What is Normal?

 

We think “our life” is normal

We live in a very self centered society and I am no different when it comes to the word normal! Of course I am normal…..everybody else is weird. Of course we wear normal clothes….everybody else is weird. Of course we do normal everyday living….anything different is just plain weird………

That is how we think. We live in the sphere of our world….more specifically our daily routine….and anything different well….becomes the oddity. I have traveled much in this country. I have lived in many different states, yet I find that wherever I am….becomes the new normal!

I thought living in California would have prepared me for anything…..but not New York City! Here are just a few things out of the norm:

We paid close to a hundred dollars in toll fees on our way to NY City! As much as $13 one time….$7.50 the next etc. They didn’t nickel and dime you to death…it was billed to death! Around here…..we don’t charge ya extra for driving down our roads….we are glad ya here!

I thought my husband drove a long distance to work in Huntsville (an hour and ten minutes) Well everyday in NY, we drove in Staten Island along with all the crazy---non following traffic rules---people to the Ferry parking. Then we pay, climb the stairs and walk to the huge waiting area………and wait, as long as 3o minutes depending on if we missed the last boat. Then ten minutes before the ferry boards….a couple thousand people begin moving to the big doors. As soon as the doors open, masses of people crowd and press in to try to get there first. Sitting among the hard faces of the people we travel 30 minutes across the water. Then we debark along with throngs of rushing people. We climbed down the stairs, wishing for some germ-X to the outdoors. Then you have to walk a short distance to the subway, buy tickets…..try to figure out what in the world you are doing, while people and trains whizz by. Then you wait for the right train in the dirty, strange hole in the ground for your correct train.

Suddenly your ears cringe as the screeching of your train comes in. You wait anxiously for the people in the subway car to get off, blocking your entrance. Finally you jump on knowing the doors will shut instantly leaving you behind. If you are lucky enough to find a seat you bounce and tussle, hoping not to touch the person sitting next to you. You don’t look anyone in the eye…….and you don’t smile or talk to anyone (it’s an unspoken rule I learned right away!) You ride and ride until you finally see your street name come up. Then you better stand and get close to the door….or you will be riding longer than you need to!

Then you climb the stairs again. Finally coming out of the hole in the ground, right into NY City. You have to get your bearing to see what direction you need to walk. As people squash around you quickly heading to their destinations. Then you wait at the corner for the “Walk” signal. Then you wait for the cars to stop…..then you wait for a signal again. The cars, taxis, and buses do NOT stop at red lights, so you have to walk out in front of them! Sheww! You get across (and you may have to cross several times before arriving at your destination!) Then you walk, walk, and walk some more. Trying to keep up with your group is no easy task! People weave in and out all around you. People cut in front of you….they are rude and determined. Horns are constantly blaring! You have to keep your eyes peeled or you will get run over! It could take almost two hours just to get where you need to be!

Then you walk around the attraction, then if you are doing more than one thing that day…you do all of that again and again except for the ferry which you have to do when you are ready to leave.

Now that is VERY different, than my normal of driving up, parking and going inside a business! I was so toast at the end of each day….my body hurt and my legs ached! New York City is not for the faint hearted, the handicapped, or the elderly.

My normal…a red light means stop, a stop sign means stop and wait your turn. My normal….let others go before yourself……NY folks have no such considerations. My normal….don’t honk just because they don’t go fast enough….their normal….they honk at you even if you are turning! My normal….help others….NY normal….do it yourself and be quiet. My normal…..look around and see how to be a blessing……NY normal…..argue and fight with your co-workers, be loud and heartless while waiting on customers. My normal….everyone is a person…….NY normal……you are just one of the mass cows going to market. My norm….pay a reasonable price for food…..NY normal…..$20 for 3 cups of coffee and two desserts! My norm…a nice quiet coffee shop with great coffee and a mocha motif….NY norm….no motif, the tables are dirty, most people stand to eat and they have terrible coffee. My norm…most every store has a bathroom, or there is a public one. NY norm….notta! Restrooms were nowhere to be found!

My Norm….a few sky rise buildings, smaller buildings for one of our “Big city” downtown areas, NY norm……….miles and miles of sky scrapers as far as the eye can see.

My norm….identifiable schools of all levels……….NY norm…never saw a single school. My norm….there is a Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and a church of Christ on nearly every block. NY norm…I never saw a church of any kind.

My norm….A Wal-Mart in every town that has a McDonalds. NY norm…there is no wal-Mart in the entire state!

My norm, sky scrapers are for businesses and corporations. NY norm….sky scrapers are your Walgreens, your dry cleaners, your deli shops, McDonalds, apartments, specialty shops like Hershey’s chocolate store & M M candy store, shoe stores and TV Broadcast and corporations, stocks etc. We even made a purchase at a Walgreens in The Empire State Building!

My norm…the homeless really look like it and there are only a handful at any given place. NY norm…they are everywhere! Some will sing or do something with a bag for you to put change in. Almost every time we rode the subway there was someone different asking for money. It is much more in your face….but I am not sure what “poor” or “homeless” really means in NY! As soon as it rained someone was panhandling umbrellas at every door.

My norm….temp change means fog! NY norm….temp change mean smog! My norm at age 15 you are taking you are eager to take your drivers permit test and start driving asap. NY norm….I think there are thousands who live there all their lives and never learn to drive or own a vehicle!

Motel 6 does not exist in NY! Only sky rise VERY Expensive options! Our norm….is to obey the law to moved over for emergency vehicles. NY norm….doesn’t move or even flinch with emergency sirens and lights behind them!

Our norm….a few policemen protect our small little town, most of which I see drinking coffee with a person he might be writing a ticket for. NY police are everywhere! I have never seen so many! But I wonder what laws they enforce since so many are belligerently broken.

Our norm….to see families laughing at the park together, or shopping. NY norm….didn’t see many children (and those I saw I think were tourist) The word family to NY people is an unfamiliar term.

Our norm….several parks, with trees, squirrels, play equipment, and a few picnic tables, maybe an a pavilion. NY norm…one park, called Central Park…it was quit unique, I had hundreds of benches where I am sure on a nice sunny day they would be full (it was cold and rainy the day we were there), It had the most exquisite detailed sculptures, tiled pictured pavilions, ornate amphitheater, famous water fountains, a carousel, major landscaping with each area lined with flowers. It was over 800 acres. Just like everything else in NY…it seemed to be exquisite to the hilt, biggest, prettiest and best ever….yet the people the very things that matter most, seemed to matter the least!

Our Norm for a special event in a park would be…..a watermelon seed spitting contest of a hot dog chow down race. NY norm…is a movie or TV series being filmed….I had the chance to be on Law and Order. They simple cone off where they want to film, put up a sign that if you go in that area you are agreeing to be a volunteer non paid extra for that scene clip! There was a line…this seemed very in the ordinary for NY folks….for us…it was weird!

A Few NY abnormal signs: (1) NO standing anytime (They even had sharp pronged apparatus around the pipes and hydrants so people wouldn’t sit on them! (2)Rat Warning in the subway (3) Fresh Bagels sign instead of Fresh Donuts! (4) Lawn open hours 9am-6pm (this was in the park on a fence) All the grass areas were fenced off with ornate fencing to keep people off the plush grass except in certain areas!

Our norm to go to the top of a skyscraper…. Get in the elevator and go to the top and look out over the city. NY norm…to go to the top of The Empire State Bldg. was $45 per person! Then you had to weave through the ropes, get your picture made, weave through some more, get a pat down, check purse and backpack, weave some more, ride the elevator (which they CRAMED you into) to the top, stay in line to look around the top (we only paid to go to the 86^th floor!), take a quick picture before someone moves you on!

Our norm…to see advertisements on billboards along the hwy. NY norm to have gigantic electronic screens for advertising. Sometimes a whole building face was the electronic screen!

Our norm for taxi’s….we don’t have any! We would call from a bigger city to come fetch us. NY norm….more taxis then cars by far!

Our norm…Iced tea with lemon is common in any restaurant. NY norm….canned tea or nothing.

Our norm…to talk to or maybe even go to lunch with someone you meet at a gas station. NY they are not friendly at all…and I don’t recall seeing any gas stations either!

Our norm….wear comfortable shoes or just good ole flip flops. NY norm to see woman of all types wearing high heels on the subways and walking down the streets.

I learned a lot through our differences, but I was so thankful to return home…the trip caused a great contentment to wash over me!

When we left I shook my head and wondered how someone from NY would manage in our small southern town!

I agree with Dorothy……There is no place like home

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 7:23

The Smileless City

 

The Power of a Smile

As I prepared for our vacation I made sure I had a variety of different gospel tracts and of course my favorites. We made several stops before actually arriving in New York city. We arrived on day 4 of our ten day adventure. We had visited friends in which I did not need to share tracts with. Then our first day after leaving our friends home we stopped in Philadelphia PA for a history lesson. This was a little taste of what was to come. It had a lot of people and there were lines. We took a carriage ride and after I got off I realized what an opportunity I missed by not giving our driver a tract. So I vowed to not miss another opportunity.

Right away in NY on the Ferry I tried to look for opportunities, but the faces never really looked my way, or people just seemed occupied, and I had not yet learned the “be quiet and mind your own business” unspoken rule! So when it was time to leave I gave an older man who seemed sad a tract. He was reluctant to take it (you would think I was handing them a loaded grenade!).

I watched for opportunities on the subway to give away my favorite tract…but everyone was so rushed I knew that tract would be useless in this fast paced city. I prayed and really was broken by the thought I could not even pass out tracts….these people were so closed.

So, I had to go back to the basics……………A SMILE! I ended up giving away LOTS of SMILES! I made it my goal to get as many people to look my way and when they did….i gave them a winning smile ear to ear. My eyes resonated caring. My heart reached out with all the tenderness my body language could say.

I ended up giving a couple of tracts away to the hotel clerk and to waitresses. I was able to give away a tract to every beggar when I gave them money. I prayed they would hunger and thirst for Righteousness as much as they wanted to fill their bellies.

I have never felt so helpless, so constrained and yet so burdened for a people as the three days we were in the smileless city. One thing is for sure….they were not used to seeing a smile…occasionally I caught one smiling back!

Never underestimate the power of a SMILE!

A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.

Proverbs 15:13

The BIG Apple - The Fruit of Sin

For decades people have associated the apple with Adam and Eve, the first people on earth and the sin that caused all of us to live in a sinful, fallen world. Though there is no real description of the forbidden fruit and I am not sure how the apple got such a raw deal as becoming “the poster” for the first sin, but it did. Most movies, pictures and story books put an apple in Eve’s hands.

I am not sure the origin of New York City’s nick name, The Big Apple, but I could help but think of the apple, sin and the garden, when seeing The BIG Apple mentioned on the streets of NY City and on memorabilia and keepsakes. After spending three very full days in the city I am convinced there is a connection!

The biggest sin I saw in New York City was selfishness……isn’t that the same reason Eve reached for the forbidden apple? She wanted it, she took it, she ate it. Her yearning to satisfy her own desire over obedience to God was the root of the first sin.

The reason the NYC drivers honked, ran lights and drove crazy was selfishness…their desire to get where they wanted to be ruled over their desire to obey the laws of the city.

The reason there is an ocean of elaborate sky scrapers is their desire to build bigger, better, more expensive, fancier than anyone else………pride rules their hearts instead of humility and generosity.

The reason there were no visible signs of churches….is obvious there were no hearts desire to gather with the redeemed to celebrate New life is a low priority.

The reason people shoved in the Ferry line and crammed into over full subway cars is their selfish desires ruled over putting others first.

The reason people argued and yelled at each other is obvious…they want their “rights” that too is selfish…..

People were plagued by fear. You could see it on their faces….that too is selfishness. The opposite would be putting your trust in God to care for you. Or at the very least, one could say that a self centered life….hardens the heart toward others….a hard heart never smiles.

Perhaps the reason people didn’t smile…..is purely selfishness in not wanting to bless others with even the upturn of their lips. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit and it very quickly drives selfishness away.

The people of NYC seemed driven by the lust and pleasure of this world to indulge their own flesh. I am burdened for these people…they need to know LOVE!

Love is to be the root of all our thoughts words and actions!

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world,

the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world.

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

I John 2:15-17

Playing Dress-Up

As a little girl I often played dress-up. Putting on my mommas dresses and high heels.  Pretending to be somebody I wasn’t.  No matter how much make up I put on, or how fancy the clothes….I was still just me!  No matter how many jangle bracelets I slipped on my arm or rings on my fingers…..I was still just me.  Though it was wonderful to play…..like I was someone else…..in all reality….I was still just me!

And we still do that as adults don’t we?  We play “dress-up” when we put on our pretty clothes and make-up and pretend everything is going great, when our worlds might be falling apart.  We think if we just pretend the situation will go away.  We run away from our problems when we play dress-up instead of facing them in faith and prayer.

BUT who we are is still there when we take off all our “dress-up clothes and make-up”.   When we crawl in bed, and there is no one to impress we find we are still the same person as always.

Moses knew he was a Hebrew, yet he played “dress-up”everyday, pretending to be someone he wasn’t.  And no matter how much he wore, how much he tried to look like an Egyptian, he was still a Hebrew underneath and in his heart. 

He runs away from God, not realizing that is impossible and hides out where no one will know his true identity.  Or so he thinks.  Even his wife Zipporah calls him an Egyptian when she first meets him.  But though he may have fooled his wife for a time…….he never fooled God. 

If we are a believer then we need not to play “dress-Up” with the worlds wardrobe, trying to be someone we are not.  But to clothe ourselves with righteousness so that the world will know…..who we really are!

Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

   Romans 13:14

Forgotten Cries

One day last week i was burdened by an old familiar feeling.  From a time in my life i don’t often look back too.  A time of great darkness and pain.  As years have gone by the pain and suffering are a mere distant memory.  But the scars….are there to remind me of God’s greatness and the blessing of just being His.

Earlier in the  week I stopped by the church to talk with the secretary about a mission trip.  As I looked into her face, it told me…..all was not well.  She had to cancel our meeting because her daughter had just miscarried…..again.

With my hand to my chest, my heart broke for this woman.  Suddenly the overwhelming pain came flooding back.  How I wish I could go to her and ease her pain…..but I knew there is no remedy, no words, no tonic that can take the pain away….The loss, the empty arms can only be filled by Christ and Him alone. 

The next day as I strolled along our country road lined with big oak trees I took in the Spring freshness.  The breeze on my face was perfect.  It was green all around.  The trees had started their resilient coming out. 

Suddenly I stopped.  At my feet was a tiny leaf.  This leaf was perfectly formed, fresh and bright green.  I wondered why such a perfectly formed leaf was discarded, left alone on the side of the road.  It had no blemish or deformity, yet it was dropped by The Master.  Then the Lord showed me…..it is through the leaves that have fallen that give the tree it’s nutrients and makes it grow even stronger.

I thought of the lady who had lost her baby.  I remember being in her shoes, and now some 23 years later, though I still remember it vividly…..i don’t focus on the loss so much as how God grew my faith stronger than ever through it.  Though at the time, i could not comprehend how anything good could ever comes of such suffering….But God did and He was patient as He changed me through it.  It made the “rich soil” that my faith needed to follow after God no matter what storms come my way.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,

to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

 

Fall into Perspective

 

I love this time of year when the leaves change colors and brilliance dazzles the countryside with grandeur! It truly is God’s Canvas come alive!

That is……..

If you have the right perspective! My teenage son and I were driving home this week and we live in the country and take the ridge ling to and fro our home in the Hollow. It was early morning and the views were just magnificent! I just let the colors soak in and praised the God who splashed them up there. Really pictures do an injustice but I have attempted to include some.

As I pointed out over and over again to my son, he was not so enamored! Now it could be a boy thing that he just didn’t get as mushy over leaves as his mother or it was his perspective. He said he didn’t like them because that just meant it was going to be a mess. Then he pointed to the ground in someone’s yard that was already blanketed in what I called beauty, what my son called mess!

If you looked down I could see a bit of his point. BUT if you looked up……….. it was some of the most brilliant blend of colors I have ever seen! So it is in our lives! If we find ourselves in a mess we just need to look up, look up to the Heaven and remember where our help comes from! Taking our eyes off our mess and looking up in the eyes of Jesus makes everything beautiful!

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

                                               

Invisible Rainbows

 

      One of the most amazing sights are rainbows! The are scientifically complex yet spiritually simple.  They are the zodiac of a stormy sky!  Their brilliance immeasurable.  They have an aurora of mystery surrounding them that still baffles people today.   For those who are not Christians….it is just a gathering of colors displayed for their observance. 

    But to the children of God….they have much meaning. It is a sign, a message if you will, from God!  It tells us that God remembers us, He loves us and he is watching over us! Isn’t that magnificent!  Yes indeed it also means that God will never again flood the earth but it means so much more!

      This year has been a very difficult year….It seems as though it has been one storm after another.  The dark clouds of uncertainty lingered over my head along with storms of suffering and trials of great magnitude.  How I longed to see the “Rainbows” in the darkest of days.

      This is what I learned……that the rainbows are always there….it’s just takes the stormy dark clouds to display them!  The harder the storm the brighter the rainbow after it passes!  So it is in our journey.  The harder the suffering and trials…the more beautiful the “rainbows” of refinement.  

      God’s promises are true whether or not a rainbow shows up!  It’s just occasionally we need a reminder that God is wise, right, and good in all He does.  And that He loves us and all His promises are true!

      Rainbows are God’s hugs to us!  The next time it storms in your life….wrap yourself up in His Rainbow!

Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. 

Genesis 9:16

 

Eating Humble Pie

 

      I consider myself fairly generous.  I tend to think of myself as the person that would give you the shirt off her back.  I love hospitality!  Encouragement is my gifting coupled with hospitality.  Having people over for dinner, a cup of tea, or dessert, is time well spent. 

      Occasionally God needs to grow us in these areas, but it is painful when He does!  I had a recent lesson and thought I would share it with you.  It was humorous…..but I got the point!  I found out I am not as generous as I thought I was!

     We had some major plumbing problems and so we called the plumber out.  He came and checked things out…..and sure enough it was gonna be a big mess (excuse the pun).  He situated things for the night and planned to return and work on it the next day. 

       The next day I left early with my youngest son to go to our home school co-op and returned at about 1:00 pm.  I was famished upon arrival, having not eating at all that day.  I rushed in and began some fried bologna sandwiches.  Zech unloaded the car and went up to his room.

      Eventually I made it outside to check on the plumber.  He began to tell me in the most hickified accent you ever did hear!  He was covered in ……you know…but he was smiling real big!  He was a nice friendly guy.  sure enough I had several problems and he went on to tell me in great detail the issues….

      And he told me that he had lost traction while hooking up his trailer with his backhoe and it had gone all the way down to the road in front of my house (just missing my electric pole by inches!).  A tree stopped it from going into the road.  He apologized about the nic in the tree.  He showed me the damage to his equipment but was real happy that it was stopped by the tree.  He followed me into the house yakking…..

      I had told him he could help himself to get something to drink while I was gone.  So he proceeded to do so.  My mouth hit the floor as he wiped his hands on his pants, opened the freezer door and got ice out of the ice bucket….talking the whole time….popped open the tea lid and poured himself a drink. (Sorry but even with having only boys…that is just too nasty!!!)

      Remember before I went out I had made the two sandwiches.  While I sat down to write his check he asked, “You ain’t gonna eat both these sandwiches are ya?” My son was still upstairs.  And I was extremely hungry by now….

      I gulped down (way down!) my pride and replied….. “Ummm, well, umm, Have you and your partner had lunch?

      “Nope, we been workin’ real hard for ya.  Cut ya a deal on the labor i did.”  He smiled real proud like.   “Probably about a couple sandwiches worth and some more ice tea!”  the man said.

       I gulped…..”Here let me help you get those sandwiches and tea out to your truck!”  And so there went my lunch!

       Humble pie in the face!  Never before have I been so “ungenerous hearted” but I was famished…..But God needed to show me my selfish heart!

       I was a very humbled lady fixing my second fried bologna sandwich!  God sometimes has very humorous ways to get our attention!  If you had been there you would have been on the floor laughing at the whole ordeal!

    I thought the sewer was bad until I looked at my greedy heart!             

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others

will himself be refreshed. 

Proverbs 11:25

Answering your own Question

 

How many times has your child asked you a question,…… while doing the answer (the answer he wanted you to say)?  For example:  “Mom may i have a cookie?”…..while his hand is in the cookie jar…his fat fingers around a cookie!  Did really wait for an answer.  It was apparent what he wanted the answer to be.  Why ask…..if you have already set your mind in a direction of movement.

Here is another example….”Mom can we watch a movie?…… while you are already have the TV on, the movie in, and are past the preview!  Why ask, it is apparent your intentions.

We do that too.  I was reading this week about the last days of Jesus when this particular problem was shown to me….that it is nothing new…..we have been doing our own thing.  Asking permission….while in the process of the action.

Read with me……

When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?"
And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him.

Luke 22:49-51

 

Do you like how this guy asked as he was doing his answer!!!  He did not really wait for an answer. He wanted to do it!  As it turned out……the he had the wrong answer! 

How often do we do that???

For example:   “Lord you want me to eat right….so you eat out at a restaurant without waiting for His answer….because you already had an answer in mind??

“Wow Lord, you want me to save money…..”Cha-ching…..you buy a great deal on a hand bag…..saving $45!  Somehow the other nine purses you have did not come into the question picture??

“Lord, if you don’t want me to buy this car…then send fire from heaven.  You look up in two nano seconds….see a clear sky….you turn to the car salesman and say….I’ll take it!”  You totally ignore the fact that your old car runs, though it is outdated and the clear coat is coming off.  You ignore the fact that the note will be making things tight.   You ignore every thing else that might have given you a different answer then the one in you head!

“Thank you Lord, for giving us a bonus….You must mean for us to get that boat i have been looking at….

There are a million examples that could fit this equation.  Many times they are personalized questions about different areas of your life or family decisions.  But how many times do we ask the question and NOT wait for the answer.  Just like this guy….that basically means you are taking things into your own hands sprinkled with spiritual fairy dust. 

Not only are we impatient to wait for the answers, but we are notorious for twisting the facts into a scriptural pretzel and selling it to ourselves with hot mustard dip!

I think the reason i saw this for what it was….is i have done it!  My challenge to you…..wait upon the Lord, look into His Word, & Listen to wisdom….. really…wait until you get HIs answer….it’s always best…then you won’t be cutting off people people ears by mistake!!

The more you seek Him and wait and listen…the less filling in the blanks you will do….Then you will be where you need to be waiting or answered…in the middle of His Will!

Don’t ask if you don’t want the answer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Invisible Sin

Growing up we did not have a dishwasher!  I know that sorta “dates” me but that’s okay, because at the present moment…..i don’t have a dishwasher! So for the past four years i have returned to my childhood sudsy sink washing and rinsing old fashioned way of doing dishes.  I will say though i enjoy it so much more now than i did then!

The Lord gave me a Spiritual lesson the other day while doing the dishes…..i thought i would share it with you!  if you have never washed dishes by hand or had a “drain tray” as i call it, then you will be lost in this story. But don’t pull the stopper yet!

After so many years of doing dishes by hand, i have a routine down. First i put away the dry dishes if there are any sitting in the drain tray.  Then i empty the drain tray that is usually full of water by the time i finish all my dishes.  then i clean the sinks, stack the dishes in the way i want them in the water..plates first,then silverware, then glasses bowls etc.

When i was growing up we had the jumbo “drain tray”. I did a lot of dishes.  I could pile them high and tight without them falling.  But one thing i hated was cleaning the drain tray.  Because of constant use, it was always full of water.  Thus it got molded and nasty often.  It was gross to clean it….it was so bad eventually it was stained.  But i detested cleaning it.

Sooo, when I got married…..we lived in places that had dishwashers! Just imagine how thrilled i was!  Believe me…..i used it!  No more dishes by hand and nasty drain trays!  Well, many years have past, and in the house we have been in for the past four years does NOT have a dishwasher……so back to the old fashioned way.  But when i went to the store to buy the dreaded “drain tray” i decided two things, i would get a small one, and the tray part i wanted clear.  That way it would never get nasty…..or so i thought!

One day i was emptying the water out of the drain tray when i noticed the white knob “feet” of the cute blue thing that held the dishes…. were black!  How can this be?  The “drain tray” did not have mold…so how could there be mold on the feet of the dish rack that sat above it?

What i couldn’t see was the “clear slim” that had collected on the drain tray full of murky germs, though clearly invisible!  I got out the old ajax and cleaned the slim off and the black off the feet of the dish rack. 

Though i saw no mold on the drain tray itself, the evidence of it was on the feet that sat in it.  Though the slim was clear…it was still as deadly. So it is with sin.  I thought that just because i could not see the ugly black stuff that it was not there.  But it was there.. only disguised, but  it had left it’s nasty mark on the dish rack’s feet.

Just because you think your sin is invisible….it is leaving it’s ugly mark somewhere!  Your sin will find you out!  The enemy tries to make you think you are in the “clear” when really he is “sliming” you!  Before you know you it  your feet are nasty black with sin’s mold!

So, i encourage you today to look carefully at your life, be sure you don’t got your feet standing in “clear”…… “slime”! 

Check your feet to see if they are black!

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin,

when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James 1:15

Do You LOVE me?

 

Would you love me is i dyed my hair purple?

Would  you love me if i pierced something besides my ears?

Would you love me is i took a smoke?

Would you love me if i took a different view than you?

Would you love me if you found me dancing to the newest rock song?

Would you love me if you found me with a beer in my hand?

Would you love me is i let a colorful word loose?

Would you love me if i came home pregnant?

                                         Jesus did!

True love has NO limits, NO boundaries and NO lists!

                                 I Corinthians 13

a NOT Dave Ramsey Principal

 

It seems the big rage these days is Dave Ramsey this and Dave Ramsey that,… get out of debt at all costs.  Forget everyone and get out of debt.  While i have my own opinions about this modern craze…..I want to challenge you with a whole new thought……….

G E T    I N T O    D E B T !

The Bible actually says GET INTO DEBT!  I want to be so far in debt that i bust the bank!  We are actually supposed to be heavily in debt…..that is the debt of LOVE for one another!

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to LOVE one another,

for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:8

Mail your “LOVE” notes (payments of indebtedness) daily.

The “heavenly interest” will keep racking up!

A missed payment is a missed opportunity

A Promissory Note means….more LOVE is comin’!

A missed payment is a missed opportunity!

The Bible is the ATM where you get more LOVE  to spend

A Collection Agency is the devil…….he wants to take all the LOVE from you, so you don’t spill out on others.

----never talk to The Collection Agency!

Spiritual debt  IS  Financial Freedom!

The only way to get out of debt is to DIE!

LOVE everyone to death!

 

 

 

a NOT Dave Ramsey Principal

 

It seems the big rage these days is Dave Ramsey this and Dave Ramsey that,… get out of debt at all costs.  Forget everyone and get out of debt.  While i have my own opinions about this modern craze…..I want to challenge you with a whole new thought……….

G E T    I N T O    D E B T !

The Bible actually says GET INTO DEBT!  I want to be so far in debt that i bust the bank!  We are actually supposed to be heavily in debt…..that is the debt of LOVE for one another!

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to LOVE one another,

for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:8

Mail your “LOVE” notes (payments of indebtedness) daily.

The “heavenly interest” will keep racking up!

A missed payment is a missed opportunity

A Promissory Note means….more LOVE is comin’!

A missed payment is a missed opportunity!

The Bible is the ATM where you get more LOVE  to spend

A Collection Agency is the devil…….he wants to take all the LOVE from you, so you don’t spill out on others.

----never talk to The Collection Agency!

Spiritual debt  IS  Financial Freedom!

The only way to get out of debt is to DIE!

LOVE everyone to death!

 

 

 

The Lazy Warrior

 

I have been in war for along time.  When I first entered the war, I was skeptical about it.  I didn’t really see much happening, so I shrugged it off as unimportant. It is kind of like the security job for some, that all they do is nothing…

That is how I viewed my part in the war.  I did not have a big part, I was not on the front lines.  As a matter of fact, I seemed so unaware that it was as though I wasn’t in a war at all. 

As time went on, for various reasons, I became so complacent do to the lack of active fighting, that I forgot that I was even a warrior.  I was in the back lines anyway….

Not only did I become complacent, but I forgot how to use my weapons!  Or even think the weapons were important.  What a big mistake, because it is in that place, that the enemy can sneak up on you and capture you and take you hostage to his evil desires and make you slave to his agenda.

Christians, stand up!  There is a war!  And you are in it like it or not!  As a warrior I thought it was good enough to just read my Bible in the morning and I was “protected” for the day.  Not so! 

Fellow Soldiers, do you know what that is like?  It is like laying your sword down in front of you on the battle lines (in a real battle) and thinking that will guard you.  That is absurd!  Laughable even….no body would do that!

No!  A warrior, or soldier uses his sward .  He keeps it in his hands in battle and uses it constantly against the enemy.  That is how we are to be in Spiritual Warfare!  Don’t just lay your Bible out there and think that will guard  your heart, mind and mouth.  No!  the devil laughs at it, steps over it and seeks to devour you.

You must, pick up you Bible and use it like a sword against the enemy…the whole battle through, then you will have Victory as a Mighty Warrior!   Know your weapon well. Keep it with you at all times.  Use as needed.  Don’t go to battle empty handed!  God’s Word is our Weapon!

Don’t be a lazy Warrior

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:10-17

 

 

 

 

Graduated with Honors

 

Friday I sat on the hard concrete bleachers on the High school football field, eating bugs and feeling the hot breeze on my face.  Waiting with many other parents for the graduation ceremony to commence.  My middle son was among those robed graduates sitting in the middle of the field waiting to the same thing.

WOW! What an accomplishment!  13 years of rigorous study, constantly being pressured to learn something new….all the while remembering the already learned.  The mounds of homework to be sure you didn’t forget, or rather to be sure you didn’t have a life outside of the school door.  Or perhaps the teacher’s way of reminding you to bring her an apple the next day. 

The drudgery of the 180 days each year of rise and shine….way too early!!  The soggy vittles they call lunch will not be missed.  The joy of summers that ended way too soon, cut short by the ringing of the school bell.  Waiting at the bus stop on cold rainy days will now come to an end, as running to your locker only to find you forgot the combination.  Hiding from bullies on the playground and hope that your not found.  Being made fun of when you didn’t have the coolest back pack are now over.

You sit on a row with hundreds of other caper victims of the school of this world…..

All for what…..you spent all these years to sit in a smothering robe, with a dorky hat that keeps falling off.  You march in, take your seat, sit and listen to boring speeches, file up to get your piece of paper that says, “Tadaa!  You made it through”, with honers no less, then you toss your hat up in the air, only to pick up someone else's, go home and on Monday morning wake up to………

Go into your adult life with all you learned those 13 years of the grueling ritual of info in…info out.  For what purpose….to graduate someday.  But then what….

This is such a Spiritual metaphor if you will of our Christian journey.  If we had a “Spiritual Graduation” what would our diploma look like?  Would we graduate with honors?  Or would we even get a diploma at all????

One day we will…….

It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'"
So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.  Romans 14:11-12

We have a teacher…… may we learn ever so diligently from Him!

A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.                             Luke 6:40

Servants of God, we do have a teacher, we are in school, and hopefully we are all seeking to “graduate” with honors……Honoring The King of our lives!  May God hand each one of us a “Spiritual Diploma” in heaven that says……….

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'  Matthew 25:21

Get to class……I hear the I hear the bell……don’t be late!

Conratulations

Joshua Aaron Wiggin

class of 2012

Love Notes

      Saturday I had a speaking engagement and what has become a routine is that my husband if he is home helps load the car with the needed items and boxes of books.  He turns on the car, gets the air and music running, fixes me some ice water for my trip.   This particular day was no different.  I took his car and was sitting in the driver’s seat while he leaned in the window and smiled at me.  He is so special I thought.  As I drove off I saw a piece of folded yellow tablet paper in the passenger seat.  And I thought “ahh, how sweet of my husband, he wrote me a love note for my special event.”  I had all kinds of sweetness flowing through my thoughts.  When I opened the piece of paper I was disappointed.  It was no love note at all…..or was it…..? 

It was an old grocery list….bread….milk…. eggs….apples…. In my disappointment I threw the paper on the floor.  Immediately the Lord rebuked me sternly. 

“All the things he does for you including the countless times he goes to the grocery store on his way home from work screams love for you!”  The Lord told me.  I was humbled….

So ladies, love your husbands!  Thank them, Thank God for them and look at your grocery list in a whole new way!

Swirling Thoughts Disappear!

 

last night i was home alone and so i put on my pajamas and took my net book up to my room.  Got all snuggled in my recliner with my favorite quilt and started a new book!  Writing one that is!  This book has been on my heart for some time….

I have been in the middle of another manuscript that is important, but it is a  harder piece of work and i just wanted to relax a bit…

I had the outline with the thoughts i had been carrying around in my head jotted down under each chapter….when all the sudden….

One of my boys needed some emergency intervention and so while i was trying to get up our kitty Stryper jumped on my key board and my document disappeared!  I could not find it….Sherman tried later to retrieve it……it’s gone, like a tornado ripped through my lap and destroyed all of it….

Sound familiar?  Last Spring tornadoes ripped through parts of Alabama and Tennessee just in our back yard so to speak.  Witnessing the devastation like i have never seen,  A book began in my heart….

A Season of rebuilding….(the title of the book) will have to be rebuilt!  I shook my head at the symbolism!  Did the Lord want me to remember many of these people lost everything!  Or is He telling me that there are no words to do what happened justice.  Was it a sign to go ahead?

The word t o r n a d o literally were ripped right out of my hands!  What do you think? 

I think when everything is lost….you see God more clearly!

I will be sure to turn on my “weather radio” when i begin to rebuild the document!

The Little Roaring Lion

Have you ever felt totally tripped up??  Or have you ever been tripped up by something totally unexpected??  Well that is exactly what happened to me Friday!  As I contemplated the scenario, I couldn’t help but think it reminded me big time of a section of scripture and a Biblical concept we often forget about.

Here is what happened.  On Fridays I teach a co-op group and have to be gone early in the morning.  So sometimes I decide to just walk a mile or two instead of working out at the gym to save time.  On goe the work out clothes and tennis shoes.  IPod and ear buds ready.  Down our long driveway.  Towards the end I tripped.  Thankfully I did not fall to the ground!  But I was deeply troubled by what I saw had tripped me.  Stretched across our driveway about 3 inches off the gravel was some kind of grey cable.  I followed it with my eyes to around the tree on the right side of the yard.  Who would had tried to trip me I wondered.  What evil person did this?  We live in the country sooooo, I was a bit concerned that we had a very unhappy neighbor or worse yet, one of my children deliberately tried to hurt me.  I was disturbed to say the least.  I fretted over this all day.  I did not return home until 5pm. 

I told my husband as soon as he got home.  Of course I had already confronted my boys and they both denied having done such a thing.  We had obligations that night, so the subject was dropped until the next morning.  I was busy in the kitchen when the boys came in with a totally WILD CAT story!  They had found the culprit!  A four legged, furry, fat, cat!  We had been having trouble with cats getting into our trash trailer and so this time one really got strung up.

My youngest son had throw some old weed eater line in the trash trailer some weeks prior, and the trailer was getting rather full.  So apparently this cat had gotten stuck, he obviously frequented the dinning hall trailer.   But on this night he was about to get caught!  Something scared him and he took off out of the trailer.  Unfortunately, he had been doing as all cats do playing with the ball of weed line.  He had gotten that heavy duty weed line tangled around his foot.  He then hopped out and ran across the driveway around the tree twice and then hid in the drain pipe at the edge of the driveway!

Now you could not see the cat.  It looked like a perfect set up of a prank.  The line was tight and low just for tripping without one seeing where they were walking.  But by investigating and following the line they found the twisted cat that had so devilishly tripped me.  I couldn’t believe it!

But it reminded me of the fact that satan, our enemy is roaming around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour me!  Just like this cat had tried to destroy my day!  This cat was just a small version of a roaring lion!  Deceptive, unnoticed, secretive, yet totally creative, least expecting……those are words to describe satan the roaring lion and this little roaring lion of a cat! 

So be on your guard!  satan is out to get you!  In any and every way he can!  This is serious business!  satan is out to destroy you……your day….your week….your year and ultimately he wants to crush your testimony!  He is not going to come announcing his presence, he is not going to send you a memo or make an appointment.  he doesn’t need to have a conference to ask you where to target his attack….her already knows.  He is going for the bulls eye and to get your where you are weakest and least expecting!  His last words to me were….have a nice trip, see ya next fall!

So…….keep your eyes open so you won’t get tripped up by a roaring lion----big or small!

Be self-controlled and alert.

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring

lion looking for someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8

 

 

Sketches of an Angel

A Tribute to my Dear Beloved Friend

Shannon Buttram

Taking a blank piece of paper and a pencil, God sketched me an Angel today. She sorta looked like this….

The first glimpse was in the home of a family from our Sunday school class. They had invited us over for dinner, a delicious meal and fun fellowship. God, my heart is breaking into and You have me dine with someone who looks just like my friend Shannon—thank You…. who I just found out about 4 hours ago, died three weeks ago, but for me….it was only a few hours ago. Stunned…..i walk in and see a little Hannah and Andy….I see Mike and Shannon. Now they didn’t see my Angel…..but I did. We have never been in their home until this very day….hum…I see an Angel cooking in her kitchen like years past. Though we didn’t have Shannon’s yummy salsa….or I remember the Sunday we stopped by and had bologna sandwiches….It hurt me to watch the man last night across the table, laughing along with his wife, he was kinda short and dark haired with a sprinkle of grey, his laugh and face reminded me so much of Mike, he was short and sweet, just as I remembered. Their little boy was the spit image of Andy, though younger by far than the young man Andy is now, dark hair framed his face, slender arms and legs. Yes, my Angel’s little boy. But it was the little girl that I kept having to fight back the tears. She looked so much like Hannah when she was little I wanted to run into the bathroom and bawl my eyes out. Lord……….it seems too much. My heart was so grieving for this dear family, Father, why are we here with these people today…….when I should be home mourning for my friend Shannon…… “Because my daughter, I have brought you here to mourn. See my Angel, remember her this way. Remember her as you knew her. Remember her caring, her serving, her love!”

The next morning as I readied for church, the tears came on…..the pencil moving once again on the paper, sketching out an Angel…..Picture upon picture came flooding my mind, memories overwhelmed my senses….Consuming my every thought. Shannon’s smile and her cute little chuckle demanded my attention. The bedroom she painted for Hannah came to my mind, the bright Mary Englebright. She did such a fabulous job so creative! I see the kids playing dress up while we pray together. I see my Shannon’s heart as she cleaned my house for inspection. I smell her wisteria tree out front. I remember butch the dog…..

I heard an Angel today at church. I was singing Worthy is the Lamb, when I heard her voice. I saw Shannon’s smile, she was in her choir robe singing and bowing before her maker, who she finally sees face to face. She is worshipping with me while we sing Worthy is the Lamb…..she believed that. I cried and cried...But as I raised my hands and sang…she sang with me. We sang together, it was the most bittersweet moment. Shannon sang many times; she had a beautiful voice….one that is still heard today!

The Angel followed me to Sunday School, and as I looked around the room at the faces, though the Angel knew none of their names, she had invested in them. Shannon had spent many hours typing for me. She was my hands at the keyboard in writing some of my oldest child’s cancer journal. She typed and laid out my first entire retreat folders and my teaching notes. Plus she put them together, plus helped with all the goodies we prepared for it. As well on my very first retreat attempt, she encouraged, smiled and supported it the whole way through. Where do you find such a friend? I have used these materials and the experience, several times over…..Shannon, has gone with me everywhere! Her time spent on my behalf is still manifested in the lives that cross my pathway today.

I saw an Angel today….I got out my cards and I just wanted to be close with my friend. So I sat at the table with paper, scissors, stamps and buttons all around. And I looked over and found my Angel had come to make cards with me. Shannon had the gift of encouragement and it was something we learned together and it was a sweet, sweet connection. We spent many, many times stamping together. These was such precious times. And now as I sit at the table making cards, I missed her so much, it hurts, I cry and cut and cry and cut….. I will need to use these soon. Why Lord, why…

“Because she is your inspiration to make cards and to encourage others, she did that. You too must be reminded when you get lazy and busy, that Shannon was never too busy for people!”

I remember the surprise birthday party she had for me, when my family had forgotten me. She hadn’t. I remember when she put salt in the chocolate chip cookies instead of sugar!! I remember having Bible study together. I made cards all afternoon to be with my Angel….Lord, thank You for every moment that I had with Shannon, it has made me love You and others deeper. Her unconditional love was so inspiring. Lord, help her smile to never fade from my memory…..The Angel is an ever present reminder, that my dear Shannon is gone…………

I have been with my family today alongside my Angel, and I cried, just feeling so blessed and knowing the pain that Mike, Andy and Hannah must be feeling! I can’t imagine, but I feel guilty to enjoy one moment of the day….it was father’s day, and I wonder if Mike was not huddled in tears and loneliness.

I have cried long into a headache, I have bawled my eyes out…..then the Angel taps me on the shoulder and I see forgiveness….Shannon taught me so hard lessons about life. But ones, that though they hurt beyond words, I am so glad for them because they showed me a lot about myself that wasn’t so pretty and I worked very hard at relationship because of what I had learned in ours……

All day I wanted to be alone and cry, be alone and just remember all the things that spelled SHANNON to me. My grief was so deep…. I can only imagine her memorial service was filled to overflowing with “Angel evidence”.

Oh Lord, Angel showed me a peek at mercy today…..wonder if we had never reconciled our friendship??? Oh Lord, mercy took on new meaning today!

As I read all her face book entries tonight, I again cried thinking of my dear Shannon, more sketches of an Angel. Entry after entry, declaring her love for others! My Angel sat on the corner of my desk and showed me pictures of when we were out there to see her the two times since reconnecting. Priceless moments of heart entwined and reborn once again…stronger than ever!

I don’t want to close my eye for fear the Angel will leave. But I have enjoyed spending time, just thinking of Shannon as she is, I am very sure, in heaven smiling and laughing with Jesus. I see her kneeling at his feet washing them. I see what she always longed for fulfilled and now I can go to sleep…. praying God will leave this “sketch pad” on the tablet of my heart forever! This was only a light sketching!

Shannon Buttram

Oct. 2, 1966-May 23, 2011

A woman after God’s own heart

A woman whose smile never faded

Even when angry she grinned!

She laughed at her own mistakes and everyone else’s too

She was faithful

She was served others

She loved God

She loved her husband

She loved and adored her kids

She loved life, no matter what God sent her way

She was a fighter to the very end

She was a heartwarming encourager

She was a leader

She was a walking testimony of God’s Grace

She was a prayer warrior

She was a hard worker

She made beautiful cards

She was a painter of canvas

She was a writer

She was a Jesus Girl now with her Pappa!

The Great Equalizer

The Great Equalizer

 

I have a power that must be acknowledged

I demand attendance from the living

I silence the speaking

I move the unmovable

I make people’s world come to a stop

I make the hard hearted cry

I make big burly men bow at my command

I make enemies stand side by side

I make the busy stand still

I control people’s waking thoughts

For a moment, I demand shunning to stop

I cause two women to speak that haven’t in years

I cause the rich and the poor to be on equal ground

I cause the hungry and full to eat at the same table

I make the hateful neighbor express kindness

I make all difficult situations unimportant

I illuminate bad attitudes as stupid

I make everyone question what life is about

I cause people to miss work

I redirect people’s hobbies for a day

 

I redirect everyone’s agenda to mine

I make everyone uncomfortable

I cause people to say things they’ve never said

I dictate people’s schedules

I cause angry marriages to soften for a time

I cause arguments to cease

I bring out the best in everybody

I cause time to stand still

I make speeches stop mid sentence

I make tears drench the dry eyed

I cause people to think their deepest thoughts

I am no respecter of persons

I request the young and old and all in between

I claim the rich and poor

I always arrive at the most inconvenient of times

I never come with an invitation

I do not ask for permission

I am Death

I was recently reminded of these things through the death

of a special young lady.  May we be reminded to take

 each day with a little bit more importance!