Call And Answer by the Barenaked Ladies

My friend Beth sent me this song. The lyrics remind me so much of how God takes care of me that I had to share them:

And if you call, I will answer
and if you fall, I'll pick you up
and if you court this disaster
I'll point you home

You think I only think about you
when we're both in the same room
I'm only here to witness
the remains of love exhumed
You think we're here to play
a game of who loves more than whom

And if you call, I will answer
and if you fall, I'll pick you up
and if you court this disaster
I'll point you home.

You think it's only fair to do what's
best for you and you alone
It's only fair to do the same
to me when you're not home
I think it's time to make this something that is
more than only fair

So if you call, I will answer
and if you fall, I'll pick you up
and if you court this disaster
I'll point you home.

But I'm warning you, don't ever do
those crazy, messed up things that you do
If you ever do I promise you I'll be the first to crucify you
Now it's time to prove that you've come back here
To Rebuild
Rebuild
Rebuild
Rebuild...

When I come to Jesus to be rebuilt, I am thankful that my self destructive behaviors will not go without rebuke... not go with out being "crucified". I have to die to myself and my destructive ways of thinking and living in order to be fully His.

Isn't it amazing that the friends that are the most dear to us are the ones that hold us accountable (lovingly) for the things that we are doing to hurt ourselves and others? Doesn't it also make sense that a God who loves me would pull habits and behaviors that are destructive to make me whole?

From Teresa's Blog ala C.S. Lewis:

"In one of my favorite books of the Chroni(what)cles of Narnia, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," there is a scene where snotty cousin Eustace selfishly takes a golden bracelet from a dead dragon, transforming him into (what else)a dragon. His scaly arm swells, so he can't take off the bracelet, and he can't talk, and no one knows that he isn't a little British boy anymore. No one really cares anyway, he's so snotty. And then Aslan comes to him, and leads him to a beautiful garden (an Eden, you might say) where there is a beautiful pool. He dips himself in this steaming water, and his dragon skin starts to peel off. Layer after layer, he keeps ripping off these old shells of his old self, the dead scales and the meanness and self-absorption and the fears. But there's so much to it, he can't get it all. So Aslan jumps him, and digs his claws into his back, and just slashes the rest off. And then he's a boy again."

Sometimes God (and the people He has lovingly place in my life) dig their claws into my back to rip off my ugly scales. Ouch. But it's the only way to bring me to the glory of what I was originally created to be. A woman created in His image. If I'm created in His image, who better to choose the parts of me to take away?

And the parts to
"Rebuild...
Rebuild...
Rebuild."