Collection of thoughts

My mind has been filing up like the rain gauge hanging on our fencepost out front….Both are getting fuller and fuller!  I decided a few minutes ago to dump out my brain on paper, much like how I dump out the rain gauge after a hard rain to make sure it is ready for the next downpour, so here goes…

First of all, I have had glue on my mind.  I feel like I need a big bottle Elmer’s to keep my family together.  We go in different directions each morning and that trend can even continue on throughout the afternoon and evening hours.  Sometimes it makes me sad and I want the preschool days back.  I liked tents in the living room and Legos on the on the floor.  Those were the good old days, even though a Lego left unnoticed sure could cause some serious pain when stepped on with bare feet. 

I do not need glue just to hold us together physically in the same room or under the same roof, but to hold us together as something that resembles a family who loves, enjoys, and supports each other.  Maybe it is just the rainy weather and all of the extra togetherness we have had, but I feel like there is a dark cloud hanging over my home. After a day or two of doubt and wondering what is up, I recalled a truth.  I do have THE glue necessary to keep us all together….it is prayer.  The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing.  Fussing, criticizing, worrying, and planning will not change things or hold us together.  Prayer will.  It is glue!

My next thought of the week is a flashback.  One of my boys was an excellent climber.  He often crawled to the kitchen chair and used his upper body strength to hoist himself up.  Before I could say GET down, he was up on the table.   It was a toddler pull-up.

I vividly remember the day he climbed up to the tippy top of the playground at Chick-Fil-A in Dallas and freaked out because all he could see was net and plastic.  I tried to coax him down from the bottom. It did not work. I gracefully climbed on up to the next platform and had no luck.  I ended up at the top of the playground, exhausted, worn out, and totally grossed out.  Trust me, there are things up in the top of indoor playgrounds that adults are not meant to see and smell.

I had to retrieve him on several occasions and gladly will do it again, because the Lord has pulled me down and pulled me up on numerous occasions too.  He has never left me stranded or alone.  I love Psalms 139.  Verse 8 says “If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

My last thought of the week is actually a phrase that flashed through my mind one morning over and over again.  I was praying for my family, my purpose, my home, my life, and all of that good junk.  It was like all of my pleading and petitioning merged into one desire, like how lanes on a busy highway merge into one. 

My one desire is this:  I just want to get it right, Lord.  Help me to get it right!  I want a life that is intentional.  I do not want to look up one day and think…I missed it, so my prayer is “Lord, help me get it right.” The idea here of “right” is different for us all, but it does begin the same…with Jesus. 

cinnamon rolls

I had this whole super clever and creative idea in mind this week for my column.  It originated from Pillsbury cinnamon rolls.  You know…the kind that you unwrap a layer of the can by pealing the paper until the whole thing goes pop and unveils eight cinnamon rolls and a small container of icing. They happen to be one of the two things that get my kids out of bed.  Cinnamon rolls and something down by the deer feeder that they can shoot make them come running. 

Cinnamon roll mornings usually start off great, but steadily go downhill when the battle over who gets  the middle one begins. (Please tell me this is not just at my house)   It is a debate of who had it last time and which other one looks good and juicy.  I usually stay out of it and just mumble a verse about being a peacemaker.

Last week I was really clever and found a larger pan that would enable me to take out the middle man!  All eight cinnamon rolls fit side by side around the pan on the exterior edges, leaving nothing in the interior but a blank space.  Problem solved!

When the first Monico came stumbling into the kitchen tired and hungry, she immediately noticed the difference.  Something was up!  I sweetly told her to take note, I had solved the cinnamon roll battle once and for all with my new and improved, larger pan.

We discussed today in church a scene from Acts 4:13 that I came across a few years ago and even underlined, dated, and wrote about back then.  It is after Peter and John, in the name of Jesus, healed the crippled man.  They were called in and questioned, but did not back down because they were full of the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 4:13 records that the high priest and his “high” friends took note.  It says “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled and ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus.” 

They knew something was up!  They took note!  They could tell Peter and John had been with Jesus.  They went from ordinary men to being extraordinary because they knew the Lord in a deep and personal way!   They were able to do mighty things in the name of Jesus!  Yes, I am using way too many exclamation points because we have to take note of this passage of scripture if we want to move from ordinary to extraordinary.  We must get with Jesus. 

If you are looking for extraordinary in your home, work, school, finances, health, then open your Bibles this week and read Acts 3 and 4.  It is beautiful.  Take note.  Peter and John were different.  They stood out because of Jesus.  It had nothing to do with them nothing to do with their education, position in society, or anything else, but all to do with how they were living life and operating in the name of Jesus. 

Would someone at the grocery store, office, or in the classroom look at you and take note…wonder why you are different?  If so,

 

 

 

The house

I had a rare and enjoyable moment last week in the car with one of my kiddos.  Those of you with teenage children know that open communication with a child that age without distractions is a huge blessing!  When we cut through a small street in town, she asked me a question.

She said “Mom, what makes a house fall down… like I bet that house right there was really cute a long time ago?”  I had to think for a minute and try to tap into my husband’s logical brain and leave my creative one in the background.  My answer was immediately my column for the week because houses are like people and left untended, unchecked, unmaintained, will fall down.  Knowing she wanted a less abstract answer, I said “Well, Banner, one board at a time they rot, weaken, and crumble.” 

I asked my husband later and he said the foundation is the key because the house I was referring to was a pier and beam and termites usually eat them away.  The falling house has stayed with me all week and circulated around in my head like a washing machine in the middle of a cycle. 

Houses are like people.  Let’s just say that when you invite Jesus into your heart, the foundation is laid.  You go from sand to rock instantly because the Holy Spirit lives in you. If you feel like you live, stand, and are supported by only sand that gives way all of the time and has no stability, this is why.  You need to trade in the sand for the Rock. 

Even when you are standing on the ROCK and Jesus Christ is your Savior, you will have to maintain your house.  Here are a few maintenance tips:

Your house can not stay strong just by sitting in the same pew at the same church on Sunday.  You cannot mark church off of your list for the week and think DONE.  For a strong house to remain strong, it takes daily maintenance and a daily relationship with Jesus.  It take honesty and a willingness to ask the Lord what may be causing you to slowly rot by walking, talking and spending time with  Him.

A house can look nice, and have even have a well-manicured yard with blooming flowers and a great paint job, but if an unseen part is weak, it will fall. Sin is like that in our lives because often it is hidden.  We think nobody can see it, but sin is sin and no matter how great we look, it will spread infect us one day at a time, causing us to rot.

The house we saw that day did not just one day begin to fall over, and it was literally leaning over.  It was a gradual process.  It was one board at a time.  Obviously for a long time, nobody lived there.  The occupants moved out when it got bad.  The foundation eventually just gave away and everything above it, resting on it, depending on it, gave way! 

I am so thankful today to know that my foundation is Jesus.  He will never give way.  He is constant, strong, faithful, and wiling to hold me up.  He is the ROCK.  I accept that gift of grace; however, I also know that I must do my part to maintain my life by seeking the Lord daily.  Matthew 7:24 covers this well.  “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house on the rock.” 

This week, make sure you make time to hear His Word and get rid of anything, any sin that could make you fall.  If you have fallen, know your foundation in Jesus is strong and ask Him to pick you up.  With Him, you can rebuild. 

 

Holidays...a little late

I cherish Thanksgiving and refuse to decorate or listen to Christmas music until it is over. Therefore, I cranked up the Christmas music Friday morning and started dragging boxes down from the attic.

My Christmas decorations are random.  I do not have a theme or a collection of anything to speak of.  I do have a whole lot of special stuff that all comes together and tells our story of Christmas as a family…the plate we put Santa’s cookies on, my Grandmother’s nativity scene, my ornament from Miss Alford in first grade, a handmade quilt I recently was given, the wreath I made the first Christmas we were married, and our handstitched sequined stockings, but no proper collection.

However, I have a collection of thoughts about Christmas thus far.  First of all, we sure do pack a lot into the month from Thanksgiving to Christmas.  Calendars, bellies, and shopping carts are stuffed to the max. 

I heard a Grandson and Grandfather story that illustrates this concept well.  Granddad called Grandson and asked if he wanted a deer he shot.  He said sure and went on by his house to pick it up.  When he got there, his Granddad opened up his freezer and much to the young man’s surprise, the WHOLE deer was in the freezer.  It seems Granddad really did not want to mess with it after he shot it and just stuffed it in the freezer…whole, uncut, uncleaned, just the way it was when its life ended, top to bottom! 

We sadly do that too with Christmas by packing in all we can, not really enjoying the meaning of it and focusing on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Simply said, less is more, we can pack too much, and miss it all! 

The next thought I collected originated from a missing bulb in a strand of lights.  We had the tree lit up like a runway and then lost half of it because one bulb fell out.  Really?  Can one bulb make that big of a difference? 

When it happened, I thought…Yeah, ONE light, ONE PERSON can make that big of a difference.  One person in a church, an office, a classroom, or a family has the ability to bring so much light and love to others or so much darkness and discouragement.  Jesus was the first real light and He was born to light up the world. So, will you light up the world around you this year or make it darker?  One person does matter! 

My last thought was tonight.  We were on round two in the attic.  My son got smart and padded the bottom of the stairs with pillows and a folded up comforter.  He decided items not marked fragile could be dropped softly to the bottom.  Right before he let the first bag of garland go, our dog walked out of the closest bedroom and spotted the blanket in the floor.  Bubs saw the comforter as an open invitation to lay down right in our line of fire.  We could not get him to move and had to call from above in the attic for help.  Another Monico came to our rescue and picked him up.  We sure were glad he came to help us!

No matter your need this week, you can have help too.  Whether this holiday season finds you up or down, there is no greater time than to ask Jesus Christ to help you.  I love Isaiah 9:6.  It says “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Wow, that says it all and is the real meaning of Christmas! 

 

the skunk

Last Thursday morning my daughter got up at 4:30 to study for her last semester exam.  I crawled out of bed about 5:00 to help her.  I mean literally crawled…tis the season that we totally wear ourselves out.  I let our Jack Russell, Bubs, out to go take care of his business.

When I opened the door to let him in, a strong smell from outside nearly knocked me over.  It was like the sour gas smell that my hubby sometimes wears home from work, but in a highly concentrated form.  When Bubs came in though, the smell came with him.  It dawned on me, all of this is pre-first cup of coffee, that Bubs had been sprayed by a skunk. The smell was not really skunky.  It was too strong, fresh, and pungent to be skunk, but it was. 

My first thought was save my baby because he was hurting, disorientated, and funky.  I did not have any tomato juice, so I mentally went to plan B.  I tried to sneak him in the hallway bathroom to give him a bath.  I had some good shampoo and conditioner that I was sure would work.  

As I tried to woo him down the hallway before was forced to pick him up, reeking all the way, my daughter smelled him.  She was hiding completely under her blanket and screaming at me to get him out!  I also vaguely remember her saying that she knew a girl who smelled like skunk for a week because of her dog.  Everything at this point seemed very dramatic. 

The rising action reached a climax when my husband walked out of our room down the hallway and smelled my pitiful little Bubs. He met me waving his hands in the air at the bathroom right about the time I was going to lift my funky boy into the tub.  Needless to say, I did not get to bathe Bubs until that afternoon.  I immediately had to take him outside to begin “airing” out.  Dad’s orders!

I lit every candle I had, flipped the switch on our Scentsy collection, and continued on with my morning ritual minus my dog.  I got my first cup of coffee and sat down.  It was only 5:30 A.M., but I needed to regroup for sure because I smelled like a skunk. (Who would know though because my whole house smelled like a skunk?) 

I laughed because I never dreamed I would be willing to pick up a freshly sprayed dog and sneak him into the bathtub, knowing I would take HIS smell on ME!  My kids couldn’t believe I would do that either.  I tried to explain to them that when you love something or someone, you will do whatever it takes to help them, even if that means taking their smell, their mess, or their pain!  It is called sacrificial love.

It dawned on me as I explained it to them that Jesus was born to take on everything from us.  He was willing to live and then die for our sin.  That is love.  I think we sometimes hear the Christmas story and we believe He was born, but we wonder if He was born for us.  In Luke 2:10 the angel said “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people, for today in the city of David there has been born for YOU a Savior, who is Christ the LORD.” 

Christmas here will be good food, family, and fun, but I am reflecting on this thought because it is the real gift:

I once was_____________,

but Jesus took ______________away from me.

Now I am_______________. 

Write it down, fill in the blanks, know that the Savior of ALL was born for you.

 

 

Another ticket...

A few weeks ago I got pulled over on the way to school and got what I deserved… a ticket!  I have always had a heavy foot if you want to call it that.  You could say too that I put the pedal to the medal.  My cruise control is my best friend when I use it because it keeps me traveling at a slow and steady pace, not to mention a SAFE pace. 

At the time of my citation, we were on the way to town. For the first time all week, we were actually on time for school and work.  My Accord was packed full and rolling at maximum capacity.  The seats, floorboards, and dash were all being utilized because I packed in four kids and an assortment of backpacks and essential items that would be needed for the day. 

I am sure we were a sight to see when the officer peeked in and surveyed his surroundings.  We look like clowns at the circus in our little car ready to file out one by one.  He came up to the window and said “Mam, is there any reason you are in a hurry today?” 

I was totally honest and said “No, sir, no reason at all.  I was just driving, visiting, singing, and not paying attention.  I was driving too fast and I deserve a ticket.”  I had my license and insurance card ready and passed them over the oldest Monico. The officer walked back to his car to write my ticket.  He was very nice.

My kids asked me why I did not say I was late to work and try to get out of it.  One of them also used some early morning wit and said it looked like disco lights behind us…AGAIN! (This has happened before.)

I needed the ticket in a way.  I was out of line and not using my cruise control; therefore, being an irresponsible driver.  The ticket in an odd way has helped me, even though I hate to admit it.  It is kind of like when you just know that your kids need a spanking or to be grounded.  Children can be out of line and just beg to be put back in. 

One time on the way to town my boys were fighting.  The older one blurted out that they just needed a spanking.  I pulled over on a dirt road and gave them one.  Luckily I was wearing a belt.  We got back in the car and it was a much better day.  My boys needed to be “reset” that day.  Likewise, I needed to be reset and reminded to drive the speed limit. 

Yesterday I passed an officer on the way to town.  It glanced down at my odometer and was at totally peace because my cruise was set and I was obeying the law.  It was nice to not have to worry!  I was doing what I should be doing, right in the middle of the road and coasting along obediently at a nice speed.  There is a beautiful passage in Proverbs 4:25-27 that relates to this. 

It says “Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.  Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established.  Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.”  Watch your speed this week, but more importantly, watch your path.  Stay in the middle of God’s plan for your life!

I AM

This week has been a blur.  It has been a good blur, but full of activity and a BLUR to say the least.  We are knee deep getting ready for the book fair at school. We attended the Rock and Worship Road Show in Dallas Wednesday night.  The Second Annual Daddy Daughter Dance was a hit again, but required some preparation around here with my youngest daughter.  For the oldest, high school softball is up and running.  Add in some daily homework, and geez, I feel like I need a nap!  There has been a lot going on, and still is!

 At the moment, I am sitting next to my son urging him for the hundredth time I know to finish up his homework.  My other son is holding a whiffle ball bat in the kitchen and just chunked a dodge ball across the living room.  He just also got in trouble for beating out a rhythmic beat on the counter like he does so often.  He is destined to be a drummer or just drive us crazy!  In the meantime, my husband pulled out the lasagna to make his lunch for tomorrow, and instructed me on how to more properly cover the pan in foil so that it did not loosen when it is moved. 

It is really quite hysterical because in some odd way, I tend to operate better in this type of typical family madness. My fingers just type on.   I just left the computer because the boys dared me to go throw the dodge ball at my husband in bed.  That lead to a five minute match and now I am winded. 

Honestly in all of the chaos, fun, and busyness of my life, I could get really confused and bogged down and question my real identity...  Am I a referee, a personal go getter, or a parent trying to do it all and one step away from losing it and doing nothing at all?   

The thing that keeps me going is that I know who I AM.  I had to write a page of a book this week with my fifth graders.  I tried not to think too much, but just wrote what came to mind.  Our title and our topic for each page is simple:  I AM...

I wrote I AM…a wife, mom, daughter, friend, writer, runner, teacher, Child of God, forgiven, redeemed, saved, unorganized, not perfect, better than I used to be, a baker, getting more wrinkles, 42, and so on!  My fifth graders took on the same task.  The inspiration for our book is from how we begin class each day. Our mornings begin with an I AM statement.  My students have often inspired me and helped me get ready for the day.  I loved the day that our leader said, “I am tired and not feeling it today, but I am going to wake up and make it great.” 

Try your own I AM this week and just see what you come up with.  More importantly, read these I AM statements in John that Jesus spoke. 

I am the bread of life.

I am the light of the world.

I am the door.

I am the good shepherd.

I am the resurrection and the life.

I am the vine.

I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me. 

Even since I began writing this, I have been tested, overwhelmed, and a bit worried.  I will go back to my own I Am statements to keep my mind right, but much more importantly, I know I have Jesus on my side and He is…well, everything I need! 

Snow

It is currently Sunday afternoon.  I am sitting by the fire with a cup of hot chocolate.  I had the privilege of hanging out at church with a group of fun kiddos. I managed to fit in my standard twenty minute nap after lunch.  I can check off dinner because my hubby is preparing it as I type on his smoker.    I usually reflect back on the week before I start my column and pick something I have stashed away in my “mental” file cabinet.   There is one key word or one mental file you might say that comes to mind from last week:   SNOW! 

Wednesday morning as I drove across town, I felt like Fairfield was a winter wonderland straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie.  It was beautiful and white…I mean everything was white and massive snowflakes were still falling!  The sad part of the day was that by noon… it was not white anymore.  The pavement was gray again, cars regained their original paint colors, and the grass was once again just grass.  The hopes of Frosty showing up in a yard or two around town diminished before anyone even had time to fetch the first carrot for his nose. 

The snow was here for a minute and gone the next.  It reminded me of life.  I remember the exact chair I was sitting in at Sammon’s Cancer Center back in October of 2011 when I wrote “Wake UP” big and bold by Psalm 39:4-5 in my pink Bible.  It is about how fleeting life is.  Sure, it is easy to grasp the fact that life is fleeting when everyone around you is sick and you are going back in to have a mysterious lump checked out.  You go to make sure you are still a member of the remission club before you make plans for your next birthday party, knowing and feeling with every step you take towards the check–in counter that life is precious gift. 

Those days are the ones that you take the time to say I love you because life is measured in moments like a metronome used to keep time at a piano.  Life on those days is slow and wonderful because you take it all in, knowing every time your heart beats that it is a gift.  Funerals, hospitals, and even graduations, have a way of making us to appreciate the little things.  All of a sudden, we notice dimples in a cheek, blooms on a flower, and we cherish movie nights at home with everyone gathered in the same room.

What about appreciating life when you are late again, aggravated, tired of studying, sick of being a taxi driver, and just ready to move onto whatever is next?  The mundane and regular old days are when we take life for granted. We just cross days off of the calendar without a thought at all. 

When I stand next to my two sons and they are as tall as me, I realized life is passing too quickly.  When my daughter asks me to come pick her up in town and I realized next year she will be driving, it hits me. When I struggle to pick up my youngest and take her to bed, I remind myself to take it all and hug her tight. She is all the baby I have left. I pray daily to WAKE UP and realize the gifts I have been given.

We are not guaranteed tomorrow.  We nod in agreement when we hear that at funerals and at church, but do we nod in agreement when we hear the alarm go off in the morning and begin “just” another day?    

David wrote in Psalm 39:4 “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.”  That verse tells me to WAKE UP and make the most of life…to love with Lord with everything I have and to love and cherish the people around me. 

The FIREWOOD

Yesterday we got up early and headed outside expecting rain to blow through Fairfield by noon.  I left the dishes undone and saved the laundry for the afternoon when I was sure we would be trapped back indoors. 

Project #1 began with us on a mission transferring a massive pile of leaves from the backyard to the garden.  Supposedly leaves act as a fertilizer. It took us several loads using the wheel barrel and the wagon back and forth to clear out the leaf pile. 

After we checked that off of the list, we headed onto project #2 with a sense of urgency to clean out the martin houses.  My purple martin scouts will be here later this month.  I am a hospitable landlord for my bird tenants.  We lowered three houses and got them all cleaned out and ready for this season.  I did not know if we would finish or before the rain hit, but we worked at a quick pace and knocked it out in record time.

Next, we surveyed the firewood that needed to be split and stacked over behind the shop.  My oldest son and I strangely view firewood work as a hobby.  He is the expert splitter and I am the best stacker around.  I told him that we could start, but according to the weather man, it was highly unlikely that we would get much work in before the rain.  We kicked it into high gear, already having accomplished more by noon than we usually do in a whole weekend. 

When I got tired of transporting and stacking, I glanced up at the clouds moving in.  The dark clouds made me work faster. Brazos and I were on a mission.  We had a sense of urgency for sure.

Lunchtime came and went with no rain at all.  By early afternoon, we had managed to get a cord and a half of wood finished.   It was more than we ever dreamed that we could do an especially since the wood was project #3 on our list.   

Urgency was my thought all morning as I worked.   We were so productive! I began thinking as I stacked the wood that urgency might be a concept I should apply to more in life than just Saturday morning chores when there is a chance of rain. 

A sweet grandmother and momma went home to be with the Lord this weekend.  She lived with urgency.  She loved the Lord, her family, worked out a few days a week at the gym, and lived life to the fullest.  She seemed to live with urgency!  I want that.

My friends with seniors at home could give us all a lesson or two on urgency.  They are making the most of every minute they have with their babies, or their seniors now, while they are still at home.  I want that.

Urgency is not a massive “to-do” list and cannot be mastered with a new I-phone app.  Urgency is meaningful. It matters because it usually deals with relationships and people.   Maybe it is a relationship you need to mend, forgiveness you need to ask for, a phone call that is long overdue you need to make, or a leap of faith that you know you need to take. 

Like Nike says, JUST DO IT and urgency says do it today.  Live with a sense of urgency.  The top thing on your list today should be your salvation.  The Lord will return.  He will come back for HIS children.  The Bible tells us in Matthew 24:42 “Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” I love wording with “your Lord” in that verse.  The Lord is coming, that is true.  Is He YOUR Lord? 

Cleaning up...boy's room

I told a story a few weeks ago in a group of women. I know for sure that they will never think of me the same.  I let the cat out of the bag that sometimes I do not sort the silverware.  When my kids were little, I began a bad habit.  I started opening up the silverware drawer and just dumping all of the clean utensils in the drawer and closing it. 

One of the ladies in the group asked me if I knew that trays were made for that so that everything had its place.  I told her that I had two trays in the drawer, but sometimes I just ignored them to save time.  The silverware was clean and that was all that mattered to me! 

My laid back, lazy, crazy, whatever you want to call it approach of out of sight out of mind in my home came from cancer.  Before I was sick years ago, I was a slave to my house.  I could never just sit down or go outside and play.  I lived with a baby on one hip and a Swifter sweeper in one hand.  I discovered the Roomba floor robot vacuum and wore it out on my concrete floors because everything had to be clean. 

I still clean on my day off, but I clean knowing that it is going to be messed up again by that night.  Really, I just sanitize!  When I finally got well after 8 months of chemo and radiation, I decided that I would not be controlled by housework, but that I would play with my kids.  It is hard for me to admit that, nearly as hard as what I admitted about my silverware drawer, but it took cancer for me to not sweat the small stuff.

I have also mastered the art of closing my kid’s doors to their rooms.  I let them manage their mess.  Last Sunday night after a nice meal at Sam’s, my boys decided they wanted to clean their room.  I walked by checked out their work.  One of them was working on laundry.  (Big job because they have over a hundred pairs of socks I think.)  The other one was working through a few corners that needed attention.  When I made my way back by in only a few minutes, their room was sparkling clean!  I was super impressed and told them so. 

The next morning when I woke them up, I commented again that they must love waking up in such a tidy room.  Much to my surprise, Tuesday morning I made a laundry delivery to their room when they were at school, and could not believe that their room was already a wreck, and it had only been two days.  They had cleaned their room and not maintained it…not at all!  I closed the door and did not touch a thing.  I laughed and thought that their room was a picture of life. 

We can ask the Lord to clean us up and He will.  He will forgive us and wipe all of our sins away; however, it is not a one-time clean up (DUH, just like with the room.)  There is a life-long process of sanctification, forgiveness, and going back to Jesus Christ DAILY.  We can’t get all cleaned up on Sunday and then wait until the next week to do it again.  Well, we can if we want to live a miserable life weighed down in our own sin.  Romans 6:23 says “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”I will take that free gift everyday of my life.