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?

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.

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? :)

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!