My laugh for the day..

 

Yesterday got off to a rough start for us.  Everyone was sleepy and hard to wake up, so we were a little rushed doing everything.  My lotion exploded all over me…Fantastic!! Then Rachel comes running in the room and says “Mom! The toilet is overflowing!” So I run to the other bathroom (still with lotion all over my clothes) and stop the water.  While I am mopping up all the mess there, Rachel looks at me and says, “Look on the bright side,  Mom.  Tomorrow is Halloween!”

Oh, to be a kid again where the biggest worry is whether or not the neighbors will have good (chocolate) candy!!

 Have a Safe & Happy Halloween!!                

    

I’ve been tagged by Paige!

Ok  I’ve got eight things together.  I have not had a very exciting life so….you get to hear about my idiosyncracies mostly!

1.  I have been at my job for 24 years.  I worked 6 weeks right after high school graduation somewhere else…but other than that, my current job is the only job I have ever had. I started as a part-time receptionist and now am the manager of that $14 million credit union.  

2. I was valedictorian of my jr. high graduation and of my high school graduation. At Lubbock Christian College (College in my day…”University” now) I won the President’s award and the Accounting award.  All that “book learnin” didn’t keep me from making some really dumb mistakes in my life though, so in the real world those did not mean much!   

                                                     

(This is 8th grade. That is my second cousin in the background.  She was salutatorian [both times]. And hated my guts because I moved to Sudan and ruined it for her!! )

3.  I was so shy when I was a little girl that I would not even speak to my family at the dinner table.  I only had one brother so it wasn’t like it was a huge crowd or something!

                

My parents are probably all of 21 here.  They married when they were 16.  Had kids at 18 and 20.  They are still married…quite an amazing feat!!

4.  I went to state UIL competition my senior year of high school in informative speaking.(so much for the little shy girl!!)  There was also a band competition in Dallas that same weekend and I had a solo in the marching performance.  So I rode with the band on the bus to Dallas…then the school paid for me to fly to Austin where I competed in speech.  Then I flew back to Dallas and marched that night.  I didn’t win a medal in speech at the state level, but we did win the trophy at the marching festival!

                                                              

 5.  I count steps when I walk sometimes…especially going up stairs. I blame it on all those years I spent in marching band, but really it’s probably just obsessive behavior on my part.

6. I play the cornet, the guitar (a little bit) and the piano.  About a year ago, I had an occasion to pick up the cornet again, and I could still play the school song and the fight song of Sudan High School!! WOOHOO!! Rex will sing it…all you have to do is ask!

7.  I love numbers.  I really love watching the odometer roll over to a number with a pattern or to the next 1000.   My Durango rolled over to 98989 the other day…I loved it!  I know….that is freaky….

8.  When I was 5 years old, I was on the television show Romper Room for a week.  Mrs. Baird’s bread gave us each a little miniature loaf of bread and the little boy next to me tried to steal mine.  I gave him the ugliest look and hit him I think.  I don’t think that hitting your classmate was on the list of “do-bees”…it was probably a “don’t-bee” kind of thing!! (My mom has pictures somewhere..if I find it I’ll put it up.  I’m glaring at that boy in it)

So there you have it….I have a few pictures I want to add but I’m still trying to figure out how to do that….because I’m old and all that valedictorian stuff doesn’t matter anymore remember!??!  So check back tomorrow and maybe you’ll get to see some humiliating pictures of me!! Thank you Paige for giving me help on the pictures!!

And just for good measure…here I am in my Pebbles Flinstone bikini!!

                                                    

I do not know anyone that blogs that hasn’t already been tagged….I could do like Rex and tag Winnie the Pooh or something.  But I’ll just let this branch of the tag game end here.  Thanks for reading!!

{{Here are the rules. 1)Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. (2) People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (3) At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. (4) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.}}

I can be a Pest!

There are days I imagine God putting His fingers in His ears. “ENOUGH ALREADY!!” Some days I bug him non-stop about things that are on my heart.  I pray for my friends…my kids…my self…the solution to a problem.  I ask the same things over and over.  I pray the same thing the next day…and the next…and the next.  I know that His will must prevail, but I bug Him until I think He is probably on the verge of “smiting” me! J

There ARE precedents for this importunity though.  Abraham, when speaking with the Lord about the destruction of Sodom (Genesis 18), asked first “What if there are fifty righteous people?” Then he asked what if there are forty-five? Then he asked forty?…thirty?…twenty?…ten?  When Elijah was praying for rain (I Kings 18)…he prayed seven times before the cloud showed up on the horizon.  

In Luke 18 Jesus told this parable:

              1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ ” 6And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. (NIV) 

So I suppose that the Lord expects me to keep asking.  I ask and ask and ask, but acknowledge that He knows everything and I can only see the “right now” of things.    

Is there anything I can bug God about for you? I don’t mind…nor does He.

The things we do for our children!

This past week was a very tiring one for us.  My middle child is on the high school drumline.  They had a football game to go to on Thursday night.  That is hard enough even when it is a home game…with school the next day and all.  But this particular game was out of town….three and a half hours out of town!!  I could have stayed home and vegetated on the couch…and gone to pick him up from the band hall after midnight.  But I didn’t.  I drove to the game!  Even took my daughter along.  I picked her up after school and we took off on a road trip! We stopped and ate along the way, actually found our way to the stadium and managed to be only about 10 minutes late for the game.  We sat and watched a little bit of football…and the marching bands at half time.  The band left after they marched and so did we.  So I drove 3 ½ hours to watch 1¾ hours of football (and bands of course) and get back in the car and drive another 3 ½ hours.  When we got back, we had to wait on the band to get back, check in their uniforms, unload the buses etc.  So it was 2:00a.m when we got to crawl into our beds.  Then get up at 5:45 the next morning and get them up for school and me to work! Yeehaw! How exciting! 

That was Thursday.  Today (Saturday) this same kiddo had to meet his drumline friends at 6:00a.m.  The band had UIL Marching Competition today. We were in the stands watching for a couple of hours.  There were some really good bands.  But of course, I think ours was best! They did FANTASTIC!! They received a division I (which is the top score).  So all those after school practices actually did pay off.  Now if the drumline can get all “practiced up” for their competition next month!  

But I do not mind going to all these things to watch my kids.  I have done T-ball, basketball, karate, track meets, football games and band concerts.  I have taken strollered babies, tantrum-throwing toddlers, and embarrassed teenagers. With the other kids in tow,  I have pretty much gone and watched everything one of my kids might be doing.  And I have loved every minute of it.  (Well, I will admit while waiting for the buses the other night/morning I did get a little testy!!)

It made me think of Luke 11:11-13. 

11“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (NIV)

If I will do all these things for my kids…(and I am just a dirt clod …or a rib and some dirt J)…If I will do these things just because they are my kids and I love them and want to see them…want to be where they are…Think how much more perfectly God feels those same things!! He wants to do for us…He wants to be with us simply because we are His children…He loves us beyond any thought or imagining that we can conjure in our little brains.  The maker of the universe, all-mighty, all-powerful God cares about each and every one of His children!! Isn’t that amazing and fantastic!?!  Doesn’t that make you feel wonderful? Are you smiling yet?  

How do they get older, when I don’t?

My oldest “baby” has now turned 18.  It hurt my heart a little bit I will admit.  It scares me MORE than a little bit.  He is a young man facing a whole life full of challenges.  I talk to him…try to pass on any bit of wisdom that I can.  He always tells me, “I know.  I’m not stupid.”  I tell him, without fail, “I know that you are not.  I was not stupid…but I did stupid, stupid things.”  

As a parent, I’m aware that my kids are going to mess up.  I am under no illusion that they will go through life without bumps and bruises and mistakes that will leave marks on their heart.  I think that I am slightly prepared for that.  But I am not naïve enough to think that I will ever really be prepared for that.   

I hope that the things that I have been through… mistakes that led to my brokenness…will allow me to understand.  I hope that my “life lessons” will make me able to comfort my kids and make them understand that I know that it hurts…that life hurts.  I hope that I can show them there is someone to accept them and love them no matter what.  Me.  But way better than me…there is God.   And there are God’s people (with skin on them) that will love them like Jesus.  

I pray for wisdom in how to be a parent to these kids…the parent that they need me to be.  The parent that will love them and teach them about life…but mostly teach them about God and His goodness and grace.  I am afraid that I allowed circumstances in the past to do some damage to my kids.  I pray that God will lavish His grace on us and work all of those things together for good as only He is able. Will you pray for me too, please?       

The Compassion of Jesus

Lately in my life, I have come to appreciate the compassion of Jesus.  I think it is so apparent in the book of Matthew.  Starting in chapter 8, after he talked to his disciples on the mountain about how to have a blessed life and prepare for the storms of life, he came down from the mountain to find a huge crowd still gathered.   A leper approached him and asked to be healed.  “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean”. Jesus reached out and touched the man who had not been touched for so very long and healed him.

Then it seems just a few steps further down the road, the centurion came and asked Jesus to heal his servant.  “Only say the word and my servant will be healed.”

Then they headed off to Peter’s house.  When they got there they discovered that Peter’s mother-in-law was ill.  (Peter’s mother-in-law? Hadn’t thought about Peter’s wife ever before) Jesus healed her and she immediately got up and started serving them.

That evening, many people came wanting to be healed.  When Jesus saw the great crowds gathered around, he got in the boat with his disciples and told them to set out for the other side.  A huge storm hit and Jesus was so physically (and emotionally?) exhausted that he was asleep through the storm.  The disciples said, “Save us!  We are going to drown!” So Jesus awoke and calmed the storm with a word. 

As soon as they landed they were met with the screaming, wildman possessed by the demons who called themselves Legion.  Jesus healed him and freed him from his torture…sent the demons into a herd of swine. 

Jesus and his friends got back into the boat and crossed back over. When they got across some people brought a paralytic man to Jesus to be healed.  

Not much later (Matthew 14:13) Jesus had heard of his cousin John’s death.  He was mourning that such a thing had happened and as usual a great crowd gathered around him.  It says he had compassion on them and healed their sick.  Then, he fed the 5000 men, plus women and children with five loaves and two fish! (a Long John Silver happy meal as my friend Rex says!) 

After this, he finally got a chance to be alone and he went up on the mountain to pray.   The disciples went out on the boat and once again a great storm came up. Jesus walked across the water to them.  Peter asked to come to him on the water and was going along just fine until he took his eyes off of Jesus…Jesus pulled him up and continued on to the boat.  When they landed, yet again the people who were sick were gathered waiting for him. 

That exhausts me just to think of it! We can read those words and not ever think about the enormity of it! It is one thing after another. Every time he tried to get some peace, to be alone and pray or rest or just breathe…someone needed him.  Yet he never turned them away.  He never lost his temper. He never used the excuse that he was too tired or too busy with something else.  Because he loved them and knew that they had needs that he could meet.  Some needed touched, some needed confidence, some needed reassurance, some needed fed, some needed to be healed, all of them needed to be saved. Jesus had INCREDIBLE compassion!!  

The things that I want to take away from these lessons are two-fold.  Jesus recognized what the people around him needed. I get caught up in my own little world and my own lousy excuses way too often.  A lot of times, I don’t even realize that others around me might need something that I am able to give.  Jesus noticed…and did what they needed with love and compassion.  Could he have healed them in a way that was impersonal or distant? Yes of course, and they still would have walked away healed.  But Jesus had compassion on them. As pressed as he was, he truly and deeply cared about others.  And the other thing I need to learn– he took time for himself. Because I feel guilty for not helping others enough, I can get caught up in the mindset of doing and doing, and then I forget to make time for my own renewal.  Even Jesus needed down time. I tend to feel as though I’m being selfish if I do something to look after my sanity.  There has got to be a balance…I need to remember both of Jesus’ examples.   

HOT DOG!! It’s Wednesday Night!

I just wanted to write a quick note…I’m being swamped at work and haven’t had time to do my usual blogging stuff.  But I am so happy that it is Wednesday because I get to go to church tonight! That’s right…GET to go.  I haven’t always felt that way about church…especially Wednesday nights.  Occasionally in the past, it has felt like a chore.  Eventually, I quit going to church no matter what day it was.  Then, after our time at the hospital (see my previous novel of a post) when I tried to “come home” I was doing good to make it a couple of Sundays out of the month.  Now there is nothing that can keep me away!  I cannot imagine being anywhere else, doing anything else on a Wednesday.  We have such a good time of fellowship before we study…and with Rex, of course, we have such a compelling time of study.  I am learning…I am challenged…I am healing and growing. 

When we first started meeting at the building on Wednesday nights (we are such a small group we haven’t always met in the middle of the week)…but when we first started, we had hot dogs cooked on the grill every week.  It was “HOT DOG!! It’s Wednesday night!!!” time.   We started a kid’s class where Kelly Staggs and Paige Foreman taught our kiddos the Bible.  It was great! It was exciting! It was an honestly fun time.  But also honestly…the hot dogs got a little old. 

Now we don’t have hot dogs every week, but we do get together to eat something.  And it is strictly “come as you are”.  What a great group of people and what a great blessing to my heart every week.  I thank God that He brought me to this “Open” church…to this place of healing…to this place of people that understand what it is like to have a few bruises and places that hurt.  I am thankful God saw to it to gather together this church OF Christ, LIKE Christ and FOR Christ at this time and at this place. 

I would Never do That!

Jesus was trying to tell the disciples what was about to happen to Him and He tells them “You will all fall away because of me” and Peter in his usual bold way says “Even though they all fall away, I will not!” And then Jesus has to correct Peter (not for the first time, and not the last) by saying “Before the rooster crows in the morning you will have denied me three times”.  I’m sure Peter is appalled!! I’m sure he is saying to himself “I can’t believe that…I would never do that!!” 

How many times have you said those words yourself?  I can only speak for myself…and I have to admit, I have said that.  And you can put the emphasis on different words and get different levels of ……well, lies.

I would never do that.  I am better/smarter/more spiritual than they are! I would not let myself get in such trouble.  I would know exactly what to do to be better. I am a good person.

I would NEVER do that.  I would NEVER put myself in a place where I would even be tempted to do that.  I would NEVER let my boyfriend/husband/friends treat me like that.  I would NEVER put up with being abused.  I would NEVER think that it was ok to ________(fill in the blank with whatever you wish)

I would never do THAT. I would not commit THAT sin.  Now I’m not saying I wouldn’t sin, because of course I have…I have lied, maybe cheated a few times, and I don’t love my neighbor like I should…but at least I never did THAT. And I would never do THAT.  There are some things I just know I would not let myself do and THAT is one of them.  I know better than to do THAT.

I have had to eat those arrogant words.  And if I didn’t say all of those things…out loud…I at least thought them.  I know better now.  I know that Satan can use those prideful thoughts and words to stab you right in the gut.  I DID do that thing.  Me.  It didn’t matter how smart I thought I was, or how much of a good person I thought I was.  I still did that.  And as far as NEVER goes?? How about repeatedly. How about over and over and over ad nauseum.   And THAT?? I did that very thing that I was disgusted with in someone else.  And I did a lot worse on top of that. 

Peter.  He honestly thought there was no way he would deny knowing Jesus.  It seemed absurd to him.  I know that feeling.  He denied knowing Jesus.  He denied it again.  Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear and denied being with Jesus the third time.  Then the rooster crowed. And Jesus turned to look at him.  And Peter went out and wept bitterly.  I know that feeling too.  When it dawned on me that I had done the very thing I had been so arrogant about and so certain that I was “above”….I wept bitterly.  When I knew that Jesus knew what I had done…I wept bitterly.  I have spent a good deal of time in my life weeping bitterly. 

But through grace and mercy that I cannot get my brain around, Jesus looks on me with love and forgiveness.  He knew the things I would do, when I was in denial about it….just as He knew Peter would do the things he did.  Peter got to take that reassuring walk on the beach with Jesus after the resurrection.  Jesus walks with me now, reassuring me that I am His and that He has a place for me in His kingdom.  But I must be mindful that I do not forget the arrogance of my youth.  I do not want to be that way again.  I don’t really think the scars on my heart that remain from my actions will let me forget.  I doubt that Peter ever forgot the things he had said and done.  And I know those thoughts brought him some shame and some pain.  But Peter is the very one that teaches us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:18)  He knew something about the need to grow…to not let the shame of the past keep him from serving God and teaching others about the grace and mercy that can be ours in Jesus.  I want to learn that.  I want to live that. 

(Read about Peter’s denial:  Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 13 and 18)

He Set Me Free!!

What was it like? Did he realize what was going on? Was he struggling with the demons…fighting for possession of his own mind? I have thought about the demon possessed man that Jesus freed at the cemetery that night.  I wonder how long he had been struggling with the demons? It says “for a very long time”.  Could he remember what it was like before ?  I imagine him knowing things were wrong, but just not able to gain control.  When the demons recognized Jesus as the Son of God they panicked…they begged Jesus not to torture them.  Did the man get to grab back a little bit of control of himself while they were distracted in their panic? 

What was it like for him once the demons were gone? Can you imagine how odd the peace and quiet must have been to him? Those demons were torturing this man to the point he screamed all day and night, gashed himself with stones and broke the chains with which people had tried to bind him!! All that torture was gone…the moment Jesus spoke the words…BE GONE!  Can you imagine the love, the gratitude, the absolute adoration this man had for the One who freed him?

I have struggled with some “demons”…not the same sort that had this man in their power  by any means…but tormenting to me nonetheless.  I have fought against the voices in my head….the one telling me I was only getting what I deserved…the one saying that I had made my choice and I had to live with it…the voice telling me that God didn’t want to mess with me anymore so what was the point in seeking Him?  Jesus freed me from those demons…all I had to do was turn to Him.  He was there with me.  I just had to quit fighting by myself and drag all those problems…those demons…over to Jesus. He understood.  He showed me His love.  He freed me from those troubling doubts… just as He freed our friend in the cemetery.  How much do you think I love and adore Jesus?? Immeasureably!!! But I don’t show it like I should.  I don’t go and proclaim to people what Jesus did for me like this formerly demon-possessed man did.  Shame on me. 

One other thing I wonder about this man that had been trapped.  How did his friends and family treat him after he was free? Did they rejoice with him that Jesus had given him a new life? Did they celebrate with him and praise God for his return? Or did they keep reminding him of his past? Did they blame him somehow for the demons? Did they say “Well, you must have done something wrong…You must not have been living right…If you would have listened to me, you wouldn’t have had that trouble”.   We would never do that…. would we? (Read about it:  Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39)