Monday Morning Memo: Hoop and Holler

I shared with you last week that we recently had our grandson stay with us for a few days.  We spent quite a bit of time outside with him shooting baskets, watching frogs jump into our pond, checking the garden to see how our plants were doing, picking strawberries, riding on the tractor with Grandpa, etc.

I think one of his highlights was riding our tricycle and toy John Deere tractor, since this has been a goal of his since last summer.  Last year, his legs just weren’t long enough, even after Grandpa put wood blocks on the pedals.  As hard as he tried, he just couldn’t get a forward motion on either “vehicle”.  So, when the weather started to turn warm this year, he wanted to try again.  Unfortunately, the first time he tried, he failed as before.  His feet were just shy of where they needed to be to get the wheels turning.

It was interesting though to watch him after he failed the first time.  He walked away and started doing something else.  Then after awhile, he walked back, sat on the tricycle and tried again.  After several attempts, he got frustrated and once again, gave up and returned to another activity.  But then, something very interesting happened.  He walked back over to the tricycle for the third time, sat down, and rode it across the driveway!  I’m not sure who was more shocked, him or me, but both of us smiled broadly and I let out a hoop and a holler.  It was time to celebrate! 

 

I thought about this event when I read our quote for this week – “Giving up on your goal because of one setback is like slashing your other three tires because you got one flat”.  Elias’s desire since last summer has been to ride the tricycle all by himself, but he had lots of failures in between his first attempt and his final success.   If he would have given up after his first try last year or his first try this year, figuring that he would never be able to do it, he would have missed out on the excitement of reaching his goal.

This got me thinking about the times when I have given up on a goal that I have set.  I usually have good intentions at the beginning, but when I have faced a setback, there have been times when I just gave up.  I have figured that if I couldn’t succeed in my time schedule, I might as well just accept the “fact” that what I thought I should work towards just wasn’t attainable.  It is at those times, when I have often failed to remember that maybe my timing and God’s timing are different and I just needed to be patient.  It makes me wonder what would have happened if I just would have kept trying.  Who knows, maybe my ability to reach my goal would have occurred on my next try…or even on the third or fourth try…causing me to be able to hoop and holler because of my achievement.

What about you?  Have you given up on a goal that you have set, because a setback made you think you would never see success?  I want to urge you to give it another try, whether it is your second, third or even fourth attempt.  Remember, God’s timing for you to reach your goal may be totally different than yours and His timing is always perfect.  You just never know, success might be just around the corner and then you will be smiling broadly and have the opportunity to hoop and holler too.  Believe me, Elias and I can both attest to the fact that life doesn’t get much better than that!

^“But as for you, be strong and do not give up, 

for your work will be rewarded.”

2 Chronicles 15:7

Monday Morning Memo: Asking "Why?"

Last week we were blessed to have our three-year-old grandson, Elias, with us for a few days.  He is very easy to have in our home because he is well behaved and he sleeps well (which really helps this getting-older grandma!).  But I must say, if I had a dollar for every time he asked me “Why?”, I would be a very wealthy woman J

I shared on Facebook a conversation that I had with Eli while he was here.  He was my assistant in the office every morning and on one of the days he was having fun opening and closing a door between 2 of our offices. After awhile I said, "Eli I don't want you to keep closing that door because I can't see your radiant face when you are in the other room."  After a few minutes, he came running up to me and said, “Grandma, can you see my radiant face now?”  Oh yes, I could see his radiant face; up close and personal!

The next day, we were outside getting some batting practice in and he wanted to pitch the ball to me.  After a few wild balls, he tossed it perfectly to me…and I missed it.  So I said to him, “Eli, that was a really good pitch.  It was my fault that I missed it.”  He smiled and we continued.

After awhile, he decided it was time for him to bat so I started throwing the ball to him.  After the first ball that he missed, he looked at me and said, “Grandma, that was a really good pitch.  It was my fault that I missed it.”  That’s when it hit me, once again.  I have a living, breathing tape recorder following me and listening to every word!

Thankfully in those two instances, he repeated positive things that I said.  Unfortunately, I’m sure that isn’t always the case and I’m really confident that it wasn’t always the situation with my own children.  I know I’ve written about this before, but I think it is something that we each need to be reminded of periodically.  You may not have grandchildren following you around, but I guarantee you that there is someone in your life that is watching and listening to how you act and react.  They may be in your home, or at your job, or in your neighborhood or even sitting next to you in the pew at church.  Someone is watching you and the sobering thing is that what he or she sees in you may make the difference whether they spend eternity in heaven or in hell.

Now some of you may think I’m being overly dramatic and blowing this way out of proportion, but I would have to disagree with you.  If you and me are professing Christians and an unsaved person sees us:

         *running others down

         *degrading our spouse

         *being a part of dishonest dealings in our workplace

         *having bursts of anger

         *living in fear of the future

         *being constantly stressed (and I could go on and on),

why would they want to accept Christ?  If our life doesn’t look any different than theirs…what would make them desire to have a personal relationship with our Jesus?

We are living in a mixed up world that seems to be tilting on its axis, so there has never been a more critical time for Christians to be different than the world.  The unsaved need to see that because we are devoted followers of Christ, we treat others with love and understanding.  They need to see that all of our business dealings are above board with no hint at all of dishonesty.  And I think most of all, they need to see that we aren’t living in constant turmoil and fear and as a result, we have a peace that passes all understanding.  If this is how we are living, then when they ask “Why?” we are the way we are…they will be willing to listen to our answer.  That my friend will impact eternity in a very powerful way. 

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.  Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.  You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.”

                                             Ephesians 5:1-5

Monday Morning Memo: Every. Single. Day.

I’m sure for all of us, there are weeks where we feel fairly positive and make it through relatively unscathed.  We feel productive in our job and our family came through the seven days without any major disasters.  Our car didn’t break down and we weren’t involved in any accidents.  The week may not have had any huge momentous occasions, but sometimes “normalcy” is enough to check it off as a good week.

Unfortunately, not all weeks even make it to that “normalcy” level.   Wherever you turn, something is going haywire.  Everywhere you go at work, there is someone who thrives on getting under your skin.  One of your kids gets the flu and is gracious enough to share it with the entire family.  Your car breaks down and to get it fixed is going to cost a small fortune.  Again, there isn’t one huge momentous occasion to make the week be so stressful, but the culmination of several frustrations is enough to make you really thankful to reach the weekend.

That was my past week.  It started with me throwing my shoulder out of whack.  Now if I had some amazing story to tell, like I was skydiving and my shoulder was injured as I crashed to the ground, it might have made it easier.  But in my case, I was barely bumped into, causing me to jerk slightly and as a result, I suddenly knew things weren’t where they were supposed to be.  The pain that followed was the kind that makes you feel sick in the pit of your stomach.  Fortunately a trip to my chiropractor helped, but I still had pain the rest of the week. 

That event pretty much set the tone for my week and although nothing else went majorly wrong, I really struggled to have the right attitude.  To be honest, by Saturday I was tired mentally, physically and spiritually and usually when that happens I start having a pity party.  I was working in my kitchen and asking the Lord why in the world He wired my body backwards, causing me so much pain.  Didn’t He realize that I could serve Him so much better if my health improved?  Now maybe you’ve never been there, feeling the need to whine and complain to the Lord, but I’m not proud at all to admit that’s where I allowed myself to be.  I chose to wallow in my negative feelings, allowing my circumstances to rob me of my joy.

Naturally, this doesn’t please my Jesus and so as usual, He had to put something in front of me to wake me up, so to speak.  Dan was working at our desk and he handed me a card that he had found.  I looked at it and it was an old business card of mine and on it were these words, “Real faith is not just receiving from God the things we want.  Real faith is accepting from God the things He gives us.”  Yep, I was hit right between the eyes.  Anyone can have joy if things are going exactly as they want it to, but a true, devoted follower of Christ has joy even when they are given unexpected detours.

I couldn’t get what I had read out of my mind and I finally knew I needed to ask the Lord to forgive me for my whining and lack of joy.  I know that it says in Romans 5:3-5, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment.  For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”  Nowhere in that scripture does it say I can whine when I don’t get what I think I need.  It doesn’t say that I have a right to feel sorry for myself and throw a pity party.  No, it says I should rejoice, knowing that whatever the Lord brings my way is designed to make me stronger and improve my character and as a result, I will look more like Him.

Of course, I then went to church yesterday morning and soon realized as our Pastor shared with us, that the Lord wasn’t done speaking to me yet.  Our Pastor shared a statement that really spoke to me. He said, 

“It’s time for us to move away from just agreeing 

with what Jesus said, and start doing what He said.”  

Yep, once again I was hit between the eyes.  It’s just so easy for me to wholeheartedly agree with what Jesus said, knowing full well that I am to have joy and praise for Him in whatever circumstances I find myself.  But actually living that…day in and day out…isn’t what I always do.  It’s so easy to point my finger and think others should be “Jesus with skin on” for those who need Him, but neglect to do it myself. 

As our service came to a close, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I needed to go to the altar and once again, ask the Lord for forgiveness for losing my focus.  I also knew I needed to ask Him to give me a new sense of His love…not for me…but for those with whom I come in contact. 

Maybe your week wasn’t all that went haywire.  Maybe it’s been the past month or even year that has you in a funk.  Hopefully you are stronger than me, but if you aren’t and you also find yourself whining and complaining because the Lord hasn’t given you what you think you need, look up.  Take your focus off of yourself and begin rejoicing for the path on which He has led you.  It all comes down to accepting what He is giving you as His divine plan and allowing it to make you stronger for the journey He sets before you.  

Yes my dear friends, it’s time for you and me to move away from just agreeing with what Jesus said, and start doing what He said.  There is a hurting, lost world all around us, and it’s high time they see us living out His message… Every. Single. Day.

By the way, I recommend you take the time to watch and listen to our service yesterday on our website at http://hopemissionarychurch.podbean.com.  The sermon title was “Better Together – Growing Pains”.  But I feel I better warn you.  There should be a disclaimer at the beginning that says, “Warning…this sermon may cause pain between your eyes…and/or very sore toes” J

Monday Morning Memo: A Reflection of Him

Sometimes I come across a quote that makes me laugh…and then makes me a little uncomfortable.  The quote in my graphic today did just that.  On the surface, we all know that we aren’t supposed to judge others and most of us think that we aren’t guilty of doing it.  But if we are honest, we all probably judge more than we think we do.

I think that for many of us, we judge others because we want to feel better about ourselves, so we point out the negatives in those we meet.  We surely would never do the things that they do…we are much holier than them.  So we continue to run them down to make sure and lift us up.  Too often, our low self-esteem rears its ugly head and because of that, we lash out, pointing out all the negatives and wrong things that others do.

 

But (and you knew there would be a “but”) our quote today should remind us that we need to look in a mirror.  Most of us make a habit of looking into a mirror at least once in the morning to make sure that everything is in place.  We want to ensure that our hair isn’t a mess and our clothes are where they should be and for some of us…our makeup isn’t all smudged.  In other words, we take the time to peer into the looking glass, to see if anything is wrong with our outward appearance.

What if we could look into a mirror and see the condition of our heart?  What if doing that would show if our attitude was where it should be and our actions were in line with Christ’s desire for us?  What if it would show what our innermost thoughts and desires were and whether they were pleasing to Him?  If a mirror could do all of this, we might not be so quick to point out the sins of others.

What I find sad is that I have seen families torn apart and friendships destroyed because someone spent more time pointing out the splinter in another’s eye, than confessing the log in their own eye.  I have seen siblings refuse to even speak to each other, all because one feels superior to the other, squelching any chance for a relationship.  Yes, we may not always approve of the actions of family members or friends and they may be committing sins.  But it is important that the mirror that we hold in our hand, is turned towards us more than it is towards them.  I John 4:7-8 tells us, “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God.  Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.  But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”  Notice that it does not say, “Let us continue to love one another, unless their sins are much worse than ours.”  If we know God, we are supposed to love.

We are ALL sinners saved by grace.  None of us are sinless…no matter how hard we try.  Where we get into trouble is when we rank someone else’s sin as much worse than ours.  Their sin may not look like ours, but in the end, any sin isn’t at all pleasing to the Lord.  When we stand before Him on the Day of Judgment, He won’t ask us about the sins of others; we will only answer for what we have done.  We each need to take responsibility for our actions and ask Him to forgive us and make us clean.  Then we need to show love, because God is love, and we are to always be a reflection of Him.