rainy days

I am about to sound like such a whine bag, but I miss the sunshine already.  It has been partly cloudy for two days and I feel BLAH.  I also know I am getting older because I talk about the weather.  I remember when I was a kid thinking how old people sure did talk about the weather and who was kin to who a lot. 

Well, I am old now.  I do both.  I also drink black coffee in the afternoon and think that the radio is too loud in the car.  It rattles me, and I turn it down constantly. 

The rain today and being stuck inside tested me already. I was aggravated and agitated.  I felt restless.  The bad thing is that I was not the only one who was in a mood.  My kids were too. 

I will honestly be glad when we all go to bed tonight and start over again tomorrow.  I currently hear an argument brewing over how many yogurts have been consumed since our trip to the grocery store.  Yes, someone is counting. 

I think I was tested on the lesson I taught today in Sunday school.   We talked about not just being hearers of the Word, but doers.  James shoots it straight. He says in James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.” 

I gave the girls one example of how I put the Word into practice.  I give thanks often.  It sounded so sweet at the time! 

I shared with them that I believe giving thanks is a lifestyle and a daily practice that has changed my life.  Again, it sounded so sweet and even easy at the time. 

I did manage to give some thanks today.  I looked up and saw the kids out back swinging with their lambs. It was precious.  I gave thanks, but was thinking in my head that this instance was the first one in a while with them all smiling together!

My husband rigged up the fishing poles and repaired last summer’s damage.  My son, Bosque, could not wait to fish and went down to the pier tonight.  He was elated.  When I ran by them at the lake fishing together, I thought it was the cutest thing ever.  I gave thanks, but I kept on running to increase my serotonin levels. 

My daughter made a red velvet cake.  It was amazing. I gave thanks, but thought with every delicious bite I did not need the sugar!

By the end of the night, I remembered the first part of our lesson that I read out loud from James in class.  It says “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for a man’s anger does not bring about a righteous life that God desires.”  I would not say I was angry, but I was on the way. 

I realized in hindsight too I should have just listened more and talked less. That is the best plan sometimes.  Nothing I said was very positive.  The words in James came back to me.   

I played games with giving thanks all day and the LORD knew it. He knows all.  He sees all.  He loves me when I am up.  He loves me when I am down!  So, I will go to bed tonight and try again tomorrow because Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” 

got to go!

Last night and at the last minute, which is how “I ROLL”, my daughter and I checked ourselves into a hotel room in Ft. Worth.  After a fun-filled day of softball, we decided to stay the night instead of making the trek back home.  The sad thing was we did it to save time so she could work on a paper due tomorrow in English.  However, by the time I found a place that was safe with a price I approved of, we could have been in our own beds in Fairfield. 

Oh well!  The Holiday Inn Express in downtown Ft. Worth turned out to be just perfect.  She did not care by that point where we stayed!  She just wanted out of the car with me. I had reached my delirious stage where I tend to laugh at everything. 

Our room was pleasant, the bed was comfortable, the breakfast was yummy. We even had a room with a view of downtown Ft. Worth.  I rate the accommodations a 10.

The only problem with the hotel was that we had to leave!  We loved it.  We were too tired last night to do much exploring, and she had a 9:40 game today.  I sat in my bed as long as I could with my coffee.  We wheeled our bags to the elevator, and I said for the tenth time that I was not quite ready to leave.  (Yes, I talk in elevators and usually make friends by the time we reach our floor.)

This is a time of year that “I don’t want to leave, but I got to go” is a popular saying and thought.  It is graduation season.  Pre-K kids are leaving the security of their daycare setting and looking forward to big school.  We have elementary kids moving over the intermediate and Jr. High students venturing across the street to the high school. 

It is time to go for our F.H.S. seniors.  They will be moving onto college or the real world to work!  College graduates are also embarking on new and exciting, big things.  Let’s be real…The new opportunities are thrilling, but also scary at times for everyone involved (parents especially).  Leaving the comfort of what you know and stepping into the unknown is tough anyway you look at it.  Nevertheless, we all experience seasons in life where we know we want to stay, but it is time to go!  What do we take?  What can we carry?

Although I resisted leaving my hotel room this morning, I took something with me from it.  (No, I did not steal anything.)

My daughter chose a verse from Galatians for the back of her letterman’s jacket.  I read Galatians out loud sitting on the corner of our big bed.  The encouragement I received from the Word of God stayed with me all day.  God’s promises went with me to the ballfields, stayed on my mind at lunch, and journeyed with me all of the way back home today. 

It is pretty cool when that happens.  Reading the Word out loud in the morning will transform your day and your life.  If you are at a transition point or a crossroads in life, get in the Word.  It will help you make the move!  It will give you the strength you need when the time comes to wave goodbye to the known and say hello to the unknown. 

Psalms 143:8 says “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.” Spend time in the Word this week and know that Jesus Christ is with you and will be with you no matter where you go!  The question is:  Will you put your trust in Him?

 

trash

This is officially the time of year I go completely bonkers!  There are so many good things going on.  From awards days to field days, everything in May is fun.  The issues is that there are so many end of the year celebrations going on at one time that I get loopy.  However, I still live by my “One day at a time” motto.  I refuse to plan too far in advance.  It overwhelms me. I simply do what needs to be done until bedtime rolls around.  I sleep and then start over again the next day.  I also intentionally pause to take it all in and make myself remember how blessed I really am. 

In the middle of the hustle and bustle, I have made some random observations.

First of all, to save time this morning, I did not have the boys take the trash off or even set it on the back of our old Dodge.  I just plopped it right outside of the door.  I thought it was too early in the morning for my dogs to mess with it.  I thought wrong!  I switched out my third load of laundry and buzzed outside to look for something in my car to discover my dogs were in canine heaven digging in my trash full of weekend leftovers.  I fussed at them and picked up the mess thinking…that trash was just too close for them to resist.  Let me repeat that…the trash was just too close for them to resist. 

Oh, how I wish I could say that only dogs fall when tempted.  Sadly, we all do!  We can get ourselves so close to the trash, the trouble, or the temptation that we cannot resist!  My Dallas Pastor, Brother Mark, said a number of times from the pulpit “If you are on a diet, do not go into a donut store.”  The divine aroma of donuts is just too much for a calorie counter to usually resist.  Likewise, we all have things in life that will lure us in if we get too close to them.  Rick Warren says “Don’t just walk away.  Run.  You don’t fight it, you flee it.”

Another thought of mine this morning made me laugh out loud at myself.  My house is a wreck! I mean a wreck.  I was gone most of the weekend.  My hubby worked outside and got our food ready for the week like he always does, but my house has been neglected for a few weeks now. 

It needs a deep cleaning after a serious tidy up job.  I looked around the kitchen earlier and wondered where I should start.  The dishes seemed like a logical place to begin.  Instead of diving into them with Dawn and hot water, I picked up the phone to call my husband because something captured my attention that was HIS. HIS baggie of old beef jerky that we saved for fish food was annoying me. I needed to know what he wanted me to do with it.  It was in my way. (HA-HA)

He did not answer, and I am glad.  Why on earth I was worried about the beef jerky when I had so much to do?  I chose to focus on one thing that was not “mine” when I desperately needed to concentrate on the numerous tasks that were “mine.”  (a real knee slapper if you think about it)

Luke 6:42 in the Message Bible says “Do you have the nerve to say ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt?  Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.”

I will save my cute conclusion for next time.  Just read that verse again and get real this week with yourself and Jesus! 

Rubik's cube problems

Thanks to my son who begged me to buy him a Rubik’s cube, our family added a new hobby just in time for summer.  We typically swim in the lake and play basketball.  We firmly said NO to a Wii when the kids were younger and it was the hottest thing on the market.  We have continued to say NO over the years.  A big video game “set-up” seemed overwhelming to me.  I could not help but wonder if we would have as many controllers in front of the t.v. as we do shoes by the door. 

I was thrilled when Bosque asked for a Rubik’s cube though.  My husband and I both had them when were kids and never managed to solve our cubes, or at least honestly.  I took off the stickers and put them back on to finish it one day when my frustration reached an all-time high.  My hubby admitted to disassembling the whole thing and then putting it back together again.  Yes, we cheated. 

Excitement was in the air when I walked in with the Fred’s sack and dumped not one, but two packages on the couch.  The cubes were immediately unpacked and it was game on.  I was surprised when after only a few minutes, the playing turned to frustration.   The kids were actually surprised, disappointed, and mad that they could not crack the cube with just a few tries. DUH!

I scolded both of them and delivered my “Kids these days are just pitiful and think everything in life is supposed to be instant” speech.  Solving a Rubik’s cube is anything but instant.  It is a long process.  It takes perseverance and patience.

Since then, extensive research has taken place in our home on how to solve the cube.  They call it looking for hints or clues, but I call it cheating!    Bosque has taken more notes than he probably took the whole year in school.  He has studied his notes from intense internet cube hackers and tried to apply everything step by step, click by click.   

My son’s approach to his new toy has reminded me of the approach I should have to my problems and puzzles in life.   First of all, life is a process.  It requires patience, just like solving the Rubik’s cube.  Patience, like it is used in the Bible, means long suffering.  If our problems in life were instantly resolved, we would not have to seek the LORD, study His instruction book, and learn to trust Him and His perfect timing. 

Waiting can be frustrating though.  We first get aggravated and then just plain mad!  When we reach the point of being irate, we have two choices. We can give up, throw a fit, and sin.  In the case of the cube, we can throw it and hope it breaks! 

The other option is to dig deeper and look for help.  Bosque did that I guess when he began looking on the internet for clues.  We can do that in life when we begin looking in the Bible for clues on how to deal with the issue and honestly seeking wisdom from the Lord.

Psalm 40 gives me hope for the difficulties I have in life that just seem to linger, and linger, and linger.  David wrote “I waited patiently for the LORD; He turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” 

If your problems are getting you down, wait patiently for the LORD.  Seek him, spend time with Him, know that he will lift you out of whatever you are IN, and even give you a firm place to stand!    

 

 

20 minutes

I should have been a trucker.  I love driving.  I have covered many a mile with my kids and with my hubby when he is off of work and can tag along.  Call me crazy, but I love coffee, being trapped in a car, and the open road.  I am fully content to just ride and look!

The reason I love buckling up in the car and taking off is that there is no housework, homework, or honestly work at all.  There is nothing much to do but just drive along and sing along.   I traveled all over the world when I was younger.  My budget is different now and traveling with six and especially flying makes me a nervous wreck, so I consider every little trip we take as an adventure and a trip.

A bonus too is that I feel like I have the attention of my kids when we are in the car.  There are fewer distractions than if we are at home.  Some major life topics have been covered on the road to and from Dallas, to and from town.  The bigger topics take 90 miles. The smaller ones can be tackled in just 10. 

My son and I had some alone time in the car last week.  We listened to Hank Jr. and Alabama.  It was one of the highlights of my spring break. I don’t know if he would agree or not, but to me…it was big!

We also loaded up the Suburban and went to San Marcos over the week with the high school softball team.  It was a perfect mix of softball, shopping, and stopping off at a few Texas landmarks.  We had dinner at Black’s BBQ, took in the scenery at Riley’s Tavern, and stopped off at Gruene Hall.  My husband was the driver. I was the navigation specialist and the one who answered the popular question “How much longer?” 

By the time we reached Buc-ee’s in Bastrop on the way back, everyone was making fun of me and calling me a liar.  I always get told to hush, but this was more than that!  I totally got called out!

It seems that every time they asked me how far it was to here or there, I would say “Oh, about 20 minutes.”  When the kids were young and all trapped in car seats with sippy cups, my answer was always “Oh, about 10 minutes.”  I did not realize until this weekend that I had upped the time and that we had officially progressed to 20 minutes!

Going to Riley’s, it was 20 minutes.  From Hearne to Fairfield, we had 20 minutes.  Bastrop to Sequin was 20 minutes.  Gruene Hall back to our hotel was 20 minutes.  Finally, it caught up with me. One of the kids said, “Mom, you can’t just always say 20 minutes.  We do not believe you anymore.”  I must have said 20 minutes one too many times and someone did the math.  My 20 minutes turned into 60, but I was still just saying 20.  Oh well!  I was busted!

You might say 20 minutes became my standard reply.  I have other standard replies too.  One of them being JUST BE NICE!  That one is a big hit with me. 

1 Peter 3:15 reminds us that we better be ready to give a reply to others when they ask us why we are the way we are.  It says “Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you are living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy.”

Quite simply for me, the way I am and the way I try to live has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Jesus.  What about you?

Easter

Today is Easter.  We are eating our second Easter meal now as we speak.  I have had an Easter buzz all week leading up to it.  However, it is not the kind of buzz I have had in the past because I planned too much and worked myself into an adrenaline tizzy. 

I am proud to say too that my excitement has not originated from the sugar content in Reece’s eggs.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am sugar junkie.  I got off of the sugar rollercoaster a few weeks ago and have felt like a million bucks.  (I did cheat and have a few slices of pound cake this weekend without anyone knowing…until now)

My enthusiasm related to Easter started growing when I began working on my Sunday school lesson earlier this week.  I stumbled upon one of my favorite verses in Isaiah 53:45.  The Prophet Isaiah lays the groundwork for what really would one day take place when Jesus died on the cross when he said “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

There is also a song that is based on this passage.   I remember exactly where I was on my way to Palestine in 2008 when I first heard it. It is called “By His Wounds” by Mac Powell.  The world around me seemed to slip away that day.  The lyrics touched me.  I could relate!  All I could think about was “By His wounds, I was healed.”  I bought the C.D. and wore it out. 

On that particular day, I had just completed 6 long months of chemo and 15 days of radiation.  My cure rate was not so good when I first was diagnosed with Lymphoma, but I had been healed!  I had not only been healed of cancer though.  I realized at that moment had been healed of a long list of other things.  (The process still continues today.)

By His wounds, I was healed of the sin in my life that many times had threatened to take me down.   The punishment and pain that Jesus endured on the cross was to bring me peace and forgiveness.  I was living in His amazing grace…free and healed!  It all lined up that day and became very real to me.  Cancer made me realize that there had been a healing going on way before I ended up at Baylor Dallas with a visible illness.

It is true today and I journeyed back to this truth all week…by His wounds, we are healed.  I am completely in awe of that truth right now as I type.  It is like I need to scream out “Lord, I get it.  I get it.  I am healed.”

Because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, you are too.  You are healed of death.  You are healed of eternal separation from Christ.  You are healed from addictions and habits.  You are healed of worry.  You are healed of fear.  You are healed of insecurity.  You are healed of your attitude.  You are healed of negativity and bitterness.  Simply said, by His wounds, you are healed. 

The healing is available to all.  The price has already been paid.  It was paid on the cross many years ago.  We simply must accept it.  The healing process begins with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is the most important relationship you will ever have.  All others depend on it.   The only question is:  Will you allow Jesus to heal you?

the wreck

I witnessed an interstate closure this morning before the sun was even good and up.  I spotted a warning sign right before I reached Dallas.  The sign informed me that all lanes of I-45 would soon be closed.  I quickly went back to my “Dukes of Hazzard” days and surveyed my surroundings. I have been known to go off-road in these situations and find the nearest ditch that can possibly be crossed; however, there was no escaping this one.  I was surrounded by the Trinity River bottoms and actually up on a bridge. 

I pulled on up slowly and assumed my position in line behind the other brake lights in the que.  Everyone around me seemed cool and calm.  It was really too early to get worked up and in a tizzy. 

I could see the flashing police lights up ahead and one red car over on the guardrail in pitiful shape.  The only action was a wrecker who announced his arrival by honking his horn as he squeezed by in the left hand lane. He squeezed in like I used to squeeze into my Rocky Mountain jeans… many, many years ago. 

The scene was pretty tranquil though, until the lady next to us got out of her car and began working her way up towards the collision on foot.  She returned to her car and started trying to shimmy out of her spot.  I knew what she was doing.  I could read her mind. 

It took her several rounds of backing up and going forwards to inch her way out.  She eventually made her way over three lanes and onto the exit ramp ahead of us; however, the ramp was blocked by a police officer.  

The wreck had nearly cleared, but she wanted an escape.  She was looking for a shortcut and an easier way out.  She was fed up with the waiting game and took matters into her own hands or into her own steering wheel you might say.

I got to thinking…we, living in the world of instant, often want a faster route out of our problems and into solutions, resolutions, and peace.  When we are not at peace and something is out of whack, we can automatically behave like the hurried lady on I-45 and who looked for a quicker way out.

When we lack peace, we try to buy it, take it, drink it, or simply imagine that we are obtaining it by escaping into our own space and withdrawing from the world around us.  Sadly, just like the anxious driver failed, we fail when we look for a shortcut or an alternative.

Instead of escaping or trying to muster up your own peace this week, go to Jesus.  Consult with Him about why you are not experiencing rest.  He is the only real source of it anyway.  The solution may not be instant, but His peace really is.

Do not get me wrong though.  Jesus does not operate like a drive though.  Sometimes He does make us wait!  That is called patience and perseverance.   

I found a passage this week in Romans 5:1-3.  Paul wrote “Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance.” 

I can handle suffering when I know the LORD is involved.  I can also stand in grace, peace, and in faith with Jesus.  What about you?  Do not look for a shortcut this week or a seemingly easier way out.  Look for Jesus.