Category: Building Christian Character

As Christians, people should be able to look at us and see Christ. People should be able to see who we serve in the way we act.

The Art of Cooking

Posted on by Wendy
This guy always comes to mind when we think about living life slowly.
This guy always comes to mind when we think about living life more
slowly.

When I think about the slowest creature around, I think about the turtle. He really can’t help, but to stop and smell the roses, because his top speed is slow. I’ve been reading a book about living life with intention and slowing down and how that’s a very difficult concept here in our American culture. The book is, Notes from a Blue Bike, by Tsh Oxenreider.

There are different sections, but the one that has really spoken to me is the one about food and mealtimes. In other cultures, meal times are special and to be savored. They plan on it taking a fairly long time to prepare from scratch and they plan on taking a fairly long time to enjoy their meals as well. Cooking is an art form of sorts and the table is where the family comes together and soaks up the art and the company.

I’m fascinated by this concept because mealtime for my family has always been on the daily checklist of things to do. We usually eat a home cooked meal every night and we eat as a family, but nobody is ever really excited about meal time. We usually serve the same things week after week. Part of the reason is my children are incredibly picky, but part is mere convenience.

I just had a similar conversation with a friend of mine and she said they do the same at her house. We have thousands of recipes at our fingertips with our friend the internet, but we stick with the familiar, with the easy. Why do we do that?

Maybe it’s because we are so busy. Trying new recipes means new ingredients and wandering up and down the grocery aisles in search of them takes time. We never have enough time.

This author was also really big on buying locally from farmer’s markets and eating what is in season. I’ll have to admit I kind of like eating strawberries year round, but she has a point when she asks how fresh they can be in December. Where did they come from and how long ago were they picked?

Food is a gift from God. Genesis tells us that God made trees that produced, “delicious fruit.” If we are mindlessly shoveling it in and not tasting and savoring, maybe we are doing our Creator a disservice. If it comes from a bag or a box or as my mama says, “has more than four ingredients,” how nutritious is it? How good is it?

By good, I don’t mean like Oreos taste good, but I mean good tasting and good for you. Oxenreider argues that we are biologically made to eat whole food and we should strive to. Maybe she’s right.

Think about it, your grandmother didn’t serve you anything from a box. As a society we have convinced ourselves that we don’t have much time to spend in the kitchen, yet our kitchens are larger than any point in history. Why is that? If we have several hours a day to spend on Facebook and watching television, perhaps we could spend more time in the kitchen.

Our waist lines may thank us and our doctors may see less of us. We may discover that cooking as God intended is an art form all its own. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Letting Go of the Hard Stuff

Posted on by Wendy
Some of the snow from last week stubbornly refused to melt.
Some of the snow from last week stubbornly refused to melt.

As I was walking yesterday and thanking God for the gorgeous weather and the reprieve from this horrendous winter, some snow caught my eye. It was in the high fifties yesterday. There shouldn’t have been any snow left, but there was. Under closer examination, I realized that the snow was in the shade and the sun was unable to shine on it and so it remained.

God often communicates with me through nature and that stubborn snow whirled around in my thoughts for the rest of the day. Our hearts can sometimes be icy. When we accept the love and grace of Jesus, they are warmed and become vibrant. But sometimes we choose to keep certain parts shaded and away from the all forgiving light of Christ.

Things like guilt stay high on that list. You know what I’m talking about. We give our hearts to Jesus and we do everything we’re supposed to. We pray, read our Bibles and go to church. But we still feel like we are not good enough for complete forgiveness because of something we did in our past. So we keep that little part of our heart out of the forgiving light. It stays icy.

Another example is our worries. We will profess to know that God loves us beyond a shadow of a doubt, but we worry that He won’t provide for us. Will we have enough money? Will we have enough to eat?

I struggle with worries about my kids. I worry about mean kids. I worry about their future. I worry about their safety.

This thought pattern doesn’t come from God. It comes from Satan. If we give all of our hearts to God, even the guilty parts, the worries and there are many other examples, then we are free to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives. We are free to live in peace and joy. Satan is not big on peace, joy or forgiveness. They are fruits of the Holy Spirit and he will always directly oppose that fruit.

This is where the Bible can be very helpful. If God is capable of having the ravens feed Elijah, if He is capable of  having the walls of Jericho crumble with a horn blast and a shout, if He is capable of feeding five thousand with a couple of fish and five loaves of bread, if Jesus walked on water, can we truly believe that He can’t provide for His believers? Do we really believe that He isn’t willing or capable of forgiving  or healing whatever we are carrying around?

We always have a choice of whether we are going to listen to the voice of God or the lies of Satan. One choice gives us freedom to be all we were created to be. The other leaves us with icy spots. I say, let’s get rid of all of the shade and choose the light. Let’s choose God. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Eye of a Needle

Posted on by Wendy
Icy limbs and power lines don't mix well.
Icy limbs and power lines don’t mix well.

The Deep South was struck by yet another snow and ice event last week. A good chunk of the entire state was shut down for days and thousands upon thousands of people were without power for days as well. My parents had no electricity from Wednesday until Sunday. These events happen from time to time. The power companies called in reinforcements from Texas, Ohio, Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi just to name a few.

What really surprised me about this particular outage was the anger that I saw expressed on Facebook. By all accounts, these power company employees worked throughout the days and nights with little sleep. They were doing their best. I didn’t hear any reports of them sitting around at doughnut shops on extended coffee breaks.

When I was a kid and there was a snow storm, we lost power. It wasn’t a question of if, it was a question of when. We sat around the fireplace at night and ran around during the day. We were on well water so when the power went out, there was no water either. We were also usually the last ones to get turned back on, too. We dealt with it.

It’s amazing to me at how just twenty-five years or so later, the power going out has become catastrophic and the power companies working to restore it are somehow agents of evil. What has happened to our can-do attitude?

My dad is in his seventies and he says he remembers his family getting their first light bulb. How in the world did they survive?

As I was contemplating all of this, a verse from the Bible kept playing through my mind. “In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” Mark 10:25. Those are red-letter words, spoken by Jesus himself, so we had better pay attention.

What is he talking about? Does God hate rich people? I don’t think so. I think that when you have to depend on God for your “daily bread,” and He provides it, it’s easier to grow your faith. When every one of your physical needs is met and taken for granted, like we always have plenty to eat and a roof over our heads and heat and electricity, we have to make a sincere effort to believe in something greater than ourselves.

Our souls need feeding either way, but it’s easier to neglect our souls than our physical bodies. We are so blessed in this country and when compared with the majority of the world, we are all wealthy here. Christianity is growing fastest in Asia, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The people in these countries have far less material possessions than we do and their basic needs often are not met. Is this a coincidence? They know their need for God because they must depend on Him daily.

No one wants to be cold or inconvenienced and being without heat can be dangerous. But, this may be the ideal opportunity to take stock of who we are and decide who we want to be. The temporary days of uncomfortable inconvenience for us are what life looks like everyday for a huge population of the world.

We are so blessed that we sometimes forget to be thankful. Our abundance may be like the eye of that needle. Let’s remember to give thanks. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Adversity Equals Opportunity

Posted on by Wendy
A little adversity doesn't seem to bother this guy a bit!
A little adversity doesn’t seem to bother this guy a bit!

I am a substitute teacher at a local elementary school. One of the teachers there always calls his tests, opportunities. He tells the kids not to think of them as tests, but as an opportunity to show him what they can do.

That got me to thinking about the tests in our adult lives. What if we were to see adversity in the world around us as a test and the test as an opportunity. What if adversity was just an opportunity to be a billboard for Jesus in a hurting world? Isn’t the best advertisement for Christianity the way in which we live?

Last week, I wrote a post about the Good Samaritans who came out of the woodwork to serve others during the snow storm that paralyzed the South. These people saw adversity as a chance to serve, and boy, did they serve! They may never know the outcome of the seeds that were planted due to their service.

There were Episcopal Churches that rang their bells and turned on their lights, welcoming weary, stranded travelers. If you could hear the church bells, the doors were open. Shelter was provided. What if some of those travelers had never even set foot in a church before? What kind of message do you think they received? Someone decided that adversity equaled opportunity.

We live in a fallen world. We are surrounded by adversity. There are house fires, floods, hurricanes, hunger, famine, poverty, and the list goes on.

What would happen if we all decided to look at adversity as a test, an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ? What if we decided to start in our own little corner of the world and then spread out? What would the world look like then?

Jesus said in Matthew 25:34-40 “When I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” Then the righteous ones said when did we do that? “Jesus replied, when you did these things for the least of my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”

I’m going to try to start seeing adversity as an opportunity to serve. Instead of wringing my hands and being sad about a tragedy or sharing it on Facebook, I’m going to try to help in some small way.

What do you think? Do you think adversity equals opportunity? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

You Already Have What You Need to Serve

Posted on by Wendy
This guy is doing what he's called to do, soak up the sun!
This guy is doing what he’s called to do, soak up the sun!

I have often heard people talking about having no idea of what God has called them to do and I have also heard people express the fear that if they draw closer to God and really listen, then He will call them to be a missionary in Africa. Most folks are not interested in doing that, so what do they do?

They keep God at an arm’s length. Sure, they will attend church on Sunday and maybe even Sunday school, but that’s as close as they are willing to get. Everyone remembers the Jonah story and if we are really honest with ourselves, no one wants to go to Ninevah. (It was located in what is now Iraq.) Still don’t want to go, right?

By the way, I feel the same way. I have no interest in doing missionary work abroad, but that’s because I haven’t been called to do that. Have you ever listened to missionaries talk about the work they do? Their eyes sparkle and come alive as they talk about living in huts and eating only rice. Why do you think they are so passionate about what they do?

Because, they are doing what they have been called to do. Most of us aren’t called to travel far and wide to spread the love of Jesus on a regular basis. Most of us are called to spread the Good News right where we are, where we work, where we live, where our children attend school. We have already been planted where we are supposed to be.

Think about it this way. What do apple trees produce? Apples, right? Does God ever call an apple tree to produce pears? No, because He personally designed it to produce apples. That’s what He wants it to produce.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 139, that we were “knit together in our mother’s womb.” The Knitter had a plan from the beginning. We already have what we need to answer our call to serve. We all have certain gifts and talents; when they are combined with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we have unique abilities to fulfill our calling. (our unique calling) You can find a list of them in 1 Corinthians 12.

No two people are the same, so no two people are called to serve in the exact same way, at the exact same place, at the exact same  time. That is part of God’s master plan.

Take a look around and see how you are already serving. You may be doing exactly what you are called to do. If you don’t think you are, pray for guidance. You are probably not that far from where you need to be, and if you are, you probably know that somewhere deep inside. He calls you to be uniquely you and no one else. He calls you to be passionate about Him.

The point is, fear not; draw closer to God. He will point you in the direction you need to go and it’s probably not Ninevah.  Don’t you want to find out?

Let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day.

Wendy 🙂

God Blessed the Broken Road

Posted on by Wendy

 

God blesses us along the journey.
God blesses us along the journey.

Do you ever look around and think about where you are and how you got here? For many of us, seemingly inconsequential decisions that we have made along the way would have landed us somewhere entirely differently altogether.

From the college we decided to attend, to the date we said yes to, to the party invitation we said yes or no to, all of the steps and missteps along the way put us where we are.

I am the mother of a high school freshman and looking at high school through the lens of an adult, a mother, a person who has been-there-done-that, is quite an experience. She constantly makes little decisions that can impact her life in one way or another.

This is a time where I have learned that deep faith becomes as essential to my sanity as breathing. This is the time where it really pays to remember that God blesses all of our broken paths and roads that lead us eventually to where He wants us to go.

I believe that we are all given special talents and callings, but how we get there depends largely on us, because our Creator gave us this thing called free will. So, obviously we will screw up along the way and get sidetracked and turned around, but if we keep our focus on Him, we will eventually get it right and it’s so amazing how God can take our mess and make it our message.

Every time I turn on my computer these days, there will be something scrolling about someone doing or finding the “unthinkable.” I find news reports that lead with that terminology as well. Someone has done the “unthinkable.”

But, with God, we can be blessed with unthinkably good things and they sometimes don’t even happen until it seems really late in the game. Of course, our timing and God’s has never been the same. Look up Abraham and Sarah’s story if you need a reminder.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Believe it my friends. You are loved. You are blessed and God blesses your broken road and mine as we journey here until He calls us home and we see Jesus face to face. So, hold your head up and smile. Whatever choices you have made good and bad, can be used for His purpose. Just hand them over and sit back and watch the Artist. I’ll bet you will be amazed.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Snow Angels

Posted on by Wendy
Yesterday was a snow day!
Yesterday was a snow day!

Yesterday was a snow day for us. Like most Southern children, mine were excited beyond words. We don’t have snow very often in Georgia, so it never loses that “new car smell.” It usually hangs around for a day or two and melts away as quickly as it came. It only takes about an inch and snowmen and snow angels can be created.

From toddlers to college students at nearby University of Georgia, snow is universally celebrated by Southern students. Unfortunately, this year, this storm, caught a lot of school officials and other administrators by surprise everywhere from Atlanta to Alabama to New Orleans.

Many schools released too late and either the buses were stuck in gridlocked traffic or the roads were already too icy to pass. Many headed back to school where some children had to remain overnight. There was a report of some 850 kids spending the night in one Atlanta school. There were 800 in a Birmingham school and 4,500 in Hoover, Alabama, just to name a few.

Meanwhile, Atlanta roads from I-85 to I-285 to I-20, became parking lots. Traffic stopped because of the ice and because of accidents. Atlanta looked like a scene from a Stephen King movie. People had to stay overnight in their cars or abandon them altogether.

The public is outraged and that’s understandable. I’m sure in the next few weeks there will be plenty of finger-pointing and blame to go around. Heads, will no doubt roll.

But, there’s something else I would like to focus on here. We are in the heart of the Bible Belt here in the South and from all accounts, Good Samaritans came out of the woodwork Tuesday night to spread love, goodwill or just to lend a hand.

Let’s take a look at it through the lens of Philippians 4:8, “And now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

First of all, all of those children left at the schools were warm and safe and dry. There were teachers and administrators who didn’t get to go home to their own families so that they could watch over the children entrusted to them. Those children had running water and were fed. One account had a principal playing bingo with his kids and another had them watching movies. The situation was not ideal, but the children were cared for. I hope those parents are sure to thank those teachers for their big sacrifice.

And as for the people stranded on the roads, there is account after account of people delivering hot chocolate or tea or granola bars to the stranded. People got out of their own cars to help push someone else. Home Depot, (a Georgia based company), left 26 stores open in Alabama and Georgia, so people could get out of the cold. A page called SnowedoutAtlanta, was rapidly created and people opened their homes to complete strangers, stuck in traffic nearby.

Churches opened their doors and one in Canton, Georgia served barbecue to 18 stranded motorists. A police officer helped to deliver a healthy baby girl in a car, on the side of the road. Jesus calls us to love our neighbors. In my humble opinion, my fellow Southerners passed with flying colors. Ya’ll made Jesus proud!

What do you think about our Southern snow angels? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

The Spirituality of Birthdays

Posted on by Wendy
Everyone needs a little cake on their birthday.
Everyone needs a little cake on their birthday.

Today is my mama’s birthday, so I’m going to start this post by saying, “Happy Birthday Mama!” She always made such a big deal over birthdays when I was growing up. Even when I was in college, she and Daddy would trek up to Athens with my little brother in tow, and bring cake, ice cream and presents. They would take me and my sister out to dinner at the restaurant of my choice. Then, we would return to my apartment and sing “Happy Birthday”, blow out candles and open presents.

My roommates were always kind of stunned at the big birthday celebrations. But, I think Mama got it right. The day you were born, is the day that God officially placed you on this earth to play a part in His big plan. It’s not some chance day. He doesn’t do anything haphazardly. The Bible tells us that you were, “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Since you are a masterpiece of God’s making, wouldn’t it stand to reason that He celebrates your birth and your birthday?

This is also one of those examples where children and seniors get it right. Children love to celebrate birthdays. Sometimes they get to wear a crown all day at school. They bring treats to share with friends and they have parties. Folks in their 80’s seem very happy with birthdays. They have come to realize that each day is a gift.

Those of us in the middle, between like 30 and 80, we are the ones who get it wrong. We lament about wrinkles, gray hair and extra pounds. We get depressed because we are a year older and haven’t done the things we thought we would by now. We often long for our youth and get stuck either reliving the past or beating ourselves up over decisions made that can’t be changed. I shouldn’t have to tell you who wins, when we do that.

We forget about the vast amount of wisdom we have been allowed to accumulate on our trips around the sun. We judge ourselves by human standards and not by God’s standards. We forget to acknowledge this beautiful gift of life we have been given. If we are still breathing, God’s plan is still in play through us and each day is a new beginning.

Paul tells us in Philippians 1:6, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” God is not done, so we are not done.

So, Happy Birthday to mom and to everyone reading this. If today’s not your birthday, save this post in a folder and read it on your birthday to remind yourself that today is your special day. God loves you and is working through you and you are still impacting His kingdom. Today’s a day to celebrate. Celebrate His unique creation that is you. I have no doubt that He is celebrating too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Be Brave Enough to Hope

Posted on by Wendy

 

Hope is a gift from God.
Hope is a gift from God.

I recently saw the movie, “Hope Floats.” I’ve always loved that movie, because I’m a sucker for a story where someone gets knocked down through no fault of their own and not only picks themselves back up, but discovers or rediscovers who they were truly meant to be.

Hasn’t that happened to all of us? At one time or another, we get knocked flat. It can be anything from a sudden job loss to the loss of a spouse through death or divorce, to an unexpected health diagnosis. Where do we go from there? Do we stay on the ground or do we get up and stand?

At the end of the movie, Sandra Bullock has an awesome line. “Mama always said, beginnings are scary; endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up and it will too…”

It’s not surprising that these wise words would come from a mama. Mama’s are notoriously wise. What is hope exactly? I’m not talking about a wish type of hope. We can say things like “I hope I win the lottery.” That’s really just a shallow wish. True hope, Biblical hope, God-given hope, runs much deeper.

Hope in the Bible is an indication of certainty. Having hope means you have a strong and confident expectation. A Google search shows that the word hope appears in the NIV version of the Bible 174 times. That tells me that hope is an important concept to God. Therefore, it should be an important concept to us.

Maybe it’s so important because it’s tied so closely to faith. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” and Corinthians 13:13 tells us, “Three things will last forever-faith, hope and love-and the greatest of these is love.”

Hope is one of those things that’s never-ending, so we should never give up hope. It’s tied in with faith and it’s tied in with God’s love for us through Jesus.

So, why do I love a movie about hope? It’s because it’s my story. It’s your story. Hope is a precious commodity given freely to us from God. We must cherish it and bask in it. And from time-to-time when we lose it, we should seek reminders from Him and from the Bible. We can also seek it from other believers. He will renew our hope if we ask.

We should also try to remember to share it with others who seem to be running short. That’s the love part of it. It all ties in.

If you are running low on hope today, reach out for it. Seek it. If you have plenty, be sure to share, remembering that we all are a piece in God’s huge puzzle and every part counts. What are your thoughts on hope? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

 

What Would You Change?

Posted on by Wendy
Everyday is a new chance to make a difference.
Everyday is a new chance to make a difference.

I was telling my hubby last night about an e-mail I received from the high school about after-prom. After-prom is the after dance party that the two local high schools put on together. They lock the kids in all night with movies, snacks, games, bounce houses and lots of supervision. Well apparently,this year, after eleven successful years, there are so few volunteers, they may have to cancel the event.

They are really trying to get freshmen and sophomore parents to “step up” and help out. Keep in mind, our children are not even allowed to attend until they are juniors. To be honest, I was quite annoyed with the entire suggestion. Where are the junior and senior parents in two whole high schools? Is it really up to the parents of the underclassmen to keep this program in existence?

My husband simply replied, “So, it’s like that everywhere. It’s not just church.”

I was silent for a moment. He was absolutely right. We are very involved with our church. If our children are involved in it, we feel like it’s our responsibility to be involved as well. We have had conversation after conversation about figuring out how to stop the “drop off” mentality.

We wonder why it is that parents will help kids with school homework or sports practice, but what is it about our children’s Christian education that people just let go? They just drop them off and assume someone else will teach them or feed them or chaperone their events.

But, my hubby opened my eyes a little. As human beings, we always assume someone else will do it. Unfortunately, we are wrong.

Mahatma Gandhi one said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” That has become my new mantra. If you don’t like how a program at church is being run, don’t complain; volunteer, roll up you sleeves and change it. If you do like how a program is being run, be sure to ask if they need help maintaining it. Very few wonderful programs from children’s church, to after-prom activities, run themselves.

In other words, don’t say, do. I started with my fourteen-year-old daughter who has been complaining about eating the same dinners week after week. (Even though she and her brother are the pickiest eaters on the planet.) I told her we would be happy to serve something else, but I needed suggestions. She e-mailed some to my husband. (Yes, she was sitting in the next room, gotta love Smart Phones!) “Not so fast!” we said. We wanted recipes too. She complied. Now, we are going to make her make a grocery list and go and buy the ingredients with us.

It’s a start. Would Jesus have changed the world if He never left the temple? Would the disciples have changed the world if they never left the room they were in at Pentecost? Would Paul have changed the world if he never left the house after he regained his sight?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, “No.” They all got out there and got dirty. Here’s my challenge, let’s look  around. What’s not working? Let’s roll up our sleeves and try to help fix it. Let’s be the change we seek. Who’s with me? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂