Ordinary

Do you ever feel like you are just ordinary? There is nothing special about you, nothing that makes you stand out. You might think you don't have any special gifts or talents or think "I'm just a wife or a mom" or " I go to work, come home, fix dinner, give kids baths, go to bed-nothing special." And then you see those people who "look" like they have it all-all the gifts, talents, the breaks, the glory etc. but you, you are just ordinary. Do you ever feel like that? Me too! Well, I've got great news for you and it comes from Acts 4:13:

"The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness

of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with

no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men

who had been with Jesus."

God uses ordinary people like you and me!!!! In fact, he prefers it, because when he uses ordinary people, they know they can't take credit of the work of an extraordinary God. Peter and John were ordinary men who were not special or trained in anything spiritual, but literally, changed the world. How? They had one thing going for them: they "had been with Jesus." That's it! They didn't have any special gifts, go to any special school, from any special family....they simply walked with Jesus. And because they walked with Jesus they understand that God could take the ordinary and do things that were extraordinary. The same power that created the earth was with them. The same power that parted the Red Sea was with them. The same power that raised Jesus was with them. "For if God is for you, who can be against you." (Romans 8:31) Nothing was going to stop them, not because of their own power (for they were just ordinary), but because they had God Almighty with them! So if you are in the valley of ordinary, keep being with Jesus and watch Him do extraordinary things in you and through you.

Ordinary? Why yes, yes I am....and I wouldn't have it any other way!

One of Those Days....

So...this morning was one of those mornings. Case, the youngest, didn't sleep last night and was super cranky all morning. I was either holding him while trying to fix my hair or brush my teeth or he was screaming bloody murder while I was trying to make the kids school lunches. Cale, my oldest, was in the "dream world" that he sometimes goes to when he needs to be putting on his shoes or getting his teeth brushed. We were running late so we hurried and had our bible time, which was very spiritual (hint:sarcasm:)), and go out to the car and can't find my keys. As I mumble under my breath, "You have got to be kidding me," I called my husband and snapped at him because I knew he had to be the one who lost them, right? We finally found the keys, locked safely in the car. My husband came and picked us up so that we could get to school 20 minutes late and reminded me that I had let Chloe look for her bracelet in my car last night. Why leave her out? I had yelled at everyone else in the family. We get everyone where they are suppose to be and then I go to work, where I get to put on the "Happy" face and tell people how much Jesus loves them when the people I love the most just saw No part of Jesus in me this morning.
You ever have those days?
And then the remorse sets in. Why did I act like that? Where was my patience? In the big picture was it all that big a deal? What lesson did I teach my family today? It makes me feel pretty darn rotten and I beat myself up. Why do I do the things I don't want to do?
Then in my quiet time today I read Romans 7:15-24

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what

I hate, I do....I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.

For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I

do is not the good I want to do;no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep

on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is not longer I who do it, but

it is sin living in me that does it....What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from

this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yes! this is me. Paul knew exactly how I was feeling. We will all go through times where our flesh will rear its ugly head. We will do things that we can't believe we did them. We will do things when we know they are wrong. We will do things that actually hurt the name of Christ. Our flesh still leans toward sin. But how do we see past this part of our life that we can't seem to get away from? Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!!! You see, we don't have to live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The same spirit that lived inside of Jesus lives inside of us, so when our flesh "acts up" the spirit takes over. We asked God for forgiveness and know that, "Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1. Can I get an Amen?

I want to encourage you when you have "those days," remember, you have all the power you need to get through bad days and still show Jesus, and if you fall short, God will always be there to pick you back up, dust you off, and give you a nice little pat on the rear and say, "lets go."

Oh and yes....I am good with the family too:)

The Little things

So...I was watching one of my favorite movies this weekend: For Love of the Game. It is a baseball/love story with Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston. I really do love this movie and as I was watching it, there was one part that just got me thinking (my mind is always thinking). It was toward the end of the movie and he was trying to pitch a "perfect" game. His shoulder was hurting, but he knew he couldn't quit, he was just too close to this amazing accomplishment. And then he began to pray (I may not get it word for word, but it is close):

"God, I know I promised I would never involve you in a baseball game.

It always seemed silly because you have bigger things to worry about, But

if you could make the pain in my shoulder go away for the next 10 minutes,

I would be grateful"

As I heard him pray that little prayer, I thought to myself, DOES God care about baseball or football, or basketball, or buying house, or my work problems etc. After all, there are a lot bigger things he should be handling like people who have lost loved ones, or have very sick children, or famines, tornadoes, earthquakes, wars etc. I know my problems seem so "little" compared to these things, but they seem "big" to me.

I think I missed the rest of the movie contemplating these thoughts, but then God reminded me of a "small" story in the Bible that I had just read to my kids. It is only 4 verses and I remember thinking, This is kind of a random story. What is it's significance?

So the prophets and Elisha arrived at the Jordan and began cutting down

trees. But as one of them was getting a tree, his ax head fell into the river.

"Oh, sir!" he cried. "It was a borrowed ax!" "Where did it fall?" the man of God

asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the

water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface. "Grab it," Elisha said

And the man reached out and grabbed it. 2 Kings 6:4-7

Oh God and His timing:) The significance? To show us that God DOES care....about everything-even some one's lost ax head. God cares about baseball, football, basketball, jobs, families, houses, bills, relationships, your dog on and on and on....Why? Because you do!! And you are His Child!

My oldest is playing t-ball and my youngest thinks he does, so t-ball is a big deal in our house. Before last year, had I ever been to a t-ball game since I played? Nope Did I keep up with the t-ball games in our area? Nope. After my kids are done playing, will I still go to t-ball games? Nope. Because t-ball doesn't really matter to me, but it matters to them;therefore, it matters to me. They think t-ball is very important, therefore I think t-ball is important. Why? Because they are my kids and I love them. If something is important to you, it's important to God because you are His kid and He loves you! Whatever we face in our everyday lives, it matters to God because He knows it's all about the Relationship-The relationship He has with His children. Go to God with the attitude that he loves it when we bring everything to him, even the "little" things.