Archive for February, 2012

Am I Really That Weird?

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

I slept like a log last night.  But I spent quite an adventure dreaming.  I've always known I was weird and I have no shame in admitting it.  I do strange things, say crazy stuff and act totally weird.  It's just who I am.  I like me and most of the people in my life say they do too.

It's just kooky how I find myself in such strange circumstances.

Dream #1 — My family and I were obviously on a vacation together.  We seemed to be on the east coast in Florida because I remember seeing my Aunt Pat & Uncle Earl (whom I love bunches).  We were renting a house from some of their friends that I don't know.  We decided to go into town to visit a friend of mine that was working in a makeup store in a strip mall.  Once in the parking lot, we see a gang and they are causing a ruckus among the innocent folks milling around.  As my family and I are approaching the stores they head towards us (only they don't know I'm not afraid of anything!!).  I begin talking to them.  I tell them what they are doing is terrible and hurting people.  I mention that they don't have to behave that way and that God loves them and wants them to treat people well.

In the meantime… my family (including my hubby's parents–not sure where they came from.  But it's my dream darn it, so just go with it!) all run to a motorhome parked in the parking lot and jump in while I'm on the sidewalk with a REAL LIFE GANG, Y'ALL!  I remember looking over at the big windshield and seeing all of their shocked faces staring back at me.  I keep on talking.  They listen and no one says anything bad or scary to me.  They just start walking away with their heads hung low.  Several really tall people stay behind and then I can see they don't belong with the group.  They are a ministry group that have made helping gangs their mission field.  Each of them hug me and tell me how thankful they are for me being there and saying something so profound to the gang members.  One lady (a tall blonde) kisses my cheeks over and over.  I kept thinking, wow these folks do this all the time?  I wasn't afraid for myself, but the people they were terrorizing couldn't be left to their demise.   

In other words…..I couldn't NOT SAY SOMETHING!!

The rest of the dream, I remember riding around in the motorhome with the missionary team while they showed us all the gang houses and places they hang out.  It was very real.  

–BACK TO MY NOW REALITY–

I have no idea why I'm dreaming of standing up to gang people.  I've honestly never been near one in my life and I don't have a burning desire to minister to them either.  I work with kids, many of them very troubled and hurting.  I see how quickly they can become mean and violent.  (AND THEY AREN'T IN A GANG!)  But somehow, my crazy mind went there.  On a vacation, no doubt!

I've forgotten about dream #2 right now, my mind has moved on so I can't quite pull out the silly details.  Just know, that it was something off the wall and weird too.  I did not, I repeat….did not take any funky medications before bedtime.  This is just all me, naturally!  πŸ˜‰

Please tell me, I'm not the only one to dream wild things and adventures?

 

DOG UPDATE–She is feeling a bit better and loaded down with good medications.  The vet did a heartworm check and she passed.  He gave her a good booster shot of cortisone to kick-start her healing.  Now, we just keep poking it all down her until she is 100%.  Thanks for the thoughts.

Sick Me Sick Dog

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

I’m miserable! Sinus headache, runny eyes & nose, left ear ringing and head pounding. I slept with my face wrapped in a cloth diaper (they make the best snot rags). I probably should’ve called in but I’m a martyr and highly dedicated to my job so WORK it is, baby!

I can’t hog all the sickly sympathy though, my sweet Lizzy dog is croaking sick. Literally, she is hacking her little head off. It’s not pretty, girlfriend is weak from all that strangling/coughing.

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Look how sweet she is….a little too fuzzy but I like it when she’s extra fluffy! So, today I’m focusing on a vet trip not my own whiney head cold.

Hope your Tuesday is a gem of a day. It’s one day closer to Friday…right?

Pray Mama

Monday, February 27th, 2012

If you're a mother, then you know the tight hold children have on your heartstrings. Even when they grow taller than you, the love you feel is as strong as the first time you held them in your arms.  It's forever.

I read a post HERE recently about a praying mother.  It reminded me of how many times I've prayed for my own kids.  While none of them have ever been possessed by an unclean spirit, they have had serious issues and needs.  They also know that I pray for them and appreciate my love for God and them.

They are confidant in both.

I stood witness to a funeral yesterday.  The mother torn and hurting for a grown child who made choices way too terrible to understand.  Her love for him was clear but her love for God, not so much.  When I asked her if she had a favorite verse, she had none.  She didn't have anything of God to cling to because she didn't know Him.

The sting of death is unbearable when you have no hope of heaven.  As a mom, I struggled watching them suffer with the confusion they were left with.  I pray that the words spoken by God's vessel (my husband) ministered to them and helped in some way.  I believe that the heart is most accepting when it is at its weakest.  Maybe lives will be changed because of this one lost.

Is there anything you wouldn't do for your kids?

 

If you're not sure how important it is to teach your kids about God and his love & forgiveness….let this be a lesson.  Teach them, model Christ's love and follow His ways–someone is watching.

Match Up

Friday, February 24th, 2012

Have you ever met someone that acted horribly only to find out later they were an "active" church member somewhere?  I have and it's very confusing.  Don't misunderstand, I'm not talking about someone having a bad day or moment of stress and misbehaving.  I'm referring to someone who has a completely miserable or mean spirit.

Examples:

Unfriendly, coldish, never smiles and leaves you feeling awkward when you leave their presence.

I can still remember the day I found out a certain secretary (at a place where I worked too) was a God praising, hands in the air, eyes closed tight follower.  It literally stopped me in my worship'n tracks!  Every encounter I had ever had with her was ugly and rude (her part, not mine).  She acted like she hated me!  It left me feeling low and embarrassed each time I had to interact with her.  And here she was singing in the big church choir….loving the same God that I do.

Didn't match up.

In my long life as a Christian, I've fallen hard on my own sword of fleshly behavior.  I've misspoken, wounded with my words & actions, acted like a total idiot and completely embarrassed myself & those around me.  I've also recognized it as wrong and tried to make it right as quickly as possible.  I never want to misrepresent Christ because of my weak & human behavior but I have and probably will again.

It doesn' match up.

I've noticed how easy it is to sling scripture around and make ourselves look Christian-y.  But if our behavior doesn't match up with our words, do they really count?  I'm challenging myself and you today–if you are a believer/follower of Jesus Christ please live outloud for Him.  The world is full of meanness.  Why should the ones who profess to love in the name of Christ be jerks too?

Chew on that, friends and let me know…..do you agree?

 

Questions to ponder.

Do I act like a person who loves Jesus TO EVERYONE or just my closest friends/family?

Am I gentle with my words and kind with my actions?

Do I smile and speak when someone does the same to me?

Am I open to being helpful when approached by someone in need?

Do I make other's feel uncomfortable or am I warm & inviting?

 

BE HONEST.  I want to match up with the love the Father has poured out on me. Don't you?

Divine Appointment

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

Last week, I read a post titled Nine Doors Down by one of my very favorite bloggers…Karen Ehman.  She wrote about a missed opportunity to meet and love on a neighbor who decided to take her own life.  Oh she'd exchanged waves as she walked by and spoke as she saw her out watering flowers but she never stopped and introduced herself.  They never connected.

Missed opportunity.

Those moments can't be changed.  I'm no different than Karen and neither are you.  We're busy people.  It's a game of hustle most days just to take care of work, kids and dinner.  But God has divine appointments for us.

Are we listening for His nudges?

I blogged about my aching back on Tuesday.  What I didn't tell you was that I actually called in to the sub line.  I reached the answering machine and instead of leaving a message asking for a sub, I hung up.  In my mind, I was thinking…no big deal, I can make it in.  Later, I regretted it and felt horrible all day at school.  By the end of the day, I let a secretary know I would need Wednesday off.

God had plans.  I didn't know it, but he was orchestrating an important need.

After taking some good med's and sleeping much better Tuesday night,  I managed to do a little housework.  I noticed on my computer an instant message popped up from an old high school friend (from Florida).  I haven't spoken to her in years and her question really caught me off guard.  She asked me if I'd heard about the gunman on the loose in the next town over.  I answered with a yes and she told me it was her nephew.

Divine appointment.

We spent most of the morning communicating back and forth.  She shared about his being bi-polar and that he'd never hurt anyone before.  He had served time in prison for a burglary but he wasn't a killer.  On Monday night, a police officer pulled him over and he fired a shot into the air causing the officer to shoot back. He then fled the scene on foot and the whole community was on alert while they searched for him.  He was still missing today.  Her family was so distraught.  They believed he was trying to get the police to shoot him.

Desperate. 

As I was about to start dinner, she messaged me again.  He'd been found.  He had taken his own life.  My heart broke for her and the entire family.  His mother (my friends sister) and other relatives had gathered at a local hotel hoping for a happier ending.  Instead, the news would break their hearts and change their lives forever.

God wanted me home today.  If I had been at work, I couldn't have chatted and encouraged her throughout the day.  Nor listened to her as she shared the darkest few moments of her life as an aunt.

Divine appointment.

 

Lord,  You have a plan so important.  Help me to be open to your nudges and allow my heart to love like you do.  I pray for this family.  They are broken into many little pieces and they need your peace like never before.  Thank you for using me to love and minister in their time of need.

Amen

Lent Pretend

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

Well, it's Ash Wednesday.  A time for all of us sinners to give something up for 40 days in order to improve ourselves in the sight of Christ.  Every year, I find myself wondering why people do this.  Not that it isn't Biblical or Holy, but that we are so completely opposite of that ourselves.  We are indulgent!  We want what we want and we have no problem attaining it — in spiritual words, getting it!

Who doesn't want to be an improved version of self?  Everyone wants to be better.  Think about those New Years resolutions and how fired up we were writing them down and taking them on.  We want to look our best, feel our best and of course be our best (us) in not only man's eyes but God's eyes too.

I have a jaded view of this season and it's not because I'm being a jerk or ignorant.  It's just that as a Christian, I try to "die to self" daily.  Not specifically a vice, mind you, but of stuff that doesn't belong in my life at all.  If it's not good for me and it doesn't honor Christ–why would I do it?  I get the idea of denying oneself of something beloved to remind me of Jesus' sacrifice.  Any kind of fasting usually reminds us just how little we love God and how little we live according to His ways.  πŸ™

Sad admittance, huh?

All around me are friends/people bragging about what they are giving up for Lent.  Which in my thinking does just the opposite of what fasting should do.  You know that old 'don't let your right hand know what your left is doing' thing? (Matt. 6:3)  Don't boast or it doesn't count!  It's sacred, right?  So zip it and do it….focusing on becoming a better follower of the Most High God!  As we "struggle" with wanting whatever we've given up, God can use that to teach us to fill our lives with more of Him.

We need more of Him.

So, whether you're giving up Diet Coke, chocolate or tv for the next 40 days….don't forget to ask God to reveal the things that really need {to go} in your life.  Ask Him to show your sinfulness, selfishness and lack of faith.  That, my friend is what we need to rid our lives of the most.

This is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. 

Don't pretend…this Lent.

PS-Easter's coming!