Sunday, April 24, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Larger than life
This morning, Lily, my darling one year old, decided to pick up the broom and run with it. Before I could reach her, she had already darted into the livingroom, with the broom handle a clear three feet taller than her little frame. She headed toward the fireplace where the mantle holds framed pictures of those closest to me. In horror, I leaped from my chair. The race was on! Thankfully I managed to apprehend my little sprinter before she could invoke any damage. And then I thought, wow, she had no idea of what she was about to do with that broom. A second later, another thought raced through my mind...I am not much different than my little Lily.
How many times do we take hold of things (offenses, anger, selfish ambitions, pride) and we run full steam ahead with them. Then, burdened down by the weight of that very thing, we look and realize it is larger than life in our small hands. We thought we were fine. We thought we could handle it. But we could not see how much damage was on the brink if we kept running with those things in hand. And not only will it effect us, but those closest to us as well. God calls us to be wise, not reckless.
James 1:19-26 says:
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.
How many times do we take hold of things (offenses, anger, selfish ambitions, pride) and we run full steam ahead with them. Then, burdened down by the weight of that very thing, we look and realize it is larger than life in our small hands. We thought we were fine. We thought we could handle it. But we could not see how much damage was on the brink if we kept running with those things in hand. And not only will it effect us, but those closest to us as well. God calls us to be wise, not reckless.
James 1:19-26 says:
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.
Friday, April 15, 2011
My sweet baby boy
Lately Jonathan and I have had several conversations about when he grows up, gets married and has his own kids. He has informed me that he is going to stay with me forever. Every once in a blue moon I long for the day when my kids are grown and Luis and I can "date" again, but I know that when that day comes, I am going to wish for the days of hugs and kisses before breakfast, prayers before bed, and everything else in between. I never dreamed about being a Mom...in fact, the whole idea scared me to death. Luis and I had been married for six years when I discovered that I was pregnant for the first time. I sobbed. No, not out of thrill and expectation, but out of shear fear. Thankfully it didn't take long to embrace reality, and I have become the happiest, sappiest Mama in the whole world! I really love my little ones!
Recently I had the opportunity to meet Morgan at art night at their school. She is sweet and bubbly, and I could see instantly why Jonathan likes to play with her. But I have to admit when Jonathan said, "Mom, I want to go sit in the front with Morgan", my heart sunk, and I thought that one day, I will not be the most important girl in his life.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
So wrong but yet so right...
I have had the undesirable and unrepeated "pleasure" of trying to back up our SUV while it was pulling our trailer. For all of you who are experts at doing this, I salute you. I, however, will never graduate from the National Tractor Trailer School because I will fail the "backing-up" test. For those of you who have never had the "treat" of attempting this, lets just say, to put it simply, all you have to do is take what you have learned about backing up a car, and do the exact opposite. So basically, while your brain is screaming at you to turn the steering wheel left, you have allow your brain to go into hibernation mode, and turn right. That is just so wrong! But, to back up your trailer from point A to point B, it's the only way (unless you unhitch it and push it yourself, which I have also done with much more accuracy).
I don't think that anyone likes for things to be wrong in their life. In a perfect world, life would be always happy, always sunny and always easy. Our human nature tends to seek the path of least resistance. No one ever requests the boat that rocks, the plane with the most turbulence, or shifting sand. (Unless it's at an amusement park, which is really nothing more than controlled chaos). The ironic thing is, sometimes those "perceived wrongs" in our life are really right. They are launching boards which move us when it would be so much easier just to stay where we are. They are catalysts that change our life's coordinates. They are defining moments that we, when we are finally able to distance ourselves from them, can look back and see that it was exactly what was needed at the time. The most difficult part is when we are in the midst of the "wrong" because it feels so, well, wrong. Many times, it is a person who is directly responsible for the "wrong", and because it goes against every fiber in our being that wants to maintain the status quo, we curse it, AND the person(s) associated with it. I have experience this over and over in my lifetime. I have been in a place that wasn't the intended place for me, and I was unsure of where I needed to be. I lacked the motivation to move myself. I feared stepping out blindly because even though I knew where I found myself was not the ultimate plan, it was visible and tangible, so it gave a false sense of security. Where I needed to be was fuzzy and unclear, and would have required a faith leap. I can say that each time before I was moved, I had said a prayer that went something like this: "HELP!!!" That's it. No flowery words, no fanfare. No reciting Psalm 23 from memory, no praying in tongues. Not even closing my eyes and bowing my head. No, those times were wide open cries from my innermost being that knew it wasn't where it needed to be and had no idea how to make a radical shift. They were probably the most sincere prayers I have ever prayed, because they consisted of complete acknowledgment that I had know idea what to do next, and utter surrender to the will of God for my life, placing everything I was in the hands of the One who created me, breathed life into my nostrils, and who is the architect of the plan called "my life".
Romans 8:26-27 says this:
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
There are two things that I have learned from these experiences:
1. The more I allow myself to be moved and directed by God without dragging my heels, the less frustrated I am in the present AND the transition.
2. Never judge a book by it's cover. Wrong is only wrong if God says it's wrong. Feelings are not facts and even the most well intentioned person who we think should know better, sometimes makes the worst judge.
I don't think that anyone likes for things to be wrong in their life. In a perfect world, life would be always happy, always sunny and always easy. Our human nature tends to seek the path of least resistance. No one ever requests the boat that rocks, the plane with the most turbulence, or shifting sand. (Unless it's at an amusement park, which is really nothing more than controlled chaos). The ironic thing is, sometimes those "perceived wrongs" in our life are really right. They are launching boards which move us when it would be so much easier just to stay where we are. They are catalysts that change our life's coordinates. They are defining moments that we, when we are finally able to distance ourselves from them, can look back and see that it was exactly what was needed at the time. The most difficult part is when we are in the midst of the "wrong" because it feels so, well, wrong. Many times, it is a person who is directly responsible for the "wrong", and because it goes against every fiber in our being that wants to maintain the status quo, we curse it, AND the person(s) associated with it. I have experience this over and over in my lifetime. I have been in a place that wasn't the intended place for me, and I was unsure of where I needed to be. I lacked the motivation to move myself. I feared stepping out blindly because even though I knew where I found myself was not the ultimate plan, it was visible and tangible, so it gave a false sense of security. Where I needed to be was fuzzy and unclear, and would have required a faith leap. I can say that each time before I was moved, I had said a prayer that went something like this: "HELP!!!" That's it. No flowery words, no fanfare. No reciting Psalm 23 from memory, no praying in tongues. Not even closing my eyes and bowing my head. No, those times were wide open cries from my innermost being that knew it wasn't where it needed to be and had no idea how to make a radical shift. They were probably the most sincere prayers I have ever prayed, because they consisted of complete acknowledgment that I had know idea what to do next, and utter surrender to the will of God for my life, placing everything I was in the hands of the One who created me, breathed life into my nostrils, and who is the architect of the plan called "my life".
Romans 8:26-27 says this:
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
There are two things that I have learned from these experiences:
1. The more I allow myself to be moved and directed by God without dragging my heels, the less frustrated I am in the present AND the transition.
2. Never judge a book by it's cover. Wrong is only wrong if God says it's wrong. Feelings are not facts and even the most well intentioned person who we think should know better, sometimes makes the worst judge.
Monday, April 4, 2011
On the Lighter Side
It appears that his plan has backfired....
Lily is very serious about her milk.
Getting his *BLING* on...(Note the necklace). It was in the prize box in speech class. One of his most prized possessions.
...because it's not always this good and pleasant.
Psalm 133:1
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity...
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