Roots

Roots are a funny thing.  Recently I guess I decided to put roots into where we are living.  Somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind something decided to commit.  As many of you know I attended 18 schools by the time I graduated from High School.  My Dad was in sales and we moved ALL THE TIME!  My husband, on the other hand, was born and raised in the same home that his parents still live in.  (This blows my mind).   Rudel and I have lived in 3 homes in our 21 years of marriage.  Which was due to a work transfer.  So what happened?  I have no idea.  How do I know that something shifted?  Well...a quick look at my amazon account would demonstrate it!  We maintain our home well but hadn't invested in it.  If we did invest it was with the thought that it would be for resale value.  We now have new hard wood floors, new furniture, a pergola being delivered today, and a building project in the planning.  I always wanted a house with wood floors, huge recliners and a flower filled back yard.  So why didn't I do this earlier?  I have no idea!  My husband works hard.  He has the right to not just a maintained home but to an cosmetically enjoyable one.  I also have a right to sit in a backyard that is full of beautiful flowers and vegetables.  So it is happening.  Now that it's happening I am running with ideas and implementing all sorts of personal touches to our living space.  It is going to be a great summer!

So wait for it...you knew this was coming...where are your roots in your walk with Christ?  Have you personalized it?  Are your roots going deep no matter what obstacle is in your way?  Are you driven to reach the water or are you still stuck in a huge pot letting someone else water you?  Are you committed long term?  If so how are you investing in your "Christianity".  What does it look like?  Where is your time going?  Where is your money going?   Most importantly...where is your mind going?  Do you think about God and his goodness?  Do you meditate on scriptures?  Do you think about people in Godly ways?  

Ladies and Gentleman....commit.  Choose an area in your life today to think LONG TERM and it would be really great if maybe part of that would be your walk with Christ. 

No Prob-Llama

No Prob-llama

Cranky!  This week I have been cranky!  It's not the norm for me but when I am everyone knows it!  I have this terrible edge to my voice.  I border on a don't mess with me tone from birth...but the cranky edge sends people running.  I've actually grown into a fairly nice person so when someone at Walmart said something to me that I didn't hear and I said "Excuse me" and they said "Whoa...sorry!" and walked away I knew the edge had come out!  It didn't help that the florescent lights make me squint.  So I'm sure I looked and sounded peeved.  SORRY!  

I love being a Christian.  God loves me no matter what.  He knew I would be cranky today and created me anyway.  Thanks Lord but I'm not so sure everyone else is thanking you right now.  Additional bad news, I can't hide it or fake it.  If I try it just makes it worse!  So here I am realizing I have a tone in Walmart and somewhat repenting but also knowing I need a nap and a snack and Aisle 3 is not the place to do this.  I go through my list crossing out what isn't seriously needed and walk by this really cute Llama. 

HOW CUTE IS THIS LLAMA?  SO CUTE!  It made me smile and this lady walked up and said "You have the prettiest smile...does that llama dance?"  And lo and behold...it danced!  We were both laughing.  A gentleman walked up and said "you ladies sure are happy".  Feeling much better I put the Llama in my basket and moved along right into my favorite hair stylist.  She said "what's up with the Llama".  I said "it makes me smile".   All of this to say...I hope you smile today.  I am sharing my dancing Llama with you because I can.  You can't hear my tone if I am cranky but you can press play and smile with me :) and maybe dance a little too.  Admit it...even if you think it's dumb you still smiled when you said it!

Love is Kind

Everybody Always

Our family motto is Love is Kind. As Havilah Cunningham would say “It’s our Hobby Lobby” sign. And yes it is written on our wall decor as well as on necklaces. No matter how somebody treats you, we as Christians do not have a right to be anything other than kind. Is this always easy? Absolutely not. Can it be fake sometimes. Yes. But to be unkind is not an option. Kindness can have various levels. We ask our children to be courteous as the lowest level of kindness. So a few years ago when I saw a book titled “Love Does” by Bob Goff I knew it was a book for us….and it was. It confirmed that love is active. It confirmed that to love others starts with kindness and usually increases when you say yes. Say yes to doing things in love. Say yes to crazy, fun spontaneous fun with people. 1 Corinthians 13 is pretty clear that if we don’t have love we don’t have anything.

Bob Goff has a new book out this week called “Everybody Always”. I was selected to be a part of a launch team that gave me the first 5 chapters early. I felt so cool being “selected”. I’m sure all 3,000 of us felt that way. :) Bob has this amazing way of just being fun and normal and outgoing and fun and loving and fun and motivating and fun…did I say fun? So I picked up his second book and thought…we got this love thing. After all it IS our family motto! What I didn’t count on was the phrase he wrote in Everybody Always that says “love those people you don’t like”. I am an extravert. I love people. I have been in ministry my whole life. I love people. Our home is your home…I LOVE PEOPLE!!! So why oh why does this quote keep running through my brain? You want to know why? Because when people aren’t nice to me or my kids..I don’t like them much less love them. Did I really just say that out loud? Oh that hurt! I don’t have time to go into the momma bear side of me regarding my children. But I will take a few moments to talk about leadership. Leaders make decisions. My pre-school teacher wrote in my report card that I talked to much in class and was a natural leader…so did my Kindergarten teacher, my 1st Grade teacher, my 2nd grade teacher, my 3rd grade teacher…you get the idea. I think basically leadership boils down to one word. DECISIONS. If you can make a decision you are a leader. I did not realize how many people can’t even decide where to eat! I never even second guessed myself in Kindergarten when I picked the blue crayon over red…I was a natural leader. I could make decisions!

Imagine my surprise as life as passed me by that not everyone agrees with my decisions! (Insert hysterical laugh here). Matter of fact some people don’t like the way I laugh, the way I do my hair, the way I speak, the way I dress or even how I decorate my house. When these people don’t like these things about me I tend to want to avoid them. AVOIDANCE IS NOT LOVE! AVOIDANCE IS NOT KIND! If someone ignores me it hurts. Yet, when I feel like someone doesn’t like me I completely and throughly avoid them. “Everybody Always” respectfully pointed this out to me. Truth hurts and the truth is that as much as I say I love everybody always….I apparently don’t. Now don’t send me wonderful e-mails validating me. Allow me room to grow in this! I NEED TO GROW in this!! For those who know me …I need your help. Pray for me to love those that I feel don’t like me. Pray for me to be bold with my faith. Bob Goff…thank you for challenging me. I needed it!