9.24.2012

Fall Apart

September 24, 2012

Bad days.
We all have them.
It seems that nothing goes right.
Our mood is less than pleasant.
We walk around holding a grudge all day because something is eating our lunch.

Or maybe, we're just sad. 
Our outlook is somber.
We might feel as though life has become to heavy and cumbersome.
We give way to worry and stress.

I'd like to consider myself a glass half full kind of girl.
I am usually pretty good about reminding myself that no matter what I am facing, 
there is someone, somewhere, facing something far worse than my mind could imagine.
I can usually trust that God has a plan- a better plan- for me.
I try to accept that getting my way might mean something tragic and painful,
Whereas God can choose to insert a little inconvenience into my life to save me from lots of suffering in the long run.



Nonetheless, we all succumb to bad days from time to time.
I find that it's easier to get down when I'm tired or overwhelmed.
That's when I let my heart wear raw and tender.

Driving home from dance class, after a very long day that proved to get the better of my heart,
Listening to the radio, I was reminded of something very important. 
God deserves my praise-not only when things are going well and I am being blessed to overflowing,
But He deserves it even when my heart aches and burns. 
When it's bleeding and raw. 
When worry tries to consume me and devour my trust.
He deserves my praise with each longing of my soul.

If I have praise on my lips, how can there be room for anything else?

"Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting." Psalm 147:1

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable." Psalm 145:3

9.19.2012

Joli Women's Ministry: Seasons

September 19, 2012

I writing at Joli today. I hope you'll take a few minutes to stop by and read and comment on today's blog post.

9.17.2012

Keep Your Face in the Book

September 17, 2012


Sometimes, I tell my children stories about living in the days before technology. 

I tell them about when we were kids and we actually played outside until the street lights came on. 

We rode bikes until we could drive. 

We used things we found in nature to make toys to play with, and stages to perform on, and houses to play in. We used our imaginations a lot!

I didn’t have a television in my bedroom until long after I was married.

I remember when phones were attached to the wall, and having one in your bedroom was a big deal! How many of you figured out how to eaves drop on your sister’s conversations without her knowing it? Mute button, BaBy! Oh, yeah. 


And do you remember leaving the house with NO PHONE? I’ll never know how my mother didn’t drive herself crazy not being able to get in touch with us at all times, especially when we were driving.

How many of you remember not knowing what a car seat was until you had children of your own?

And what about this…
I loved playing Asteroids.

Oh, yes. The Good Ole Days.

Things are so very different these days.

It’s not all bad, but it’s not all good either.

Take Facebook, for example. How many of us are addicted to it? I will be the first one to admit that I can justify why I can’t (or won’t) get off Facebook for an extended amount of time. 



Some of the reasons I list are valid. Facebook can be, and often is, used for good and not for evil. It can be used to reach people that we normally wouldn’t with the Love of God. I’ve actually had people tell me that they’ve un-friended me on Facebook because of my “God stuff”. Can anyone say conviction? I would normally take un-friending very personally, but, I know that it just means that I am being effective. (I also have countless others thank me for my “God stuff”.)

Facebook keeps us connected with friends and family members that we would normally be out of touch with because of distance and busy lives. I really enjoy scrolling through my news feed each day and being able to see all the wonderful things going on in people’s lives that I care about that I would not otherwise know about. It’s an easy way to reach several people at once when we want to deliver news, brag on our children, announce a party or event, or voice a prayer need or praise report.

Facebook is used to network. Many of you have liked Joli or Crossroads Church or a news station, etc on Facebook and you will get their latest updates right on your news feed to keep you up to date with anything important that may be happening. (If you haven’t, now would be a good time to do that.) Several of you have arrived on this blog and countless others via Facebook.

But, I have seen the ugly side of Facebook, too. 

We must be careful who our Facebook friends are . Are you guilty of accepting every single friend request you get? Remember that these people will see everything you post. Photos of your precious, beautiful children. Vacation pictures. Status updates. Check-ins at the last place you ate, or shopped, or visited. How many times do you announce that your home is unattended because your family is going to be out of town, or here or there? Make sure the people who are viewing your posts are trustworthy. Just as we get security systems for our homes, we need to use the security settings on Facebook to keep our lives private from everyone but our friends. You can even hide your posts from selected people on your friends list.

What about the people who fill your news feed with pessimism and vulgarity? Then there are those people (usually children, or those behaving like children) who use Facebook to hurt others through humiliation or jealousy? Sometimes, people just simply share entirely too much of their own lives. (Don’t be that person.) There comes a time when we need to learn to either hide posts from certain people or un-friend them. Guard your hearts! (Proverbs 4:23-26)

How many of you have seen children who are not 13 years old LIE about their age in order to have a Facebook account? Don’t get me started about how we teach our children that it’s okay to lie in order to get what we want. Rules are rules for a reason people! We don’t need to always know the whys of everything, but sometimes we just have to trust authority. Hello! Which leads me to my next observation.



Do you have children who are old enough and do have a Facebook account? Do you have their password? Do you monitor their news feed and friends list? What’s that? You don’t want them to think you don’t trust them? All I have to say about that is, “You cannot un-ring a bell.” If you work at it hard enough, I promise you that you can have a relationship with your child(ren) that will allow for parental involvement and supervision without your child feeling like (s)he is not trusted. 

We are raising our kids in a very different time than when we grew up. Our parents can say the same thing. And I can only imagine how things will be different when our children have children of their own. But, we just have to make sure that we not get lazy with technology. We cannot be guilty of using the endless resources, literally at our fingertips, as a substitute for what is really important. 

We must be careful not forget that Facebook is okay, as long as we keep our
 Face in the Book more.



“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fit’s the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:29-32






9.14.2012

Feel Good Friday

September 14, 2012

In light of my recently "outed" Pinterest addiction, I've decided to dedicate today to sharing some words of encouragement with you found on Pinterest! My prayer is that you will be inspired to put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17), and Love One Another (John 13:34-35)


Have a great weekend!

9.10.2012

Just Do Your Job

September 10, 2012

I sit today and I have no idea what words will spill from my fingertips onto the blank screen. I whisper a prayer for God to author a blog and this is what He gives me.

"Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:9

It's ironic in a way. My friend, Angie, wrote a blog this morning over at Joli on Transition. I feel like she wrote that blog post just for me. My life has certainly gone through a transition (or two) of its own recently. And as you can read in Angie's post, it can be uncomfortable. It can feel like peace is light years away and your world is off balance and out of sorts. I'd like to add that the temptation and natural human urge through transition can also result in ungodly behavior if you're not extremely careful to seek God's heart constantly.

It's so easy to let your hurt, fear, anger, & bitterness bubble up and ooze out like infectious puss from a sore. Somehow, we've allowed ourselves to believe that in the game of life it's okay to repay hurt with hurt, ugliness with ugliness. We justify this with "An eye for an eye". But, we conveniently forget about "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:18 or "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," Matthew 5:43-44 {Jesus said that Himself, y'all! And He also said this->} "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35. "If anyone says, 'I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." 1John 4:20.

We as Christians have a difficult role to play sometimes. We must LOVE others when everything in our bodies goes against that. We must LOVE when we have been hurt deeply by those we have trusted with our hearts. We must LOVE. Period. We are called to LOVE- not to hurt, not to prove that we are right, not to prove that you are not better than me. We have to be Kingdom focused! Those foolish, prideful things will not matter in eternity.

Why should we love those who are often difficult to love? Quite simply... Jesus died for each and every one of us. We have all be unlovable at one point in time or another. He paid the price for all sin once and for all. He does not want to see anyone spend eternity in the fires of hell. It is our job as Christ followers to show the love of Jesus to everyone so that all can be saved.

I look back to the recent history of my current transitions. Have I loved? There are times where I can clearly say absolutely! I loved well. I am proud that I represent Jesus Christ. But, there were other times that I gave in to my selfish hurts. I let my anger and pride poke tiny, little holes. And we can fool ourselves into believing that tiny, little holes are not as bad as the big ones, but, your bucket will empty from tiny, little holes just like it will from a big one, it just might take a little longer. God does not want us empty; He wants to fill us with Him. So, yeah, there have been times that instead of being that real, live example of Christ, I failed. But, today is a reminder to go out and LOVE. Even when it's hard.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

"Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;" Hebrews 12:14-15


9.05.2012

PINK

September 4, 2012

There are so many exciting things going on in our lives right now!
We are keeping very busy- and loving every minute of it!

It was really nice to have a relaxing summer break.
But we are certainly welcoming the busyness of a new season.

I think that is one of the reasons why I love fall so much. 
It's the change.
The excitement.
The hustle and bustle of getting here, and going there.
The challenge of fitting it all in.
And, I'd be lying if I said that I was sad about maybe, sometimes NOT having time to cook supper.
Sue me.

Dance classes are starting soon.
Football is starting even sooner!
But, there is one other thing that is coming up that I am looking forward to, as well.


Our ladies group at church is hosting "A Night of Pink" in honor of  Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. It's going to be a night of fun where we will honor some special ladies, encourage one another, worship the Lord, and just, well, be AWESOME together! 
There is so much planned for this night, but, the thing I am most looking forward to is watching this girl
shake what her momma gave her!

This is a FREE event! {We all love FREE don't we?} You do not have to be a member of Crossroads Church to attend. You just have to be a lady female. Won't you grab a few of your best girlfriends, pile on as much pink as you possibly can, and join us for "A Night of Pink". {Prizes may or may not be involved.}

Aubree and I hope to see you there!

"A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies." Proverbs 31:10

"She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks." Proverbs 31:17

"She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy." Proverbs 31:20