Good is as it Gets

Christians: Happy Go Lucky, Brainwashed
I often wonder if some people think of Christians as some sort of Happy Club that is nothing more than brainwashing which makes you forget you have problems once you believe in Jesus. The image that comes to mind is that of a Stepford wife, happily slaving away working at the church bake sale and spouting out scripture verses that try to explain away every difficult situation without ever admitting that life itself, is sometimes not always great. But this depiction could not be further from the truth.

The Seriousness of Our Plight
The truth is Christians also face difficult lives. We’re unhappy about the same things that non-Christians are too. I hate paying taxes, and I grumble about people who take a parking spot in front of me. I sometimes get depressed over personal issues and I occasionally get irritated with my boss (okay, a lot). And I too am angered and hurt when I lose someone to death, especially someone who didn’t deserve to die.

But death is exactly what we all deserve. The Bible says that the wages of sin are death (Rom 6:23). Repayment for the sin that entered the world when Adam and Eve ate from the tree that God said not to, is death.

Why Do We Deserve Death?
It’s hard to understand why God would say that we deserve death. After all, we didn’t sin in the Garden of Eden that was Adam and Eve, not us. But it’s because of Adam’s sin, that we are now born into sin’s curse. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned, Romans 5:12. It’s because of this curse that life is difficult to live through in this world. Genesis recounts that God said to Adam, …cursed is the ground because of you, through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. (Gen. 3:17) There it is in black and white, and we can’t expect life to be any different. Life is tough!

People Do Good, Even the Non-Christian Ones.
Despite the fact that life is difficult, it’s still encouraging to see people want to do good. Something in us is moved when we see people reach out and do good for each other. When I see celebrities or well known people giving their time to work with impoverished nations to bring clean drinking water, or teach a village education they’ve never had-that’s good! But good works are nothing more than just good works. Do they give advice, provide protection? Does doing good bring financial security? Can good works help us escape death and enter eternal life in heaven? Not hardly. How often do we hear of good people in trouble? Even celebrities experience marital problems, depression, drug use, or financial ruin. These things can happen to anyone, no matter how much good they’ve done.

Why Not Just Do As Santa Claus Says?
So why not just be good for goodness sake? Because actually, we ourselves are not good, so how can we do good? And what we think of as good is not that great. Our standards are incredibly low, compared to God’s. Next, it’s hard to be good! It takes effort to serve others without tiring, so if we are to be good, we’re going to need something besides sheer will-power and lots of money. And more often than not, without the power of Christ, our good becomes self-serving and counter-productive to actually doing good for others.

In the book of Matthew, we see a story about a rich man who asks Jesus about being good. In the middle of his teaching ministry, a rich man approaches Jesus and eagerly says, Teacher, what good things should I do to get eternal life? (Mt 19:16)

This sounds like a logical question even to us today; God, what should I do to be good? I want to be good. Good is popular. Good is getting a lot of credit lately. Oprah does good. And people like it when you’re good. It warms hearts and brings people together. And for the most part, isn’t that what religion is about, how to be good? Isn’t good--well, good?

The problem with the idea that being good --is good enough is this:

We’re not good.

Not even close.

We’re Not Good?
We’re not good because we’re terribly flawed and let’s face it, you cannot make good stuff from flawed stuff. As mentioned above, we are all born into sin because of Adam’s downfall. Because I am born into sin, my natural state is to do wrong. A great description of this comes from an author I read that said:

We are sinners because of our nature; it’s not just that we commit sins. I have a pet, and he barks because he is a dog. It’s in his nature to do so. (Speaking In Doctrines, Posted by C-LOS - October 29th, 2010)

I love where the author says; it’s not just that we commit sins that makes us a sinner. This is a key distinction here, because so many people are fooled into thinking that doing good=being a good person. We must accept that we are flawed and imperfect people. I’ve never met a person who can claim perfection in anything, and we seem to be content with that as a society. As Christians, we should be quick to agree and point out that even knowing Jesus Christ doesn’t change this. We will always be flawed and desire to do sinful things in this world, it’s in our nature to do so.

God’s Standard is Too High to Achieve.
The second problem with the idea that being a good person, is good enough, is that God’s standard of good, is impossibly high. God is perfect and without sin. We are not perfect and sinful. God’s standard is perfection. We are imperfect and incapable of reaching that standard. Isaiah knew this when he lamented in his book, We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.
So because good is such a lofty goal in the eyes of God, we could never hope to even reach the first few steps towards it.

Psalm 53:2,3 says, God looks down from heaven to see if there are any who understand...EVERYONE has turned away..there is no one who does good, not EVEN ONE.

Romans 3:12, all have turned away ...there is no one who does good, not EVEN ONE.

This is reflected in the response that Jesus gives to the rich man from the Matthew passage when he says, Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is good.

Jesus then goes on to get at the heart of the rich man’s issue. He lists the requirements of living a good life in the eyes of the Lord, living by the commandments. To which the rich man responds, I’ve done these since I was a kid, what else should I do? At this, Jesus cuts straight to the heart of his failures and announces that if he wants to be perfect, he should sell all his valued possessions and follow him. To which the man walks away sad, and incapable of doing. So often we think that we are willing to do good, but our flesh is incapable of really living up to God’s complete standards.

God is perfect.
We are not.

But, I See Good People.
How can the Bible say that no one is good, if I see people who are non-believers doing good all the time?
Apart from God, we might feel inclined to do good works. But again these works do not offer us eternal life, and apart from God, we will be incapable of sustaining goodness. The article from Speaking In Doctrine also gives a good explanation on why;

[because we are all sinners, we don’t naturally seek]… after God but [we] may do a great job seeking after the benefits of God. For example, someone may want peace in their life and attend church activities but do not want to repent from their sin. Their seeking is lead by a self-fulfilling desire rather than a desire to honor God. True God-seeking will only come when our heart is changed by the Holy Spirit and are given new desires. (Excerpt from, Speaking In Doctrines, Posted by C-LOS - October 29th, 2010)

What is Really Good Then?
If the goal of being good is to enter the kingdom of heaven, then we cannot expect a perfect God to allow us back into eternal life without repayment of the original sin. Doing so, would prove God unjust and unholy. Our God is just and He is holy, and therefore requires payment for sin. This payment has been made for us, through the death of Jesus Christ, a perfect life sacrificed. Through one man, God banished us from eternal life through the disobedience of Adam. And through one man, God in the flesh as Jesus Christ, he also redeemed us re-entrance. John MacArthur, a well known writer and minister once said that there are two religions in the world: human attainment and divine accomplishment.
All other religions in the world trust in some degree in human merit for salvation. Only Christianity understands that man is imperfect and only capable of reaching God through the gate of the only man to reach God’s standards.
The difference between doing good as a non-Christian and doing good as a Christian is that the Christian good works are the inspired deeds of a life striving to please God first and not man. The fruits of love and service come as a by-product from accepting and seeking after a life lived pursuing Jesus as the gate into heaven. Doing good works never gains our entry into heaven, because we are not good, our standards are too low, and we are incapable of sustaining good intentions. Instead, eternal life in heaven is given by the grace of God; a free gift from the God that understands us, because He created us. The grace to enter the kingdom of heaven because of who God is:

Good.

I Know, I Know

… I'm certainly not claiming to know everything, but what I do will save your life.– MercyMe, I Know

What a great line for every evangelitical Christian to remember as they head out the door every morning.

First, that we don’t know everything. Some of us are better educated than others, some of us have vast collegiate or theological knowledge and some of us are just average everyday people—trying to raise a family, and live the way Jesus has asked us to. But God likes to use those of us who are limited in some way. His glory is even greater when he makes something out of what seems to be nothing. So never discount yourself as insignificant- in the eyes of God, you are perfect to be used by Him.

And second, that what we know can save lives! More than CPR, more than a skilled surgeon, more than stop, drop and roll.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. Matt 16:25

There is nothing more powerful to save lives, than the power of knowing Christ. And within each Christian is this information to save others.

If you were walking through the forrest and saw a man laying on the ground dying of a poisonous snake bite, and you carried the anti-venom in your pocket--wouldnt you rush over to save his life with it? I bet most of us would.

But the world will try to fault you for sharing this life-saving information.

The world will portray you as biggoted, callus, arrogant, and judgemental for speaking the truth about Christ.
The world will scoff that Jesus is not the only way to heaven.
The world thinks we are narrow minded to assume that only people who believe in Christ are allowed to heaven.

But what we know is the truth.
That everyone is allowed into heaven, when they enter through Christ, who said;

I am the gate. John 10:79

So while this working mom who never went to college certainly cannot claim to know very much about life outside of teenagers and hourly wage jobs, I do know this:

Jesus is the bread of life. John 6:48
Jesus is the light of the world. John 8:12
Jesus is the true vine. John 15:1
And Jesus is the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through him. John 14:6

Remember that what you know, could save someone’s life today.
Truth.

My Life As An Offering

What does it mean to follow Christ day in, and day out? This morning I received a devotional, it was from the Message translation.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—Your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life—and place it before God as an offering. Romans 12:1

My life as an offering? How do I realistically do that? I know I don't want to offer a “ho-hum” existence as an offering to God. I don't want to offer a day that I barely roll out of bed, grumble to my kids about work, spend the day waisting time, and end up back home parked in front of the TV while I think about how depressed I am lately. What a terrible offering!

I want to offer my best to Him! And doing that means living with the highest integrity and honor. It means I am honest and trustworthy in all that I do. I don’t cheat on my time clock at work or on my income taxes. It means that I don’t tell lies, even small ones that seem not to hurt anyone. It requires me to take care of things that are trusted to me. It means I care more about teaching my children the word of God than watching TV. It means I can say no to temptations that previously had a hold on me. It means I help others before I consider helping myself. And it means I resist grumbling and focus my attention on the will of God in every part of my day. It means that I live a life worthy to offer before our most Almighty, Holy, God.

Wow.
THAT there sounds like a very tall order.

Let me be the first to say, I do not live this life all the time. Some of those things are easier than others. My selfish nature pulls at me constantly to be self-serving and sometimes untruthful. How, in the world (pun intended) does one do all these things all the time? It sounds like you would need to be down-right perfect!

The key I’ve found, to simply have a willing heart and faith in Christ Jesus. When I am honestly willing to live my life as an offering, Jesus is willing to strengthen me to live this way.

I once spent several days agonizing over the fact that I couldn’t increase my faith in God to provide. I was wrought with worry over whether or not I understood why He provided, and IF He would or not. I felt guilty when I thought I was not following Christ to the best of my ability.
But one night while I was getting into bed, the Holy Spirit brought this thought to my mind:
You may not be capable of increasing your faith, but all you need to do is believe that He will increase your faith. Christ is within you, you only need to have enough faith to believe that HE is capable. Can you do that?

It was the most joyful thought for me. That revelation that I didn’t have to believe in myself. I only needed to believe in Christ to do the work in me. Yeah, I could do that.

Our world is conditioned to think that God helps those who help themselves. This idea is wrong and doesn't appear anywhere in the Bible.
The reality is that God helps those who cannot help themselves, and He’s done that work through Jesus Christ.

I cannot live a life worthy of offering to God. But Christ within me lives that life. My job is to trust in Him to do this good work. Philippians 1:6

Love you guys!!

He reveals Himself through creation

I took time today to sit outside for lunch. We have some nice landscaped sitting areas that are away from the hustle of everyone else and usually no one is sitting in them. I chose a bench by the butterfly bush because it was the only one not covered by shade and I needed the direct sunlight to keep me warm on this slightly chilly day.

I made it a point to meditate on the verse from Matthew 11:28, Come to me all who are weary, and I will give you rest. Nicole Mullen sings a song with this verse as part of her lyric, and that replayed through my mind as I noted God's creation around me. It was, so peaceful. So appreciated.

I watched two honey bees, three different types of butterflies, a bird, and a squirrel all sitting around the same bush next to me. One butterfly I recognized as a Painted Lady because it had the same design as the ones that Jyllian just raised and set free. The other one had jet black wings except for a brilliant swathe of red through each wing. Both of these were pretty small compared to the two enormous monarch butterflies who engaged in dog fighting with the two smaller species of butterflies. I wondered if it was all in fun, or if it was an act of agression. The monarchs would then break away and swoop in big circles over my head, close enough to cause me to duck. Pretty brave butterflies.

One lone squirrel scampered around in front of me, with an acorn in his mouth digging in several different locations and then freezing in an upright stance with eyes fixed upon me. I imagined he was saying,
Dig, dig, dig "how about here....no, no, no, that won't work, WHAT WAS THAT?"
Scamper, scamper.
Dig, dig, dig "how about here....no, no, no, that won't work, WHAT WAS THAT?"

He finally settled on a place worthy to hide his prize near the tree next to my bench. It was really pretty cute to watch him pat the dirt into place with his furry little hands, look around to ensure that no one saw him and then run away. How I wanted to go dig up his little nut....just to marvel at what he'd done. But I respected his hard work and left it there. After all, I would hate for someone to undo all my hard work I've done today too!

What a great lunch break.
I spend so much time, sometimes, trying to read and cram my mind full of thoughts. It was so nice just to witness all that happens around me, for a change.

Inspired

I've read, heard, and listened to a number of really inspiring messages these past few weeks, and I thought I would share some snippets of them with you. Enjoy!!

A little light is stronger than the dark.
-Nicole C. Mullen, Baby Girl

"...I don't think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool Web pages [to relate to people more] then it is not relevant to culture either. It's just another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing."
-Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz

"There are times when faith and common sense do not align. [But] I'll be a fool for you, a simple-ton who's seemingly naive, I do believe you came and made yourself a fool for me."- Nicole Nordemon, Fool For You

"...launching a business in this climate is challenging but with the help of friends and our saviour we know it is a matter of time." - Bryce Finnerty, with regard to his awesome new business www.sticviews.com

"My own encouragement is also up to me." - Sheryl Pepple, on Accountability

"Stop worrying about what you don't have, and make use of what I've already given you." - God, to me through His Word

"Sorry you had such a rough morning...If there is anything that I can do please let me know." - My husband

"...I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime." Erma Bombeck, on If I Had My Life to Live Over

"I preach for a living and if you don't have a critic, you're probably not saying anything." - Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Pastor

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder....not Truth.

Josh and I are taking part in a class called The Truth Project. It's a really cool intellectual look at discerning truth, summed up by the phrase "Do you really believe that what you believe, is really real?

Below is a reply I wrote to a discussion about the question; Why is truth absolute, and not relative?

Josh and I discussed this at home. I picked up a cup that was pink and said, "This cup is pink, that's true."
However, Josh is colorblind and to him the cup looks brown. But-just because he sees the cup as brown, does not mean it IS brown. The truth about the color of a cup is NOT relative just because we both see it different ways.
The truth is that the cup IS pink. Why is the truth NOT relative?

Because the truth of what colors are- was established by an authority on color (whoever that was.) Just because Josh's truth is that he sees the cup as brown, does not make it brown. It is pink because the authority tells us it is.

That's what we have in life too. Just because we see something one way (even if it really DOES look that way to us) does not always make it so. I think this is also illustrated in Proverbs 3 when it talks about leaning not on our own understanding. Some truths in this life, are going to SEEM hazy to us- while others may be more obvious. Yet in all things, we should trust in our authority-God and His Word, we are His creation, after all. To trust in a weaker authority who did not create us, would seem crazy.

What makes it identifiable as truth, is what The authority says about it. The key is to know who The authority is.
When we believe in God as the creator, we are believing in Him as our authority and ALL that He establishes with it.

But that begs the question that, could there be multiple authorities?

Josh is able to tell me that cup is pink, because he's learned how to distinguish colors based on what they should be. His truth is adjusted so that he knows what it SHOULD be, even if it doesn't feel right to him. He has agreed with the authority on colors and because of this, he lives an easier life. When he sees a red light, he doesn't pursue through the intersection because it doesnt look like red to him, (forget the positioning of lights for a minute). He submits his will to the "Color Authority" b/c his life hangs in the balance of knowing that the color red, as the authority sees it-means stop. It is truly red even though he doesnt see it as red.

Congruently- when we recognize the ONE TRUE authority on life, and act in ways that submit to that authority, our lives are also lived in better harmony. The authority on truth in living has set the rules in place before we were here.

**on a side note, to see how a colorblind person views the world- check out this link
http://colorvisiontesting.com/what%20colorblind%20people%20see.htm

I am second.

This is a great website of testimonies.
I am second.

I don't know what I want.

Have you ever said that?

I suspect your evening occasional goes like this too,

“I’m hungry!”
“Me too”
“What do you want for dinner?”
“I don’t know, what do you want?”
“I want you to decide, that’s what I want”
“Well, how can I decide, if I don’t know what I want myself?”

Frustrating isn’t it, not to know what you want? I always admire people who accomplish some measure of success, by hard, disciplined work. It usually means that they had some inkling of what they wanted, and they went after it. Aside from Lottery Winners, early Google/Yahoo Investors, and those already born into wealth- most success takes focused, determined work. And as the old saying goes, Anything worth having, is worth working for.

Yesterday I stared at several walls within my house, half painted. My living room was brown when we moved in, and I started to paint it a lighter cream color. When I got 3 walls completed, I stopped halfway up the 4th wall. My bathroom, likewise, is painted all the way to the edges of the ceiling, where I cannot reach without a ladder, a shade of terracotta. And my bedroom is almost completely painted a very light shade of blue, except for the 4th wall where the windows are. While the main reason, that these walls are unfinished- is that I don’t have a tall enough ladder for two of the rooms…mostly they are unfinished b/c I stopped and didn’t have the stamina or determination to finish them all the way. So they remain unpainted- until I decide that it's worth the effort to finish them.

It’s a common struggle in a lot of our lives. This inability to stay the course, to persevere is a difficult thing to master for some of us. And until recently- I thought it was the main struggle of my life as a Christian. I perplexed over why it was important, and got frustrated that God would not just let us skip to the end already.

But I’m starting to re-think this a little. While perseverance should remain a goal for our Christian lives, I’m starting to realize that it’s not the main topic. Because, perseverance is an act on my part, and part of me also knows that I will not grow as a Christian of my own doing- but of Christ’s doing instead.

So a struggle ensues…. I know I should stay the course, but God wants me to submit my will to Him. The two concepts continued to butt heads with one another in my mind. Today, I began reading a great book. I’m only two chapters into it, but I know it’s going to be a good solution, the same way I know a pair of jeans is going to fit or not fit by putting one foot in. (silly metaphor for something so serious, but it’s true.) Intimate Faith- A Woman's Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines. If you confess that you are having a similar struggle, that you cannot help but feel let down, when God does not seem to satisfy your desires, if you've prayed over something and felt loss when the outcome was not what you hoped for. If you've ever felt embarrased at what ensued after you stated "God did this for me", I recommend this reading.

I thought about a lingering question, that I had a couple of years ago, based on a scripture I came across back then; Psalm 37:4, Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. At the time I read this, I thought that surely the “desires of my heart” that God was talking about, did not include a new house, or nicer clothes. Surely, there was something lost in the Hebrew translation. Desires- probably meant longings…something that is intrinsic to my soul, something my mind knew nothing about.

This week, I was still mulling that thought around more, as you can also tell with my previous post about Patience. And I think many Christians are confused by what “Living a life more abundant” means. Does God really intend us to live in the lap of luxury, because we learned how to serve often, tithe more consistently, or be more faithful to our spouse? Is living abundantly a reward system? Or is it something much more transcendant?

My mom wrote a poem from the point of view of a baby inside her mother’s womb. The poem illustrates a mother talking to her unborn child, saying things like “I cannot wait until you arrive baby, soon we will swing together on a swings, eating icecream popsicles and laughing the days away” The baby responds with “…what’s a swing mother? I’d rather not do that, I’m perfectly content here inside you, why would I change? It’s warm and cozy and I’ve got everything I need. What’s a popsicle mother? And what does it mean to eat it? Surely, it’s not nearly as enjoyable as spending my days sucking my thumb and listening to the joyous rhythms of your heart. No, I don’t think I will like to be born, I’d rather stay right where I am- I could not possibly be any happier”.

The poem is a terrific metaphor for what our life is now, and what it will become in eternity. While driving fancy cars, and living in huge houses seems like the pinnacle of human achievement here on earth, it pales horridly to the future of what eternity has to offer. Experiences beyond our ability to understand. Truly something that our minds cannot comprehend and our words cannot describe. Truly, we do not know the desires of our heart, yet. We don’t know exactly what we want.
All I know, is that I’m hungry.

I want to stop, I just can't

I continue to make the same mistake over and over again. You'd think I'd learn by now, right?
For some reason, I'm a sucker for cheap shoes....that are not my size.

(you thought I was going to say something deeper, like the fact that though I want to stop sinning, I continue to sin, like Paul spoke about. I do have that problem too, of course.)

I am not a shoe shopper. I buy one pair of shoes in each category, (tennis, black dressy, brown dressy, garden, boots, summer dressy) and wear them completely out before I get another pair. I like shoes, I would love to have more of them, they just have not been made a priority in my life. But here's the thing...three of the shoes listed above, are not my size- they're too big. My dressy brown shoes are so cute, but I have to stuff tissue in the bottom of them, to take up space. My black dressy shoes are cute too, again, too big and they flop off my heel every time I walk. They were the last of the sizes left when I bought them, but who can pass up cute shoes for less than $10 when I'm staring at my own size for $44.95. (That's almost two weeks worth of lunches for me!)

So again this week, while at Target I fell in love with the cutest pair of grey pumps for $8.24! I have actually been looking for grey pumps, since I recently purchased grey pants and was having to wear my dressy black shoes with them. I was even willing, in this case, to pay more than $10, so when I saw these at such a steal, I whipped them off the shelf to check the size. 7.5. I tried them on (with my poofy athletic socks on) and of course they fit (with my socks on- so dumb!)

Proud of my purchase, I went home to look for my grey pants in the dirty clothes, to make sure they got washed - just so I could wear my new shoes to work on Monday morning.

Monday morning, I put the shoes on, and could barely make it across the bedroom without them falling off. "Surely I can stuff something into them, to make them fit!" I remembered a pair of gel inserts in an old pair of running shoes (my only pair, mind you). I pulled them out and stuffed them into the pumps. PERFECT! I thought and headed out the door.
When I got to work, 5 steps away from my car...I started to walk like a man wearing stilleto heels for the first time. I felt like such a doof halfway between the car and the door to my office. I stopped on the sidewalk mid-clomp. People began to pass me, probably wondering what I was doing. I fumbled in my purse, pretending to have forgotten something.
Who would ever notice how cute my shoes were, they'd never get past laughing at my awkward gait. Ugh! I groaned and headed slowly, big clomping step after another as I tried to step toe down first each step. It's hard to explain exactly how it feels to walk in pumps that are too big. It's a delicate balance between not flinging it completely off your foot with each step, and not being able to step heel down either. It requires way more thought to walking, than I like to give.

Finally I managed to get upstairs and sat the whole day at my desk, also pained by the fact that the heel on my right foot was bleeding from rubbing on the back of the shoe.

STUPID CHEAP, CUTE, TOO BIG SHOES!!

By 5:00, I took off my shoes and walked to the car barefoot, in 30 degree weather. (uphill. ;o)
I looked just as much like a weirdo, I'm sure, and my feet were FREEZING when I got there...but at least I didn't hit any passers-by with a my stray shoe.

Today, I'm wearing a pair of shoes that fit the best. My pink Crocs.

Celebrating Freedom, Again.

Again this year, the girls and I attempted the Celebrate Freedom concert.
So far, our track record is not good with the concert. Let me recap for you;
Year #1- Jada and I collapsed in heat exhaustion together on the way to the medical tent.
Two ladies let us stop under their vendor awning to stand in front of their coveted AC unit.

Year #2- The mud year. Please reference the quite humorous story on my blog here.

So this year it was going to be different. This year they changed venues, from SouthFork Ranch to Pizza Hut park in Frisco. It sounded like it could be better. Convenient parking, indoor restrooms, no mud.
Yet when we got there, I could see it was not going to be as nicey-nicey as I had imagined. Texas is just NOT a place to hold outdoor all day concerts. Spending time outdoors in the summer between 11-5pm is like risking your life in the Mohave Desert.
People were dropping like flies all over. The trade offs for the above benefits, were compromised by the below negatives:
No outdoor drinks of any kind (ie water) could be brought in at all, and PizzaHut park charged $3 a bottle. Talk about capitalizing on the poor- by 2:00 the girls and I had spent $60 and had 5 more hours without water to go.
Instead of sitting in the grass, we sat on interlocking white plastic Legos which covered the grass. It was weird and not relaxing, I like sitting in the grass. I hate baking on a plastic Lego.
You couldn't see the screens b/c they were not very big, and there was tons of stuff in the way. So basically it was like listening to a loud radio.
Once again, I brought the pop-up shade..(you HAVE to! I cannot imagine sitting in a reflecting bowl with no cover at all.) But the only way to get to the field is down the steep inclined steps. Which I’ll admit is tough enough. The entire handle ripped off the shade when I brought it in. It took me almost 45 minutes to get the 100lb. thing in. But I did not even consider what it would take to haul that shade back out at 2:00 in the afternoon “Death Sun”. To haul a 100lb shade, up the enormous incline of steps, behind 50 people, with no handle at 100 degrees…took an hour. I had stop about every 20 steps just to catch my breath.
Parking was $15.

I love the radio station that does this concert, and I love the concert itself. There’s just something about singing/worshipping alongside other Christians that you’ve never met before that bring such an incredible experience, and it’s what brings me back every year to try it again.
Next year though, I wish they would consider moving it to an inside venue. Or having 4th of July in November.

Gimme a B, Gimme an S, Gimme an F...

What a fantastic organization BSF is! If you’ve not heard of it let me take this time to share with you. Bible Study Fellowship is an international Bible Study Group that operates out of San Antonio and is worldwide in several different countries. It’s an in-depth study of strictly words of the bible and the format is designed so that you get to spend daily time with God and His word. Attending the classes will dramatically make a difference in your walk with Christ! It has for me. Each year (the study follows the timing with our kid’s school year) they study one of about 8 lessons different lessons. Currently we are studying the entire book of Matthew and it’s relation to other scripture including the other 3 books of the Gospel. All over the world, everyone studies the same lesson at the same time. How cool is that, to know that anyone you meet in BSF, is also on the same chapter you are.

Though the group is made up of many different “religious” backgrounds, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, etc. you are asked not to mention your church by name or share that type of information. (which is what it will finally be like one day anyway.) Though I’ve noticed some slight bias for certain beliefs which rarely come across in the teaching the core truths and study techniques are phenomenal and right from the word of God.

Particularly if you like analytical type studying, you will love this class! It appeals to the intellect of and really convicts the heart. If you have never made daily time with God a priority, this is the class to take to make it happen! There are classes for women or men, day or evening, and if you have school aged children 1st grade+ they too get to be part and have their own study group where they do the same type lesson you do in adult group.

If you’d like to check out this group with me sometime, drop me a line! I’d love to take you!

Share Truth

I am hesitant to post this post, for fear of giving too much attention to the one who deserves no attention, but I think it's an important reminder that we must share the gospel with those right here around us, because the bible states "...many will be deceived" I witnessed it last night...and it was shocking.

Last night, my husband and I caught the tail end of Primetime: Outsiders on TV.
The show followed a man claiming to be the second coming of Christ, and called himself the antichrist. He had influenced his members to all sorts of vile things, and you guessed it..tattoo the number 666 on themselves. And he lives right here in Texas, Houston.
The most torterous thing to watch was the children he is misleading, by making them march in Hitler fashion while saluting, even calling them the "Super Race".

I just cannot fathom how people will willing follow someone so blatently outlined as the enemy of God by the bible. Why?

Guard your hearts, followers of Christ, and be ready to constantly share the word of God with everyone you know. We are called to this and must arm ourselves with the truth. For it is our only defense, especially for the young and the unknowing who will fall victim to these lies most easily. Let us pray, as Habakkuk did.

Come Away My Beloved - Frances J. Roberts

My dad gave me this book this week.
His words
“Besides the bible, this is the most comforting book you’ll ever read” still echo in my head when I think about it. I actually got teary as he handed it to me.
He scrawled his wisdom for me, on the first page and I took the book home in my arms.

He was right. I love and cherish this book. After the bible, it is the most encouraging, uplifting, and peace restoring words I have ever read. I highly recommend picking up a copy. I’ll also pass along to you, the instructions given to me.
Read it in small doses.

Don’t try to read more than you feel is necessary.
Meditate deeply on what is being said. The words are written in a way that make you feel as if Jesus Christ is speaking face to face with you, his loving arms around you.

Do Unto Others

Have you seen these commericals? (second edition) They're a Liberty Mutal Ads that demonstrates the Pay It Forward effect. I love them.
Yesterday, in my car, I witnessed a man in front of me at the stoplight throw a paper cup out of his window into one of those trash cans parked in the median. He missed and did kind of a double take at it. But rather than just leave it there in the road, he put his car in park, unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out to pick it up and throw it away.

I noticed Mister, I noticed.

Tale of a Young GCC Family

So generally speaking...

Blogger-Anonymity is what appeals to some people about blogging. I think it’s this false sense of security that compells some people to share their most private and secret thoughts with the world and then ironically expect their readers to leave feedback-comments about them.

I might also fall victim to this, except that my picture is posted on my front page therefore keeping me honest and accountable for anything I will say here. (This is the same reason I have an icthus on the back of my SUV - to keep me from swearing or behaving badly towards other drivers. Try it, it works!)
If I do offend anyone, my only hope is that when you see me at church you won't recognize the much less RED version of me.

But just in case you do, I’ve decided to change the names in the following story to protect the innocent and prevent any further embarrassed or discomfort. I've also embellished in some areas, to further detract from your ability to guess who the story really refers to. Please refrain from speculation about who these people are. It's just a story, based slightly on actual events. Enjoy.

Some time ago, a young family attended a church for the first time. They were in the midst of some hardships and decided that church is where they needed to be in order to find help. Upon visiting for the first time they fall deeply in love with the church and its quirky yet incredibly gifted speaker, Pastor Forge. (Remember NO GUESSING- this is just a story!) Pastor Forge was different from any pastor the young family had ever heard before. He wore a hula skirt on stage, which oddly enough, had absolutely no effect on what he said or how he spoke it.

On the contrary, he had a way of speaking to his congregation of several thousand (this is my story, where, yes, there were several thousand) as if he were speaking directly to each member alone. "That was a really great service" said the lady to the husband on the car ride home. "I was JUST wrestling with that very problem" said the man. The young couple began to bring other friends and families with them to church, just to hear the captivating Pastor Forge speak. Week after week new messages were received by this young family and eventually their trials and tribulations resulted in praise and joy as refinement of their faith resulted.
(1 Peter 1:7)

The young family continued to attend through that year while the church began to grow in leaps and bounds, continually refreshing and satisfying the needs and spirits of this young family. (Proverbs 16:15) After a few months of attending, the family decided to attend a Saturday night service, where a self described “Astute, Humorous, and Good Looking” pastor had just begun teaching a new worship service. (I think a fictitious name might actually give away this man's identity) The new Saturday night service was called “Just starting Out- Village”.
(okay, I know that's a stretch...but sometimes there just aren’t enough synonyms for some words)

The family grew very fond of this pastor’s teaching style. He blended the perfect amount of theology, history, and life into lessons that the family grew to rely on.
One sermon he gave a very in-depth study sermon regarding a personal testimony that was both moving and stirring in the hearts of this young family.
Read that sermon here
The young mom turned to her husband and tearfully whispered “I really like this pastor, he is so heartfelt and sincere. You can feel his passion and loving spirit conveyed with every sermon he gives.” and the young dad turned to his wife and spoke “I like him too. His style is such that you can feel his love for each of us in this congregation with every word he speaks. Truly, Teaching, is this man’s spiritual gift” (Ephesians 4:11-13) and so the two left with an enthusiasm for learning about the bible and Jesus, more than they had ever had before. Month after month the family would alternate Sundays and Saturday services, flexing with the schedule that the father worked.

As time marched on, the family went through several more trials and tests of their faith. Sadly, worldly distractions separated the family from unity and devotion to their church. (1 Peter 2:11) Several years were lost for the family during this time. The children of the young family started to grow and change and the young parents were faced with new challenges of their own.
“I’m too tired to go to church” the father would say after working many hours.
“I just don’t have time anymore and I’m disappointed with how snooty some of the people at the church are!” said the mother. “besides, I can just read the bible on my own. I really don’t need to attend church to get that.”
And so living as “Lone Ranger Christians” (as a famous pastor once put it) became their way of life for awhile.

But God, of course, is not satisfied with his flock when one wanders away (Matthew 18:12) and He planted a seed that would lead to a complete redirection shift in this young family’s life again.

Late one afternoon the young lady’s phone rang.
“Why HELLO!” she greeted her friend Leanne. “I would love to help you with your new ministry group!” she said to her, and later that week they met for coffee to discuss Leanne’s vision for a new women's ministry called “Tea Chat”. The group would meet once a month at the church and help connect the women of the church while building fellowship between them all as well. The young mom begin to really take an active interest in this group. This chance encounter started a sequence of events that led to the young lady’s complete overflow of the Holy Spirit within her. (Luke 3:16) She was overjoyed so much in the following months, that she continued to spend night after night and morning after morning in bible study and prayer. She prayed aloud for the first time in a group setting and she began to feel comfort and confidence in Christ in a way that she never had before. She listened to sermons from her two favorite pastors online. She devoted time to loving and serving with the members of their church, rather than worrying about her frustrations over them. (1 Corin.13)

When her husband saw these changes in her, (1 Peter 3:1) her newfound devotion and stories of God’s wisdom that she was receiving, he too was won over and begin to change as well. Even the children were encouraged to spend time alone with God each day in bible study, the oldest daughter started with her mom a 41 day study- recommended by their pastor and church. (the title is not really important) Life, for this family, became Purpose Driven again.

And to this day the young family lives happily ever after, thanks in part to a church that nourished them all the days of their lives. (Psalms 27:4) Though they still face trials, disappointments, and suffering, now they are faithful, obedient, and hopeful because they know what their future holds in Christ. (Ephesians 1:12)

The End.

Celebrate Freedom From The Mud

My family and I love the Celebrate Freedom Concert. However this year there was less celebrating than there should have been for us. In retrospect, as all things are, it’s funny now and definitely blog-worthy.

Saturday morning, we got up around 9:30 to load up and hit Celebrate Freedom. There were a few things we had to stop for “on the way” food/snacks at Tom Thumb, McDonalds for quick lunch, and Sports Authority for crocks for Jyllie and a Tarp to sit on. Then to the bank to get cash for parking. Finally we arrived at the concert. They were not allowing parking in the usual close spot so we had to park ½ mile down the road at someone’s private “yard” that was selling parking. I say "yard", but it was not a yard, because a yard has grass in it. This was a mud pit. Some little kid directs us to park way in the back, by the drop off. UH UH! I told Josh. “We’re parking up there” I pointed, “Close to the exit”. At my urging, Josh pulls up forward and park at the end of another row of cars. The little kid shrugs his shoulders. I wonder if he feels like he’s not done his job directing.

Everyone jumps out of the car and divvies up loads to carry. Josh carries the 50 lb. pop up shade. I carried 3 pack chairs, all the food, the tarp, and a wool blanket. Jada carries two chairs. And Jyllie cries all the way there about the bugs, her new shoes hurting her feet, and how far it was to walk. Despite tense circumstances, I was able to keep my sanity and begged others to do the same. We finally get in after 30 VERY LONG minutes of trekking.
I felt like we were nomads. I felt like people of the bible walking to the nearest town for the census. It was crazy. And as we finally get to the concert, we plop down in an area that was the closest- relatively non muddy area we got to. It was mostly mushy grass. I took great care in spreading out the tarp, and instructed the girls to only step on the tarp with bare feet or socks. “Please leave muddy shoes on the outside edges of the tarp girls.”
We settle down in our chairs and everyone is feeling great.
We’re passing around food, and marveling at the sounds of the bands. It’s awesome, only...we can’t see anything. After an hour of relaxing, I decide to take Jyllie around on my back to scout the area.

At this concert there’s a dividing line between where you can sit very close on chairs or blankets...and where you can put up tents/pop shades, etc. The closer parts this year are huge mountains of mud. There are little kids sitting on pack chairs on a rift of mud I notice. I’m thankful to be sitting further back under our shade this year. The weather is actually cool. Not too hot and Jyllie and I continue to hike around being very careful to only step on the high parts, because I REALLY hate moist socks in squishy shoes. Hate that more than anything.
Hopefully by now you’re catching the emphasis I have placed on being very careful to stay clean, despite sitting amidst a pool of stinky, cow poop smelling mud and muddy water. Yeah, my efforts were working. So far.

Jyllie and I find a much, much closer area with access to see the jumbo-tron screen right in front of it. I phone Josh and encourage him to move. He is reluctant. We do move, but regret it right away. Un-noticed before is a small mud puddle right next to our tarp and from here on out, every person that walks by steps right into it splashing waves of muddy spray onto us. This is not fun, but it’s not awful either. Oh well, I can just wash our clothes. I happily resolve to enjoy the music and new found ability to see who is singing.
Then...it happens.
Looking out to the horizon we see gargantuan black monsoon clouds.
“We’ll be fine..we’re under this nice shade.” I foolishly think to myself.
Yet as the looming monster rolls in ...a tidal wave of muddy yucky water comes rolling right onto and all over our tarp. Everyone who had dry shoes...no longer does. Everyone who was relatively clean...is no longer. I scramble to pull the tarp up...to keep water from coming in...but it’s useless.
Water is dumping from the shade right onto the tarp which is slightly larger than the shade above. I’m frantic to keep our tarp semi dry. I dance around mopping this place and that with the squashy wet remains of the newspaper flyer they handed us at the door. Josh chooses to stand and watch and chastise my efforts rather than help. Tensions sore to a new level.
Finally, the rain lets up and that small puddle next to us...is now a lake.
Every kid/baby/dog/adult now takes great joy in belly flopping into it, thus sending huge waves of muck onto us. I smile through “gritty” teeth at each careless and insensitive person. But how can you honestly look at someone and say “please be careful not to get us dirty” when we already are?!?

But I was content to stay wet, just did not want to get too muddy. Plus the bands were really good! In for the long haul, we endured several waves of monsoons. After the second, Jada and her friend get so dirty that they cannot even feed themselves. Their hands are covered in mud that cannot be wiped off. Which is unfortunate, since they just hiked over to get a powdered sugar funnel cake. Kids. They don’t care. They just ate it anyway- mud and all.

A need to travel to the port-a-potties has a drastic toll on my what were my still dryish shoes, and reports that the port-a-john ‘authorities’ can no longer get in through the mud to service them...means they will fill up quickly and we’ve been asked to go somewhere else to “make”.

This evening is looking worse and worse. I cannot fathom having to get through this muck to my car in the pitch black. This is no longer worth hearing my favorite bands. We lose. We give up. I shake my head in defeat and we decide to pack up and leave.

Mid trek as we are heading to the door though, here comes in another round of monsoons. This one so torrential that the pelting rain is actually HURTING my face as it hits. Drenched in a downpour, bodies aching from caring so much stuff all at once...I am the most miserable I have ever been. I am just pulling Jyllian through the mud by her arm. She’s getting so stuck in the miry knee deep stuff, (KNEE DEEP!) that I’m having to pull her out for every step we take. When we get to the entrance, I collapse and tell Josh to drop everything and just go bring the car to us.
He leaves and gets completely out of earshot when I see that the police are not letting ANYONE stop in front to pick up pedestrians. Every car that slows even a little...he runs up to and says “GO GO GO..YOU CANNOT STOP HERE!”
Grandma Jones trying to get into a car is even told she cannot do that. Apparently...it’s not safe?!?
Great. Now what are we to do?
I ask the girls to pick up all the stuff that I was carrying...and with my last ounces of strength and stamina-I heft up the pop up shade onto and across my back. It weighs 55 lbs. and is nearly crippling me to walk with it.

Halfway up the road we then are able to drop everything to wait for Josh...well out of reach of the policeman’s yelling.

He finally comes. Our car is so covered in mud you cannot tell what color it is/was. I throw the blanket over the seats for the girls to sit on, now covered head to toe in thick, stinky mud. And roll onto the front seat myself. Off we go leaving this exhausting day behind. I feel like I’ve left a war zone. Strands of hair hang in my eyes, as I blink back tears of joy to be leaving. From the back seats I can hear collective moaning. Poor Josh just stares blankly ahead and is wearing new mud sprays across his chest and face because he had to push out the car. As we are slowly begun making our way down the road, we pass more people coming in. The road is filled with new arriving families smiling and holding hands with each other. I laugh at those wearing clean, white, new shoes and carrying sweet little blankets to sit on. Those with cheerful happy faces wearing neat tidy makeup, and pretty shirts with cute little hairdos. I see a lady pulling a wagon with her kids in it and laugh because she’ll never be able to pull that thing through the lake of mud we just left. I laugh at these people, because on the horizon...we could see more dark clouds about to roll in indicating another monsoon.
I laughed because these happy people...were about to learn a huge lesson in endurance.