Yep... my pen is itching. Maybe it was the sheer number of visits to my last post, maybe it was just the exhilerating feeling I got while I was writing yesterday... maybe, just maybe, this writing thing is starting to come together. My kids were at the table yesterday doing their homework w/ a friend and on the kitchen computer screen was my Blog's home page. My 3rd grader and his friend were getting a kick out of reading the last entry (Love is not an option) and kept asking, "Wow, how did you write all of this? How did you THINK of all of this?" I could have said, "Welcome to my head... its a mixer party up in there!" but instead I just blurted out, "God."
What a profound knee-jerk response it was... I didn't even really think it through... it just came out. So today, even with a ton of things to get done; floors to be swept and vacuumed, the kitchen sink resembles an earthquake aftermath and I"m pretty sure eveyone's wearing their last pair of clean underwear... I just wanted to write. Will I finally write a chapter in my outlined future best seller? Not today. Do I have earth shattering news? Nope. But I know one thing... I am SUPPOSED to write today.... its part of His plan.
For those of you as fleshly narcisstic as I tend to be, you might be wondering what this has to do with you? Actually, this topic is for everyone... because we all need to learn to hold our horses. I love the bumper sticker (which is saying something, I usually despise bumper stickers... I find them a passive agressive way to communicate what you should just be saying out loud!) Anyhooooo, the sticker that says "We plan, God laughs." I suppose its a spin from Psalms 16:9 which states that "We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps." (NLT.)
We can plan with the best of intentions but we truly have no idea what our future holds. Only God does. So while we are designed to make choices, have free will, plan for the future... one thing is for certain, we don't have any control over it. And I think that is why its so important that we learn to hold our horses...for we have no idea (truly) as to what our plans will produce in His timing. (For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11, NLT)
I think in this day and age we get very frustrated when things don't happen the way we want them to... especially with regards to timing. I mean, how spoiled have we become? 100 years ago a woman my age was on the verge of being dead. Had she still been alive (ahem,) she would have spent all day either warming bathtub water, creaming butter or grinding wheat. C'mon, now I get irritated when my chicken breasts take 11 minutes to go from frozen (oh yeah, in my temperature controlled Garage freezer, no less) to defrosted so I can throw them in my double oven to have dinner ready 35 minutes later. We are a society and generation of NO patience. Yet we have no knowledge of future events, nor are we privy to what lays ahead and how it affects timing as it relates to our "today." All we know is that we have planted desires in our heart and in HIS timing, they will come together... which, might I add, will produce the greatest outcome for us as well!!! Did you ever notice how when you finally accomplish something you have had your heart set at...its always at the right time? On the flip, pay attention to how it feels when you are trying to push for something and its really not "coming together" or if it does, it didn't bring you any satisfaction, or it felt like a struggle? Aha.... God's timing.
He alone can see what is coming. It doesn't really work when we want to do this whole God thing, but only in an advisory capacity. Um...he's good. I don't think he's posting any Craig's List ads for counsel in the "gigs" section...so you are going to have to trust me that if you can just "hold your horses" and do your part TODAY... he will exhalt you in due time.
So hold on to your dreams and lifelong goal list... they are important...its what God has created you to be (or some version of it, we'll get to that in another post!) The heart of the matter is that we walk by faith, not by sight. Listen to what you are to do today, because His ways are bigger than ours and quite frankly, the guy just knows more than we do. I know today's Blog entry won't cause me to wake up tomorrow with a publishing contract or an amazing speaking opportunity (although I do use my scrambled eggs spatula as a microphone sometimes) but it will have been just one thread woven together in the tapestry of my life as God intended it to be. Besides, laundry and dirty floors will still exist after I have pased in this life... just like your inbox, and your Facebook page.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Love is not an option
This morning I was struck by the fatigue that had already set in while I was trying to get my oldest out the door. You see, he is a "lid pusher." My definition: A Lid-pusher is someone who, if placed in a tupperware bowl, would continue to jump and try to push the lid off rather than sit down and accept that they are stuck inside a bowl. As a parent, I know that my responsibility is to help harness the gifts that God has granted to my oldest son so that he might use them for good. But let me tell you, sometimes, it's exhausting. I mean, we battled everything; breakfast (mind you, HE requested the scrambled eggs!,) picture day attire and finally, what his hair was going to look like before he exited the door at 8:06 this morning.
Since I'm not asking for advice, those of you ready to dole out the "choose your battles" advice, you can keep it in. Because truth is, I already do! I don't care if his clothes are "weather correct," if he decides to eat vitamins with breakfast or dinner or even how many times he wants to wear that jacket before its washed! So trust you me, you wanna rock that t-shirt with those pair of shorts, go for it! Oh yeah, five shades of blue in your outfit, plaids and stripes? You bet. Quite frankly, I don't have the time or energy...and its your potential shark waters at school, not mine.
So as not to run the risk of having child protective services knock on my door, lets circle back. Some things are NOT negotiable. And today, what shirt you wear and your hair style, on picture day, was not negotiable. I'm not writing a check only to send Grandma and Grandpa a picture of my son resembling Alfalfa.
Isn't it funny what specific battles we try and win with people? I find it fascinating to do life with other parents and observe what their "control buttons" are. Manners? Attire? Daily routines? What drives us to prioritize what we kick and scream over, discipline over, shake our fists over... or pray over?
I was reading about Jesus's last supper with his disciples and while most of us know that this was to be his last time "teaching" and "advising" his disciples, it struck me smack upside the head at what his last set of "instructions" were. Love one another. (John 13:34)
What I love about Jesus is that while he didn't scream, shake a fist, or threaten to take the Wii away if a instruction was not followed; nor did he teach or instruct with some back door option of "well, I'm just throwing out some suggestions, pick which ones work for you." Oh no, he was pretty straight forward about the guidance he gave his disciples. When I read that, it really made me think, "Wow... so loving one another isn't really an option...it's a mandate." It's the "you WILL have combed-down hair on picture day" battles. He goes on to say that it is by loving one another that He will know his disciples.
Fast forward 2011 years. If you believe that there is a God... hes still asking you to love one another. Not just the easy ones... no, one another... as in... all! Yep..the one who flipped you off for driving 65 in the carpool lane. The one who pulled out 73 coupons in the grocery store when you were late to begin with. The co-worker who surfs the net all day long and makes more than you and oh yes, the person who gave you the dirty look because your child threw a fit in the Red Robin. (And for goodness sakes, who thinks Red Robin is a quiet restaurant to begin with????) We are to love them. Why? Because He asked us to. Why we gotta do this? (Just pretending to be my 5 year old for a moment.) Because He loved us first.
You know what is going to happen if you adopt the "love isn't an option" attitude? You're going to rock the world. You're going to show patience to that super-couponer and know that God will make up the time that you lost waiting for the checker to scan through her 72 boxes of cereal. You are going to prove the cranky couple at Red Robin wrong because you are going to stare right back with a big smile... and the love will shine through your eyes when you look at them...and they will notice...that something is different about you. I bet if you are consistent at loving every person you come into contact with, you are going to genuinely brighten someone's day; you may be the catalyst to improving the morale at your office, at your book club, in the Starbucks parking lot (which may, in of itself, start a revolution!) Try it... and let me know what what happens!
Since I'm not asking for advice, those of you ready to dole out the "choose your battles" advice, you can keep it in. Because truth is, I already do! I don't care if his clothes are "weather correct," if he decides to eat vitamins with breakfast or dinner or even how many times he wants to wear that jacket before its washed! So trust you me, you wanna rock that t-shirt with those pair of shorts, go for it! Oh yeah, five shades of blue in your outfit, plaids and stripes? You bet. Quite frankly, I don't have the time or energy...and its your potential shark waters at school, not mine.
So as not to run the risk of having child protective services knock on my door, lets circle back. Some things are NOT negotiable. And today, what shirt you wear and your hair style, on picture day, was not negotiable. I'm not writing a check only to send Grandma and Grandpa a picture of my son resembling Alfalfa.
Isn't it funny what specific battles we try and win with people? I find it fascinating to do life with other parents and observe what their "control buttons" are. Manners? Attire? Daily routines? What drives us to prioritize what we kick and scream over, discipline over, shake our fists over... or pray over?
I was reading about Jesus's last supper with his disciples and while most of us know that this was to be his last time "teaching" and "advising" his disciples, it struck me smack upside the head at what his last set of "instructions" were. Love one another. (John 13:34)
What I love about Jesus is that while he didn't scream, shake a fist, or threaten to take the Wii away if a instruction was not followed; nor did he teach or instruct with some back door option of "well, I'm just throwing out some suggestions, pick which ones work for you." Oh no, he was pretty straight forward about the guidance he gave his disciples. When I read that, it really made me think, "Wow... so loving one another isn't really an option...it's a mandate." It's the "you WILL have combed-down hair on picture day" battles. He goes on to say that it is by loving one another that He will know his disciples.
Fast forward 2011 years. If you believe that there is a God... hes still asking you to love one another. Not just the easy ones... no, one another... as in... all! Yep..the one who flipped you off for driving 65 in the carpool lane. The one who pulled out 73 coupons in the grocery store when you were late to begin with. The co-worker who surfs the net all day long and makes more than you and oh yes, the person who gave you the dirty look because your child threw a fit in the Red Robin. (And for goodness sakes, who thinks Red Robin is a quiet restaurant to begin with????) We are to love them. Why? Because He asked us to. Why we gotta do this? (Just pretending to be my 5 year old for a moment.) Because He loved us first.
You know what is going to happen if you adopt the "love isn't an option" attitude? You're going to rock the world. You're going to show patience to that super-couponer and know that God will make up the time that you lost waiting for the checker to scan through her 72 boxes of cereal. You are going to prove the cranky couple at Red Robin wrong because you are going to stare right back with a big smile... and the love will shine through your eyes when you look at them...and they will notice...that something is different about you. I bet if you are consistent at loving every person you come into contact with, you are going to genuinely brighten someone's day; you may be the catalyst to improving the morale at your office, at your book club, in the Starbucks parking lot (which may, in of itself, start a revolution!) Try it... and let me know what what happens!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
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