We Gotta Ask 'Cause We Never Know

Today the girls and I went to lunch. We developed a great rapport with our waiter, Jeffery.
As he walked away after a nice conversation, I told the girls, "I think we should ask him if he died tomorrow, where he would spend eternity."
Of course, I got the eye roll.
Tori asked, "Why do we have to do this everytime?" in a rather disheartened voice.
"What if when Jeffery gets to heaven & Jesus asks why he should let him in, he doesn't have an answer?" I responded.
More eye rolling.
I kept going, "What if Jeffery gets to heaven and Jesus says 'Depart from me I never knew you & Jeffery goes to hell & (I began to get a little dramatic just for fun) he starts to burn in hell & his whole body is burning & he is screaming in pain..."
Just about that time a baby from another table screamed at the top of his lungs.
We all kind of looked at each other funny & started to laugh, "That was too weird," Nicole said.
This had their attention, so I added, "What are we going to say to Jesus when we get to heaven & he says, 'You remember Jeffery? He could be in heaven with us right now, but you didn't ask him the question."
About that time Jeffery walked up & Tori whispered, "Ask him."
I whispered back, "You ask him."
"No, you."
"No, you."
Jeffery was just about to walk away & Tori said, "Jeffery, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," he said.
"If you died tomorrow where would you spend eternity?" (I couldn't believe she did it!)
"In heaven I hope," he replied. "I've been pretty good," he explained.
Tori continued by asking if he thought being good would get him to heaven. When he finally admitted he did, she asked if he had heard of Jesus. He acknowledged that he did.
"Tell me 3 things you know about Jesus," she questioned.
He was stumped, he couldn't think of anything.
Tori wasn't sure where to take the conversation, so I jumped in & asked if I could tell him the 1 way to get into heaven.
He put his hands on the table, leaned over, and said, "Please."
We explained that Jesus is the only way and how Christ died for him so that they could have a relationship with Jesus and he wouldn't spend eternity in hell. (& wouldn't have to burn in pain screaming like a baby, just kidding, we left that part out)
He asked several questions & thanked us several times. He told us we were the best customers he had all day!

We didn't pray with him right there but, we learned 1 lesson:

We gotta ask the question EVERY TIME because we never know how that 1 question can affect someone for eternity.

I know this sounds a little radical, but a friend asked me once, "What if we imagined every person we see dangling by a thread over hell?" Would we be more eager to ask that 1 quesiton?

We gotta ask because we never know!

Keep It Up b/c You're Sucking the LIfe Out of Me

Do you know someone who just sucks the life right out of you?

Everytime you ask how they are doing, you get an hour long disertation on all the woes of life. They tell you how depressing the world is and why. There is always some kind of major crisis with them.
This person is easily recognizeable because they are the ones you graciously let the answering machine respond to. When you see them at the grocery store, you duck & push your buggy at deathly speeds trying not to be seen. Or when your children wave at them, you quickly yank their hand down, and encourage your children not to yell in public.

I asked someone the other day, what do you do about these people? How do you keep them from sucking every ounce of energy and fun right out of you?
Here are 3 great tips.

1. Give toxic people limited access!

* These people don't need to be our best friends. When they call, we should say, "Hey, I'm about to...what's going on? This lets them know we have limited time.
* Don't engage in activities with them. If they need us, let them come to us. We can keep the friendship at a comfortable but friendly distance.
* Last year at the Women's Retreat, the speaker explained the same concept. We are princesses in our castles. What does every castle have around the outside perimeter? A MOTE! When we see our negative friends coming, we can raise the bridge. The mote limits close proximity but provides comfortable access.

2. Don't fertilize criticism.

When these people get cranked up telling depressing stories or talking about someone else, we can listen politely, but say nothing. We just smile but leave it at that.
It's no fun to gossip or complain alone.

3. Never give the devil a microphone.

I absolutely loved these suggestions! Life is too short to waste complaining & worrying!
What if every person in the world vowed to "keep it up," meaning keep all of our words upbeat & positive? What would our marriages and children be like? Imagine our friendships, churches, neighborhoods, and offices. The hardest place for me to "keep it up" is at home. I don't want to be the wife and mom everyone hides from when I walk in the door. I want to spend my life "keeping it up." What if when we died someone said about us, "Whenever I was with her, she always said something that made me smile on the outside & feel loved on the inside!"

Venture Into a Private World

I heard this quote today & it is AWESOME!

It is a promise to live by.

"When my kids invite me into their private world... I ALWAYS go!"

What if every time Nicole asked me to do Karaoke with her, I dropped everything & sang my heart out?

What if every time Tori texted me, I stopped everything & texted until she finished the conversation?

What if every time Michael asked me to play catch, I put everything aside & threw that ball until my arm gave out?

Our kids don't ask us often to join their world, so when they do...we have to

TAKE NOTE & TAKE ACTION!

(even if it means me turning off the computer, hanging up the phone, closing a book, turning off the TV, or listening endlessly to stories about boys)

"Teach us to number our days ( our moments with our kiddos) so that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

Purpose for LIFE!

Preparation

I heard this song tonight! It's my prayer. God sees what I can't. He knows what's in my future. Whatever it is...He knows what is best for me. He'll give me the strength for it, and is preparing me to walk through it. Here are the words:

Sight beyond what I see.

You know what's best for me.

Prepare my mind,

Prepare my heart,

For whatever comes my way.

I'm gonna be ready.

Strength to pass every test.

I feel like I'm so blessed.

Knowing You're in control.

I can't go wrong.

Because I always know,

With You I'm gonna be ready.

Life

Time = Life

Time is life.

When we waste our time, we are wasting our lives.

Becoming Hip

Ever feel like an old woman? If so…OVERCOME!
I am currently a student in seminary. Back in the good old days when I went to class everyone had their Red Chief tablet and a thick #2 pencil. When I started seminary, I went to Wal-mart and purchased a new modern day Red Chief tablet, better known as a spiral, with cute pink and brown designs on the front. I kissed that frowning Indian good-bye and said hello to the modern world of school supplies.
On my first day of seminary several semesters ago I was so nervous. I had my fancy spiral and my cute pen with an artificial flower on the end. No more fat pencils for me. I was anxious to see what kind of spirals all the other students had purchased…would they be flowers, stripes, or just plain colors?
When I opened the door to enter class on the first day, I gasped. Where were the spirals? Where were the pens and pencils? There were none! As I stood in the back of the room glaring across rows of tables, I couldn’t believe what I saw. It appeared there was some kind of television sitting on each desk. “Were there no professors? Were we going to watch videos?” I wondered.
I slowly walked to a desk that had no technological apparatus. I carefully stepped over what felt like hundreds of cords streaming from the strange televsions to outlets on the walls. I looked carefully at the contraption next to me. I noticed a keyboard and letters on the screen. “What? Were these computers?” I thought.
To my amazement, no one else had gone to Wal-mart. No one purchased cute spirals. There were no other cute pens. It appeared everyone else had gone to Best Buy to purchase school supplies, and the Red Chief tablet was now a laptop.
That day and for the last three semesters, I have rolled back prices, endured the back to school crowds, and fought little 2nd graders for the cutest spirals ever created by Wal-mart. I have diligently taken notes by hand, running out of ink on some occasions and breaking pencil leads, mind you there are no pencil sharpeners in these high-tech institutions. I have survived hand cramps and overcome jealousy as I watched the youngsters quickly typing notes on their own individual lecture power point presentations.
I have persevered…but this week, however… I HAVE OVERCOME!!!!

I brought my husbands old laptop to school. With much help, lots of patience from my classmates, many errors, and several embarrassing moments, I have taken notes all week long on a laptop! I am kissing Wal-mart good-bye. I am hanging up my cute spirals. There will be no more fighting little kids during back-to-school shopping. I will faithfully click away on this key-board with all the other young whipper-snappers, and when I see some sweet old sister walk through the door at school on her first day, shocked, dazed, and confused. I will offer her a seat beside me. Wrap my arm around her and say, “Let me see that cute spiral. That is the cutest spiral I have ever seen. You must have gotten that at Wal-mart.” Then I will smile to myself knowing exactly what she is thinking, “How did this old woman become so hip?

Let 'em Learn

Both of my girls are going on a mission trip this summer to the Appalachian (can't ever seem to pronounce correctly) Mtns. Rick and I decided it would be a good learning experience for them to raise the $ to go. (Or, maybe it's because we couldn't afford to send both of them to camp & the mission trip, but it has been a good learning experience, if that counts for anything. The cost for the trip is $385 per person.)

The girls sent out notes to family asking if they wanted to sponsor them $20 and decided that all of their babysitting money would go towards the trip. One of our daughters faithfully took every babysitting job that came her way and saved every dime earned. Our other daughter declined several babysitting jobs and took some of the money she had earned and spent it at the rodeo. The deadline for the full payment was May1.

On May 1, one daughter paid her way in full, but the other was faced with a BIG problem. She only had $1oo.00. What was she going to do? I suggested she ask for an extension. Graciously, the leaders of the trip granted her some extra time to earn the $, but we decided that if she did not have the full amount by June 1, she would not go. This was a severe BLOW!

After we laid down the law, she came to me asking if she could have a garage sale and discussing other plans to raise $. She was serious about earning this $.

The next evening a friend of the family called and asked her to babysit. I thought, "This is perfect timing." She gladly accepted and socked the $ away for safe keeping.

The next day a neighbor asked if she could dogsit over Memorial Day weekend. She was so EXCITED! This was job #2 and it had only been 2 days.

The next day we received a call from a neighbor who needed someone to housesit. She jumped on the opportunity with an eager spirit!

That night she said, "Mom, you aren't going to believe this. You know when you told me I only had until June 1st to raise the money?"
"Yeah," I replied.
"That night when I went to bed, I asked God to please send me jobs so I could raise enough money to go on Mission Trip."
"Are you serious?" I asked.
"Yep," she said. "And look how many He's given me in just 3 days!"

Sometimes it's hard to watch our kids make poor choices, but sometimes we have to let them so they can learn all on their own, what a great God we have!

"Ask and ye shall receive"

The Joseph Principle

Do you think your family might be a little dysfunctional?
Do you think you have faced some unfair experiences in life?
If so, what's your underlying thought about it all?
It's not fair.
I can't be anyone important now.

Forget life, it's all messed up anyway.

Suppose your family was so dysfunctional that while your parents were out of town, your siblings blindfolded you, put you in the trunk, and dropped you off on the beach in Galveston.
A group of people picked you up and took you home.
You found out they were a group of politicians who were cleaning up the beach.
They decided to introduce you to their leader, Governor Perry.
He really liked you.
He put you to work in his office.
You made some really good choices.
You continued to promote in the political world until you became Perry's personal advisor.
You literally ran the great state of Texas.
One day a hurricane hit Houston (imagine that).
There was no food, no water, and NO ELECTRICITY. (imagine that)
It was discovered that the city would remain like this for a year.
People were coming to you from Houston begging for help.
One day this person showed up at your office.
You recognized his voice but not the face.
You listened as he begged for help for him and his family.
As he described his family, the light went on. You realized, it was your brother.
The one who left you on the beach all those years ago.
You told him to go home and bring back his family.
He was afraid of what you might do to him, but he was desparate.
He returned a week later, this time with his family.
As you saw the frail, starved family enter your office, tears began to fall.
It was your family. The ones you loved that you hadn't seen in a lifetime.
You say to the family, "It's me! The one you put in the trunk."
Your siblings froze. They had no idea what you would do next.
You opened your arms and hugged each one.
You forgave all they had done.
You opened your mouth to speak, and all you could think to say was,

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good."
You knew that no matter how bad things had been, God was in control.
He was in control when you were on the beach.
He was in control when you met the politicians.
He was in control when you were running the great state of Texas.

If we could ever learn, no matter what comes our way in life, GOOD & BAD, God intends it for good.

This is a mini-modern day version of the story of Joseph. (Gen. 37-50)

Joseph had the right perspective.

He never asked, "Why me?" or "Why this?"

Instead he humbly thought, "What do you want me to learn in the middle of this?

"What are you teaching me?"

Lord, what are you teaching me today?

I Can't Do It All

Have you ever had one of those weeks when you think, there is NO WAY I can accomplish everything that I have to do?

Last week, I finalized my school schedule for May - August. I signed up for 2 mini-mesters. I will take 2 classes in May, 1 week each from 8-5. Each class will count for a full 3-hour course. After signing up, I received my syllabi via e-mail. I opened the course descriptions to discover I now had 5 papers, 2 projects, and 7 books to read before May 22.

I also signed-up to do an internship and take 1 Old Testament class in the summer, thinking the summer schedule did not start until after the mini-mesters. (1 of these days I'm going to learn to quit thinking!) Unfortunately, I was WRONG. The internship starts May 11. My supervisor for my internship called to let me know there would be a planning meeting for my new intern assignment last Thursday night. I jumped in the car excited about my new adventure. As the meeting progressed I discovered that I would be writing curriculum covering basic theology for teenagers, and my first assignment would be due Wednesday, May 6! Each following Wed. another assignment would be due.

When I received this wonderful news about all of my new assignments, I still had 3 finals to take by Tues, May 5, and I was helping at the overnight 5th grade retreat at Incredible Pizza on Friday night, May 1 - Saturday morning, May 2. (It was awesome, I must add! I was riding go carts at 3am, doing the dance machine at 5am, and got to tell a little girl about Jesus!) However, that left Saturday out of the question for getting any school work finished. Since I did not sleep one wink Friday night, I slept from 9am-4pm Saturday.

I left the internship meeting, climbed into my car like a puppy who had been scolded, and let the tears fall. I whispered to myself, "There is no way I can finish all of this. There is absolutely no way."
3 finals
5 papers
2 projects
7 books
1 theology/teen writing assignment
Overnight retreat
and most importantly...take care of my family!

At that moment a still small voice whispered, "If you're doing what I ask you to do , then you don't have to."
I felt like I had been hit by a truck.
I said quietly, "Lord, there is NO way I can do all of this. I'm so dumb to think I can. You've got to do this through me. Please?"
I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders. I untucked my tail from between my legs. I cranked the music and jammed all the way to the ballpark.
Friday a miracle happened. I finished 1 of my finals on line, completed the take home part of another final, and outlined the internship writing assignment. I purchased the 7 books and read 1/2 of one on Sat. I e-mailed people to get the information I needed for my 2 projects, and they have already been returned. When I think about all that has been accomplished in these few short days, I am blown away! Not because of anything I have done, but because of what God has done.

I learned a huge lesson from all of this! How many times do I try to do everything on my own?
Even the little things in life, like being the wife Rick needs or caring for my kiddos. So many times I go at life on my own, when there is a much easier way!!!!

Admit Defeat & Surrender at His feet

It's amazing what God can do in our lives, when we let go and let Him!

"Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

Bad Words & Jesus

A friend told me an incredible story she heard at a funeral recently. The man who died was an amazing Christian and shared his love for Jesus with every person he met. The man's son stood up at the funeral and told the following story.

One day when I was young, I said a VERY bad word. My mom heard me. Instead of punishing me, she said those dreaded words, "Wait 'til your dad gets home."
When my dad came through the door that evening, he told me to go in the bathroom and lather up a wash cloth until he came to talk to me.
I slowly wandered in the bathroom. I found the smallest wash rag in the cabinet. I began to rub soap on the old cloth. I kept rubbing and rubbing, waiting for my dad. All I could smell was the scenty fresh aroma, but it wasn't very refreshing at the moment. I knew I was going to have to wash my mouth with soap. I dreaded the punishment. It seemed like forever in that tiny little room. The rag was completely white, covered with lathered soap when my dad opened the door.
"I want to teach you a very important lesson, " my dad said.
My stomach fell to the floor. I knew what was coming.
"I want to teach you a lesson about Jesus," he continued. "I hope it's a lesson you will never forget."
"Tonight, you are going to wash my mouth out with soap," he said.
I knew I must have heard wrong. There was no way I could wash my dad's mouth with soap.
"Sir?" I replied.
"Yes, son, tonight, just because I love you, I am going to take your punishment for you. Go ahead and wash my mouth with the rag in your hand."
At first I refused, but my father insisted. With tears running down my cheeks, I washed my father's mouth with the soap that was intended for me.
I watched my father cough, gag, choke, and shout in pain, but he endured until I was finished.
After I put the rag away, I fell into my father's big arms and begged his forgiveness as I wept uncontrollably.
At that moment, my cheeks soaked with tears, I realized how much Jesus really loves me.
It was a lesson I have never forgotten.
Each time a bad word even comes to my mind, I remember that moment.
And today I remember, that's the kind of dad I had, and that's the kind of Jesus he loved.