It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

They’ve put up lights in the trees in downtown Tallahassee, and every night when I pull out of the parking garage at the DoubleTree I take a moment to stop and smile at how pretty they are. It also reminds me that Christmas is less than 3 weeks away!

Like everyone else in the world (with the exception of a few curmudgeony Grinches and Scrooges) I love Christmastime. I love all of the exterior indicators that the holidays are upon us, such as the ability to wear scarves and boots and pretend that we live somewhere cold enough that they are necessary. I love seeing that tonight should get down to 30 degrees and saying things like “what if it snowed?” although I haven’t seen it snow here in the 11 years I’ve lived in Florida. I love Christmas Blend coffee and cheesy Christmas songs that give you that warm fuzzy feeling ….

…. And then I start to panic at the thought of Christmas shopping. Take a girl who hates shopping but loves a lot of people and wants to buy presents for all of them, give her a significantly tight budget and the overwhelming force of American holiday consumerism, and what you get is a near miss with a full out anxiety attack and then the sigh of relief that comes with online shopping….

…. But to get back to the warm fuzzy feeling. Call me crazy but there truly is something special about this time of year. And I think that try though we might, we haven’t been able to kill it with the crazy distractions we’ve created through the aforementioned choking fog of consumerism, or the creepy claymation movies that someone once decided were festive. I think that there is a sheer moment by moment joy and focus that we get to experience during this time because our Heavenly Father chooses to let us. What better time to remind us of things like Love, Joy, Peace, Comfort and Hope than now. We don’t have the capability to have those things on our own, but He gives them to us and He gives us the opportunity to enjoy them and extend them to others.

So take some time today to smile at how pretty the twinkle lights are on the trees and houses in your neighborhood. But, how about we also take a minute and smile at the people in your office or the girl serving you your Christmas Blend coffee? Not out of a sense of “holiday cheer” but just because we have Christmas because God chose to give us a gift a few thousand years ago that cost a lot more than we’ll ever really understand and offers us more Love, Joy, Peace, Comfort and Hope than we know what to do with.

We're On An Adventure!

When I was growing up we would often pile the whole family of 6 into the minivan and embark on trips. Sometimes they were short trips and we knew exactly where we were headed; but sometimes they were long trips that took us to unfamiliar places and we would hear Mom and Daddy talking in low voices in the front and pulling out the map, and when we asked “where are we?” Daddy would cheerfully respond “We’re on an ADVENTURE!” In the McMahon family, We’re on an adventure = We’re lost.  Liz especially hated this and would often respond with “I don’t want to be on adventure” (even at a young age being lost stressed her out, and she hasn’t changed a bit).

I, on the other hand, often liked adventures; at least while Daddy was driving. I trusted that although he didn’t know where we were at the moment he knew where we were headed and I had absolute faith that he would get us there successfully.

Me & Mr are about to step into our next adventure. I’ve been offered and have accepted a new job. It is at the Doubletree hotel here in Tallahassee, and I will start next month. I’m excited to step out into a new place with new people and new challenges. I feel very strongly that God led me to this decision and put all of the pieces in place to make it happen. So I guess I have to still trust that my Daddy will get me through my next adventure successfully. Like any adventure it’s a bit scary stepping out of the comfortable into the unknown but I’m excited about it. I’m certain there will be things I miss about the place I’ve spent the first two years of our time here in Tallahassee but as I step out into the next chapter I expect to see really great things in store for us.

Our church family is also embarking on an adventure. City Church is growing so quickly that we need more seats. What an incredible problem to have! Our pastor has called each of us that call City Church our home to give above and beyond what we normally do to help us add onto our space. Any of you that have talked to Clay and I in the last few months know that we’ve had a large number of unexpected financial hurdles, but we had no doubt that God wanted us to be a part of this endeavor. We are excited to see the ways He will repay our faithfulness even when it’s sacrificial. This doesn’t mean that if we give $50 to City Church that I will find a $100 bill on the ground tomorrow, in fact we may just be $50 shorter than usual in our bank account. But think of all the people who will hear the truth about a God who loves them just as they are and has given everything to redeem them to Himself. Think of the lives that will change because they can come into our building and hear this. What a great return on our investment!!! If you want to be a part of this please join us or just get more info at WhyNotTallahassee.com. It’s going to be a great adventure to be a part of.

Henry David Thoreau says “We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character”. I think he’s right. What adventure are you going to set out on next?  

Some days you just need Bagelheads coffee

Some days you just need Bagelheads coffee. At least I do. I sat at my desk yesterday morning and nearly fell asleep. I’m not kidding. And it’s not because my job is boring or I didn’t have anything to do. I just needed something to kick start my day and get me going. For me that something is usually Bagelheads coffee. So I went and got some.  

I’m not sure if it’s the tantalizing aroma that fills your car as you drive off with a warm cup in hand or simply a chemical addiction to the caffeine that makes it so inviting, but that first cup of coffee is inexplicably good. Then the rush kicks in and you feel like you can accomplish everything on your to do list that day; and since you are moving at the pace of the Energizer bunny you do get about 60% of it done in the next 3 hours.  

Of course by the time it wears off and then you eat lunch you’re back to slow motion by mid afternoon. However, I still count the day a success because for a brief period of time you were operating at full capacity. Sometimes I wonder what I would do without the liquid consciousness that coffee provides.

I’d probably be un-employed.

This morning I came into work feeling pretty good about the day ahead of me. I was awake and alert ready to tackle my to do list with determination and a good attitude… and then I turned on my computer. It’s kind of amazing that my computer has lasted as long as it has. Based on its performance levels I’m fairly certain it was made in 1982. From 8:02 to 8:11 it turned on and woke up enough so that I could click on Microsoft Outlook to read my emails for the day. At 8:17 my emails were finally able to be viewed and read. At 8:29 when I was still waiting for it to open the property management system that allows me to do my job I decided to take a short break and head out to Bagelheads for more coffee.

It’s kind of amazing how coffee can be stimulating at times when you just need to wake up, and at other times it can have a very calming effect and keep you from beating your computer with a baseball bat.

I’m headed to bed fairly early and will get a full night’s rest but I can already tell tomorrow will be another coffee day. Not that I mind. They make really good coffee.

Word Of The Day

 Several years ago my dear friends Ashley and Sarah Miller bought Clay a “Word-of-the-Day” Calendar for Christmas. It was full of 365 astonishingly ridiculous words to improve his vocabulary such as: Ubiquitous, Sagacious, Flummox, Crapulous (yes it really is a word), and Vicissitude.

We still have that calendar. It’s on a bookshelf behind some things, and periodically we run across it and read a few words and giggle at how silly they sound. Thank you, Millers, for years of entertainment (literally).

I have what most would call an extensive vocabulary, and perhaps a weird obsession with words. If you’ve met my dad you understand why. I love words and the depth of communication they can convey when you understand their multi-faceted meaning.

One of my favorite words is Faithful. Many people take this word for granted. I did for a long time. If you ask someone for the definition you will most likely get “Faithful means they don’t cheat” (which is a sad commentary on our culture, but that is another soapbox for another blog and another day).  If you ask Webster you will find that Faithful means:

·         steadfast in affection or allegiance : loyal

·         firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty : conscientious

·         given with strong assurance : binding  

·         true to the facts, to a standard, or to an original

I’ve come to love this word. I love that every day my husband says to me “I was faithful to you today, because I love you” assuring me that he is loyal to me in his words, thoughts and actions. I am encouraged to be faithful to my family, friends, and coworkers by being conscientious and observant to fulfill the promises and responsibilities I hold in my relationships with them because they count on me to do so. I am so thankful that my Heavenly Father is faithful in His promises and that I can trust they are true and binding, because He is the original, He sets the standard and he is Immutable (this is another big word meaning incapable of change) I can always trust His promises because He never wavers.

Lately I’ve had a few minutes, hours and days where I got caught up in worry; mostly about finances, because things are really tight right now. But I am reminded so often that God is Faithful. His faithfulness shows up in some obvious ways such as the check that arrives the same day as an unexpected expense; but He also shows His faithfulness in the simple fact that we are still here. We live a life that is so blessed, surrounded by love and grace that we don’t deserve. We deserve to be consumed with the guilt of our sin and the ugliness of the things we choose to love more than God but instead we get soooo much! We get to experience love, security, surprise, exhilaration and even cachinnation.

“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

P.S. – You get 10 cool points if you stopped reading to look up any of the words in today’s blog. J

Found People Find People

What would you do if you could do anything in the world?

This is a very open ended question. I could mean this evening, or this weekend, or with your free time or with your career. Sadly, I’m afraid that my answer to this question would be unremarkable. My sister asked me today if I could have any job in the world what would it be. I would write. Not that my books would be life-altering classics. But I would enjoy that more than anything else.  But it made me wonder, what would I do if I could do anything in the world? And as I just said my first reactions were unremarkable.

I found that several of the things that first came to my mind were quite selfish. Some of the ones that even sounded selfless were not. And since they were severely limited by my own benefit they were decidedly un-ambitious. Because if I were honest with myself I would have to admit that there is a big difference between my answers to the questions “what would you like to get if you could get anything” and “what would you do if you could do anything”. Doing is much harder than getting.

So why don’t we work hard to accomplish or achieve the things we would like most to get? Laziness. Selfishness. Pride. Just to name a few. So what do we do about it? I’m trying to figure that out myself. I have a feeling it will require a change of heart. Actively working to care more about others than we do about ourselves. Caring less about what other people think and more about what they need.

And they need to be found. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the following phrase this in the past week: Found people Find people. I want that to be my automatic answer to the question “what would you do if you could do anything in the world”? I want a change of heart that would cause my answer to be that I would invest my time, effort, heart, and soul into finding people. Because I was found. And found people find people.

My Husband Is A Warrior.

I love my husband. Seriously, I do. I’ve known Clay since we were 16 and I have had the privilege to watch him grow from a boy into a man. Not only physically; but mentally, emotionally and spiritually as well.  It didn’t happen overnight, but something has definitely changed in his life as he has learned to put God first and love Him more than self. Today I watched him make himself completely vulnerable and risk embarrassment and judgment because God’s glory is more important to him than his own.

My Mr  gets a great deal of joy from playing video games. He once told me with a completely straight face: “Babe, you don’t understand.  I have to kill a certain number of things a day, because I’m a warrior.” Yep. He was serious.

Not too long ago, as we talked about struggles he has faced and continues to win out over as he chooses on a daily basis to be a man of God who holds onto truth, and integrity even when it is hard, he said to me “I have to kill a certain number of things a day, because I’m a warrior. And some of those things are pride and selfishness”.

We have faced  A LOT of difficult times in our years together. Times that we’ve been scared or angry, times that we have been hurt by others and times that we have hurt each other. Let’s be honest, in marriage you are so closely and intimately united that you are completely vulnerable and you have the ability to devastate each other.  

I’ve faced some of his struggles head on with him, just like he’s faced mine. We’ve faced moments where we have had to preach the gospel to ourselves, reminding ourselves of how Christ has loved and forgiven us when we didn’t deserve it, in order to continue loving each other sacrificially and unselfishly. 

However, our God is a loving Father, and he never wastes a hurt. He is using all of this to shape us, to teach me that He is the only one who is truly Faithful in all things and that I cannot look to my husband to be my functional Savior, I must look to my Savior to supply my needs and then love and respect my husband regardless of what I feel he should do better. I am learning to look at myself through the eyes of my Heavenly Father rather than through the lens of what I fear I’m lacking as a wife, friend, woman, and helper in our relationship.

 I love seeing the way that these struggles have encouraged and challenged my husband to embrace transparency and fight sin and selfishness head on. I’ve seen it stir in him a passion to lead other men and challenge them to be men of God rather than boys who give in to selfish pursuits. And through it all I am challenged to be the kind of woman that helps my husband to be God’s kind of man.

I love being a sister

Having a sister is such a cool relationship. God didn’t have to think it up but He gave it to us because he loves us. I am lucky enough to have grown up with three of them and then get another one through marriage. I got to spend some time this weekend with my little sisters, and in about a month will get to hang out with my big sister.

I love hanging out with my girls. I love being comfortable enough with them to be an absolute idiot and have so much fun doing so. I love getting up really early and drinking coffee with them while we are still too sleepy to have conversations. I love laughing really hard with them. I love it that even when we get annoyed with each other I have no doubt that it will be quickly followed by love, patience and forgiveness.

Maybe you guys won’t understand what I mean, but any of you girls who have sisters do. It’s just cool to be a sister, especially a big sister.  There is something very special about looking at someone and seeing so much of yourself in that person: sometimes you see things that you love and sometimes you recognize things that you wish you could adequately warn them about but know they have to figure it out themselves. I can only imagine it’s a little glimpse of what it’s like to be a parent and watch your kids grow up.

I’ve got some pretty awesome sisters, and I will miss them until I see them again. But that is only 12 days away, so I thankfully I don’t have to wait too long.

Profound Vivacity

I recently read a quote that I liked a lot by E.M. Forrester:

“Away she hurried, not beautiful, not supremely brilliant, but filled with something that took the place of both qualities -- something best described as a profound vivacity, a continual and sincere response to all that she encountered in her path through life.”

Sometimes I feel like I need to be “supremely brilliant” or something like it. But really and truly I think I’d rather be filled with a profound vivacity. Here’s the thing, you can’t fake vivacity. I’ve tried, it comes across as something between annoying peppiness and high strung paranoia.

Vivacious isn’t a word that is part of most people’s daily vocabulary, and like most big words many of us have a general sense of its meaning but not a clear definition. According to the dictionary, the definition of vivacious is “lively”; which is just about as ambiguous as vivacious. So I looked up lively.  

Lively means to be: Full of life and energy, enthusiastic, animated, refreshing, (and my very favorite) responsive to steering. I read that and literally said “Huh?” out loud.

Responsive to steering. I spent awhile thinking about that one. How often do I try to support, direct and sustain myself in my efforts and endeavors? When I try to steer myself is usually when I make the most mistakes. It’s also the times I get the most stressed out and end up trying to project a sense of energy that comes off as high strung craziness with a forced smile.  This is the exact opposite of a continual and sincere response to the things I encounter.

Today I had a rough morning, and I was steering myself straight toward a nervous breakdown. Then I went to lunch with my husband and over the course of that hour allowed myself to respond to the way he steered me into a much more calm and pleasant state of mind. It may just be that my Mr. is super cute and charming (which he is) but I think it has something to do with the fact that he can recognize when I need someone to steer me away from craziness toward a more hopeful outlook.

So I faced the rest of the day with a profound vivacity. It wasn’t a fun day but it was sincere. Tomorrow I believe I will do it all over again.

She is clothed with Strength and Dignity

It really is amazing how we can talk ourselves into anything, or at least allow ourselves to be talked into anything. I recently started reading a new Beth Moore book, so needless to say, it’s entertaining and heartwarming and makes me feel like she and I are girlfriends sitting down for a chat. A chat about insecurity…. Yikes!

I like to pretend that I’m super confident in the talents and abilities that God has given me even though I have always struggled with confidence over other things like physical appearance. And then she said “Insecurity’s best cover is perfectionism. That’s where it becomes an art form”… and I saw myself defined in that statement.

I’ve talked myself into a standard of perfectionism that is impossible for anyone to meet. For example, just today I worked 10 ½ hours in the office and then came home with a stack of work to do. No one told me that I must take work home, and I don’t enjoy working at home, I just did it. I could say that I did so because I’m a natural overachiever, or I’m just that good at my job; but according to Beth’s definition it’s most likely rooted not in confidence but rather in insecurity. Then I came home and just before making dinner for myself I decided to step on the scale, and insecurity hit the roof.

Right before I lapsed into all out self-loathing I sat myself down for a good kick in the pants. I’ve convinced myself to accept a lie that says my worth is based on how I look/perform/etc. I’ve talked myself into it and I have let myself believe it too long.

Obviously I’m not writing a 10 easy steps to overcoming insecurity book just yet (this kick in the pants reminder for myself is happening as I’m writing this) but I’m recognizing in myself the same thing that I would fight kicking and screaming if I saw it attacking my sisters or girlfriends. Far too often I do see them struggle with it, and it makes me furious! If I feel that strongly defensive of their security, how can I think that my Heavenly Father feels less for mine?

So now the goal is not to do more, weigh less, and make everyone around me ask “how does she do it all?” as I save the world with a smile on my face. It is to remember and to really understand deep down that the statement “She is clothed with strength and dignity” found in Proverbs 31 is not a rave review of some really awesome chick thousands of years ago, but it’s a promise that my Dad has made for me because I’m His daughter and He loves me.

She is clothed with STRENGTH and DIGNITY.   

and they lived happily every after?

The glass slipper fits and Cinderella marries Prince Charming. True Love’s Kiss breaks an evil witch’s spell and Sleeping Beauty marries Prince Phillip. Belle’s love for the Beast breaks the curse and they get married. And the one thing they all share is that after the wedding they lived happily ever after.

This weekend we visited Nashville to watch one of our very favorite couples take a vow in which they promised to love God and each other forever. It was beautiful and joyful and so much fun!!! On this trip we also visited with some dear friends who shared with us the heartbreak and beauty they’ve found through their first year of marriage. So, needless to say I’ve got marriage on my mind. Somehow so many of us walk into marriage thinking that if we really love each other we will make a vow and enter into a never ending honeymoon in which we live happily ever after….

If you are already married it is not a surprise to you that marriage is hard. A few weeks ago over coffee I told someone that marriage was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. She responded “what is so hard about it?” (this was my thought exactly before entering into marriage myself). I explained that no matter how wonderful your spouse is or how much you love them, marriage means you have to give up selfishness, and that is hard. As my friend tearfully explained this weekend; marriage is living out the gospel every day and is the greatest way that God works out his salvation in us.

He uses the joys and the difficulties of marriage to make us more like Him and to display to others the indescribable love he has for us.

I think I would like to write a fairy tale. It would end with “They lived committed to one another ever after. Some days they were ridiculously happy, some days they fought, some days they cried, some days they laughed together but every day they chose to love each other… and it was awesome.”

Angry Birds!

Remember how Sesame Street used to always end with “Today’s show was brought to you by the letter R” because all of the things throughout the episode had been about rabbits or raspberries or rainbows or radios? The common theme of everything was obviously named in the end so that just in case you missed all of the ways that the letter R was thrown in throughout the last hour they spelled it out for you.

I think if God were to have end credits for my day today it would go something like “Andi’s day was brought to you by the letter forgiveness”. It seemed to be the common theme throughout the day. I’ve had a lot of practice at forgiveness, and have witnessed firsthand the beautiful things and restoration of relationships that can come because of it…. and yet so often I just don’t want to. I am content in my justifiable anger.

Today I encountered a lot of people that I would like to hit rather than hug, I also drove 3 hours back to Tallahassee having to continually practice forgiveness for the other drivers on the road. I spent the majority of that time listening to a sermon by Perry Noble, and so as not to deviate from today’s theme, it happened to be all about forgiveness.

He talked about how when we don’t forgive we’re like angry birds… that's right, the wondefully addictive smartphone app that has captured the world’s attention.  We launch ourselves at the object of our anger, we may or may not cause them harm but ultimately the bird blows up. They may hurt the pig but whether or not they do they always hurt themselves. (if you are lost because you’ve not yet experienced this game, google it, there’s a way to play it online, just make sure you have 3 hours to devote to it because you will get sucked in).

Tonight while I was talking to Clay about the frustrations that come from people who continually hurt me, or worse, continually hurt those that I love, I was getting myself all worked up all over again. He hugged me and said “You certainly are a feisty one, I love that about you. You balance me out. I’m the slow building smoldering type of anger. You on the other hand are a bottle rocket. (followed by fireworks and explosion sound effects) You just have to be careful not to blow yourself up”.

Here’s to me getting better at being “kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”. I kind of suck at this right now, but I guess it’s either I learn how to get better at it or I end up blowing myself up like an angry bird.

How I Knew

I’m pretty sure everyone who is married has at some point gotten the question “When did you know? How did you know this person was the one you would marry?” I didn’t have to wonder too much since Clay told me on our first date that we were going to get married. I love the nonchalant way in which he said “Don’t freak out. I’m not asking you to say yes yet, I just want you to get used to the idea”. So, he knew pretty early on, but I was reminded this morning at City Church of the time that I knew for sure.

It was a few months later. My dad had been battling an ongoing medical issue and had undergone a series of fairly unsuccessful surgeries. Each time he went in for another surgery to address another complication his body was weaker and it got scarier and scarier. Not to make it all about me, but at 22 years old I was facing the very real fact that I could lose my Daddy…. and I was a hot mess.

The night before one of his surgeries I was mad at Clay because I wanted him to pray with me for my dad that God would take everything away and make him better. Since Mr. could tell that I was not asking in faith but rather was trying to force God’s hand to the best solution I saw for the situation, he said no. He said that what I needed to do was pray that God did whatever He knew was best and that whatever that was, I trusted that I would be okay and my dad would be okay even if it meant that I no longer had my Daddy here with me. …. And that pissed me off.

Mr. wasn’t going to fight with me. Instead he turned on itunes to a recording of “It Is Well With My Soul”. He pulled me onto his lap and played the song on repeat until my anger turned to tears. We probably sat there for 30 minutes or more. It felt like hours. After my sobbing subsided to rather constant and decidedly unattractive sniffling he turned it off and said “What are you going to pray for” and I said “That God does whatever He knows is best and that whatever that is, we’ll be okay.” And right there amongst the snot and tears and crippling uncertainty I knew that this was the man that God had picked to be my provider and leader and protector.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul

Enjoy Dinner Before Looking For Tomorrow's Breakfast

I spent the evening with by far the prettiest girls in Tallahassee, the Simmons ladies: Jen, Karsyn, Lila and Tenley. I have so much respect for women like Jen who put their family in a place of such importance that they give up every hour of every day to stay home and raise their kids. My selfish self would have a difficult time doing so for very long before I started complaining. However, spending the evening watching The Little Mermaid and playing with adorable 4 year, 2 year and 1 month old girls is a lot of fun… and being able to get in some girl time with my good friend Jen is pretty good too. J

It’s so easy for me to get impatient looking for the next good thing that I want. In fact I have a reputation with my husband and sisters of always looking toward the next meal, often to the point that I am talking about whatever good food we will eat for lunch while at the breakfast table or asking what we’re having for dinner while on my lunch break.

Lately I’ve spent a lot of time and energy focusing on having kids. I LOVE kids, I want to have a lot of them. However, God has very clearly directed me & Mr. to exactly where we are now and the plan for right now doesn’t have kids in it yet. But it does have a chance for Clay to finish school at FSU, for me to enjoy the challenge and reward that comes from excelling in a job I’m good at. It includes wonderful friends, a life-changing church, a loving family and the best husband I could ask for.

So, I think I’m going to work hard to be excited for my future while still being content with my present… to start enjoying my dinner before anticipating tomorrow’s breakfast. And when I get the itch to have a bunch of kids I will spend some time loving on the Simmons ladies.

Purposeful Exhaustion

Today I feel exhausted. Really exhausted. And it's easy when you feel exhausted to only give 50% to your spouse, or your friends, or your job, or even to God. Sometimes I feel like I give God an attitude of "I should get a free pass for this. You don't understand how difficult this is, You're God, you don't get tired. Just trust me, i'm justified in be lazy and/or being a jerk."

I just read a prayer from a sermon by Mark Driscoll entitled Joy in Exhaustion. I look forward to learning even more from the rest of the sermon, but the prayer with which he opened it was enough to convict and comfort me. I thought you might like to hear it too.

"Father, we begin acknowledging that Jesus is God and that he came to live on this earth, and as a result, he experienced exhaustion. God, we know that he had to be physically fatigued. Scripture tells us. Emotionally fatigued. Scripture tells us. Spiritually just exhausted, God, and we thank you Lord Jesus for continuing with your earthly ministry through the cross where you paid for our sins and through the empty tomb where you purchased for us new life. And God we are thankful for men like Paul who writes the letter to the Philippians that we have the privilege of studying, though he’s in jail after living a very hard life: 30 years as a Christian, in prison, homeless, beaten, shipwrecked, left for dead, exhausted, occasionally working a part-time job on the side. In addition to all of that, he continues to press forward. So God it is our hope today that you would send us the Holy Spirit to enable and empower our lives to be marked by perseverance and sanctification and continued learning and forward progress, so that despite our exhaustion, it might be purposeful – that you might do something good in us and through us. So as we open the scriptures, we ask for your Holy Spirit that we may become like your son and in whose name we pray. Amen."

Remembering this Memorial Day

Today was such a good day. In fact, this weekend as a whole was such a good weekend.  Time filled with friends and family, love and laughter. Also, 3 days in a row off of work doesn’t hurt.

My sisters came to visit. I LOVE this when they come to hang out with me. They really are the coolest girls I know. We had so much fun together, drank lots of coffee, ate lots of food prepared by my husband who is a phenomenally good cook. I am so thankful for the way that he is willing to give me times like this with the girls. I know that he doesn’t understand most of the things we laugh about (such as Weekend at Bernie’s…. seriously funny movie) but he lets us have fun and never complains that we aren’t doing what he would like to.

Memorial Day is about remembering right? So perhaps it’s intended to help us remember those who serve in the military (and for those people I am very thankful, I love many of them dearly) but I’d like to take the time to look at some of the things God tells us to remember. Throughout his word God urges us, and at times commands us to remember. Remember what he’s done for us, remember who he is, remember who we are before the renewing of our souls in Christ, and remember whose we are.

I love that God tells us to remember, because He also remembers us. He is so incredibly faithful to us even when we are anything but faithful to Him.  He is always constant, he never takes a day off or forgets the promises He’s made to his kids. In Exodus 6:5 is one of the many examples in which he reassures us  “I have heard the groaning of the people of … and I have remembered my covenant.”

“Remember who you are”. This phrase most readily brings to mind the scene in the Lion King when Simba’s father is reminding him who he is and the responsibility that comes with his identity as a son of the king. As silly as it sounds to compare God’s word to a Disney movie, our Father often urges us to remember not only who we are as a child of the King but also where we were before adoption into his family. Ephesians 2:12-13 tells us “Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Remembering this should fill my heart with such joy and thankfulness that it cannot help but overflow into my life. We have such a blessing and also a responsibility to show an accurate picture of our Father to those around us that don’t know Him. I so often don’t remember how much I owe to God and how much he has given me far beyond what I deserved. I have gone from having no hope without God, to being a co-heir through the blood of Christ. How incredibly amazing and undeserved that is. Because of this my identity is no longer just about me, it’s about who I am as a daughter of the King.

There are often times that I live in light of the love and grace He has given me. This may last a few days or months where I am living in close relationship with my Creator and Savior. I can’t describe the wondrous joy of these times. And then for some reason, I self-destruct. Life gets too busy, I get too selfish, and there just doesn’t seem to be time to put that kind of effort into the relationship. How incredibly blessed I am that God doesn’t drop me as quickly as I can drop my commitments to Him. During those times is when He once again commands us to REMEMBER. “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. (Revelation 2:5).

There are so many other ways that God calls us to remember, and many reminders He gives us of his love every day.  I encourage you to look for some of them yourself. You will find them all over the place just look for them.