WWJD

                                                                          
                                                              What Would Jesus Do?

No, I didn't by myself a new bracelet with these letters or words on it, but it has been on my mind lately. (the words, not the bracelet)  In recent years this phrase has become quite cliche, but in reality it's a question we really should ask ourselves when it comes to most every topic in life. The event that got my mind puzzling these words is watching my facebook news feed blow up in recent days with folks choosing sides on several different debates, one being the Chik fil A issue.  I think the most cleaver post was this one:

Oh, the battled raged for days about this subject and I added my two cents once or twice, but avoided participating in any heated arguments.  As the above picture states so plainly, why is the world so surprised by the answer Mr. Cathy gave regarding this subject? And what would Jesus answer have been to the question that got the restaurant owner mired in controversy?  Also, why is it being debated in the first place? I think it's because we've come right down to the nitty gritty of how can a Christian love people and lead them to Christ, when we know that they are not going to agree with what the Bible clearly says about these and other matters.  I am not a Bible scholar but I have studied enough to know that when I have a dilemma going on around me I can usually find a useful answer right there between the pages of Genesis and Revelation.  But "the world" isn't interested in what the Bible says about sin.

Also, in the past week I kept an eye on another facebook war between an old friend (who is now a pastor) and his Bible college classmate.  It seems the classmate feels that my pastor-friend has become "soft" to sin and has publicly called the saints to pray that he will see the error of his ways.  In doing so he has riled the anger of many Christians due to his public rebuke of the pastor and his extremely "religious" opinions.  I say religious because he reminds me of the the Sadducee's and Pharisee's of Jesus' day with his "I am holy because I keep every commandment" attitude.  420 comments later, they are all still arguing. (none of those were my comments, by the way)  But all of this caused me to wonder what would Jesus do or say if he were peeking at facebook during these heated debates? (which He may very well be)

As a result of my wondering, I have decided to spend the next few weeks studying the red letters in my Bible.  I've read the four gospels in the past, but never to intentionally focus solely on the words of Jesus. In light of recent events I think this is the perfect time to do so.  I may share a bit of that on this blog or facebook, not in the hopes of sparking debate, but to simply chronicle the revelation I hope to receive from it.  In the mean time, I am still asking myself, WWJD?

                                                                               
                                                                           

                                                          

Wait.....for.....it......

Waiting!  Songs have been written about it, lives have been ruined by it, character has been built by it and I can't stand it!  Are you waiting on something?  Me too; it seems I'm always waiting.  Waiting in line, waiting for a table, (one of my least favorite things to do, by the way) waiting for test results, waiting on a phone call, waiting in traffic, waiting for the mail to run, waiting to see how it all turns out, waiting on a check, waiting on the water to boil...and the list goes on.

It feels like we spend most of our lives waiting.  Tom Petty says that "The waiting is the hardest part. You take it on faith, you take it to the heart. The waiting is the hardest part". One of my favorite oldies songs is "You can't hurry love, you just have to wait.  Love don't come easy, it's a game of give and take...".  Or how about John Mayer's "Waiting On the World to Change"? "We just keeping waiting...waiting on the world to change." All great songs about the one thing EVERYONE has in common...waiting.

Waiting takes patience and my patience wears out after a while.  When I say, "honey will you take the garbage out?' and he says, sure. Then 5 minutes later it's still there...I just go ahead and do it myself.  Therein lies the problem.  When I'm tired of waiting on something, I tend to take matters in to my own hands and "help" the situation get resolved.  Now, this ain't a bad thing if your waiting on your husband to take the garbage out, although it has caused a few riffs around here, but it can be a very bad thing when you're waiting on God to resolve a situation, only to help Him out and ruin His plan.

The Bible says a lot about waiting, to find this out I typed the words "wait on the Lord" in the search box on biblegateway.com and, wow! You should see all the results I got! But I think my most favorite verse has always been Isaiah 40:31 "But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." According to this verse, waiting can bring about a renewal of strength, and a determination to keep on without growing weary or fainting? Umm... that still doesn't make me want to sign up for the "waiting group" at church.  I think I'd rather be in the "march around 7 times and shout for victory group".  But...my preference to be a doer rather than a waiter, is not going to get me anywhere when it comes to waiting on things to come to pass that I have no control over.  James 1:4 says to let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 

My prayer this week is that I find rest in the "waiting areas" of my life.  I want to experience the kind of peace that only comes when your faith in God is so strong that no amount of waiting will cause you to doubt that God is working things out for your good. A non-wearying, non-fainting, strength-renewing, patience-perfecting, kind of faith. Lord, teach me how to wait...  

                                                                               

Leap Day.

Today is Leap Day, February 29th. I happen to have known someone born on Leap Day. His name was Walter Saylor and he was the best Father in law and grandpa a person could ask for. Never a cross word from him, never a selfish act, never a moment when you felt you could not count on him.

At his funeral 7 years ago, people spoke of how kind and compassionate he was. They talked of how he had visited them in the hospital or called on them when he knew they were going through a rough time. He was truly a kind, loving, godly man.

I hope someday that people will remember me as a kind person. I hope that someday, what I have done with my life will count for more than just the amount of dollars in my bank account or the "things" I leave behind.

Happy Leap Day, Walter Saylor! You and your kind spirit and warm smile are truly missed.

Spare Bedrooms and Memories

Although I had plenty of work to do, I spent the morning looking at blogs and pictures and getting ideas on what to do with my spare bedroom. Now that "most" of Kayleigh's things are gone, I can begin the process of redoing the room and the major task of getting rid of that pink and black paint!

I never cared for Kayleigh's color scheme. In fact, while I was at work several years ago, I came home to find my mom and Kayleigh painting the room pink and black. They had spent the day laughing and painting and buying bookshelves. My comment was that it looked like a sleazy nightclub in there. But, my mom had a blast helping her and I just let it be.

I stood in that almost empty room this morning, removing stickers from the doors and posters from the walls, while memories of that day and many others filled my mind. Days that I woke Kayleigh up for school, talks that I had with her in that room, and yes, even some heated arguments. I can still hear the sounds of young girls giggling as they hung out together watching movies and talking about boys. The stink of that awful turtle she loved and though I can see the ugly gold carpet now, normally the room was so messy you couldn't see the floor.

I starting looking around and thinking of what changes to make and then the thought came to me that this was the room that my daughter had grown up in. This is where she lay at night telling God the desires of her heart. This was the place she studied His word and this was the place that she probably cried many tears, as most teenage girls do. In this room she said her prayers with her dad, repeating the "now I lay me down to sleep" prayer that was their nightly routine for so many years. And in this room she grew from a little girl in to a lovely young woman. This was the window she gazed out as she dreamed of where her life would someday take her. Yes, it brought a tear to my eye as I thought of all the memories that were made in this room.

I started taking things off of the wall and reading some of the notes she had stuck to black poster paper she used as decoration. Her notes reminded me that though she was grown and now leaving this room behind, the things she dreamed of, the prayers she prayed and the lessons learned here would be with her forever. The memories are part of who she is and they will never leave her....or me.

Sharing tragedy.

Well, I managed to do as I said I would. I listened to my mom's favorite song. I spent a few minutes off and on throughout my day thinking of her and how I miss her. Then I wrapped Christmas presents and listened to Christmas music. I watched football and then went to a birthday party. I smiled, I laughed and I had fun. I never mentioned to anyone the significance of this date.

After returning home I received a text message from my dearest friend. A friend who visited my mom in the hospital just days before she died. A friend who listened to me when I needed to cry and relieve my sorrows. She was sending me the awful news that her own mother had committed suicide this evening. As soon as I read her message a flood of tears and pain overwhelmed me. Our mothers died on the same day? I called her, I tried to comfort her, but how can I really do that? There are no words that can ease the pain of the loss of someone you love, and to lose them in this manner is nearly unbearable.

I don't care how strong you are, or how spiritual you are, some things will knock the wind out of you. I will never understand this situation, but I know that comfort comes from God alone. Amy and I will always love each other for the things that we have in common, the fun that we share and encouragement that we get from one another. And now this...we will share the day that we lost our mothers. We now have hearts that are broken in the exact same place, and a date on the calendar that will hold the memory of loss and sadness.

Amy will get through this, because she belongs to God. We both belong to God and His joy is our strength. His word tells us that He is close to the brokenhearted. Dear Lord, please comfort Amy and her entire family. Let the supernatural healing and strength of your precious Holy Spirit lift them from tragedy to triumph. In Jesus name...amen.

Moving on....

Tomorrow will mark three years since my mom passed away. I've been thinking about her a lot the last few weeks. In fact, in the last several days, I have been wishing that I could pick up the phone and call her. We used to spend many hours every week on the phone. She loved to talk and because she was mostly house bound, it was a way for her to be social.

As the years have passed, I have marked several important days in my life without her. She missed Steven graduating from college. I've celebrated birthdays without her, I've celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas Days without her. And most recently, I watched my daughter walk down the aisle to become a married woman without my mom by my side.

This year, I will do my best not to dwell on the anniversary of the death of my mom. I will do my best to go about my day as usual, even though I will think of her and that horrible day. My mom was fun loving and never one to wallow in self pity. I never knew her to speak of the anniversary of the death of her dad, or any other person that she loved. She just wasn't that kind of person. She lived for the moment and she didn't dwell on loss. In this area, I need to be a little more like her.

Her favorite song was the Rascal Flats song, Life Is A Highway, it was actually the ring tone on her phone. :) I'll probably listen to that song tomorrow, I might even have a little cry. Then I will go about my day...just what she would want me to do.

Unconditional Love

Tonight, as I was tidying up my bedroom, I was sort of watching TV out of the corner of my eye, and caught a story about a blind dog and his "seeing eye companion". It seems a pair of Great Dane's in England were in need of new home, and the local news ran the story that one was blind and the other stayed close by his side leading him and helping to keep him safe. They showed video of the dogs walking and running together. They looked at content as I've ever seen a dog. The pose that stuck me most was of the blind dog leaning against the chest of the dog that was not blind. It was such a sweet picture...in fact, it made me cry.

As I watched this story my mind instantly flashed back to an elderly couple that lived in the nursing home where my grandfather lived before he died. The man seemed to be in very good health. He walked well, seemed to have a very sharp mind and was as kind a man as I've ever seen. The only physical problem was that he was legally blind. He could see well enough to walk around the nursing home, but he said he only saw shadows and could not read or drive. His wife however, was in much worse condition suffering from alzhiemers. She didn't talk much, she seemed scared most of the time. She needed help with feeding and dressing and just about everything else. The husband would sit ever so patiently, feeding her everyday and wiping her mouth. He would hold her hand and tell her she was "doing great". He was so affectionate with her that you couldn't help but pay attention to them. He told me one time that she had been an excellent wife. He said she had taken such good care of him and their family and now it was his turn to help her. The love he had for her was written all over his face, and with every bite of food he gave her and every pat on the hand, you could sense his devotion to his bride.

I believe examples like this are a way for us to examine what unconditional love really looks like. It looks like a dog leading his best buddy, a blind dog, on a walk. It looks like an elderly man feeding his wife and telling her how wonderful she's doing. It looks like a wounded soldier falling in to the arms of his awaiting family. It looks like a mother holding a child in her arms who has done something wrong, and needs forgiveness. It looks like a savior giving his life for the worst of the worst and never considering saving himself.

The good news is, the two dogs in the story found a new home and they were kept together. It's very unlikely that the blind dog could have survived on his own after being cared for so well by his devoted companion. In my own life, I can honestly say that there would be no way for me to survive without the unconditional love of God. He has lead me when I could not see which way to go. He has kept me when my mind was full of fear an doubt. He has given me purpose and most importantly, unconditional love. I want to experience the wholeness of God's love and I want to show the wholeness of God's love. Someday, when Bo and I are old (older), I hope that you find us sitting together, holding hands and knowing that we will never be alone as long as the other is alive. In the mean time, my goal is to take notice of these wonderful examples unconditional love, and to take notice of the unconditional love I have been given.