My first official blog post!
/Originally published April 14, 2015
My name is Kim Prestipino and I'm an ordinary person. I think that's the main reason God has called me to share through writing. Writing is a blessing and a gift to me. It's a way that I can honestly and safely process things. When it's just me and God I am brave enough to be real. There are no reactions on the faces of people that stop me in my tracks when I'm speaking sometimes. There is a freedom in writing and God has spoken truth and healing to my heart and life that is so awesome. God has been urging me to go public with it because it is a gift he has given me to share. It is a gift from Him to me, but not to keep to m yself or it will become "spiritual dry rot" like the manna in the desert. I'm excited, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm nervous too.
I'll share a little about myself so you have an idea of who I am. I've been married to my hubby Nick for almost 26 years now. We have two kids, Ashlee 25 and Nico 16. Ashlee is married to Allen and they have a beautiful little girl Avery who is 5 AND A HALF! (she would be upset if I didn't get that half in there!) I just celebrated my 48th birthday on 4/14. I cannot believe I am 48! That sounds too old to be my age but it's true. I better get started cause I ain't gettin' any younger so here goes!
The name "Simply Grace" comes from the amazing truth I've discovered through my adult pursuit to know and understand God and His true character. What he is REALLY like. Like a lot of people I've always struggled with feeling like I could never be good enough. No matter how hard I tried, I never measured up. It seemed like God was impossible to please, and that he was unfair, harsh, and always at least a little disappointed in me. Thankfully by His grace I have met and fallen in love with the one true God and His perfect nature. I guess that kind of sums up my reason for this blog. I want to share the heart of God with those who like me, try really hard, but feel like they never quite get there. If this resonates with you I hope you'll keep reading.
One of my favorite stories in illustration of this is in Luke 7:36-50:
36 "One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.[a] 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!'
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. 'Simon,' he said to the Pharisee, 'I have something to say to you.'
'Go ahead, Teacher,' Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: 'A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver[b] to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?'
43 Simon answered, 'I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.'
'That’s right,' Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon,'Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.'48 Then Jesus said to the woman, 'Your sins are forgiven.'
49 The men at the table said among themselves, 'Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?'
50 And Jesus said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Simon was a well respected church leader. Someone the community looked up to as a godly example. Simon's rude treatment of Jesus quickly revealed that his motives were far from pure. The custom of that day was to provide water for guests feet to be cleaned. The highest honor was for the host himself to wash the feet of his guest. The next step down was to have a servant clean the feet, and at the bare minimum offer water for the guest to clean his own feet. It was also customery to annoint your guest's head with oil and offer a kiss of greeting similar to a hug or handshake today. Simon offered none of the most common courtesies to Jesus which reveals an arrogant disdainful attitude towards him. Max Lucado says it well in his book Experiencing the Heart of Jesus:
"Ask the other residents of Capernaum to point out the most pious of the two, and they'll pick Simon. Why after all, he's a student of theology, a man of the cloth. Anyone would pick him. Anyone, that is except Jesus. Jesus knew them both. And Jesus would pick the woman. And, what's more, he tells Simon why. Not that Simon wants to know. His mind is elsewhere. 'How did this whore get in my house?' He doesn't know whom to yell at first, the woman or the servant who let her in. After all, this dinner is a formal affair. Invitation only. Upper crust. Creme de la creme. Who let the riffraff in?'"
Simon is symbolic of a believer. I am so sorry to say that I know there have been times that I've had the attitude of a Pharisee. But I am grateful beyond measure that God has helped me. God help us all if this is what we reveal to those who are hurting and seeking! Having said that, I've also been the sinful woman, and I would much rather be her. That may or may not sound crazy, but let me try to explain.
Unlike Simon, she was well aware of her need for forgiveness and her need of a savior. Simon chose the law which was predictable and gave him a sense of control. His impeccable behavior and reputation were his god. As a result he was rigid and had no time or compassion for anything or anyone different from him. He wasn't interested in change thank you very much. He was content doing things the way they had always been done, and had no tolerence for the low lives of the world. He was above them.
The sinful woman was well aware of the attitude the "church people" had towards her which resulted in her down cast gaze. Looking at the dirt was better than looking at the judgement and disgust in their eyes. She didn't need anyone adding to the absolute worthlessness she felt towards herself. She could barely carry the load of her own self hatred. But one day this all changed in an encounter with a man named Jesus. When she heard he would be at the home of Simon, she had to go. She was well aware of the shame and humiliation awaiting her by daring to show her face at Simon's home. She went anyway. Nothing could keep her away. She had been changed by Jesus. That weight she carried was gone. No feeling of self preservation or anything else would stop her. When she entered the home, she fell at the feet of Jesus and the floodgates burst. She was the town prostitute who had never been treated with dignity or worth. She had been used up and beleived she was worthless. That is until Jesus. Jesus made her feel clean and pure again. He had gently washed away all feelings of inferiority, worthlessness, shame, and filth. Jesus showed her a true love that was clean, pure, and selfless. A love that doesn't take, rob, use, or hurt. A love that forgives, understands, redeems, and restores. Jesus changed everything. He loved her like no other man had ever loved her; with a father's love unlike anything she had ever experienced. When he looked at her she saw compassion, understanding, and sorrow for the way she had been used up and thrown away. She saw safety, protection, and hope in his eyes. He ignited a love and hope in her heart that she didn't know was possible.
As she knelt there, her tears mixed with the dirt from the road, created mud that I believe she viewed as her sin upon Jesus. Jesus taking her filth away from her and upon himself. In response, she took her hair down in a vain effort to wipe them clean. She brought all she had to offer him. Her overflowing love was a natural response because unlike Simon, she realized the depth of her sin. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume with her that was worth a years wages as complete surrender of her life to him. When she would get ready to give her body away to be used by men, she would use things like this perfume, jewelry, and seductive clothing. The perfume being poured out on Jesus' feet was symbolic of her turning away from the cycle of sin she was caught in. In this turning away, she was ridding herself of all the reminders of her past. She was "pouring out" the perfume, the clothes, the people, everything that was now a part of her past, but no longer her future. She was laying it all at his feet and walking into a life of peace, freedom and purpose.
Maybe like me, you've lived like Simon, who clung to empty religion over relationship and at other times like the sinful women in need of forgiveness and hope. Don't settle for legalism and empty religion, and don't live a life of sin beleiving you're beyond hope. The truth is that Jesus gave his life to pay for our sin so that we could live lives to the full! John 10:10 says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The thief wants you to choose legalism, empty religion and arrogance, or to buy into his lie that your too far gone for forgiveness. Both are lies to steal your purpose, kill your dreams, and destroy your life. Jesus came to give you life full of freedom and purpose!
Thanks for the opportunity to share my heart. May God bless these words and use them to reveal his love that is WITHOUT condition for YOU!