Real Life Reflections

Waiting. I'm not very good at it and my guess is that neither are you - at least not if you're an American. If you think otherwise, take a trip to Africa and hang with the locals. Now they know how to wait! Monday evening, Marc and I watched a movie, Fireproof . Other than Kurt Cameron who plays the main character, we found ourselves laughing and screaming by turns at the lack of talent displayed by the other actors. It's a cheesey Christian movie, but it has a good story line. Nearing the pinnacle of the climax, Kurt Cameron's character has to wait for his wife to fully realize that he's changed, that he still loves her, and that she should stop divorce proceedings. The camera pans the life of this man as he waits. It shows him living his life day by day - at work, at home, walking, praying, cooking, etc. While we watch him, a song plays in the background. I don't know who sings it, and I didn't grab pen and paper to record the lyrics. I enjoyed the movie,...

Not being extremely loquacious, I don't often stand on a soapbox and preach to the masses (or one or two hapless listeners for that matter). I'm amazed at the people in my life who can take fifteen minutes to expound a three sentence thought - and the ones who come immediately to mind are all men. However, periodically passion overtakes my personality and the words flow out unbidden, unrehearsed, and unexpected. This past Saturday such an occasion arose. My friend and I were alone in the car for a little over two hours on the drive home from Kansas City. She, quite unknowingly I'm sure, brought up a subject that ignited my verbal juices. The topic? Giving kids responsibility. Well, that's an easy one, right? Everyone knows that it's good to give kids responsibilities - the responsibility to walk and feed the dog, or brush their teeth every night, or do their homework, etc. Unfortunately, I see more and more parents who apparently believe that those tasks are at the ...

Reins: A narrow strap of leather . . . manipulated to control the animal Control: to exercise authority over. Synonyms: lead, rule, dominate, master, prevail, domineer. See also: power. One thing about life - it's not boring. At least not if you're paying attention. There's so much to learn! Currently, my husband and I are both focused on the issue of control. For him, the one who has always needed to be in control, he's learning to let go and trust God. For me, the one who has always been afraid to be in control, I'm learning that I need to stand firm in what I know is God's will for me. Opposite sides of the same coin. If you want to hear about Marc's side of the coin, you'll have to ask him, but for my side, keep reading. As the youngest of six, I learned at an early age that everyone else knew better than I did (what older siblings wouldn't enforce that "fact?"). I learned to keep my mouth shut and go along with the crowd if I didn'...

How often I tell God that I want to hear Him - especially when I write. I don't want to write vain words without value. I don't want others to read my words and find emptiness. I want them (you) to find something of God in the words I write either directly or indirectly, either by lightning bolt or something more subtle like simply enjoying His creation/His creativity. This morning, I prayed my typical "I want to hear You" prayer, and His answer surprised me . . . Listen. Listen. I will speak to you In the sounds of your day. Listen for Me In the sounds of life. Listen, And you will hear Me. So listen. Just listen.

Cinderella - my all-time favorite fairy tale. Except that it's not a fairy tale at all. Neither is it something that happened once upon a time in a land far, far away. It happens every day right here in the U.S., in China, in Thailand, in Burkina Faso, in Korea (right, Kimmer?), in Brazil, and in Canada. As a matter of fact, it happens all over the world. Every single day. It's the greatest story ever told. Rogers & Hammerstein and Walt Disney don't have all the details straight, but the prince and his love for the unlovely is spot-on. It's like this: You're Cinderella. I'm Cinderella. Originally, we were simply called "Ella," and we were children of an extremely kind and benevolent father, but then we decided that we wanted some independence. We wanted to be on our own; but instead of the freedom we craved, we ended up enslaved by our cruel stepmother. We toiled endlessly, but never made her happy. We ended up covered in ashes, mud, soot, dung, a...

It was just the type of night you would expect for something like this to happen. Sara left the house at 6:45, waving off her mother's never-ending admonishment to be careful. What does she think I'm going to do - stand in front of the store and ask someone to take all the money and shoot me please? "This is the last time you're working the late shift." She said as Sarah shut the door behind her. "Whatever" Sarah whispered under her breath. Why do mothers always think the worst is going to happen? It should be illegal for mothers to watch the news or read newspapers. It makes them way too neurotic. Business was slow, but that was expected. Rain poured down in sheets rather than drops. Thunder boomed, causing the glass in the storefront to vibrate. Lightning lit up the sky as brightly as if it were noon on a clear day, and the wind rolled debris across the parking lot as the storm raged on hour after hour. Growing up in the Midwest, Sarah was used to spri...

How the heck are we supposed to obey that one - especially living in America where coveting is virtually the national past time? As a product of the parochial school system, I studied the ten commandments every year in religion class. Number nine (for Catholics, number ten for just about everyone else) always caused me consternation. How can I possibly control what I want and what I don't want? Teacher after teacher after teacher explained it to us. Without fail, the explanation was that "to covet" meant to want something excessively; to want something more than just a casual "boy, Melissa's got a sweet car. I'd love to have me one of them." They said that coveting implies obsessing over someone else's something, someone else's anything. While this is true, I think they missed the most important point. What does it matter to God if I really really want a car like Melissa's? If that's all the further it goes? If I don't cross a line? ...