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."