Memorize:

"But My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:19 (KJV)

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Bed Bugs: A True Story

Contrary to what you may think, this story has absolutely nothing to do with bed bugs. Only with a bed that bugs. You know. Something that annoys you.

Dark and early this morning. (Why do they say 'bright and early?' Everyone knows early mornings are always dark. Morning starts at midnight. Seriously!)

So, dark and early this morning, I awakened. No, not with a start. I awakened gradually. About the time I was half awake, I realized that something was terribly out of place. (There's a pun there, but you won't get it until I tell you the rest.) Since it was early, I didn't exactly want to be awake. But, since I didn't know exactly what was wrong, I woke up all the way so I could figure it out. That wasn't too hard. All I had to do was turn over to realize that my sheets, instead of being nicely stretched out over the entirety of my bed, were piled up at my face. (See! I told you something was out of place!)

I thrash a lot, so this is relatively normal. However, I usually don't wake up all the way unless I'm cold. Since certain people had turned the heater up to 70, this was not a problem. I sadly turned over once again with the realization that it had not been necessary to wake up since I wasn't going to get up and fix it right then since I wasn't cold.  (Long sentence) As an aside, every time I wash my sheets I attempt to make my bed in a new way in a hopeless attempt to make sure my sheets remain tucked in properly. It never works.

Anyway, you may think that's the end of the story. But there's more.

You see, this evening, I finally got around to doing the inevitable job of completely remaking my bed. Why didn't I do it earlier? I was hoping I could wash them. Unfortunately, there wasn't time since Tuesday is laundry day. So, not only did I have the sad task of fixing my bed from scratch, I didn't even get any benefits out of it. In fact, there were only more disappointments.

What disappointments? I like my bed to be neat, but because my room is a disaster at the moment, I was unable to access my bed from the correct angle necessary to make my bed neat. (Another long sentence.) In order to access my bed in such a manner, I would have had to move at least four different piles of *things.*

What did I do? I made a lazy choice that I'm quite sure I'll be sorry for tomorrow morning. Instead of moving the piles and tucking in the sheets properly, I didn't move the piles and therefore did not tuck in my sheets. My bed is sloppy right now. And I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow morning I woke up to the same exact problem.

Moral of the story:  1: Don't thrash in bed and your sheets will remain tucked in. (On the other hand, they last longer since you're never in the same place twice) and 2: If you do thrash, keep your room clean (it wasn't my stuff) so that you can have direct access to every angle of your bed.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Homeless or Hopeless?

I must say, my attitude towards those I see on street corners begging is probably not the best. They often seem like hypocrites. After all, who doesn't know that many of them are not really trying to get a real job. Begging is their job. I've actually witnessed some of them walking briskly towards their particular corner, looking like normal people. They hide their fancy backpack under or behind a bush, walk to the middle of the corner and as they do so, their smile fades and they shrink into themselves and put on a sad, hurt face and posture. They carry a sign saying, 'homeless, please help, God bless,' while they wear designer jeans and smoke a cigarette down the street during their 'lunch break.'

Now, what really drives me nuts is the fact that these people detract from people who may really need help. It can be difficult to discern between them. And you don't really feel like giving money to what may be a hypocrite, so you decide not to help anyone.

But, on the other hand, whether they're hypocrites or really in need, I can't help but thinking that they are all in need of a Savior. Some of them may not really be homeless, but they are real people and as such they are people we should share Jesus with. They are people with no hope.

This is why I appreciate the ministry begun by some slim, by-sight, acquaintances. I sort of met one of them while I was doing speech and debate. Miss LsR and Miss LR are sisters who saw this need at an early age. (I believe they were not quite teenagers) On their own initiative, they began carrying bags around to give to panhandlers. They have dealt very discerningly with the issue of hypocrites by not giving money.

The bag is filled with non-perishable food, a water bottle, socks, a hand wipe, Kleenex, and a Gospel Tract. Their ministry has grown in a very few short years. Now they have people all over the East and West coast who carry bags in their cars to hand out. They also have people in the Philippines. While I have yet to try it, I love how tangible and practical this is. To find out more, go to www.h2obags.com/.

Friday, September 9, 2011

A Time to Remember

Ecclesiastes 3 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." ~Ecc. 3:1-11 (KJV).

While the phrase, 'a time to remember' is not included in this particular passage, there are many instances in Scripture which talk about remembering.

10 years ago on Sunday, the world as I knew it changed dramatically, permanently, tragically. Several airplanes were hijacked by terrorists and were flown into the World Trade Center. A third plane crashed in the Pentagon and a fourth was intended to be crashed at the White House. All four places were and are places of national significance.

I was young, but I still remember the hush, the tension, the uncertainty. No planes overhead, few cars on the road. I remember watching on TV as they played over and over the replay of the World Trade Center. I remember Dad saying more than once: "Life is going to be very different from now on. This world has changed forever." It did.

Because I remember, I am saddened as I realize that many people don't remember. They were either too young, or they have forgotten. Yes, it was ten years ago. But ten years is not that long. Surely we could have remembered the sacrifices that people made. It is time to remember.

I am saddened by the lack of remembrance. I still tear up a little as I think about this event. It was a huge turning point in history. It is equal to any number of other turning points. The Great Awakening, the American Revolution, the Civil War, the World Wars, the Exodus. We remember those thousands of years later. Why have we forgotten this less than ten years later? Yes, it does cross our minds this year. After all, Ten Years is special. Like an anniversary. But it's not an anniversary. It's a memorial. We ought to remember, we ought to teach our children to remember. Think of all the ways it has effected us. Tighter and more objectionable airport security is only one poignant example.

(My apologies, this just posted before I finished.)

Think of the sacrifices others made. Like the fourth airplane. Why didn't it hit it's target. Because the passengers on that plane sacrificed their lives instead. Most notably a man named Todd Beamer. These people have names. They were real. Let's remember. (A book review on Let's Roll by Lisa Beamer will be on the Bookworm's Resource page shortly)

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born and a time to die..." A Time to Remember, and a time to forget.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Schemes

Here's a list of things that I think would be fun to do sometime:

  • Have a Bible-read-aloud party. It only takes 77 hours...=) Well, maybe a New Testament read-aloud for a start. That only takes 15 hours. You could totally do it from 9-6 for two days with room for lunch and breaks. Or three afternoons...
  • Go Christmas caroling. Share the gospel in-between two songs.
  • Go on a short-term and long term mission trip to somewhere
  • Have a party and invite people off the streets. A real party, with hats and cake and noise makers. Like the parable of the wedding feast in the Bible. Maybe invite a few additional Christian friends to balance it out. Make it a party as if they were your best friends instead of people you don't know or instead of a free meal for homeless or something.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Company Behavior

I have a question for you. What do you do when a special friend you haven't seen in a while calls to say they're coming over and are only 15 minutes away? You lounge around waiting for them right? Yeah, right. If you're anything like me, you probably rush around the house picking up things, taking out the trash, stuffing things in closets, maybe change out of your work clothes into something nicer, start some coffee, throw some cookies on a plate, tell the kids to behave extra well...And THEN, you lounge around waiting, right? Probably not. You've probably used all your time. As they walk up to the door, you put on your best smile and your mind races as you think of the dirty laundry you forgot to pick up in the living room, the crumb you notice on the entry floor, the dirt mark on the carpet that you didn't have time to vacuum, and the toy under the couch that you didn't quite shove back far enough.

This last week, I was reading the Gospels. I was reading two different versions, so I basically read them all twice. Anyway, I happened to notice the words, (about 8 different times or more) "Watch and pray, prepare your house, for you do not know when the Lord will return, and it will be like a thief in the night." (Paraphrase) And then, on top of it all, I had a discussion loosely based off of these words and the topic of company behavior with Mr. O. (A good friend from church)

And, I got to thinking.

Ok, now for a rabbit trail. Am I allowed to say I was thinking? I took a personality test, (very fun and accurate, the link is http://www.personalitypage.com/high-level.html and you can read the descriptions of your personality here: http://www.personalitypage.com/high-level.html) Anyway, my type was a something something "T." T stands for how much I relying on Thinking vs. Intuition (N) I got a T, but, apparently, I only Think 1% of the time. Or maybe it's supposed to mean that during my life I will have only Thought for 1% of it. So the question is, if I say was Thinking, am I using up my 1%? Um, yeah, that was a rabbit trail. A big one.

Anyway, I was using 1% of my brain, and I connected the two.

So, here are the facts.
1: Jesus WILL return.
2: It'll be like a thief in the night.
3: If you know the thief is going to come, you get ready for him. You set up a barricade, hide the silver...etc.

Logical Conclusion:

We know He's coming, so we prepare for Him. But since we don't know WHEN He's coming, we have to be prepared all the time! I know, we've all heard that before. But hey, Scripture talks a lot about how we need to remind ourselves/our children of these things.

So, Unlike our scenario at the beginning where we rush around fixing things at the last minute and not having time to do it all, we should KEEP our house in order all the time. Yeah, right! I can hear humphing in the background. Like anyone can do that. I've got 10 kids...or, a job...No one can keep their house clean all the time. Yes, I know, I can't do it either. But you can try. Because, Like our story at the beginning, He IS an unexpected guest. A special one. One who will see the toy under the couch, the un-vacuumed floor. And he'll say: I told you I was coming, why didn't you make ready.

But if you TRY...Sure, maybe it won't be possible to get all the way into that corner over there. He'll see it, but He'll know you tried and He'll say: Well done, good and faithful servant.

What would the world be like if we were on Company Behavior all the time? If we always wore our best smile, if we always behaved extra well...?