God as Job and Kirby did.

When I am reminded of Job and your and Kirbyâ€™s stories I realize how little I have suffered and how that I have absolutely no cause to feel sorry for myself but that I should honor God and work on accepting whatever outcome happens in my life.

Thank you Katie for your reminder of Job and your sharing your suffering with me. You have helped me see another person (Katie) that has suffered more than I have and have gained spiritually. Your sweet spirit and attitude has helped my fear of future tragedies.

Stan

Katie · Joined: 01 Apr 2008 Posts: 36 Location: Arkansas

Stan,
I think I mislead you with my story.

You said "You have helped me see another person (Katie) that has suffered more than I have and have gained spiritually."

I in NO way meant that I had suffered more than you or anyone else. I have not walked in your shoes and I would NEVER say that I suffered more than anyone...............my point I was trying to make was that I have been very blessed. I am so thankful for everything in my life.........I mean everything. I am 37 years old and for once I like the person I have become...............I have taken some wrong avenues on my life journey, but somehow through all of the bumps............I love my destination.

Please don't think that I was trying the Poor me.........because I do not feel that way at all.

Your friend,
Katie

sdmsanjose · Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 29

Katie · Joined: 01 Apr 2008 Posts: 36 Location: Arkansas

Stan,

You didn't say ANYTHING that made me think that you might think that I felt sorry for myself, but I wanted to clarify that just in case.

God has given me some gifts, but the ability to write and sing are not on those list. LOL

You are so thoughtful to take time to explain to me what you concluded. I feel blessed once more that God has used me to touch someone else.

One of these days I am going to slow down just enough to stop and write with my whole heart. I think I get in a big hurry all the time.

I am very thankful that Devon has this site and that I able to come here and make special friends like you and the ones here.

Thank you Stan!

PamRN · Joined: 24 Apr 2008 Posts: 1

How perfect this poem describes me! What grace God has for all of us!
This was great and reminds me of flaws of just being human. No one is perfect. I wish I could post this poem all over town on all the telephone poles! Thank you, it lifted me up.

sdmsanjose · Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 29

Hi Pam and welcome to our forum.

Maya does such a good job with that poem that I have posted it on several boards. It also describes what I thnk a Christian should be and I hope to be that someday.

Thands Pam for joining us!

Stan