I am the Lorax

Last weekend we watched the new Lorax movie with the kiddos.  It was delightful, I must say.  Such a good message and a welcome change from all the Star Wars, TMNT and GI Joe we usually watch around here.  Oh, and football.  When is that over?  Anyhoo...I love the song at the end where the people of Thneedville are all singing and decide to let the little truffula seed grow.  "Let it grow! Let it grow! You can't reap what you don't sow!"  That line has been stuck in my head since we watched the movie and it occurs to me it may apply to more than just tree planting.  I know in my own life I am often very impatient for rewards I haven't necessarily worked for.  I want to know more, but don't study.  Be healthier, but don't exercise.  Have more money, but don't save.  Enjoy a better community, but don't get involved.  Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few" (Matthew 9:37).  He wasn't talking about truffula trees either.  There's so much good to be gotten when we put forth the effort!  Even if it's just smiling at the noticeably bored person behind the cash register at McDonald's...before AND after they get your order wrong.  What we sow with the power and love of Christ behind us we will reap in harvest greater than we could ever need.  This is God's promise to us.  Oh, Mr. Lorax, you marvelous and mystical defender of the forest, your message rings loud and clear.  Help me, God, to put aside my excuses, my misgivings and my pride and simply let it grow.  XOXO...Kelly

It's a win-win.

When I was in elementary school, I spent Tuesday afternoon's at the home of our family friend, Kay Burley, while my mom led my sisters' girl scout troop. Getting to hang out at Kay's house was a young kid's dream come true because the Burley's had both a trampoline in their backyard and a copy of Mel Brooks' movie "Spaceballs". Whether the weather was good or bad you were guaranteed something awesome to occupy you for the afternoon. I am pretty sure I thought the Burley's were the luckiest family I knew. Well, next to the kid on Silverspoons maybe who had a ride on train in his house. But the Burley's were the probably the luckiest real people I knew. I would deliberate the whole way to their house....trampoline or Spaceballs, trampoline or Spaceballs....knowing that either way I couldn't go wrong! It was a total win-win situation. Oh, to be a kid again! Today I celebrated my 33rd birthday, which is by no means old, but still seems a long way off from those Tuesday afternoons in elementary school, afternoons so full of assurance that whatever my choice goodness awaited me. The choices have become a little more complex since those days. Houses, kids, jobs. But blessed be the Word of God, the assurance of goodness has stayed the same! "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of The Lord forever" Psalm 23:5-6. The Lord has taken care of me! He has delivered me in good and in bad and brought me to His side time and time and time again. He reminds me that His goodness awaits me in whatever I do when I seek Him first. I am humbled and blessed to know this assurance. I want my children to know it, my family, my friends. So as I close the door on year 32 and open a new one this is my prayer for all of you, that you would rest in God's goodness and mercy tonight and every night. And just in case, I'll have a copy of Spaceballs waiting for you. XOXO...Kelly

Like a turtle on a fencepost...

So there's this picture of a turtle on the top of a fence post (you may already be familiar with it).  The story goes that it hung in Alex Haley's office and whenever anyone would ask about it, Haley would say the turtle sure didn't get up there by itself.  He kept it up in his office as a reminder that Haley didn't get to where he was by himself either.  I don't know a ton about preachers, but I know enough to know that this story is a treasure trove for sermon topic!  I've probably heard it from at least two ministers myself.  But I must confess, each time I hear it I can't help but get a little distracted with the turtle.  I mean, who would put a turtle on a fence post?  How in the world is he supposed to get down?  So if the message is that we need to remember that we don't get up on our own, then the other half of the story is that we don't get down on our own either.  We can work and work to undo the messes we make for ourselves in life, but I haven't yet come across a solution so effective as surrendering to God.  And I don't mean bringing Him in as a consultant and decide later if you like His advice.  I mean wholly, completely and totally surrendering to His will.  Admitting your way is not the best way and letting Him take control.  A fencepost is a stupid place for a turtle.  Likewise, despair is not where God wants you to be either.  As slow or frustrating or HUMBLING as God's path may be sometimes, it is the only way off the fencepost that will give you any sort of peace down the road.  (That's a good thing!!)  Rest today in the assurance that God loves you, that He wants to be a part of your life--the good and the bad.  We praise you, Lord, for the success you lead us to in spite of ourselves and for the deliverance you afford us in spite of ourselves as well.  XOXO...Kelly    

I, Kelly, take you, Kevin, and your gym shorts...

I let the holidays go by without mentioning that Kevin and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on December 27.  Because it's right after Christmas the day sometimes gets a little lost.  No one in our house was very eager to put down their new Legos and watch a copy of our wedding video.  Still, I think the day is worth noting.  I feel very blessed in my marriage.  Kevin is an amazing father, a good provider and my best friend.  All that being said, neither one of us is the easiest person to live with.  Kevin likes to watch "Dexter" and movies like "Scarface" and his running shorts could tackle a marathon on their own when he's done working out in them.  I have specific rules about how much to put in a laundry basket and buy things like metal goats and ceramic chickens.  But we've made it so far due in large part to that very essential element in any relationship....humility.  I am sure you thought I was going to say love, which is indeed essential, but in this house love is an action word as much as it is an emotion and there's nothing more action-packed than putting your pride on the shelf for the good of those around you.  Now I know what you're thinking.  Sometimes you've got to hold your ground.  "It's the principle of the matter!  I know he would hate this floral quilt on our bed, but I shouldn't have to live without it just because he can."  Or "I don't care how hard he/she worked today.  I emptied the dishwasher last time.  I am not doing it again."  Don't get me wrong....our principles are important and so is standing up for yourself.  But I believe the line between principle and pride is awfully thin and often confused.  What exactly are you standing for when you put the "it" before the "who"?  So whenever I am tempted to let my principles become my pride, in my marriage or any other relationship for that matter, I run myself through this simple test.  I picture myself twenty years from now having a lovely anniversary dinner, just me and my pride.  I picture Christmas shopping for the perfect gift, getting it home, wrapping it and labeling the tag, "From Kelly, to Pride".  I imagine snuggling up at night for a movie with some popcorn, my pride next to me on the couch.  To love as Christ loved is not easy.  It's about putting Christ's love for someone above your own love for everything else.  But in so many years, when the goat has rusted and the gym shorts don't fit anymore, it will be what keeps us going.  And I welcome whatever humility I need to preserve that.  Happy Anniversary, Kevin.  XOXO...Kelly

 

Summoning the Good

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him" Romans 8:28.  I'm a terrible resolution maker (how many people have said that today?).  There's my standing goal to walk taller, which is not figurative at all.  I have terrible posture and I really do want to try to stand up straighter.  Then there's also the standard save more, spend less, eat right, etc., etc., etc.  All of the usual ingredients for a better, healthier being.  And so this New Year has started like many before it.  We gathered 'round to bless and eat the traditional New Year's black-eyed peas, collared greens and cabbage.  And believe me, I'm all for whatever luck and fortune they want to bring me.  But this year more than ever, as my husband prayed for the new year ahead, I longed for God's fortune, God's goodness.  Kevin prayed for the good and happy things to come and for the challenges, the disappointments that are inevitable.  He prayed that God would be with us, that He would guide us through all of it.  If I may be completely honest, I am a mess on any given day.  I never know if I'll get to sleep all night or be woken by any combination of my children.  My housework completely overwhelms me, always something to do.  The boys are gloriously, wonderfully but very loudly all over the place.  Our budget gives me a headache.  And every time I turn on the television or get online the government, the media or society in general is giving me something else to get down on my knees for.  But I have to believe God's word.  I have to seek God's divinity, God's sovereignty, His mercy and His law.  And so this year, in addition to all of my usual favorite resolutions, I will be summoning the Good.  I will be looking to God for guidance more than ever before, to His will for the good that we all so desperately need.  God, I do love you.  I love that our calendar puts Christmas right before New Years, so that we might celebrate your love for us through your Son and are then immediately reminded to lean on that love to get us through another year.  I love that you gave me 2012, the blessing of another healthy, beautiful baby boy, plenty of reasons to celebrate, plenty of opportunities to grow.  Help me to summon the Good this year, Lord.  Help me to seek You in everything I do.  And also, seriously, to stand up straight.  You know, if you've got a couple of extra minutes....  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  XOXO...Kelly