"Happy Day" (this version is Tim Hughes, there are a lot of versions of it...Chris Tomlin, Fee)
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
song crush #11
My boys and I have decided we are going to play this song every morning before we leave for school.
Reaping
I've been thinking about something lately. There are a large amount of adults out there that don't get the concept of "you reap what you sew." Or some may call it karma. My mom used to say, "what comes around goes around." It's the idea that everything we do has a consequence. Every action produces a ripple. We simply don't live in a vacuum, and no matter what, out choices will affect someone else.
Yet it seems like the goal sometimes is to escape the consequences. To stick our heads in the sand and simply not look at the ripple effect we've set into motion.
As I parent, there is an innate drive in me to protect my little guys like the proverbial momma bear. But I must be mindful in that posture of protection, not to allow my little ones to avoid the consequences of what they do. I can't go in and be the "fixer." I can't barge in and "make something just go away." Certainly, as they are 5 and 7, they don't face very staggering consequences, but how will I act when they are teens and something they do threatens our family reputation...happens in a very public eye, or ends up tarnishing the dreaded (and almost urban mythical) permanent record? Will I be able to step back and let the reaping occur???
I think the best thing I could do for my kids is to let them live in their choices and in the subsequent consequence. But it doesn't end there for me. The next step, the most important step, is to point them to their God, who is perfectly just, AND perfectly loving.
He loves us through our mistakes. He restores us in our mistakes. And he never wastes our mistakes...
What I know, because I've had some practice, is that in those times I've made dumb, destructive choices...he gently, lovingly humbles me to repentance. He moves me to learn something I've otherwise wouldn't have, and then he uses me in someone else's life in some form or fashion. And in the end, I know my God in a better, more intimate way, and a new facet of Him is revealed to me.
Why would I ever want my kids to miss out on something like that???
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Gaze
My pastor shared the quote below with us at church today, in his opening message for a series called "Refocus." The quote came from a very wise man, Dave Busby, who spent his life ministering to teens, all the while suffering from Cystic Fibrosis and a myriad of other serious medical conditions. He went to be with the Lord several years ago, but clearly left behind a legacy that still touches us today.
His sentiment hit me like a ton 10 tons of bricks this morning.
It's just so true. So simple, yet poignant. So wise, yet uncomplicated.
Simply put, for me, gazing at God is what it means to abide in Christ.
To choose Him, is to rest my eyes on Jesus, above all else.
The entire message today challenged me in the very best possible way. It made me do some self-examination and I'm pretty sure I have a new question to pose to myself when I'm feeling overwhelmed, depressed, bitter and distraught. Heck, I want to ask myself this question in those bad times, but also in the good...
"Where has my gaze landed???"
Thursday, August 6, 2009
song crush #10
Why I love this song?
#1 because if God said I could pick anyone's singing voice and make it my own, Christy Nockels's would be the one I'd pick in a heartbeat
#2 sometimes getting back to the basics is what it's all about. The gist of this song: Jesus Loves Me.
If I really lived in, grew in and thrived in that truth, I wouldn't make half my stupid mistakes, half my destructive choices, suffer through half my "depressive" moments, or fall so easily when the world beats me down...I'm just saying.
Enjoy this awesome song. (When you open link, just find the black square at right of page and click the play button.)
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Big (short-lived) Dreams
One of my fav things to do is reminisce about times past. I saw a movie preview the other day for the remake of Fame (can I just say "wow") and it gave me a chance to do just that...
I was a HUGE Fame buff as a kid. Loved the movie, and then the TV show. I was set and determined (I REALLY believed I could) to attend the School for the Performing Arts in NY and hang with Coco and Leroy every day...even though I had NO SKILL, ART, or TALENT to speak of.
Then came my Space Camp phase. The movie rocked my world, and my little heart dreamt of attending the actual camp with Leah Thompson and the gang, and becoming an astronaut; even though the closest I came to ever being interested in such things was my "Meterology Phase" (with my buddy Kyle) circa 1982 (which consisted of checking out books from the library and looking at clouds A LOT).
Enter Mary Lou Retton. She was my hero, and I'm sure many of you can say the same. I made my own "balance beam" that consisted of a piece of tape on the floor and "trained" to become the next great American gymnast, even though I was terrified of heights and of being upside down.
So the question is...what did you dream of being as a kid and what inspired those dreams??? (like I said, I am begging for your participation)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)