tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53175130484311653072024-03-05T02:40:17.676-08:00Tiddlywinks (Tiddlywinks has moved to christyfitzwater.com. Join me over there!)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger241125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-80653428426022161712012-09-05T03:00:00.000-07:002012-09-05T03:00:00.393-07:00I have moved!<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dear friends, I am
thrilled to announce, after seven months of labor and the volunteer help of
many patient friends and family, I now have a new blog site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have enjoyed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tiddlywinks</i>, named so for my sweet
grandma who always signed her letters that way, but I need more definition for
why I write.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Starting today,
Tiddlywinks will be no more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(A bit of
sadness.)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Come visit me at my
new website called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Off the Shelf</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The content of my writing remains the
same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only the address and look have
changed.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.christyfitzwater.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.christyfitzwater.com/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-52759657873167364552012-09-04T04:31:00.000-07:002012-09-04T04:35:14.617-07:00Habits of the mind.<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I walk I’m so
unimaginative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sit down on the porch
to put my shoes on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I walk around
Alpine Lane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Down Rock Street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around Stone Street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back around Alpine Lane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And home.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The same path every
time.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Boring, I know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like to think and pray while I walk, and I
don’t want to think about the actual exercise part.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our brains take the same
route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wear deep paths of thinking that
we mindlessly walk every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Financial
stress –WORRY.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That person –ANGER.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Potential failure –FEAR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Difficult situation –DEPRESSION.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One time I had to
take something to my child at school, so I walked there instead of my normal
route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was nice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Different path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Different scenery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Different heart rate.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s possible to change paths of thinking.</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just –do we
want to or are we so, so comfortable walking the familiar route?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Enter through the
narrow gate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">wide</b> is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction,
and many enter through it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But small is
the gate and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">narrow</b> the road that
leads to life, and only a few find it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Matthew 7:13-14<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NIV)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are TWO paths
the mind can set foot on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your
thoughts seem to be leading only to destruction, it might be time to try some
new scenery.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-3877521322496562482012-09-03T04:26:00.002-07:002012-09-03T04:29:20.745-07:00Yes, yes you can.<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I hyperventilated
over a bowl of breakfast cereal yesterday morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve hit a season
where every morning for the last week I have made a long list of tasks, have
worked hard all day, and have barely even scratched the surface of what has
needed to be accomplished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(My husband
suggested I just stopping making lists, but that’s not really helpful, dear.)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I've felt overwhelmed
and anxious in an “I’m going to throw up” sort of way.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Over my bowl of
cereal yesterday I had anxiety so severe it actually caused chest pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(That’s probably bad.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I remembered the verse, “Do not be
anxious about anything…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Philippians
4:6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NIV)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Can you tell someone
to stop being anxious?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I hear it all the
time from people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I can’t help but be
afraid.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I can’t help but be angry.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I can’t help but be anxious.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I can’t help but be depressed.”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Romans 12:2 (NIV) says, “Do
not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">renewing
of your mind</i></b>.”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Evidently, we can
help it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s expectation is for us to
be transformed from a life of anxiety to peace, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>this happens by acquiring new ways of thinking</u></b>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I ate another bite of
cereal and rolled the verse around <strong>in my mind</strong>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh yeah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Toss all that anxiety
in God’s lap and let Him worry about how the tasks are going to get done.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So I prayed through
my list of anxieties, and by the time my spoon hit the bottom of the cereal
bowl I felt peace and no chest pain.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here’s the process
for getting over bad feelings:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Get a verse from the
Bible that speaks to your condition.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Memorize it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Believe it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do what it says.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Repeat steps three
and four as needed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Yes, you can help it.</span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-89792218715382010422012-08-31T04:40:00.000-07:002012-08-31T04:40:01.632-07:00Are you a good student?
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I finished student
teaching my students gave me gifts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I
think they were just glad to see me go.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I got cute little apple decorations of all kinds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ever since then, when the kids go to school
the first day I put out the apples, which have grown in number since those
first gifts in 1991.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have always loved
school and books and new notebooks with nothing written in them yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love to learn.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In college I was the
one front and center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sitting with my
book open before class started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waiting
for the teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Picture my husband
rolling his eyes.)</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I went straight from
the first day of class and took my syllabus to the library, checking out every
book I would need for the big research paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Call me a nerd of all
nerds if you want, but Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is supreme; therefore get
wisdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Though it cost all you have, get understanding</u></b>.”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Let me tell you, with
a kid going to college, all we’ve talked about the last two years is the cost of
getting understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ramen noodles high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I always want to be a
learner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to open my Bible and
read the hard stuff and go do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teachable</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wisdom means you’re
skilled at doing what you know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know
the Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the skilled part I’m
working on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Do it</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Do it</i></b>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We send our kids off
to school after an assault of lectures:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sit toward the front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take good
notes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make good use of class time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ask questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No TV after school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be ready to start homework at 4:00.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt told Caleb last night, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">School is your job this year</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When it comes to the
Bible, what kind of student are you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Back row slacker or front row nerd?</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-48670715863571342202012-08-30T03:00:00.000-07:002012-08-30T04:37:14.315-07:00Bring your need to the music.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I grew up in church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Played the piano for church from sixth grade
until I was in my late 30s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I’ve done a lot of singing about God.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Several years ago, God put it on my
heart to go on a two-week trip to teach the Bible in Africa, which scared the
snot out of me (yes –the snot right out of me.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Okay, I’ll go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I don’t want to, and the whole idea makes
me want to throw up</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After the decision to
go to Africa was made firm, I started what I call THE YEAR OF FEAR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every night I cried before I went to bed and
told my husband, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I can’t do this</i>, and
he patiently, every night for a year, listened to me list off everything about
the trip that was scary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the top of
the list was being hot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Uganda is on
the equator.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t do heat very
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next on the list were
insignificant things, like civil unrest, diseases of a third world country, and
dying in a plane crash over the ocean.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I started walking in
to church every week as a desperate woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had never walked into church desperate before.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We started singing
the same songs as always, but they were all new to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because now I needed them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would sing a verse about who God is, and I
would look God straight in the eye and say, with steel in my voice, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You had better mean this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to Africa, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>you had better be what I’m singing about right now</u></b>, or I’m
going to die.</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On this side of
Africa (let me point out that I did not die), I now know that desperation is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It</span> makes me needy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">when
I am needy I find God IS what I sing about</b>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you’re afraid,
anxious, desperate, I say GREAT!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re
in the perfect position to look God in the eye as you sing and say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You had better be who you say you are</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And find out He is.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-24437560983610496292012-08-29T03:00:00.000-07:002012-08-29T03:00:08.229-07:00Getting your heart where your body is.
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Here’s the problem.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">We love people deeply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friends and family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then often God calls us to leave the
friends and family we love so we can serve Him someplace else.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">So there’s this love for God that makes our
mouths say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, I’ll go, Lord.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The suitcases get packed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The feet head out for a new place.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">But while the suitcases get unpacked in the
new place, the heart commits a heinous mutiny and longs for the people in the
old place.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I remember when we moved to Kalispell,
Montana from Texas where we had lived for seven years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt and I fell in love in Texas, had our
first child there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The friendships were
family-deep.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">When we moved here I held a secret distain
for the new people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t want them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t love them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Give me
the old people back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The comfortable Texas
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ones who know me. </i></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Yet here I am 17 years later, and I do
believe many of you reading this blog post today are the new people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Kalispell people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now my heart is tied so tightly with yours
that I can’t imagine life without you.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It’s sure hard to love new people,
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To get to a new place and work
to make friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To make mistakes and
wonder if these new people will show grace to you the way the old ones did.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It’s easy to pack a suitcase for your clothes
and transport them, but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it’s not so easy to pack up your heart and
bring it along</i></b> to the new place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It weighs more, and it’s hard to carry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s that last box that gets unpacked.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Colossians 3:23 (NIV) says, “Whatever you do,
work at it <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with all your heart</i></b>, as working for the Lord, not for men.”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">All your heart.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">We can’t start a new something for the Lord
in a new place and not bring our hearts along.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Today I’m praying for each of you who is in
the new place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Praying God will give you
the strength to let your heart (not just your body) settle there.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-6657858970196674532012-08-28T05:13:00.000-07:002012-08-28T05:16:47.594-07:00What you're looking for.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">My 15-year-old son wants a Camaro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A yellow one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With stripes.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I know because he has told me this 500,000
times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every time we drive past the car
dealership he says, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There’s my Camaro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except I want a yellow one</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one is more focused and passionate about
looking at cars than a 15-year-old boy who is two weeks away from taking driver’s
ed. </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">We just took a long road trip, and he pointed
out every single Camaro on the highway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There are a lot of Camaro’s</i>, he said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The truth is, <strong>when you start looking for
something you begin to see a lot of it</strong>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of a sudden every corner has a Camaro, but there aren’t more now
than there were before.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Only the seeing has changed.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The same is true when it comes to looking for
God’s goodness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we start looking
for it, it’s everywhere.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">“<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>The
Lord is good</u></b>...”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psalm 100:5.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I had the experience of walking with two different
women as their husbands threw them aside in divorce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One woman, through her tears, could not stop
speaking of the goodness of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
other, through her tears, could not stop speaking of her bitterness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">There’s a lot of goodness out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We just have to start looking for it with 15-year-old-boy
passion.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-62096298806297328062012-08-27T03:00:00.000-07:002012-08-27T04:33:10.266-07:00Class number six.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">$400 later and she has a stack of books for
her first semester of college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a book
nerd I pick up the stack of textbooks and flip through them, resisting the urge
to open them up and stick my nose in the binding.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">New book smell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why don’t they make that as a car air
freshener?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">My first days of college rush back to me, and
I say to her, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I love to learn</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A feeling of jealousy comes up in my throat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You get
to read new things and learn new stuff</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Five books sit on her desk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>World music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Music foundations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intro to
business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intro to economics (scary!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Biology.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">There’s a sixth.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I feel it as I lay in our hotel room
anxiously anticipating saying goodbye to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seeing in her eyes the panic of coming loneliness.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The sixth textbook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Learning to rely on Jesus.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It should be on the schedule and come with a
syllabus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should require tuition and
a ridiculously expensive textbook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
should be listed as a core requirement to get a degree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should have a learning lab on Tuesdays and
Thursdays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should have tutorial
support available.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It’s
the hidden class</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one you don’t sign up for but get
enrolled in anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one that comes
with starting a new job or having a new baby or experiencing a new illness,
loss, or grief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the class you take
when you’re a mom alone all day with little people who can’t talk yet or when
you plant your family in India or Africa to be missionaries.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">John 13:25 (NIV) says of Peter, “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaning
back against Jesus</i></b>, he asked him…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s the class –learning to lean back against Jesus 101.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Learning to sit close.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To ask the hard questions of the One who can
answer them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To let Jesus’ love and His
companionship be enough.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">This old hymn comes to my mind as I think
about learning to lean on Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Care
to sing it with me today?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What a fellowship, what a joy divine,</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaning on the everlasting arms;</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What a blessedness, what a peace is
mine,</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaning on the everlasting arms.</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Refrain:</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from
all alarms.</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaning, leaning, leaning on the
everlasting arms.</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim
way,</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaning on the everlasting arms;</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh, how bright the path grows from day
to day,</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaning on the everlasting arms.</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What have I to dread, what have I to
fear,</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaning on the everlasting arms?</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I have blessed peace with my Lord so
near,</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaning on the everlasting arms.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-6782661406137818142012-08-24T04:15:00.005-07:002012-08-24T04:15:57.830-07:00Feeling unsettled?
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I went for a tour last
night of my dad’s impressive garden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">He walked through,
pointing out a field of potatoes, some pushing up from the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knee-high, feathery carrots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rows of tomatoes standing tall on dad’s
homemade support towers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lettuce tall
and gone to seed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fence line of acorn
squash.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Enough produce that all of
my parents’ friends had better keep their car doors locked at church, or they’ll
end up with a squash and tomatoes in their front seat.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It’s hard to imagine that
all of this came from fragile starter plants and a handful of miniscule seeds.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">This is a note for you, my
daughter only three days in to your college experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now you’re at the fragile starting
place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time where a gust of wind
feels like it could blow the tiny seeds away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Where roots wait in a starter container.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And you wonder if you’ll ever, ever feel comfortable and solid and firm
in the ground.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Psalm 44:1-2 (HCSB) says, “God,
we have heard with our ears –our forefathers have told us –the work You
accomplished in their days, in days long ago:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>to plant them</u></b>…<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>to settle them</u></b>…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">God works to plant people
where He wants them to be.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I feel a bit unsettled
too, my beautiful girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bit fragile
and wanting to feel comfortable and okay again.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Surely it’s a condition
most of us wake up with every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fragile and small and looking for solid earth, to be able to dig deep roots and
know we’re in the right place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Strong enough underground
to reach up and really live out in the open.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Here’s encouragement to everyone who feels unrooted –God accomplishes the work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God plants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>God settles people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We just need
to look to Him and have patience.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Gardens take a whole
summer to grow.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-86873609176913569202012-08-23T04:44:00.004-07:002012-08-23T04:54:12.480-07:00Watch your language.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It might not surprise you
that the article on language in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">National
Geographic</i> caught my eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did you
know there are 7000 languages in the world now, and they predict in about a
decade half of those will be gone?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Which is sad, because
language is unique to culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Word
choices reflect how the people think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When the language goes, a part of the culture is lost.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Words and culture.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The God who <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>said</u></b>, “Let there be light,” and
there was light (Genesis 1:3<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NIV) –He
has created a culture where there are words like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">forgiveness</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">grace</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">blamelessness</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">reconciliation</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hope</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">love</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">salvation</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">comfort</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">faithfulness</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">truth</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">peace</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I live in a culture where
there are words like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">idiot</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">loser</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">failure</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pathetic</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fear</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">skinny</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fat</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nerd</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hopeless</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I read in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">National Geographic</i> there are people who
are working like crazy to preserve some of the endangered languages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To save the very culture in which the people
live.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Language is a big deal.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It shows where you
live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who you are.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Yesterday my daughter
texted from her first day of college (sniff sniff) and said <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">by the grace of God</i> she met up with a
friend at orientation.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">That was a great moment
for me as a mom –to hear my daughter’s words reflect the culture of the kingdom
of heaven.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">So to quote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Music Man</i>, “Wad-a-ya-talk?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wad-a-ya-talk?”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
</span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-59842558681338169582012-08-22T03:00:00.000-07:002012-08-22T04:10:09.146-07:00Too many choices.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">My daughter and I were in
the checkout line of the grocery store when I realized I had forgotten
eggs.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Jayme, run and get a dozen eggs!</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">She came back and said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wow, I didn’t know there were so many
choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t know which
ones to get</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p>Choices come with the wealth of our nation.<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></o:p></span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">For example, I used to spend an
inordinate amount of time in the cereal aisle, because good moms bring home
variety, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then one day it seemed
ridiculous –spending five minutes to choose cereal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So that day I chose two kinds of cereal, and that’s about all I’ve bought ever since.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I was talking to a friend
who was trying to find creative snacks for her little kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because <strong>shouldn’t they have variety</strong>?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Well, shouldn’t they?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A valuable question.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus says, “Do not store
up for yourselves treasures on earth.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span> I wonder if part of that storing up includes the American appetite for variety.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong><u>What if we were to purposefully stop storing up
so many choices?</u></strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choices of food and
beverages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Choices of clothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choices of décor. Choices of toys and gadgets.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">If you could pick one area
in which to try a de-choicing experiment, what would it be?</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-35670588115424158192012-08-21T04:33:00.000-07:002012-08-21T04:33:28.112-07:00Thank you, shuttle man.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The man at the shuttle
service at Glacier National Park greeted us with a robust voice and immediately
ushered us into… an experience.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">With sincere enthusiasm,
he asked my husband where we needed to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then he said, with five-star quality, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Please, allow me to escort you to my executive waiting room.</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The waiting room was two
wooden benches by the sidewalk.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">But the man’s demeanor
caused us to say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s
like we’re at Disneyland!</i></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">As we boarded the shuttle
the man encouraged us to get the very best out of our day in the park, as he
had been doing as an employee there for over two decades.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I’m tempted to carry
around a box of star stickers, to slap on the chest of anyone I meet who takes
ho-hum and crafts it into something spectacular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely the opening of my tin box and the
presentation of a star sticker would be of equal value to the presentations on
the Olympic medal stand.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The shuttle man would get
a star for sure.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">God also turned ho-hum
into an experience.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">He took formless and empty,
rather drab raw materials if you ask me, and formed them into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">light</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">color</i> and and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">life</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he stood back and “saw that it was good”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Genesis 1:25<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>NIV)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">“Good” seems a modest
description, but then the artist must have a humility about His own work, I
suppose.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">That’s what I want to be
able to say when I stand back and look at the tasks I’m doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to be able to say, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This
is good</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when God stands up
close behind me to check out what I’ve done, I want Him to say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mmmhhhmm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mmmmhhmm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is good.</i></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I want to be like the
shuttle man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When people brush up
against what I’m doing I want them to get that Disneyland, over-the-top,
come-step-into-an-experience kind of feeling.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Some days the work is just
cleaning toilets and making dinner and providing taxi service to a teenager.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But still.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I could add a bit of the Creator’s flare to the ho-hum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides, it’s rarely the task itself that is
spectacular, rather the attitude and energy and creativity I bring to it.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">What’s your work?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you step back and look at it is it good? (Get-a-star good?)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I might ju</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">st go buy me
some star stickers this very day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-7012705027682843932012-08-20T00:10:00.000-07:002012-08-20T00:10:29.303-07:00Bracing for rapids.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">We rafted the white waters
of the North Fork in Glacier National Park last summer.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">If I remember correctly,
one of the rapids we passed through was named <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>THE BONE CRUSHER</u></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I thought
maybe in all caps you would feel the ominous in that name.)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">How do you prepare for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>THE BONE CRUSHER</u></b> when your
rafting guide is an ornery man with a glint in his eye?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Today I pack my suitcase
in preparation for taking my firstborn to college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For months, every single adult survivor of this rite of passage has looked me in the eye with sober expression and said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ah, the bone
crusher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hardest thing I ever did in my
life was to drive away from my child at college.</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Not encouraging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>If only there were something to brace my feet against. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">This is what I’m doing to
prepare for rapids.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Thanking God we have
a daughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Thanking God she’s
sad to leave us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Thanking God we’re
sad she’s going.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Thanking God we’re in
a country where girls can learn how to read and get an education.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Thanking God
for providing money for her to go.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Thanking God for
Skype and a text plan.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">“<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Give thanks</i></b> in all
circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1 Thessalonians 5:18<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NIV)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p>Thankfulness. It's the only handle to hold onto when things are about to get rough.</o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">As I give thanks, I am
reassured that the God of all this goodness will continue to be good through
the hard goodbye and the hard first weeks (months?) of missing her beautiful
face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">What rapids are you facing
right now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Maybe it’s the same
whitewater trouble you’ve been facing every morning for a long time.) Brace yourself with thankfulness. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">What would you write first on your list of gratitude?</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-88483747434344322012-08-19T03:54:00.002-07:002012-08-19T04:05:55.888-07:00Living with your head down.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Last week our family took an
epic, 11-mile hike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(My husband says it’s
epic because it was so hard it caused pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t think there’s enough ibuprofen for me to do epic.)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I noted on our epic hike that
when the pain started the views stopped.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">For seven miles I had
looked around at everything beautiful and praised God for it, but when knifing
pain began in my knees, my eyes went to my steps.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">For the last four miles beautiful
disappeared.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It’s easy to do that when
life gets hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All we focus on is the
pain of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Grief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Discouragement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopelessness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Loneliness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The soul looks down
instead of up.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">David experiences this and
murmurs to himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why are
you downcast</i></b>, O my soul?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why so
disturbed within me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Put your hope in
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For I will yet praise him, my Savior
and my God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Psalm 42:11<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NIV)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">When pain hits, looking up
takes work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">That’s why I go to church
every Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rain or shine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because life is painful, but I am <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>determined</u></b> to lift up my head
and see the beauty of God.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I will yet praise him.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i></b>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">God never stops being
breathtaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only stop being able to
see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I know some of you are in
pain this morning, struggling and discouraged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m praying for you.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><strong>“Come, let us bow down in
worship, let us kneel before the Lord our maker.”</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">(Psalm
95:6)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-34127662278071443802012-08-17T04:53:00.000-07:002012-08-17T04:53:43.929-07:00Catching 300 foxes.
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The first seven miles of our
11-mile hike yesterday were amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was definitely tired, and my knees were hurting a little, but I was plugging
along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scenery in Glacier Park was
breathtaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We stopped to see mountain
goats and big horn sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
wildflowers were in full bloom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sun
was shining with a slight breeze.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
perfect day.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Then we started the
descent of the last four miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s when
iliotibial band syndrome struck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
inflammation of the band of tissue on the outside of the knees, and it causes
excruciating pain with every step when going downhill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Four miles left in our
hike, and all of a sudden I was moving like a 90-year-old, gingerly making
every step down with sharp pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that
rate I was thinking we would get down the mountain in approximately three
years.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Matt came back to check on
me, and I was in tears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And panic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I don’t know how I’m going to finish this hike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s no way with this pain.</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">He offered to carry me the
last four miles (how romantic is that?)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I knew I had to finish the hike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">That’s when I prayed.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">This morning I was reading
about Samson who had the Spirit of the Lord on him to go against the
Philistines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“So he went out and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">caught three hundred foxes</b> and tied them
tail to tail in pairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then fastened
a torch to every pair of tails, lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the
standing grain of the Philistines.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Judges 15:4-5<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NIV) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">How does a person catch
300 foxes?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I’m thinking –once you
catch a few foxes, what do you do with those two while you’re catching the
other 298?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ridiculously impossible,
unless the Spirit of the Lord is on you.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">That’s where I was on the
hiking trail yesterday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Staring at four
miles of impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord, I can’t do this unless you help me.</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I figured out a way to
spread out my gait (which I’m sure looked ridiculous) to shift the pressure off
my knees, and I made it down the mountain in a few hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A miracle of God –I’m not kidding you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t believe I made it down.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The same God who gave Samson
the strength and ability to round up 300 foxes and tie their tails together is
standing at the ready to be our help.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">All we have to do is ask.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-36979008147466059162012-08-16T01:52:00.000-07:002012-08-16T01:52:16.920-07:00Cynicism, who invited you?
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Lots of bad stuff has
happened this summer.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Like not getting into the
restaurant I had looked forward to all day because the wait was 45 minutes.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Like the wind blowing hard
on the one night we planned to go to the beach.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Like the swap meet being
closed when we got there.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Like the canoes not being
available after we drove an hour because we were told we could use them.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">You know –really, really
bad stuff.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Somehow all these little
disappointments stacked up into one big, dark cloud of cynicism in my soul.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I found myself saying out
loud, with an Eeyore accent, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’ll
probably never have fun again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>EVER.</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Then I opened the Bible
and saw Jesus on the cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thief
next to Him making a desperate plea. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus answering him, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Today you will be with me in paradise.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>(Luke 23:43)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The plight of the thief
stands in ridicule of my cynicism.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Cynicism born from an attitude
of entitlement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Am I not entitled to a
scrapbook-worthy, fun summer?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer is no.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I am entitled to hang
where the thief hung, but Jesus gives me forgiveness and life instead.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">This morning I take communion
in my heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remembering Jesus’ body
broken for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His blood spilled for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Humility and gratitude
leave no room for cynicism.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">What cynicism has crept
into your soul, making you forget the grace of the cross?</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-65263425070372303172012-08-15T05:17:00.001-07:002012-08-15T05:17:16.341-07:00On the threshold.
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I didn’t know how to
describe this feeling my husband and I have had in these weeks before we take
our first kid to college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Matt
taught me this new phrase.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Liminal space.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">According to Wikipedia
it’s a “quality of ambiguity or disorientation” that occurs within a rite of
passage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The old life of our little girl
at home is getting cut off forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
stand on the threshold of a new life where she becomes an adult and we change
to the role of advisor.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">But we haven’t passed
through yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holding our breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waiting for it to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">We don’t know what the new
will be like.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">When I’m not the mom all
day long, then who will I be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Away from her
family and the friends she’s known for so many years, who will she be?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Paul says, “One thing I
do:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>forgetting what is behind and
reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by
God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Philippians 3:13-14<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NIV)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">To follow
Christ is to live in a liminal space</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Liminal space is about a
rite of passage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tearing away from the
old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going through the ritual of
learning to walk like Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waiting for
the new structure of “identity, time, or community, and a new way” (Wikipedia).</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It’s a space where fear
comes easily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fear of losing what was so
comfortable and familiar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fear of moving
forward into what we know is good but can’t always clearly define.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Paul tells us how to
function in liminal space:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Forget what is
behind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Reach forward to
what is ahead.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Six days until we take
Jayme to college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m determined to let
go of what was and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">reach forward</i></b> to what will be.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">How are you handling
liminal space?</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-22503748043475363732012-08-14T03:05:00.001-07:002012-08-14T03:05:50.649-07:00A healthy question to ask God.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I have a project I’ve been
working on for almost seven months, and I think it only should have taken seven
days.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Everything about it has
been hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Road block after road
block.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here I am, as my dad would say,
with 99% done and still 100% left to do.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I was standing in the
shower, where I seem to have the best
conversations with God.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">And I asked a question I’ve
asked many times before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">So, what are ya doin’ with me, Lord?</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Not disrespectful or
bitter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just asking.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I assume that,
despite my frustration and discouragement in completing my project, God is doing something.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">“We know that <u><strong>in all things God</strong> <strong>works</strong></u> for the good
of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Romans 8:28<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>NIV).</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The hot water ran over my
face in the shower, and I thanked God for not allowing my project to come to
completion yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanked Him for the
delay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Voiced trust that His plan for my project would happen at the most opportune time.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">So, what are you doin’ with me, Lord?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Always <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord</i> at the end of the question.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-69591891516934546972012-08-13T00:50:00.002-07:002012-08-13T00:50:22.714-07:00Am I looking at the right list?<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I do this every summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Pull out the “magical”
list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I’m pretty sure summer is
supposed to be magical, and a mom is supposed to make it happen somehow.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The only problem is, I
didn’t get a fair sprinkling of whatever enchanting dust “all the other moms” got.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">At the end of every summer
I feel like a failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Summer came to a close a few
years ago, and I knew I hadn’t checked off the make-it-magical list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So in anxiety I said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Okay kids, I don’t have any work today, so
what do you want to do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anything you
want to do we’ll do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>(A brave offer
from a mom who hates to be wet or hot or athletic or idle.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I was working up the
internal motivation to take them hiking or to the lake or something on that
last beautiful day of summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And my
daughter said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let’s do a craft.</i></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">We spent the sunshiny day indoors
with canvas and paints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was a good
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Anyway, here I am again at
the end of summer knowing how much I have lacked the ability to make fun happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">This morning I ask myself,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Who
makes the list?</u></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Who decides what
makes a rockin’ mom or a boring one?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Who decides, at
the end of summer, whether a mom has been successful or has failed?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Who decides if a
mom has done what it takes to feel good about how she has cared for her
family?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">If I get to the end of the
day and my kids have had clean underwear, a healthy dinner, and a hug –but they
were bored –do I take a red pen to THE LIST and write a big, red F across the
top?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The lists in the Bible
look way different than mine:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Galatians 5:22-23<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NIV)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Maybe, after 18 years of
parenting, I need to crumple up and throw away the superhero mom standard and
strive for something different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Do you have posted in your
mind some impossible “amazing mom of the entire universe” list?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-75967037031311666502012-08-10T05:14:00.001-07:002012-08-10T05:14:55.776-07:00Don't stop.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">My mom gave me a one-year
Bible for Christmas, and my grand plan was to read the entire Bible through in
a year.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">So today is August 10, and
I am officially on April 25 in the one-year Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously I must have meant dog years when I
made this goal.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">A few decades ago I would
have given up about now:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had a
plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plan failed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Failed God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why keep going.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">That was how I used to see
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would attack my time with God like a
DIY project where I would have the great idea, buy all the supplies, get a feeble
start on the project, and then sell all the untouched supplies in next year’s
garage sale.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Then <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one day I realized God loves me
and just wants to be with me</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I don’t really care about
the three-month lag in my big plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
important thing is that I had a plan to walk all the way through God’s word –with
Him, and I’ve been doing that every day, just more snail pace than I had
intended.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">In Revelation 3:20, God
says to His people, “Here I am!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stand
at the door and knock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anyone hears
my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with him</i></b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he
with me</i></b>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It’s the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with
Him</i></b> part that is the success, not the page count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I keep going.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">How are you coming along with
your big plan to spend time with God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It’s
okay if it’s not perfectly executed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
only matters that it happens day after day.)</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-16342856758985381632012-08-09T02:35:00.000-07:002012-08-09T02:35:00.660-07:00the pout<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Did you know it’s possible
to say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s okay</i> with different
tones of voice?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Like when someone bumps
into me accidentally and says sorry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
sing-song a cheerful <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s okay</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Or when a girlfriend tells
me about her hard day and then apologizes profusely for dumping on me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I lean forward, eyes all compassion and
kindness, and say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s okay.</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">But then the husband calls
when I’m putting together homemade pizza and says he won’t make it home for
dinner and that he also has a late meeting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s okay</i>, I say.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">But my tone says, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don’t worry about me – sigh – I’ll just be
home by myself all alone tonight with no one to enjoy this fresh pizza out of
the oven and to keep me company, but don’t worry about me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll probably just mope around depressed with
nothing to do, feeling sorry for myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe watch some television –by myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">That was me last night.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">And he hangs up feeling
all bad and neglectful because of how “okay” I am.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Bad wife!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bad wife!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(I say to the tune of bad dog – bad dog.)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Really, the man has a job
and obligations, and he loves me like crazy and calls me like five times a day
just to say hi and see how I’m doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Could I not be gracious and not pout when things don’t go like I want?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Seriously.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">So here’s a public apology
to my man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgive my pout –I beg you!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>subtle
but childish</u></b>, and you deserve better.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Philippians 2:14 (NIV)
says, “Do everything without complaining…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Oh man, those really,
really simple commands are the worst.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-33906023271779064512012-08-08T04:11:00.000-07:002012-08-08T04:11:30.081-07:00Feel like you can't breathe?<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I just read a story in the
August edition of <u>Voice of the Martyrs</u> about a man named Bounchan who
lives in Laos.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Arrested in 1999 for
telling people about Jesus, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(He was released two years early in February
2012.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">“He was locked in a cell
by himself for a year, without a Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His stone and concrete cell had one large metal door with a small rust
hole that provided his only ventilation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I would stand up and put my nose
on the hole and breathe</i>, Bounchan said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He asked the guard who brought his food to send a message to his
wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tell my wife, ‘Would you please help me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bring me a Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot live without the Bible</i>.'”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I know some of you can’t breathe.</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">-Little kids wear you
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they’ll wear you out again
tomorrow.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">-Living conditions aren’t
what you wish they were.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">-Paychecks are way too far
apart.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">-Work is a constant demand
from a difficult boss.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">-Sickness goes away, only
to strike someone else in the household, and you wish everyone could feel good
at the same time.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">-Lice and nit combs and
washing the bedding again is your evening entertainment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Sorry, sister!!)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">-Fear of the future is a
concrete cell.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">You feel like you’re
sucking air through a small rust hole.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Here’s what Bounchan
knew:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Bible is oxygen.</i></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Job 12:10 (NIV) says, “In His
hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">God holds in His hand the
air we need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Open His word and inhale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-38547526614372734712012-08-07T04:00:00.000-07:002012-08-07T04:00:34.941-07:00Is it okay to take care of yourself?<span style="font-size: 14pt;">On my 30<sup>th</sup>
birthday, my outrageously on-fire metabolism began to sputter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By my 35<sup>th</sup> birthday it had died on
the side of the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first time
in my life I couldn't eat whatever I wanted and not have it show up on my body.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">So I determined to exercise,
starting with resistance training.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Resisting guilt.</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Don’t good moms give their
whole day to their families?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every
waking moment thinking about what everyone else needs? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dinner on the table, clean laundry, paid
bills, made beds…</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I started putting in time
doing strengthening exercises and then added 30 minutes on a treadmill.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Totalling 45 minutes given
over to sweating every day.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I felt like a thief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stealing time during which I should have been
doing those million other tasks for my beloved husband and children.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Then I started to see
results of my daily workouts:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Muscles toned.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Toned muscles led to improved perception of beauty.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Change in
perception of beauty led to increase in flirting with husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Flirting
increased husband’s happiness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Care about quality
and quantity of food consumption rose.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Mom ate
better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everybody ate better.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Energy level
increased.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Increased energy
level led to increased productivity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">And so on and so
on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Taking time to exercise was
one of the best actions I’ve ever taken toward my family’s well being.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">“Make every effort to add
to your faith…self control.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Increasing
this quality “will keep you from being <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ineffective</i></b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unproductive</i></b> in your
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(2
Peter 1:5,6,8)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Effectiveness and
productivity –the two things a mom desires most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They start with controlling our own health.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">How's your fitness routine?<o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-6510660996331000212012-08-06T02:46:00.000-07:002012-08-06T02:49:10.597-07:00Two life lessons grandma taught me at a garage sale.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">With a reputation for the
best garage sale in town, my five-foot-nothin’ grandma raised the doors weekend
after weekend in the summer, and a steady stream of people poured through.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I was her shadow.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">This weekend I opened the
doors for my own garage sale, and my heart was lonely for her, as I remembered
the lessons taught in front of the tool bench.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Lessons that were too big
to stay in the garage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grandma called it
“puttin’ on the Ritz”.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 14pt;">1. Excellence is the standard</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The garage
swept clean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Care given to hang clothes
neatly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing put out dusty or dirty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each item presented in an appealing
fashion. (At my own sale I poked each pair of earrings through a 3 x 5 card before placing them neatly on display, just like grandma used to do.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Excellence is its own
advertisement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">In her garage sale were many items grandma found in the
alley dumpster, repaired, cleaned thoroughly, and presented beautifully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>hings thrown
away regained value with grandma's touch of Ritz.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 14pt;">2. Kindness is the job</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Now watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is how you do it</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">, she would whisper
in my ear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What a beautiful blouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
color makes your eyes stand out</i>, she would say to the lady paying for her
handful of treasures.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">After the woman left, grandma would turn to me and say, <em>Now see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
not hard to find something kind to say to each person, and did you see the
smile that came to her face with just a small compliment?</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">On grandma's list of garage sale
tasks was making people’s eyes light up.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">“Clothe yourselves…with
kindness.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Colossians 3:12)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">If my house were on fire
and I could only grab two things, I would pick excellence and kindness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mixed together <strong><em>those qualities draw people in
people who are looking for a great find</em></strong>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Ar</span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">e you puttin’ on the
Ritz?<o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317513048431165307.post-25181174328308572982012-08-03T05:00:00.000-07:002012-08-03T05:00:10.997-07:00the comfort of predictability<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I love going home because
it never ever changes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The cookies are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always</i></b>
in the corner cupboard.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">My parents <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always
</i></b>argue about whether the sliding door should be open.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The chair by the fireplace
is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always</i></b>
the best spot in the house.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">QVC is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always</i></b>
on during gem sales.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">My brother <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always
</i></b>takes too long in the bathroom.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Mom <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always </i></b>has boxes of
treasures for us to plunder before she puts them in a garage sale.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Dad <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always </i></b>goes to NAPA for
coffee with the guys.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always
</i></b>Mr. D’s cinnamon rolls for breakfast and M&Ms in a jar on the
counter.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">There’s a snugly comfort
in predictability.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Hebrews 13:8 (NIV) says, “Jesus
Christ is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>the same</u></b> yesterday,
today, and forever.”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Predictability allows us
to expect and not be disappointed.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always</i></b>
compassionate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always</i></b> the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always</i></b> love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always </i></b>with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always</i></b> good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always </i></b>a friend.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">If life is nuts and
frightening and throwing us off balance, all we really need to do is go Home.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0