Riding Shotgun

Tonight we were about to leave from my mother in laws house after Jesus and Java. I asked my husband if he would like me to drive to which he responded “yes please.”  So we get in the car and start down the road. About 10-15 minutes later, we get on the interstate. Well I’m just driving along when all of a sudden my husband reaches his hand across and sets the cruise control on the car and then bumps up the speed. I had been trying to tell a story and this of course distracted me. Well I finish telling my story and then I’m trying really hard not to say anything to him. Instead I begin to pray and tell God what I wanted to say to my husband. We talk for a few minutes and then we round a curve and spot two cop cars with people pulled over. I could not help but laugh! My husband of course at this point looking at me like I’m crazy. So I proceed to tell him why I was laughing. 

You see during my brief prayer moment God revealed to me our human nature. You see we ask God to drive. We ask Him to be in control of our lives. But in order for Him to drive, we have to relinquish our control of the wheel. We can’t put Him in the driver seat then try to dictate the speed we go. We can’t let him have the wheel but keep the pedal. We can’t ask Him to be in control of our lives but then try to be backseat drivers telling Him which way to go. Much like driving, surrender is an all or nothing experience. We can’t halfway surrender or we are 100% not relinquishing control. Let go and let God. Let Him decide the path and speed. It’s all in His timing not when we want to get there. 

Now that may not seem funny, but this was the next part. You see when we want to go at our speed, we can mess things up. We can get into trouble. Just like when we speed, we can get caught and have to pay the price. Where if we had just done things the right way nothing would have ever happened. So I had just decided that I was the driver and I was going to do things the way I wanted and I didn’t want to go that speed. I just knew that I didn’t want to mess up and get in trouble. So I was two seconds away from hitting the brakes to cancel the cruise and slow down when BOOM we go around the curve and see blue lights!! So of course I couldn’t help but laugh at the sense of humor God has. He loves us and wants us to hand it over to Him! We just have to give it all!

What is Reckless??

This morning I sat and listened to "Reckless Love" by Cory Asbury and I did something I have been meaning to do for a while now. I looked up the definition of "reckless." According to Google, it means:

without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action.

I found this very peculiar. At first, I was confused. God is not someone who does things without thinking. In fact, He know everything that's going to happen before it happens (omniscient). So how does a reckless love make sense? Then I took a look at the list of synonyms and one stood out.

"ill-advised"

Did you ever have someone in your life that you were warned to stay away from? A person of ill-repute? Yeah me too. We were advised to stay away, don't get attached, and certainly don't love them. 

Well guys, this is not the love God gives. His is a reckless love. Sure they may eventually rebel and run, but He does not consider this in His choice to love us. If I were to love like this, people would think it was hasty and careless too. 

"You might get hurt."

"They don't deserve that love."
"What if something happens to you?"

A reckless love cares not what might happen. Regardless of how they treat you or whether they deserve it, you still love them. God still loves them. And your right, what if something happens? But not to me, to them? What if they are changed as a result of that love? 

We should all love like God, like the song says:

overwhelming

never-ending

reckless

Let's love recklessly today! Regardless of who it is because we are wrong. They do deserve this love. God gives it, we should too!!

What's in a Name?

In Jewish custom, the name is regarded very highly. It is the first spoken blessing over a child. To them, a name will be the foundation for their life so parents would try to name their children with words meaning "loyal," "mighty warrior," or "favored by God." 

After much prayer and deliberation, I decide to start a blog. I had done one before but not quite to the magnitude that I wanted this one to be. Add in some more prayer and deliberation and I decide on a name. It's not much, but it's catchy and rhymes (which I really love!).  Much like Jewish tradition, I wanted my name to be a blessing over my blog. I wanted it to reflect characteristics and topics that I will hopefully be discussing. I also wanted it to be a foundation upon which I build. So I thought, what are the things that are most important to me and my family. 

1. Pray.
As a believing Christian, I believe in the power of prayer. Although I'm not perfect, I do try to get up every morning to start my day with prayer. I find when I do, it just puts me in a much better mood and I go about my day and little less stressed. The great thing about prayer is it can be done anywhere and it doesn't have to be with hands folded and eyes closed! Going down the road, in line at the grocery store, while cooking supper, at work, etc. I think you get the point. Prayer is a conversation. I have been known to do it when I'm driving alone and I'm sure the other drivers look at me like I'm crazy, or at work, my coworkers probably think I'm talking to myself like a weirdo. Whenever I feel like I need to, I do, despite whatever else is going on at the time.

This part will also reflect other topics and interesting tidbits I learn during my daily quiet time. I usually share with some close friends when I make a big revelation, but I wanted to start sharing on a larger scale. 

2. Eat.
OK. I think we can all agree that eating is important to the survival of us as living creatures. It's not the importance that I want to dive into on here. It's more the items that get eaten. I (occasionally) love cooking. I want to learn to love it more. I will be trying to do it more often, so you all get to join me in my journey of discovery. I must say this will probably be the most comical of the topics because you get to be a part of my mistakes and triumphs!

I will be (hopefully) posting recipes and other little tricks or tips that I learn.

3. Clean.
Most of us grew up with our parents using that adage that "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." Well I do believe our God is a God of order and I have learned how important it is for my sanity to have a house that is well-kept (although it's by no means perfect every day). I also really love organizing-although if you as my stepchildren, they would be a little skeptical of that statement. However, I have learned it helps to have a place where I know everything is to go. It makes cleaning up so much easier not  to mention being able to find things when they are needed. It makes for a lot less headaches and a lot more time to spend doing what matters most.

I will be incorporating some things I have learned throughout the years as well as my own systems I use in my own house.

4. Repeat.
This is probably pretty self-explanatory. Like anything in our life, there is a rhythm and pattern to it. Spring follows winter and eventually it comes back to spring. These are the three core things (aside from other needed functions such as sleep) that help hold my life together and I felt were easy things to share with others who might need encouraging in any of these three areas. If you're like me, you need help in all three. However, you may only ever need to read the prayer area or want to find cool recipes. If that's the case, feel free to read whatever you need dear brother or sister. We are all in this journey together! You are always welcome to leave comments with what you do or what you take away from anything. I love to learn just as much as I love to share what I have learned.