Shoes

I learn so much about God from my children. They do things that make me absolutely crazy and then I think about how God sees his children.

The other day I learned something from my two-year-old. She is quite the little challenge. She is a survivor baby, so she is incredibly persevering. It seems as if I am learning a lot from her lately. Not going into the whys of that right now!

My dear child loves shoes. So she found dad's running shoes and put them on and started walking with them. The problem was her little feet are two small to fill daddy's shoes, so as she tried to walk she kept stumbling and falling. As she stumbled she dug in more, getting angrier with every step, whining and yelling all the way. Finally giving up and abandoning the way too big shoes, she ran over to me and hit me out of sheer frustration.

I sat there in amazement as I saw myself. I try to wear His shoes, worrying over my path, whining the whole way because it is not working like I had imagined. And then getting mad at him for the frustration of my walk.

I just held her in my arms, comforting her. Knowing that even when we get mad at God, he still takes us in and comforts us.

God is amazing and full of grace!

From hubby's blog

I stole this from my husband's blog, who stole it from Perry Noble. I had to share.

I’ve just about had enough…and am so glad I left the country yesterday…that way I don’t have to listen to this crap anymore.

And no, I’m not talking about the politicians and their crazy adds on television that are right in line with a middle school “yo mama” fight!

I’m talking about the Christians who have prostituted themselves with the political process and taken their eyes off of Jesus as their Savior and put them on either McCain or Obama as their Savior.

It’s STUPID!

Should we have a political opinion as Christians? HECK YES! Should we vote? ABSOLUTELY! I think a Christian who doesn’t vote is completely missing an opportunity that God has blessed us with as citizens of this country.

BUT…we can’t actually think that the salvation process is tied to who happens to be in the White House!

In reading through the Gospels the other day something HIT ME like a ton of bricks…the Jews missed the fact that Jesus was the Messiah because they were looking for someone to deliver them from the politics of Rome.

Let me say it more clearly–they missed Jesus because of politics!!! (And religion as well…but that’s another post!)
For a Christian to claim that the world is going to be doomed to hell because a particular party happens to “control” the White House is a slap in the face of a Sovereign God.

He reigns! Read through Scripture & it is so clear…God has used kings and princes that were sold out to Him…and He’s also used those who had no love for Him at all…all for HIS glory!

So…next Tuesday…go vote! “For who,” you ask…well, here’s an idea…ask Jesus who to vote for…and then do what He says. (Yes, it REALLY is that simple.)

Then…whoever gets elected…PRAY FOR THAT MAN OFTEN! Even if the guy you want to win doesn’t…all the more reason to pray!

One more time…YES, we should have political opinions…and YES, it is OK if they are strong AND we believe in the cause…BUT PLEASE let’s not make the mistake of thinking that God is somehow limited by the policies and philosophies of a particular party!

HE REIGNS! Always has, always will!

Wrestling, Blessings and Cud

I love the story in the Old Testament of Jacob wrestling with the Angel of God. I always thought it was an odd thing to do. Usually when an angel appeared in Old Testament, one fell down in awe or a meal was prepared or some other act of reverence. But not Jacob. No, he wrestled with the angel and would not let the angel go until he blessed him. There is really no explanation in the scripture that explains the wrestling match. It just kind of comes up in the story of Jacob. I am sure there is more to the story but I guess we will have to wait to hear it. But in the end Jacob is changed. He now becomes Israel.

So this idea of wrestling and blessing and change are found together. One is based on the other.

I know I have had my experience with wrestling, whether it was an idea or decision or season of uncertainty. But it was only when I fully "wrestled" it out did I receive the "blessing". So then why do so many shy away from uncertainty? Why is there not more "wrestling" among God's people? It seems as if we would rather have our spirituality feed to us by those who have already done the wrestling. But when we do the hard work ourselves it becomes who we are. It seeps into our very being, weaving its way into the fabric of our core.

There are so many things in scripture that are really hard to understand, either because of our limited human intelligence or because it is unnatural or because God has decided not to reveal the truth to us yet. And when we come across these difficulties, we have some choices. We can either turn the page so that we don't see it or we can stick it into one of the many assumptions that we already have. Or we can sit and chew on it awhile. I have this illustration about this, it is not pleasant and I wish I had another one, but here it is. It is kind of like a cow chewing her cud. She chews her food and then chews it some more, so that she can digest every part of it. (interestingly enough when I looked this up I found this statement, "Cud chewing can often be used as an indicator of the health of a dairy herd.")

This idea of wrestling takes time. It is something that takes effort and perseverance. But in the end we are changed by the blessing of God. In the passage, Jacob said, "I will not let you go until you bless me." Hang on and wrestle and be blessed!

Random Questions to Ponder

• Why do children only throw up between the hours of 3 am and 5 am?

• Why must children only hurl the day clean linens are put on their bed?

• Why don't children of the same family get sick at the same time instead of one right after the other, which makes for a very tired mommy for a longer period of time?

Just random questions I am thinking about today. Nothing spiritually deep and renewing. Just ponderings of a tired mommy.

New Book

I am currently reading this book. Mark Batterson is the same author that wrote "In a pit with a lion on a snowy day." Oh my goodness. It is a very good book. Robbie keeps telling me to hurry up and finish because I am constantly going to him and telling him, "Listen to this..." And then I read him a page. He hates to be read to. But I will blog more about it when I am finished. Meanwhile go get it for yourself!

It is along the same lines as his afore mentioned book. But different... It talks about the adventure of following the Holy Spirit! I am pumped. I really want to do this as a book study.

Control is an illusion

I spoke on the subject of control, briefly, last week. There were quite a few people who had a problem with the statement, "Control is an illusion." Now I have to admit quite a few years ago, I would have had the same reaction. But a few things have changed since then. One is I have learned that control is an illusion. Now, mind you, this is coming from a typical first-born, type A, minor ocd personality type. I have had my issues with control (and some may say I still do, but I can't control what they think!) I have learned this fact: I cannot control one thing in my life other than my reaction to it, and even that is sometimes tricky.

There is not one thing that I have absolute control over. As much as I would like to, I can not "control" my children. I can discipline them and instruct them in ways that are right, but I can not "make" them do what is right. When they are left alone they will make their own choices, and thus suffer the consequences, and I can't control that either.

I can not control whether or not a hurricane will devastate my town. I can prepare with the necessary supplies, but where that storm hits is not up to me.

I can not control my parents... I can not control the economy or the gas prices...I can not control the neighbor's dislike for children...I can not control our government leaders...I can not control church attendance... I can not control ________.

When you think about, how burdened would my life be if these things were possible. And yet we live as if these things were possible.

Forgetting that it is God who puts these things in order. It is God who takes care of his people and his creation. It is God who orders the heavens, as well as our government. It is God who has ultimate control, we are just privileged to be included in his plan.

The only thing that I can have any influence in is "Am I open to the Holy Spirit's leading?"

And so that is why I say Control is an illusion!

Wordless Wednesdays

And we think "our" economy is bad! This is a picture of Haiti during and after the hurricanes that devastated their country.

First Reactions

I wish my first reaction to a difficult situation was grace. Far too often it is not! Yesterday, during church, an issue arose that made me want to scream! (It was a personal situation and had nothing to do with anyone at church! So don't read this and think I am talking about you!) But instead of grace, I hid. Yes, literally, hid in my hiding space (not telling you where this is!) I hid so that I could regroup and allow grace to flow. Then I went into the bathroom, washed my hands, looked into the mirror and said, out loud, "Christie, Practice Grace!" and then I heard a toilet flush in a stall. I thought I was alone, but I wasn't! (I ran out before I saw who it was) Kind of embarrassing!

But back to my original thought. Why can't my first reaction be grace? Why do I need to go into the bathroom and give myself a pep talk? Why doesn't grace just happen? I know some will say, "You must first understand God's grace before it can flow through you." I do know and experience God's grace. He is so gracious to me in more ways than I even know! He overwhelms me with His grace. But my gut reaction is to spew, now mind you I don't do that but I want to!

So I guess I will continue to practice!

Entertain the Masses

There is a great quote in the movie "Gladiator". It is made by the bad Ceasar, Commodius. It goes something like this, "Entertain the masses and the state can do anything." (Although this is not an exact quote, it is close to it).

I have been thinking about this quote a lot lately. And unfortunately I think we may be close to there as a nation. It is this idea that if it "looks" good, then vote for it. This election is incredibly important and can not be based upon entertainment values. Think about who you are voting for. Research the different candidates and make an informed decision. Disclaimer: Watching the network news does not count. Find out more than what the entertainment networks want you to know. Know what the candidates value and stand for. Because, as another quote goes, if they don't stand for something they will fall for anything.

TV as idol.

I have long had this theory that the TV is an idol that we bow down to. I mentioned this on Wednesday and someone sent this to me. I love it! Thanks Devyn!

Warning: I am talking politics now!

OK! My tongue is bleeding because I am biting it too much!

A few weeks ago as I was scanning the bloggy world, I came across a few blogs talking about politics and specifically Sarah Palin. These were not political blogs but blogs by christian women. The meat of the posts were something like this:

"Great! Now I can't vote for McCain because he picked a woman as his running mate."

"Hasn't McCain read the bible where it says women should not 'rule' over men."

(And my personal favorite) "McCain is evil because he chose a woman." Yes, the author actually used the word evil.

Now here is where I will take a deep breath.

Are you kidding me?

Please everyone get out your bibles and turn to Judges 4. In this chapter you will find a very interesting thing. There was a woman (gasp) judging Israel (even bigger gasp). Her name was Deborah. Judges were appointed by God. She not only led Israel but she even led them into battle. And Israel won because another woman, Jael, drove a tent stake through the enemy's head (not sure exactly how this happened). It was because these two women stood up that Israel won the battle. And you will also note that under her leadership Israel became stronger.

God is unable to do what is wrong. He appointed Deborah to this leadership to lead Israel. If this was wrong he could not have done it. So why is McCain "evil" for choosing Palin as his running mate?

In my bible, it says that the same Holy Spirit that lives in man also lives in woman. We, who are christians, are united by His Holy Spirit. Galatians 3:27-28. Then why say she is not qualified because she is woman?

Please respond to this.