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!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
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?
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?
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Generation Me
I read a book a while back entitled "Generation Me" by Jean Twenge. I loved it so much, I read it through twice. The truth of it, however, is becoming more evident to me in recent days. I have seen this in action: the current generation lives in an entitled state of mind. Not everyone in this generation, certainly....but statistically a large amount. It's not only the "young" people of this generation, but the generation that we are all becoming.
For instance, look around you the next time you are driving. People of all ages are driving as if they are headed to disarm a bomb and time is of the essence. When in actuality, they are simply headed to a friend's house to hang out and play the Wii. People are putting their lives in danger, and other's lives around them in danger, all because they want it NOW. They want to get there Now, they want their possessions Now, they want to loose the weight Now.
Progess has made it so easy for us to get used to having things immediately. I can make my oatmeal in a minute-thirty seconds. I can make instant mac n' cheese for my daughter in four minutes. I can apply for and receive instant credit. If I get on-line and have to wait an extended few seconds longer than I think I should for a website to come up, I start the heavy sighing as if my entire day is ruined.
It makes me sad that we as a generation are going into extreme debt to buy things that we don't need, to impress people that we don't even know. It makes me sad that we are so busy getting what is ours, that we leave out people who need our help. Our patience, compassion, and understanding for others have been affected by our own desires.
The generation coming up now knows only about instant gratification. My youngest one doesn't know what it's like to not be able to send a text message to a friend to ask if she can play. Instant things are nice, but I hope we take time to reflect on time and the beauty of it. Taking the time to spend with people we love and taking the time to care about others who need us.
For instance, look around you the next time you are driving. People of all ages are driving as if they are headed to disarm a bomb and time is of the essence. When in actuality, they are simply headed to a friend's house to hang out and play the Wii. People are putting their lives in danger, and other's lives around them in danger, all because they want it NOW. They want to get there Now, they want their possessions Now, they want to loose the weight Now.
Progess has made it so easy for us to get used to having things immediately. I can make my oatmeal in a minute-thirty seconds. I can make instant mac n' cheese for my daughter in four minutes. I can apply for and receive instant credit. If I get on-line and have to wait an extended few seconds longer than I think I should for a website to come up, I start the heavy sighing as if my entire day is ruined.
It makes me sad that we as a generation are going into extreme debt to buy things that we don't need, to impress people that we don't even know. It makes me sad that we are so busy getting what is ours, that we leave out people who need our help. Our patience, compassion, and understanding for others have been affected by our own desires.
The generation coming up now knows only about instant gratification. My youngest one doesn't know what it's like to not be able to send a text message to a friend to ask if she can play. Instant things are nice, but I hope we take time to reflect on time and the beauty of it. Taking the time to spend with people we love and taking the time to care about others who need us.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Self Control....To be or not to be......
Does this ever happen to you......? It's a typical Friday morning, I get the kids to school successfully and then I'm off to the grocery store to stock up before the weekend. It's not very crowded, but I still want to park away from the other cars, because it's just what I do to keep my car from getting banged up and scratched. I'm only in there for about 30 minutes, and when I come out the parking lot is just about empty...except for....wait for it.....Yes, there it is, out of ALL the empty parking spaces, the BIG Ford F250 is parked right.beside.me! And parked as close to me as possible, so that I can't even load my groceries on that side.
Now, I just stand there and ponder...why? Why do people do this? What could be their possible motivation?? I am stumped, and aggrevated. I'm pretty sure he didn't do it to be mean. Why would he? I don't know this person. And yet it just baffles me! My first inclination is to ram his big truck with my shopping cart. No, that's not the right thing to do. My next thought is to pull my shopping cart between our two cars so I can load my groceries while scraping the side of his truck. No, that's not right either. Then what am I supposed to do??
I took my groceries around to the other side and loaded them in. Then I carefully opened my door so I wouldn't bang his door with mine, and I slid in ever so easily to get into my car. As I sat in my car still pondering why this person would do such a thing, it hit me. Maybe people do this to me because it's one of my major pet peeves and it is helping me with self control. See, I believe the Bible and I want to have the "fruit of the spirit"; one of which is self control. I feel pretty good about the other ones; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness....but that self-control one, now that's a challenge for me.
So, could it be that these people who do things to me that make me want to lash out at them, are God's way of teaching me to use self-control. Even though I felt like smashing against his truck, I knew it wasn't the right thing to do and I resisted. So then my thoughts went to this guy. What was his story? Was he getting ready to go to a job that he hates? Is his wife at home sick and he has to maintain the household chores? I have to consider that he is a person, with real problems, with real emotions. I used self-control today. Little by little, I'm getting better. Now, where is that bag of kit kats? :)
Now, I just stand there and ponder...why? Why do people do this? What could be their possible motivation?? I am stumped, and aggrevated. I'm pretty sure he didn't do it to be mean. Why would he? I don't know this person. And yet it just baffles me! My first inclination is to ram his big truck with my shopping cart. No, that's not the right thing to do. My next thought is to pull my shopping cart between our two cars so I can load my groceries while scraping the side of his truck. No, that's not right either. Then what am I supposed to do??
I took my groceries around to the other side and loaded them in. Then I carefully opened my door so I wouldn't bang his door with mine, and I slid in ever so easily to get into my car. As I sat in my car still pondering why this person would do such a thing, it hit me. Maybe people do this to me because it's one of my major pet peeves and it is helping me with self control. See, I believe the Bible and I want to have the "fruit of the spirit"; one of which is self control. I feel pretty good about the other ones; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness....but that self-control one, now that's a challenge for me.
So, could it be that these people who do things to me that make me want to lash out at them, are God's way of teaching me to use self-control. Even though I felt like smashing against his truck, I knew it wasn't the right thing to do and I resisted. So then my thoughts went to this guy. What was his story? Was he getting ready to go to a job that he hates? Is his wife at home sick and he has to maintain the household chores? I have to consider that he is a person, with real problems, with real emotions. I used self-control today. Little by little, I'm getting better. Now, where is that bag of kit kats? :)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
A Pregnancy Journey.....
So, six years and about 9 months ago....I took a pregnancy test and it was Positive. But that was just the beginning of the story.....Let's go back there........
When I pray, I expect God to answer; and He does. Not always the way I want. I had 2 previous miscarriages that I prayed for God to spare me from...but He chose to say no. When I went into the doctor in early 2004, she conducted an ultrasound. I was far enough along that we should have heard/seen a heartbeat and seen the sack where the baby was. My doctor saw nothing. She called me back into her office and said that she picked up a faint heartbeat that was most likely mine. She said that this was a 4 percent chance of being a viable pregnancy. I prayed....I cried.....I spent the rest of the day in my room grieving the coming loss of yet another pregnancy.
That Sunday, my church had a healing service. My friends gathered around me and prayed for the healing of this pregnancy. Because we all knew that our God is WAY bigger than any 4 percent prediction. I prayed, and I waited. Two weeks later, I went in for another ultrasound the day before a scheduled D& C procedure. On that ultrasound, we not only saw/heard a STRONG heartbeat, we saw my little one moving from one side of the screen to the other! My doctor said with tears in her eyes...."This is a miracle"....She still calls her my miracle baby.
Sometimes God answers with a no; sometimes with not right now....and sometimes, He answers with ALL of His Glory and Power with an Almighty YES. Emma was so close to not even being here....but God took the pregnancy and did what only He could do.......He gave me Emma. Thank you God for saying yes!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Turning Our Okay Into Beautiful......
Sunday mornings are pretty much the same around my home. I'm the first one up and I get the pot of coffee going. I mix up the blueberry muffins and get them in the oven, then head to my computer for some quiet time. Then, I begin waking the rest of the family up and they head into the kitchen for breakfast. After breakfast, everyone begins getting ready for church.
On this particular Sunday, my 6 year old got herself dressed and then wanted to do her hair all by herself. My first thought was "this is not going to be good". So, I let her take the brush and begin brushing her hair. After a few minutes, she was so proud of the front, but she looked perplexed as she tried to figure out how she was going to do the back of her hair. I was standing to the side of her, finishing my make-up. She looked up at me and said "Mama, would you brush the back of my hair?" Of course I said yes, and while she was playing with a little toy in front of her, I brushed the front too!
She wanted to do the whole thing by herself, and it would have turned out okay I suppose. But when she asked me for help, I took the "okay" of the situation and made it "beautiful.". I couldn't help but think, this must be what God thinks of us many times. I always set out to do things, usually on my own and in my own power. Those things usually turn out "okay", but just think how beautiful it would turn out if I would simply ask for His help at the beginning instead of in the middle or even at the end.
I was willing to do the whole thing for her. I was just standing and waiting for her to ask. That's all it took. She asked, and I did it.
God is willing to take our "okay's" and make them Beautiful! All we have to do is ask!
On this particular Sunday, my 6 year old got herself dressed and then wanted to do her hair all by herself. My first thought was "this is not going to be good". So, I let her take the brush and begin brushing her hair. After a few minutes, she was so proud of the front, but she looked perplexed as she tried to figure out how she was going to do the back of her hair. I was standing to the side of her, finishing my make-up. She looked up at me and said "Mama, would you brush the back of my hair?" Of course I said yes, and while she was playing with a little toy in front of her, I brushed the front too!
She wanted to do the whole thing by herself, and it would have turned out okay I suppose. But when she asked me for help, I took the "okay" of the situation and made it "beautiful.". I couldn't help but think, this must be what God thinks of us many times. I always set out to do things, usually on my own and in my own power. Those things usually turn out "okay", but just think how beautiful it would turn out if I would simply ask for His help at the beginning instead of in the middle or even at the end.
I was willing to do the whole thing for her. I was just standing and waiting for her to ask. That's all it took. She asked, and I did it.
"A leper came to him, begging on his knees, "If you want to, you can cleanse me." Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, I want to. Be clean." Then and there the leprosy was gone. - Mark 1:40-41
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Giving In When You Really Don't Want To.....
Just as a disclaimer....this is SO not about me......all the glory belongs to GOD!!
So this morning while driving over the Baytown bridge to get to my class, I was thinking about the parking situation. I knew I was going to have to park far away and walk. I was already dreading it, but I had my big coat with the hat and the gloves. As I was walking the long walk and freezing while I was totally dressed in winter wear...it hit me. There are thousands out there who will be sleeping in shelters tonight, but many who will be on the streets. I just kept thinking about them with every step I took until I got into the warm building.
As I was teaching my 2 classes, there was this constant "unhappiness" I felt. Even with my goofy jokes and the class responding in such a positive way, there was something bringing me down.
As I was walking back to my car and still freezing, I felt like I was supposed to do something. But what?? It's supposed to be like 27 degrees tonight...people need blankets. This was the thought going on in my head (I'm convinced it was God). So I felt God leading me to go to Wal Mart and buy a few blankets. I also had a crockpot full of taco soup that I felt like I was supposed to put in plastic containers and take to someone.
Even though I had this thought, I kept saying things like, "but I don't know where to find these people", it's so far over to Houston, what am I going to do with the kids while I do this?"...But with every excuse I tried to make, I just kept having different verses come to my head...."whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me" and "love your neighbor as yourself". Then the Brandon Heath song came into my head.."give me your eyes for just one second..."
So I went to Wal-Mart. I bought 2 blankets, 2 pillows and some plastic containers for my soup. I came home and made some pb&j sandwiches, and put them in a couple of bags along with some cheese & crackers and some pudding.
I called my dad and asked if Emma could stay with him for a few hours. Then I told my plan to Kendall and she wanted to go with me. I wasn't sure where to go, but I knew that I had always seen homeless guys on the benches in Herman Park by the zoo. So, that's where we headed. We parked and got out and started walking. The wind was blowing the water from the big fountain directly at us and we were laughing and freezing all at the same time.
We didn't find one person in that park! So, we went back to our car. We were not going home defeated. So, we took off down San Jacinto street and headed into downtown. There we saw him. A person covered by a make-shift blanket on the steps of an abandoned building. As we approached him, there was no place for me to stop, so we kept driving and looking for others. We finally felt like we were supposed to go back and give our things to this man.
I turned around and headed back to the place where we saw him. There was an Eye Center on the corner, so we parked there. We got out our soup, sandwiches, blanket and pillow and headed across the street.
"Hello?"....."Hellllooo?" "Excuse me".....I called out to him, and finally he pulled his covering away from his face and looked at me. "Hi! we have some food for you, can we leave it here?". He said yes and moved some things out of the way so we could put it down. Then we handed him the pillow and we spread the fleece blanket out over him. I asked him what his name was......Kevin. We asked him if we could pray for him later and he said yes. We told him to take care and that we would be praying for him. "Thank you" he said.
Then we left and ran across the street to our car. As we were getting back into our car, a guy who was standing by the metro pick-up said..."that was a real nice thing that yall just did".
Here is what I learned today. Always, always follow God in obedience. Even if it doesn't make sense to you and especially if it's out of your comfort zone. I don't know what God will do with and through Kevin, but I'm praying for great things!! The man at the metro bus stop saw what we did and I hope that he is inspired to show some kindness to someone along the way.
Maybe we blessed Kevin tonight. I hope we did. But I can tell you this much....I was blessed beyond words. I got to spend precious, quality time with my daughter living out God's command and I will appreciate my bed, heater, fireplace, and refrigerator full of food a lot more tonight than I normally would. I take things for granted BIG TIME! Tonight, Kevin is sleeping on a hard concrete step. But I hope his stomach isn't growling tonight and he stays a little warmer with his new blanket. But more than anything....more than ANYTHING, I want him to have felt the love of Jesus tonight. We are the hands and feet of Jesus. I'm so glad that Kevin allowed me to show God's love to him tonight. I am truly blessed!
So this morning while driving over the Baytown bridge to get to my class, I was thinking about the parking situation. I knew I was going to have to park far away and walk. I was already dreading it, but I had my big coat with the hat and the gloves. As I was walking the long walk and freezing while I was totally dressed in winter wear...it hit me. There are thousands out there who will be sleeping in shelters tonight, but many who will be on the streets. I just kept thinking about them with every step I took until I got into the warm building.
As I was teaching my 2 classes, there was this constant "unhappiness" I felt. Even with my goofy jokes and the class responding in such a positive way, there was something bringing me down.
As I was walking back to my car and still freezing, I felt like I was supposed to do something. But what?? It's supposed to be like 27 degrees tonight...people need blankets. This was the thought going on in my head (I'm convinced it was God). So I felt God leading me to go to Wal Mart and buy a few blankets. I also had a crockpot full of taco soup that I felt like I was supposed to put in plastic containers and take to someone.
Even though I had this thought, I kept saying things like, "but I don't know where to find these people", it's so far over to Houston, what am I going to do with the kids while I do this?"...But with every excuse I tried to make, I just kept having different verses come to my head...."whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me" and "love your neighbor as yourself". Then the Brandon Heath song came into my head.."give me your eyes for just one second..."
So I went to Wal-Mart. I bought 2 blankets, 2 pillows and some plastic containers for my soup. I came home and made some pb&j sandwiches, and put them in a couple of bags along with some cheese & crackers and some pudding.
I called my dad and asked if Emma could stay with him for a few hours. Then I told my plan to Kendall and she wanted to go with me. I wasn't sure where to go, but I knew that I had always seen homeless guys on the benches in Herman Park by the zoo. So, that's where we headed. We parked and got out and started walking. The wind was blowing the water from the big fountain directly at us and we were laughing and freezing all at the same time.
We didn't find one person in that park! So, we went back to our car. We were not going home defeated. So, we took off down San Jacinto street and headed into downtown. There we saw him. A person covered by a make-shift blanket on the steps of an abandoned building. As we approached him, there was no place for me to stop, so we kept driving and looking for others. We finally felt like we were supposed to go back and give our things to this man.
I turned around and headed back to the place where we saw him. There was an Eye Center on the corner, so we parked there. We got out our soup, sandwiches, blanket and pillow and headed across the street.
"Hello?"....."Hellllooo?" "Excuse me".....I called out to him, and finally he pulled his covering away from his face and looked at me. "Hi! we have some food for you, can we leave it here?". He said yes and moved some things out of the way so we could put it down. Then we handed him the pillow and we spread the fleece blanket out over him. I asked him what his name was......Kevin. We asked him if we could pray for him later and he said yes. We told him to take care and that we would be praying for him. "Thank you" he said.
Then we left and ran across the street to our car. As we were getting back into our car, a guy who was standing by the metro pick-up said..."that was a real nice thing that yall just did".
Here is what I learned today. Always, always follow God in obedience. Even if it doesn't make sense to you and especially if it's out of your comfort zone. I don't know what God will do with and through Kevin, but I'm praying for great things!! The man at the metro bus stop saw what we did and I hope that he is inspired to show some kindness to someone along the way.
Maybe we blessed Kevin tonight. I hope we did. But I can tell you this much....I was blessed beyond words. I got to spend precious, quality time with my daughter living out God's command and I will appreciate my bed, heater, fireplace, and refrigerator full of food a lot more tonight than I normally would. I take things for granted BIG TIME! Tonight, Kevin is sleeping on a hard concrete step. But I hope his stomach isn't growling tonight and he stays a little warmer with his new blanket. But more than anything....more than ANYTHING, I want him to have felt the love of Jesus tonight. We are the hands and feet of Jesus. I'm so glad that Kevin allowed me to show God's love to him tonight. I am truly blessed!
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