I am so excited that today is my first official day as a blogger. I have been thinking about starting a blog for about a year but never had the courage. About 14 months ago, I created a blog site but then quickly deleted it. I was convinced that my writing would be irrelevant, shallow and that no one would benefit from it. I kept thinking to myself, "Who am I? Why me?" I am just like a lot of people I know. Famous? No. Wealthy? I wish. On the contrary, I have a regular family with a regular house in a regular town. After a year of reminding myself how normal I am, it hit me! That is precisely the reason that I should write this blog. I am no different than you or probably anyone else but I do have an amazing story to share.

As silly as it sounds, one of the reasons I was afraid to start a blog was because I couldn't think of a name for it. (Now you see what I mean about being shallow.) I finally decided to name it My Alabaster Jar because of the story in Luke 7: 36-50. In this scripture, Jesus was eating dinner at the house of a Pharisee when a woman who was a known sinner showed up uninvited with an Alabaster Jar of her finest perfume. When she saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and began weeping. As she wiped her tears from His feet, she kissed them and poured perfume on them. Immediately the Pharisees were outraged but Jesus was not. He told the Pharisees that they did not properly welcome him by washing his feet or offering him a kiss...but yet this woman did. Jesus forgave the woman of her sins because "she loved much." If you are not familiar with this passage, I suggest you read it for yourself. You may pick up on something that I didn't even notice.

This story is retold in the other three gospels which tells me that this was probably a notable event. It would not have been proper for a woman to interrupt a men's gathering. However, this woman was bold in her actions. She was also broken as she wept at the feet of Jesus. I don't think she even went there to ask for forgiveness because she never uttered a word according to the scripture.

All of that is great, but let me tell you what really stuck out to me. Here was this woman...a SINNER...pouring out the best she had for Jesus. I can't help but wonder what I pour out for Jesus. What is in my Alabaster Jar and would it please Him? Am I willing to give Jesus the best that I have? Are you?