Makin' Lemonade

Sometimes our days aren't so sunshiny.  You know what I mean.  

Some days we are handed a bunch of sour lemons and absolutely no sugar to sweeten things up.  And if you have ever tried to make lemonade without the sugar all you get is sour water.  You need the sugar to make it lemonade.
So what to do when your day (or your week or your month or even your year) holds a bunch of sour lemons and it seems like there is no sugar to be had?
Here's what I do.  I say to myself, "Beth, make some lemonade.  Find the sugar, it's somewhere."  Because while I might not have been handed the sugar or it's not readily visible, it is there...somewhere.  And I need to find it.  So I begin to look for ways to make lemonade.  (In fact, some days my answer to the question "How are you today?" is , "I'm makin' lemonade today!" and that is a big clue that I feel like I've got a bunch of sour lemons and I'm looking for the sugar.)
I have found that I can find the sugar easier when I am more in tune to the simple and little things.  Who says that sugar is found in big and sweeping gestures?  More often than not it's found in the smaller, almost unnoticeable things.  For example, a week or so ago a friend of mine found some sugar for her day in an almost unnoticeable act of kindness.  She was backing out of her driveway while school drop-off happened to be going on.  Her street was lined and she was sitting in her driveway waiting when a car stopped and gave her space to back out.  That was sugar my friends.  My friend might have missed that bit of sugar if she hadn't been tuned in to look for things that cause her to be grateful.  Being grateful for things makes the sugar a lot easier to find.
That's the key to lemonade makin' and sugar findin'.  Gratefulness.  When we can't find anything to be grateful about we are in big trouble.  When we can't even muster up the gratefulness for the things we don't think about (but should) and the things that we take for granted (but shouldn't) that is sour lemons.
So the next time you find yourself with a bag full of sour lemons and no sugar, begin to look for ways to make lemonade - find the sugar, it's there.

Dear Parent, did you know?

Dear Parent,
Thanks for your letter, it helped me understand you a little better.  I'll try to remember you are human from now on but I make no promises.  Since we are talking and all, I thought maybe you should know a few things from me.

Did you know that I want to talk to you and be honest with you but won't when you don't seem to want to listen but talk at me?  I'm trying to figure stuff out and sometimes I just need you to listen to me and not try to give me any of that "life experience" that you talk about.  I need to have my own "life experiences" so I can one day talk to my kids with my own lessons learned.  Can you just listen and let me try to work it out on my own?  We both might be surprised at the outcome.  There will be times I want to hear about your "life experiences" but you'll know when I want to, I'll ask.

Yeah, yeah.  You were a teenager once blah, blah, blah.  Well now it's my turn.  I need you to be the parent, the adult, and let me be the teenager.  I don't want a friend, I have those.  I want an adult who I know is going to drive me crazy but also give me a place to figure this life stuff out.  Please quit trying to be my friend. I've seen you and your parents and I know we can be friends later, right now I need a parent. Yes, I might tell you how I'm feeling about something or someone, I really need for you to step it up and respond to it like a parent and not my best friend.  If you don't then I'm not going to talk to you about much of anything anymore.

Did you know that I know that you make mistakes?  Sure I know it but when I have tried to tell you and you have bitten my head off and made it seem like you are never wrong I back away.  Okay fine, maybe I didn't tell you in the nicest way but you still made a mistake.  It wouldn't hurt you to apologize to me you know. You raised me to apologize when I do something wrong, make a mistake, or something so why aren't you following your own advice?  Did you know that I will respect you more when I see you own up for your mistakes?

Did you know that you can trust me until I give you a reason not to?  After all, you did raise me.  And while I may not act like I heard you all those years, I did.  Try trusting me and seeing what happens.  You may be surprised at what I do or say.  That being said, I'm going to make mistakes (it's part of getting my own "life experiences" remember?) and while I know there may be punishment I wish you would also listen to me when I try to explain my thought process about the mistake.  Sure, I hate being punished but maybe if you can also help me figure out what to do or say differently next time in a productive way then I might be a little nicer while serving my time.  After all, you do want me to learn from my mistakes right?  Then help me learn.

Did you know that when you yell and use phrases like, "When you live under my roof you'll follow my rules" that I tune out?  Like I said earlier, when you talk at me and not to me I glaze over.  Was that effective with you when you were a teenager?  Yeah, I didn't think so.  Maybe it's time to try a new approach.  Just because I am young doesn't mean I don't know how to think and respond in a mature way.  Try treating me with a little respect and as if I have some maturity.  You might be surprised.

Did you know that I have my own dreams for the future and I don't want to be the one to live out yours? Please don't force me into some mold you think I belong in.  If you do that I will end up resenting you.  I am my own person and should have the freedom to live out my own dreams, if you support me in that then I will probably support you in going after yours.

One last thing.  This is a secret so can you keep it quiet please and not out me to my friends or anything like that?  I secretly like being a part of this family and when we hang out together I do have fun.  I know I might act all bored and annoyed with my siblings or you guys but actually I like it.  I like knowing that I have a family who loves me and is there for me.  So, yeah, thanks.

Dear Teenager, did you know?

Dear Teenager,

This isn't about how you dress or what you watch or listen to - you've heard from plenty of other people about that.  This is about your parents. You know, the people who live in the same house as you - they feed you, they pay bills to ensure you have a roof over your head, they clothe you, they love you (I hope).  

Did you know that your parents aren't just parents?  I think you might know that intellectually but I think you also might forget, when I was a teenager I forgot too.  We all need a reminder from time to time.  

Did you know that once upon a time your parents were teenagers "just" like you?  They had best friends and boyfriends/girlfriends, they had to go to school and do homework, they had fights with their own parents and rolled their eyes at them too.  Your parents also had dreams about their futures, they had goals, they had TV shows they loved and hated, music genres they loved and hated, a fashion style that was either "in" or "out". Did you know that your parents probably had their heart broken by someone?  

Did you know that your parents aren't just parents?  They are humans that have feelings just like you. They still have dreams and goals they would like to see come to fruition someday.  They can still get heartbroken. They still have homework - most of the time it just looks a little different.  Sometimes they still fight with their parents or siblings.  They still have friendship troubles of their own from time to time.  They still have a romantic/love relationship that needs attention and requires work from time to time (that's your other parent I'm referring to).  

Did you know that when you snap at them because you are having a bad day or are annoyed at the moment or think they are purposely trying to bug you that you hurt their feelings?  Just like your feelings may be hurt if they do that to you or someone else does.  Did you know that your parents also have bad days, get annoyed at people, and feel slighted by others (including you!)?  

Have you ever thought about your parents as humans rather than parents?  Again, intellectually I think you know they are humans but we all get stuck in our ruts and forget that people are more than their labels.  Your parents aren't just parents, that role isn't the entirety of their life - that is just a part of their life.  They are sons/daughters, husband/wife, friends, brother/sister, co-workers, talented, dreamers, aunt/uncle, passionate, fill in the blank.  

Do you know the dreams of your parents?  Do you know what they are passionate about outside of what you see they do day in and day out?  Do you know what their favorite color is and why?  Or what their favorite drink or dessert is?  Do you know what they do at their job (if they work outside of the home)?  Do you know why they are so protective of you?  What do you know about your parents outside of the label parent?  They know you.  They study you and commit to memory your favorite things, what annoys you, what makes you smile, they listen carefully to what you are and aren't saying about your future.  Have you taken the time to listen to them (they may not be as boring as you think!)?  

Your parents are living their own stories, you aren't the only one whose story is being written.  Their stories are still being written, they are just a few chapters ahead of you.  While they are your parents, remember they are also people who have feelings, dreams, and hopes just like you.  

Sincerely, 

A parent who is also a wife, Mom, daughter, sister, Aunt, friend, co-worker, and has big dreams

Our Electronics Sabbath

This past weekend we held our first electronics sabbath.  We've been meaning to for a while now but kept getting distracted from doing it (and if that isn't irony I'm not sure what is).  Yesterday I talked about the decline of many things in light of social media and smart phones.  You might want to read my thoughts there to give you better insight into what I'm saying here.

We instituted a no electronics sabbath from sundown to sundown.  A 24 hour period in which we literally shut down and/or powered off our phones and computers.  We did still allow the Wii and limited TV (as in 1 movie).  We gave our redheads a few hours warning so they could frantically text their friends to tell them about the cruel and unusual punishment we were dealing.  :)  I let it be known in Facebook land that I wouldn't be around (not like I was missed or anything) and at sundown we powered off and let our electronics get a little rest themselves.  We got milkshakes to "soothe" ourselves and the oldest tried a facial mask.  The first little sting of no electronics hit when she wanted to take a picture of her masked face and I couldn't find my real camera.  We powered on my phone for 2 minutes to snap the pic.  Darn it.  I really need to locate my real camera.  The redheads stayed close to one another and we let them watch one movie. Us adults headed for bed.

The next day was a little different.  A couple of times (okay more than a couple) I headed toward my phone to see if there were any texts I had missed.  Nope.  At one point I thought about replying back to someone on FB about something.  Nope.  All of a sudden I had all these people I needed to email.  Nope.  So I made a list of what I thought I needed to do once I joined the online world again.  And then I allowed the day to happen.  To distract the girls, specifically the oldest, from the lack of "connection" I took them shopping. That was another weird moment.  I took my phone (shut off) with me just in case a car emergency came up but it stayed tucked away in my purse.  Several times I thought about hopping on my phone to check this or that.  Nope.  On the way home, finally, I was going to call Lanny and let him know we were on the way. Nope.  What did we ever do without cell phones?!  Upon arriving home I discovered that the recipe I was using for dinner that night was on my Kindle.  Darn it.  So I powered on my Kindle for a few minutes and grabbed the recipe.  Of all the nights to make something that came off my Kindle.  The minute my Kindle powered up I instinctively hit the Facebook icon and it was pulled up by the time I realized what I had done and exited and went to my bookshelf for the recipe! Sheesh!

When sundown came the oldest was "jonesing" for her electronics and I realized that we need to do this more (the oldest isn't going to be too happy about that) so that the electronics in her life don't have power over her but she has power over them - and the same would be true for all of us.  Taking a break from all electronics revealed to me some interesting things: I am much more dependent on my cell phone than I realized, without the "noise" of electronics the house is a lot quieter and that unnerved my kids (the hub and I were just fine with that), TV becomes a temptation when electronics aren't available (which is why I limited it to 1 movie - I didn't want a 24 hour TV marathon to replace the electronics, then there would have been no purpose to the sabbath), being without electronics made us (with the exception of Lanny) a little unsettled/ancy/irritable.  In short we rely too much on our electronics to entertain us, interact for us, provide something for us (my recipe was on the Kindle!).  Are there benefits to having these electronics?  Yes! But we have relinquished our ability to have authenticity with others to screens and keyboards. There's no way we are giving up our electronics or social media pages but the change can come in how much we allow them to dictate our choices and behaviors and our true social lives.

We'll be doing more of these sabbaths. They are good for our souls and our relationships.  The redheads may disagree with me but I think, as Monk says, they'll thank us later.


In doing some Googling for the other post I came across this site and found it to be interesting. Perhaps you would be interested by it as well.  

We've been hijacked!

Anyone else notice the severe DECLINE in authentic relationships since the MySpace, Facebook, et al Social Media craze hit and took over our social lives?  We were told it would enhance our social lives, instead I think we've been hijacked.  I've been thinking about this problem for a long time.  And since I started thinking about it my attention has been drawn to others who also have noticed this decline in authentic social life.  Most recently I saw these two videos, ironically posted on Facebook, and it renewed my passion once again for my dislike of what "social media" has done to us.  Take a watch and then we'll pick back up the conversation.

Right?!  And you know as well as I do that the scenes depicted in that first video aren't exaggerated.  I am pretty sure the majority of us have done one, or more, of those things.  I know I have.  Much to my shame and compulsion.

Authentic social life has been hijacked for the sake of technology and advancements.  It makes me sad. Yes, I participate in it - probably too much - and even as I do I hate it.  I hate that my connections have diminished to the point of a thumbs up and that I can fake a good mood and nobody is the wiser.  I hate that I can be a totally different person through social media and people like me for a false representation of who I am.  (Btw, I am probably 99% authentic on my social media sites, my theory is if I can't be the same person on social media as I am in person then I need to reevaluate myself.  Ask people who have known me long before social media made an appearance - heck before computers were even around! - and I hope they would say that I am the same on social media as in person.)  I hate that smart phones have actually dumbed us down - we no longer have to think for ourselves and try to find answers out on our own, that's what Google is for.  I hate that kids these days don't know how to spell properly, they don't know how to write in full sentences, they don't use etiquette while on the phone, they can barely hand write anything, any teacher right now could add to this particular list I've got going on.  I hate that people have become uncomfortable with silence and with themselves, that they feel they need to distract themselves all of the time lest they are forced to be introspective or engage with others.  I hate that eye contact has become extinct and people are more comfortable looking at their screens than in the eyes of someone.  I hate that people have used social media as their newest platform to be rude, passive aggressive, pompous.  I hate that people somehow think it is okay to tear other people's beliefs, ideas, and thoughts to shreds and use social media as their excuse for poor behavior. There's more that I dislike but I think you get the idea.

I know.  The lady doth protest too much while posting this newest blog on her social media site.  I know! There are some benefits to social media.  I am grateful it provides me a way to keep in touch with my friends overseas - I can see pictures of them and their families, I can communicate rather quickly with them, I can glimpse into their daily lives.  I like all those things for friends out of state or even out of town.  BUT.  But nothing beats face to face, voice to voice, heart to heart relationship.  Nothing.  Social Media has convinced us that it compares, is perhaps even equal to.  It is not.  There's no other way to say it, nothing beats real time.

I'm not the only one who uses social media, sees its downfalls, and hates it.  Since MySpace hit the scene (and then got chased away by Facebook) and phones got "smart" people have started to recognize the trappings of social media.  I remember a few years ago reading an article in Reader's Digest (which I looked for and can't find but trust me on this one okay?) about a group of friends who decided they were way too attached to screens and not enough to true face time.  So they turned off their phones every weekend for an entire day and connected...for real, you know the "old-fashioned" way. They would have brunch together and make eye contact and not even think about what they might be missing on Facebook (although it could have been MySpace back then) and they experienced authentic relationship.  And the more they did this the easier it got to stay unattached to their smart phones and social media outlets even when they did choose to have access.  What held them back from an authentic social life lost its power as they made a choice to disengage to engage.  I've kept that in mind through the years and while I have said I want to practice that I haven't.

At least not until this past weekend.  :)

So, what are you wearing today?

"She knew JOY was one of her best accessories, so she made up her mind to wear it every day."

(Dayspring)

I've already had my say about Joy in the past.  But I want to revisit it because it's topic that I think is easy to forget about or get distracted from.  And besides I'm taking a year to focus on Gratitude which are the seeds that Joy blooms from so I'm thinking about Joy again in new ways, and even in some old ways!

A couple of years ago some friends and I took one month and honed in on Joy through purposed prayer.  I was excited to pursue, intentionally, this attribute that God speaks very clearly about.  In addition to pursuing Joy in prayer I had picked up the book, "One Thousand Gifts", to read for my book club.  Yes, it definitely seemed like God had more to share with me on the subject of Joy.

The "rules" of the prayer for Joy were simple.  No chatting and talking about anything, just seeking God about Joy.  We all had work to do so we kept it simple and to the point.  We were in and out of that Prayer Room in 10 minutes or less every day.  But it was the most profound and sweet 10 minutes or less of my work days during that month.  So much so that I'm thinking of starting it back up again, after all I can't think of one person who doesn't need a reminder of Joy every so often! And not only did it connect me to God in deeper ways but it gave me connection to the people I prayed with in deeper ways.  It really is amazing how God will use the most simple and humble and honest words uttered from our hearts and mouths to transform. 

Some of what God spoke to me was refresher from past lessons learned about Joy, right down to some of the same scriptures.  And some of what he spoke to me was a deeper place than I had been before.  I was so grateful for the refresher and for the deeper places he took me. 

Because I believe lessons God gifts us with should be shared let's chat a bit about Joy, shall we?  It is the most important accessory we possess and we shouldn't leave the house without it.  Without it our souls are naked, cold, and vulnerable.  Joy is warmth, covering, and hospitable. 

• God has written it on our hearts and into our spirits.  He is the author of Joy. 
• Joy is a deeper and more profound response when we exercise it without promise or even hope that a change or a blessing is going to happen.  When we can be joyful in the "in betweens" with no guarantee of any change in our circumstances then we have truly grasped joy.  Habakkuk 3:17-18
• I need to grow in my trust in order to "get" Joy.  They are related.  If God sets something before me and tells me it is a gift of Joy for me but I can't believe that it is and I can't believe he really considers it Joy when my flesh perspective says it isn't then I don't trust God and his motives, character, or heart.  If God calls it Joy then it is and if I can't believe that then I need to work on trusting him.  James 1:2
• Why is trusting God so hard?  He has never broken trust with anyone so the problem is me. I project on to God the trust that has been broken with me by others.  Romans 15:13
• Joy is the key that unlocks the prison.  The prison of ungratefulness, bitterness, resentment, etc.  
• Psalm 16:11, His presence is Joy.
• We have Joy when we are connected to God.  He is the one who can grow true Joy in us.  John 15

So, what are you wearing today?  If your attitude is leaning toward anger or ungratefulness might I suggest the accessory of Joy and see what happens?  When Joy is worn the whole "outfit", er attitude, changes.

I really don't (I think) like you...wanna go to lunch?

"Be Kind; Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle."

(John Watson)*

We are all guilty of this flaw.  We all have at least one person in our life whom we'd like to see move to Yemen and we would never have to deal with or see again.  My guess you have more than one person.  I know I do.  "What's the flaw Beth?  We aren't all going to get along."  Well the flaw is this, we don't actually know the person.  We don't.  Oh we say we do, we think we do based on things they say or ways they behave, but we don't actually know them. 

Stick with me.  I've got an example from the past, mine specifically, that has come back around today as a result of a hard situation I had to witness.

The year was 2007.  (Ha, you totally thought it was going to be a really long time ago.)  I was prepping to head to Kenya.  I was dreading it but resolved to obedience.  (Wondering about all that?  Click here.)  What I didn't know was that my entire team was sort of dreading it as well...BECAUSE OF ME.  I don't remember speaking much at team meetings but apparently when I did it was all fear-filled and anxiety laden.  All they knew about me was what they heard me say and from the few things I said they all formed opinions about me and decided they "knew" me.  (Now you know where I'm headed with this lesson don't you?!)  Ever have that happen to you?  Now be honest, how many times a week, a month, do you do that to someone else?  Whose name immediately popped into your mind when you read my last sentence? We all have at least one person we have done this too. 

Before the trip I had a lunch meeting with a team member.  She's a strong personality and frankly scared me to death.  My plan was just to be as quiet as possible and just do whatever I could so we would get along.  (Don't even start with me, I'm sure that will be a blog in itself one day, sooner rather than later.)  I praise God for my friend's honesty.  She looked me straight in the eye and said, "Beth, I don't think we are going to get along.  I'm concerned that I'm going to run (bulldoze - ha!) right over you."  My jaw dropped.  She went on to explain why, telling me about the things I had said at team meetings causing her to half-dread taking this trip with me.  I was shocked.  I had no idea that my dread, etc was saturating every word that came out of my mouth and causing other team members to form an opinion about me and who I was. 

To my friend's credit she did two things that day that we all can and should learn from and put into practice immediately.  1)  She was honest with me about how she felt about me, the little she knew to that point.  2)  She asked me to share my story with her so she could gain better understanding. 

Fast-forward to present day. 

A few days ago I had someone, who has their own story, inappropriately discuss a person they didn't like with me.  (Btw, don't think I let the gossip just flow - I nipped it in the bud as quick as I possibly could.)  Now what's interesting about this person's vent to me was two things.  1)  Before they started venting they asked, in a roundabout way, if I liked the person.  I do.  I, in fact, love this person with philia love.  2)  After discovering that I do, indeed, like the person they still said horrible and mean things about the person to me!  Gutsy.  And awkward.  Suddenly I was placed in the position of having to defend my friend's character to this person who was bent on slandering it.  The fact of the matter is neither one of them like each other but one is incredibly vocal about their dislike while the other still treats this person with courtesy.  When I stated a truth about my friend the person venting corrected me based on their own perceptions and story that have nothing to do with the person they don't like and everything to do with themselves! 

Do you see what we DO? 

Because I've done it.  You have done it.  We have all done this.  Oh maybe we are better than going around and publicly slandering the person as the person in my story above has done but we've done it.  And in private or in public it is still wrong. 

WRONG. 

Wrong because we know what it is like to be vilified for perceptions about us that aren't true.  Wrong because if we say we are children of God then we are behaving poorly for royalty.  Wrong because we have conveniently forgotten that the very same grace that God has extended to us - oh so wretched that we each are - he also extends to the person we are slandering and he expects us to extend grace as well.  Wrong because we have dismissed the fact that the One who created us and calls us his also created that person and calls that person his. 

Every person has a story.  Sometimes we are able to conquer the story and create an ending for our benefit. Sometimes we don't know how to create a better ending so we are stuck.  Sometimes we have "writer's block" when it comes to our endings.  But we all have a story.  I like the fuller version of the quote of Watson's from the snippet I started this post with, "This man beside us also has a hard fight with an unfavouring world, with strong temptations, with doubts and fears, with wounds of the past which have skinned over, but which smart when they are touched. It is a fact, however surprising. And when this occurs to us we are moved to deal kindly with him, to bid him be of good cheer, to let him understand that we are also fighting a battle; we are bound not to irritate him, nor press hardly upon him nor help his lower self."  (John Watson, 1903)  Our stories may surprise others as much as I think they sometimes surprise us!

So I have an idea.  What if we decided to have lunch with the person we think we don't like?  Can you imagine?  What if we even paid for the lunch or brought them lunch?  What if we asked them questions and tried to get to know them, and their story, to gain understanding of why they behave and/or speak the way they do?  What if?

The story we hear doesn't serve as a justification for bad behavior from that person but it might help us have a little more understanding with them, extend Grace so that God can have a way to work in their life, and give them a chance to be exposed to healthier choices for their emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.  
We don't have to be best friends with this person who rubs us the wrong way but God does ask us to extend courtesy and sometimes that's easier when we know a little of their story.

Who has come to the forefront of your mind?  Consider asking them to lunch!  Go ahead, take the chance and let God have his way.  

Oh, the friend who was afraid she would bulldoze me?  Yep.  This is her and I, besties.  

God used that lunch and our honesty with each other to knit our hearts together in a way that amazes us.  

It doesn't always happen this way but when it does it is oh so sweet. 

*Thought it was Plato who said it huh?  Click here for research on the author of this quote!

Blurry Grace

Lately I've been looking around, I've been listening, I've been observing.  And I'm confused.  I'm confused because I think Grace has been misappropriated, misunderstood, taken advantage of, used up.

Several years ago a friend and I would joke around about obtaining pre-meditated forgiveness for a sin we were considering committing.  We were joking but I think these days people actually do this and use Grace as their "get out of jail free" card.  I see a flippant attitude to the character God calls us too and when questioned the answer is usually in the form of, "Well that's why there is God's Grace."  Well no, not really. I mean, yes, there is Grace from God but no, that's not an excuse for intentional and consistent sin against God and his Word.  These days there is ultra-sensitivity to legalism so people have become reluctant to point out the abuses Grace is taking.  But it isn't legalism when it is simply God's word straight up.  What I may bring up as examples could sting a little.  But rest assured I had to go through the stinging before I put it out there for anyone else.  Are you willing to be stung so that Grace becomes a point of clarity in your life and not a blurred line?

Here are some questions about Grace that I've been thinking about.

• Can you take Grace too far?  How far is too far?
• Where do you draw the line between permissive lifestyle and Grace lifestyle?

Why is Grace important?  A couple of key reasons I think.

One, because God's Grace in our lives should lead us to desire holiness. It should prompt us to want to engage in the things of God and not the things of our flesh.  As an author I like to read and follow says, "The law exposes the ugliness of sin and drives you to Grace.  Grace exposes the beauty of God's law and moves you to obey." (Paul David Tripp)  Right on! God's law, a better interpretation of that word would actually be instructions, is beautiful and meant for our good, for our benefit, in all ways - physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  And when I recognize and accept the beauty of God's instructions I want to obey. It's not even that I feel forced to obey, I truly desire to.  Grace leads me to an exercise in holiness.

Secondly, Grace offers us a cushion.  A cushion on which to land when we fall down. And we all fall down. But Grace is not something to take advantage of.  It isn't our "get out of jail free" card. It isn't our license to sin because we know we can ask for forgiveness and will be granted it.   In his book, The Truth War, John MacArthur has this to say about the abuse of Grace in the Church today, "....they [believers] presumptuously regarded God's kindness to sinners as a license for immoral conduct....All their stress on freedom in Christ was actually a back-handed assault on God's grace.  'Grace' to them was nothing more than a phony justification for lust-driven behavior."  (The Truth War page 137.  Also check out: 2 Peter 2:19, Jude 1:4) Stings a little doesn't?  

But Beth, I don't engage in lust-driven behavior.  Okay, well while that is the focus of MacArthur's text let's talk about some other assaults on Grace.  Have you ever...

• Dropped the f-bomb as part of your normal speech?  (I get the times in anger but even then we do have the Spirit in us to help us exercise self-control even when we don't want to or feel like it.)
• Called in sick to work when you weren't sick?  (That's called lying.)
• Engaged in lustful behavior that edged right up to the line of going over?  (I thought I would throw lust back in seeing as how a lot of singles, and even marrieds, don't have a proper and right understanding of lust.)
• Justified your actions regarding: stealing, lying, gossiping, etc.

There's more where that list came from.  All of those things, and more, lead us to a lifestyle opposite of Grace.  If Grace leads us to holiness then when we engage in word and deed opposite of holiness we are abusing God's gift of Grace in our lives.

Where we abuse Grace in one area we will begin to in others. That's when the gift of Grace becomes a blurred line in our lives and no longer a point of clarity.  That's when we begin to treat it as a "get out of jail free" card and not a place to reside in so we can exercise holiness. It's where we begin to shrug off holiness and call it "legalism" so we can justify our unholy behaviors and words. 

Back to my questions that I've been thinking about.  In light of what we've just discussed here's where I land:

• Can you take Grace too far?  How far is too far?                                                                         Yes, I believe you can take Grace so far that it is no longer Grace, it's just a word that is used to provide a cover for what you are really doing.  You can take it so far that it becomes your justification not your sanctification.  How far is too far?  When you shrug it off so that the behaviors and words your engage in fit more comfortably than the holiness Grace compels us too.  
• Where do you draw the line between permissive lifestyle and a Grace lifestyle?                              This particular question came from a conversation I had with a barista in a coffee shop a couple of years ago.  (No seriously, this post has been sitting in my queue for two years waiting on me to wrap it up!  But I digress.)  He and I were chatting while he got my delicious coffee.  I love this particular coffee shop in town, the people who own it are a large family that are all beautiful and love Jesus but, yes I said but, the more I spoke with them - the parents, the various kids - the more I saw a permissive lifestyle lived couched in "Well that's why there is God's Grace" accompanied by a shoulder shrug.  Huh.  I'm not judging, I'm observing.  And because I really like this family I started thinking about where is the line?  And do you love Jesus "for real" when you don't let Grace sanctify your life?  (Remember, Grace should lead us to a lifestyle of holiness.)  The line, in my opinion, is drawn when God's instructions are pushed aside for the freedom to engage in our flesh.                       

I know.  It sounds radical.  It sounds "legalistic".  It sounds so counter-cultural.  I suppose you could look at it that way, except for the legalistic label.  It is not legalistic when it is God's word straight up.  We like to label things that we don't like or that rub us the wrong way as legalistic, get over it.  Allow God's word to pierce you, get settled in to the idea that God's word is not called a two-edged sword for no reason.  It is meant to divide us from our flesh and show us how to live in God's ways.  That's going to pierce.  Is this idea of Grace not being a "get out of jail free" card counter-cultural and radical?  You bet.  Especially in this day where affluence and comfort is the affliction of the Church and living Godly lifestyles.  We want our cake (Grace) and to be able to gorge on it with no consequences (permissive lifestyles).  That idea, my friends, is counter-cultural to God's instructions.  

Are you living in blurry grace?  Have you been using Grace as a justification and denying its real mission of sanctification?  The thing that I didn't really touch on in this post about Grace is also the way in which it leads us to interact with others.  A Grace lifestyle doesn't put us in a place of judgement toward others and their behaviors.  Grace lets us know we need only to be concerned with ourselves and trust God is working out Grace in the lives of those we interact with, just as we are hopeful they are trusting God to do the same with us.  Certainly we are called to hold each other to higher standards and we can do that without passing judgement.  Really we can!  So perhaps together we can begin to swing back toward God's instructions (whether we "like" them or not) and begin showing others what the clarity of Grace brings.

Fester Fester Rot Rot

A few weeks ago I made a mistake that I've made before.  I was working with raw chicken (stick with me on this okay?) and threw away what I didn't want in our trash can.  Over the course of the day I and my family threw other trash away on top of the raw chicken and I kind of forgot about it.  Fast forward 2 days later I arrived home and was hit with this stench wall of rotting chicken.  Oops.  The stench made me gag and I quickly removed the bag to the garage where it wouldn't stink up our home.  But the stench stayed behind for about a day.  Ugh.  I've done it before and each time I do I think to myself, "I have learned my lesson, I won't do this again" but I do.  I throw away some raw meat and it sits and festers until it rots.  And until it rots I forget about it, I neglect to take care of it.  But once the stench of the rot reaches me I am quick to dispose of it.

Some of you know this and others don't.  I'm a lay counselor.  And I've been in counseling.  And in my own personal experiences and hearing the experiences of others I have come to the conclusion that we all have some "fester fester rot rot" going on in our lives and our hearts.  We all have something (usually more than one thing actually) that we've discarded, or so we thought, and have thrown other things on top of it.  So the thing we needed to get rid of gets buried where it begins to fester.  And we don't pay much attention to it until the stench of its rot finally reaches our awareness.  At that point we either take care of it or we continue to rot and become a stench to anyone we come into contact with.  We are so quick to dispose of the actual rot and stench of something like meat but we tend to drag our feet when it comes to getting rid of the heart rot we have. The longer we let the rot sit the harder it's going to be to get the stench of it removed.  And the more pervasive the rot will be in our lives and relationships.

Each time I begin to stink and the stench of my heart rot reaches the surface of my life and touches my relationships I take the steps I need to take to get it taken care of and say to myself, "I have learned my lesson, I won't do this again" but I do.  I do it again.  Sometimes with the same issue that caused the rot, sometimes with a different issue.  But I let the rot get covered up by the day in and day out of life and I forget about it until its stench covers me.  And it's my own fault every time.  I'm aware of myself enough (I'm a counselor remember?  We are in tune even if we don't respond to the nudges) to know when rot is there that needs to be taken care of.  Why do I continue to allow myself to be deceived that "later" will be a "better" time to take care of it?  There's no time like the present is totally applicable in this instance!  Now is the time.

No this is not a commercial placed by my blog.  

It's a commercial placed by me for the purpose of this blog!  

It's a lead-in, an intro to my next point.  :) 

Here's one final (for this blog post at least) thing about heart rot that we need to know.  Just because we shoot some "Febreze" (i.e. surface fixes) all over the stench doesn't mean the rot is removed or even taken care of.  (Did you watch the video I put in?  The smell is masked but the trash is still there.  Just sayin'.) Surface fixes are short-term, temporary fixes.  In other words THEY DON'T WORK.  In order to remove the rot we have to engage in the heart, er hard, work of removing the rot.  For some this means addresses hurts from many years ago, addressing people that have contributed to the rot, taking personal responsibility for the growth of the rot, doing some honest self-evaluation, being vulnerable and transparent with others who can help (heck, asking for help!), and more.  The rot doesn't just go away on its own, we have to put the sweat equity in and own it to remove it.

How about you?  Got any fester fester rot rot going on?  (Don't say no, I will call you a liar - we all have something in us festering and rotting.)  Consider taking care of it while it's festering before it starts rotting. The festering process gives us the chance to take action.  Don't let your heart become a stench to you and others.  

Mini-Cuke's and SCC

Recently when I shared with someone who doesn't know me very well a few of my likes (mini-cucumbers, Steven Curtis Chapman - who I affectionately refer to as SCC) the response I got was something like this:

Accompanying that response was the emphatic exclamation, "Oh no!" (and while you might be tempted to think I am exaggerating let me assure you...I am not!  Imagine my surprise at this reaction to such non-controversial things.)

REALLY?   

Are we really so self-absorbed that we can't appreciate that others like different music, food, drinks, TV shows, books, movies, etc than we do?  

Are we really so self-absorbed that we can't be okay that people might not dig the same people and things that we do?  

Are we really so self-absorbed that we must put-down, criticize, comment, devalue, diminish what someone else likes that differs from our likes?  

Are we really?  

Well as it turns out.  

Yes, yes we are.  

The response I got took me by surprise and I had to bite my tongue from winging back a stinging retort. And the look on this person's face - one of true distaste - stopped me in my tracks.  

I felt, for a moment, devalued and diminished for liking things that were different than this person's.  

But then I got a grip.  

I started examining my responses to people when they tell me they like Haggis and Merle Haggard.  Perhaps I have communicated non-verbally, as this particular person did to me, the same thing: if you don't like what I like then you hold less value.  OUCH.  

My friends, actions (to include non-verbal communication) speak much louder than words.  Would this person actually say they don't value me because I like mini-cukes and SCC?  No.  In fact, they would probably be offended that I would suggest such a thing. BUT.  But their non-verbal response communicated that I do hold less value just because I happen to love crunching on some mini's while bee-bopping to SCC.  

So I'm thinking about the next time a person shares with me that they like Haggis and Merle Haggard.  While those things aren't my cup of tea it's okay that someone does like them.  So may my non-verbal response look a little like this:

Accompanied by a "Good for you!" 

I have a feeling if that is my response the person will feel okay about being different than me.  

And you know what?

That's REALLY okay.  

 

I Run To You

I run from pain
I run from prejudice
I run from pessimists
But I run too late
I run my life
Or is it running me
Run from my past
I run too fast
Or too slow it seems
When lies become the truth
That's when I run to you

(Chorus)
This world keeps spinning faster
Into a new disaster so I run to you
I run to you baby
And when it all starts coming undone
Baby you’re the only one I run to
I run to you

We run on fumes
Your life and mine
Like the sands of time
Slippin’ right on through
And our love’s the only truth
That’s why I run to you

Can the secular speak to the sacred?  I think so.  First time I heard this song I was struck by a few different lines that are truth about the sacred.  And every time since when I hear the song I am struck by those same lines and the truth that does not change. 

I run my life or is it running me
Do you feel ragged around your edges?  Like you are always figuratively trying to catch your breath?  Like your list of obligations (perceived or reality) just keeps getting longer?  Like there is no time to just be, there's only time to do?  If you do feel like that, and honestly I think most of us do, then it is possible that life is running you instead of you running it.  And if that's the case then you certainly aren't experiencing the abundant life.  Decide to make some changes and be pro-active.  What needs to change so that you are running your life and it isn't running you?

When lies become the truth, that’s when I run to you
Ever heard a lie so much that you begin to believe it is truth?  As soon as you recognize that the lie is masquerading as truth you are at a pivotal place.  Will you allow the lie to become truth or will you change the course and use the actual truth to disintegrate the lie?  When I hear this line the only person I think of that I can and do run to for truth is the author of it.  God.  He is the author of truth.  He holds in his hands the truth that can. does, and will change my life.  He is the one who shows me the lies that are fighting to take top spot in my life.  Do you have lies in your life that have become truth?  Run to the author of Truth and allow him to speak into those.

And our love’s the only truth, that’s why I run to you
In a world that doesn't value honesty and authenticity (even though we say we do) the only love that you can trust and rely on is that of God's.  Just as he is the author of truth so he is the author of true love.  His love is the only thing that will speak truth into your life, your relationships, your fears, your joys.

If you run to God you will find Truth permeate your life and as the world comes undone you will be secure in the life authored for you by the One who ordained it.

Reflections...No regrets

I'm in the midst of reflecting on the past couple of years of life.  I've just wrapped up a stint as one of the front desk faces at Young Life.  God is moving me on, I don't like it one bit but I'm going to walk in obedience to it.
Here's a look back at some of my other posts in the past couple of years about my time at Young Life...
All You Ever Wanted to Know About Being a Front Desk Receptionist
An Update on All the Sides of Being the Front Desk Receptionist
My 90 Day Review
A Year in Review

Last *you* heard from me was my year review.  Here's the brief update from that point:

2012 was a year of upheaval and change in our department, it was a tough year - it was either going to make us or break us!  I think a little of both happened.

The Young Life Celebration in January 2012 was amazing.  Again, such a generous gift from Young Life to Lanny and myself.  The weather was great, we got to sit by a pool in January!  What a gift that alone was for the middle of winter.  We were spoiled rotten by Young Life and blessed.  We came home from that trip with the compulsion to help start up a Young Life Club in Falcon, where we live.  Since then we have been on the super slow track to seeing that happen but we're still inching along toward that goal.

I literally know every single employee at the Service Center - both buildings!  That's crazy to me.  It is crazy to me that I have somehow been able to retain all those people in my memory bank.

The inner-office gifts came to an end.  I actually have a job to do (admin tasks) so couldn't keep up with that!  Nobody seemed to mind, by the time those ended the ice had been broken.  :)

During an extensive renovation of our Lobby the front desk was relocated to a noisy little box (an office but...ugh!).  Fortunately the "box" contained a large white board that I decided couldn't go blank as long as I was around!  So for the time we were contained to that space I put up a quote every day.  This led to my newest 365 Experiment which is a quote a day.

I became a Barista of sorts as our newly renovated Lobby served fresh ground coffee grown in Nicaragua in a joint venture with Young Life!  Check out Beyond Beans, great coffee and a great cause!

Changes were being stirred up....

As I said at the start, God is moving me on from Young Life and I'm not all that happy about it.  I love my job.  I actually don't even have adequate words to express how much I love my job.  I'm also pretty good at my job.  I've learned a lot and I've put it into practice. I've helped my boss with some of the more tedious tasks so she is freed up.  I've done my best to make sure people who walk into the Service Center are welcomed and feel welcomed.  I've held mini-counseling sessions at the front desk (this doesn't surprise those of you who know me well) and have been a place for people to be heard.  I'm pretty good at my job and not just the admin stuff.  The relational stuff I am able to balance out with the admin.  I love my job.  But changes were being stirred up and I believe timing is everything.  The time came for Lanny and I to look at me having to earn more than a part-time income.  We see some changes being stirred up in our family life and his workplace and we knew, through prayer and discussion, that we needed me to be in a job that was full time and offered medical benefits should the time come that his job no longer does that.  Unfortunately there was nothing for me at Young Life that could offer what my family and I now need.  Btw, there is NOW.  But like I said a minute ago, timing is everything.  An opportunity and offer opened up to me so fast that I am still, almost three weeks later, trying to figuratively catch my breath!  Timing is everything.

So I've been reflecting on my time at Young Life the past couple of years and how it intersected with my personal life.  I started working at Young Life just as I was coming out of a deep depression (I bet some of you didn't know that!) and it was tough for me.  It's hard enough to exert energy on the heels of depression but combine it with my core personality of being an introvert (seriously quit arguing with me about this, I know who I am!) and the first few weeks were tough.  Even now, 2.5 years later, I prefer to spend my mornings before work not talking or interacting with others much and my evenings after work not talking or interacting with others much.  I conserve all of my energy for the front desk and the interaction it takes to do the job.  But it turns out that the "forced" interaction has been good for me.  It helped keep me from falling back into the deep depression I was in, it helped me re-enter the work of a ministry, it helped me sharpen my skill set and even further define my skills.  It also gave me the opportunity to see what kind of work had been done in me as I settled further into my skin.  It rebuilt in me a confidence that had been lost and was struggling to be found.

The decision to leave has been a hard one.  If I was ever going to leave the timing was accelerated by the changes in our family life.  I was thinking this morning about the reason why leaving is so hard for me, outside of the obvious ones of course.  And here it is.  In this particular instance obedience to God is more difficult for me because I am being asked to walk away from something that I really love, am good at, and I know is not displeasing to God.  It's something that my time is up and I don't like that one bit!  So I have had a lot of moments of second-guessing, hoping something might change, wishing I didn't hear from him as clearly as I did.  But as my time wound down at Young Life I knew deep deep down that I was being called to follow his lead and he was leading me right out of Young Life.  I don't know why exactly.  Maybe Young Life has become a comfort zone for me.  Maybe something is going to happen at Young Life that God didn't need me to witness.  Maybe all along I was only a "short timer" even though in my plans I was in it for the long haul.  I don't know.  All I know is I have had a lot of tough and emotional moments in the past 3 weeks.  And I expect I will have a few more in the weeks to come.  Introverts don't like starting over socially, well at least this introvert doesn't. It's hard for me to meet new people, it's hard for me to start over that way.  I'd rather hole up in some cave and never need to come out.  I'll be working longer days and so therefore be exerting more energy in interactions.  And for the next 6+ months I will be learning new things and really giving my brain and memory bank a work out!  There will be days that I feel incompetent and will doubt that I did hear from God about leaving.  My tough and emotional days aren't over.  But if all of those things culminate in me being exactly where God wants me to be and walking in obedience to him then I can say, even now, "I'm good."  I don't want to be anyplace other than obedience to God.  Even if it is hard and stretches me it's where I want to be if it is obedience to him.

Finally, let me tell you how God has answered a prayer of mine.  When I started at Young Life 2.5 years ago I asked people to pray for me to be a blessing to the employees and guests of Young Life.  I had no idea what I was talking about but I knew that if I was going to be a blessing then it was going to be the Jesus in me.  I didn't try to be anything or anyone other than myself, I asked God to help me be true to myself - who he created me to be - and that I would bring joy to the people I interacted with each day.  Don't get me wrong I had some bad days.  I had some days where it took everything in me to be pleasant.  I had some days where the smile on my face was more pasted on than natural and willing.  I had some days where the thought of putting on make-up and put on real clothes was overwhelming.  I had some days where my irritations boiled over and people steered clear of the front desk.  But I had some great days.  I had days in which my ability to remember someones name made their day and so therefore made mine.  I had days in which I couldn't stop smiling.  I had days in which I got to see some relief run across the face of my boss because she knew she could trust me to get the job done.  I had days that I was able to communicate value to an employee and their whole demeanor shifted.  I had more than some great days. I had many great days. And I think, just maybe, that God answered my prayer and honored my request to be a blessing.  During my final week at Young Life employees and vendors alike took time to personally communicate with me about the relationship we were able to develop in the past couple of years.  I didn't go seeking out these people, they came to me and let me know what I meant to them - a lot of them were people I didn't expect!  And on my last day God gave me a glimpse of the impact he allowed me to make at the Young Life Service Center through his grace and strength alone.  And I was blessed. I was blown away. I was humbled.  I think it was part of why the tears started and I can't quit.

No regrets.  That is sometimes an overused phrased but it applies here.  I have not one regret about my days spent at Young Life.  As I continue to reflect while I move on I may feel twinges of pain but regret won't be making an appearance.

Yeast.

We are in the "middle"* of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and I've been thinking about yeast, or leaven.  To one who reads God's command to remove the leaven from your homes, communities, and bodies without surrounding context or understanding of God the command seems...strange, weird, odd, controlling, and whatever other kind of negative connotation you can, or want to, come up with.  But to the one who reads it within surrounding context and with an understanding of God the command makes sense and speaks of God's great love for us and of his desire to see us grow in relationship with him.

If you don't know what yeast is or does let me explain because it is at the heart of this particular command - more figuratively than literally but that comes later.  Yeast is what causes bread to rise, beer to have carbonation, turns fruit juice into wine, and other things.  It feeds off of simple sugars in the product being used and breaks down those sugars which in turn causes alcohol and carbon-dioxide to form the fermentation that causes things to rise and/or bubble up.  There's the most simple explanation.

So it seems yeast is getting a bad rap with God.  I mean, what did yeast do to offend God so much?  Ah.  It didn't.  It is simply serving as a vehicle for God to teach us a bigger lesson.  Just like we use various things as props for our object lessons so God is using yeast as his prop for his object lesson with us.  He's pretty creative that way.

We first see God's command to observe a time of unleavening in Exodus and Leviticus.  It is combined or is directly on the heels of God's command to observe Passover.  Coincidence?  Oh I think not, and neither should you.  For those who might be a little hazy in their history let me give you a quick refresher on the Passover.  God moved the Israelites out of Egypt in the course of one night, after many other things had happened, and he commanded them to go and go quickly.  They didn't have time for their bread to rise before baking it so they made it without yeast and got going.  Prior to this, the pass over was the Angel of Death that passed over each home in Egypt and those who didn't have the covering of lamb's blood on their door frame lost their first born to death.  The Angel passed over those who were covered by the blood of the lamb.  (Ever heard that phrase before?  Hmmmm.)  See, if the Israelites had waited on their bread to rise they might have changed their minds and decided that the knowns of Egypt - as hard as it was - was better than the unknowns of the desert they were going to trek into.  God knew their thinking patterns and their tendencies so he made sure they had a reason to get out quick and not experience any lag time.  Yeast would have given them the lag time.

So every year God has commanded his people to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a reminder that when we allow yeast to sit and rise there's time for all sorts of "trouble".  It comes on the heels of Passover as a reminder that we are or can be passed over by being covered in the blood of the Lamb.  The blood of the Lamb covers the "trouble" yeast may provide.

It is true that every day we should be aware to the figurative yeast, or leaven, in our lives that is there.  It puffs us up in the areas of phoniness, falseness, feigned virtuousness, and prideful thoughts.  Figurative leaven also appears in our lives through impure activities like porn addictions or drug abuse.  It appears in our speech through gossip and judgments passed on others.  It rises in us through what we allow ourselves to be exposed to that serves as a trigger for other damaging behaviors.  The leaven in our lives is throughout and we should be aware of it daily and removing it daily.  We should but let's be real, we don't.

We get used to the leaven in our lives.  We grow comfortable with it, it has become second nature to a lot of us.  Because of that, it is harder to pinpoint it because we don't have "eyes to see and ears to hear" most days.  I believe that is why God asks us to purposefully stop using leaven in our physical lives for one week so that we can become attune, again, to the leaven that has invaded our spiritual lives and has been allowed to rise within us all sorts of displeasing and sinful things. It takes a little bit of work to abstain from leaven in the physical and a lot of work to remove it in the spiritual.  Like everything else worth developing it is a process and mistakes will be made. 

God allowed me to see the process, spiritually, firsthand during the Feast this past week through a physical example.  I had been super mindful of the leaven in food and had been doing good at abstaining.  I was thinking through my choices and paying close attention to any places of hidden leaven.  (Rice crackers?  Totally leaven free!)  Then on day 5 (actually day 6 since sundown had come and gone) I made a mistake.  Oh not willingly, not rebelliously, not in frustration over being deprived of leaven.  I just didn't think.  I sat down after a night of cooking with my cook group and we served up the pound cake and dug in.  Didn't even think about it.  In fact, when I was almost done with slice two (quit passing judgement) it occurred to me that pound cake has leaven in it and I had just consumed it without a second thought.  Oy.  Now, you may be reading this and yelling at the screen, "Beth!  So what?!  Who cares? God doesn't really and besides there's grace.  Sheesh you are taking this a little too far."  Guess what?  You are absolutely right on the middle point, "....there's grace."  Yep.  There sure is.  There is grace and I'm so grateful for it.  And does God care that I consumed leaven?  I'm going to go with yes and no.  He asks that we, his believers and followers, observe his appointed times and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is an appointed time. But he also knows we are going to stumble and that is where his grace covers.  We can, and do, unknowingly introduce leaven into our lives without even thinking about it and by the time we realize it usually we have consumed enough of it to make a difference.

Transfer that thought to sin, as yeast/leaven is symbolic of sin.  Sin enters our lives, whether it be knowingly or not, and by the time we realize it there's enough of it in our systems to make a difference.  Right?  Right.  In fact, Paul addresses this very topic with the church of Galatians, and therefore us.  "You know what they say, “Just a little yeast causes all the dough to rise,” so even the slightest detour from the truth will take you to a destination you do not desire." (5:9, The Voice)  Another version of the Bible, The Amplified Version, says it this way, "A little leaven (a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers) leavens the whole lump [it perverts the whole conception of faith or misleads the whole church]."  Just the slightest amount of sin will cause a detour in our life.  First it puffs up in the heart and then makes its way to our words and actions.  That's called a detour my friends.  And it's so subtle at first, almost unnoticeable.  But the smallest amount causes a large amount of "puff".  And before we know it the sin has risen to the point of over spill.  (Has that ever happened to you when baking?  It has me, I've had bread rise over the top of the bowl and spill over - what a mess!)  When we over spill we then have a mess that needs to be cleaned up.  Unfortunately sometimes we choose to stay in our mess for a season, other times we clean it up right away.  The choice is yours.  But the longer you leave the mess there the more chances you have for the yeast (sin) in your life to expand.  A few years ago I tried making a new dinner roll recipe.  I got it all mixed and nothing happened.  They didn't rise in the time they were supposed to.  I threw up my hands in frustration and we left the house and had to go buy dinner rolls (which if you know me you know I was super bugged - I prefer from scratch!).  We were late so I had left the mixed dough in the pans and baking sheets I had placed it on and planned to dispose of it when we returned home later that day.  Imagine our surprise when 12 hours later, as we walked back through our door, we came home to risen dough all over the place!  It had finally risen during our 12 hour absence and we had bread coming out of our ears!  It was everywhere!  I didn't see it coming, I thought the yeast was inactive and the dough would just sit and I could just throw it away when we returned home.  That didn't happen.  And isn't sin just like that?  We knowingly, or not, introduce it into our lives and sometimes the yeast doesn't rise right away so we are deceived into thinking we "got away with it".  But then it rises and we have a mess to deal with.

Perhaps now you can see why God, in his creativity, chose to use yeast as his prop for sin in our lives.  It works so well as a visual.  Perhaps you can maybe even now see why he asks his people (of which we who are not born Jewish are because we have been grafted in) to observe a time of unleavening in the physical to show us the leaven in our spiritual lives.  It's because he desires us to be leaven free in our relationship with him.  Any leaven in our lives hinders our communication with him.  And he desires for us to be free of that so we can clearly hear his voice in our hearts and lives.  Have you found some leaven in your life?  Psalm 51 is a great way to walk through the removal process and get back into right relationship with God.  Being in relationship with others you can trust to hold you to high standards is advisable.  (King David had Nathan, which led him to his repentance over his sin and what Psalm 51 is recording)  Being willing to shed light on the leaven in your life to expose it and kill it off is advisable.  In James 5:16 we are told to confess our sins to another so that we may pray together and find healing.  Not to be condemned by others but to be prayed for and to be introducing to healing.  This is important in remaining as leaven free as possible. I don't know about you but I want to be leaven free in my relationship with God so that my life - its words and actions - glorify his name.

Maybe in the past (meaning right before you read this post, if you've made it down this far) you've thought the command of God's to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a) just for Jewish people or b) weird or c) old fashioned/antiquated/outdated/not applicable.  If so, I get it.  I'm right there with you...or I was.  Now I've allowed myself to hear from God on such commands and I've allowed him to correct my thinking and perspective on such things and guess what happened when I allowed him to do that?  I got it!  I was able to clearly see what his intent and desire was, and is, in his commands that I was placing in a,b, and c!  And what is his intent and desire?  To have a relationship with him that honors who he is and what he has done in my life.  And what he has done is so much, so to observe his commands is the least I can do.


*Okay well when I started writing the blog we were in the middle, now we are done.  {sigh} #lifegotinthewaynotimetowrite

FREE(dom) Permission Slips!

I, Beth Peninger, hereby do give you, ________________________, permission to say "no" to an invite, a request, a task, etc when the only reason you are going to say "yes" is out of forced duty, obligation, desire not to hurt feelings, etc.  Be free!  You are free to say "no"! 

_________________________________

Recently I've run into this statement, in varying forms:
"Well, I couldn't figure out how to say no without hurting their feelings." 

UM.  Let's talk shall we? 

There's lots of ways to decline without hurting feelings.  How about any one of these:

"No thanks, I've already got plans that night."  (Now.  Don't lie, so only say this if you do have plans!  If you don't have plans try one of the others so you aren't then caught lying as well.)

"No thanks but I appreciate you thinking of me!  I hope you have a good time."

"No thanks."  (Yeah, that's it, just a simple decline without explanation/justification.  Oh, that's so radical I know!)

There are other ways to nicely decline - those are just my favorite top 3. 

We've got a problem here in the good ole U.S. of A.  We think we have to have a reason why we are saying "no" and it has to be a good reason, or a good justification, or else we must go/participate/etc.  I'm about to break free your chains of bondage concerning this topic.  Are you ready for freedom?  Prepare yourself...

You don't have to give a reason, you don't have to give an excuse, you don't have to justify, you don't even have to feel bad...you are free to say "no"! 

Isn't that wild?!? 

You really can say no, nicely, and move along!  And the other person will appreciate you offering your decline without the awkward excuse or justification.  Right?  Think about a time that you issued an invite and when the person declined it felt awkward and "off".  Guess why?  'Cause they weren't being honest in their decline!  The dots are connecting aren't they?  *wink*

But, but, but Beth!  This goes against everything I've ever experienced or how I was raised!  Isn't it the polite and courteous thing, the right thing, to accept if the only reason I would say no is because I just don't want to?  UM....no.  It isn't always the "right" thing to do, accept the invite.  It isn't and who ever said it was?  See, this has been bugging me.  Who is the person who first made it seem as if the "right" thing to do was say yes when really people want to say no?  You know what that is?  People pleasing.  Oh yes, I went THERE.  And that's a whole other blog but when we say yes because we can't find a way to say no all we are doing is people pleasing.  ICK. 

So print off the above permission slip, free of charge!  Fill your name in and carry it around with you to remind yourself that you are allowed to say no and you can be nice when you do it. 

FREEDOM!  Don't you love the feel of it?! 

A year in review...Life as the Front Desk Receptionist

The last review I did was my 90 day.  A lot has happened since then!  Today marks my official 1 year with Young Life and I can't believe it.  It feels like I've been at Young Life WAY longer than a year...all in good ways I might add!  :)


Here's the summary of my life at the Front Desk in one short year. 

• I'm one of a handful of employees who knows every single employee by name and face. 
• It's really hard to mask the bad day you might be having when you are the "face" of Young Life. 
• I'm still working at being the smile in everyone's day.  I may be the only smile they get and I don't take that lightly.
• Not only have I "mastered" (haha) all employee names but a lot of our regular vendors, employee spouses, children of employees as well!  Lots of relationship building has happened in the past year! 
• My Front Desk co-worker and I continue to be the best team!  We have a great time sharing the Front Desk and its many tasks. 
• My behind doesn't resemble the chair.  :) 
• The candy smiles were a hit but I have moved on to Pop Rocks (party for the mouth) and Smarties (because we have so many smarties in the organization!).  :)
• I'm still trying to work the "cute" since I'm the afternoon face of Young Life.  :)

Highlights of the past year:

• Our department lunches!  We have a great time, lots of laughs with the Building Services Team!
• My day trip to Frontier Ranch to live a day in the life of a Young Life Camper.
• Being invited to join full time Young Life staff in Orlando in January 2012 for the All Staff Young Life Celebration...all expenses paid for both myself and Lanny!  So blessed by this show of generosity...
• Relationships that have developed and grown.  It's been a joy! 

Weirdest Tasks I performed my first year:

• Researching the average times a day a man and women use the restroom.  (Yes I am being totally serious and yes my Boss was totally serious about me researching this! The answer?  Women - 8, Men - 7)
• Researching Big Horn Sheep, Deer, and Elk Shower Curtains.  
• Inspector of chair mats.  

Biggest assumptions I have encountered from others about being at the Front Desk?
That I am bored "all of the time".  Oh sure there are days that I can't stand to be on Facebook one more second but really the majority of the time I am busy with a variety of tasks.  In fact, the last couple of weeks I haven't had much personal time at the Front Desk at all!  My 5.5 hours have been filled with work related tasks! 


The conclusion at the end of 1 year at the Young Life Front Desk? 
I LOVE MY JOB!

The silly and the sacred...questions that have me thinking! (Part 11)

Who invented bumper stickers and what did the first one say? Here's what my search showed.  Although I couldn't find out what the first one said...

Why do they call a doggie bag a, well, doggie bag?!

What does a sermon series called "America the Beautiful" have to do with scripture? Seriously!

Why do I like Iced Coffee but can't stomach the coffee in my cup when it turns cold? 

Is there an age at which a woman becomes a "ma'am"? 

How did the word "blog" come about and why? 

How long does an organization have to be in existence until it is no longer considered "grass roots"?  In my way of thinking eventually the label "grass roots" won't or doesn't apply.  ???

Fear

June 8, 2011
"The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds' feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!" Habakkuk 3:19

I should have known when I saw the verse of the day.  I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN.  But, I didn't.  I didn't know and I went.  Perhaps it was better NOT knowing.  Less time then to squirm out of it with pitiful excuses and whining.  And believe you me, there would have pitiful excuses.  Maybe not the whining...maybe.  :) 

So here's the story.  I went to a Young Life camp, Frontier Ranch, for a day because I'm new staff and all new staff go to camp for a day in the summer so they can "get" Young Life.  I was super excited.  I was going with a great group of new staffers and having never seen or experienced Young Life in action I was grateful to get the chance.  Our group was assigned two "rides" out of the 5 at Frontier.  Each camp has "rides" for the kids to enjoy.  Frontier Ranch offers horseback riding, repelling, ropes course, go carts (along a ridge), and a ride called "The Screamer" (which a lot of the camps have a version of this ride - it is VERY popular!).  Now if you know me well then you are snickering right now wondering what in the world I got put on.  Well, let the suspense end.  We got assigned the ropes course and the go carts.  I thought, "Okay, no biggie.  I can do a ropes course. Psh." 

It was all good until I got to the ropes course.  PEOPLE.  It was 40 feet, no joke, up in the air!  FORTY FEET.  I lost my "psh" attitude immediately.  It was replaced with this vomitous knot of butterflies that really wanted to get out of my stomach.  Oh dear Lord, I thought, what do I do?  Well here's where God got pretty creative with me.  Another new staffer balked.  I mean was REFUSING to do the course.  And we did have a choice.  We didn't have to but it was strongly suggested.  This new staffer is considerably younger than me (did I really just say that? Oy.) so I, having a heart for women and mentoring and all that stuff, shoved my hesitations about the course to the side and told her she was doing it and I'd be right there with her.  We would do it together.  "But I'm so scared of heights," she says.  "So am I," I reply back, "so that's why we will do it together."  I got pretty firm and didn't let her squirm out of it, which if you notice also placed me right there as well.  This wasn't an optional activity as far as I was concerned.  For her OR for I. 

So we got ourselves all harnessed in (have you ever worn these harness things?  Oy, SO uncomfortable - like a perma wedgie, they are the worst but they keep you safe so vanity flies out the window!) and got situated on the first of 5 sections of the course.  FORTY FEET UP.  FORTY FEET!  And we began.  It was an arduous journey.  For one, the wind was pretty strong that day and forty feet up means you get caught in it.  So here I am scared to death anyway, clutching the ropes and such with a grip that made my hands ache and knuckles white, and then the wind comes along and swings me around a bit.  NOT FUN.  Sections 1 and 2 done and I breathe a bit at section 3 because it's a zip line.  Still terrified me when it actually happened but not like the course to this point.  Section 4 I thought was the easiest.  Okay it wasn't easy but I wasn't as terrified doing it as I have been to this point.  Section 5 was horrible...or so I thought.  At the end of section 5 the only way to get down is to jump.  Yes.  JUMP FORTY FEET DOWN.  Who does this?  Who thinks this is fun?  Who enjoys this torture?  Who is sick enough to think of these things? 

Here's where it got ugly.  :) 

I'm like (just remember I warned you this wasn't pretty and rather ugly), "There is no way in hell I'm jumping 40 feet down.  NO WAY."  Please.  Don't remind me about the safety harness.  Who cares?  FORTY FEET PEOPLE.  So the next 5? 10? (couldn't have been more than 10, or I hope not!) minutes were spent with a variety of people yelling encouraging things at me about jumping FORTY FEET.  My handler at the bottom (a high school student I might add, in fact all of the work crew are high schoolers) yells up at me, "Beth!  It's all good, this line can hold up to 10,000 pounds!"  'Cause that is supposed to make me feel better.  I yelled back, "Oh great!  Now I feel ready to jump!"  By this time my team below was in tears they were laughing so hard.  It was at that moment that I gripped the tree and just sweated.  (Talk about pitting out!)  The high school girl trying to convince me to let go of the tree was forced to pry my fingers off the staple in the tree and in a voice that one uses with crying toddlers she's encouraging me about jumping.  All this time I KNOW I have to jump, I have no choice.  They won't let me do the course backward so the only way to get off the course is to jump off in what they call "the leap of faith".  Indeed.  Faith.  Faith that the safety harness would actually work, that the line rumored to hold up to 10,000 pounds was going to hold me and my weight (which admittedly is not the lowest I've ever been, just sayin'), that the handler knew what she was doing with this crazy 36 year old.  Faith.  Indeed.  There's a trapeze bar that you are supposed to aim for when jumping.  Straight out it's five feet away (I'm about 5'2") and if you arc when you jump then it's about seven feet away.  It looked about a million miles away to me.  My fingers were successfully pried off the tree and I, with my heart in my throat, on the count of 3 jumped.  Sort of.  The new staffer that I did this with?  She jumped, did this beautiful Superman kind of leap through the air and her fingers even brushed the bar. I?  Well.  I...jumped, at least it felt like a jump until I saw the picture.  It doesn't look like a jump or even a leap and I came nowhere near the bar but I was airborne for a few seconds!  I believe I screamed all the way down to the ground and when I landed on the ground I seriously contemplated kissing it.  It actually ran through my mind. 
Then came The Screamer.  (Wait, Beth, what about the go carts?  Yeah we nixed those in favor of this terror filled ride.)  I actually thought at the ropes course that The Screamer would be nothing after leaping 40 feet into the air.  Ha.  And HA again.  The vomitous butterflies had returned and I was instantly regretting the ice cream I had eaten a few minutes prior.  But along with the butterflies was this determination that I was going to do this, even if I looked like a wimp - oh, wait I had already accomplished THAT on the ropes course.  :)  So once again the safety harnesses went on and I found myself standing at a ledge and looking at a drop that was WAY more than 40 feet.  This time I was strapped in to a swing along with two other women and on the count of 3 we all had to step off the ledge at the same exact time with the same foot and away we would go, swinging through the air.  DEAR LORD.  Am I crazy?!?  Terrifying is an understatement.  I don't know that I can come up with an adequate word for this death trap called "fun".  According to my sources the second I stepped off the ledge I squeezed my eyes shut, opened my mouth to emit loud screams, and flung my arms around the bars of the swing and hung on for dear life.  Said sources also said that I didn't stop screaming for at least 2 minutes and that I kept my death grip for the duration of the ride.  I didn't open my eyes until it felt like a normal swing and not like a death swing.  Again, I had people in tears from laughter.  Soooo glad I could provide the comic relief...
Oh but the fun didn't end there.  Once the swing came to a stop, thank you Jesus, we had to be unlatched.  So my two friends are unlatched and slip gracefully out of the swing to the ground.  Me?  Yeah.  The high school boy unlatches me and I start to slip out and find myself caught on something.  But I have slipped too far down to pull myself back into the swing so I'm...stuck.  The only option?  The high school boy has to lift me by my butt to free me.  More hysterics coming from my team.  SIGH.  It's a good thing I haven't had issues with my pride 'cause this would've put me over the edge! 

So, Beth.  What's the point of this story?  I mean it was good for a laugh and we appreciate that you put yourself out there for mocking but you always have a point so...what is it? 
Gosh.  You guys know me SO well.  While I have, by publishing this, opened up the door for mocking (and I do deserve the mocking so you have permission to do so!) I DO also have a deeper purpose in exposing my humiliation.  :) 

We all have a fear of something or someone or both!  And most of us, in my observations, have a fear of more than one thing.  Also according to my observations the only way to eradicate the fear is to confront it head on.  Confront it, show it who is boss, tell it off and replace it with strength.  Fear saps us of our courage, of energy, of our very self in some cases.  And worst of all, fear controls us when WE should be controlling it. 

I have a list of things I know I'm fearful of, things that shouldn't have control over me but do and in ways I don't understand and am trying to confront.  It's not a long list but long enough to be controlled instead of victorious. 

At some point God gives us chances to confront our fears.  Usually our fears present themselves as big looming mountains that feel and look impossible to conquer.  We think, "There's NO way."  But the good news is there IS a way, there is always a way because God shows us the way, he is THE way. No matter what the fear is, it presents itself as this insurmountable obstacle in our life and the only way to confront it is to scale it and reach the summit of it. 

So.  Strap on your gear (I prefer God, a Bible, and a good group of people who are willing to go the distance with me) and put one foot in front of the other and get going.  It will be hard.  It will be downright scary.  It will make you sweat.  It may make you swear.  (Hey let's just be real.)  It will be time consuming.  It will stretch you.  You'll use muscles that you haven't in a while.  You will most likely be out of breath at times.  I'm willing to bet a tear or two will make it's way down your face.  You will have to sacrifice some personal comfort not to mention your pride.  But you CAN and you WILL summit (thereby conquering) the fear if you persevere.  And at the summit you will be able to stake your claim on the fear and declare victory over it.  It might not be the prettiest execution of something, it may get pretty ugly, it may appear ungraceful.  WHO CARES?  The point is to do it, no matter how ugly it looks getting done it still will get done.  Trust me.  It was REALLY ugly as I was confronting my fear of heights.  But I did it and in the end that is all that matters.  God doesn't care how graceful we are in the process, he doesn't care how smooth we look, he ignores the tears and snot that have mingled and dried on our face.  He's just proud when we stand on the summit of our fear and declare victory.  And guess what?  You will be proud too.  In the end you won't care either about your lack of grace, your whimpering, your snot and tears.  TRUST ME. 

Just do it. 

"The Lord God is YOUR Strength, YOUR personal bravery, and YOUR invincible army; He makes YOUR feet like hinds' feet and will make YOU to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon YOUR high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!" Habakkuk 3:19





Yes.  That is pure terror on my face.
Yes.  I didn't even come close to the bar and I'm okay with that!
(Want to really see the terror?  Click on the picture to enlarge!) 




It appears I prayed all the way down.  :)



Never in my life have I been so happy to be on dirt.  Never I tell you. 




The Screamer. That's me far right with my arms wrapped as tightly as possible around the bar.  What you can't see, or hear, is the screaming that exited my mouth and didn't cease for at least 2 minutes.  Pure terror all over again.