Whoops we did it again!

O.K., me and Shanna are in trouble with Mike again! Several years ago, Mike could never find the cordless phone when it would ring because Shanna & I would misplace it. Out of his determination to keep up with it better, he tied a piece of rope to it and a shovel at one end of the rope. This was really challenging when the phone rang because even though it taught us to keep the phone in it's proper place, it was anchored by this rope and shovel and you would have to tilt your head to keep from being tired while talking on the phone. Well, the phone just rang....Shanna and I didn't jump to answer it (we've always had this knack for pretending we don't hear it)....Mike looked at us in frustration and said, "Alright girls, I am going to tie the shovel to the phone again"....I think I better find all the cordless phones and return them to their proper holder, it was very embarassing when friends were over and the explanation didn't seem quite normal. To all my friends in J-ville, I don't expect you to understand this, it's a Macclenny thing!

It's the inside He's looking at.....

I Samuel 16:7: "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'

How many of us wouldn't stand a chance if the Lord based our salvation on our outward appearance or how many of us don't stand a chance because we are beautiful on the inside and ugly in our hearts. I know I wouldn't stand a chance if my salvation and God's love for me was based on outward appearance but I praise God that He is forever purging this ugliness out of my heart and making me clean from the inside out.

A few days ago, I was at the gym and received a recipe from the manager, Melinda, for some "healthy" cookies. This morning I mixed the cookies up in preparation for my small group gathering tonight.....they looked like this huge clump of brown mush and didn't look much different after I baked them. My son came home from work about the time that the first batch was completed and I was complaining about the appearance of the cookies as he popped the third one in his mouth. He said, "See mom, that's the problem with people....appearance is so deceiving because these are awesome." Then he said, "Now, go write a post about that!"

Life is like this isn't it! How many of us have made first impressions based on appearance or social stature only to be greatly deceived later? God is challenging me lately to love as He loves regardless of what these eyes of mine can see!

How did I motivate?

Yesterday started out with a bang, or maybe it wasn't a bang but more like someone stuck a pin in my balloon and the balloon of about 8 of my co-workers. Leslie and I rode together and when we arrived in the locker room to get ready for our shift, one of our co-workers looked at us and said, "I hope you didn't park across the street, they are handing out $200 tickets." Several of us had been parking in the street across from the hospital for the past year because it provides quicker and safer access to the side of the hospital that we work on. So, with this new knowledge on board, I had no choice but to leave the locker room, run to my car, and park in the area where I'm assigned to park (a covered parking garage behind the hospital that is a good hike from our floor). When I arrived to the unit, I became the ring leader of complaints to my nurse manager. Cece, my nurse manager, is a Godly woman and wise beyond her years. She listened to me for a few minutes and then quietly said, "Well what about the poor plant facility men that park off site?"
I shut my mouth. It didn't make me like the parking arrangements any more but it reminded me that here I am, one of the older nurses on our unit, one that tries to lead by example and tell others about Christ through my actions, and I am ring leading a riot over the parking situation. That said, did I motivate others towards Christ through my actions....I think not...I motivated them toward our human tendencies...to lash out when we feel we've been wronged or when we feel that life isn't fair. I woke up this morning with a fresh perspective and asking God to forgive me for my bend towards human tendencies!

Innocent Sin?

Almost sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it? Is there really such a thing? My morning devotional was in Genesis 20. Abraham's wife, Sarah, must have been breathtakingly beautiful because everywhere they went, the heads of men turned and they desperately wanted her. It is beyond me that Abraham would use his own wife as a pawn to get what he wanted. But, twice in the book of Genesis when Abraham traveled and men noticed Sarah, he saw an opportunity and seized it.....to the point of allowing men to take her home. He would pass her off as his sister. Makes me think of the modern day movie that came out several years ago, "Indecent proposal", where a man allows his wife to spend the night with a man for a million dollars. One such man that Abraham offered his wife to under the disguise of being his sister was a king by the name of Abimelech. BUT God (I always love those two words) intervened in this situation. Abimelech had Sarah brought to his palace and before he could even approach her, God appeared to him in a dream and revealed the truth to him. Abimelech pleaded with the Lord (Genesis 20:4,5 says, "...Lord will you kill an innocent people?....In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this") He never denied his sin, he just declared that he was innocent when he sinned. The Lord honored his plea and told Abimelech, "It was I who kept you from sinning" (Genesis 20:6).
Now, unlike Abimelech, we are not as likely today to have God appear to us in a dream, however, this is the importance of asking God to reveal ANY sin in our lives unknown to us (Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts)....The God who kept Abimelech from sinning will do the same for us. He may choose to close a door that you thought should be open (or vice versa). He may give you an unease or restlessness about a decision or situation. He may send a person to warn you. Regardless, I believe God wants to keep His children from sinning and that He warns us. The problem is we don't always heed the warning and sometimes we just blatantly choose sin!
Read Genesis Chapter 20 in it's entirety. Had Abimelech ignored the warning, his sin would not only affect himself but many others. That's the deception of sin!

Discipline

I have not blogged in forever....namely because I've had very little to say (If you believe that I've got some land I'll sale you real cheap in Alapaha, Georgia!) The truth is, I've had plenty to say, but God has allowed me to keep my big trap shut. Over the past several months, a word has echoed over and over in my mind....DISCIPLINE! What has echoed even more, is my lack of....DISCIPLINE! Over the past 6 months my life has been in complete chaos and I'm not even sure why. God has blessed me and my family with good health, jobs, needs met, a new son-in-law (and the most awesome family that he belongs to)...but yet,there has been chaos. The chaos has mostly been occurring IN me, not so much around me. Everything in my life has been undisciplined and it started with my lack of discipline in reading God's Word, talking to Him daily, and church attendance. I don't want to get legalistic here...but I know me...when I'm not completely sold out and plugged into the things of God first, everything else goes to putt...so following suit, the rest of my life has been undisciplined as well....health, eating habits, exercise, finances, care of my home...the list is endless. So, here I am...not boasting but with the intentions of putting God first, and everything else is extra!