Go Ahead...Jump!

You know how when you were a little kid, you would get up on the kitchen counter and suddenly you were ready to get down? You would call for your dad or mom to come get you down. Sometimes, my dad would stand a little distance away and tell me to jump. I would say "No daddy, I don't want to!"......and he would respond, "Come on...I'll catch you." I would have butterflies in my tummy and I would keep saying I didn't want to. But my dad assured me that he would catch me and that I just had to trust him. And what do you know, every time I jumped into his arms.....he caught me. Never once did he miss.  I think of all the possible things that could have happened. He could have told me to jump and as soon as I did, a glass could have fallen across the room that would take his attention off of me. Or my friend could have come into the room suddenly and startled him and he could have dropped me.

Have you ever trusted someone with everything you had? Trusted them when they said, "Go ahead...jump...I've got you." And then you give in to your fears and you have faith that they will catch you when you fall into them. Then suddenly, the proverbial glass breaks, or someone walks into their life and captures their attention, and for a moment...their eyes move away from you, and they drop you; they let you down.

Most of us have put our faith at one time or another into a person who is only human. They have good intentions, they really mean it when they say, "Jump...I'll catch you. You can trust me."......But life happens. People let you down. And to be honest, we let people down too. All the time.

The thing to remember is this: Keep on trusting, because that's what makes life interesting. Keep on having faith in people, because they deserve the chance to try. Learn from your mistakes, learn to approach circumstances with caution. And remember the One who will always catch you if you let Him. He will never get distracted by other people or other situations. When God says, "Go ahead, jump...I'll catch you.".....You can take Him at His word. He will never, ever look away or let you fall.

And sometimes...you have to jump with your eyes closed and with huge butterflies inside of you....but it's worth the jump, to be able to land each and every time into the arms of  the God who actually knows how many hairs are on your head! So, go ahead.....jump!

My Friends Are My Family

This morning...just like every morning, I woke my six year old up for school. I always rub her back and speak softly and give her a little kiss on the cheek.  She rolls around a little bit, but she doesn't open her eyes right away. Needless to say, she is not a morning person. So after a few minutes, I always pick her up and carry her downstairs.  She is little enough that I can still do that.  As I picked her up this morning, she was not wanting to wake up, so she just laid in my arms, not holding on at all.  I don't think she even thought about the possibility of me dropping her.  There are 16 steps that I had to walk down while carrying her. I had to look over her little head with every step, so I wouldn't miss a step.  If I did, we both would go tumbling down and quite possibly be really hurt.

I started thinking, isn't that how we are sometimes? When we are so tired, or confused, and we feel like we just can't take another step.....someone is there to carry us through it.  I know without a doubt that when I have days where I am frustrated or sad, I have family and friends who I can just fall into their arms.  My little girl wasn't worried or even concerned that I would drop her. She was counting on me to carry her to the destination of the couch without any incident. 

It's cool how we can be strong for each other. I have "carried" many of my friends through difficult times. However, there have been times when I'm the one who needs to be carried through.  They have been there for me! No questions asked....just carried me through and took those steps that I couldn't seem to take on my own.

Today, as we are in the Thanksgiving season, I am thankful for my family and my friends, who I consider family. Thank you for walking for me when I couldn't; for opening your eyes when mine were closed; and for loving me throughout this life! I am a better person because of you!

Ever Had One Of Those Days?

Several of my friends have heard this story, and a few of them encouraged me to blog my "elevator story".....So here it is.

Labor Day weekend, we took the family and headed to San Antonio for a long weekend.  We checked into the 4 star hotel where we have stayed year after year. We love this hotel! 

The next morning, we had breakfast and headed out to the Riverwalk.  The girls ended up at Ripley's Believe It Or Not, while my husband and I walked around the Alamo.  We headed back to the hotel and went for a swim......this is where the tale begins.......

After about an hour, the rest of the family went upstairs to shower and get ready for the evening.  I decided I would lay out by the pool and get some sun and read.  After 45 minutes or so, I made my way into the hotel to go up to our room.  I got on the elevator....alone.

I pushed the button for floor number 15 and started up.  After about 10 floors the elevator stopped.  I stood there and waited for it to start again. It did not.  Then, because I've watched so many movies, I started thinking that the elevator could quite possibly fall down to the bottom and I could die! So, I quickly sat down and braced myself! (I know now that it would not have mattered if I were standing or sitting....I would have plunged to my death)...but lucky for me, I didn't know that fact at the time.

After about 5 minutes of Nothing, I pushed a button that appeared to be an intercom.  Some lady said "front desk, may I help you?"...I said..."Yes, I'm stuck in the elevator?"...She said, "oh yes ma'am we have someone working on that", and HUNG UP ON ME!  So, I sat back down and braced myself.  I prayed. I really did not want to die right then, my hair was a mess!!

I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more.  So I pushed the intercom again.  This time a man said "front desk, may I help you?".....I said..."Yes, I'm the one stuck in the elevator?"....He said, "yes ma'am, the fire department is on it's way."....I said..."Can someone call my husband in room 1504 and let him know where I am?"...He said yes.

So, back in our room....the electricity had been out, so the family was just sitting around wondering where I was.  Apparently, one of the girls said..."Wouldn't it be funny if she were stuck in an elevator?"...just then, the phone rang and my husband answered it.  After a few minutes he said..."which one is she stuck in?".....Then, I've been told, laughter filled the room, as I guess this was a funny image for them!!

After about 20 more minutes......I pushed the intercom AGAIN!......another lady said "front desk, may I help you?"....I said......"Is someone going to get me out???!?!?!!".....she said, "yes the fire department is here and they are looking for you."

Meanwhile, down in the lobby.....my husband had walked down 15 flights of stairs and was trying to find out what was going on.  NO ONE at the front desk could tell him where I was, or if anyone had contacted me in the elevator!!! (Who had I been talking to all that time???)  Maybe I was calling the front desk of some other hotel across town? I'm still not sure.

So, my husband meets the firefighters as they come in.  FOUR firetrucks....just for me!  The front desk couldn't tell them anything either! My husband took charge and told him that I was stuck somewhere between floor 1 and floor 15.  They took off looking for me.

Suddenly, I could hear a firefighter's voice.  He was calling my name! I could hear him faintly, then he got louder and louder.  Suddenly, the doors to the elevator began to pry open.  When they opened, I saw that I was between floors.  I could see the inside of the elevator shaft, and the floor was above my head.  It was kinda scary at that point.

But as the doors opened, I saw a sea of firefighters in their blue uniforms....SO many of them......but I also saw my husband right in the front of them leading them to me! I was comforted by that sight.

The firefighter said....."We are going to take your hands and pull you out.  When we do, it needs to be fast!".  All I was thinking of was how glad I was that I had put a cover-up on over my bathing suit!!!

So, he counted, "One, Two, Three"...and they pulled me up and onto the floor.  I felt like I was in a movie.  Then they immediately moved to the elevator and secured it so it wouldn't go anywhere.  I found out later that they pulled me out so fast because sometimes elevators start moving, and people have been cut in half.  Good to know.

The hotel was very apologetic and we got a free room out of the experience.  My family got a good laugh, and I have yet another story to tell in my psyc class!

What About Me? What About Me? What About Me?

Have you ever said that to yourself? Maybe not in those exact words, but you've thought it. I think at one time or another, we all have. We see the guy who keeps getting all the great stock options when our 401K is getting smaller. You see the girl that just graduated college with no experience, get the job that you have been working from temp to perm for 10 years. Or what about the kid who gets all the scholarships for various colleges and you can't even get one. Yeah, we've all thought it before......What about me?

I think the important thing to remember is to not dwell on the question in the wrong light. It's only natural for us to think it, to feel it. But if we linger there too long, then it becomes a poison inside of us that no good can come from. Really, what does anger and pity for yourself get you? Nothing.  It can however, inspire you. Inspire you to change what you can. When you get knocked down, it's important not to stay there very long. One thing that I have found is to take a step back out of the situation, and look at things from a different angle.

One evening last week, our family went to a new Chinese Food Buffet. When we walked in, there were six long areas of nothing but food! As we took our plates and began filling them, I looked down at my six year old getting things for her plate. I thought, WOW! How privileged we are and we don't even know it.

I came home and looked up the word privilege:  special advantage, immunity, permission, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual.

I have found that when I begin asking myself, "What about me?" I am now asking it in a different way....."What about me? What about all of the privileges I have? What about all of the good things that I get to enjoy? What about the air in my lungs?"

I wish we all could turn that question around and ask it in a way that makes us truly grateful for all of the things that we have. Then, in turn, look around for people who we can help. One sure fire way to be thankful for what you have, is to help someone who is going through a rough patch.  Look around you. You can always find someone who needs your help!

Stop Riding The Fence

I went to an Astros game this weekend, and after the game we stayed for a David Crowder concert. He is a Contemporary Christian artist. This particular Astros game was designated "Faith and Family Night", so there were many people there with their children.  As things were getting geared up for the concert portion of the evening, a man, his wife and three children were seated in the row in front of us.  The children were not hyper, they stayed seated for the most part, not acting up at all.  The mom was glued to her Iphone texting someone, and her daughter kept trying to ask her a question. The mom in a very hateful tone and facial expression, told her daughter to stop bothering her. The little girl just sat back in her seat and didn't try to interact with her mom anymore.

When the concert began, the mom quickly put away her phone and began clapping with the music and smiling.  She would close her eyes and raise her hands, as many others were doing in response to the music.  During one of the songs, one of the little boys was trying to talk to the other little boy and he was using kind of a loud voice because the music was so loud.  She went from raising her hands "worshiping" to leaning over in his direction and yelling at him to BE QUIET! Then she went on to tell him, "I'm NEVER bringing you to anything else...mark my word!"...So hateful.  She went straight from yelling at her son, to putting her hands right back up and "worshiping".

I couldn't help but think, this is how a lot of Christians are on a daily basis. She was giving me and example of how throughout our lives, we can be "holy, worshiping, God following" people, then in a blink of an eye, we become "compromising, indecisive, hypocritical" people.  There is a passage from the Bible that says:
                               “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.
                                 I wish you were either cold or hot! So, because
                                 you are neither cold or hot, I will spit you out of my mouth."

We can't be lukewarm about Christ. If we talk the talk, we have to walk the walk. Trust me, I haven't always done this! I have failed over and over again. However, I can't deny what the Bible teaches me about it. If I believe in Christ and I believe in His commands, I can't just pick the ones that suit me....I have to live it out.....ALL of it!

I can't raise my hands in worship on Sunday and then fill myself with things God does not approve of during the week. I can't nod my head in agreement with the preacher when he says "love your neighbor", and then walk right past someone who will not get to eat that day.

I either have to be hot or cold...not lukewarm. I need to stop riding the fence and pick a side. I want to choose HOT! I want to be on fire for God and obedient to His commands for my life!

Change what you can........

One of my favorite things to do is to take an hour drive to Galveston by myself from time to time. This morning was a gorgeous morning to do just that.  As I unloaded my bike and began to ride along the Seawall, the first thing I noticed was a flock of pelicans flying by.  I thought they were amazing!  I continued riding and just soaked in the smell of the ocean.

As I rode a little further, other people were riding bikes and walking. I noticed that the people I passed looked pleasant and most all of them returned my "Good Morning!"  I didn't ride much further until I came across a man and his little girl. She looked to be about a year and a half old. They had just stepped out of their car and the little girl started pointing at the waves and saying "oooh-oooh-oooh".  I slowed my bike down and watched her excitement of the ocean. She kept pointing and ooohing and looking from the ocean up to her dad and back to the ocean.

I rode on with that image in my mind. Oh, to have the innocence and the wonder of a one year old. She thought the waves were magnificent! Why can't we see things with that new-ness?  I realize that we can't point to things and say "oooh-oooh-oooh"; people might find us strange. But it seems to me that we can have that same internal excitement and appreciate so much more than we generally do.

Sometimes it's easy for us to get caught up in the "every day, same bad news, the world's got troubles" mind-set. 

We can change a lot of things; need to lose weight? Eat right and exercise. Want to earn a better paycheck? Do what it takes to meet the qualifications.

There are huge amounts of things that we cannot change. I can't change the fact that thousands of people are without homes because of the recent tornadoes. I can't change the fact that there are horrible dictators in other countries. I certainly can't change the fact that I am only 5'1 and will never be any taller :)

What I can do is enjoy what is in front of me. Enjoy the little details of my life. I get to go to sleep in a comfy bed with a ceiling fan above me that keeps me at just the right temperature. I get to peek in on my kids while they are still sleeping in the mornings. Today, I even got to take a drive to the beach and look out at the ocean in awe of the majesty of God's creation!

So, I leave you with this....Change what you can, pray for what you can't...and enjoy what is here.  Live life to the fullest!

What is your assignment?

Have you ever thought about why you're here? What is your assignment in this life? So many times we get in a rut of doing the every day in and day out activities that we lose sight of what we are supposed to be doing.

Were you assigned to be a parent? To have a biological child or to adopt a child in need of a stable home?  What about your career? Are you supposed to be the CEO somewhere, or are you supposed to work from home? Are you destined to be a motivational speaker, or a foreign missionary?

Did you ever stop to think that maybe your assignment is to look out and care for someone other than yourself? To keep a pleasant home that your family enjoys living in? To work hard and provide for your family? To make a way for someone who has lost all hope?

You are not here by accident. No one is. All of us have a purpose, and it's up to us to find out what it is. It reminds me of the Persian Queen Esther. She risked her life coming before the king, but her Uncle had said to her..."And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Why are you here? What is your life's assignment? Take time to look around you. Encourage someone today with your words, with your money, with your time. You may never know the impact you will have on someone's life, but could it be that you were put on this earth for such a time as this?