just for fun

So, my best friends car got shrink wrapped at church last night...it was a hoot. Game on.

ALL FOR YOU

cat woman

I think that I had perhaps one of the worst experiences of my life at the dentist office. And no…it wasn’t because of what happened in the dentist’s chair, nor because my children were acting crazy in the waiting room. Although, those two things alone could have made for a really bad day, it was the cat woman that tanked my afternoon. Yes, I said cat woman.
I was sitting in the waiting room of the dentist office, when the receptionist came out and began opening all the windows and the doors. She turned the ceiling fan on high and then sat down beside me. For a minute, I thought I might had forgotten to put on my deodorant. The young receptionist, quietly apologized and then began to prepare me for what was to come. She explained that there was a woman coming into the office that lived with 30 cats. She began to describe what was about to happen. I couldn’t imagine it being as bad as what she said, so I thanked her for the heads up and went back to reading my book while I waited.
A few minutes later, the cat woman entered the office. Doors and windows wide open, fan blowing and all of the staff in the office now wearing masks, I alone was left in the waiting room with the woman. What followed became one of the worst experiences of my life. The woman entered the office and sat down beside me and for the first few minutes, I was convinced that what the receptionist had described was an exaggerated story and that all would be well. But then….this smell wafted over towards me and I realized that the receptionist had not adequately prepared me. The smell that permeated the office was worse than any litter box, pet store or back alley I had ever encountered. It was as if the cats had urinated all over her for days on end and she had not bathed, laundered or even cared that she reeked. She sat casually on the sofa, reading her magazine as if she was the most normal person on the planet. Meanwhile, my eyes watered. My nose was burning. I wanted to cover my mouth and face. I was holding my breath for long stents and trying to breathe through my mouth. But that made me need to wipe my tongue off because the smell was so strong that I could taste it. I thought I might pass out from the smell and began to beg God to put me in the dentist chair-for that would be better than sitting in the stench.
The reception cracked her window and spoke to me through the hole to say that she would get me out of there shortly. Shortly, could not come soon enough. And the whole time, all I could think is how could this poor woman live in such a stench and not even realize it, care or know that she is causing such distress to others simply by her presence because of her smell.
While I was hugely critical of the cat woman, I had to stop and evaluate life for a second because of her. We may not reek like a litter box, however, we are all much like the cat woman. We walk into rooms and into people’s worlds and don’t even realize the stench we inflict on others because of how we have chosen to live. We are clueless that the things we love can sometimes cause a stench to our lives that affects those we are around. And yet, others can smell it, taste it and want to run from it because the stench of our lives is more than they can stand to be around. We all know people who reek in different areas. We even warn others to be prepared for the encounter, but nothing can prepare us for the stench of life all over another person. And I certainly don’t want to be the person carrying the stench.
I wanted to look at the cat woman and share with her that she was KILLING me and that while she might love her cats that her love was killing those around her because of the stench it created and that she needed to STOP it, bathe and launder. And then, I realized that we all have things that we love but that create such a stench in our lives. It could be our families, our entertainment, sports, careers-things we love, but instead of it creating a fragrant aroma in our lives, it has created a stench that is affecting others and killing those we are around. It would be anything that doesn’t make us love Jesus more.
The Word is clear that we are to be a fragrant aroma. So perhaps we ought to do a smell check and see how we are doing in this area.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 2 Cor 2:14
ALL FOR YOU

jumper cables

You know that sick feeling you get when you climb into your car and turn the key, only to discover that the roar of the engine you were expecting was not going to happen? We have all had it happen at one time or another…a dead battery. I was at a local coffee shop and had been studying for several hours when I got ready to leave and found my car in just such a predicament. Something had sucked all the power from the battery and there wasn’t enough juice to make it turn over and go.
I had jumper cables in the back of the car, but just because I had cables didn’t mean I could fix the problem. I needed help. I needed another car to link my cables up to and to jump me off. So, I crossed the parking lot and approached an older couple that was leaving, asking them if they had time to help. He pulled up in his Lexus and proceeded to hook my cables up to his car and then to mine. I climbed into the car and turned the key….nothing. The gentleman climbed into his car, revved his engine and we let the cars sit for a minute. Then he told me to try again. I turned the key….nothing…and then, wait…a noise. So I turned again and the engine roared to life. Leaving the car running, the gentleman unhooked the cables. He spoke maybe 5 words the whole time, but was so gracious to help. I told him thank you and he loaded up and left. Problem solved.
Driving away from the coffee shop, I couldn’t help but be thankful for the linkage of jumper cables that got me moving again. And then it hit me…linkage is so important. There are days when all of us have dead batteries. When we are weary and worn, no go juice, no power and no ability to get going on our own. We are dead in the water. We might even have the right tools to fix that problem. A Bible or a book, prayer and a family or church that loves us. But in that moment, what we need is more than the right tool. We need help. We need another. We need to link up and draw strength, power and presence from another. We need to hook our cables up and rev the engine and allow the power from another to fill us up and to give us what we need to get back on the road again. We need to be jumped off.
It would be easy for us to draw the conclusion that we need to link up with Jesus, hook our cables to Him and let Him be our strength. That is the obvious conclusion to the story. AND it would be TRUE. We do need to be linked, to let Him be strong in our weakness. He is our ultimate power source and can rejuice us when we are dead. But I think in addition to that, we need another….I was so thankful for the guy who linked up. Certainly, Jesus has the power to start my car without anyone else. He could have answered my prayer and cranked it right up. But God chooses to use others in our lives…to create linkage and allow us to draw strength and power from another. One car linked to another allowed both to go. One person linked to another produces the power to move. When I am weak and can’t move because I am just dead from the journey thus far, Christ can certainly revive me and restore me. And yet, He chooses to do that through linkage. One life connected to another life to draw strength and power. How crazy would it seem for me to just stand in the parking lot and hold up my cables and say….Jesus, start my car…I have the tools. I believe. It would be pretty cool if He did that, but the truth is, Jesus chooses to use others.
ALL FOR YOU

hesitations

Have you ever known the right thing to do, but just chose NOT to do it? Wow, does that ever end badly! Why? Because for believers, the Word says that to know what is right to do and NOT do is sin. (James 4:17) So, by just knowing the right thing, if you choose not to do it, you separate yourself from God, His Presence and Power, His blessing, by simply not doing what you know you should. That would include a lot of laziness, complacency and an unwillingness to let go of what you know you should.
I have been sitting in a verse of Scripture today that is haunting my soul. It is in 1 Kings 18:21. It says “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long {will} you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word.” I love the amplified version of this verse. It says, “How long will you halt and limp”. The people were confronted with a choice. And they did not answer a word. They would not choose. But in NOT choosing, they chose-to sin. They were lame followers.
For many of us, the Lord is asking the same question. You KNOW what is right to do. And to NOT do it is sin. So why do you hesitate? You will suffer the consequences of separation, discipline, a lack of blessing and Presence. Because you hesitate, you halt/stop, you limp around, instead of choosing to follow after me, it will end badly for you. You can’t possibly believe God is going to tolerate that. Furthermore, we think by NOT choosing that we can prolong our enjoyment where we are, what we are doing. Or perhaps avoid conflict, friction or persecution. However, the Word is clear. Hesitation is sin. Knowing what you are to do and not doing it is sin. Choosing to do nothing is sin.
So, why do we hesitate? Perhaps, we are asking God to DO it for us. But God will not do for us what He has commanded us to do. He will work, but He will not make the stand for us. He will convict, but He will not choose for you to determine in your heart to move forward no matter what. He will change hearts, but He will not move mountains that He has commanded you to climb. He will answer prayers, but He will not allow you to compromise by saying you are waiting on Him when you won’t make a stand for fear of the response of others.
We hesitate because we don’t want the friction in our world. We hesitate because we are not willing to stand for what we know to be of the Lord. We hesitate because we want Him to do it instead of us having to. We hesitate because it might cost us. We choose to sin…in our hesitation because we are afraid to choose, but in not choosing we sin.
So, what is HE saying? You know what is right….now do it. For anything else, just separates you from God. Don’t miss Him simply because you stood there. It won’t end well.


ALL FOR YOU

No Chains

Riding a bike is hard work, especially when the chain comes off. I have spent the last several months conditioning myself to be able to ride long distances on my bike. It has been precious time with the Lord to mount up on wings and to find myself plugged into His praises in my ears, to hear His voice and to just get into a rhythm and ride. I was doing just that on Tuesday of this week, when I got about a mile from my house and the chain fell off my bike. Now, I may ride a bike, but I know little about fixing a bike. So, I had a dilemma. I had to figure out what to do with this chain. My pedal had gotten caught in one of the links and I was going to have to get it untangled as well as determine how to get it back on the sprocket. (is that the right word? Not sure-perhaps it is called a derailer. I think that is it.) I pulled off to the side of the road and began to work on the chain. That is when it hit me. I was going to get greasy. And yes, I am a girl. Trying to fix a chain while attempting to keep my hands clean was not going to happen and I was not at all happy about the mess that was being made. I struggled with the chain, unleashing it from my pedal and then trying to get it back on track. I tugged and pulled, but it would not stretch. It was off and I didn’t know how to get it back on. Finally, I realized that pulled in the right direction, I could stretch it to get it back on track. Bike fixed, I loaded up to finish my ride, except now, my hands are really yucky. Too bad, I would have to ride with dirty hands.
It was then it hit me. A truth that I think I had somehow missed, yet was invaluable when it finally took root. It was a truth that though I have prayed for to be a reality in my life that I had not seen. My eyes had been waxed over to its pertinent application.
For months, I have been praying for freedom from the chains that bind me-us. I have been crying out to God to strip anything that would keep me from my journey with Him and would allow me to go in a direction that was not of Him. But when He strips the chains that bind us, it may not be a pretty sight. Sometimes, I think we think that when the chains come off there will be this beautiful freedom and no dirt or grime, grease or stains. But instead, when the chains come off, there is often a mess. Stains from what has been and work to be done to get back on track. And when we reach down with our hands to free the chain or set things right, we are going to get dirty. The question is not will Jesus us free us from our Chains. Most certainly, He will. The question is are we willing to get our hands dirty in the process and do the work. We can sing about our Chains being gone, but what do we do then? We get our hands dirty and then we get back on the bike and ride in the direction of freedom.

ALL FOR YOU

Lent traps

Have you ever had someone leave paper in their pants pocket and you didn’t realize it until after you washed them? Yeah….well, that is a NIGHTMARE. And I have had one of those this week. Someone in my family-all who seem to think it is someone else-left paper in their pocket and then I sent the pants through the wash. When I lifted the lid to the washer, I knew immediately that there was a problem because there were shreds of paper everywhere. I decided to try and wash the load a second time and then a third, trying to help get rid of some of the paper. After the third wash, I loaded the laundry into the dryer and purposed to pay close attention to the lent trap, thinking it would catch the rest of the paper. I cleaned the trap three times, pulling out wads of paper shreds and feeling pretty good about salvaging the laundry-that is until I realized I burnt up the dryer. (Praise the Lord, I didn’t burn the house down!) Somehow some of the lent got trapped in the tubing and wasn’t letting it vent properly, the result of which was that the dryer was working but not drying. What a mess. Laundry covered in paper, dryer not working and all because someone left something hidden in their pockets.
Isn’t that just like life? Because we don’t deal with what is on the inside, hidden, eventually there is a mess that comes to the surface. Perhaps, it is while we are trying to clean up or wash, that everything comes to light and shreds of what was hidden are laid out everywhere. Our intentions may have even been good-to get clean, but because we didn’t deal with what lies beneath, the coming out is a mess. And then when we try to clean it up, because it wasn’t dealt with properly, the heat is turned up and it burns out what we never intended to be broken. Somehow, we just figured it would all come out in the wash or the lent trap would catch it and it would be no big deal, but instead, a bigger mess is made and what was hidden is now revealed.
Perhaps life looks like my laundry. Shreds of sin that were hidden beneath the surface now apparent in the cleansing process because we chose to hide instead of deal. And in the meantime, when the heat was turned up, other things were broken as well. Could it be that we could have avoided the whole mess if we had just dealt with what was hidden within? A lent trap is not enough, we have to remove the sin that so easily entangles us and makes a mess. So quit hiding and empty your pockets-lay it all on the table and decide to come clean so that the washing is pure and not a bigger mess.

ALL FOR YOU

tiki torches

While on the women's retreat this past weekend, we shared a time of worship on the beach. I had prayed long and hard about how to present Jesus and to allow the women to worship Him in a fresh new way, while partaking of the elements of worship that we celebrate regularly. Because I am a crafter of environment, I had asked the Lord to make me creative and to show me exactly how everything needed to play out.
We were going to the beach after dinner. It would be dark. I had planned to light tiki torches on the beach to give us light. While I had the torches, the difficulty was finding the drop in oil that would be needed. I found one. So, I had one torch and one lantern-it would have to do. I chose to spread a quilt in an area of the beach up near the dunes. The women were going to bring chairs to sit around the blanket and I had planned to give them space to wander on the beach and pray. Then, we would come back to worship together to worship.
We had left dinner early to go and craft the set up and said we would text when we were ready so the women would know when to come down. I staked the torch and looked for the lighter. We tried and tried to flick the bic, but we couldn't get the lighter to come on. After much laughter about our inadequacy with the lighter, I finally got it to light, only to be unable to get the torch to light. Now, this would be a problem. We only have ONE torch. Realizing we had not pulled the wick out, I reached up and pulled on the wick. Not a smart move on my part. It was hot from trying to light it. And now my fingers were on fire and I couldn't get the lighter to light again because it hurt my fingers.
I was beginning to think that this wasn't going so well and that I might need another plan, when it finally lit. Flame on, lid on, torch in the ground, I made my way to the waters edge to pray and set my heart for what was to come. I had squatted down to pray, closed my eyes and just breathe for a minute. The waves were nipping at my toes and it was pitch dark, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a bright light making its way towards the water. I turned slightly to look and realized it was my torch. My friend was caring the torch and making her way towards the water, which baffled me because I had already staked it in the ground. Why would she be walking around with it? Was she looking for something?
Then I realized, the reason she was making her way to the water was because the torch was on fire. No...not the canister, the bamboo and all of it was one huge flame. She was quietly and calmly making her way to the shore. I jumped to my feet and went to toss water on the torch. She quickly reminded me this was the only one we had and to just put out the wood that was on fire and leave the canister burning. I was freaking out. We got the fire put out and couldn't help but crack up laughing. Our one torch was burnt on the outside and was no pretty sight to look at. But, we had managed to save it quick enough that it would still burn. We staked it again and went for the second round. Hoping it would not catch on fire again.
While we almost lost our torch, we still got the light we needed. Just a little less tiki to it. The excess had been burned away, but it still held the light so others could see to find their way.
Much like our lives, the Lord often has to burn off the excess. At first that seems dangerous and wrong. We feel exposed and unprotected. However, it is often necessary, so that the flame can burn free and clear. So, Jesus comes in and burns away some of the tiki so that the flame can burn brighter.
The funny thing is that not one of the women realized that the torch had been through the fire, for its flame did exactly what it is supposed to do. It lit the way. And it is true for us. While we might feel exposed and unprotected, no one really even notices that because the flame of Christ is now burning so clear, that is all they can see. So perhaps and burnt up tiki torch is not a bad thing if it means the Light shines brighter as a result. And maybe a life with the excess burnt away isn't so bad either, if it means Jesus is seen more glorious as a result.
ALL FOR YOU

awls....

Recently, I had to make a trip to Lowe’s to pick up a tool that I needed for an illustration I was working on. The problem is that I am a woman. And a woman in Lowe’s is lost. I had NO CLUE where to look for this tool. Apparently, that was obvious for one of the employees approached and said that it looked like I was confused and asked if he could help me. This is where the fun began.
I said, “yes, you can. I am looking for an awl.” He laughed, smiled and said, “well, mam, this store is full of crap, you can’t have it all.” (don’t take offense…it is what HE said.) I smiled and said that I didn’t want everything in store. I want an Awl and asked if he knew where they were located. He quickly began to walk me over to where some tools were located and show me where one kind of awl was. I looked at it for a minute and said “is this the only one you have?”
Well, that sparked a conversation between the two of us. He wanted to know what I needed the awl for. I told him I needed it for an illustration. He asked me if I was an artist and began to walk me to where some different awls were. I squatted down to look at the tools and looked up at him and said, “no, I am not an artist. Actually, I am a Bible teacher.” His eyes got real big and he asked why I needed an Awl to teach the Bible.
I had been waiting for him to ask and so I quickly began to explain that I was going to teach on what it meant to be a bondslave and asked him if he knew what that meant. He said no. Over the next few minutes I began to describe how in the days of Christ that a bondslave was a slave that had been freed, but understood that life enslaved to his master was better than life free. So the slave would willingly choose to enslave himself to the master, giving up his freedom because he knew that life was better enslaved. I shared with the man that when a slave made that choice, that they were marked with a sign, so that everyone would know the choice the slave had made-to freely enslave himself to his master. The mark that they would make was that they would take the slaves earlobe and put it against a doorpost and drive the awl through it, piercing the ear and marking the slave.
The guy was apparently intrigued, because then he asked if I was going to do that to someone. I laughed and said that would be a quick way to shrink a church, so no. But that I was going to talk about how the Lord marks those who are His, those who choose to enslave themselves because they know that Life following the Lord is better than life doing as you please. I shared with Him that I was a bondslave, enslaved to the Lord because life with Him is just better.
The man had been listening and was somewhat embarrassed for his earlier comment. He said, “that’s cool. By the way, I am sorry for saying crap earlier. I didn’t mean to offend you.” I responded by saying he didn’t offend me. He began talking about church people and I stopped him dead in his tracks and said, “I am sure you have met lots of people who would be offended and perhaps even say something to you about it. But sir, I am not really interested in talking about a religion with you, but instead that you would realize that there is more. Not a religion but a relationship with Jesus where you fall in love and He changes you. Not because of rules, but because you want to please Him.” We were walking to the check out by this time and he just stopped right in the middle of the aisle and said, “no religion, just a relationship. I think I might like and can agree with that.” I just smiled and said, “loving Jesus changes you, because being His slave is better than free.”
He told me to have a nice day and I smiled and walked away.
There are so many people who are turned off to our religious ways. And yet, there are so many who are hungry for people who are different because of a relationship with Him. I guess the question today, is which one are you? Have you become His bondslave? Are you tied up in religious activities and rules, missing Jesus along the way and turning people off to Him as well? Maybe it is time we put our ear to the door and become His slave AND begin to let go of our religion and engage in a relationship with Jesus that changes you and others begin to want.
ALL FOR YOU