Missed Opportunities

I was so excited last night to have practiced mercy that I didn't even realize the missed opportunity we had. The Lord woke me up around 2am this morning to have a little with me. He said you know Kasie, I'm proud of you and Casey for being Christ-like at dinner tonight. But (there's always a but...), did you shine for me as much as you could have? Did you invite her The Journey? Did you converse with her at all other than about your food? How did she know you all were any different from the next table? Wow, you're right Lord. We were faced with an opportunity, yet we didn't even realize it. I don't know what's worse - ignoring opportunities to share Christ, or missing them completely and not even realizing it. It's been bugging me since He woke me up this morning. Why did I miss that? What's wrong with me? But then He said draw close to me, continue to draw closer and closer and you'll begin to see those opportunities more and more.

The Lord has been talking to me a lot here lately about drawing close to Him. The closer we draw to Him the further we get from the things of this world. We were watching America's Best Dance Crew (on MTV) the other night and they had to dance to Janet Jackson. Well the very first group came out and did this dance that one of the judges said looked like a big "orgy" - and basically it did. We were pretty much disgusted. But of course the judges loved it. And I thought, you know, there was a time when I would have really enjoyed watching that. But now, as I draw closer to God, those things seem less and less appealing. I thought about that a lot. And then after last night, God said if you were really drawing close to me, you wouldn't miss those opportunities. I think we need to ask the Lord to open our eyes to opportunities to not only be Christ-like, but to shine for Him, and further His kingdom. I think we miss so many opportunities throughout the day. Maybe because we are so busy, maybe because our eyes are not open, or maybe we choose to avoid those opportunities. But how easy would it have been for us to have invited her to The Journey, or left a verse on the receipt? An opportunity came and went and we missed it.

Lord open our eyes, and let us not miss an opportunity to shine for you. Forgive us when we do. Help us to be constantly be aware of what is going on around us. Give us eyes to see the opportunities and hearts to look for them. Let us no longer be too busy for you. Let us put you first in all that we do, so that we may see any and every opportunity to show Christ in an ungodly world. Thank you for loving us no matter what, even when we mess up. Thank you for who you are. Amen.

Mercy

I think one of the most rewarding things in life is when God teaches you something, then gives you an opportunity to show Him what you've learned. In Bible study this week we learned all about mercy. We all discussed that it was easier to give out mercy than to recieve it. I remember sitting there thinking, well that sounds really good, but is that really true? I mean, when we really like a person its fairly easy to give them mercy. (Most of the time...) But then what about those people who we just don't really like or even know. Do we honestly find it easier to give them mercy than to accept it ourselves? I know I don't. Let's put it into perspective. You are driving down the road with your chidlren asleep in the back and a car is tailing you just waiting to get around you. It finally gets its chance and flies past you, waving their favorite finger at you. Just as you exceed the speed limit, you pass a cop, who then pulls you over. Seeing your sleeping children in the back, he has mercy on you and lets you go with a warning. You're thinking he better not have given you a ticket after what that jerk just did to you...he's the one that deserves a ticket. Yeah, he probably did deserve the ticket, but someone somewhere had mercy on him and let him go, just as the cop did to you. You see, I think its wrong to assume that we always find it easier to extend mercy to others than to recieve it ourselves.

The Lord gave us a wonderful opportunity to show someone mercy tonight. Honestly, I really didn't even realize it was happening until it was all over and a light clicked on in my head "mercy." Casey and I had a much needed date night tonight. Landon stayed the night with Casey's parents and we went out to eat. We chose a place we had not been to in a while. We got our drinks and our appetizer fairly quickly and we were having a very enjoyable time. Then we waited, and waited, and waited for our salads. The table behind us who was seated after us got theirs (same server). Hmmm we thought. We waited some more. That same table got their entrees. We became annoyed. Then we started to get angry as we watched our server chat up all her other tables. We began to feel like they were getting better service because they were older (much older). After about 45 minutes of nothing, we were about ready to complain. And if you know us at all, we do not do that!! We both served and we just don't complain. Then our server came over and confessed to us that she had forgotten to put our order in. She apoligized over and over again and promised to make it up to us. We got our food shortly after that, and then we recieved a free dessert. She continued to apoligize the rest of our time there. Basically, we waited over an hour for our food, simply because our server made a mistake. She messed up. She really didn't deserve a good tip, if any. But instead, we had mercy on her, and tipped her better than we usually do. She deserved nothing, but instead got something. I felt the Lord say, "you finally get it."

I'm sure that lady expected us to not even leave a tip after all that. Imagine her surprise as she came to the table to see what had been given to her. Its just like what the Lord does for us each and every day. I think a lot of times though, we are too busy to even realize when mercy has fallen on us. Or sometimes I think we think we deserve mercy. "Yes I know messed up Lord, but I really don't deserve to be punished, I still deserve this or that" I think its when we have really been broken that we understand the true value of mercy. Its when we are at the feet of the cross that we realize we have been taking it for granted. Mercy isn't something we should take for granted. We don't deserve it, yet we get it over and over and over again. Not only do we need to practice bestowing mercy on others, we need to practice humilty and be grateful for the mercy that we get.

"Blessed are the merciful, because they will be shown mercy." - Mathew 5:7

If We are the Body

There is a song by Casting Crowns called "We are the Body" that is really a great song that I think should be speaking to a lot of us right now. The song is really a challenge for every Christian to be more Christ-like. Here are the the very powerful lyrics:

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know
CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way
A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road
CHORUS
Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ
CHORUS

Jesus did pay much too high a price for us treat one another any other way than he has called us to. We are to be the body of Christ. A body only works if all parts are working together. There's no such thing as an exclusive body part. I mean, your right foot isn't just going to decide it doesn't like your left foot one day. But let's say hypothetically it did. The body would no longer be one. You might have your right foot trying to go one direction and your left foot trying to go the other. Obviously if this were to happen, you would go nowhere. I think this is just like the Body of Christ. He calls us to be one. And if we decide to form exclusive groups with one another, we are no longer being one, thus going nowhere.

I think that often times at churches we treat people like outcasts for no apparent reason. These can be newcomers, members, or really just anyone. Maybe its just because we don't know them, and as humans we are all guilty of judging by first glance. As wrong as it is we all do it, we do it without even realizing it. Or maybe its because we heard gossip about a particular person that shows up. But ya know, none of that really matters. It doesn't matter what we look like, or what people have heard about us. There is no reason to turn people away. Church should be a place where everyone feels welcome. Furthermore our homes (and lives), as Christians, should be places where everyone feels welcome. Especially now as adults. We are no longer in high school, where we are trying to be "cool" (or popular) by only associating with certain people. You know sometimes I think we are more accepted by our non-Christian friends/co-workers than by our church family. I think that's why the church and Christians often get a bad name.

As Christians, we have a higher standard we have to live up to. We aren't perfect, so of course we are going to mess up, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. We shouldn't be getting together with our cliques and gossiping about others, and refusing certain people into our groups. This isn't how we should represent God. We are all guilty of doing it. I think women are worse than men when it comes to this kind of thing. Why we are like this I don't know. I hate it myself. I hate when I see that I'm doing that. It just really makes me mad. You know, God would never turn anyone away. And as His body, we should welcome people with open arms - whether we know them or not, whether they are popular or not, whether they seem to have it all together or seem to be broken. We should go out of our way to include others, just as Christ would do. We should be there for one another, encouraging one another, loving one another, just as Christ loves us.

We are the body of Christ and we are representing Him.

Private School vs. Public School - What does God want?

I grew up in a Christian family. We always went to church. We were pretty involved. But the one thing that I remember most about growing up and church was going to a Christian high school. My parents sent us to Shiloh Christian (Arkansas) because they thought the education would be better. They thought it would better prepare us for college. Well honestly, the education was about the same as public education. But I loved high school. You think of kids that go to private schools as being the worst ones. The classes above me and below me were kind of that way. However, my class was great. We had parties after football games where we swam and ate and just hung out. We didn't need anything else to have fun. (I later got into "that" life style in college). Honestly, the group I went to school with was very grounded. Many of the guys went on to Liberty University and become pastors. I have great memories of high school.

I found the Bible that I used at school when I was in HS. I kept this particular one in my locker and took it to Bible class and chapel. I opened it up to find notes I had taken in chapel, quizzes, and things I had written as reflection to what was learned. It was really fun to see how I've grown since then. And on the other hand, it was fun to see my level of spiritual maturity at that point in my life. Just looking through that Bible brought back so many memories of high school. I think I took for granted the fact that I had the opportunity to learn about the Bible every single day, and the opportunity to grow in my walk every week at school through chapel. It was wonderful. I want so bad for my children to be able to have those experiences.

But that brings a difficult question to mind. I am kindergarten teacher, and I have been called to teach. I would love to teach in a Christian school. But does God need me more in a public school? I would love for my children to go to a Christian school and have Bible class, and chapel and so forth. But does God need them more in public school to be a light in a dark world? Its really difficult for me. You know I want to shelter them from the world, but I also know that they have to learn to stand against the things of this world. I know that God has an amazing plan for me, and for my family. But in thinking about private school, the only way we could do it is if I taught there to get the tuiton discount. But is that what God wants? Is it better to put your children in a Christian school so that Biblical studies is ingrained in the curriculum? Or is better to leave them in public school, so they can do as Christ has called us to do? I realize Landon is only 2, and it will be several years before he is in school. But these questions have bothered me for quite some time. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know! :-)

Let's Stop Being "OK" With the Things of this World

During a rainy day inside recess one day last year at school my eyes were opened to how truly corrupt the world is becoming. Kindergarten was lucky enough to be able to go to the gym for recess when it rained. It was just a time to let the kids run wild and get some of that energy out. One day the PE teacher had the radio or a CD or something playing. I didn't pay much attention to it until I started watching a group of little girls from my class dancing. I then started listening to the song, specifically the words of the song. It was that "low low low" song. Honestly, I don't know the name nor do I know the lyrics. I just know that from what I heard that day and witnessed I was horrified. My little girls in my class new every single word to the song. And even worse, they new every single move to the music video, which I'm guessing would only be seen on MTV. These were 5 and 6 year old little girls, dancing like the women they see on MTV. Singing every single word to a very unwholesome song. I was in shock. It bothered me so much, I tried talking to others about it. Casey completely agreed with my stance on it. However, I was suprised at the reaction of several of my coworkers, who call themselves Christians. They really didn't see the big deal. They were fine with it. But really, how can we be ok with this? Kindergarteners should still be watching Dora, Diego, Little Bear, Franklin. But they aren't. They've already grown up. Their favorite shows are Hannah Montana, High School Musical and other similar shows. What happened to carefree childhood?

That incident happened in the spring and still bothers me to this day. But that's not the end of it. Casey and I were watching a tv show the other night where they had a guest singer come while the judges were making their decisions. This girl sang a song that I had never heard. Casey had heard of it, but we didn't know it. The lyrics were "I kissed a girl and I liked it....". Mind you this was a girl singing the song. Casey said that his boss had said the radio wears it out. Once again I was horrified. I pictured the little 5 and 6 year olds from my class singing the every word to the song. Now, I realize they still are little, and they probably don't know the meaning behind the lyrics. But then again they are growing up faster than we ever imagined. The worst part of it all is these children listen and watch what they are allowed to. Parents are ok with their kids hearing songs like these and dancing to videos seen on MTV. I think its really a wake up call for everyone. Corruption of the mind starts so young. I mean, when we were growing up we were watching Sesame Street, Smurfs, Full House... and now look at what are children are being exposed to. It really makes me sad. And it scares me to think of what the world is coming to. The world, that my children have to grow up in. I think that as Christians we can't just be ok with the things that are children are exposed to. We need make a stand. We need to make every effort to fill our childrens minds with things of Christ, and not allow the world to fill their minds with secular things. If we don't give them a solid foundation in Christ, then someday when they walk out our door, someone else will give them a foundation that will lead them astray.

We simply cannot be ok with things that we know are not from Christ. So let's make a stand together. When we see or hear something just as I have that really bothers us, lets encourage one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, and back one another up. In this world, we are all we have. And if we call ourselves Christians but then are ok with the things of this world, what is different about us and those living in darkness? I don't believe that you can live on the fence. I believe in all or nothing. We either live fully for Christ, or we live on the other side. There's no in between. Trust me, I've tried it....it doesn't work. So, how can we change this? The next time we are in the gym with unwholesome music, I plan to turn it off or at least way down. I mean that's a start, right? We can't change the world in one day. But together, we can begin changing it little by little.

Greed - Let's Do Something About It

A man came to our door last night selling a three volume collection of Bible stories. Actually, its the entire Bible in story format, easy to read. Each story is two pages, illustrated and has discussion questions at the end. It's actually a really neat tool for getting in the Word as a family. Needless to say, Casey and I purchased a set. We are really excited and can't wait to get it and start spending some quality family time in God's Word. It was a bit pricey but the man made an interesting point. We spend on average $100 a month just on cable and internet....entertainment. So why is it that when it comes to putting our money towards something that will further God's kingdom, we just aren't too sure about it? We have no problem spending $50-100 on a nice dinner and a night at the movies. But when it comes to tithing, or buying a new Bible, we spend the least ammount of money possible. What's wrong with us? We can talk all day about how we should do this or how we should do that for the Lord but when it comes down to it, its not about what the Lord wants, its about what we want. This really hit Casey and I both. It all comes down to prioritizing. Its just something to think about.
I guess that all goes along with greed and Satan trying to trick us into wanting and "needing" things we really don't. He would much rather us spend our money on cable, internet, dinners out, movies, etc. than on an awesome tool that will help us grow as a family in our walk with the Lord. You know, I think sometimes we forget how Satan attacks even our children, our babies. We like to think they are innocent and so forth. I mean, Landon is 2 and if he were to pass away tonight, he would join Jesus in Heaven. But that's not to say that Satan isn't already attacking him, and tricking him. Landon, at 2 years old is beginning to turn all of his wants into "needs." He no longer "wants" that new train from the store, he "needs" it. Casey and I just laugh about it most of the time. Until this morning as Erik was talking about greed and turning our wants into needs. Even at 2 years old, this is happening. It really makes me mad! Landon is 2, he isn't at an age to fully understand what's going. Yet Satan will take any and every opportunity to corrupt a person's mind. He doesn't care how old they are. The more I think about it, the madder it makes me. It just solidifies the incredible job that God has given us, but giving us Landon. This isn't a job I'm willing to mess up. But I know that I have the Ultimate Power on my side. I know that Satan has already been defeated. I know that when Landon is old enough to understand, he will choose Christ, thus putting Satan in his place. Nevertheless, it still ticks me off. I'm not fighting this battle alone, nor am I fighting it just for me. I'm fighting it for my family as well. Praise Jesus we have already won! Praise the Lord that He is always with us and that we as sons and daughters of the Most High, have that peace and that comfort!