Peace, Trouble, and Fear

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."  John 14:27

Have you ever heard someone say (or maybe you've even said this yourself).. "All I want is world peace."  Hmmmm… we often make fun of that statement, while secretly wishing for it to come true. And the reason that we mock this statement is because deep down I think most of believe that it is an impossible dream.  We watch the news, read the stories in the newspaper, listen to talk radio, or even hear sermons about how bad, and un-peaceful things are in this world.  I think we become overwhelmed at the vast expanse of trouble we see.  And it is very easy to become extra fearful-- to worry about how much worse things could possibly get.

And we, in our humanness try to take preventative measures.  It's part of our nature to try to control that which we cannot possibly control.  We take every precaution we can to prevent what we fear from actually taking place.  For some, that comes in the form of stockpiling money.  For others, they try to prepare for the worst by stocking up food or weapons.  Some seek to gain control by going into the political field to help form the outcome.  We take preventative measures to protect those we love from harm, i.e. making them wear helmets (I am guilty of being a helmet nazi), padding, seat belts, armor, etc…. My son once told me that I would probably bubble wrap him if I could ( and I actually thought about the logistics of how to pull that off).  

Now, I do not think that all of this stuff is necessarily wrong.  I just sometimes wonder if we might carry it too far.  It is really easy to cross the line between being simply preventative and living in fear.

"The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be."

Fear in of itself isn't always a bad thing.  In fact, sometimes it's the only thing that prevents us from doing something that could cause harm or even death.  So, in that case, some fear is healthy.  God made us, he put within us the fight or flight response.  I think it is unreasonable to think that we can live a life that doesn't have some fear in it.

However, there is a marked difference between having some normal, rational fear and letting your life be ruled by fear.  A life ruled by fear is a very dark one.  Look at this verse from the Bible:

"Your eyes are windows into your body.  If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light.  If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar.  If you put blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have."  Matthew 6:22-23 the Message

Now, this is just my opinion, so take it or leave it.  But I truly believe the greatest weapon that Satan uses currently is fear.  Think about it.  Fear can cripple you.  Fear stops you from acting.  Fear can keep you from doing what is right.  Fear causes you to look for enemies, even when there are none to be found.  Fear creates walls between people.  Fear dampens joy.  Fear focuses on the negative instead of the positive.  Fear cancels out or negates blessings.  Fear is often selfish, putting the individual first.  Fear causes wars, ruins relationships, makes us doubt ourselves and God, feeds on and encourages helplessness, dampens love, crushes happiness, and eliminates peace.  When fear is our focus, it crowds out everything else.

And I'm not saying that there aren't scary things out in this world.  There are and will continue to be.  So, how do we deal with fear?  How do we not let it control us?

"Often times, the greatest peace comes of surrender."

The first step is to recognize who is in control and who isn't.  Let's start by acknowledging the fact that we are not in control.  Not really.  We like to think we are.  We spend a lot of time trying to be in control.  But, we aren't.  I don't know about you, but sometimes that realization alone makes my heart beat a little faster (and not always in a good way).

However, there is good news to be had here.  We may not be in control, but God is.  Now, I realize that if you do not have a relationship with God, that statement may not bring you any peace.  So, if you do not know who He is, let me introduce Him to you. I'm going to do so by providing you the different names and attributes used for God and their definitions. And I'm sorry but I'm going to use a few "religious" sounding words here because some of the names are in Hebrew and Greek-- please bear with me and read this anyway.

God is:

Elohim:  the plural form of EL meaning Strong One
El Shaddai:  God Almighty
El Olam:  The Everlasting God
Yaweh Jireh --The Lord will provide
Yahweh Shalom: The Lord is Peace
Yahweh Ro'i:  The Lord my Shepherd
Yahweh Shammah:  The Lord is There
Father
Yaweh Rapha: The Lord who Heals
Elohay Mishpat: God of Justice
Elohay Selichot: God of Forgiveness
El HaNe'eman:  The Faithful God
Friend of Sinners
Comforter
God is Good
God is Love
God is Merciful
God is Wise
God is Grace

In fact I love this introduction that Steve Harvey did of God:

Now, that is the God I know.  That is who I release the present and future to.  

The next step involves something so simple that it can be done anywhere at any time and in any place.  It's simply talking to God (often called prayer).  

"Prayer is the passport to peace."  

"Don't fret or worry.  Instead of worrying, pray.  Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.  Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.  It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."  Philippians 4:6-7 the message

I prefer to call it talking to or having a conversation with God because I think sometimes people get too caught up in "how to pray" or the right way to pray and they become stale and ritualized in their interaction with God.  For me, prayer is more like a conversation.  I don't know about you, but sometimes when I am fearful or worried, it helps me to talk about it.  And let me say, that although God is not unaware of your fears-- he is longing to talk to you about them.  He could just simply look at your problems and make them go away, but that doesn't allow for a real relationship to form. A real relationship takes interaction from both parties.  So, simplistically put, prayer is interacting with God with the purpose of forming a relationship with Him.   It's a give and take.  The verse above lets you know that this interaction is not one sided.  

And truthfully, not all of my prayers/conversations with God are pretty, well formed, grammatically correct conversations.  Sometimes I simply cannot form a full sentence.  I have prayed prayers that are composed entirely of one word, such as Help or Please.  That's ok.  Be assured that God certainly hears and understands those prayers.  The only other thing I'm going to address here is that you make sure you build in time to listen to God, to open up your eyes and heart and actively look for his answers. 

This last step is sometimes the hardest one.  It involves focusing your attention on God.  Not becoming distracted.  Controlling your thoughts.  

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."  Matthew 6:34 the Message


"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you."  Philippians 4:8-9  NIV

"Better to lose count while naming your blessings than to lose your blessings to counting your troubles."

It is often said that hindsight is 20/20.  Case in point, I have often read the story about how Israel was freed from Egypt and their long journey to get to the land that was promised to them by God.  Now, I have a love/hate relationship with this story.  You see, what I love about this story is the fact that God provided for them at every turn, and in some pretty amazingly fantastic and miraculous ways.  But the part of the story that frustrates me is how often the people complained to God about their circumstances.  How easily they forgot the miracles that God performed for them.  I mean, really, what does God have to do for you to prove that He has it under control and that you have nothing to worry about!  And yet, here I am in the present day, finding myself to be a lot like those "stiff necked" people in the story.  How often do I myself forget all that God has already done for me.  How often do I forget that I am not fighting this battle alone, but that I have a God who is Mighty and faithful and working for my good, going ahead of me, making my paths straight.  How often do I get caught up in worry and fear?  How often do sit back and think about all the things that are going wrong, making that my central focus?

This final step involves being grateful.  Remembering all that God has already done.  Remembering that God is in control, and that He is good.

"Let your faith be bigger than your fear."

So I'll end with this thought.  I do not live in a bubble.  I read about and understand what is going on around me both locally and globally.  I acknowledge that sometimes I am fearful about where things are going.  But in the end, I know the One who is really in control.  I am actively seeking to have a relationship with God.  I work to make Him the center of my focus.  And I put my trust in God.

Have a great week!  I'll leave you with a few "peaceful" photos!

Flawed…or square peg, round hole

Flawed… the definition of this word is "Blemished, damaged, or imperfect in some way."  It is also defined as "having a weakness in character."  In case you haven't noticed, I could also add to the definition "see Yolanda."  It's true. I am a flawed human.  I am blemished, damaged, imperfect and  probably have several "weaknesses of character."  And, here's another fact.  This one may disturb you… you are flawed as well.  We all are.

So, what brought me to this word and it's definition?  I overheard someone saying that they, "Hate  Church."   And, a little bit of me responded to that statement-- a part of me felt a kinship with that statement. Now, before anyone gets all bent out of shape, this is not a bash the church kind of blog.  If you are looking for that, go google it. You'll find a lot of information there.  I did.  Yup, I actually googled the term "I hate church" just to see what popped up (and for the record, I felt like a betrayer, or some sort of spiritual criminal the whole time).  Let's just say that there is a lot of bitterness out there (not all of it undeserved) towards the "church." Ummmmm…. wow, just wow.

One of the things that caught my eye was an about.com survey with the question "Why don't you go to church? " There were over 400 replies.  They had a survey of the question "Why do you go to church?"  There were 49 replies.  Hmmmmm.  I looked even deeper (as deep as you can get on the internet) and here are a few quotes I found that made me think:

"While I never had a problem with what I interpreted to be the Bible's general message of 'be nice to people,' church seemed nothing more than empty ritual punctuated with emotional hype and pop psychology.  Christianity failed to make any real and positive differences in my life."

"I saw nothing particularly attractive in them (Christians), nor anything so undesirable in me as to stir up any desire to change or question my beliefs."

"I don't go to church because I have a humiliating past and every time I go everyone knows my biggest humiliation.  And I am ashamed."

"Every time I walk into church I feel insecure, like a person walking through an alley waiting to be mugged."

I don't know about you, but those statements above break my heart, and I believe they break God's as well.  Shouldn't church be the "safe" place to be?  Shouldn't it be the one place where we can be real?

I was then lead to a blog entry by Andrew Alleyne  entitled, "I Hate Church."  And as I began to read it, I was once again struck, and heartbroken, and repentant.  Here are a couple of quotes:

"I began to understand why an entire generation can feel more loved and welcomed in a club than in a church.  We preach revival, we talk about harvest, but how many Christians are really stepping into the dark places of our city and shining their lights?  Are churches really ready for the day the prostitute walks into our church after she just finished her night shift?  Or when the back of the church smells like weed because broken people are coming through the doors?"

"It's as though church has become about good meetings, and good music, and unless you look like, talk like, and act like me, then we cannot walk together, be seen together, or hang out.  We've created this movement, this culture that is so anti the very world we are called to reach.  We've stepped out of society, and we're afraid to come close to darkness.  Jesus wash't afraid to touch that which was unclean, sit with sinners, or be their friend."

And I will be honest here, I have sometimes felt like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole as a church goer.  I have had times where I have felt like I can't be the "real" me or that I can't show my weaknesses or flaws because of fear of rejection or judgement.  So, I understand people's negative reactions to the church.  I really do get it.  I have even felt that way myself. I also understand why so many people are leaving the church these days.

But I am not here to bash the church. (Quick sidebar, the church is made up of forgiven sinners who are flawed people-- and we wonder why the church sometimes screws up?)  Instead, I am here to talk about what I believe I need to do in order to fulfill the single most important job I have-- which is to show the love of God to those around me.  My job is to show those around me what a relationship with God should look like, to model how the church should be.

I think what people are really looking for these days is authenticity.  Realness.  I believe that the reason people were drawn to Jesus was because he wasn't afraid to be real with people, he wasn't afraid to meet them where they were (even if the religious leaders rebuked him for going to places that they deemed "unclean, unholy, and un-Godly").

So, my first action is to be real with people.  To let myself to be flawed. To forget about being impressive and commit to being real.  To acknowledge that I am an imperfect person loved by a perfect God.  When you are authentic, you create the space for others to be the same.  And this is harder to do than it seems.  Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable.  People can relate to humanness.  I am so flawed, so imperfect, that I can't even begin to relate to someone who only shows me their perfection.  If you've read any part of my blog, my imperfection should be glaringly obvious.

I also believe that people are looking for authentic love.  A love that sees God's value in a person, not the value that the world, or the "church", or even you yourself,  has placed on them.

"Love is not "if" or "because."  Love is "anyway" and "even though" and "in spite of."

"You are loved beyond measure.  Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely.  Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly.  Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely.  He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken."

"People want to experience a God who will love and accept them.  And if they do not see God's love reflected in the church they will view God as unloving."

Let me tell you, these phrases are easy to say.  And sometimes, they are easy to enact.  It is easy to show love for a child who has been harmed by something out of their control (i.e. famine). But what about the young teenager who chose to have an abortion?  Oh, lets get even more personal here.  What if your teenager wanted to be a friend to that young lady?  Would you be willing to step into that relationship a little and befriend that girl also?  Would you invite that girl to come to your church and sit with your family?  Or would you strongly discourage that relationship? Or even outright forbid it?  That's a hard question to answer.

What about the person with the humiliating past?  The past that everyone knows about.  The past that may cause others to judge you if you choose to show love to that person.  Would you invite that person over for dinner?  Would you invite her to come to church and sit with you?  And if you did, would you feel uncomfortable?

We get so busy telling everyone to be careful who they hang around with because they might influence us, that we forget that we might just influence them.  And, just who do you think Jesus hung out with anyway?  I can tell you he didn't spend the majority of his time with the religious leaders of the day.  Just saying. I can't pick and choose who I show God's love to, as much as I might want to.  I can't shelter myself from those who are hurting.  That's a fearful reaction, not a loving one.  I can't preach God's love, but go about my life not showing love, and expect people to want to follow the God I loudly proclaim.

And finally, people want to  experience real, authentic worship and churches.  What does that have to do with me, as an individual?  Well, the church is made up of God followers (that's me).  They are seeking more than just an emotional experience.

"They can tell when we are trying to get them to react emotionally.  We can play soft music and ask them to raise their hands or kneel, but if they don't feel like it is a genuine expression of the reality of our faith, they will eventually reject it."

So, my part is to worship God authentically.  Not just for show.  And not just on Sunday mornings at church.  My goal is not to illicit just an emotional response to God, but to also encourage a long term, long lasting, relationship with God.  They are looking for a real, genuine, life changing faith that is lived out every day.  It's my job to show them that this can be accomplished, even though I am flawed, even though I screw up, even though I often fail, even though I sometimes get tired, even though life is sometimes hard, and even when life is good.

"It's about building bridges with those who won't come to church on Sunday, not as a project, but because Jesus loves them and told us to."  Jen Hatmaker

My end goal is not to get people to come to my church.  It's not ( and I know that will bother some people).  My goal is to show broken, hurting, people that not only are they worthy of great love, but that they are greatly loved.  Right where they are.  Just as they are.  It isn't my job to change them.  It isn't my job to shame them.  It isn't my job to judge them.  My job is to love them.

I know that love is a subject that I speak on often.  And I do not want you to get the wrong idea about me.  I don't always manage to do the perfect loving thing every time.  I fail a lot.  I am flawed.  But I feel like we, as Christ followers, have missed the boat sometimes.  I feel like we spend a lot of time, energy, effort, and money defending "beliefs" but very little time showing love to those who need it.  Often, the people we are "arguing" with are those who are most in need of someone to step up and show them God's love.  We get so busy being right, that we forget that we are all deeply flawed and in desperate need of a savior.

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this;  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:6-8

I'll leave you with a statue that was outside  the Notre Dame de la Garde basilica we visited in Marseille, France.

We are all under construction...

I'm going to start my blog today with a shout out to my husband.  He is an amazing man!  He truly is one of the greatest blessings in my life.  And, because of this, I wanted to do something special for him.  I wanted to surprise him.  Now, you have to know, this man is EXTREMELY hard to surprise.  Truly, it's one of my great frustrations in life---my inability to surprise this man.  But, for some insane reason, I keep trying, over and over again, to surprise him.  So, I decided to try once again.  He had a work trip scheduled last weekend and I thought that it would be the perfect time to hatch my plan….

My plan involved his poor little office.  You see, when he moved me clear across the country, to a state where I knew NOBODY and had no family, for a job promotion that he wanted, I took it upon myself to kind of, sort of, claim the best parts of our new house.  Now, let's face it, he doesn't care about most of that stuff anyway.  But, I claimed the actual "Office" in our new house.  It's a great space.  Sunny.  Lots of room for all my craft stuff.  And, I get the good chair, the good computer,  and the desk.  He's relegated to a stool at the worktable.  Seems fair right?

Now, we did sort of turn a spare bedroom upstairs into his work space.  It is also where he has his clothes since I also claimed the big closet in the Master bedroom and this spare room actually has a walk in closet (though a lot smaller).  Ok, I'm almost starting to feel a little bad about this… almost.  Anyway, this poor spare room consisted of hand me down desk furniture and it was kind of sad. I tried to find a photo, but I couldn't… probably because there was nothing photo worthy about the room.  I had thrown some paint on the wall, and hung some sad little curtains, but that was it.

Sooooo…. I thought that this was the perfect time to surprise him with an HGTV worthy office makeover.  I was so giddy about this that I almost gave it away.  The day came for him to leave on his trip, annnnnnndddd it took him forever to actually leave.  He was feeling bad about leaving me yet again after having been gone the whole week before.  Little did he know that I wanted him to go.   I did everything but shove him physically out the door.

Then I frantically began running around to purchase the new furniture and items for his room.  Of course, I couldn't get everything at one store.  Nope.  Not here.  Not me.  I had to run to no less than 4 different stores, all at opposite ends of town.  While I am frantically trying to gather my stuff, I get a call from my wonderful husband stating that he had invited a few of our neighbors over for  a little Bocce ball and dinner the next night. Ok… I added one more store to the list because I did not have enough of the fish I had planned to make for our family (and I needed to use it).  That store was clear downtown.  Perfect.  Sooooo….6 hours and a tank of gas later I finally had all of the stuff at the house.  Oh, did I mention that I couldn't fit everything in my car so I had to make multiple trips home?

So, now I had to "clean" out the room in order to redo it.  It is 5pm.  This little chore takes 3 hours of hauling all the items into another spare bedroom.  Then I must clean the room, because some of the pieces of furniture have set in the same place for 7 years… Finally, I'm ready to start putting the room back together.  YEAH!!!!  I start with replacing the curtains with new ones.  That was easy enough.  Step one completed.  I lay down the new rug.  Hey, I thought, this is going well.  I'm patting myself on the back as I go down the stairs and out to the garage to start on the furniture.  Ok, furniture now comes in extremely HEAVY boxes in about 3 thousand "easy to assemble pieces."  This is the part I hadn't quite thought through.  Ummmmm, my husband and son are gone, and I have no one to carry these boxes clear up the stairs.  So, I opt to cut open the boxes in the garage and haul the pieces upstairs one by one.  This. Takes. Forever.  At which point I begin to mutter to myself about how I hope he appreciates this and he better not, I repeat not, say something like, oh, that's nice.  If he does, I may have yet another empty spare room for someone to use.  Just saying.

The first piece I assemble is one of the bookshelves.  Who knew that these simple shelves had so many pieces?  I knew I was in trouble when I pulled out the BOOKLET that contained the instructions.  SIGH….. At least the instructions are somewhat understandable and I manage to wrangle the pieces into a recognizable book shelf.  One down.  I decide to tackle the desk next…. oh my lord!  Every piece of this desk is heavy.  I'm talking baby elephant heavy.  And I have to climb a gazillion stairs with said pieces.  I think I probably put in about 80,000 miles going up and down said stairs.  Eventually all of the 4,000 pieces are up in the room with the instruction booklet that tells me how to put this thing together in 100 easy steps.  I open the booklet to find that they do not give written instructions, only very, very small diagramed instructions with even smaller written descriptors like Part A.  Lovely. Also, unlike the shelves (which allowed me to use a screwdriver, i.e. electric drill), this desk has come with it's own tool (handmade by Satan himself) called an Allen tool, which must be used by hand.  Oh joy!  It soon becomes extremely clear to me that they did not mean for one person to build this item.  In fact, this item needs at least four hands to hold stuff together while someone tries to tighten the bolts with the lovely, yet frustrating, allen tool.  I look at the cat.  He yawns and walks out of the room.  Creativity is called for here, and I am a creative person I tell myself.  I begin to use tape and walls to help hold things in place.  It seems odd, but it kind of works.  Score.

Finally, at 2am, I am down to the finally steps of desk assembly.  I have two steps to go.  And I discover that I missed something important in the extremely small diagramed instructions.  Four of the major pieces holding the desk together apparently had an up and down side.  And, yup, you guessed it, I installed the down side of these four pieces in the up position.  I have worn a blister on my hand from using the blessedly devilish Allen tool, and I have to yet again use this horrid thing to undo some of my hard work.  At this point, I decide to step away for a minute and go fix myself some dinner and something to drink.  Afterwards, I'm feeling a tad calmer, so I go and tackle the desk again.  At 3:30am, with desk completed, I haul my tired behind to bed.  I will tackle the chair, the other book shelf, and decorating tomorrow.

I force myself out of bed the next morning at 8am, grab some coffee-- which I desperately need-- and get back to work.  Now, I'm on a timeline.  Jeff is due to arrive at 1:30.  I get the chair put together (which also comes with it's own installation tool- gah) and place it behind the desk.  I walk another 10,000 miles hauling up the second bookcase parts and pieces and begin the long assembly process.  I am almost done assembling the other book case when I look out the window and see Jeff's car pulling in.  EARLY.  I think I actually growled.  Why, oh why, does the universe not want me to surprise this man?  This is not how I had pictured this going in my head.  My perfect version was having Jeff arrive home to find his room sparkling clean and amazingly put together.  I wanted the big reveal!  Instead, he saw the big mess.  Fun.  Boy was he surprised.  Especially when he walked in as I grumpily said surprise, handed him an allen tool,  and told him to get to work.

In all, it turned out well.  And my desired end result, which was having my husband feel special and well loved worked out, even if he did have to help me finish up the project.

If you've made it this far through this long blog, let me stop and applaud you!  I do have a point to this, and here it is.  In life, we are all under construction.  Sometimes the process of improvement is painful, and hard, and just plain old no fun.  Sometimes we may feel like there are 10000 instruction steps that must be completed in order for us to be properly put together.  And often, we feel like we don't have the proper tools to get the job done.  But, I have good news for you!  The God of the universe is the one handling the construction process.  His goal is for you to understand how much he loves you.  How special you are to him.  His desired result is for all this construction to work together for your good.  You may feel like you are being held up by pieces of tape while trying to screw yourself together with an Allen Tool, but don't give up.  If you find you have made a mistake, don't be afraid to go back and do the hard work over in order to get it right.  And finally, it's ok if it's messy.  Construction is sometimes a messy process, don't forget that.

So, I'll leave you with a few photos of the completed office project.  Have a good week!

This chest of drawers belonged to Jeff's great-grandparents.  It has all the marks and nicks of being loved and passed down through the family.  I was going to paint it, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  Instead, I like the fact that when I look at it , it has the character of time and lives well lived etched into it.

I love you Jeff.  It has truly been a good life together so far.  Can't wait to see what is up ahead.

The Wisdom of Aerosmith….Dream On people!

Today I am going to expose you to the wisdom of Aerosmith.  That's right, I mean Aerosmith the Band.  You know, the band with Steven Tyler  and those four other guys.  Sidebar-- I actually met Steven Tyler and those four other guys last year at one of their concerts… hmmmm…that's all I'm going to say about that.

Anyway, as disturbing as you may find this next comment, I'm going to state for the record-- that I am an Aerosmith fan.  I have always liked them.  I have always listened to them.  That's not changing.  And I'm not sorry or apologetic about it.  When a random number comes through my cell phone, the ringtone is the song Dream On….. one because I love that song and two… you are probably dreaming if you think I'm answering my phone for a number that I don't know… that's what voicemail is for.

So, speaking of the song Dream On, here are the lyrics:

Every time when I look in the mirror,

All these lines on my face getting clearer,

The past is gone.

It went by, like dust to dawn

Isn't that the way?

Everybody's got the dues in life to pay.

I know nobody knows

Where it comes and where it goes.

I know it's everybody's sin

You got to lose to know how to win.

Half my life is books, written pages.

Live and learn from fools and from sages.

You know it's true, Oh

All these feelings come back to you

(Yes, I'm totally singing this at the top of my lungs while playing the air drums in between typing)

Sing with me, sing for the years

Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears

Sing with me, just for today

Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Dream on, dream on, dream on

Dream until your dreams come true

(cue guitar solo)

Dream on, Dream on, Dream on

Dream until your dreams come true

Besides just being (in my totally humble and completely right opinion) a really good rock song, there is a certain set of wisdom in these words.  I like the determination to not give up on your dreams, even if you are getting older.

I think sometimes we are under the mistaken impression that dreams are only for the young.  Not true!    There's a prime example of this in the Bible.  ( And yes, I realize that there are those who think I'm crazy to use both a secular rock song and a Bible story in the same blog.  To you I say,  So what?    My blog, my rules.)  Let's take a look at Abraham and Sarah's dream in Genesis.  It starts in Chapter 12 with God's promise to Abraham to "make him a great nation."  Right there, the dream is planted.  However, if you notice, there are a lot of chapter's in between where the dream is planted in the heart of Abraham and when it finally comes true.  In fact, in Chapter 18, when once again the dream is re-stated to Abraham and Sarah, that they would have a child it states that "Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing."  Genesis 18:11

Finally, in Chapter 21, their dream was realized.  It says that "Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him."  Genesis 21:5  Wow!  One Hundred years old!  I just think that's amazing!  Not for me mind you, I don't want to have a brand new baby at 100, just saying. I  have other dreams.

So, I want to be like the Aerosmith song and like Abraham and Sarah and never stop dreaming!  Part of this involves me being active-- to never stop dreaming.  In fact, I have started writing down some of my dreams, just to keep them present in my mind.  To remind me that I still have dreams to fulfill.  Dreams  help keep you motivated and moving in the right direction.  They help give a bit of purpose, and in my case, they provide a bit of fun.

So my challenge to myself and to you this week is to Dream on, Dream on, Dream on,  Dream until your dreams come true!

I'll leave you with a photo of one of my dreams I recently fulfilled.  I had always dreamed of going to Venice, and last year I did.  Totally fun!  Totally amazing!  What a great dream fulfilled.  I'll leave you with a photo or two.

My Colossally Horrid Mistake or… Honey Bunches of No!

Ignore the caption.  Instead just look at the photo.  Don't you just love it when your teenager makes a colossal mistake, and when you ask them why they did it, this is the reaction you get?

Don't you just want to throttle them when they give you this face?  When my son makes this face it makes me rethink his need to live until his 17th year, bless his little heart.

Well, this week I myself made a colossal, almost catastrophic, mistake.  I ventured into my teenaged sons room with the intention of just "picking up a little."  Now seriously, I know better.  I am aware of his tendency towards slobdom.  But did I listen to myself?  Noooooo, I ventured right in.  It started with me deciding to move his desk, just to be able to vacuum  a little better.  BIG mistake.  HUGE!  Because, having moved the desk I happened to glance down at the shelves that were part of it.   Much to my horror, laying on one of the shelves, was a mold growing experiment of some sort…… Nice…..  His room alone makes me glad that we have my favorite man Dexter come out every 3 months to spray for bugs…ahhhhh for the love of Gelato I can't even begin to scrub this image from my brain.

Then, I caught just a glimpse, just a quick dart of the eyes, of what lay underneath the bed.  And thus began my long, slow decent into what I now call the darkest pit of Hades.  Like a teenaged girl in a horror flick, I just couldn't resist looking at what lurked beneath, although I was pretty sure that the items contained under there might do me bodily harm.  Gah!  Who knew that I had my very own episode of hoarders lurking in my home?  Oh, honey bunches of no!  This was not going to stay this way. 

It was at this point that I began to pray, not for my safety mind you, but that God would somehow spare the child from the wrath of Darth Mother- destroyer of all fun and chief grounder of children (i.e. me).  Part-way through this project, I began to realize that I had made a horrible, terrible, awful mistake by coming in this room to clean.  But once I was fully cognizant of the little shop of horrors that lay beyond that door, I couldn't stop myself.  Needless to say, countless hours of my life,  3 large full trash bags, as well as the theme for a whole new set of nightmares later, the room is now sanitized  (read- bleached to the point that the air now burns your nostril hairs when walking in) and sparkling.  

When relaying this story over the phone to my husband (who is out of town with said teenaged son-- that's the only thing that spared said sons life), he asked me why I had made the mistake of going in there to clean.  To which I made this face (again ignore the caption):

I can almost (almost) laugh about it now ;)  And, despite the room problem- which shall not be named-- I still love my son and I am glad to inform you that he will probably survive.  Hope you have a great start of  the new week!  

It's a Celebration….Why I'm Still a Proud American

I have noticed a disturbing trend on social media this week.  Along with those who are excited to celebrate America's birthday, I have notice quite a few people posting things like, why I am not proud to be an American, or 10 reasons why we shouldn't celebrate our country etc….  I understand that things aren't "perfect" in the good old U.S.of A., but I would challenge you to find one country on this planet where things are perfect.I guess what disturbs me most about this trend, is our inability to be grateful for what we have.

So you know what?  I'm going to state right here, right now, that I am GRATEFUL that I am an American citizen!  Thank you God for allowing me to grow up in and be a part of this amazing country! I count being a U.S. citizen as one of my biggest blessings and I am honored to be one. So today, I'm going to take a little time an brag on my country a little bit (I'm not implying that other countries are not great as well, but I don't live there).

S, what makes our country great?  We are a generous nation.  If you don't believe me, then believe the 2013 World Giving Index, which stated that the U.S. is the world's MOST generous nation.  Let me tell you that generosity is a good thing!  I love the fact that when tragedy strikes another part of the world, we as a nation and as individuals, are willing to open up our pocket books and help out.  We send volunteers to help.  We send supplies.  We send food & water.  In fact generosity  is important to God, and he honors those who are generous.  Sidebar-- I believe some of the blessings we are privileged to experience in this nation are a direct result of our generosity towards others.

"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed."  Proverbs 19:17

"Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor."  Proverbs 22:9

"The the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father;  take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the whorl.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."  Matthew 25:34-36

"One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.  A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes  others will himself be refreshed."  Proverbs 11:24-25

This country is great because we value creativity and innovation .  Let me tell you that some of the worlds greatest inventions have been created by U.S. citizens. We have birthed some of the largest and most innovative companies in the world. Here's just a small list of some of the inventions and companies to come out of our great nation.

Airplanes, Photographic film, Freon, A/C, Fiberoptic cable, Apple (ipod, iphone, ipad), sunglasses, space shuttle, microwave oven, Hydraulic brakes, Band Aids, PC (personal computer), Cell phones, email, Vacuum cleaner, tractors, Nylon, JAZZ, CD's, smoke detectors, gas pump, Ferris Wheel, Fiber Glass, barcodes, wrench, Digital Camera's, GPS, Lasers, Electric plug, Electric Guitar, Country Music, Polio Vaccine, Sewing machine, Oreo's, Cocoa Cola, Baseball, Volleyball, Dishwasher, Refrigerator, Paper Clips, Artificial Hearts, Scotch tape, Solar Panels, Wind Farms, BBQ, Harley Davidson, Bugs Bunny, Weather Satellite, Blue Jeans, Flip flops, Disney, Ford, ………

This country is great because we are still the land of opportunity.  Listen, people aren't trying to get into our country by the thousands because we have great beaches (which we do), or great music.  Nope, they are coming because of the opportunity to prosper, do better, to provide a better life for their families.  In this country, you can make a better life for yourself.  Opportunity is a brightly lit star for those who are desperately seeking it.  It's a beacon.  And, it's good to note that in this country, most of our families were immigrants at one point or another.

This country is great because of our freedom of choice.  You can choose what to believe.  You can choose what you learn in school.  You can choose to work hard, You an choose, to some extent, your career.  You can choose to vote or not vote.  Choice, something we take for granted here, is not always an option in other parts of this world.

There are many, many other things that make our country great.  But I am going to end with this.  Our country is visually stunning.  It is beautiful.  Everywhere I look I see great beauty.  So, I'll leave you today with a few photos from some of my travels around this big, beautiful country.  I hope you enjoy celebrating this country tonight!  And, I hope you take a moment to be grateful for the U.S.A.