Embracing Differences

Today I watched the movie "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." I've been wanting to see it for quite some time. It's about a young boy whose father is a soldier in Poland when their family is transferred to Berlin. From his bedroom window, young Bruno can see a "farm" in the distance. He sees children playing outside and wants to go play with them. His father tells his mother that the "farm" is a Nazi concentration camp and Bruno is told he can not go near there. However, he sneaks his way through the woods and fields to go near the "farm" to make friends. He meets a child his age named Shmuel. They quickly become friends through the electric barbed wire fence. Bruno visits his friend every day. He wonders why Shmuel wears "striped pajamas" but doesn't see Shmuel as being any different than he is. They hatch a plan whereby Shmuel will get a pair of "striped pajamas" for Bruno and he will dig a hole under the fence to come in and help Shmuel find his father. The boys are in the hut (men's barracks) when soldiers come in and herd them all to a small building where they are all told to undress. One of the men thinks they're being given a shower. In all actuality, they're all being put into a gas chamber. By the time Bruno's parents realize he is gone and trace where he has run off to, he has been killed along with many Jewish men and boys.

So, this movie got me to thinking of something that has become a huge problem in our society today. Too many people think that people who are a different race, religion, gender, nationality or sexual preference than they are must be wrong or even evil. What I'm about to tell you may make you think less of me. It may even make you decide you can't be friends with me. That's certainly your decision to make. But I hope none of my friends are that shallow. Here's what I have to say:
I don't care what race, religion, gender, nationality or sexual preference you are. You were created by the same God I was. That doesn't mean I have to agree with you. Good heavens! I don't agree with every Caucasian, Christian, straight woman born in America either. You still deserve my respect. I have friends who are Catholic, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, white, black, Mexican, straight, gay, and everything in between. Why in the world can't we all be like Bruno? Why can't we want to be friends with someone just because they're human and need someone to care? Why must they be exactly the same as us?

Matthew 22:29 says "And the second is like it" 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" By the way, these words are in red in my Bible. That means Jesus Himself commanded us to love our neighbors.

You say, "Well, the people who live by me are all just like me." Let me clear up who your neighbors really are. Luke 10:30-37 says this: In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled,  came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" 37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

So I ask you...will you "Go and do likewise"? Don't concern yourself with their race, religion or sexual preference. Worry about whether you showed the love of Jesus to them!

God Sits

In less than 2 months time, we needed 3 new tires. And God sat.

While driving our daughter to work last week, the alternator on my husband's 1995 Chevy Astro Van went out. And God sat. 

Our son-in-law-to-be has been searching for a full-time job. And God sat.

My husband and son have battled depression recently. And God sat.

Lots of snow days over the winter have meant smaller paychecks for me. And God sat.

Extended family members have dealt with various health issues. And God sat.

So many other things in our lives and in our world have gone and are going on. And God sits.

This week, I started reading the book "Gripped by the Greatness of God" by James MacDonald. It's by far the deepest book I've ever read. It's so deep I can only get through a few pages a day before my brain feels like it's going to explode. I'm not even halfway through the first chapter and I've learned so many profound things. Perhaps the most profound is this: God sits!

When I think of leaders, I typically think of people pacing the floor, demanding action, walking, traveling, shouting, showing frustration, delegating, etc. I don't think of a leader as someone who just sits in their chair. However, Isaiah 6:1 says that Isaiah saw the Lord SITTING in His throne. This got me to thinking (as it did the author of the book) about why and how God could just sit there. If being in charge of a city, county, country, or business means you can't just sit, how could the One in charge of the entire universe not be up out of His seat? 

The answer is simple: He doesn't have to get up! He knows He is in control. He knows all He has to do is move a finger, whisper a word, nod His head...and whatever He wants to be done will happen. So, are our problems and struggles insignificant to Him? Absolutely not! He just doesn't get out of His chair because He doesn't need to. With a flick of His mighty finger, He can take care of everything. Remember, there's more power in God's little finger than in all the strong men of the world put together. 

So, rest in Him. Know He is in complete control and will take care of everything. Will it fit into our time frame? Not necessarily. But it will be taken care of right when it needs to be. 

Just for the record, our three tires happened. We're waiting on the alternator. We've seen miracles happen in family members. God saw us through the winter and now paychecks are improving - plus our insurance premium actually went down. Our son-in-law-to-be got a full-time job today. Hubby and son still battle depression but I know God has them in the palm of His hand. 

So every morning when I wake up, I can now thank God that He is still sitting on His throne. As long as He is, what have I to fear?

#SilverLinings

You've heard the saying "Every cloud has a silver lining." But how often do we take time to look for those silver linings? I'm obviously not talking about literal silver linings on clouds. I've looked at plenty of clouds and not seen a hint of silver on them. I'm talking about the bright spots in seemingly bleak circumstances or just ordinary events. Let me share a few personal examples.

The middle of February, as my husband was driving home from work (and almost home), he heard the telltale thump, thump, thump coming from his front driver's side tire...yep, it was flat. He made it safely into the driveway. #SilverLining

We had no way to get the flat tire off and couldn't afford to get it replaced anyway. So it sat in the driveway. Almost a week later, a friend from church who has helped with some car repairs in the past "happened" to stop in the pawn shop. Drew told him about the tire and he said he would come take the flat one off. #SilverLining Then, Drew received a Facebook message from a friend saying that if we could get the flat tire off, they would pick it up and take it to be replaced. #SilverLining So, thanks to friends, we got the tire taken care of and Myrtle was back on the road.

About 2 weeks ago, Drew had to go to a meeting on the other side of South Bend. With his car not having a muffler anymore, he needed to take my car. He stopped by home to switch cars to make the trip. I had been having issues with one of my tires through the winter. He looked at the tire just to be sure he was good to go. Nope! The steel tread was showing through on it. I needed to carefully drive it to Walmart to get a new tire. He ended up taking his car to South Bend. I took my car to get the tire. I made it there, got the tire and was safely back on the road. #SilverLining

Later that night, I was settling in to bed since I knew he would be home late from his meeting. I had turned off the lights, pulled up the covers and was ending my day with prayer when my cell phone rang. It was my husband. He had another flat tire and was stuck in a church parking lot a couple miles from home. I went and picked him up since we had no way to get the car home. Again, we were left with no way to remove the tire or get a new one. A couple days later, a friend helped us get a used tire for it and one of Drew's customers willingly drove over to take the flat one off and put the new one on. #SilverLiningPart1 The real blessing here was partially the fact that it happened so close to home but that it happened then when I was able to pick him up. Had he not had to drive his car to South Bend, it would have happened the next day on his way to work when I wasn't able to pick him up and he would have truly been stranded. #SilverLiningPart2

Both cars are now back on the road and things are going well...right? That's what we thought. But we were what I like to call WRONG! On Wednesday, Drew was taking our daughter to work. As he was driving, the alternator went out. He was able to get the van safely back home. But we're now back to one car again. As I was driving him to work this morning, we were going down a fairly busy road with no space to pull off on the side. He said, "It's a good thing that happened yesterday on my day off. If it had been today, I would have been right about here when I broke down." #SilverLining

So, God prompted me with something. As dark as things may seem right now, there's always a #SilverLining in there somewhere. So, I'm going to start focusing on those. You might see this hashtag show up on lots of things from me. It's time we stop focusing on the negative and start focusing on the positive.

#SilverLining

Introvert or Extrovert?

People who don't know me well think I'm an extrovert. People who know me very well, know that I am an introvert with an invisible 10 foot tall wall built around me. (If you know this about me, then you're one of the ones who has been given a ticket into the gate.) I don't talk to people just because they're there. I'm horrible at small talk. I only talk to people I know extremely well, am very comfortable with or to whom I actually have something to talk about. Today would have been shocking to those few that know me well. I talked to two complete strangers. I even exchanged names with them. Here's how it went:

The Leprechaun follows the rainbow
 to find his pot of gold

While my mom got her hair done at Smart Style, my grandson and I went grocery shopping. Having our cart filled and our purchases paid for by the time her hair was done, my little buddy and I sat on a bench and waited while my mom did her grocery shopping. As we were sitting there, a sweet little lady came up and asked if she could share my bench. I welcomed her to and moved over to give her room. After talking to the precious little one in my cart for a moment, she noticed my fingernails. We talked about why they were painted this way and she just thought it was so pretty. I said that I work with kids so I could get away with having my nails tell a story. She wondered where I worked. I told her I work at Jimtown Intermediate School. She became very excited. She went on to tell me that she spent nearly 30 years working at Jimtown Junior High School in the study hall room. Her name is Annie Ferrell (I'm not sure if I'm spelling her last name right or not). She retired from Jimtown in 1993 when her husband was diagnosed with lung cancer. She has 5 great grandchildren, with the youngest being a 3 month old in Florida. She even showed me the Easter card she's sending the newest addition to the family. She lives in a nearby retirement home. When my parents finished shopping, it was time for me to go. As I got up from the bench, she asked me to greet my principal (who she knows well) and reached out to give me a hug. It was an amazing 20 minutes of getting to know Annie. I know she won't read this, but thank you, Annie, for being such a precious lady.

They go with everything!

We then went to Meijer in Dunlap. I think this might have been the first time in a year or more since I had been in that store. But I'll forever remember my visit today. At least, I sure hope I do! While waiting for my mom to come into the store, I was standing just inside the door. That's where I met Jackie R. She's a greeter there and noticed my shoes. I told her about Toms and how they send a pair to someone in a third world country for every pair that's purchased. She then saw my Bethel College shirt and asked if I had graduated from there. She said that a gentleman from her church went to Bethel also. She told me his name but I didn't know him. But we talked about the world's need for Jesus and how it's our job as followers of Christ to share His love and to show Him through the way we live our lives. Oh, by the way...I told Jackie my name also. Before I went to begin my shopping, we hugged each other and pledged to pray for one another.

While I realize my chances of ever seeing either of these women again are slim to none, I was truly blessed for the brief moments I spent with them today. Does this make me an extrovert all of a sudden? No. But perhaps the 10 foot wall has broken down a bit.

It's About Time!

I hear people say, "I don't have time to get it done." or "There aren't enough hours in my day." or "I wish I had more time to spend with ___________." It got me to thinking.

We are all given 24 hours in a day. No one gets more hours a day than anyone else. It's all in how we use them. My husband and I have one day a week off together. He gets home from work at 8:00 or after every night. We try to go to bed at around 10:00. On our one common day off, we spend the day going to church, family lunch then coming home to do laundry, make lunches for Monday, cleaning up around the house and playing with our grandson. When he gets home from work each night, he tries to catch up on social media (both personal and business), have a little snack (he has decided to give up dinner in order to give us a little more time together) and relax a bit.

Yet we don't spend time complaining about how little time we have together. Do we wish we had more time together? Sure! But we try to make the most of every minute we have. Last week, his car spent most of the week sitting with a flat tire in a church parking lot. That left us with one car. Did we look at it as an inconvenience? Nope. We looked at it as some uninterrupted time together in the car as I drove him to work and then back home again. I also got to sit in his office while he closed the store. It's all in how we choose to spend the hours we're given.

A few nights ago, I was driving to the gas station and saw the most beautiful sunset. Instead of completely ignoring the beauty of the evening, I came straight home, got out my camera and stood in the middle of the street to take pictures of it. Such magnificent beauty simply had to be captured! Yesterday, my husband needed my car to drive to South Bend. So, he took me to work in the morning. First of all, I loved having that extra 10 minutes together. Secondly, guess what I saw on the way to work (east of home)?! Yep, a stunning sunrise! Because he was driving, I was able to capture it in pictures. It's all in what we choose to spend our time on.

One day. 24 hours. 1,440 minutes. 86,400 seconds. No matter how you look at it, we all have the same amount of time each day. But how we spend our time is a direct reflection of what our priorities are. So, put down that cell phone, turn off the TV, lay the video game controller on the table. Spend time with the ones you love. Look at the sunrise or sunset. Take a walk around the block. Play with your kids. Visit your neighbor. Take time for others. Remember, they're sharing the same 24 hours with you.

Sunset March 13, 2015

Sunrise March 18, 2015

Roller Coaster Ride

I have nothing profound to share. In fact, I'm almost here to whine. Monday was a normal day. Nothing really special. Tuesday, my tire was making a funny noise. The warning light that my traction control system needed serviced came on.   My husband needed to switch cars after work to go to South Bend for a meeting. He looked at the tire and said he wasn't taking it to South Bend. The steel bands were showing through. I drove to Walmart to get a new tire. Got that fixed, came home and settled in for the night. 11:00, the phone rang. Hubby's car had a flat tire. He was stranded in Mishawaka. We've spent 2 days trying to figure that out. We think it might be taken care of tomorrow. Other health issues among our family members have our hearts heavy and our minds whirling. It feels like we're on a roller coaster that's spinning out of control. I know God has it under control. I rest in that knowledge. It's always darkest before the dawn.

Always look for the bright spot.

Simple Things

It's late. I need to keep my commitment to blog. I've had something to share all week and haven't gotten it done. First of all, let me say that I just haven't felt myself this week. I've had a hard time processing things and have found myself frustrated about simple things like planning a meal. I just feel like my brain has been unplugged or something. I don't know if it's just a lack of sleep, Seasonal Affective Disorder, or what. It's been a long week. It feels like it should be Friday not, not Thursday night.

I've struggled to find highlights from each day to write in my journal. However, I have a couple highlights to share that may seem silly to you. They are things that have made me feel good this week. Today, I wore a cardigan sweater that used to be my husband's. It's given me great comfort all through the day. Every time I would pull the sweater tighter around me, it felt like my husband was hugging me. I've loved wearing it today!

Earlier in the week, I received a gift in the mail. I have a great deal of affection for sporks. You know...those fork/spoon hybrids that some fast food restaurants make available. My school cafeteria even has them. I love it! I don't know what it is about sporks. But I think they are an awesome eating utensil! Well, my husband found a blue (my favorite color) titanium spork online!!!! That's right, boys and girls. I can wash it and reuse it over and over again. It's a spork-lover's dream! I've already taken it with my lunch this week. I'm taking it again tomorrow. Knowing it's sitting in my Hello Kitty lunch bag just waiting for me to eat lunch tomorrow makes me look forward to the day. My love language is not gifts. But my husband loves making me happy. May I work to make him as happy as he makes me.

I'm sorry that's all I have for you tonight. Hopefully my brain will be connected better next week and I can offer you something a little more profound.

Until then...