Major Award...

Have you ever seen the movie A Christmas Story? It's a classic in our family, maybe yours too. It's my dad's absolute favorite movie. Every time he watches it he laughs like he's never seen it before. What am i saying, we all laugh like we're watching it for the first time. Oh, I love that. Every Christmas we watch it at least one time around on the 24 hour TBS Special... and then maybe another time on DVD... It's a fun movie, it's a good quotable movie too. I think every Christmas there is some reference to the movie... "You'll shoot your eye out, Kid!" or "Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian."

"Randy lay there like a slug. It was his only defense" (I am literally laughing out loud remembering this one!!! Oh my goodness! I love it!) Oh, oh! My personal favorite.... hehehe...

"Deck the harrs with boughs of horry, fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra."

Oh dear, some good laughs...

And so, I have totally digressed. Thank you for sticking with me...

Yes, back to my point. I felt today like I won a "Major Award" so to speak. I open some mail, believing it be junk... but it was not junk... THIS was what was inside. A MAJOR Award!

Yes, a brand-spankin- new George Washington!

After a weekend of having a nasty flu this was like a MAJOR AWARD to me!!! :) What a fun surprise!!! :)

I think this depicts my dollar bill... (And what you are thinking about this dollar bill...)

Dad- Would you look at that? Would you look at THAT?

Mom- What it is?

Dad- It's a leg!!!

Mom- But what it is?

Dad- Well, it's... a leg. You know, like a statue.

Mom- Statue?

Dad- Yeah, statue.

Soul's Rest

Preachy??? Maybe... Sorry...

Tonight I was reading in Matthew and came across a well known passage of Scripture...

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

To be completely honest, I've never really liked this passage because I feel like it was always taught to me in a "God-will-make-your-life-easy" type of way. And I don't think that is all together theologically accurate and what this passage is saying.

This passage says that God will give us rest. That doesn't mean that He is obligated to take away a situation, or make the situation easy... in trusting Him, He gives our souls rest. Because He never says in the passage that we will not have to carry anything... oh the contrary. We do have to carry something- His yoke. And praise Him, His yoke is easier. Non-existent? no... just more restful for our souls.

And I guess, tonight, I see this verse in this different light tonight. It doesn't annoy me now... (I know that is awful that there was Scripture that annoyed me. Talk about a confession...)

Anyway. God has not fully taken away difficulties in my life (and probably yours too)... but, when I give them to Him, I find rest. I find that the stress and sin that I bring to the situation lessens.

So... "Come to Jesus, and find rest for your soul..." ohhhh, what a promise. My heart is overwhelmed with that promise and the hope that it fills inside of me.

Praise our Lord...

Garbage and Rats

Get rid of the garbage, and the rats will go away.

Not very many people like rats. There is a little girl in my class that has a pet rat. She wants to bring it in to show the class. I don't mind a pet turtle for show and tell. Dioge the rabbit, of course! Rascal the gerbil, why not? The big iguana, ok. But a rat... how can I get around this one? Really? Pet Rats? Come on. I think that is just weird. But I have been told that despite the dirty stigma that people think about with rats, that they are actually clean rodents... however, I'm not convinced. (The are RODENTS, right?) Call me prejudice, but I don't like the little long tailed, beady-eyed creatures, even if, by chance, they are clean. I can't get past it. Rats make me scream.

Last year there was this house in Lexington that was condemned because of rats. For days it was one of the top stories on the news. It was strange, the house was in a pretty nice neighborhood, and the house itself was nicely painted, had a decent sized yard, and it seemed like it was in good shape from the outside. However, it was infested with rats. Infested. (brings me shivers) So much so, that the neighbors began to see rats all around this house, and eventually called the health department to come and check it out... and so, the house was condemned.

When you get infested with something like that, I would imagine that it would be hard to focus on anything but getting rid of the rats. Just get rid of the immediate problem. Rats. Putting out poison, setting traps... just trying to kill them and stop them from multiplying. (I get shivers from thinking about so many rats... ewe, ewe, ewe)

However, I do have a little pity on the owner of the house. I imagine that it was overwhelming to think about getting rid of such an epidemic. But, if the owner of the house had taken care of the dirt and the garbage first, the rats would have eventually died and gone away.

Get rid of the garbage and the rats will go away.

So many times we focus on the outcomes, the symptoms if you will, instead of the heart of the problem. The garbage. Get rid of the grime, and the rats will have nothing to feed on, they won't be able to survive or exist. Multiply or have anything to come back to.

I've been thinking a lot lately about this lately. The house, like many people, seemed in good shape. But take a look inside, and things are messed up.

There are some heart sins that I need to get rid of... lack of faith... jealousy... lies of insecurity... Get rid of this garbage, and God's freedom and love will flow more freely...

But it is overwhelming... and I think that is why I have pity on the infested-rat-house-owner. It takes a lot of work to get the garbage cleaned up...

But work that is worth it. No one wants to live in dirt. People like freedom. It's an opportunity to have more of God's love and grace to flow through me to others. So... I'm getting rid of the garbage, so the rats go away...

Lord, I'm believing You... trusting in your plan for my life. That it is better than what I'm jealous of my friends for... I am who You say I am. I'm not a failure... I am believing You.

What is Going On?

So... I can't think of anything catchy to start this post out with... so I am going to just cut to the chase. There have been a few interesting things that have happened in the last 2 days that I want to share with the internet world... it has caused me to say... bizarre, and what is going on?!

1st. I have always thought it was interesting when driving on the highway and you see pieces of tires from semis. Ok, using my reasoning skills... the tires pop off somehow while driving, right? Well, there are a lot of tires sometimes on the road, so it must happen quite frequently, right? So... why don't you ever see the tires come off? I've kinda always wanted to see it happen. I know, quirky. Today I was driving down the road and... yes, I saw it happen! It wasn't what I expected... I was driving down the road, jamming out to some Michael Buble, and out of nowhere a piece of tire flung out from the semi next to me and hit my windshield! Yes, I screamed. Something I was always curious about, and it came from nowhere.

Second crazy thing... I went to Johnny Corino's last night... when my friend and I got out of the car, a black cat was sitting in the space next to us. Just watching us, sitting there as happy as can be. Odd. Then I went to Panera (on the other side of town) tonight, and.... a black cat trotted across the parking lot. Odd... I knew some of the common black cat bad omens, but I wanted to look it up and learn some of the more obscure ones... I found this Scottish superstition... A strange black cat on your porch brings prosperity... In Japan, a black cat in your path brings good luck. And then I learned that in England, owning a black cat means you will have many suitors... Now, no, I am not superstitious... but I am all about prosperity, good luck, and a man! Maybe this really is all a sign! :)

Third. So, like I said, I was at Panera tonight... as I was getting out of the car I accidentally hit the panic button on my key. I sat in my car for what seemed like 5 minutes, panicked, horn blaring, lights flashing... and I could not for the life of me get the alarm to stop! I was so embarrassed. I almost turned the car on and drove away! :)

And so... I ask. What is going on???

Choice

Dear Culture,

When did our feelings become too intense to control? And why do we use their intensity as an excuse to put our trust in them. When did our emotions become our truth?

Because they aren't too intense to control, and they aren't truth.

Love,

Becca

I am a LOST addict. There is a character in the show right now, we'll call him Esau, if you will, that is trying to convince people to come with him and join his team. And he is so convincing.

He becomes their friends - he seems interested in their lives, seems personable, like he cares, and causes them not to feel lonely, like they have a friend who understands them.

He speaks matter-of-factly - causing the other characters too see him as having nothing to hide, that he holds truth. He seems open when he talks, causing them to believe he is speaking the truth. He tells them he can give them what they want - seeming trustworthy... but really, all the time he is constantly twisting the truth and telling lies.

And I just know, that when he finally convinces them to come to his side, to believe in him, that he will turn on them and do something to destroy them. Oh LOST producers... my heart is sinking and I'm preparing to not like the way the show is going... I hate this evil side... I hate seeing characters swayed to the evil side. It is a TV show, but it makes me sad at the reality and truth it shares with our culture.

So I really don't know where the producers of LOST are going with this character and theme, but right now, to me, this character is a perfect picture of Satan.

Also known as... THE Ultimate Deceiver.

I guess I'm thinking about this because I have found it is so easy to believe Satan's lies. It is a constant struggle, but I am realizing more and more how important it is to know how Satan works to fight against him and recognize his sneaky tactics. And then also to know our Lord and His character even more...

God tells me over and over in His Word that He is with us... "I am with you always..." Matt 28:20 No need to believe I am alone or feel lonely.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you may have troubles. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 The truth is God has defeated whatever I am struggling with; Satan's lies, insecurities... He has overcome them. All of them.

"I am The Way, The Truth, The Life..." Not my feelings, God. He is Truth.

It's a choice to believe God. To choose that my emotions are controllable. To choose to believe that although feelings can seem like reality... they are not. The truth is that God is bigger than how I feel.

It's a choice.

A choice to believe He is who He says He is.

A choice to believe He can do what He says He can do.

A choice to believe I am who He says I am.

A choice to believe I can do all things through Christ.

A choice to believe that His Word is alive and active.

Our emotions and feelings are not truth. It's a choice to trust God.

And a decision that I choose to make. I am believing God.