WWJD?

Remember those clever bracelets (and shirts and hats and bags and socks and necklaces and buttons and stickers) that came out like 20 years ago with the letters WWJD on them?  The letters stood for What Would Jesus Do, a little extra reminder to look upward in our thoughts and actions.  I wore mine with a tucked in GAP t-shirt and a braided belt...heck yes I did!!  WWJD was so popular that a whole acronym-based fad rose up. There was IBNO (In But Not Of), FROG (Fully Rely On God), BIBLE (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth), CIA (Christians In Action), DOG (Depend On God), BARF (Be A Red Fraggle)....the list went on and on.  But I really did think WWJD was a good one and a really clear cut explanation of our purpose here earth...to live as He lived, to love as He loved.  So when I was working with the youth at our church--and now with my own kids--I'd really try to bring this idea back.  Someone is being mean at school.  Things aren't going well at work.  A sibling stole your toy.  Well, what would Jesus do?  Apparently Jesus would dump his friends, post a mean message on Facebook and smack his sibling on the head.  Arg!  It's such sound advice!!  Why isn't it working?!  And then it dawned on me.  If you don't know who Jesus is, how can you act like Him?  Maybe the problem isn't a lack of clever acronyms.  Maybe it's a lack of the knowledge to back them up, an unfamiliarity with who Jesus really was.  Let's face it.  The Kardashian's get a lot more press than our Savior does these days (though I still really don't understand why....what is it that they do again???).  Holy week is upon us.  This is as good a time as any to really think about who Jesus was and is and make sure the people around you know it, too, because it isn't just about what Jesus would do.  It's about what Jesus did!!  Jesus, you are my King.  You are my Salvation.  You are the mercy I so desperately need and the grace I so desperately don't deserve.  You fed ten thousand and healed the sick.  You raised the dead from the grave and lame from the ground.  And still you call me daughter.  Please don't let me forget that and please, please, please don't let me forget to pass it on.  Amen.  XOXO....Kelly

P.S. WWJD...What Would Jesus Do?  He'd kick death's booty, that's what He'd do.  HAPPY EASTER!!!

The Air We Breathe

Last week we flew to Pittsburgh to spend spring break with my parents.  My favorite part of flying with kids--other than when my husband allows our six year old to order a Coke on the first leg of our flight--is when they instruct you to put the oxygen mask on yourself first and then assist the children flying with you.  The flight attendants make a big deal of coming to you individually and reminding you because, as parents (or just nice, helping people in general), our first instinct is to sacrifice for our children.  But what good can you do for your child if you're passed out in your seat?  The reminder is well taken and I like to think of this is as good spiritual advice, too.  If you're not getting any spiritual oxygen of your own, how in the world can you expect to lead anyone else around you to it?  Please don't misunderstand me.  This IS NOT about being a perfect Christian.  Could there even be such a thing??  It's about taking the time you need to be with Christ, so He can reveal His will for you.  This IS NOT about having all the answers, as if that was ever possible.  It's about making sure you're taking time to ask and listen for them.  This IS NOT about being selfish.  It's about putting your relationship with Christ ahead of your relationship with others, getting your oxygen mask in the right place, so God can move through you to get all the other masks where they belong as well.  And since we're already one foot in with this metaphor...."the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" Genesis 2:7.  We need God's oxygen!!  Without it we are but dust on the ground, as misdirected and unfocused as a six year old hopped up on caffeine and stuck in an airplane.  Take a breath with God today, in prayer and in His word.  Be alive in Him.  XOXO....Kelly      

They're gonna love you!

A few weeks ago Kevin and I attended a new member class at our church. It was the first chance we've had to get to know anyone there and I was both excited and nervous. It's like it was the first day of school. I took special care to look nice, got there early, chose a seat near the front. As the instructor passed out the class info packets I thought to myself, "Soon they're going to be asking me to teach this class. These people are going to love me!" Not long after I started to smell something. It was faint, not horrible, but definitely off. I thought maybe it was coming from the lady next to me. Or maybe the breakfast food that had been provided. Or maybe it was just really old carpet. By the end of the class I decided it must have just been Parker's diaper. It wasn't until we got into the van later that I realized the smell was coming from my sweater and was, in fact, dog pee on my shoulder. That's right. Dog pee. On my shoulder. Don't ask me how it got there. Oh, and did I also mention that halfway through the class I looked down and noticed I had neglected to fasten one side of my nursing bra from earlier that morning? Madame Urine Half Bra. Yes, they're going to love me. My life is a circus. But you know what, it's a wonderful circus and a most sovereign ringmaster reigns over all of it. I have three dogs. They pee on my clothes. And my furniture. I have four boys who also tend to pee everywhere. We are rarely on time and I yell a lot. But praise the heavens, God takes me anyway! And so I did go back to that class the next week and the week after that because even if I did have it all together, which I don't, it's the fact that God wants me there that matters most. He does not require my hair be combed or my clothes match or that I am on time (though don't get me wrong, these are GOOD things). He simply asks that I just be willing. Don't let a little pee on your shoulder stop you from that. When God is calling it doesn't matter what might be trying to get in the way. Do it anyway. Trust me...they're gonna love you. XOXO...Kelly

God was at Joann Fabrics last weekend. I think He was looking for a good spring cotton...

My heart has been heavy lately with so many of the things going on in the lives of my friends and family...so much so that I was driven to Joann Fabrics one Saturday evening just to escape my thoughts for a while. I do love me a good trip to the fabric store. All the fabric is so neat and so pretty. It's not sewn all over and ripped up yet like when you've tried twelve times to get your quilt lined up and think you might just pitch it across the room. I once took Kevin to the fabric store with me. It was a lot like when he took me to Radio Shack only with more fart noises. So, again, I do love me a good trip to the fabric store ALONE. And since I was alone I was in a much better position to eavesdrop on all the conversations going on around me. Well, I wasn't really eavesdropping per say, but it's quiet in that store and you can easily hear what people are saying. I was browsing near the home decorating bolts when I overheard two older women chatting at the pattern book table. They were sharing their experiences of losing a son and a grandson. One of the women said, "People always want to know why, but I know my grandson will be there waiting for me when I get to Heaven. I don't really need to know why." As she spoke it became clear I was no longer listening to the words of this woman but hearing the voice of God. A strange peace fell over me as I leaned into the assurance of my Father and, aside from how He was responding to so many of the things I have been praying about, I was immediately struck by how THERE He was. Smack in the middle of Joann Fabrics...God was there. And when I least expected to hear His voice there it was, too. So in case you need the assurance today, God is out there! His timing is perfect. His wisdom is absolute. And His love for you....it is overwhelming. God is out there, friends.  AMEN.  XOXO...Kelly

Got milk?

I often leave the supermarket without milk and this is why. There is no room in my head for milk. I have to keep track of whose turn it is to sit in what seat in the van, which Skylander characters we have and which ones we need (shout out to my good friend T. Hook on this one...she knows what I mean), who used the shark cup and/or Hotwheel plate last, how many days ago Blake wore his favorite shirt to school before he can repeat it, whose turn it is to pick the movie, and where the Lego guy with the orange helmet went but not the orange helmet with the stripe on it because that's not the one we are looking for. See...no room for milk. Along the same lines, I can walk from the kitchen to the living room and not remember why. So much of it is a symptom of having four kids, but a lot of it is just the inability to focus. Well, let me rephrase that...an inability to focus on the appropriate thing. I've been amazingly focused on revamping our kitchen island for several weeks now, but that's not getting the laundry done. Or milk in the fridge. And so it goes with our spiritual lives. We allow so many things to pull our eyes away from God and then we look up one day and wonder how we  came to be standing in the metaphorical living room of despair. We can't even remember how we got there. "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that sinful nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace" Romans 8:5-6. Life and peace. I love it. It means never coming home empty handed, being assured that whatever brought you to the living room is full of God's will. It can be so hard to focus sometimes, but our actions tend to follow our thoughts. And just like if all you're thinking about is Skylanders then you are bound to forget the milk, if your thoughts are set on sin then your life is bound to miss out on spiritual peace. Lord, let the Proverb be my prayer today. Let my eyes look straight ahead, fix my gaze directly before me. Help me to focus on the goodness of Your word and experience the peace of Your will. Amen. XOXO...Kelly

The heart matters.

Oh, those tricky Ten Commandments.  They're hanging everyone up these days.  I love what Dr. Tony Evans had to say about it on the radio one afternoon.  In Deuteronomy 5 Moses is summoned up the mountain and comes back down with the Big Ten, which includes #6...thou shall not murder.  Fast forward several hundreds of years later when Jesus says, in Matthew 5, not just those that murder will sit in judgment of it, but anyone who is even so much as angry with his brother is guilty of murder.  Jesus is taking God's law beyond just the action of our hands and is looking at the condition of our hearts.  What a funny concept.  How many times have I "bitten my tongue" with someone and patted myself on the back for it?  As if not saying all of the negative things I was thinking would somehow make me a better person when what Jesus is saying is I shouldn't be thinking them to begin with.  Or the guy clenching his fists at his side to keep from punching someone.  We applaud his self control, but should any of us really be longing to deck another person in the first place?  Oh, don't get me wrong.  Our brothers and sisters do not always make it easy on us.  But if we're to take God's word seriously then we have to try.  The fact is our hands and mouths are completely unreliable.  All it takes is one bad day and our bad thoughts become bad words, bad actions.  Our self control goes right out the window.  We can sterilize our environments as best we can, control our circumstances to pose no threats, but until we can affect what's going on inside of our hearts we stand no chance at peace.  Valentine's Day is coming up and everything around us seems to be exploding red and pink glitter, shiny hearts and stuffed teddy bears.  We're thinking lots about the people in our lives that we love.  What about the people we don't?  As I buy my requisite boxes of chocolate this year in honor of all the ones I have no trouble adoring, I'll be saying an extra prayer that God helps turn my heart around for the ones I do.  XOXO...Kelly

Trash days are now Tuesday and Friday.

I saw a sign in HomeGoods the other day that read, "Start each day with a grateful heart." It's been an unusual season of change lately in the Long house, much to pray about. For example, did you know they changed our trash pick up days?  Nearly five years of Monday and Thursday and all the sudden I'm being forced to put the cans out on Tuesday and Friday. If you're thinking that doesn't sound like a big deal you'd be right. But I am an impatient prayer. When I ask God to settle something for me I want results right away. Opening up your community newspaper to find a change in your weekly routine is like adding insult to injury. But still I sit. Waiting. Perhaps that's why the sign in the store struck me so. It was for me a quiet reminder to be patient and in my waiting to be grateful. In fact, the same community newspaper which recently rocked my trash-disposing world also included an article on dealing with change, reminding its readers to stay active and remain optimistic.  I've always thought of gratefulness as the Christian answer to optimism. It's not just seeing the glass (or trash can) as half full, but praising God for whatever the glass is half full of. "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" Psalm 118:24.  It is the Lord's day, every part of it from the time we rise in the morning to our rest in the evening. I am grateful for that, that His arms are around me during each struggle, each celebration. So whether it's Monday or Tuesday, I'll take the trash out like I'm supposed to, try to be patient, and remember all that I have to be grateful for in the meantime. XOXO...Kelly