Just Stuff...

There is absolutely nothing going on in my head of which to write. So I have committed dead-head bloggy-ness with a list of only remotely interesting links and things:

I have bragged about this jewelry before, but I am totally in love with it. My good friend, Kimberly sells it - - and I’ve already accomplished 72% of my Christmas shopping on her website: www.stelladot.com/kimberlyjohnson

My niece Kristi sent me flowers yesterday because I am so special! Actually, she sent me flowers because I made Director with Scentsy (www.smellgoodie.scentsy.us). It’s kind of funny because I have a full-time job, which I love….but I started selling Scentsy in April of this year as a hobby. I am bowled over by the fact that now I have a team of nearly thirty people, and I am a DIRECTOR. It makes me smile just thinking about it…..not to mention, my house always smells good, and I have a nice amount of extra cash each month. Not a shabby deal I must say.

I think I may have a split personality (oh, not really!) because I talk all day long with Ph.D. economists about their careers, etc., and then I come home and talk to women about wickless candles. What can I say? I’m diversified.

This morning, I took Luke through the drive-thru at McDonald’s because someone forgot to pack his breakfast. He complimented the drive-thru lady for using her manners, so she sang a song to him. It was kind of sweet.

Thanksgiving…..so much to be thankful for….and that is what I’m going to continually remind myself of as we travel 9+ hours to Oklahoma tomorrow. Thankfully, we have the DVD player for Luke, and Kathryn will have her iPod.
One of my favorite reasons for thankfulness this year is that my mother-in-law is giving me her first set china. It’s the set that Larry’s father sent to her when he was in the Korean War. I never registered for China (gasp!), so this is over the top exciting (and precious) to me. I could go on and on about how much I love my mother-in-law….

Oh! One more thing! Did you know my Luke can shoot spider webs out of his…..? Yes, yes, he can. He told me all about it….

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

RT (Re-Tweet) - 37 Days of Kindness

I get SO frustrated this time every year. Namely because buying presents for people and stressing out over the perfect gift is so NOT what Christmas is all about. My husband knows the tension is coming as I pull out the Christmas gift spreadsheet and start obsessing. Come the middle of November, my blood starts to boil and my mind becomes overwhelmed at the “task” ahead. Fighting the rush and the crowds to find ultimate gifts for friends and family is just not enjoyable to me. For the past few years I have done a lot of my shopping online, but even with that convenience, the buying-spending-hunting-stressing saga that defines the Christmas season is just plain ugliness to me.

This morning, I read Lysa Terkeurst’s blog post: 37 Days of Kindness. This was a timely post, and Lysa has inspired me to step away from the “rush” and the “frustration” and invest the next 37 days in loving people in honor of Jesus’ birthday.

I will not be able to stop the retail frenzy or holiday marketing efforts designed to encourage a season of spending. Neither can I change the expectations of gift-recipients in my own household; but I can change my own attitude….and Jesus can change my heart.

What better way to spend the next 37 days than to focus on showing love and kindness to other people. Maybe I buy someone a Starbucks….or maybe I buy a meal for a friend….or perhaps I simply make a point to call someone I haven’t called in a long time, just to let them know I’m thinking of them.

Who knows exactly….but I’ll be sure to keep you posted on how it’s shaping up.

May Jesus be the ONLY one to glory in this….may this be my birthday present to Him this Christmas!

Waiting.....for what?

I have been waiting.

For what, I’m unsure.

There has been a little (or a big) something that God and I have been working on weeding out of my life for the last three years. This is something that God has explicitly told me time and again NEEDS TO GO. So why, you ask, am I still holding on to it?

Because I’m waiting! I’m waiting for the day it will become easier to let go of this. I’m waiting for the perfect day in which there will be no craving or longing for this particular habit. And I’m waiting for the day when He just snatches it from me, and I am gloriously willing to be obedient.

Ha! And the joke is on me. Because waiting is just a state of limbo to which Satan has lured me. He has blinded me with lies of how “one day, I’ll wake up with the self-control to do this……but it doesn’t have to be today.”

This “thing” has been choking me for three years, people…..and you would think that I would willingly and humbly lay it down. Especially since I am a woman who loves God, a woman who desires God’s glory to be evident in her, and a woman who is serious about bible study!

Oh! But it’s not so easy to let go of that "thing" which provides so much comfort! This “thing” is a pleasure; it’s a friend; it’s enjoyable; and yes, it’s an idol. I have acquiesced to Satan’s lies of how I cannot live with out it because life would be less endurable. But is life just something we “endure”? What a bold-faced lie! Yes, the enemy has stood on my inheritance for years - taunting me with the threat of hopelessness of ever reaching the promised land.

…..and then Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

Do I have to wait for this abundant life? Will there ever be a perfect day to surrender? No, for goodness sake – NO to both questions! Because I am a child of God (an heiress!), my rightful state of existence is a joyful, free life. I can choose to believe God will satisfy me even when I’m aching for a temporal fix. I can fall on my face and cry out to Him for fulfillment; for help; for deliverance. When I do this, He will faithfully provide.

I have been missing God’s best for me as I have danced with the lies of the enemy. However, I should tarry no longer…..his best is there for me today. And if I kid myself in saying, “I’ll wait for that perfect day when_____,” then, well, I’m just missing the best.

Dry and Tasteless

A couple of weeks ago, I posted on a Friday that I would be doing a 30 day blog series on Being Free.
Since you have yet to see Day One of this series, suffice it to say that I have been in a dry spell.

If I had not been reading Jennifer Rothschild's Self Talk Soul Talk, I would be calling myself a crazy fool for talking about a blog series I had yet to write. I guess I thought that if I promised the internet that I would be posting this - it would magically appear at my fingertips.

But oh no. Quite the opposite. I have learned the lesson that before I commit to a series - I should at least write it first. Some would call that common sense......but procrastinators and Type A frustrated perfectionists like myself call that a normal learning process. Fail First....then learn from the mistake.

My dry spell has been ugly......I'm in a "season" right now where for the last three weeks, I have existed on a vegetarian spiritual diet (i.e. no scriptural meat). I have gone through the motions, and now I'm tired of it. Who do I think I'm fooling? God knows He has gotten only leftovers from me. My heart has been hard, and when my alarm goes off in the morning.....instead of spending time with Him - I've hit snooze over and over again. The sad thing is, I am the one who suffers from this......not God. Yes, He misses that time because He quite enjoys it, too.....but I am the one who gets dehydrated...and joy-less.....and ugly.

Can anyone else identify with me? I know that we all can't be "on" all the time.....but I feel like such an Israelite. I know the wonders God has done in my life; I know the JOY of doing daily life with Him.....yet, I so quickly forget and convince myself that I can do this thing on my own.

Please, please leave me your comments.......tell me you know what I mean.....