One Leaf At a Time

Several times during the week I pass this certain house, located about a mile from my own. During the fall season I always get a kick out of this older couple that lives there. They are outside not just raking their leaves but they are down on their hands and knees with a plastic bag and picking up every single leaf.

And when I say every single leaf, I mean every single leaf. They apparently are very particular about their lawn. Now our family…I don’t think we have ever raked our leaves. We prefer to mow right through them. It’s not that I don’t care about my lawn. It’s just that I don’t care that much.

For some reason, this reminded me of our lives…the care we give to the lawns of our lives. Think about those areas in your life that you struggle with. Perhaps you have struggled for years. Are you like my family? Why bother getting rid of it? Just mow over it instead?

The problem is that although you do make the leaves less noticeable, they don’t completely disappear. In fact, now you have cut them into so many pieces that they spread further. Sin mowed over won’t disappear. It will only spread. There will always be a reminder of it, too.

For instance, I would bet that some of the leaves stuck in our bushes are not from this year; they are probably from last year. There is no way to completely get rid of them if we don’t rake and only mow over some of them.

But that couple at that other house…down on their hands and knees. They have taken the time and care to make their lawn look the way it does. Can you imagine how differently our lives would look if we paid that much attention to our sin and meticulously got rid of it?

I can tell you that what they do is hard work. It takes time and dedication. What we do takes no effort. It is just easier and shows our lack of enthusiasm for yard work. Yes, no matter what time of year you visit our home, you are bound to see a few leaves. But that is not the way the Lord wants us to live our lives. He wants us to get down on our knees and begin to clean things up, one leaf at a time.

Your Life's List

Get up at 5:30 am…ugh, is it that time already?????

Grab my coffee, Bible and journal…now my daughter wants to talk.

Wake up my boys…wake them up again…and then again…oh come on already!

Turn on the WII Fit Plus…of course now somebody needs something from me!

Pick up a few things…why can’t people clean up after themselves?

Drive my children to school…people in front of me are driving too slow, don’t they know I am in a rush?

Finally able to get started on my work…the telephone rings, the dogs won’t stop barking.

Worked all day but didn’t get nearly enough done…great, now I have to finish it in the evening.

Go to pick up my kids and carpool some other kids…why am I always the one who has to drive everyone’s kids?

Thinking about the work I have to finish later…but now everyone wants to tell me about their day.

Get home and attempt to finish my work…interrupted by requests, questions or a need to be driven somewhere…grrr…

Cook dinner early because I have to get my son to football practice…why does football practice have to be at this time?

Time to eat…except two of my three children don’t like what I made and are complaining.

Drive my son to football practice…why am I always hitting traffic, no matter what time of the day I drive?

Back home to finish work…but then I remember we need milk…and bread…and eggs…and toilet paper…not again!

Off to the store…I wish the lines were shorter, don’t people realize I am in a rush?

Get home and try to finish work…husband is home so I guess I should greet him.

Get back to work…husband wants me to go with him to pick up son…doesn’t he know I have work to get done?

Back home and finally finish my work at 8:30 pm…this is just really not fair.

Know I need to get to sleep by 10 pm in order to get a good night’s sleep but then remember that I never threw the laundry in…how come no one else can throw it in?

Finally asleep by 11 pm and tomorrow I get to get wake up and do it all again tomorrow…oh joy.

This is more than just a list of what a day in my life looks like. It has actually become my list of complaints. But this is my life. So what I am really doing is complaining about my life. It kind of puts things into a different perspective when I think about it that way.

We all have our list that comprises our life. You may be thinking that my list is nothing, that I should see everything you have to accomplish in a day. You might get up earlier, you might stay up later, you might have more than three children or you might work two jobs.

The point is not to compare lists but to examine our hearts to see if we are complaining about our lists. If you were to write a list of what you do in a typical day what would it look like? Remember, what you are actually writing out is what comprises your life.

Life is filled with some of the things I have mentioned. Life comes at us with inconveniences, interruptions, changes in the schedule, needs that must be met and unending duties that must be fulfilled. I don’t think any of us are exempt from these things.

So to get out of this recently developed habit of complaining, I decided to tweak my list. I can’t necessarily remove things from my list because this is the life I have been given. However if I were to think from a heavenly perspective rather than an earthly one my list would look something more like this:

Get up at 5:30 am…thank You Lord for another day of life!

Grab my coffee, Bible and journal…my daughter knows that no matter what I am doing, I am available—and as an added bonus, she gets to see that I am spending the start of my day with God.

Wake up my boys…wake them up again…and then again…someday they won’t be here and I will have no one to wake, so I am going to appreciate this opportunity.

Turn on the WII Fit Plus…while getting in some exercise is definitely a good thing if my children need me, I will gladly make myself available to them.

Pick up a few things…thankful that I have arms and legs that can do this.

Drive my children to school…take advantage of the opportunity and pray for my children, feeling thankful that I am able to drive them to school.

Finally able to get started on my work…thankful that the Lord has given me the work that I have.

Worked all day but didn’t get nearly enough done…feel thankful for what I was able to accomplish and trust that if I give my time to Him, it will all come together.

Go to pick up my kids and carpool some other kids…blessed to be available to not only my children but to other people’s children as well.

Thinking about the work I have to finish later…but happy to be interrupted by my children telling me about their day, thankful that I can be the first one to hear about it.

Get home and attempt to finish my work…blessed to be a mom who is needed, which is more important than my work.

Cook dinner early because I have to get my son to football practice…thankful that I am home at this time to get an early start on dinner.

Time to eat…enjoy my meal and if the kids don’t like what I made, encourage them to make themselves something else to eat.

Drive my son to football practice…so glad my son is able to participate in a sport he enjoys.

Back home to finish work…but remember that there are things our family needs first.

Off to the store…thankful that we have the means to buy the things that we need.

Get home and try to finish work…eager to greet my wonderful, hard-working husband when he comes through the door.

Get back to work…husband wants me to go with him to pick up son…blessed to have a husband who wants to spend time with me and gladly accompanies him to pick our son up.

Back home and finally finish my work at 8:30 pm…it has been a very productive day.

Know I need to get to sleep by 10 pm in order to get a decent night’s sleep but then remember that I never threw the laundry in…recognize that part of my ministry as a wife and mom is taking care of my family.

Finally asleep by 11 pm and tomorrow I get to get wake up and do it all again...I am one blessed person!

The Journey Isn't Always Easy

Things have been quiet here on my blog. I have been working on some changes in my life, both in my career and in my personal life. I feel like I am on this new journey that is taking me to great places but to get there I have to make some adjustments. Some of it is about prioritizing and some of it is much deeper than that.

No journey in life is without some difficulties. No matter how much you are looking forward to the destination, there is bound to be some rough spots along the way.

This summer my family took a trip to Washington D.C. Well, we actually stayed at a hotel in Virginia and took the metro train into Washington D.C. each day to visit some historical sites. It was an amazing trip. But to get there required leaving in the middle of the night, driving many hours with three children in a minivan. Need I say more?

Once we reached our destination the journey to get there was worth it. It was the same thing on the way back. Our destination was home. But it required a 14 hour trip, with by now three very ornery children and not getting home until 1:30 a.m. The journey was rough at times, especially when we got lost in Indiana and drove for what felt like days…but once we arrived at our destination—home sweet home—again, it was worth it. It felt so good to walk through our front door.

Rarely do we take any journey in life, literally or spiritually, without there being some incidences along the way. We might fuss and complain. We might wish we could turn back. We might think there has to be a better way. Yet once we reach our destination suddenly we can breathe a sigh of relief and say, “Well that wasn’t so bad.”

I don’t know what journey you are on today. I don’t know if you are facing some obstacles, some rough spots or some huge boulders that are standing in your way. Plow through. Go around. Walk over. Keep going. The point is, whatever you do…don’t stop! Eventually you will reach your destination. God may have some pit stops for you to make along the way but He has a final, wonderful destination for you to reach. No, the journey isn't always easy but it is always worth it.

What Are You Going to Do With Your Extra Nachos?

Are you living in the supernatural? As Eric Cross sings, “We should be walking in the supernatural.” Who is Eric Cross? He attends my church but he is also a Christian rap artist. Just this morning I got his new CD from him, “The Signature,” which I have to highly recommend.

One of the songs on his CD is called “Supernatural.” Apparently God wanted me to have a real supernatural experience today. Before I share my story, I have to put something out there. Too often we get misconceptions about what living in the supernatural really means. We tend to think of it as being some explosive event in our lives.

Yet the supernatural is really supposed to be about just living day-to-day. Everyday we could be living in the supernatural if we really wanted to.

So here was my just living out my day supernatural experience. I had gone alone to stop at a store after the morning church service and pick up Taco Bell for my family. I ordered my food and while I was waiting for it I noticed on my receipt that there was an extra order of nachos.

Normally I would have done what most of us would have done. I would have told the cashier that there was an extra order of nachos on my receipt…that I only ordered two, not three. Something stopped me. I just decided to let it go.

So I got back in my van with my food, and my extra order of nachos, and put on Eric Cross’ CD. Just as I was passing a guy on the street with a sign that read, “Needs food” the song “Supernatural” came on.

As I drove past him my initial thoughts were things like, “I’ve already passed him.” “Jacob is probably so hungry he will eat that extra order.” Then as the nudging in my heart grew stronger it became, “I am a woman alone in my van. I can’t pull up to some guy on the street.” When the nudging became even stronger it was, “What would I say to the guy? He is going to think I’m nuts.”

See, I was thinking in the natural. But then these words from the song sunk in my heart as I continued the internal battle. “People are watching us…” and “actions prove if He lives inside of us…”

Even as I turned the van around to head back toward him, I was still doing battle. “Our food is going to get cold.” “The kids are going to wonder where I am.” That song just kept speaking into my spirit and I knew that I had a choice to make at that moment. I could keep on toward home and go about my natural way of life. Or I could choose…notice I said CHOOSE…to live the supernatural.

With my doors locked and my window only partially down, I pulled up to the man. When seconds earlier my heart was pounding, I was now feeling an incredible sense of peace. I rolled my window down further as he came to it. I said to him, “I just went to Taco Bell and they accidentally gave me an extra order of nachos. I believe God wanted you to have them.” He smiled and said thank you. He eagerly took the nachos and I said, “God bless” and I was off.

That was it. It was simple yet it was supernatural. That’s what I find so amazing about living in the supernatural. It isn’t always this monumental moment in life. It can be as simple as handing a hungry man an extra order of nachos.

I tell this story for two reasons. One, I have been on the other side when God spoke into my heart to do something and I didn’t. Probably most of us have been there. Who knows what was missed out on. I don’t want anyone to miss out on whatever God has. Two, as I learned today and I hope for others to really understand is that we could be living in the supernatural every single day. We just maybe have to get a new perspective on what that means.

So…what are you going to do with your extra nachos?

Are You Ready to Grow Up?

Obedience to God is an amazing thing. I have been on both sides of the coin. I have experienced blessing for being obedient and I have experienced consequences for not being obedient. I believe the goal, however, for every Christian is to become more obedient as we grow in our relationship with the Lord.

It’s similar to raising a child. When they are babies there isn’t much discipline to be done and we really don’t have any expectations. We are just enjoying this stage of newness. As a new believer, I think it’s similar to how God feels. He is just enjoying this newness of life that we have found in Christ. That is why babies only receive milk. They are not ready for more. I Peter 2:2: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.”
In other words, without the milk of God’s Word there can’t be growth. The intention, however, is that there IS growth. We don’t expect our children to remain babies forever. They have to grow and the same is true as a believer.

There is a source of frustration that can arise when children don’t begin to “grow up.” Sometimes we see children who appear to be greatly lagging in maturity. They are 5 years old and still walking around with a pacifier in their mouth—hopefully I have not offended anyone who has a 5 year old with a pacifier. My point is that growth is part of human development but it is also part of spiritual development.

I Corinthians 3:1-2, “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.”

Who wants to be on milk forever? If you are a parent, think of the first time you put something in your child’s mouth that wasn’t milk. Some of them probably spit it right back out. That’s like a believer who isn’t ready for something more than milk. They want to remain as an infant in Christ.

Then there are other babies who, although quite surprised at this new thing in their mouth, gobble it up. They are ready for more! They are ready for solid food. The same is true with believers. There will be some believers who are ready for more. As a believer, we SHOULD be ready for more. We should be CRAVING more.

Hebrews 5:12: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

This is really sad if you think about it. Every single one of us ought to be a teacher of the Word of God. It doesn’t have to be formal, such as a Sunday school teacher or a preacher. We should all be equipped to share the good news and teach others. It could mean that you are a “teacher” in your neighborhood, in your workplace, with extended family or at your school. But the point is that we should all eventually arrive at that place where we are ready to teach others what we have learned. We shouldn’t be babies squalling away, kicking our legs and opening our mouths for more milk!

Still not convinced that you need to grow up? Look at the next verse after Hebrews 5:12: “For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe” (Hebrews 5:13).

If you are unskilled in the word of righteousness then you are not able to grow in obedience. Obedience is a really big deal to God. If you are a parent, you know that it’s a big deal for you. My children are now either a preteen or teens. If they were still acting the way they used to at 2 and 3 years old, there would be a serious problem.

So think about your spiritual walk. Are you still a babe in Christ? Have you been wearing diapers for too many years? Or are you more like a toddler, getting into things you shouldn’t and throwing fits when you don’t get your way? Perhaps you are more like a school-age child, who is just flitting through life, enjoying this time of childhood antics. Maybe you are more like a teenager, still trying to figure out who you are but finally beginning to break away from childhood. You have one foot in childhood but another foot moving toward adulthood.

Or are you a grown adult? Not only ready for solid food but tearing apart the meat of God’s Word? Do you dig into it like it’s the last time you will ever eat? This is the place God has for you. Are you ready to get there? Are you ready to grow up?

Got Peace?

One of the things that I have been on a pursuit for, especially as of late, is peace. I’m not talking about an inner peace; by the grace of God I have that. I am talking about peace in certain relationships in my life.

I have had to learn the hard way that while I am seeking peace, I can expect to be hit with some trying challenges. It seems like as soon as you determine to really work at something, the heat gets turned up. The people you are trying so desperately to be at peace with suddenly come at you with a renewed force. The easy thing would be to stop trying and just walk away.

Believe me, I have been there. This pursuit of peace has left me to feel like I am scrambling up a mountain. Just when I get my footing, an obstacle looms before me and I begin to slip. At times I just want to let go and freefall. Forget them…I have tried and I can do no more. Yet God keeps asking me to hang on. Sometimes it is with the edge of my fingertips.

It has been a trying pursuit, to say the least. It has left me banged up at times. I have been hurt in the process. I have wondered why. But then I am reminded of the many times we read throughout the gospels in which Jesus never gave up on people. He was the true pursuer of peace; however, the peace He had to offer was a relationship with the Heavenly Father.

That realization has given me a new strategy. No longer do I feel a need to pursue peace for the sake of not arguing or being able to just get along. I need to seek peace in order to point them toward a relationship with Christ.

No, they don’t exactly get me. Their beliefs don’t exactly line up with mine. I might seem too radical to them at times. But preaching won’t do it. I have to live my life in a way that pleases the Lord and then pray that the peace they see in my life will make a difference in their life.

Sometimes we try so hard to fix situations, to change things when really all we need to do is step back and just let God do the work.

Peace with others can only really be had when we first have our peace with God. That peace will begin to overflow into other areas of our lives and that includes our relationships with others. Got peace? Perhaps if it hasn’t happened you need to find a new strategy. Study and examine the life of Christ and take note of the way He dealt with relationships. His life is the greatest example and He truly is the Prince of Peace.

Don't Be Hasty in Making Decisions

Recently I had a very important decision to make. I was faced with what might have been considered a no-brainer to others. What was right before me appeared to be the opportunity of a lifetime. It was enticing and presented a nice price tag. No, this wasn’t something I would have to pay for; it was something I would get paid for. Financially it would have been wonderful for our family.

Despite the pretty outward package I knew I couldn’t jump right in. I had to be sure this was really best for our family and for my future career. It probably surprised the person who presented this opportunity that I didn’t immediately agree. I told her that I would need time.

That time would be spent praying, talking to my family and others close to me who could offer some words of wisdom. I knew more than anything that the prayers for wisdom, guidance and direction would be what would make things clear.

In the end I turned down the offer. The fact that the person who offered this has never responded to my answer in turning it down makes me think I have lost some favor. It is very hard to not let it bother me. It may have seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime but despite how enticing it was, in the end I had to do what was best. Boy, that wasn’t easy!

Sometimes the decisions we make in life will not be warmly received or understood. Others may think we are foolish. We may be questioned or ridiculed. Sometimes we make decisions that are to please others. However, if we say yes to something in order to please man, we may have lost sight of our purpose.

For me, I just cannot stand the thought of being out of God’s will. Just because something is good doesn’t mean it is right for you. I would rather lose favor with people than with God.

It reminds me of a recent conversation I heard on the radio. They were talking about the very same thing, doing what is best for your family. The speaker was using the example of educating our children. He said that home schooling is a great option for many families but so is public school and so are private schools. No one choice is the better one. Yet so often people will try to dictate to others what they should be doing, just because it is what they are doing.

It is the same thing when we face decisions. One of my family members stated, “Well you can’t turn it down.” In their eyes it was something they would have jumped at so that meant I should do the same.

For me, I have always known that my presence here in the home is the place I am to be. My availability to my children has been priority and although it is what I feel is best for our family, it does not necessarily mean that I believe others have to follow suit. That is what helped me to make the decision that I made. It would have taken me away from the very place that I know God has me in.

I realized in the end that this new opportunity would have distracted me from what God’s purpose in my life is. If I had jumped at it because it was the opportunity of a lifetime, I would have either missed out on some blessings or brought about a whole bunch of problems. That certainly wouldn’t have been worth it.

It’s important that we take time to think through, pray and sometimes we need to seek the counsel of others before we make life changing decisions. In the end we have to know that we are following God’s plan for our life. Don’t be hasty in making decisions. Bring them before the One who knows what is best for you.