Total Eclipse of the Heart

It was more like a 97% eclipse of the sun.  It's been a couple weeks since I could turn on the t.v. or get on Facebook and not hear about the upcoming eclipse.  Many parts of the country, from the east coast to the west coast, experienced a total eclipse.  I took great care in making sure we had proper eye protection.  I'm glad I did!!  As cool as it was to watch the eclipse, my favorite part was experiencing it with my kiddos.  (PK is out-of-town.)

Give Me a Sign

I've been having lots of conversations with God lately regarding this upcoming move. I spent a lot of time asking how things were going to happen. He gently told me to wait. One morning I asked Him to show me if that still small voice was from Him. During my devotion that same morning, I read, "Be silent before the LORD and wait expectantly for Him," Psalm 37:7a. I was all caught up in praising and thanking Him for confirming and He said, "Now, trust." I said, "Whoa...really? I got that wait part loud and clear. Do we really need to take this a step farther?" I knew the answer. I've spent several weeks thinking about what it means to truly trust God, but I've also continued to whine about how things have gone in the past and how I really have no desire to walk that road one more time. I guess He had enough of using that still small voice and listening to me whine about the way things have happened, because this morning He gave our pastor a full blown sermon accompanied by the words on the big screen. I really wanted to ask the pastor if he had been eavesdropping on my prayers. LOL! Our pastor ended his sermon with these words, "We can have a whining party or we can walk in faith." Message received.

What Love Looks Like

In our Sunday School class, we have been talking about judging other people.  I have a strong personal sense of right and wrong, and I think everyone on the planet should live their lives according to the Gospel of Jody.  However, I am trying to get a handle on that because I easily slap on my J badge and judge the world.

We immediately make observations when we see people...man, woman, poor, well-dressed, homeless, old, young, black, white, Asian, and the list goes on and on.  We make these observations without even thinking about it.  Where the problem arises is what we do with our thoughts next.  Do we linger on what we think the person should be doing...That person should get a job. Those pants are too tight.  Is she really wearing her pajamas in public? That person could do without eating that donut and pick up some carrot sticks.

There is a fine line between making an observation or practicing discernment and crossing the line to passing judgement.  God gives us wisdom and we should use that.  I often see people near a local shopping area holding a cardboard sign that either says, "Homeless," or "Please Help."  I can't help but notice the person standing there.  It is an automatic observation.  By the person's own admission, he is homeless.  The minute I allow my mind to go to, "Why isn't he out looking for a job, instead of spending time holding that sign?" or "I don't want that riff-raff hanging out on my side of town," I've crossed the line from observing to judging.  I know we all wonder if the person is really homeless or just out to scam people.  This is where we practice discernment.  If you feel that God is telling you to give to that person, then reach in your wallet and give or grab that ready-to-go bag of goodies that is popular right now and pass it out the window.  Don't allow yourself to worry about whether or not that person is going to use the money wisely.  Your job is to be obedient to what God tells you to do.  Maybe you don't feel like God is telling you to help, so gone about your business.

But how do we keep go from making an involuntary observation and crossing the line to passing judgment?  We need to know that it is the job of the Holy Spirit to convict and God's job to judge.  Unless you fall into one of those two categories, it's not your job.  As Christians, we are called to love.  We have to train our minds to go from making an observation to thinking, "How can I love that person?" 

Wrapping Up

I spent several hours yesterday matching Christmas ornaments to boxes and labeled bags.  This is what my living room floor looks like this morning.  These ornaments don't have boxes and are stored in labeled bags.

 

These are the ornaments that have boxes and have been safely wrapped and placed in the storage box.  I layered the bottom of the box with quilted stockings to add an extra measure of protection.

 

I stood in the living room this morning staring at the yet to be packed ornaments trying to decide the best way to package them individually and then the best way to load them in the storage bin.   

This coming summer will be move number thirteen for us.  Movers will come in and box up all of our belongings, load them on a truck and move them back to our house in Georgia.  Why am I taking such care packing these ornaments if the professional movers are going to do the work for us?  If I pack this box, the movers will agree to not unpack and repack it.  In all of our moves we had never had the amount of damage we had with our last move.  There is always the occasional crack or ding regardless of how much care is put into the moving process.  However, the last move was so bad we actually filed a claim.  The movers didn't put the care or common sense into packing that we have come to expect.  For example,  my teapots were just placed in a storage bin with no extra packing, but we found plastic lids wrapped.  

I'm already telling myself these are just ornaments and if one is broken it really doesn't make a difference in the greater scheme of things.  I'm telling myself the ornaments are just material possessions.  I'm telling myself the ornaments are a secular part of a holiday meant to celebrate the birth of Christ.  I'm reminding myself of images of extreme poverty that I have seen and how the replacement value of one of these ornaments would feed a poverty stricken family in a third world country for at least a week.  I'm telling myself all the cliche things we say in such moments.  So why can't I just wrap them up and put them in the box without worry? 

I think my thoughts are going a bit beyond simply packing away the Christmas ornaments.  There will be big changes in our lives this year and I know they are coming.  Although we are moving back to a familiar house, familiar church and familiar schools, there are still unknowns.  The kids are sad about saying goodbye to their friends they have made here.  Rachel will be staying here with a friend in order to remain at the same school for her senior year.  Next year when we are ready to decorate for Christmas, she won't be there to hear the story behind every ornament.  There are ornaments on the tree from when PK and I were in college.  There are ornaments that were gifts to us the first Christmas we were married.  The kids have been given ornaments each year that reflect something of their lives from that year.  There are many ornaments that were gifts from friends from many of the different places we have lived.  Each ornament tells a story and they are all wonderful.  I don't want one of these precious memories to be damaged.  

I know before we unpack the ornaments next year our family is going to add many new memories.  I think what bothers me is that I can't bubble wrap the family.  As much as we are looking forward to seeing old friends in Georgia, there are going to be some adjustments that are difficult and our hearts are going to hurt.  There isn't enough bubble wrap to protect us from that.  By the time we bring the Christmas boxes out of storage next year, we should be through the hard part of moving, but I am not sure I am ready to wrap up this home.

The Coffee Cup Round Up

The last few days I've seen a red coffee cup pop up in my newsfeed.  I refused to click on the posts, but just by glancing at the titles I could easily figure out that some Christians were angry at Starbucks for declaring a "war on Christmas" by omitting snowflakes or other holiday themed pictures and instead going with a simple red and green cup for the season.  The rants kept coming and I kept scrolling. 

This morning the controversy made it onto my favorite morning news talk show.  The network shared the information I had already gathered from the brief post titles I had already seen .  In addition I learned that people are boycotting the company because of this issue.  Instead of not giving Starbucks their business, some people have decided to protest in another way. 

For those of you who have never been to Starbucks, this is how it works.  You wait in line to order your favorite treat.  The cashier will take your order and ask for a name to go with the order.  Your name is then written on your cup and you move to the other end of the counter to wait for the barista to make your drink.  When it is ready, the barista will call out the name that is written on the cup.  Some people have decided when asked for a name they will give, "Merry Christmas" as the name, thus forcing the barista to say, "Merry Christmas" when the drink is complete.  The network shared a montage of photos people posted with "Merry Christmas" written on the cups.

Seriously?!?!  Can someone please explain to me how this passive aggressive behavior shares Christ's love and the true meaning of Christmas?  As Christians we feel that a company that never claimed to be Christian, as far as I know, using a red and green cup for the holiday season is cause for uproar? 

I am all for taking a stand for Christian beliefs.  I am a Christian.  I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and I believe that I am called to share His love.  However, I'm not seeing the love in this scenario. 

As I watched the news this morning and saw how some people were responding to this, I was wondering how we could turn this into a positive and share Christ's love with others.  Then I had an idea!!  I remembered seeing a picture a sweet man from our church in Georgia posted of empty shelves at MUST Ministries.

Must Ministries supports those in need in their local area.  Our church in Georgia supports this ministry in many ways.  Here is a link if you would like to learn more about MUST.  http://www.mustministries.org/ 

What if we don't boycott the green and red cup or pick on the barista who is just doing his or her job, but made a donation to our favorite charity when we get our caffeine fix?  So, for those of you who are still reading, here is my Coffee Cup Round Up Challenge.

1. Purchase or make your favorite hot treat.

I went to Starbucks for this occasion which is a rare treat for me.

 

This is my cup of choice.  I'm not a fan of drinking my coffee out of paper or styrofoam.

 

This is my favorite to-go cup, as I'm not even a fan of my coffee in metal.  This is ceramic.

 

2.  Figure out how much you paid for that cup of goodness.

 



 

This is my receipt from Starbucks, but it could easily be the amount you pay for your coffee at the grocery store each week.  I buy a bag of coffee for use at home each week and it costs about $6-$7.

 

3.  Take that total and round it up to the nearest dollar amount.  Then make a donation in that dollar amount to your favorite charity.  I chose MUST Ministries, as that particular ministry had been on my mind since I saw the empty shelf picture. 

 



 

In my case my coffee purchase was $5.25, so I rounded my donation up to $6.00.

 

4.  Take a picture of yourself with your beverage.  Post the picture, your round up amount and the organization to which you will be making your donation in the comments of my FB post.  I'm pretty particular about who I accept friend requests from, so my friend list isn't very long, but I would love to see each of you donate to a worthy cause and spread a little Christmas love!!

 

 

For His Glory.

 

Jody



Oh, Those Summer Nights

This isn't a very good picture at all.  I'm sitting in my car in the dark listening to Rachel's band rehearse, so that is my view.  My view may be a bit better, but this is the best the camera is going to capture.

I don't like being out so close to bedtime, but I love watching the kids rehearse.  They are such a fantastic group of young people!!  I'm a bit disappointed that Aaron and Hannah aren't in band because I think I will miss this when Rachel graduates.

Joy Cometh

College life seems as though it was a lifetime ago and yesterday all at the same time.  I attended a small liberal arts college in a little town in southern Indiana.  The school was founded by the General Association of General Baptists and at its core is a Christian college. 

 

I made several friends while attending and even though we don't see each other very often, there is something about the bond built sitting up into the wee hours of the night talking about anything and everything under the sun.  Boy, if those walls could speak, they'd have some secrets to tell.  I don't think any of us had any dark secrets.  We talked about classes and boys.  We talked about hopes and dreams.  However, I don't remember having a conversation about which one of us would pass away first.  We were focused on living.

One sweet friend, Angie, was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago.  Today she went to be with Jesus and she is worshipping at the feet of her Lord and Savior.  She married the man of her dreams and they have two beautiful daughters. During those late night talks, Angie often talked of her love for Mike.  He was the reason she came to the school we attended.  She attended a different school her freshman year and transferred her sophomore year to be with Mike.  They were married the following summer.  Many of us traveled back to their home in Michigan to attend the wedding. 

There are two words that come to mind when I think of Angie.  First is "joy."  No matter the circumstances she had a joy about her.  There was a certain sparkle in her eye when I first met her and that sparkle never left.  As she battled the cancer, and she did fight, she often posted pictures.  There were pictures of her with her girls and other family and her face just showed she was happy to be with those she loved.  But she also posted pictures during some of her treatments and she still had that expression of joy, love and happiness on her face. 

The second word that comes to mind is "strength."  She was not going to give in to this disease without a fight.  She went through the original diagnosis, surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation.  During the course of treatment she was a teacher and principal.  She fought low platelet counts all summer that prevented chemo and then came the results that the cancer had spread once again.  When school started this fall she had stepped down as principal because the treatments had taken their toll, but she was not about to quit.  She took a job as a reading teacher.  Her sister, who is also a teacher, posted a picture of the two of them on their first day of school.  She kept on keeping on until her body just would not cooperate.  She dug deep and found a strength I don't think the rest of us even think we possess. 

I met her oldest daughter when she was about one year old.  I never met her youngest daughter, but watched them grow up through Christmas cards and then Facebook.  I'm sad because they had to say goodbye to this remarkable woman too soon.  But I'm sure they know better than anyone the legacy she leaves behind.  They will mourn, but I'm quite certain they know the source of their mother's joy, Jesus Christ and his love flowing through her.  It is my prayer that His love and peace will carry them through.  Joy cometh, dear girls.