Friday, September 22, 2006

THOUGHTS

Today the kids and I will make the 3 1/2 hour journey to Childress. I am excited to see my family. I get so homesick. I will be filming my grandparents talking about childhood memories, memories or their parents, and things that they remember about each of their six kids when they were little. I am excited about this and I can't wait to put it all together. I am making a DVD using the video, photos, and music. So if you bored between 4:30 and 8:00, give me a ring on the cell. I'll just be driving and enjoying the lack of scenery.

INSPIRATION

I got an email from my friend Lauri today that really made me feel good. I want to share.


~ Making Pancakes ~

Six -year-old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor. He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten. Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad. He didn't know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove and he didn't know how the stove worked! Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor. Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky. And just then he saw Dad standing at the door. Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon 's eyes. All he'd wanted to do was something good, but he'd made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his father just watched him. Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process! That's how God deals with us.. We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky, or we insult a friend, or we can't stand our job, or our health goes sour. Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can't think of anything else to do. That's when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him. But just because we might mess up, we can't stop trying to "make pancakes" for God or for others. Sooner or later we'll get it right, and then they'll be glad we tried... I was thinking and I wondered if I had any wounds needing to be healed, friendships that need rekindling, or three words needing to be said, sometimes, "I love you" can heal and bless!

Never stop "Making Pancakes."

DREAMING

Although it may seem like we're dreaming from the instant we fall asleep until the moment we wake up, the average visit to Neverland is actually far shorter.
According to the
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, people spend an average of two hours dreaming each night. Dreams "almost always" occur during REM sleep, when the body experiences "rapid eye movement, loss of reflexes, and increased pulse rate and brain activity."
Your ability to remember your dreams depends a lot on your personality.
Newsweek explains that introverts tend to remember their nocturnal adventures better than extroverts. In terms of the subject matter, males and females often dream about the same things. Again according to Newsweek, 73% of men and 74% of women have dreamed of falling.
OK, but how long does an average dream last? Depending on who you ask (or which site you visit), a dream can last anywhere from a matter of seconds to 45 minutes. We were unable to find an official answer, but this post from
AnswerBag claims dreams last "about 15 minutes on the average." Dream Moods states people dream one to two hours per night, fitting in about four to seven dreams.
If, like us, you're wondering why you dream about showing up naked to piano recitals, these
dream interpreters may help you find some answers.

I usually remember my dreams. Some are stranger than others. I personally like to go to the dream moods website mentioned above for fun. Check it out sometime.

Another Inspiring Article

Flunking witnessing
by John Fischer

I heard a story once about a girl who flunked witnessing. Though this was an actual course she failed at a Bible college, I think we can all identify on some level with flunking witnessing as not a course, but a reality in our daily lives. Ive flunked witnessing numerous times by simply not making myself available to the Holy Spirit for the job. Others have probably flunked witnessing by not feeling prepared enough. We have all kinds of ways of disqualifying ourselves for this job. We wouldnt know what to say. We wouldnt know how to bring up the subject. We havent taken the course, much less passed it.

But telling others about Christ is one of the five great purposes in our lives. Why do we often find this so hard? Partly, I think its because weve made such a big deal about it. In some circles its not one of five purposes, its our only purpose. And its usually presented as if we were at a sales conference getting pumped to sell our product.

I dont know about you, but Im a very poor salesman. Im the kind of guy whose sales pitch would be, You dont want to buy this, do you? I dont like interrupting people. I dont like infringing on their space. I hate it when people do that to me, so why would I engage in it myself? Plus, I dont like pretense. I dont like being nice to someone just to make a deal. I wouldnt want anyone to think they are a means to an end.

Thats why Ive been very encouraged to find out that true witnessing doesnt involve any of these things. It doesnt even involve having a memorized speech. Witnessing is really nothing more than befriending people and telling them your story at the right time (usually when they ask you).

Witnessing is being so in love with God that you eventually end up talking about him. Witnessing is being so overwhelmed by the undeserved nature of your salvation that you cant contain your joy. Witnessing isnt coercing someone; its quite the opposite. Its having someone coerce the Gospel out of you, because they cant stand not knowing whats going on with you anymore.

If you want to prepare for anything, think about your own story, how you can tell it, and how you can connect it to the events that are happening around you the things that are going on in the world that you know people want to talk about. But dont worry about not being prepared. Probably some of the best witnesses around are people who would flunk a witnessing course, but make excellent friends.

Blessings

I feel blessed today for my grandparents. I can't wait until tomorrow. I am so excited about hearing things about them. They are such outstanding people. I feel blessed to be 31 years old and still have the oppurtunity to talk with my grandparents. I know that at my age a lot of people don't have that oppurtunity. I love the things that they are about. The things that they have taught me. I love that they were such a presence in my childhood. I am so thankful for their good health and for their hard work. Most of all I am thankful that they made the choices that they did in their lives so that I have a wonderful extended family.

So that's all from this day in the life of mommysmart.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The first think I thought when I read your words after the inspiration was...did I insult Mommysmart or Lauri? You know how neurotic I am! Love your blog, girlfriend! - Stacy H.