Every Day Birthday

Today is my birthday. I'm 31. I am no longer 30, I am now IN my thirties. Yes, it's different. Still laughing at me? Well, okay, but I'm just saying - I'm in my thirties. I am now fully separated from my twenties. I've decided that I am not going to hide my age - ever. I always laugh when people who look 45 say they're 29 (psst...nobody believes you anyway - just fess up!). So, you heard it here...I just committed to always saying my age - yikes!
Birthdays are so interesting and everyone celebrates them differently. Some people are HUGE birthday people. These types create birthday weeks, or if permitted, birthday months! They adore the celebration of them - and who could blame them? Since I've been awake today anytime I would think, "I would really like to...", my next thought would be, "Hey! It's my birthday! I might actually get to do what I want today - sweet!" Isn't that funny? Just because I was born on this day, thirty-one years ago (see, I said it again - so far so good), I think maybe I can get my way all day. Hilarious! I have two small children...quit dreamin'!
What if we celebrated each other every day? I mean, truly, I'm glad my friends and family were born every day and not just on their birthdays. What if each day we served each other like many of us get served on our birthday? I bet I'll hear at least a few times today, "It's your birthday, it's up to you." So what if each day I said to Dock, "It's your day" everyday? Think about it. If his attitude was "It's your day" to me and mine "It's your day" to him. Nobody would lose.
I really think this is why Jesus encourages us so often in Scripture to "consider others better than yourself" (Philippians 3). Then, the passage describes Jesus' attitude by saying that even though He was in "very nature" God, He did not "consider equality with God something to be grasped." In a nutshell, Jesus could have pulled a whole bunch more favors and "I'm better than you" cards - and been accurate in doing so, yet, He humbled Himself - "made Himself nothing." This is the attitude of Christ - others before ourselves - others better than ourselves. I think we most often grasp this when we celebrate birthdays. So what if we gave each other an "every day birthday". I'm talking about a "you before me" day - every day. Sounds REALLY hard. It also sounds REALLY Jesus.
I'm going to try to do this today. I'm not guaranteeing I'll do it perfectly, but I'm going to pray that the Spirit will enable me to give others around me an "every day birthday" today. Want to join me? Come on - it's my party, I can ask if I want to!

Heat Wave

Is it me, or is it hot outside? Not that I'm complaining. If it's going to be summer, it might as well be hot, I'm just not used to all this hydrating, slip n' sliding, plant watering, and sweating. I think it's funny how we have to wind down to settle into winter and wind up to get into the swing of summer. Our energy levels seem to follow the changing seasons.
I loved summer as a child. The pool, the popsicles, the family visits - so many things to just ENJOY. This is Avery's first summer home after being an "all day" school girl this past year. We'll see how it's going to go, but I have a feeling that if I get a nickel for every time I hear, "I want somebody to play with", I will be rich by mid-August!
We're moving ahead into the second and last week of the "Boomerang" series at Southland and it's about walking with the wise in order to be wise. Who do you plan to "play with" during your summer down time? How have you chosen to invest in making connections with people who can speak wisdom into your life that you cannot gain on your own? Maybe as things heat up and potentially slow down you could start taking inventory of who is in your life and whether or not you have some wisdom pouring into you from those relationships. I really believe God desires us to have and value wisdom and so if you find you are lacking these relationships, I bet if you ask for one, God will provide it at just the right time.
Sound like an optimist? Well, I am. Glass half full type of gal sitting here. For the life of me, the whole glass half empty thing just makes me not want a drink at all so I go with the half full. God wants what's best for you. So much of His wisdom is available to you ALL the time - The Bible. Maybe your poolside reading could include just reading portions or books of the Old Testament like novels. Trust me, plenty of the books in there read like one.
For many of you, summer looks much the same as the rest of the year. Work in the week, rest (or attempts at rest) on the weekends. No worries. Most of us are there. I hope that as it's lighter later in the day you have more outside time than you ever dreamed and I hope that you find or utilize wise people to walk with you. Happy Summer!

Panting Like a Dog on a Louisiana Sidewalk

I am busy this week. REALLY busy. All the things going on are good and not even particularly stressful things, just a whole heap of things. I feel "winded" internally. Almost like my internal tongue is hanging out and I need a good glass of water and a fan, or like I need somewhere to just sit down, settle down and get up refreshed.

We're headed into a series at Southland called "Boomerang". It's going to be a lot of fun and talk about some practical yet impactful stuff. The first week is about getting refreshed from refreshing others. Isn't God good? He lets us benefit when we benefit others. Doing good feels good. Doing good also helps us get over ourselves and stop thinking about our concerns, our fears, our "stuff" and just do something that matters for someone else.

So while I'm panting like a dog on a Louisiana sidewalk internally this week, I'm thankful. A lot of what's making me "winded" involves doing things for my family (like going on a field trip tomorrow - eek!) and encouraging people. I know two things: I will sleep well this week (because I'll be exhausted), and I will have done some eternally important things - not because I'm so great, but because God gives me the option to do things for Him, to follow Him, obey Him, and in all of it to know Him and His love for me more. Good grief He's a good God!

Who needs a glass of cold water from you this week - or a breath of fresh air given to them by your service or your encouragement? There's probably at least one small thing (and those are usually the biggest things!) you can do for someone else this week.

For those of us who are married, maybe it's doing something for your spouse you used to do when you first dated like flipping up his windshield wipers. Yeah, that's right. Nothing flirts like raised windshield wipers! Some of you know this and you are laughing right now...I hope. Otherwise, the weirdo I am has just been publicly confirmed! In all seriousness, what little thing could you bring back this week from early in your relationship? Or, if you're not up for that, what could you start to pray for your spouse this week?

What if our lives were like lemonade stands giving refreshment on a hot day - except that instead of receiving money for the lemonade, we received refreshment ourselves? Somehow, some way - like someone brings you a blizzard. Yes, I'm talking about blizzards again. (Random info: Dock's birthday is this week so he got the buy one get one free birthday blizzard coupon. All his text said today was, "I got the buy, one get one free blizzard coupon. You in?) Uh, yeah. Butterfinger here I come!

So back to the upcoming series at Southland; it's going to be great. Get a head start and be thinking about what you could do to refresh others even before you hear the sermon...embrace your inner over-achiever and go for it! The revolving door of refreshment is just waiting for you to walk in. Pet the dog on your way out.

Just Between "You" and "Me"

I had a brief experience with Mattie this afternoon that made me think. I have not been feeling myself for the past few weeks. Just not "me" and this annoys me greatly. When I am not "me" I feel like the universe of our home is altered. Dock gets weirded out because I'm quiet (yes, that's more the exception than the rule) and my kids (who don't miss a beat) notice too and somehow react by becoming more clingy. And then it becomes the chicken or the egg debate as to who's fault it is we're all a little off balance!

So today I woke Mattie up from her nap to go get Avery from school. Mattie was VERY sleepy and as I carried her to the car she wrapped two soft little arms tight around my neck and buried her head into my shoulder. That was the most comforting moment of my day. And, in that moment I felt the most "me" I've felt in a while. I am a mommy. I like who I am as a mommy and it felt good to remember a piece of my normal "me-ness".

By now, you know I love a good application so here goes: Where can you find a piece of "you-ness" today? Maybe this is a season you wish you could bury yourself in a hole and only come out when it's done. Maybe this is an awesome season, but you're busy and all of who you are is tied up in all you do. Maybe you have no idea what I'm saying and that's ok - you probably are not alone.

That moment of feeling like myself reminded me that grieving will pass. One day it will not hurt to remember Lauren like it does now. One day saying her name will not bring tears to my eyes, and the biggest "one day" of them all...One day I'm going to see her again. The truth is, in light of setting my mind on things above (like I've been learning lately - see Col. 3:1-2) I'm really not myself anyway. Scripture says when we see Him [God] we will be like Him for we will see Him as He truly is. None of us in Christ are our true selves yet. That's to come.

If you do not believe in Jesus, trust me, I understand wondering about the reality of heaven and even at times, wondering if the whole story of the cross and the resurrection could really be true. I understand, but boy do I believe. Each time I have asked God to show me that He's real - He has been faithful, and He will be faithful to you in the best way for you, too. If you do not believe in Jesus I want to tell you something that I could not stop saying in the days after Lauren suddenly passed away: "You have to know Jesus. You just have to" - because when life gets really hard and there's stuff that happens you can't explain - all the roads you take to find the "meaning" of it or to find out who you are will just lead to nowhere and nothing. They really will, and I'd stake my life on it.

I hope you find a moment in your day to feel very "you" and that you like who you are - because God loves you for you. He staked His life on it.

Crash Test Dummy

Random question: What would the life of a crash test dummy look like? I mean, would the nobility of keeping mankind safe outweigh the impending doom every time someone straps you into a moving object and directs you towards a brick wall?

Can you imagine what the union would look like for crash test dummies? The contract would negotiate only so many crashes per month, complete rebuilding coverage with low co-pay, and so many days on the warehouse shelf (a.k.a. vacation days).

Yes, I know I already admitted this was random. There is a connection, though.....wait for it, wait for it... OK, here goes. Are we not all a bit like crash test dummies sometimes? Sometimes we keep getting in the same sin pattern that just directs us flying towards a "brick" wall of destruction. And we keep getting in and getting in and crashing and getting in and crashing - you get the picture.

I'm willing to bet that all of us have thought, "I'll never overcome that struggle. I've had it as long as I can remember." That's a lie. The enemy likes it when you think like a crash test dummy and not a real, live child of the Most High God.

So what "sin" vehicle do you keep getting into that always drives you towards impending doom and disappointment and downright frustration with walking with God? And why do you keep getting in when you know what's going to happen?

Well, quite frankly, it seems easier. When sin entered the world, we became crash test dummies in our flesh, so, we often default to thinking like them. We even blame the moving vehicle (the sin) for being too present or we blame the "higher ups" who keep running us into those walls. We forget that in Christ - we are not crash test dummies, we are legitimate beings, living beings not destined for death but for life. We know how to use the brake pedal AND we know how to not get in the moving vehicle in the first place. We really do.

I need this reminder as much as any of us. Sin is not more powerful than us. The more we practice it, the harder it is to overcome, but it is still not more powerful than us. In John 16:33 Jesus says after describing his coming death, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." 1 Corintians 10:13 says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." You are not tempted beyond what you can bear - any other thought is a lie meant to make you feel as though it's too hard for you.

I had a conversation with a teammate this weekend about that thought. She was talking with someone who mentioned that standing up for God was "hard." She reacted in her spirit with such a sadness and passion and explained later to her family that after Jesus "stood up" on the cross for all of them, it should never be "too hard" to stand up for Him against sin or the patterns of the world. I'd never thought about it like that.

So, fellow dummies (don't be offended, just saying that to make a point!), what are we going to do about this? Let's rally the union and say that we've had enough. We are NOT GETTING BACK IN THAT CAR! No more walls for us. In Christ, there's a better way, a way out and a richer life ahead. Better start polishing our resumes. We're going to need a new line of work.

Thunderstorms

As a child, thunderstorms sent a rush of panic into me. Growing up in muggy Louisiana, thunderstorms are basically a post 3pm, daily event in the warmest months. Needless to say, mucho thunderstorms led to mucho panic. The threat of tornados served as the root of my fear. All those emergency drills at school really got to me I guess!

How ironic that now I LOVE thunderstorms. I find them mysterious, a bit romantic, and most of all spiritual. Thunder is so cool. Lightening so intense. Rain so powerful, yet soothing all at once. They just downright fascinate me. I remember learning in elementary school that thunder occurs when two clouds bump into each other. I smile even now at the description because I use it with my own kids!

For the past 10 years or so, when a thunderstorm begins, if I'm around a Bible I read Job 36:26-33, Job 37 and 38. Here's a teaser for you (because yes, you are going to have to look these passages up): From Job 36

26 How great is God—beyond our understanding!
The number of his years is past finding out.

29 Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,
how he thunders from his pavilion?

30 See how he scatters his lightning about him,
bathing the depths of the sea.

From Job 37:
1 "At this my heart pounds
and leaps from its place.

2 Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.

3 He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.

And from Job 38:
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm.

Did you just get chills? God's word provides the most riveting reading experience you can have. Truly. These passages give such great descriptions of God's power and such beautiful explanations of a storm.

Thunderstorms remind me that God has a voice not only inside of us - but rumbling throughout all of creation. This is no wimpy God we serve - but a larger than ALL life God who could remove our breath with a thought if He wanted to, yet, I repeat YET, He gave His only Son to draw us back to Himself. He wants to know us personally. Sometimes we forget the true awesomeness of our God. Thunderstorms today may be a good reminder.

And just for fun - here's another verse teaser from Nahum 1:
3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power;
the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
and clouds are the dust of his feet.

God is so much "badder" than Jack Bauer (there's a nod for all you "24" fans!)

Too much and Too Little

I'm on a rampage. No, you should not hide your young children in your home, but if you have a messy closet, you may want to postpone that dinner invitation you've been waiting to give me!
I'm on a mission to simplify my life and the life of my family by cleaning out any unused items in my house. When I say unused, I mean even the perfectly good stuff that we just do not touch on a regular basis. I do not have the drive nor the patience to have a yard sale (WAY too many little tags for me), so I'm giving it all away. And boy, is it freeing! I literally feel lighter when I pass this stuff on to someone else who can give it new purpose.
Recently I passed a few vehicles on roads in Lexington just driving along, but packed down with stuff. The entire back seats of these cars were crammed with stuff. I suddenly felt nauseous. We have too much stuff! I think I should repeat myself. We have too much stuff! We just keep shopping and piling and forget to replace what needs to be replaced rather than adding stuff.

Simplifying does not necessarily mean spending less money. My husband was fascinated by this reasoning as I explained that simplifying may initially cost us more money. He already tells me that even when I buy something on sale I have not saved any money. This is what he says, "Did money leave our checking account?" "Yes" I answer. "Then we did not save a dime", he says. Cracks me up every time! Let me explain why simplifying doesn't necessarily mean spending less money. Part of simplifying for me is making the things we do use more accessible for day-to-day living. That may mean we have to purchase some organizers or cubbies or hooks, etc. Money will go out so that simplicity can come in. But junk has to go out, too. All the extra stuff.

The back end of my van is filled with items we did not use that were sitting in two of our closets. I kept getting so disheartened as the items just stacked and stacked. Too much stuff.

There are too many with too little for me to hold on to too much.

Lately, God has been speaking simplicity into my spiritual walk by reminding me that I am to "set [my] heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set [my] mind on things above, not on earthly things" (Colossians 3:1-2). The phrases "set your heart" or "set your mind" keep coming up. Usually, that means God wants me to study them and think through them. He's wanting to teach me something.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:19-20). There is this whole other place that we as believers reference regularly, but often do not live like we believe it exists. How much would it change things to really focus on the eternal rather than the temporary? How much more does setting our hearts and minds on things above change what we value and spend time on here - in this life? The answer, and it's not easy for me to process either, challenges most of the ways I approach life. The answer is that a mind and heart set on heaven and the eternal should change almost everything about my earthly temporary existence. Too much focus on me or my family. Too much focus on how others perceive me or my home or my outward appearance.

Too much temporary, too little eternal.

The junk of the temporary has to go out so that the eternal can infiltrate my life in a way the changes how I live and love. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has "set eternity in the hearts of men." So God has SET eternity in my heart and I am to SET my heart on things above. Isn't He smart? God has asked me to set my heart on something He created space in my heart to hold. What a great God we have! Always equipping us for what He's asking us to do.

So, I'm simplifying. I'm moving things out so that what really matters can come in and stay for a long while - in my home and my heart.

There's too little time in this life for too much stuff to take up too much room in our hearts.