Check

I've been told most of my life that sometimes you just have to do what you know you need to do even when you really don't want to do it. So, right now I'm just going through the motions and trusting that my heart will catch up eventually.

Oprah Said So

There is a lot out there right now about Oprah. Between her "Big Give" on TV and "Oprah's Church" making it's way around the internet, I hear her name almost daily. I love the idea of the Big Give and paying it forward but every time I see one of those episodes, it makes me a little sad. What's sad about people giving to help others? It's sad that so many people have caught onto this, it seems, simply because Oprah "said so". I'm sure that once people do begin giving, the good feeling it gives encourages them to continue, but it took Oprah to get it started.

It's sad because the Body of Christ has been called to "care for the widows and orphans" and others who are in need, and I don't know that we are doing a very good job. I know for me, it is so much easier to keep to my comfortable world than talk to the woman on the side of the road asking for money to help pay her rent. Things like that can get messy and involved and I don't like getting messy. This verse comes to mind: "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." Matthew 25:40 This should be my motivation, NOT Oprah! Lord, please change my heart. Open my eyes so that I see people as you see them and then move me to action.

Blog Links

I love reading my friends' blogs. It's a great way to keep up with what's going on with them and you can learn some great information. My friend Becky has the best links to really interesting stuff on her blog. Her latest post has a link to the blog of a woman who has committed to using her crock pot every day in 2008. She has some recipes that sound really good. Check it out here.

Meet Cecil

A few posts ago, I talked about my precious Granddaddy.

This is Cecil!

The Gospel and The Indigo Girls

At some point in college, my friend Amy introduced me to the Indigo Girls and I've loved them ever since. They are who I listen to when I travel, when I need the comfort of familiar music, or when I just want to pretend I'm on stage entertaining an audience. I doubt these women are believers and I'm sure it's safe to say that we disagree on several theological, moral and political points, but more times than not, their words point me to Christ. I was listening to them on the way home today and the first few lines of a song I've sung many times to my make-believe audience, grabbed at my heart. So much so that tears came to my eyes and I started the song over just to hear their impact again.

"During the time of which I speak
it was hard to turn the other cheek
to the blows of insecurity...."
(Love's Recovery)

Those last three words give a great visual (at least for me) of how my insecurities have dealt with me lately; they've been beating me up. I've been reminded lately that I'm not alone in my fight against being insecure and that does bring some comfort, but only for a short while. I'm growing tired of fighting these same weaknesses over and over.

Here's the question that has been tossed around my mind the past week or so: how would my life be different if Christ really was all I wanted or needed? If I'm being honest, I really don't believe that He is enough, but I'm learning that being liked by others, or being included, or anything else I try to draw security from, isn't enough either.

Today at church we sang "your grace is enough, your grace is enough, your grace is enough for me". I can't honestly say that's the truth for me right now but it is my prayer.

Advil, Please

OH MY WORD! I'm so sore today!

(See my previous post if you need to know why.)

9.5

We are in the middle of state-mandated testing at school and the counselors are in charge. While the students are testing, Carol (the other counselor) and I walk the halls just to make sure everything is going as it should. Well, I guess I wore the wrong flip-flops today because they were extremely noisy as I walked. I tried to be quiet by tip-toeing down the stairs but the noise from my foot slipping out from under me, my shoe flying down the stairs and across the lobby, my butt hitting 3-4 stairs, and trying to keep not-so-nice words from coming out of my mouth, was much louder than any flip-flop could ever be. Don't worry, I wasn't hurt badly; I did scrape two knuckles and my ankle is a little sore, but I'll be fine. The funniest part was the little boy in Kindergarten who was behind me and the mother coming in the front door to check her child out. The looks on both of their faces were priceless; they both had the same look. They wanted to laugh at me, pretend they didn't see anything, and be concerned for me all at the same time. I really felt worse for them than I did for myself. I'm just glad there aren't any hall cameras focused on the stairs.