Cheering Without Your Pom Poms

S.C.O.R.E...... RAISE THAT SCORE! 

My parents had driven all the way from Illinois for a visit.  The main reason for their visit....to see their granddaughter in her first season of cheerleading.

It was a hectic night and in the midst of the chaos, the pom poms were left at home.  For some reason it really bothered me that we forgot her pom poms knowing the grandparents had driven that far to see her cheer.  After all, what is a cheerleader without her pom poms, right?

Well, it didn't bother Sarah one bit!  She just cheered her little heart out without her pom poms.  That little setback wasn't going to stop her from cheering!  In fact, several of the other girls also decided to leave their pom poms on the floor and cheer without theirs as well!

Lesson from that night:  When life causes you to not have your pom poms.....Cheer anyway!  

In fact, when you do cheer anyway, others will follow your example and positive attitude.  They will want to know what you know and do what you do. 

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In  the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.  John 16:33

Whenever we are facing a trial,  we could just get down and discouraged.   Pom poms are the color and pizazz of life.  However, when our lives are not full of pizazz and color, what will we choose? When our lives are full of the mundane, what will we choose? If we are facing a difficult time, what will we choose? 

Will we choose to sit at the sideline of life? Or will we choose to cheer anyway?

God says to be of good cheer or "be of good courage" is another way to translate it.  Put your hope and trust in Him.  He says that He has overcome the world.  He has overcome whatever trial you are facing.  Nothing is too big for Him.  It isn't that He will overcome it, He has already overcome it!  Sometimes, we just need to wait on His timing to see the answer. 

I hope Sarah's example will help you remember that next time life causes you to not have pom poms, go ahead and cheer anyway!  God is your help, He is your strength, He has already overcome anything you are facing.  You are victorious in Him!  So Cheer!  V.I.C.T.O.R.Y......THAT IS OUR BATTLECRY! 

Decision Time

Do you have a decision to make?  Are you at two roads (or more) and not sure which one to take?
I am.

As I wrote those last two words, I felt the presence of the Lord, the great I AM.

He will direct you.  He will guide you.  It is His promise.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Psalms 32:8

The Great I AM is there.  He is already in the future.  He is at the beginning and the end.  He sees the finished picture.  It is nothing less than beautiful.  His plans are beautiful, and the outcome is good.

He will lead you.  His loving eye is on you.  Just Trust.

I Don't Prefer This {Part 2}

The other day I wrote about how we are attempting to teach our kids with the phrase "I Don't Prefer This" during dinner as a polite alternative to "Yuck, I don't like that!"

Last night, I made noodles with chicken and vegetables and again, my little 5 year old tried to say "I don't prefer this" to opt out of the meal.  It is super cute when she tries to say it.  Of course, I want her to eat it because vegetables and chicken are good for her and help her grow. I try to tell them "I would not give you anything bad, trust me."  However, it doesn't always suit their taste buds. 

Today, I want to continue with a different application.  God has been stirring this message in my heart all weekend.
 
There are situations, circumstances, events, occurrences, annoyances, that happen every day.  Many times they are small.  Sometimes they are big.  They all require God if we are to walk through victoriously, and thankfully He is always bigger than any of it.

A list of some things we may be dealing with that we would prefer not to have to deal with could include:

An issue with our children
A problem in a marriage or marriage crisis
A difficult relationship
A challenging boss
A strenuous work environment
Financial discomfort
Health issues or physical challenges
A crucial decision

And the list could go on.....

I don't know what you are dealing with that may cause you to want to cry and say, "I don't prefer this, God".

God always answers prayers, but sometimes He doesn't remove a difficult situation right away.  Why is that? Sometimes we have to walk through the situation until He delivers us.

In Daniel 3, we find the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.  (Notice these names are not in any baby name books!) They did everything right, yet they were thrown into the fiery furnace.  I am sure they were hoping God would deliver them before they had to go into the fire.   However, they were certain that He would deliver them. 

"Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O King."  Dan 3: 17

Do you hear their certainty?  Do you hear their faith?  "He will".

It doesn't take much faith to believe, "God can", (of course He can), but faith believes that "God will." 

Faith is the expectation of a positive outcome.  It is believing God will do what He has promised.

How does this apply to "I don't prefer this" circumstances?  Shadrack, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were delivered, but they did have to walk through the fire.  Sometimes, we have to walk through situations we would rather avoid.  The result of them walking through the fiery inferno....the king saw the Lord.  Literally!  It says in verse 25:

"'Look!' he answered, ' I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.'"  

The fourth person in the fire may have actually been Jesus!

As a result of their obedience and trust in the Lord in a "I don't prefer this" moment, God was glorified.

Like mentioned above, our kids may not prefer to eat vegetables and chicken, but we know that it will help them grow and get stronger.  The circumstances we do not prefer have the capacity to help us grow and make us stronger in our faith.

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ."  1 Peter 1:7

This is kind of an "ouch" verse.  We don't like to hear that God may use trials to refine our faith.  However, that is what it is saying.

So the question really is how will we respond when trials come?  Will we choose to trust?  Will we believe that our God will deliver us?   I pray we would hold onto that fourth person in the fire with us. He is always with us. 

The good news and how the story ends....

"Then Shadrach, Meschack, and Adeb-Nego came from the midst of the fire....and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them."  Dan 3:26-27

He promises when we walk through what we do not prefer while trusting in Him, that the fire will have no power over us!  We will come out of it not even smelling like smoke!

God may deliver you quickly, but if not quickly, He will deliver you.

If you do end up having to walk through something you do not prefer, remember, Jesus is there with you.  He will never give you anything bad, trust Him.  It may not taste good at the time, but it is always good for you even if it doesn't suit your taste buds.  He never leaves you.  He never forsakes you.  If you have to walk through, it is for a higher purpose, so that your faith may result in the praise, honor and glory of the revelation of Jesus Christ.   Trust Him.

I Don't Prefer This

We have been working on dinner manners at our home. A long ongoing and ongoing process with three kids.  One thing we have been addressing is how to turn down an option politely.

Our wonderful preschool director, Paul Anne  (LOVE HER!), told me she taught her kids to say, " I don't prefer this."  That sounds much better than "Yuck! I don't like that!".  Ideally, this tool would be used when invited over to a friend's home for dinner.  Most of the time there are no "options" at our home.  You are not allowed to opt out of certain foods because you just don't care for them.  However, our five year old hasn't quite grasped this concept yet....

We were at home eating dinner the other night and five year old Sarah said, " Mommy, I don't deserve this."

I have to admit at first I thought she was thinking I was punishing her with my cooking!  Then, I realized what happened....she mixed up prefer with deserve.  Both words are a little tough for a small child to say.

Laughing a little to myself, I said, " Honey, do you mean you don't prefer this?"  Nodding her little head, she tried again, " I don't defer this."  (Too cute!)

This incident got me thinking about these two words....Prefer and Deserve.

To "prefer" means "to like it better or put it before something else".

To "deserve" means "to be worthy".

"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others."  Phil 2:3-4


What the Lord is saying here is to "prefer" others.  Put others first.  Isn't that what He did when He went to the cross?  Didn't He put us before himself?  He preferred us over Himself. 

1 Cor 13: 5 says that love is not self-seeking. Love cares for others more than self.

My son, Joe, has misquoted scripture before (not on purpose, just misunderstanding) and said, "Do unto others as they do unto you."  He left out some crucial words.  It is actually, " Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It is the "Golden Rule", and it is taken from Luke 6:31

"And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."

If you go up a little in Luke 6: 27-28, Jesus says the following:

"But I say to you who hear, 'Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.'" 

Bless those who hurt you.  Being real....that can be hard at times.  

All these verses are saying basically the same principle:

Prefer others over yourself even if they do not deserve it. 

Do to others what you would prefer they do to you.  (And this is true even at times when what we would like to do is wack them upside the head!) 
At those moments, we need to take a deep breath, smile, and choose to love.

Sometimes we have to make an effortful choice to prefer even when our flesh is screaming, "Yuck, I don't like that!"

Jesus preferred us when He went to the cross.  He did not give us what we deserved.

God doesn't measure what He gives us by what we deserve.   We would be in a world of hurt, it that were the case!  We cannot do enough good to earn His saving Grace.   Let's give others the same preference and give them grace also.  Choose to prefer.  Choose love.

The next time someone mistreats you or wrongs you and you feel like saying, "I don't prefer this" or "I don't deserve this!", think about how to respond as Christ would respond.  Ask God how to respond in love and prefer others.

Our kids often get a small treat at the end of dinner if they eat everything, even those foods they "Do not prefer".

Remember, when you endure with love something you do not prefer or deserve,  He promises your reward will be worth it.  And it will be better than just a small treat!  

Happy Leap Day

Today happens only once every four years.  It is special.  Scientifically, it is necessary to keep our calendars in line.  Apparently, according to a leap year expert (not me) we would lose 24 days every 100 years if it weren't for this special day!  So, let's leap! 

There is another who is leaping, but not for the calendar's sake.  He is leaping with joy over you! 

The Lord Your God is in your midst, 

The mighty One will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness.

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.  Zeph 3:17

He will rejoice over you with gladness....

The Hebrew word for rejoice used here is "suws" and it means "to leap, to spring in gladness".   

So, it is really saying that He leaps in joy over you with gladness!

He will rejoice over you with singing....

This word "rejoice" is a different Hebrew word.  It is the word "giyl" and it means " to leap for joy, to go in a circle"! 

Can you imagine God so delighted over YOU that He leaps for joy and then spins around and around in a circle with arms spread out wide.  He dances...twirling and twirling while singing. 

What a wonderful picture! 

He leaps for us!  Let's leap in excitement over His love for us!  I pray this image brings a smile to your face this entire leap day! 

Your God delights in you, rejoices over you, leaps in joy over YOU!  

Finding that "Crazy About You" Love

"Crazy About You" love.  Have you ever experienced it?  Are you experiencing it now?

Chris and I did the typical "I like you, but I'm not going to tell you I like you" game when we were first falling for each other.  Both of us almost blew it a couple of times before we had a chance.  

Then, one night a friend of mine had had enough of it! She knew we liked each other and by golly she was going to see to it that we knew it also!  We were at "Lucy Bluz", (remember, this is pre-Jesus) a dance club at the time, currently it is a pawn shop. : ) She encouraged Chris to ask me to dance.  He did!  During the dancing, he looked at me and said, "You know I'm crazy about you, don't you?"  My heart melted.  I will never forget it. 

I was crazy about him too, and I still am after 13 years of marriage.

I am also crazy about Jesus.  I remember when I first fell in love with Jesus. I wanted to tell everyone!  I wanted to tell them everything He was doing in my life, whether they wanted to hear it or not!  He radically changed my life. 

I would say all Christians experience this "crazy about you" love for Jesus at first.  But, sometimes it fades or gets supressed.  Why does this happen?  I'm not going to pretend to know all the reasons, but today I am going to talk about one reason. Works.

Sometimes we can get so busy "doing" for the Lord that we cease "being" with the Lord.

I know your works, you labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil.  And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary.  Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.  Rev 2:2-4

Now, I am not saying we shouldn't serve the Lord, oh contrar.  The verse right after this one says:

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works...  Rev 2:5

However, these first works are the principle works, the work He has called you to do.  You are not called to do everything!  You are called to have passion and do what you are passionate about.  Does this mean we shouldn't sweep or help clean up after an event  if we do not feel passionate about it? Um, no!  It means follow your passion, but have a heart that is willing to sweep.  

I also want to look at Martha and Mary.

Martha welcomed Him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Therefore tell her to help me."  (She seems a little annoyed with her sister, doesn't she?)  And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42

Martha was serving, but had forgotten the most important part.  She was so busy "doing" for Jesus that she forgot to "be" with Jesus. 

The same thing happens in dating and marriage.  At first, you are just happy to "be" with each other.  Dating is just a lot of "being" together.  Many times in marriage, people get so busy in doing, and they forget to just "be" together.  That can be where the love is dampened or seems to fade.  It is really still there, just quenched under all the doing and busyness.

Find your first love feeling again with Jesus and others you love.  

Stop all the doing!  Pray.  Cut out what really isn't important.  Cut out what you are not passionate about.  Be with Jesus.  Be with your husband.  Just be.  You will find that "crazy about you" love for Jesus and the ones you love.  It is there, buried under all the busyness.  Let it breathe, and give it life.

"That is so Sweet"

Falling in love can be intricate.  At some point, you have to let yourself "fall".  Falling indicates the possibility of getting hurt.  When you give your heart away, there is the risk of a heartbreak.  

This month I have been writing about "Falling in love with Jesus".  In some of the posts, I have used parallels on "falling in love" with my husband. 

After Chris and I had been dating for four weeks, he planned a romantic dinner to celebrate our one month anniversary.   I showed up to his condo for our anniversary dinner a little nervous for some reason. One month is a big milestone (at least it was for me). 

The smell of spagetti was in the air.  All 5 of his roommates were gone for the evening (I'm pretty sure he paid them off).  We were in the kitchen while the noodles finished softening.  While we were waiting in the kitchen, he pulled out a gift to give to me.  A bear with a heart on it that said "I Love You". 

Now, neither of us had yet uttered those three little yet potent words.  Was he saying he loved me?  Yes, because after he gave me the bear, he said the words. 

I stood there staring. Frozen.  For Chris, I'm sure it felt like an eternity.  After I had a moment to process, I responded in a way he probably wasn't anticipating.

I took the bear and with a smile said....."That is so sweet."

(Not the response he was hoping for, I'm sure.)  Can somebody say, "Awkward"? 

We went about our anniversary dinner trying to pretend that didn't just happen.

You see, I was terrified of falling in love.  Also, I was skeptical.  Others had told me they loved me and really didn't.  My heart was a bruised and wounded mess by the time Chris found me. I didn't know how many more breaks it could bear.  Those words get thrown around so much that many in the world have no concept of what love really entails.  I wanted to be sure.  I didn't want to say it unless I was sure I meant it. 

I finally did tell him.....two weeks later!  You know those were a LONG two weeks. 

God also gave us a gift to show us He loved us.  The gift He gave us was Jesus and the cross with "I love you" written in bold bloodstained letters. 

"But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Chris died for us."  Romans 5:8

How do we respond?  Do we respond with "That is so sweet." 

That is how many in the world respond to God's gift.  They hear the story of Jesus and think, "That is so sweet"  and then go on about their lives with nothing changing. 

They too may be terrified of falling in love.  After all, that would mean sacrifices on their part, that would mean risk.  Anything deeper would require a profound response.  

Perhaps they are skeptical.  Maybe they aren't sure they believe Jesus died on the cross for them or that God really loves them.  They have been conditioned by the media and even some Christians to believe God is out to get them.  Why would they believe He loves them or trust Him? If that is you, I am here to set the record straight.  God is not out to get you, He loves you.

However, the real question we need to ask today is how do we respond to the gift God gave us.  Do we respond with a "That is so sweet"?

The gift of Jesus' blood on the cross writing out "I Love You" demands more than a "That is so sweet" response.  Be bold for Him.  Love Him.  

Perhaps your heart is a bruised and wounded mess and risking one more heartache is almost too much to bear.  Risk it.  Fall.  I promise He will catch you.  I promise you can trust Him with your heart.  He won't break it, He will heal it. 

He gave His life for us.  Let's respond by giving Him ours, completely.  Are there things in your life you need to give up to completely live for Him?  Is there sin you need to surrender to Him?  Say, "I love you" back to Him, don't be afraid.  Give Him everything.  Let yourself fall in love.