Lessons Learned from Box Living

I'm moving this weekend. My husband, Michael, and I bought a new house and we are very excited about it. But we aren't as excited about the boxes that have been piled up around our apartment for the past week as we have been packing. It’s chaos around here. Organized chaos…but chaos nonetheless. I’m surrounded by boxes. Boxes with brightly colored labels detailing what’s inside are helpful, but they are still boxes at the end of the day.

In the past day or so I’ve learned a few things about box living that apply to live as a whole. Since sitting here and staring at my boxes has gotten old, I decided I’d share my new found revelations with you.

Lesson #1: You can’t put God in a box. When we first began packing Michael and I grossly underestimated the number of boxes we would need to complete the task. Turns out we have a lot more stuff than we thought we did. On more than one occasion I sat down to pack stuff in a box I assumed it would all fit in only to find that my size estimates were off. Who knew I have enough board games to overflow a medium box?

Often in life I assume I can force God into a box as well. I take the things I know about God and pigeonhole Him into a formula or predetermined pattern of behavior and completely forget that He is God and He can do whatever He wants. Somehow I forget He is all knowing and that He will make all things work together for good in the end even if it doesn’t look like it in the moment.Sometimes it can be hard to comprehend that God is bigger than we can ever understand. The easiest way to deal with this is to start doing what I eventually did while I was packing. Go for the bigger box. If you must use boxes, aim for the super size. God is still going to overflow it. He’s still going to break the mold. He will break your rules, and He will let you get your heart broken in the process. But then He will put all of the pieces back together and make it more beautiful than you could have ever imagined. He’s God. That’s His job. Fortunately for you, it’s not yours.

Lesson # 2: Even when it seems like it, Satan cannot pack your dreams in a box and ship them away. As I sat in my living room packing my life in a box, I couldn’t help but think back to all of the times when I felt as if my dreams were being packed in boxes and shipped away. Back when I was single I hated wedding season. Nothing says depressing quite like getting dressed up to go sit with your other single friends and watch someone else run off with your dream of getting married. I hate when that happens. But, over the years I have learned that for every “no” God has ever given me there have been one thousand yeses. They may not always be for the things I asked for, but they are for things that make my life good—good health, good neighbors, good friends, etc…Think about your own one thousand yeses and your one no won’t seem so devastating anymore.

Lesson 3#: Most people disregard the “Fragile” labels, but God doesn’t. It makes me incredibly nervous that Michael and his friends are responsible for actually moving my boxes from the old apartment to the new house. Why? Because the other day I bought some classic white wooden rockers for the new house and they came in boxes marked “Handle with Care.” But Michael actually picked up one of the boxes and threw it instead of gently placing it down. He says he didn't see the label, and I believe him. But ever since then I have been a pest of a wife in making sure that he knows “fragile” means fragile and that if he—or anyone else—throws my grandma’s crystal they are dead meat.In my life I have had many people who have somehow managed to ignore or misread the fragile label on my heart. In fact, my life still has people like that in it. No matter how hard I try to rid myself of careless people, they keep popping up. They can’t be stopped. If I closed my eyes right now, I could play a slide show on demand of the people who have crushed my dreams and shredded my heart over the years. Some of my wounds have turned to scars, but all scars leave indelible reminders on your heart. In an effort to avoid repeating past mistakes you remember past pains.

Even though people have mishandled my mangled heart time and time again, God has never done it once. Not even when He has made me bleed. A few years ago I endured a very painful time in my life that severed ties and burned bridges. In my recent packing I came across photos from that time, and I took a minute to sit down and study the faces and emotions behind some of those photos before packing them away. I thought of tossing some of them out, but I didn’t. As I looked at those photos, something new began to happen in my heart. Instead of seeing the betrayal of people I once trusted, I began to see the faithfulness of God. He carried me through that time. And now, years later, I am in a place that is far greater than I could have ever imagined back then.

Not only am I free from the bondage I used to be in, but I am also blessed beyond belief. God handled my heart with great care even when others didn’t, and healing has been possible because of that.

Anyway, this blog entry is getting longer than I anticipated (too much stuff for one box, again). But these are some of my thoughts as I am packing up my life and moving. I would love to hear your thoughts too, so feel free to leave a post below.

Creativity--a spiritual gift?

Obviously, as a writer I'm a creative person. Writing is, after all, a form of artistic expression. But writing isn't the only way I like to create. To those closest to me, I'm also known to be quite the scrapbook addict and well intentioned cook. I say well intentioned because my creations don't always come out as planned in the kitchen!


Genesis 1:27 tells us that we are made in the image of God. That verse takes on an entirely different dimension when we view Him as the Creator of the universe. God is creative, and every ounce of creativity that you have attests to the fact that you were made in His image! That may not seem like a big deal at first, but it does give new significance to things like drawing, painting, theatre and other creative expressions.


Normally, we view things like prophecy, giving, teaching, etc...as spiritual gifts but we tend to overlook the spiritual significance of our creativity. This summer, as you have some extra time on your hands try to engage with God in a new way. Instead of having your traditional quiet time, choose to commune with Him by worshipping Him through your creativity for a change. I feel closest to God when I am at my computer writing or in my kitchen whipping something up. And, not surprisingly, I tend to hear His voice loudest in those two places as a result.

I've also discovered that God and chocolate go pretty well together. So, if you're looking to be creative you might want to whip up a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies while you're at it.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup reduced-calorie stick margarine, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg white

1/2 cup reduced-fat semisweet chocolate chips

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl; stir well. Set aside. Combine margarine and sugars in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until light and fluffy. Add applesauce, vanilla, egg, and egg white; beat well. Add dry ingredients; beat at low speed until well-blended. Stir in chips.

Drop dough by level teaspoons, 1 inch apart, onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until almost set. Remove from oven; let stand 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; let cool on wire racks.

Yield 5 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 52(35% from fat); FAT 2g (sat 0.8g,mono 1g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 0.8g; CHOLESTEROL 4mg; CALCIUM 3mg; SODIUM 65mg; FIBER 0.4g; IRON 0.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 8.7g
Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 1996

Introducing Shannon Primicerio

Hi, I'm Shannon Primicerio. I'm the author of eight books to teen girls and one book to twenty-somethings. Some of you may know me best from my first book The Divine Dance. Recently, I just released a new Bible study series based on the lives of Miriam, Hagar and Leah. Each one is designed as a six week study, perfect for small group or quiet time use. I'm very excited about them!



I love the California sunshine, New York Yankees baseball and dark chocolate. My husband is my best friend in the entire world, and he and I are both addicted to the TV show 24. When it comes to entertainment I definately prefer action and adventure over romantic comedies. But that's probably because I live my own fairytale. So who need a fake one, right?



You can look for regular blog posts from me on the 13th and 28th of every month. If you miss me in the meantime you can visit me at my website or on MySpace. I'd love to be added as one of your friends!