Rejoice

Negativity.  It's all around us.  Somedays I feel as if I'm drowning in negative thoughts, both my own and those belonging to others.  It's difficult at times to find something that we can truly be joyful about.  When we do, there are always those who try to take that joy away from you.  As Taylor Swift reminds us, "Haters gonna hate."  

What do you do to find joy?

I love Christmas.  This holiday evokes a sense of peace and happiness within me that few other things can duplicate.  Celebrating Christmas brings me joy.  It provides moments that I can enjoy with my family.  Christmas gives us opportunity to create traditions, to create memories.   Yet, people are trying to tell me how I can celebrate.  They are trying to tell me there are rules to be followed.  Love Christmas, but only this way, at this time.  They are trying to steal my joy.

Why?  Why do we let ourselves be bothered by things that aren't doing others harm?  My choosing to celebrate Christmas for more than 25 days does not hurt anyone.  Putting up our Christmas tree a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving does not rob you of that holiday.  Instead, for us, it gives just one more thing to be thankful for.  What a great gift we were given, why can't that be included in our Thanks giving?

This is just one example.  There are many ways, many times throughout the year, that we are faced with a decision.  Do we choose to let little things we don't particularly understand or care for bother us?  Bother us to the point where we steal another's joy?

Finding times and ways to rejoice is hard enough.  Don't let yourself be the reason somebody else's joyful heart is extinguished.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, 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. 9 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 4:4-9

Let's try together to be a light to all in this dark, dark world.

From my family, to yours, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

I realize that there are many of you that have reasons that make this holiday a particularly difficult time.  Please take no offense to this rant of mine.

Celebrate all events with cookies...

I love the Olympic games. Correction - I LOVE the Olympic games!  Seriously, I had been counting the days to the opening ceremonies for over a year.  No, I'm not an athelete. I don't know why I like them so much but I do.  I record every channel the Olympics have been playing on much to my husband's chagrin.  It doesn't matter which event is playing, this girl is watching, and when necessary, crying along with the atheletes.

Much to my dismay we had to be in Plainview on the first weekend of the Olympics.  If we had been home in Las Cruces I would of gone all out, Olympic party style, for the opening ceremonies.  Being at my parent's house I did what I could.  I donned my red, white, and blue tank top (bought special for the occassion), selected an all American meal (fried chicken thank you very much), and taught the kids a USA cheer that was absolutely adorable when performed by my sweet two year old.  We also had special Olympic themed cookies that Zoe and I decorated earlier in the day.  They weren't great, but they were fun and tasted...well, they tasted patriotic. :)

 Pay no attention to the misspelling...

Zoe would decorate a cookie and eat a cookie. 

Pretty great system if you ask me.

And yes, I realize purple isn't exactly a patriotic color but when you have a prissy 5 year old, you gotta do what you gotta do.

I'm still watching for the next week and a half, still cheering, and still closing my eyes with anticipation.  That's how I roll.  I'm also trying to always remember the race I am (and you are too) racing everyday.  Racing with a purpose...

²⁴ Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! ²⁵ All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. ²⁶ So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. ²⁷ I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9

New Living Translation (NLT)

What are you doing to prepare yourself for your Christian life?  Are you running with purpose or are you just going through the motions?

Happy watching and blessings to you and yours.

We don't judge

Several years ago I had the pleasure of getting to mentor a great group of teenage girls.  They were so much fun, they kept me young, and always had a style tip to share with me. ("Mikel, why are you wearing those 'mom' shoes?")  They taught me so much and I can only hope that I taught them a little something too.  A running gag that developed with this group was the saying, "We don't judge!"  This particular adage became a joke used between us. "You only like movies starring Mandy Moore? It's okay, we don't judge!" "You ate a pan of brownies for breakfast? It's okay, we don't judge!" Ah, I miss those girls...

This week has been another trial for me as once again I hurt my back and have been trying to take it easy.  Yesterday I tried to be productive and was adamant about leaving the house only to reinjure my back to the point I wasn't able to walk without incurring severe pain.  These days where I am frustrated and unable to do what I really want to do lead me to peruse the Internet.  I have come across all sorts of things this week.  Most of them quite disturbing.  There seems to be a lesson that a lot of people have yet to learn so let me drop a knowledge bomb on you.  Wait for it....

Christians can have fun.  There it is. Oh, and Christians can have a sense of humor.  We can enjoy life.  And we can live into the business of Christ without judging others.

 "God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?" James 4:12

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.  For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?  How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?  Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye." Matthew 7:1-5

How often have you seen this sentiment: "that's the problem with Christians, they're all hypocrites!" or "I could never be a part of a church because everyone who goes is so judgemental."


It's a shame that our own witness is keeping other's from discovering the great joy of living in Christ.  It's a terrible shame that our own actions are doing more harm than good.  Why is it so hard for us to just love? We can never hope to bring others into a relationship with Christ without first bringing them into a relationship with ourselves.  And newsflash people, no one wants to be around someone who is a judgemental hypocrite.

That's my rant for the day.  I pray that we can all look into ourselves and become the vessel that God calls us to be.

Blessings my friends!

Never Alone

I am a Christian.  I am also a member of the United Methodist Church.  I am a Methodist by choice.  Yes, I was brought up in the Methodist Church, but that is not the reason I am one today and choosing to raise my own children in the Methodist Church.  There was a time, most of the years I was at McMurry actually, that I was completely lost.  Searching for my place in this world, searching for something that was true and worthwhile.  I remember one night in particular, kneeling on the floor of my tiny dorm room, pleading with God for answers.  My last two years at McMurry was spent with me on a mission.  I needed to find out what it was I believed.  I researched, wrote papers on topics that were, at the time, mysteries to me, all the while trying to discern for myself what was real and what was not.  I questioned all facets of religion, not just Christianity, starting with my beliefs on the very basics, starting my faith journey at the very beginning.

I can not pretend to have all the answers.  What is truth for me may not be truth for someone else.  That's okay.  I have particular beliefs about certain issues which is why I am still a member of the United Methodist Church.  The Methodist church best aligns with my own beliefs, once I decided what they were.  I am fully comfortable raising my children in this tradition, but hopefully equipping them with the ability to one day discern for themselves what they believe to be truth.

I have been blessed to be able to teach Confirmation to 12 youth these past few weeks.  I have learned alot myself.  Last week we discussed a tool for discernment known in the Methodist tradition as "the Wesleyan Quadrilateral."  For those of you unfamiliar with this, the quadrilateral is a way to prayerfully discern what God's will is for you by using scripture, tradition, reason and experience (the four sides of the quadrilateral).  I earnestly want my youth and my own children to have the ability, the tools, and the maturity to go prayerfully into Scripture, and through what they already know through their own experiences and what they have been taught in their church tradition, use their God-given gift of reason to discern their own path in this world.

We have also been teaching that even though this is a tradition in which we have chosen to live our lives, it is not our place to judge what someone else believes.  I may disagree, that is my right, but I may not judge. 

I have blogged before about certain beliefs that I consider false prophecy.  Though I do not judge those who may be misled (in my opinion) I do pray for them and encourage everyone to never believe something just because someone you trust tells you that is truth.  Ask God for wisdom because wisdom is something He never withholds.

One last thing, there is a reason they call it a "Spiritual journey."  We are forever learning, always questioning, always listening, and always teaching.

In other news Zach is spending his week in Denver with a crew of Wesley students doing mission work.  Today they are painting a house.  He texted me,"Caulking with college students is worse than with Jr. High kids."  Having experienced caulking with junior high kids, I can only imagine.  At least I know that they are enjoying themselves.

I am spending my week with my kids who are on their Spring Break.  The weather has kept us indoors for the most part and we have a case of cabin fever that has resulted in lots of screaming, tears, and a mommy about ready to tear her hair out.  Thankfully, my trusty weather man tells me the rest of the week is going to be beautiful so I hope to spend much of our time outdoors in the coming days.

I hope the rest of your week is overflowing with blessings of your own.

"I'll hold tight to what I know, You're here and I'm never alone" - Barlow Girls

Late Night Thoughts...

Recently, it seems, there has been a serge of scripture based status updates on Facebook.  Never a bad thing, however, I find myself basing my thoughts on said scripture on my personal feelings of the poster.   I know, I'm a horrible person.  It got me thinking, if I'm so biased and unwilling to "listen" to what others have to say, regardless of content, but based entirely on my own opinions of them, then what kind of witness am I?  In other words, is other people's views on how I am, as a person, hindering the ability of God to use me to reach out to others?  I know I'm not perfect, obviously, so why do I harbor such feelings of doubt and criticism when other people wish to relay their spiritual views via Facebook?  I guess I need to continue to look inward (it's a neverending quest surely) and make sure I'm making myself available to hear the Word of God wherever it may be and also, to make sure my personal behaviors aren't inhibiting my witness.

On less serious matters, we have been enjoying ourselves here in LC.  Last night we went to NMSU and heard the marching band play on the green while eating frozen custard from Caliches.  It was a nice way to spend the evening and the kids had a ball.  Yesterday ended my babysitting job and we are now trying to get ourselves into a good and productive schedule.  Wish us luck.... :D

Remembering how truly blessed I am in every single moment...