All-Nighter

All-Nighter

With the New Year, brings an excitement of new goals, new hopes, new dreams, and new growth.  We truly emphasize the “New” in the New Year with all these aspirations.  But I wonder how many people DO NOT see the New Year with such a welcoming and positive attitude.  In fact, for some the New Year is just a continuation of the past. The year before may have brought troubles, woes and sorrows, and this year is starting off with more of the same.  Jobs, relationships, finances, health are all just hanging on by a thread. The only thing new is the date and the start of the New Year seems more overwhelming.

But as I was reading the story of Moses that I have read so many times, God revealed to me something new in the spirit of the New Year.  The position that Moses was in when the Israelites left Egypt was far from admirable.  With Pharaoh’s army behind him and the Red Sea before him and people all around him complaining, he must have felt pressed in all directions and trapped.  Not a good position to be in.

 Some of us may have started the New Year this way.  What was behind was not so good, what lies ahead seems daunting and all around us in chaos.  In Exodus 14, we are told that Pharaoh came after the Israelites with 600 of his best chariots. Perhaps some of us feel like we have had an army behind us ready to devour us with no escape in sight.

But, we know how the story ends. Moses parts the Red Sea and the Israelites make it across.  Yay! However, we cannot overlook some of the amazing things that scripture tells us in this story.  In verse 21 of Exodus 14, “Moses stretched out his hands over the sea and ALL night the Lord drove the sea back.” I truly do believe the timeline here is crucial because in verse 27 Moses stretches his arms over the Red Sea (to close it back) and at DAYBREAK the sea went back.  All night, Moses was pressed in all directions.  Can you imagine the stress, the anxiety, the heaviness of it all? Perhaps someone’s last year or last few years were like Moses’ all-nighter.  But in the midst of it all God was at work all night as well. There is where I draw hope from. In the midst of problems, God is there at work. He is on your side. The daybreak is coming if we trust God and stand firm, but it might be an all-nighterJ.

Have you ever stayed up all night?  From my college days of tests and papers to my mommy days of newborns and sick kids, I’ve pulled my share of all nights and let me tell you it is not pleasant. The bags under my eyes, the crankiness in my attitude and the pounding headache can tell you  a story of what I’ve survived.  But rest assure, God’s Word tells us if you “Commit your way to the Lord; trust him and He will act.(Psalm 37:5 ).“ And in what a mighty way did He act for the Israelites!  And I know He wants to act that way for me and you. I don’t know about you, but I love when God uses the most unconventional approach to show His wonder.  There is no mistaking His mighty work. He proved who He is, what He does and what His business is.  He is in the business of rescuing, protecting and restoring.  He proved to the Israelites that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26) and I know He wants to show you and me that too.   

So, it is time to ditch the New Year, Same Problems attitude that may have plagued your thinking.  God sees a New Year….Same Promises!  

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. 

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!  

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.  

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! :).

    

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!

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?