Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Who Knew, Monday Trivia?
Did you know that drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately-without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional pain relievers?
Did you know that Colgate Toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns?
Before you head to the drugstore for a high-priced inhaler filled with mysterious chemicals, try chewing on a couple of curiously strong Altoids peppermints. They'll clear up your stuffed nose.
Achy muscles from a bout of the flu? Mix 1 tablespoon horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a massage oil for instant relief for aching muscles.
Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.
Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly-even though the product was never advertised for this use.
Honey remedy for skin blemishes... cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.
Listerine therapy for toenail fungus: Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine Mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails looking healthy again.
Easy eyeglass protection... to prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear Nail Polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.
Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer... if menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get in your home and you can't find the insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground instantly.
Smart splinter remover: Just pour a drop of Elmer's Glue-All over the splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.
Hunt's Tomato Paste boil cure.. cover the boil with Hunt's Tomato Paste as a compress. The acids from the tomatoes soothe the pain and bring the boil to a head.
Balm for broken blisters... to disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few drops of Listerine, a powerful antiseptic.
Vinegar to heal bruises... soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process.
Quaker Oats for fast pain relief... it's not for breakfast any more! Mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave for 1 minute, cool slightly, and apply the mixture to your hands for soothing relief from arthritis pain.
Did you know that Colgate Toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns?
Before you head to the drugstore for a high-priced inhaler filled with mysterious chemicals, try chewing on a couple of curiously strong Altoids peppermints. They'll clear up your stuffed nose.
Achy muscles from a bout of the flu? Mix 1 tablespoon horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a massage oil for instant relief for aching muscles.
Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.
Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly-even though the product was never advertised for this use.
Honey remedy for skin blemishes... cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.
Listerine therapy for toenail fungus: Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine Mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails looking healthy again.
Easy eyeglass protection... to prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear Nail Polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.
Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer... if menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get in your home and you can't find the insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground instantly.
Smart splinter remover: Just pour a drop of Elmer's Glue-All over the splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.
Hunt's Tomato Paste boil cure.. cover the boil with Hunt's Tomato Paste as a compress. The acids from the tomatoes soothe the pain and bring the boil to a head.
Balm for broken blisters... to disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few drops of Listerine, a powerful antiseptic.
Vinegar to heal bruises... soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process.
Quaker Oats for fast pain relief... it's not for breakfast any more! Mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave for 1 minute, cool slightly, and apply the mixture to your hands for soothing relief from arthritis pain.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Excerpted from Every Moment Matters: Savoring the Stuff of Life
Foreword by Mehmet Oz, MD
As a surgeon and scientist, it has been my life’s calling to become a student of the human heart and all the nuances, emotions, and physical structures that make this organ the most important of all human hardware, the very sustainer of life. From the moment your heart starts beating (just twenty-one days after you were conceived) to the moment you take your last breath (about seventy-seven years later, give or take), your heart has given you the greatest gift imaginable: life. And all without you ever giving it a single conscious command to pump oxygen-rich blood through your circulatory system. It keeps you alive because it feeds itself first.
This book is also about feeding yourself first. John St. Augustine is a friend, mentor, and formidable voice in the world who has a gift. He sees things most of us miss, the sacred spaces that are hidden in the ordinary events of life and the lessons contained in those events that make life more vibrant and worth living. John invites us to share spaces from his journey—one forged from his relentless quest to squeeze as much out of being alive as possible, be it climbing to a mountaintop in Colorado or walking a thousand miles in search of his higher self or donating a kidney to save his daughter’s life. He sees our existence as not just a life of work, but rather a work of art and invites us to create a canvas that reflects the short time we have on Earth as one of awareness, service, joy, and giving—all tempered with a measured dose of urgency, for tomorrow is promised to no one.
From this moment on, you can alter your life for the better in so many different ways—by changing your diet, doing regular exercise, and having a positive outlook on the world you inhabit. All those things and more can help keep you from having to see someone like me with a mask on my face and scalpel in hand. Prevention is always the best prescription. It’s often not until we are faced with nature’s wake-up call disguised as a “life threatening” illness that we begin to become fully alive and smell the roses that have been there all along—just out of reach as we fill our lives with things that seem to have great meaning at the time but little meaning in the long run. I know better than most that someday even the miraculous heart ceases its offerings, and in that moment, life ends. You can begin now to give your heart perhaps the most important thing it needs—a reason to keep beating—and it starts by knowing that Every Moment Matters.
Mehmet C. Oz, MD, host of The Dr. Oz Show,
Author of the YOU! health book series
As a surgeon and scientist, it has been my life’s calling to become a student of the human heart and all the nuances, emotions, and physical structures that make this organ the most important of all human hardware, the very sustainer of life. From the moment your heart starts beating (just twenty-one days after you were conceived) to the moment you take your last breath (about seventy-seven years later, give or take), your heart has given you the greatest gift imaginable: life. And all without you ever giving it a single conscious command to pump oxygen-rich blood through your circulatory system. It keeps you alive because it feeds itself first.
This book is also about feeding yourself first. John St. Augustine is a friend, mentor, and formidable voice in the world who has a gift. He sees things most of us miss, the sacred spaces that are hidden in the ordinary events of life and the lessons contained in those events that make life more vibrant and worth living. John invites us to share spaces from his journey—one forged from his relentless quest to squeeze as much out of being alive as possible, be it climbing to a mountaintop in Colorado or walking a thousand miles in search of his higher self or donating a kidney to save his daughter’s life. He sees our existence as not just a life of work, but rather a work of art and invites us to create a canvas that reflects the short time we have on Earth as one of awareness, service, joy, and giving—all tempered with a measured dose of urgency, for tomorrow is promised to no one.
From this moment on, you can alter your life for the better in so many different ways—by changing your diet, doing regular exercise, and having a positive outlook on the world you inhabit. All those things and more can help keep you from having to see someone like me with a mask on my face and scalpel in hand. Prevention is always the best prescription. It’s often not until we are faced with nature’s wake-up call disguised as a “life threatening” illness that we begin to become fully alive and smell the roses that have been there all along—just out of reach as we fill our lives with things that seem to have great meaning at the time but little meaning in the long run. I know better than most that someday even the miraculous heart ceases its offerings, and in that moment, life ends. You can begin now to give your heart perhaps the most important thing it needs—a reason to keep beating—and it starts by knowing that Every Moment Matters.
Mehmet C. Oz, MD, host of The Dr. Oz Show,
Author of the YOU! health book series
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Follow Your Dream
"And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee."
(Exodus 3:11-12)
Have you ever had an inspired dream, a dream of doing something really great for Jesus? A dream of being so prosperous, for instance, that you can finance a nationwide revival? A dream of leading thousands of people to the Lord?
At one time or another, you probably have, but perhaps you backed away from it. Maybe you thought, "Oh my, I couldn't do that. Satan's kept me defeated for so long I have a poor self-image."
If so, I have some good news for you. If you'll believe God, even a poor self-image won't keep you from success. Look in the book of Exodus and you'll see a man who proved that. His name was Moses.
Moses didn't have a very good self-image. He'd made a terrible mistake early in his career. It was a mistake that drove him into the wilderness and kept him there for 40 years herding somebody else's sheep.
He'd once dreamed of being a deliverer of God's people, but no more. As far as he was concerned, he was finished...a failure...a flop!
But God didn't think so. In fact, when God came to Moses in that wilderness, He didn't ask for Moses' credentials. He didn't mention his shady history. He just told him to go see Pharaoh and tell him to let God's people go.
Moses, however, was still wrestling with his poor self-image. "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?" he stammered.
You know what God said in response? He just said, "Certainly, I will be with thee."
You see, it didn't matter who Moses was. What mattered was that the living God was with him. The same thing is true for you today. You don't need a history of successes behind you to answer God's call. You don't need a string of spiritual credentials. All you need is the presence of the Lord.
Think about that when the devil tells you you're a failure, when he says you'll never be able to do what God has put in your heart to do. Put him in his place. Tell him it doesn't matter who you are because the living God is with you.
Then dare to follow your dream!
God Bless
(Exodus 3:11-12)
Have you ever had an inspired dream, a dream of doing something really great for Jesus? A dream of being so prosperous, for instance, that you can finance a nationwide revival? A dream of leading thousands of people to the Lord?
At one time or another, you probably have, but perhaps you backed away from it. Maybe you thought, "Oh my, I couldn't do that. Satan's kept me defeated for so long I have a poor self-image."
If so, I have some good news for you. If you'll believe God, even a poor self-image won't keep you from success. Look in the book of Exodus and you'll see a man who proved that. His name was Moses.
Moses didn't have a very good self-image. He'd made a terrible mistake early in his career. It was a mistake that drove him into the wilderness and kept him there for 40 years herding somebody else's sheep.
He'd once dreamed of being a deliverer of God's people, but no more. As far as he was concerned, he was finished...a failure...a flop!
But God didn't think so. In fact, when God came to Moses in that wilderness, He didn't ask for Moses' credentials. He didn't mention his shady history. He just told him to go see Pharaoh and tell him to let God's people go.
Moses, however, was still wrestling with his poor self-image. "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?" he stammered.
You know what God said in response? He just said, "Certainly, I will be with thee."
You see, it didn't matter who Moses was. What mattered was that the living God was with him. The same thing is true for you today. You don't need a history of successes behind you to answer God's call. You don't need a string of spiritual credentials. All you need is the presence of the Lord.
Think about that when the devil tells you you're a failure, when he says you'll never be able to do what God has put in your heart to do. Put him in his place. Tell him it doesn't matter who you are because the living God is with you.
Then dare to follow your dream!
God Bless
Friday, June 25, 2010
Tequila & Salt
This should probably be taped to your bathroom mirror where one could read it every day..
You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.
1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received.. Forget about the rude remarks.
And always remember... when life hands you Lemons, ask for Tequila and Salt and call me over!
Good friends are like stars......... You don't always see them, But you know they are always there..
"Whenever God Closes One Door He Always Opens Another, Even Though
Sometimes It's Hell in the Hallway"
I would rather have one rose and a kind word from a friend while I'm here than a whole truck load when I'm gone.
Happiness keeps You Sweet,
Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human,
Failures keeps You Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing,
But Only
God keeps You Going
'Worry looks around, sorry looks back, Faith looks up.'
You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.
1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received.. Forget about the rude remarks.
And always remember... when life hands you Lemons, ask for Tequila and Salt and call me over!
Good friends are like stars......... You don't always see them, But you know they are always there..
"Whenever God Closes One Door He Always Opens Another, Even Though
Sometimes It's Hell in the Hallway"
I would rather have one rose and a kind word from a friend while I'm here than a whole truck load when I'm gone.
Happiness keeps You Sweet,
Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human,
Failures keeps You Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing,
But Only
God keeps You Going
'Worry looks around, sorry looks back, Faith looks up.'
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
WOW WEDNESDAY!
My son, Alex, finished his HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN year with a 3.466 GPA!
Absolutely outstanding, if I do say so myself, not just because I'm his mother, but because he puts forth 110% and is extremely dedicated to school. He even gave up going to MIS for the June Nascar race because his finals were the next day! THAT'S MY BOY!
Absolutely outstanding, if I do say so myself, not just because I'm his mother, but because he puts forth 110% and is extremely dedicated to school. He even gave up going to MIS for the June Nascar race because his finals were the next day! THAT'S MY BOY!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Keeping cool in the doorway
I can barely step on the track barefoot, let alone sleeping on it like this puppy decided it would. Ouch!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Smile for no good reason excerpt
Excerpted from Smile For No Good Reason: Simple Things You Can Do to Get Happy NOW
Introduction
Attitudinal Healing has touched the hearts of dying children and adults, eased the pain of citizens ravaged by war, redirected Fortune 500 companies, captured the attention of world leaders, assisted medical experts in major universities, been welcomed by Nobel Peace laureates, and yet most people have still not heard of Attitudinal Healing. This, in part, is because there is nothing commercial about it. It is a quiet wisdom for those who want it. In the high-tech information age such basic knowledge can easily go unnoticed.
This book presents clear and concise ways—that you can begin right now—to begin living a happier and more meaningful life. You will learn to feel more peaceful and be more productive by replacing the automatic ways you react from fear with new perceptions of yourself and the world.
A primary teaching of Attitudinal Healing is: Nothing needs to change in your life situation or the world in order for you to have peace of mind. At first, such a notion may seem implausible. This idea is foreign to the typical way of thinking, which states "If you're unhappy, change something in your life. Change jobs, buy something new, find a different relationship."
It is easy to become sidetracked and stressed by a multitude of little tasks and problems, and to lose sight of what really matters. In this increasingly complicated world, what is needed is to remind yourself of what is most precious. This book offers simple and practical ways to be happy by approaching life with a different attitude.
Have you noticed that the changes you make in your life are often only short-term fixes? Regardless of how you modify your life, do stress and conflict soon creep back in? Changing life circumstances without addressing your thinking is like painting over rust: It will look great for a while, but eventually the old rust will slowly break through the new paint. By addressing your attitudes, nothing more and nothing less, whatever changes you make will contribute to your lasting happiness rather than lead to another disappointment or failure.
Attitudinal Healing is a way of having happiness without having to change your social status, religion, spouse, or the amount in your bank account. Attitudinal Healing is a way to go through your day responding to life's challenges with peace of mind rather than with fear, anger, and guilt. It has helped thousands of people and now can help you.
Introduction
Attitudinal Healing has touched the hearts of dying children and adults, eased the pain of citizens ravaged by war, redirected Fortune 500 companies, captured the attention of world leaders, assisted medical experts in major universities, been welcomed by Nobel Peace laureates, and yet most people have still not heard of Attitudinal Healing. This, in part, is because there is nothing commercial about it. It is a quiet wisdom for those who want it. In the high-tech information age such basic knowledge can easily go unnoticed.
This book presents clear and concise ways—that you can begin right now—to begin living a happier and more meaningful life. You will learn to feel more peaceful and be more productive by replacing the automatic ways you react from fear with new perceptions of yourself and the world.
A primary teaching of Attitudinal Healing is: Nothing needs to change in your life situation or the world in order for you to have peace of mind. At first, such a notion may seem implausible. This idea is foreign to the typical way of thinking, which states "If you're unhappy, change something in your life. Change jobs, buy something new, find a different relationship."
It is easy to become sidetracked and stressed by a multitude of little tasks and problems, and to lose sight of what really matters. In this increasingly complicated world, what is needed is to remind yourself of what is most precious. This book offers simple and practical ways to be happy by approaching life with a different attitude.
Have you noticed that the changes you make in your life are often only short-term fixes? Regardless of how you modify your life, do stress and conflict soon creep back in? Changing life circumstances without addressing your thinking is like painting over rust: It will look great for a while, but eventually the old rust will slowly break through the new paint. By addressing your attitudes, nothing more and nothing less, whatever changes you make will contribute to your lasting happiness rather than lead to another disappointment or failure.
Attitudinal Healing is a way of having happiness without having to change your social status, religion, spouse, or the amount in your bank account. Attitudinal Healing is a way to go through your day responding to life's challenges with peace of mind rather than with fear, anger, and guilt. It has helped thousands of people and now can help you.
Father's Day Cards
Hubby's card
Sure do miss you Dad & Dad Wrona, it just hasn't been the same since you both went home to our Heavenly Father, but I will one day see you again for all eternity. Until then know that I deeply love you both and miss you terribly.
Sure do miss you Dad & Dad Wrona, it just hasn't been the same since you both went home to our Heavenly Father, but I will one day see you again for all eternity. Until then know that I deeply love you both and miss you terribly.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Jessie's Graduation Card
Dawn Griffith, my upline & friend, daughter, Jessie graduated and this is the card I made for her.
I hope you like it, Jess.
I hope you like it, Jess.
Curt's BRak Card
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CURT!
Inside the gate card:
If you get a chance, go by Curt's blog and wish him happy birthday!
http://curtsplayhouse.blogspot.com/
Inside the gate card:
If you get a chance, go by Curt's blog and wish him happy birthday!
http://curtsplayhouse.blogspot.com/
Friday, June 18, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Alayna's Last Day & Awards
Alayna's last day as a 4th grader & awards ceremony. She earned 3 awards: Citizenship, Bringing Up Grades a/k/a BUG, & Talent Show participation.
This is Mrs. Elkin, her principal for the past 3 years who is being transferred to another elementary in our school district.
This is Mrs. Elkin, her principal for the past 3 years who is being transferred to another elementary in our school district.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Last Day of School and for Mrs. Elkin
Today is Alayna's last day as a 4th grader and her principal's last day at Peck. So I made this name frame for Mrs. Elkin as a going away present.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Is there life after, "NO"?
When we were living in Ukraine, someone once told me, “You know how we can tell if someone’s American? They’re the ones smiling for no reason.”
Wrap your head around that one.
I heard it five years ago and it’s still a brain teaser for me. In person and over a cup of tea, I could spend hours dissecting the cultural differences it alludes to. But, of late, it’s been the Christian culture I’ve been thinking about more than any other. And how that statement might apply to us all.
“You know how we can tell if someone’s a Christian? They’re the ones smiling and smiling and smiling. Sometimes for no good reason.”
For two years after our time in Ukraine we were anything but fine. After a decade away we had moved back to South Africa with high hopes for relocating back to my motherland. Those plans were eroded; slowly, painfully, and unexpectedly. Not a single step of our homecoming unfolded as we had so blithely assumed it would.
But, by all appearances we were fine. And if anyone asked, that’s what we told them.
I smiled at church. I smiled at playgroup. I smiled at bible study. And I smiled at kids’ birthday parties. I smiled for no good reason I could think of. Other than that I was sure no one expected me to respond to their generic, “So, how’re you doing?” with a bust gut of agony and bloody tears right there in the meet and greet between the worship and the sermon.
How awkward would that be?
“Snot en trane” – the spot-on Afrikaans expression “snot and tears” – is not generally the appropriate response to a pre-service handshake.
So instead I plastered a stubborn smile, band aid-like, over my bleeding innards and got really good at making small talk and deflecting anything that might try to peel back a corner of the tape.
But 18 months later things were worse. And for the first time I was faced with a “no” answer from God that I couldn’t seem to change or understand.
No, your husband won’t get the job he needs.
No, you won’t be able to stay in South Africa.
No, you don’t get to choose where you go next.
I realized I had been expecting the easy “yes” of what I now recognize as Christianity-lite. I thought if I could grin and bear it long enough, things would finally go my way. I know you’ve heard it too. The fluffy take on some pretty serious verses that try to tell you, “All you need is faith” and you’ll get what you want. “Just believe and the Lord will provide.” “Ask and you shall receive.”
So, this profound and resounding “no” was off my grid by a mile.
Things were not fine. Things were not good. Things hurt inside and out. We had to pack up our house and our new baby boy and move away from the family and country we were just rediscovering. The loss was physically painful.
I wrestled a long time with this new God of my “no.” But slowly I discovered that His answer didn’t dismiss my loss. Not if I saw it in the context of His ability to understand and respond to that loss.
Do you know the Bible story of the infertile woman whom God blessed with a child? The prophet Elisha had prayed for her. But before the boy was grown up, he died. And his desperate mother went looking for an answer. Listen to what she says when the prophet asks her that hardest of questions, “How’re you doing?”
“'Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?'" And she answered, "It is well." 2 Kings 4:26.
She was far from fine. But she took that agony to the only person who could understand it. And at the feet of the God she could share her agony and outrage with, she was well. She was able to be real. Her answer didn’t dismiss her loss. It simply put it in the context of God’s ability to respond.
That is where He met me. At the cross-roads of his decision and my acceptance of it; he led me out of my heartache and into a season of redemption and beauty. All without changing his answer.
Wrap your head around that one.
I heard it five years ago and it’s still a brain teaser for me. In person and over a cup of tea, I could spend hours dissecting the cultural differences it alludes to. But, of late, it’s been the Christian culture I’ve been thinking about more than any other. And how that statement might apply to us all.
“You know how we can tell if someone’s a Christian? They’re the ones smiling and smiling and smiling. Sometimes for no good reason.”
For two years after our time in Ukraine we were anything but fine. After a decade away we had moved back to South Africa with high hopes for relocating back to my motherland. Those plans were eroded; slowly, painfully, and unexpectedly. Not a single step of our homecoming unfolded as we had so blithely assumed it would.
But, by all appearances we were fine. And if anyone asked, that’s what we told them.
I smiled at church. I smiled at playgroup. I smiled at bible study. And I smiled at kids’ birthday parties. I smiled for no good reason I could think of. Other than that I was sure no one expected me to respond to their generic, “So, how’re you doing?” with a bust gut of agony and bloody tears right there in the meet and greet between the worship and the sermon.
How awkward would that be?
“Snot en trane” – the spot-on Afrikaans expression “snot and tears” – is not generally the appropriate response to a pre-service handshake.
So instead I plastered a stubborn smile, band aid-like, over my bleeding innards and got really good at making small talk and deflecting anything that might try to peel back a corner of the tape.
But 18 months later things were worse. And for the first time I was faced with a “no” answer from God that I couldn’t seem to change or understand.
No, your husband won’t get the job he needs.
No, you won’t be able to stay in South Africa.
No, you don’t get to choose where you go next.
I realized I had been expecting the easy “yes” of what I now recognize as Christianity-lite. I thought if I could grin and bear it long enough, things would finally go my way. I know you’ve heard it too. The fluffy take on some pretty serious verses that try to tell you, “All you need is faith” and you’ll get what you want. “Just believe and the Lord will provide.” “Ask and you shall receive.”
So, this profound and resounding “no” was off my grid by a mile.
Things were not fine. Things were not good. Things hurt inside and out. We had to pack up our house and our new baby boy and move away from the family and country we were just rediscovering. The loss was physically painful.
I wrestled a long time with this new God of my “no.” But slowly I discovered that His answer didn’t dismiss my loss. Not if I saw it in the context of His ability to understand and respond to that loss.
Do you know the Bible story of the infertile woman whom God blessed with a child? The prophet Elisha had prayed for her. But before the boy was grown up, he died. And his desperate mother went looking for an answer. Listen to what she says when the prophet asks her that hardest of questions, “How’re you doing?”
“'Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?'" And she answered, "It is well." 2 Kings 4:26.
She was far from fine. But she took that agony to the only person who could understand it. And at the feet of the God she could share her agony and outrage with, she was well. She was able to be real. Her answer didn’t dismiss her loss. It simply put it in the context of God’s ability to respond.
That is where He met me. At the cross-roads of his decision and my acceptance of it; he led me out of my heartache and into a season of redemption and beauty. All without changing his answer.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Absolutely amazing imho
Check out Confessions of a Stamping Addict at http://stampingaddict.blogspot.com
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Wednesday, June 9, 2010
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