Living above mediocrity

I'm working through a bible study called "Living above the level of mediocrity, and the last page of my section today was just awesome. It was too much to type on facebook so i figured I'd share it on here :) Dave and I were just talking the other day about how when our lives are going too smoothly we wonder what we are doing wrong. We know that when we are facing trials that its a sign we are growing and strengthening our relationship with God. When we arent being challenged we are always concerned, and wondering why. Funny how our mindsets change as we continue to grow in Christ. This section of my book talked about that very thing...

Charles Swindol's Living Above the Level of Mediocrity

"We all long for the day when Christ's kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy is realized fully on this earth. What often surprises us however, is the fact that kingdom living in the meantime includes many tribulations. This takes us off guard, and we easily lose our bearings as we wonder what went wrong. But F.B. Meyer shows us that sometimes when things seem amiss, they are actually going right.

                          "If in an unknown country, I am informed that I must pass through a valley where the sun   is hidden, or over a stony bit of road, to reach my abiding place- when I come to it, each moment of shadow or jolt of the carriage tells me that I am on the right road."

"The right road!" Have you ever thought of those bumps and bruises and shadows and jolts of your life as a confirming sign that you're on the right road?
  
There really is no easy street when we're following Christ, and the toll along the way is often suffering. (Phil. 1:29; 3:10; 1 Peter 2:21; 4:19) But we can take comfort in where that road of suffering leads---to our being conformed to the image of the ever living Christ.(Romans 8:29) As George McDonald reminds us:

                             "The son of God suffered unto the death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like His."

"I Love Boobs"

I have been back and forth about saying something about this topic, but it continues to eat away at me so I'm just going to speak and if nothing else comes of it, at least I voiced my feelings! ;) ( you know, thats all we women really care about lol)

I have noticed lately in pictures of facebook friends and their own friends, that the shirt "I love boobs" is a popular item to wear. This irks my last nerve. My mother is a two time survivor of breast cancer, and upon her second battle she was forced to undergo reconstructive surgery...which means they removed her breasts and in place of them had to try and make implants work from scratch. You can try and tell me that you are wearing these shirts in support of breast cancer, and even if that is true in the slightest, the real truth of it is that the shirt has become more of a fad, a way to be funny. When you are wearing a shirt that says I love boobs to parties, I highly doubt your motive is to support breast cancer. When you are wearing these shirts skin tight, and your breasts are pouring over the top of them, I doubt your purpose is to bring awareness to this deadly disease, but rather to bring awareness to your own breasts. Let me just take the time now to remind you...breast cancer is a serious disease and I have seen both victory and defeat when it comes to the battle of this particular cancer. To flaunt your boobs in a shirt that is supposed to stand for those who have battled, overcome, or been taken by this disease, as well as their families and loved ones, is down right insulting. To flaunt your voluntary implants or God given breasts because you think its cute with a symbol across your chest that stands for the ones who have unwillingly lost their womanhood, is selfish. And for you guys who wear these shirts for nothing more than a joke...its not cute, its not funny...its cruel. I am sorry if this comes across forward or even mean, but to have watched my own mother go through all she did and see her victory be made light of makes me sick. Please think twice before you place that shirt over your heads next time. Think of the real reason you are wearing it, and if it is not truly for the lives that have been affected by breast cancer, then out of respect, dont wear it.

Adventures

Oh the adventures of motherhood....today has been yet again, an interesting day! We start off with D.J. coming in the room with his underwear missing...in the midst of the search for the missing underwear I smell what I thought was a poopy diaper I missed. But no such luck. Kyleigh comes running out of the sunroom "Mooom Moooom! come here, look what D.J. did!" and what do I find? there in the middle of the floor my son decided to go "number 2". Yuck :P after cleaning up the mess, i finally get his underwear on. Next, D.J. and Kyleigh are "playing" together in Kyleighs room, with the door shut while I'm talking to my friend Glory. I know better though, I know something will not be right when i finally do go in to see what trouble my children are getting into when they appear to be "playing nice". 10 minutes later, D.J. comes out with wet underwear. I ask him where he went pee-pee, and he says " Potty!!" I said no you didnt, where did you go pee pee, and he repeats " Potty!!" I turn around to begin talking to Glory again, only to hear about 2 minutes later water splashing around in the bathroom... What is my son doing? he has removed the bowl to his potty and is scooping up water out of the toilet and dropping it back in again....dirty water, not fresh. Water is now all over both toilets, the floor, and D.J.... sigh, this child is definitely two. After Glory leaves, I go to look for the missing pee pee...when i walk in Kyleighs room, which i had just cleaned yesterday, EVERY single toy is out of the closet, along with all her sheets blankets and shelves. oh yes...it was a disaster. however, as i'm cleaning up i come across some wet blankets and a wet baby shoe...aha, there is the missing pee. good grief... I then proceed to get the kids lunch...somehow, they managed to get milk out of the CLOSED sippy cup and pour it all into their bowl of yogurt, the table, the floor, and D.J....here we go again. If you havent figured it out yet, Lysol has become my best friend :)  I clean it up, along with my messy boy and put them to bed. then the babies wake up...I feed landon his baby food, and as im giving it him his head is all over the place, ( my curious george) and when he looks back at the last bite, he swats his spoon (full of food) out of my hand and across the room..a nice stream across the floor and my shirt ;) 10 minutes later, I'm feeding Kynslee and she does the same thing...oh these little monkeys LOL....this all happened by 1:00P.M.... the big kids are still down, and I'm waiting with great anticipation (sarcasm) of what will come this afternoon ;) oooh, these kids drive me crazy, but boy do I love them :)

Taking Advantage

Lately I have been struggling with preventing myself from becoming calloused to helping "friends in need". It seems that everytime we reach out and go out of our way for people, we are generally always taken advantage of. It has gotten to the point where we cringe that the thought of helping certain people for fear of what we will have to go through as a result... It shouldnt be like that but we have been burnt so many times that we automatically assume the worst now from everyone. We are hesitant to offer our services anymore unless first asked. It shouldnt be that way! I don't beleive all people are always intentionally trying to take advantage, good hearted people are capable of blindly doing it if they aren't careful. But nevertheless, its FRUSTRATING! However, I've been battling with my feelings about it for a little while now, and this morning it hit me that I do the same thing to God every day! How often do we take Him for granted? everyday we willingly take all his blessings, grace, love, and forgiveness, and yet we just continue to take and take and give him only a fourth ( if even that) of our time, effort, and devotion. We take advantage of our Almighty everyday, and most of the time, we are extremely ungrateful for all He has done for us. If God continues to bless, love and forgive me regardless of my selfish attitude, then shouldn't I do the same? I cannot change how others act or respond, but I know that I personally am called to serve and love, to "turn the other cheek", to imitate Christ regardless of what others do. Talk about tough...I suppose that is yet another reason we are in need of Christ's redeeming love, because it is beyond our nature to love when we are not shown love in return :P