Silly Anecdote No. 902

Today I'm going to share Silly Anecdote No. 902 from the Michelle files with you.  I have ear aches - lots of them.  My Mama tells me that I was not really sick as a child but that good health does not seem to have followed me into adulthood.  Regardless, I suffer from ear aches and I'm really sick of it. 

The goofy part of this story is the fact that I decided that if I were to put cotton in my ears to block the wind from getting in them then I can ward off future issues.  The problem is that I was in the house and, while our home may be a little chilly from time to time, it is not known for it's wind gusts. After I got past the gales of laughter coming from Mark I decided that this idea was actually okay.  I was going to prevent the ear ache from returning. 

I have no idea if this flash of brilliance is going to work but I discovered something phenomenal.  I mean fantastic.  Show stopping.  Awe inspiring.  

I couldn't hear much of anything with cotton in my ears.  

This is perhaps the most brilliant thing that has happened to me in a long time.  "Why?" you ask.  I'll share with you.  All of the little sounds that distract me from everything that goes on around me were muffled.  I couldn't hear them.  They were gone.  The sounds of the television coming from downstairs - finito.  The hum-drum noises of the dryer (or the silence when the cycle finished) were gone.  I was in my own world and I was quiet.  The lack of chaotic noises helped to quell my need to participate in the frenzy. 

The lesson that I learned is this:  sometimes maybe I need to put a little cotton in my ears in order to spend time alone with God.  I mean really alone with God.  Maybe I need to take an extra step to drown out the noises of things around me and focus on Him.  Perhaps silencing the sounds in my atmosphere will encourage me to hush to so that I can hear His still small voice. 

I think that  I may add a couple of cotton balls to my daily quiet time.  It may not prevent ear problems but I'm betting it's going to change my life. 

Pride and Joy

I never really appreciated Stevie Ray Vaughn until after his tragic death in a helicopter crash in August, 1990.  He played a mean blues guitar; I'm talking wicked mean.  Not many folks could make a Fender sing like Stevie Ray, not even his brother Jimmy. 

One of my fave SRV tunes is Pride and Joy.  The last verse of this song is

Yeah I love my baby....heart and soul
Love like ours wont never grow old
Shes my sweet little thang....shes my pride and joy
Shes my sweet little baby....Im her little lover boy

Man, Stevie is proud of his girl!  The lyrics lead you to believe that she is, in return proud of him.  As much as Stevie and his girl love each other, though, they got nothin' on God and His love for us.  

You might think that I'm stretching here but did you know that God wants to be our pride and joy?  Isaiah 28:5 (NLT) tells us that after God's children have been exiled and returned to Him that

 

Then at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
      will himself be Israel’s glorious crown.
   He will be the pride and joy
      of the remnant of his people

 

God desires to be my pride and joy, your pride and joy?  He wants me to want Him more than I want any other person or thing in my world.  He wants to be my One desire, the One place where I place my hopes and dreams, more so in Him  than in my husband, my children, my friends, my job, or any other thing.  He wants me to take pride in Him, in being His child, in having the Creator of the Universe as my Father, and in knowing that all things come through Him and by Him.  

 

Don't be shy!  Let the whole world know that God is your pride and joy.  Let Him reign supreme in your life and watch others notice the change that is evident in your life.  Maybe you'll get to break out your blues guitar and put a little rhythm to your praise.  Something tells me that God (the ultimate creator of the Fender Stratocaster) loves a good blues guitar, too! 

Living with Abandon

Sunday Pastor Jeff talked about living with Abandon.  Abandon.  Merriam Webster describes the verb of abandon as to give up to the control or influence of another person or agent; to give oneself (over) unrestrainedly.  This definition brings to mind the following things:  

• To let go
• To forget that people are watching
• To live life fully according to my faith in God
  

Before you go and pass judgment on me or think that I'm too crazy with these ideas, try these scenarios on for size.  

• At the local knitting bee you let your cardigan drop carelessly to the floor, wave your yarn wildly over head, and chant "CA-BLE-NEED-LE! CA-BLE NEED-LE!"  
• At your child's school performance you run to the front of the auditorium with the video camera, knocking other parents out of the way to film your child while screaming "No one have ever been that good of a rock before!  You're gonna be a star!  Mama loves you, baby!!!"  
• On the front lines of the 0400 crowd at the after Thanksgiving sale you take your buggy (yes, buggy!) and plow over shoppers in front of you to get the very last $99.99 item.  

Those are all instances of living with abandon.  Absurd, maybe, but Abandon.  Jesus wants nothing less than having us live with Abandon for Him.  He did likewise for us.  He died a horrible death for our sins; He was perfection in the form of broken humanity, hanging on a cross, in humility, to save us.  He deserves at the minimum is for me to live each day for Him with Abandon and let the world see.  

Undignified

Pastor Jeff was on fire today with his sermon.  First of all, Consumed has been fantastic!  It has been hard hitting, direct, much needed, and right on time, at least for me. I love worship.  I have always liked to sing and praise God.  I enjoy being surrounded by people who praise and being inundated in worship with God's people but I am learning that worship is so much more.  I am learning to be consumed with worship. 

Worship is walking away from a dirty joke at work.  Worship is loving those I consider unlovely.  Worship is taking the time to sit with one of my children when my patience is growing thin.  Worship is giving up something that I want so that someone else may have something they need. Worship is not being afraid to be different.  Worship is dancing naked in front of a procession bearing the ark of the Lord.  

Oh, yeah, naked.  

King David was so excited that the ark was finally being returned home to it's proper place that he danced wildly in front of the ark.  He was so consumed with worshiping God that he lost his wife over this act of  worship.  She confronted him and condemned him for his foolish behavior in front of his people.  

David's response?  Simple:  I will celebrate before the Lord.  I will become even more undignified than this.  (2 Samuel 6:21-22)

Today, let's be undignified.  Let's live today with total love for our King regardless of what others around us think.  God will bless you; He hears the worship of His people. 

I'll close with a little treat from DCB; one of my favorite tunes from the Lime cd.  Enjoy! 

Undignified - DCB

Night of Worship

We just left the night of worship and it was AWESOME!!!! There are no words to describe this evening.  I just want to share some random thoughts that are on my mind: 

• I owe so many people in my sphere of influence an apology.  I have not lived each day as a life of worship; I have lived day-to-day and I'm so sorry that I have not shown Jesus through my life.  
• I don't EVER want my life to be the same.  I don't know exactly how God is going to change me but I have come to the realization that I cannot change me but I can walk in obedience and let Him rule in me and change me in bigger ways that I ever imagined possible. 
• Our teenagers rule!!!!  If you think there is no hope for the future take a look around Stockbridge Community Church and see what God is doing.  
• Worship contained to our four walls at SCC is a disservice.  Worship is not meant to be demonstrated only in our walls and never shared with a lost and dying world.  That's not true worship.  True worship goes out boldly and shines the light of Jesus into a dark and hurting world.  
• Worship, as defined by my friends at www.m-w.com, is to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion.  This should be my every day attitude and outlook, not just a quarterly outpouring to God.  

I could go on for a while because I'm so excited about what God is doing at SCC but I'll close after these few thoughts.  What's your feedback on tonight or on worship in general?  I'd love to hear from you. 

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My Father Loves Me

One of the things that I like to do when I have my quiet time is read the Psalms and pray them back to God as praise.  I do this because I am not a natural "praise-r" and the Psalms easily direct me to the good, no great, things about God that I tend to forget or take for granted. 

This morning I read Psalm 103, New Living Translation, and it simply overwhelmed me.  Let me share some of the highlights and my thoughts (in parentheses):   

• I will praise Him with my whole heart (not just part of me - first note to self)
• He forgives all my sin (enough said with this one)
• He heals all my disease
• He redeems me from death (this is a biggie!)
• He fills my life with good things (do I thank Him for these things every day or am I so busy looking at "the bad stuff" that I take these for granted???)
• My youth is renewed like the eagle's (maybe my constant battle with fatigue is because I don't let Him renew me?)
• He is slow to get angry and me and His love doesn't fail (thank God - I would be angry with me a lot if I were God)
• He doesn't punish me for my sin (big sigh of relief here)
• He is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate.  He knows that I am frail and come from dust (wow - He knows me and loves me even in my weakness)
• His love remains forever and  I should praise Him

These words may not have the same impact on you that they have had on me this morning.  This Psalm made me want to dance around the living room, coffee in hand, in the joy of the Lord.  Wow - with all of this goodness in my life why do I ever complain?

I challenge you:  take a look through the Bible and see what praises you can find that are already written and laid out for you to read back to God.  Let me know what they are and how you reacted.  I'm guessing that, like me, you will find that there is so much goodness in your life that you don't have time to be sad or downtrodden. 

I Wonder . . .

One of the things that I love about the fall is the revival of nature.  During the summer it seems to me as though everything outdoor is stagnant; nothing seems to move.  But in the autumn season everything comes to life.  Leaves sway and dance in the breezes that the season brings; flowers seem to perk up their colorful faces as they look for something.  Creeks sing a little louder and songs of the birds seems to be fresher. 

Why does nature seem more animated in the fall?  I'll give you my theory. 

Paul tells the Romans in 8:19 that the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.  We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Maybe what we're seeing in the fall breezes, crisp mornings, and autumn moons is God's creation singing His praises loudly and tell Him that they cannot wait for His return.  Maybe they are shouting out gratitude to the God of the universe.  And maybe, just maybe, that's why I always seem to get a little restless in the fall.  Maybe that stirring inside of me is the natural desire of my soul to join all creation in song as we sing, shout, dance, and lift praises on high to God Almighty. 

I just wonder.