You Are Not A Glitch!

If you have young kids, or if you're awesome, you are familiar with the movie Wreck It Ralph.  If you are just boarding the awesome train I'll update you.  It is set within a video game.  Old school video game.  Ralph wrecks everything.  Felix is the good guy that fixes everything.  However, Ralph isn't really a bad guy.  He longs to be part of a community and his search for acceptance eventually leads him into another video game called Sugar Rush.  Here he meets a glitch. (ya know, like a programming error) Vanellope is considered a "glitch" in the game by her piers and the two make an unlikely team of heroic....yada yada.  Go watch the movie.  It's great.  But this is where the awesome train stops and we get off.  I wanna talk about Vanellope Von Schweetz the Glitch.
King Candy, the ruler of Sugar Rush, tries very hard to push Vanellope down.  He keeps her from her potential.  He sets others against her.  He tells everyone it is for her own good and he is protecting her from harm.  LIES!  All lies.  Toward the end of the movie ***spoiler alert*** we discover Vanellope isn't a glitch at all, but she is actually the queen of the game.  She is royalty being treated poorly by an impostor.  Here's where it gets real people.  Change the names just a bit...
Put you in Vanellope's place.  Put Satan in King Candy's place.  If you have placed your life in God's hands you are royalty.  The star of the show.  The apple of His eye and you are unstoppable. However, King Candy - er...Satan out of his jealously and rage will do all he can to bring you down.
He is the father of lies and, my friend, his first lie is that you are a glitch.  It sounds a little somthin like this....
God can't love you after what you've done...you're a glitch
He doesn't forgive that type of sin...
You are not as talented as that guy...
Who are you trying to fool?  You're no...you are a glitch
You need this to make you happy...
You deserve your crummy life and you'll never be anything but a glitch
You are an unfit mother because you...
You forgot again...glitch
No one wants to be your friend...glitch!
Just stop trying...GLITCH!

But God says...
I can fix that.
I love you.
I've got a blessing prepared for you.
Don't give up.
I forgive you.
My grace is enough to cover you, heal you, and set you free.

My dear, dear friends.  Each of us messes up.  Daily.  But none of us are a glitch to God.  You are royalty and loved by the true King.  Rest in that.
And then go watch Wreck it Ralph and cheer for Vanellope!

Eat Concrete

Tuesday morning.  Hubby took the kids to school and I got a bit of a break.  Dog had been wanting to go "out" for a few days so I leashed her up and took off.  It was a beautiful morning.  I had Brit Nicole on my playlist and she and I were truckin' it.  I  was feeling good....Then the trash man went by - Dog freaked out and went skittering around my feet - I inevitability tripped and fell over her. However, when one is tripping and going down a dog still trying to tuck under your feet will ruin whatever shred of grace you are holding onto when hitting the ground. You shall be spared of the play-by-play falling action.  Just know I eventually ended up in the gutter - on my back.
This disastrous looking tumble caused the trash man to hit his breaks and back up to check on me.  His act of heroism meant two things.  1. Dog would still be freaking out and trying to cuddle with Mama.  (She's already on the floor, why not.) 2. I knew they had seen me.  My embarrassing moment was witnessed by at least two men and who knew who else.  I was able to get myself up, shirt put back into place, and signal to the two men that I was indeed OK.  We made it the rest of the way home with no further incident.  (Well, their was one more incident.  When I got home I ate a piece of chocolate.)  Then I blogged about it.
Seriously, some of you are thinking "why on earth tell other people about it?!"  Because this embarrassing moment was my greatest fear.  Face planting.  Eating dust.  Failing.  It kept me for YEARS from "doing."  I've actually eaten the proverbial "it" enough times (biking, walking, at the gym!, tall heels at church...) that I am now able to laugh it off.  But some of you aren't there yet.  You're still in your Fear Prison.  You are still stuck behind bars; not reaching your potential from fear.  Please let me tell you IT IS NOT WORTH IT.  Fear Prison keeps you safe but it also keeps you.  Keeps you back.  Keeps you from experiencing.  Keeps you from living the life you were built to live.
2 Timothy 1:7New King James Version (NKJV) 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Isaiah 41:10 [Full Chapter] Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Deuteronomy 3:22New King James Version (NKJV) 22 You must not fear them, for the Lord your God Himself fights for you.’

So go try that thing you know you're supposed to.  If you try hard enough you will eventually eat concrete, but you will also get back up.

The only one with the keys to Fear Prison is you!

The Slippery Slope of the "Red Cup"

I too brushed off the "red cup" thing until I heard what S-bucks actually had to say about it. They said the design was changed to include everyone. Meaning S-bucks thought their previous holiday design had excluded someone. Who had been excluded by Christmas design cups? That's the trick. Ask yourself, "what groups of people would have been excluded by Christmas design on the cups?" Those are the people being catered to. 
Anti-christian? Naw. [Last I checked the chain never claimed to be anything close to a supporter of Christ so a "non-Christian" cup shouldn't be a surprise.]  But it is a quiet way to say, "we at Starbucks would rather not offend social groups x, y, z than celebrate the season as we previously had." You decide who x, y, and z are. Those who couldn't stomach the previous holiday designs are the ones on top this year.
This is where the slope gets slippery.  The red cup is not anti-christian but it is pro-x, y, z.  Just like Target mixing their boy and girl isles for gender neutrality.  Not anti-christian but pro-x, y, z.  (Again, you choose your x, y, z labels.)    The school in Chicago being forced to allow a trans-gender student to change in the common area.  Not anti-christian but pro-x, y, z.  The slope starts to tilt with every little change we make in society.  Whomever is being catered to is the one with the social power.  Very often times the power shift is at the detriment to others.  I would ask anyone reading this to give it a few minutes of thought.  Who is being catered to in each situation and is that really what is best for our American society?
  Ya know, the irony of the slippery slope? The more gradual the change the more we will slip.

Starbuck's "Red Cup" Quote
"Since 1997 Starbucks has served its holiday beverages in a unique cup, starting with a jazz-themed design in jewel tones of deeper reds, greens and blues. Every year since, the cup has told a story of the holidays by featuring symbols of the season from vintage ornaments and hand-drawn reindeer to modern vector-illustrated characters.

"In the past, we have told stories with our holiday cups designs," said Fields. "This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories."

"Starbucks has become a place of sanctuary during the holidays," he said. "We're embracing the simplicity and the quietness of it. It's [a] more open way to usher in the holiday."

A Day Scheduled Without a Second to Loose is Already Lost

I received an unexpected phone call from a friend of a friend.  This sweet young thing was a new mommy that had only been back to work for 5 days before she found herself needing a back up babysitter.  I hesitated for a verrrrry long time.  I wondered if I could home school my kids with a baby by my side.  I eeked out a little bit when I thought of all the laundry I was going to try and catch up on.  I hemmed and hawed as I knew I had to make some calls, create a weekly menu, and set up a new chore chart for the kiddos.  Then I laughed.  Goodness gracious.  This poor woman needed to work and had to find someone she trusted to watch her most precious joy and here I was stressing my laundry!
(Please note: I freaked out before  I prayed about it.) After taking it to the Lord it was an easy choice to say yes.  This is where it gets good.  Really good.  I began to do what I do best.  I planned.  I planned like a genius.  I was going to wake up at 5:00, spend 30 minutes with Jesus, spend, 15 minutes making myself presentable, then spend the next 45 cleaning up dog fur and toys.  aka "baby proofing"  When that Mama showed up at 6:30 I was going to have two smiling children, a calm house, breakfast almost ready, and she was going to fall in love with me and give me laud and honor as a Mommy to be looked up to.  Ahhhhhh....it was a lovely dream.  At 5:00 my hubby wanted to cuddle.  At 5:13 my daughter woke up with a tummy ache.  And the rest is history.  At this point their is noting left to do but Praise Jesus!
My messed up schedule was both a literal and figurative wake up call.
A DAY SCHEDULED WITHOUT A SECOND TO LOOSE IS ALREADY LOST
No fun, no love, no relationship building was planned into my day.  Do you know why?  Because most of the time that stuff only comes in the unplanned parts of life.  If you are like me in anyway you know.  You get to the end of the day to find that everything got "done" but nothing got "accomplished."  My dear friends, control is only an illusion.  And we waste our lives trying to gain it.  My prayer for myself and you is that we may never miss the "wake up calls" and that we would learn the art of letting go of perfection before life itself has slipped us by.
Have a fabulous day today,
{B}

If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. Matthew 10:39

You Can Only Live Now

Rascal Flatts has a song that gets me every time.  Every time.  "I spent the morning at an old friend's grave, Flowers and Amazing Grace, He was a good man, He spent his whole life spinnin' his wheels, Never knowin' how the real thing feels, He never took a chance or took the time to dance."  Its not their most popular song and I don't think it ever got any radio time. Can't say I'd wanna hear it driving to work in the morning. It's Wednesday, I'm minding my own business and them Wham! A song about death.  Yet somehow when it comes on my CD I can't seem to hit the button to make it stop.  I cry.  Every time.  And I smile.  Every time. Because it reminds me of my friend Laura.  Can I be honest?  She had the BEST FUNERAL I've ever been to.  Laura was young.  She was the opposite of the R.F. song.  SHE LIVED.  Their wasn't a moment you could spend in her presence when she wasn't also in your presence.  You get me?  She lived in the NOW.  Her goodbye party was an extension of her life.  She loved her some Jesus and never seemed to forget that she belonged to Him.  That we all belonged to Him.  People were important to her.  Whomever it was.  I'm beginning to ramble but the point of today is to live NOW.  Yesterday is gone.  Even if you are dealing today with the choices of yesterday you still can't change yesterday.  And guess what?  Tomorrow is no guarantee.  You may not be able to apologize tomorrow, or say "I love you" tomorrow, or spend longer on goodbye hugs tomorrow, or pray with them tomorrow, or share you heart tomorrow, or...

So...soak in today.  right now.  every moment is just that, a moment, then another comes.  Enjoy the video and let it wash over you. God has a plan but the only part you can play in it is right...now...ok, now...aaeeehhhh, now...wait for it...now... ;)

Faith is Tenacious

I cannot hear the word "tenacious"  without thinking of the band Tenacious D.  And I thought of Tenacious D while watching my daughter play at the park.  They could have provided the perfect underscore as she was attempting to balance on the middle junction of a toy where three arms from separate rocking horses joined together.  The whole thing was wiggling atop giant springs and my sweet four year old had just witnessed much bigger kids falling off that middle junction as it jolted every which way.  Yet there she was; crawling onto it and keeping fairly good balance.  When her older, and constantly competitive, brother told her she was too little and would fall off she calmly looked him in the eyes and thrust her arms out from her sides to keep her balance.  It was a moment of pride for me when I realized that my adorable miss thing had some major tenacity.  
Our faith should be this way.  It should have the courage to crawl up on top of that obstacle no matter how it wiggles or tries to throw us off.  Faith should have the tenacity to simply stick out its arms for balance when the world says "you can't." Our faith follows the Lord.  The King.  The Most High.  Joshua and Caleb had this type of faith to say "I don't care what the odds look like.  God said to go into the land so let's go!"  
So how 'bout it?  Are you going to camp out in the wilderness in fear or go into the land God has set for you?  Are you going to listen to the naysayers or stick your hands out for balance when life tries to throw you?  
My prayer today is for a tenacious faith to become the legacy I leave and the legacy of my family to come.

2 Timothy 1:5
"I am calling up memories of your sincere and unqualified faith (the leaning of your entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), [a Faith] that first lived permanently in [the heart of] your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am [fully] persuaded, [dwells] in you also."

Check HERE to catch the story of Joshua and Caleb.

PS A great book for this type of topic is "For the Love" by Jen Hatmaker

Sunday Morning Diet

Has anyone else ever heard that low groan rise up from the family when mom announces SHE is going on a diet?  Why is that? Why do they care if SHE goes on a diet? It's because they all know   what it really means is the FAMILY is going on a diet. They know that when mom declares war on Oreos and Cheese Balls the whole family wilt suffer in agony along side her. Mom's battle cry will become the shout of the nation-whether they want to or not.
It dawned on me recently that this philosophy goes for mom's spiritual diet as well.  When mom is feasting on the delights of laziness, giving in to the temptations of complacency, or heading the call of  delectable gossip (just to name a few) the family will feast upon these things as well.
{Side note: What happens on Sunday morning? We all go on a Sunday diet don't we?!  We focus on Christ for a few hours. We are being "good."  We are resisting temptations but then we return to life and what we know.  Le sigh} Anyways...
Let's take a page out of the fitness magazines here. Just about every health expert will tell you it's not only about what you avoid but it's about what you focus on. Cutting out Oreos won't do much unless you replace them with brussel sprouts.   Spiritually let's dump the Sunday diet where we cut out the junk for only a short time. Let's choose to daily focus on what is healthy; on what will grow our strength.
When our diet consists of the scripture, prayer for ourselves and others, learning from our pastors, giving of our time, and trusting the Lord with our budget we will begin to change. And when Mom goes on a diet so does the whole family.  That could only be a good thing!
Final word : John 10:10 "...I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows.)" Amen?!!