Blogellas

I have had several ideas for posts lately, and simply cannot spend my time on the computer. Not posting super long anyway. So, the other day I got the idea of just posting some "blogellas" you know, like little blogs. I guess it would properly be called a postella since it's a post on my blog, not a blog on my blog, but I loved the way blogella sounded. It also made me giggle because I thought of a contestant on a certain popular show where people sing and become idols, and this girl said that she wrote "novellas" and was currently writing one about one of the judges. It was creepy funny. Speaking of Novellas, (am I spelling that correctly? I just spell checked it...seems to be fine...anyway)if you are looking for some good ones, you should check out Francine Rivers and her novellas that she wrote about the women in Jesus' blood line. They are very well done. Okay, to my first blogella

Blogella #1
I love a fountain coke. There is something about drinking a coke from a restaurant fountain machine that tastes so much better than a can I crack open after a long day. It's just fresher. I'm not sure if it's the ice, the cup, the straw, the fact that someone else fixed it for me, whatever the reason, I LOVE it!

I've been trying to shed just a few pounds and one of the ways I can usually do that is to avoid Coke. Now, I don't drink it all the time, simply exchanging it for water while I'm out is all I need to do. I don't buy it and only have it in the house if there is company. So, on Monday I was driving to my sister's house and thought, "I would so LOVE a Coke right now." Well, lucky for me (unlucky for my waist) there is "Golden Arches" on the way. I couldn't wait. I was thinking about that first sip, YUM (I almost want one right now!). Then it hit me...my first blogella. I wish I longed for Jesus the way I long for a Coke. I don't mean to trivialize it, I'm serious. I will go out of my way for a Coke, if I really want one. I was thinking about it, planning on it, anticipating with great joy sipping my Coke on the way to Ashley's house.

To say I've avoided the Lord lately would be an understatement. I've enjoyed just layin' in bed for a few extra minutes (like 30!). I would rather check a blog, or Survivor behind the scenes or fold clothes, than be with Jesus. That just happens to me. It's because I had sin in my heart, I won't go into all that, but that is the reason.

I want to be like the Psalmist that says, "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1 That is what a want, sadly, that is not where I am. I believe the only way to get there, is to be with Him so much that my soul longs for Him. It craves Him. It not only needs Him, it wants Him. Oh that He would do that in me.

Blogella #2
The other day the kids were just hangin' out in my room with their new Highlights magazines and all of a sudden Anson goes, "Mom, can I have a piece of candy?" I asked, "For what?" His very honest answer, "Just because I want it." So what do you say to that? "Sure." So, he scaled my closet to reach the Halloween candy that is at the top and of course pulled several things down on his head until he had the precious bag in his possession. Well, Julia isn't going to go without, and neither am I, so we were all looking for our candy. Mike and I have our stash of the good stuff that we choose from. I chose a Milky Way and had eaten it and Anson was still in the closet searching. "Bud, what are you doing? Just get a piece of candy and put it away." Without really thinking he responded, "I'm just looking for something that will last." Immediately my heart replied, "Aren't we all?"

How long will we search? What was so sweet about Anson is that he was being so careful in his search. He was considering it. He didn't just want a quick fix, he wanted his candy to last a little bit. He wanted to enjoy it.

I've been walking with God for almost 12 years and I know there is nothing that will last the way He does. There is not one thing that will satisfy the way He does. Nothing.

"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you." Psalm 63:3

Blogella #3
Sometimes I feel like everyone else got a more important mission from God. Now, I do believe that what I'm doing matters (or I wouldn't do it) but sometimes I believe the lies that God is using everyone else and is making me sit the bench. Well, I started reading Galatians (it's about freedom in Christ and freedom from the law...hooray!) and I came upon this passage. It's in Galatians 2:7-8 "On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles." As you probably know, I am a homeschooling mother. We are not taking it one year at a time, we believe without a shadow of a doubt that God has put us in this for the long haul. My time is different, my priorities are different. This verse set me free. I do believe that God is at work in this ministry. I just want to stop looking at the ministries of others and believing that theirs is more or less important. We are all members of the same body...all with a very important job to do, which leads me to our science experiment.

We love Highlights, the other day Anson said, "Mom, can we do this?" It was an experiment that involved soaking one penny in liquid soap and another in vinegar and then guessing which would clean the penny. It only made sense that the liquid soap would do the job. Soap cleans, right? Wrong, not pennies. The vinegar is what was necessary to get the job done. Having already read Galatians I asked the kids if this proved that the soap was worthless. They of course said that it didn't prove that at all. We went on to discuss how certain things have certain jobs that they are used for, just like people. Some of us have gifts and talents that can be used for somethings, but not for others. Just because one person isn't used by God in one circumstance doesn't mean they are less useful or loved, it just means there is another job for them. Perfectly designed for them. Vinegar isn't always used, but we all have it on the shelf, don't we? Let's be available to be used by God and thankful that He would include us in His work.

Blogella #4
If you had to guess how old the "Proverbs 31" woman was, what would you guess? You know what I would guess? Early to mid-forties. You know why I say that? She is WISE! She has probably made some mistakes. She probably forgot to mend the clothes one year and made a mental note to be prepared next time! I thought about this while considering the stamps I would be purchasing for my Christmas letters (I'll post it soon). I thought, you know, it's a good idea to just buy a book of stamps a month, and by the end of the year, TADOW...I'm prepared! Instead of dropping a significant amount of money on stamps, in December, an already sort of "tight" month. So, as we compare ourselves to the Bible's picture of perfection, I feel like we should all just remember that we are in process. We are becoming those things. I am on a slower track than most, but I'm encouraged by the little bit of progress that I have made over the last 12 years. I'm especially excited about having stamps next year!

Blogella #5
My house is a mess and my in-laws are coming the day after Christmas. It's not like, a super mess, but it's not in "entertaining" order. The other day as I was looking at my table, I thought it was the perfect picture of my heart. We have been reading a super book called Jotham's Journey, as we have celebrated Advent, and our wreath is on the kitchen table. Well, everything lands on the kitchen table and it has been a bit off center and sort of cluttered. Sort of like Christmas. We try so hard to keep Christ as the center, but stuff just crowds Him out. The Christmas letters, snack bowls from today at 10:00, junk mail, an empty purse, the book I bought today and some random train tin. My heart has been cluttered, too. I know He's the Lord, but sometimes I just allow life to creep in and it makes a mess.

So, check your focus. Is it cluttered? Jesus entered a dirty world, He won't be surprised if there are crumbs on the floor. He won't care either. Praise Him.

Alright, that's all I've got for today. I hope you enjoyed my little blogellas. Please forgive any typos, I've been typing quickly and have had a few interruptions.