So, today's thoughts come (in a round about way) from a veggie tales show. I'm not usually a fan of veggie tales...great message for my toddler, but it's way more annoying than I remember it being. The one that was on in the background today was called Madame Blueberry. She was blue because she saw all the stuff everyone else had and thought she'd be happy if she had all the things they did. This got me thinking about materialism. I think I've always mentally tuned out sermons or books or whatever about materialism. After all...I'm responsible with my money. right? Something that is on sale for $20, even if 99% off, is still, in my opinion, several meals for my family or a date night for me and Lance.
Then I began thinking about the possibilities if EVERYTHING you could buy was less than a dollar. What if a new car was $.50 (random, but when did society do away with the cents sign? when things were no longer costing cents only?) What about all the guitars? A house? Cute new boots? What about things for my kids? oh man....a HUGE swingset? A beautiful wooden painted playhouse outside? When I think of it like that, I cringe at the possibilities. Even if I bought one for myself, and 20 for less fortunate people, where does that leave me? I don't know when I began seperating materialism from money responsibility, but it was obviously a mistake. I don't know that London even enjoyed that particular epidsode, haha, but I sat in tears convicted of my heart. Don't even get me started on Sweet Pea Beauty episode....I bawled like a baby about the King seeing us as beautiful, but that's another day. Now, I have to get back to "blessing" my house and, unfortunately, I'm to the laundry pile part of that blessing. sigh... :)
another verse to add to the fridge now...lol
My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
Psalm 57:7
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Smudges on the window
Happy New Year! :) Today was such a crazy crazy day. It was the last Sunday we are at Central's main campus, since the Journey Campus launches next Sunday! Eeeee! I was so excited about today, plus, I was going to put London in an adorable dress she still hasn't been able to wear that I bought on clearance LAST January for this winter. Alas, after an alarm clock fail, making it to church alone with two sleepy girls just wasn't a possibility. So I thought, ahh, thank you technology! I'll live stream our service! No dice. After Story was finally quiet enough for me to hear something, I sat down with a cup of coffee and my laptop, and the entire screen freezes and the stream goes out. Not to be beaten, I pull up the Passion website to live stream their Session 1 that was currently happening (www.passion2011.com). 22,000 students and leaders there, and even more than that are watching online, sooo...it wouldn't work either. The rest of the day continued in these ridiculous series of unfortunate events until I was successfully beaten to a pile of mush. Then it hit me...
It's like smudges on a window. No, follow me here. It's well established that I am, indeed, a Type A personality. I enjoy long walks around a neatly lined and organized track, knowing exactly what goes into my food, and crystal clean windows. This, to an extent, is my God-given personality and is the instrument He chooses to use for His purposes (when I'm not being all about me-ish). However, I abuse this gift and go completely Martha when I should be Mary. (Luke 10:38-42) I am getting much better (which I'm sure any frequent reader is glad of, since it tends to be the meat of my blog posts lately. I promise to be more entertaining in the next season of my life ;)) but it's my native language (the Martha thing) and even when I become fluent in Mary, if I'm not speaking and living only in Mary, Martha jumps back in quite often. In this Martha time, smudges on windows are just horrible. Not just a fingerprint, give me a break, I'm not that crazy ;). It's the smudges with milk/cereal/unknown food/etc in it that dries and is visible from no matter where you're looking from. I've found myself glancing out the window and seeing these smears all over, stopping whatever is going on, going to get some weapon to fight the dirty mess, and then going back to my day. Not once in this time did I notice what color the leaves were, or if there was a bird on my porch. I was too busy seeing the dirt.
There are days, like today, where it's almost impossible to see the beauty in my life because of all the crazy, "dirty" smudges obstructing my view. I want to battle them, one by one, all the while forgetting the reason I want it to be clean in the first place: to enjoy the life God has given to me. Martha complained to Jesus that Mary wasn't helping her, which, I'm afraid I would have been pretty annoyed too. It's martha's house, her sis has come over perhaps to "help." We know Jesus brings a HUGE crowd. She's got a lot of work, and my mother brain is still saying in the back somewhere, "so..she just...doesn't do it? then who will?." The answer? Jesus will. He broke bread and fish for the 5000, he turned water into wine. He will meet your needs. Not wants. Not weird pet peeves. Your needs. When Martha complained to Jesus about Mary, He told her no. He wouldn't tell her to stop listening and go do what she "should" have been doing. "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed-or indeed, only one. Mary has chosen what is better, it will not be taken from her."
What a lovely thought. Things are so temporary in this world. Smudges will be there again, as soon as she gets another cookie. The gas tank will have to be filled up again. Even your family and the people in your life and your world are temporary, but Jesus is something that will always hold steady and will never be taken from us. That, in itself, gives such hope and the first huge sigh of relief of the day. :)
It's like smudges on a window. No, follow me here. It's well established that I am, indeed, a Type A personality. I enjoy long walks around a neatly lined and organized track, knowing exactly what goes into my food, and crystal clean windows. This, to an extent, is my God-given personality and is the instrument He chooses to use for His purposes (when I'm not being all about me-ish). However, I abuse this gift and go completely Martha when I should be Mary. (Luke 10:38-42) I am getting much better (which I'm sure any frequent reader is glad of, since it tends to be the meat of my blog posts lately. I promise to be more entertaining in the next season of my life ;)) but it's my native language (the Martha thing) and even when I become fluent in Mary, if I'm not speaking and living only in Mary, Martha jumps back in quite often. In this Martha time, smudges on windows are just horrible. Not just a fingerprint, give me a break, I'm not that crazy ;). It's the smudges with milk/cereal/unknown food/etc in it that dries and is visible from no matter where you're looking from. I've found myself glancing out the window and seeing these smears all over, stopping whatever is going on, going to get some weapon to fight the dirty mess, and then going back to my day. Not once in this time did I notice what color the leaves were, or if there was a bird on my porch. I was too busy seeing the dirt.
There are days, like today, where it's almost impossible to see the beauty in my life because of all the crazy, "dirty" smudges obstructing my view. I want to battle them, one by one, all the while forgetting the reason I want it to be clean in the first place: to enjoy the life God has given to me. Martha complained to Jesus that Mary wasn't helping her, which, I'm afraid I would have been pretty annoyed too. It's martha's house, her sis has come over perhaps to "help." We know Jesus brings a HUGE crowd. She's got a lot of work, and my mother brain is still saying in the back somewhere, "so..she just...doesn't do it? then who will?." The answer? Jesus will. He broke bread and fish for the 5000, he turned water into wine. He will meet your needs. Not wants. Not weird pet peeves. Your needs. When Martha complained to Jesus about Mary, He told her no. He wouldn't tell her to stop listening and go do what she "should" have been doing. "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed-or indeed, only one. Mary has chosen what is better, it will not be taken from her."
What a lovely thought. Things are so temporary in this world. Smudges will be there again, as soon as she gets another cookie. The gas tank will have to be filled up again. Even your family and the people in your life and your world are temporary, but Jesus is something that will always hold steady and will never be taken from us. That, in itself, gives such hope and the first huge sigh of relief of the day. :)
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