What is this?

I never thought about the spiritual aspects of giving my kids a bath or standing in a line at a grocery store. However, God has recently showed me some insightful biblical truths in some of the most mundane tasks in life. Whether I am driving, showering or sleeping each of these activities has a biblical truth tucked inside of it. In the forest of life, God’s biblical truth is inside each one of these trees. My hope is that others view the ordinary aspects of life through a spiritual lens and see what God teaches you.







Monday, October 14, 2013

Fearless

One thing I don’t miss about summer is the hawk eyes I would have to have when I took my toddler to the pool. For some reason, he had this fearless attitude toward the water.  No matter how much I would communicate to him the need for a life jacket, he wanted to roam the pool free without any assistance of a flotation device.   I would state to my husband, “if only he would develop a healthy fear of the water, things would be so much easier.”

Then I wondered how many Christians walk through life without a healthy fear of God? We are told in scripture to “Fear the Lord” but what exactly does that look like? Am I supposed to cower down and feel frighten because of all the power my Heavenly Father has?  After all, He flooded the earth and destroyed cities.  

But, fearing God doesn't mean I should be scared of him like a victim.  A godly fear doesn't cripple you or terrify you like we equate the human emotion of fear.   On the contrary, God is love and perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18).

Fearing God means having reverence and respect for Him. The fear of God gives me the right perspective as I journey through life.  Proverbs 1:7 states “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”  This is one of my husband’s favorite verses.  As many times as we've read this verse and discussed it, the word beginning never jumped out before.  It is funny how we want to commence with things without starting at the beginning.  My son wants to commence with his act of roaming the pool without ever acknowledging pool safety. After all, at swim lessons, instructors BEGIN with the KNOWLEDGE of pool safety.   Whether one is learning to sky dive, use a gun, or just drive a vehicle, instructors always begin with the course with instruction and then proceed with life application.  However, in life we want to start life application without knowledge.  Proverbs 9:10 states “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” We can’t expect for transformed lives if we begin in the wrong place.  The right place is with the correct fear.
 

So, what does a life without the fear of God look like? It’s reckless!  It’s careless!  It’s inattentive of the danger they are in. It is my toddler roaming the pool without a life jacket or wanting to hold mommy!    By fearing God through respect and reverence, we are opening our lives to skillfully apply the prerequisite needed as we venture through life. 

Monday, August 5, 2013

This or That!


The best parenting advice I was given to survive the terrible twos stage of parenting was to give my child choices.  Now, I am NOT talking about a two year old choosing their bedtime.  But choices such as a selection of different fruits to eat with lunch or a few outfits to choose from when getting dressed in the morning.  This little technique “you can have EITHER this OR that” has saved me countless battles.
With the new school year approaching and shopping for school clothes being on the agenda,  I was ready to rely on my tried and true method of either/or scenarios in my first ever school clothes shopping trip with my daughter.  Yes, I am sending my first child to kindergarten with excitement and anxiousness!  Then as we were shopping in our first store going through the scenario of you can either chose this collared shirt or that one, but no T-shirts (darn dress-code) something hit me like a brick. I had recently been presenting a current prayer request to God in this either/or platform. This glorious shopping day that I had been looking forward to turned into a spiritual lesson for momma. Ouch!
We may think we don’t do it, but we do.  We make statements like, God should I purchase this item or that one, should I choose this job or that one, should I punish my child with this form of discipline or that one. When in reality Jesus could want you to give the money or choose another profession instead of another job or exercise grace in the situation of parenting.  Regardless of the situation, giving God some multiple choice selections to solve a problem is foolish. The worse feeling of all is that I knew this, but for some reason the application wasn’t taking place until my shopping encounter slapped me in the face.
For some strange reason we think that we can tell Jesus how to solve or fix a problem.  We tend to present to Jesus our either/ or scenarios and expect Him to fulfill one.   I am reminded of a great story found in John 8 when the Pharisees bring Jesus an adulteress woman and state in verse 5 “In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such a woman.  Now what do you say?”  The Pharisees  decide to present Jesus with an either/or option. Either we stone her or break the law.   But Jesus doesn’t work that way and we should be THANKFUL He doesn’t.   He doesn’t do His work based on the options we present.  Instead Jesus gives the best answer of all. “If any of you is without sin, let him be first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7).  While this story is a great reminder of why we are not to judge people, the attitude of the Pharisees is another biblical truth often overlooked.  Jesus is not pigeon holed by the choices we present.   He knows what we need, but we often don’t know how to ask.  We are like a child who forgets the right way to ask for something.
Therefore, I want my prayers to be presented with openness and without restriction.  I want my prayers to be presented without limits or conditions.   For God knows far more about my problem than I do and praying a preferred resolution is well……. Reckless!  

Monday, June 10, 2013

Hello Dolly!

Every time I help somebody move, I ponder if having a root canal would be easier than packing up a whole house and moving.  Moving is a lot of work and I am thankful my husband and I recentlly were able to help some friends move.  As we began to unload the overstuffed moving truck, it didn’t take us long to realize the immense amount of work ahead of us.  The truck load that I thought was only going to take a couple of hours rapidly turned into an all-day project.   Some may think it is silly to pray about unloading a moving truck, but there was no stopping this prayer as I looked at the task at hand.
1.       Lord, please don’t let me break something.  I am a bit clumsy and the last thing I want is to break great-grandma’s china.
2.       Lord, please don’t let anyone get hurt.  Those items going upstairs do not look light!
3.       Lord, please don’t let me get too tired.  I want to be helpful and useful not a wimp!
At the beginning of the move, I would carry one or two boxes at a time in my arms. That quickly got old and tiring!  Throw in some Texas summer heat and uncomfortable shoes and the level of exhaustion skyrockets. However, I am forever grateful to the person who invented the dolly.   With the dolly, I could carry three boxes and not exert nearly as much energy.  It was a win-win.  More boxes, less energy meant quicker completion and more time for relaxation and fun.   The dolly became so convenient; I practically was looking for ways to carry pillows on it.  Soon, the running joke of the day became there is nothing to light for the dolly.  If a feather was packed in that overstuffed moving truck, I would have probably attempted to use the dollyJ.
 Just like the dolly in a move, God does the heavy lifting in my life.  With Him, I don’t have to weary to the extent like before.  He knows how to lighten my load.  “Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  He uses me to get the work done but I am weak without Him.  I can only do a fraction of what HE can do. As hard as I thought I was working during the move, I can guarantee you the dolly was doing MUCH more work effortlessly!   God is busy at work in our lives doing much more than we could ever imagine. We are foolish to rely solely on our strength and abilities not only to fix things but journey through life. 
However, God wants me to do my share. The boxes don’t just magically put themselves on the dolly, but I don’t have to do it alone nor without help.  He gives me the strength that I need to face the challenges ahead.  “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:29-31).  
It is hard to fathom never to grow weary when a walk down the street can feel like a marathon, but God’s strength never fades nor decreases.  His Word tells us “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.” This verse is a challenge in a world where being strong is an admirable quality. But as strong or tough as we may think, we are powerless when it comes to God in what He could do in our lives.  

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Small Fall

 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12)
Sadly, my daughter recently broke her elbow in some sort of freak fall. I call it a freak fall because where she fell from seems like nothing but it is all in the way you land I’ve learned.  She is in a hard cast for now and we go in for weekly alignment checks to make sure her elbow is healing properly.
There is nothing like an injury to remind you of a sound biblical truth.  The verse from above reminds me that when you think you are in good shape that is the time to be most watchful. My daughter fell playing on a playhouse.  Naturally so, my daughter exercised the most caution the higher she climbed on it. However, as she began to climb down caution exited her mind and thus the injury we have.  As the fun, joy and comfort crept in, caution, attentiveness and concentration slipped out. Sound familiar? This same scenario applies to our lives.  

Paul writes this verse from above (1 Corinthians 10:12) after giving a long history lesson of the sins in Israel’s past.  Despite the many times the Israelites were standing firm (God rescuing them, God providing for them etc.), they always managed a way to fall.  One would think that standing firm is a great place to be and IT IS…… if we are being watchful.  However, standing firm is also an open invitation for temptation to come pounding hard.  Therefore, we are told to be careful.
Being careful and attentive doesn’t mean being paranoid, fearful or obsessed.  If we are wise, we are careful with our money. If we are wise, we are attentive to our children.  If we are wise, we are careful with our words. There is nothing wrong with being careful!  In fact, it is when we are careless, distracted and absent-minded when the fall happens.   And if there is one thing I’ve learned, the fall doesn’t have to be high to cause damage.  A slight slip can be just a devastating. If you don't think so, look at what Adam and Eve eating from the wrong tree produced.
Now I hope after reading this you are not wanting to run into some quick sand.  LOL!  Drowning in a mountain of sin and troubles is no place to be either.   Standing firm is a great place to be that requires great vigilance.  I don’t have to recount someone who went from “fame to shame” in a matter of seconds.   We’ve all known someone who “had it all” and then witnessed the terrible dismount.  And the one thing I’ve noticed is that the fall is ugly, the fall is damaging, and it doesn't take much.
So how do you prevent the fall???? I’ll have to work on that for a future post. My first part 2 blog. LOL! :).
    

Saturday, March 30, 2013

The Unequal Sign



As a kid, the pawn shop became a place I was far too familiar with.  My family of five lived in a two bedroom low income apartments all of our lives. Dad’s work was contract; therefore, he encountered several periods of unemployment as one job would end and as he looked for another one. Mom, for the most part, stayed home with three kids.  Money was tight for a variety of reasons and a pawn shop became a place I quickly learned to despise.
I can remember coming home from school on different occasions to discover that our television, stereo, boom box, and dad’s guns were put in the pawn shop and sometimes all simultaneously.  No matter how it was explained to me, the pawn shop seemed to get the better deal. The trade that was made inside that shop seemed too unfair, too one-sided, and too unequal.   We only received a fraction of what are stuff was worth to get through the rough patch.
As I reflect on this Easter weekend, this experience from my childhood has reminded me of the MOST unequal transaction that has ever occurred… Jesus’ death for my sin.  My pride…. His Death. …..My greed…. His Death….My selfishness….His Death.   As angry as I was about the exchange that took place inside that pawn shop several years ago, Jesus made an exchange that was far greater.
We’ve all experienced getting the short end of a stick in one time or another in our life, but Jesus did willingly! He willingly traded his life and took “the raw end of the deal” for my wrong doings.  What a trade!  What an exchange! What a transaction!  I am so thankful for what He did! Through his death, I got a sweet deal and truly avoided what I should have gotten. ----Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men[a] because all sinned—(Romans 5:12)  
Thank you Jesus for this unequal transaction you performed for me!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Let the Madness begin...

----------Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. 2 Timothy 4:2------------
One of my favorite things about this time of year is March Madness. Don’t get me wrong, I know diddlysquat about college basketball.  Every year our family fills out a bracket and we compete with each other using some point system, fancy highlighter and black pen.  The winner gets bragging rights.  Every year I come up with a new name for my bracket and a new strategy for picking teams.  Sure, I eavesdrop a little on my hubby’s ESPN watching or read a few things on Twitter or online, but for the most part, my bracket is filled by using my own unique strategy. Some of the strategies in the past have included team colors, team mascots, places I’d like to visit, players jersey numbers and recommendations from my preschooler…. just to name a few.  The best part is…… I don’t do half bad! Many years, I’ve beaten my all-knowing sports loving husband. It is awesome!
I can’t imagine the amount of hours theses college teams practice during the season and out of season in hopes to make and advance in the prestigious NCAA tournament.  You only get one shot at it and that’s it!  The term off-season is so misleading for the fact that athletes many times train even harder through conditioning and weights during the” off” season to prepare for the upcoming season. 
As I get ready for one of mine and my hubby’s favorite sports season, the words in season and out of season stand out from the verse above.  To put it into context, Paul wrote these words, his last dying words, as he faced execution, to his friend Timothy to help spread Christianity.  Imagine if Timothy had said……”nah…. I am a bit busy now….Maybe some other time when things slow down. “
 Paul gave Timothy careful instruction on how to further the kingdom and to be prepared in season and out of season.  In other words, there is no “OFF” season.  Yet, why do I put my service to God as some sort of seasonal activity to do?  Service for the kingdom does not operate on a seasonal calendar.  Sports, work, and holidays may operate like this so it is typical of us to try to put God in the same category.   I am guilty of uttering the phrase “When things slow down at work, when my kids are a bit older, when I have more free time.” When, when, when, get the picture?
Timothy was told to preach the Word in season and out of season. Whether the time is favorable or unfavorable, whether the time is good or bad, whether it is convenient or inconvenient, do it.  What are we going to do for the kingdom regardless of the season?

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Acquired Taste Theory

My children have the strangest taste buds. They prefer chicken nuggets over a steak, they prefer frozen store bought waffles over homemade ones and their favorite meal is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I get a good laugh when my daughter compliments me on my “cooking” when she says, “Mom, you make the best cereal.”  It seems that the longer I take to prepare a meal, the more likely they are to not like it. I find myself saying “just taste it” before deciding that you don’t like it.  Then after they take the smallest bite possible, I add you need to try three bites to see if you like it. I call this the Acquired Taste Theory. Perhaps by trying it a few times, you might acquire a taste for it.  I can only hope!
As I encountered this situation, which sadly happens more than I like, the verse that comes to mind is Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” I promise your taste buds will be asking for more!  Now this does not mean “taste” church or religion, but to trust Jesus and discover that HE is good. Imagine your favorite food, regardless of what it is, giving you the best nutrients, the best enjoyment, the best satisfaction.  If only ice cream with chocolate syrup could do that but I digress.
His promises are good. His Word is good, and His love for you is good.  It is all good! It’s not going to spoil or rot. You are not going to suffer from heartburn, upset stomach, or nausea. The only disclaimer is to see how good HE is!
So….are you going to try it? Don’t worry, God doesn’t have a crazy Acquired Taste Theory.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Wrestling Match

Come near to God, and He will come near to you – James 4:8
I cannot be more ready for when my son is potty trained.  Not for the fact that I would be saving money (although that is an added bonus) but to put an end to the wrestling match of Operation Fresh Clean Bottom.  The WWE has nothing on the number of Wrestlemanias I’ve performed in! 
I don’t understand.  Doesn’t my sweet boy know that momma wins every time! Why does staying dirty so appealing? Why does a fresh, clean diaper cause such an uproar?  Despite the incentives……. and warnings, when the time comes, “come to mama” only directs my son in the opposite direction.
However, there is nothing like a 22 month baby boy and 80s wrestling matches to shed light into your spiritual life.   Come near to God, and He will come near to you (James 4:8).  My life can be in such a mess but I refuse to come the one who can clean it up.  It doesn’t make sense, but it happens more times that I’d like to admit.  All I can say is submission is hard.
Luckily, my wrestling matches with my sweet baby boy are just a few minutes. Experiencing a wrestling match like Jacob did with God sounds frightening and humbling at the same time. I chuckle when I read the part when God puts his “finishing move” on Jacob and knocks his hip out joint (Genesis 32:24-25).   I can still remember Yokozuna’s banzi drop, Macho Man Randy Savage diving elbow drop from the top rope and Bret Hart’s the sharpshooter.  All these classic moves brought an end to the long battled wrestling match.  This “finishing move” meant it was over for your opponent. We knew right away who the winner was going to be. (Yes, growing up with two brothers in the 80s gives you some deep insight into what was called the WWF).





Now, I hope that I haven’t scared you into thinking that God is out to put some killer move on you. (Ok, well…….He could). My point is this. The winner of the world wants to transform all areas of your life for the good and all you want to do is turn and run the other away. Yes, some pain may be required but the gain is greater than the pain.  As much as my son despises to get his diaper change and the momentary pause I've caused in his world of play, aftewards he is always better than before.   Come near to God, and He will come near to you – James 4:8

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Loud Mouth Christian

Loud Mouth Christian....another reason why I hate Megaphones
My husband and I had the privilege of going to a Houston Texans play-off game. Despite the freezing weather, we had a great time!  However, there is one memorable scene that I just couldn’t stop thinking about. As we were entering the game, there was a man standing on the corner with a megaphone and huge sign consistently and loudly telling people as they walked into the game that they were going to hell. Everything in my being wanted to say, NO I AM NOT like some kid but I smiled and walked by. The crazy thing was that he was still there after the game. Really??? Four hours of shouting that! This man was loud, dedicated and persistent! I wondered how many people repented of their sins. I wondered how many seeds were planted. I wondered if any lives were changed. Sadly, I think the answer is NONE!
I hate to say this but perhaps there might have been a slight truth in what this crazy man was saying; however, his delivery was far from proper.  I can’t help but think of the verse in Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh words stirs up anger.”  I think the part that was the most disturbing was the selective choosing of scripture to share the message. Now as I write, I will try to take what Jesus said in Matthew 7:3 (“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”) into practice. As harsh as I want to be toward this man, the premise of his goal (although executed poorly) is to win people to Christ.  I am going to remove the plank from my eye. What have I done to share Christ with others? God has called us to be the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World.  I have to confess I want to be those things without being “too salty” or “too blinding.” I want people to say there is something different about this person (in a good way) because they see the work of Christ.   Not……there is something different about this person and I just need to stay away like salesman knocking at your door at 8:00 pm or a highly contagious disease.  I want to be the right seasoning to bring out the greatest flavor. I want to be the perfect lighting needed for a dark room.  Sadly, I don’t think loud mouth Christian took these things into consideration.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Our Resolutions vs His

Well, we are a week into the New Year and I am excited that I have kept my New Year’s Resolutions. In my household, we don’t set major life changing New Year’s Resolution for the simple reason  that if something life changing is needed, well, I am not going to wait till January 1 to do it J.  Although I am not oppose to anyone making that type of resolution either.  I recently heard at a New Year’s gathering of someone giving up television for a year!
However, in our house we set minor goals. They are usually those things that we should be doing but we’ve been a bit lazy. Last year, my New Year’s Resolution was to clean out my purse once a month. I couldn’t believe the stuff I had stuffed in there and forgot about.

This year one of our resolutions that my husband and I have decided is to not buy anymore store bought salsa. We’ve tried several brands hoping to find one that we both like only to continue to be disappointed by the taste. I guess we are kind of like salsa snobsL.   We haven’t found that universal salsa that goes great not only with chips but all the other things we like to add it to. Thus far, we’ve been successful in making our own. We’ve made two batches and are extremely satisfied. Now, if we can only keep it up!

As I’ve thought about New Year and the resolutions we’ve set, the verse that continues to come to mind has been Lamentations 2:22-23. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  My eyes have been fixed on the phrase “new every morning.”
God’s mercies to me are new every morning not every year.  God is not waiting around till January 1 to pour out more mercy on me.  Neither is God going to terminate his mercy a week into the New Year like many of us abandon our New Year’s Resolution.
As I go about my year, attempting to be faithful to the resolutions I’ve set, I don’t want to forget the simple truth that God is faithful to me regardless of the time of year.  His mercy to me is new every morning and isn’t being withheld like a ransom. His love for me never ends like we say goodbye to one year and hello to another.   His resolutions NEVER CEASE!
PS: Can you still say Happy New Year a week into the New Year? I don’t know my Happy New Year etiquette.