Impact

As some of you know, I live with my sister and her two kids. I love my niece and nephew so much and I have really enjoyed living with them the past few months. I wake to the sound of my nephew's feet hitting the floor (literally since his bed is directly above mine) and many nights I get to tuck them in and kiss them good night. It is truly a blessing to be sent out to work with a hug and a kiss from two little ones that love me so much!

These kids are as different as can be. My niece, 7, is loud from the time she wakes up until the time she falls asleep, she has her share of the selfishness of childhood, she is passionate about the things she believes in and determined to live life her way. She is also stubborn like her aunt and creative in everything. She holds a soft spot in my heart because we are kindred spirits. There have been many times when she will be acting up and my mom will look at me, smile, and say "That reminds me of someone else I know." We butt heads because we are both determined to have our way in everything and I love her for it!

And then there is my nephew, 4, who is the most passive, go-with-the-flow kid I know. He is sweet and caring and would do anything for anyone. He also has a bit of a stubborn streak to him and I love it when he plants his feet, crosses his arms and refuses to do something! This happens so rarely that it really is funny when it happens. He was the first boy in my life to capture my heart and when another boy comes along and wants to marry me, he will have a hard time taking this little man's place!

Sometimes I don't think they listen to what I say, but then I hear things that make me realize how much they really do pick up on. They know my favorite candy is smarties. They know that when I'm leaving the house I'm either going to hang out with one particular friend or I'm heading to church. And they know that I am going to love some kids in Africa.

They spent some time with Santa and Mrs. Claus the other day. Santa asked if they had any questions and my niece said "What about the kids in Africa?" Santa looked at their mom confused, likely wondering how a little girl in suburban Michigan would know anything about kids in Africa. That's my girl! She is starting to think beyond herself and her Christmas list. She may not always think about others first, but she knows that her "Yaya" thinks it's important so it must be!

6.5 minutes of wisdom

I have 6.5 minutes to write something profound to you. Something to encourage you. Something to help you realize that there is more to life than what we have made it out to be. So here goes:

1. Make room in your schedule to just be alone with no plan. The most amazing things come from time that begs you to use it however you want.

2. There are people around you every day that need what you have. Don't hold back. Share your heart, your gifts, and your time with people.

3. Find a style of fashion, writing, reading, creating, whatever suits you, that, well, suits you! Who cares if other people think it's ridiculous. They don't have to live your life.

4. Spend more time with the children in your life than adults. Children have the best perspective on life because the world hasn't made them skeptical and calloused yet.

5. Some nights it's okay to go to bed early and some nights it's better to stay out until the crack of dawn. Just choose wisely so you don't waste your late nights with nothing to show for them.

6. You are enough. Don't let anyone lead you to believe otherwise.

7. Sometimes the best way to get over something is to knock it down and jump on it a few times! {Note: this does not refer to people!}

There you have it! Seven things that I came up with in less than 7 minutes! Time to go!
Enjoy today while it lasts!

What a 6 year old taught me about obedience!

I learn a lot of truth about life through interacting with my niece and nephew. This weekend me, my mom and niece and nephew had to run to a store for somethings that we needed. We had a small window of time to get things done and some uncooperative kiddos! We stopped at our house to get something that had to be exchanged and my niece started whining. {Nothing new! She's a very, I'll say, spirited child!} She was whining because she didn't want to go to the store, she just wanted to stay home and play with the neighbor girl. I was trying to explain to her that she didn't really have an option because she was too young to stay home alone and we had to go right then. As you can imagine, that didn't make things any better in her 6 year old mind. But at the end of the day, she really didn't have an option. There was something that we had to do and a specific time we had to do it, and she had to go. End of discussion. And when she got to pick out a toy at the store for being good {once we got there}, she thought she was the coolest thing since sliced bread and it made it all worth it!

How often do I whine and complain when God tells me what I need to do right then? How often do I try to avoid the conversations with strangers that He wants me start? When the Creator of the Universe says "jump" do I respond with "how high" or with "but I want to do this instead"? How does that work out for me? It works out about as well as it did for my niece this weekend! It works out about as well as it did for Jonah in the Bible when God told him to go to Nineveh.

Jonah 1:1-4, 11-17
The Lord’s word came to Jonah, Amittai’s son: “Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their evil has come to my attention.” So Jonah got up—to flee to Tarshish from the Lord! He went down to Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went aboard to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord. But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, so that there was a great storm on the sea; the ship looked like it might be broken to pieces.

They said to him, “What will we do about you so that the sea will become calm around us?” (The sea was continuing to rage.) He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea! Then the sea will become calm around you. I know it’s my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” The men rowed to reach dry land, but they couldn’t manage it because the sea continued to rage against them. So they called on the Lord, saying, “Please, Lord, don’t let us perish on account of this man’s life, and don’t blame us for innocent blood! You are the Lord: whatever you want, you can do.” Then they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased its raging. The men worshipped the Lord with a profound reverence; they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made solemn promises. Meanwhile, the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.

Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh. He had other plans. He wanted to stay where it was safe and comfortable. But God had bigger plans for him and Jonah's disobedience forced God to teach him a lesson. So Jonah spent 3 days inside a big fish and then was vomited out on shore. That sounds like a great way to spend a 3 day weekend! 

When we complain about what God is asking us to do and instead of doing it we give God our list of things we want to do, we are like a child that doesn't know what is good for them. I should know better, but I fail most days. When God tells me to speak, I remain silent. When God tells me to go, I prefer to stay. When He directs my path, I try to veer off the trail. I need to do better. Because, like I learned from my niece's episode, when we are obedient we are seen by a God who can bless us with more than a trinket from a department store!

Link up to
 

blessings and failures

2011 was a year of major failures and a few great blessings.

It is easy for me to focus on the bad of the past year. I could tell many more stories of my failure than I could of my successes. I failed God, I failed my parents, I failed almost everyone I know it seems. Many don’t even know how many times I failed in the past year because I was embarrassed and kept them to myself. But overall, I am learning that I have to move beyond them and seize the potential of this year. Through my failures I have learned so much, even when I was allowing them to define me and tell me that I did not deserve the blessings that were in my path.


Coming out of 2011, I was so excited to start over and leave those failures behind. But what I have already realized is that I can't simply leave them in my dust. It's not a new concept that our past has a tendency to follow us around like a shadow, casting gloom on a sunny day. If I don't ask for forgiveness and then forgive myself, I will never be free of those failures.


I would guess I am not the  only one that holds on to things far past their usefulness. What baggage are you still carrying? Is it a relationship that ended badly and you just can't seem to get any closure? Maybe you were fired or laid off from your job and can't seem to find another one because you are holding on to the old one? Or it may be a drug addiction that still haunts you. Or maybe you just feel like an all around failure and can't see around the pile of crap that you have built around you to keep people out.


Whatever it is, I encourage you to talk to God about it. Realizing that He already knows what is going on, but that he wants to hear it from you is oddly comforting. He loves you so much that He desires an open and honest relationship with you. He is our Heavenly Father. Think about the best dad you know. I hope that it is your own father, but some people are not that lucky. That dad that you have in mind, does he get mad when his child comes to him with a problem he needs fixing? No! He is excited to help in some way to make his child's life a little easier. That is what God desires of our relationship with Him.

The Tippy Top of the list

A couple days before Christmas my niece called me all excited because Santa had been at the Christmas party she was on her way home from. She said, "Guess what! I saw Santa today and he showed me his good list and guess where I was on the list? I was on the tippy top! I don't really know why because I was kinda bad this year." I love the honesty of a 6 year old! But it got me thinking. That is a lot like how I feel about God's mercy and grace toward me.

I'm kind of bad too, but He still wants to bless me for some reason. I sin daily, but God still cares for me and extends grace to me above and beyond what I would expect. Praise God that He loves me too much to give me what I actually deserve, which is death and eternity in Hell.

2 Peter 1:2 "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;"

James 4:6 But he gives us more grace. This is why it says, God stands against the proud, but favors the humble."

Materialism starts early

I am blessed with 2 adorable children in my family, a niece who is 6 and a half going on 20, and a nephew who is content to be 3. They have the same parents and have grown up in the same environment, but they could not be more different!

My niece is very spirited, that's a nice term for her I guess! She is known for her wild hair, loud personality and very specific sense of style. She knows what she likes and what she wants and no one can persuade her otherwise. While this is a challenge for her parents, I know that it will serve her well when she is older. {I am told that she is a lot like I was at that age, and I am a very independent woman, even a little stubborn at times.}

My nephew on the other hand, is a calm and gentle sort of kid. He smiles all the time and has a very easy going personality. He definitely has his own personality, but he shows it in quieter, more subtle ways than his big sister. He also didn't start talking until recently. The way I see it is that he never really felt like he had to. His sister talks for him and gets him everything that he needs, so why exert the effort?

Christmas this year was yet another magnifying glass on their differences. When they got to grandma and grandpa's house in the afternoon my niece went immediately to the Christmas tree and started searching for the gifts with her name on them. My nephew on the other hand, he gave everyone hugs and kisses and would have rather climbed up into grandpa's lap in the big chair and watched TV.

When my niece couldn't be kept from tearing into her presents any longer we all gathered around the tree and started handing out presents, stockings first as always. She went the quickest route and simply dumped her stocking out on the floor to see what she got. He proceeded to pull one thing at a time from his Harley Davidson stocking and examine it, some he brought to me to open for him so he could play with it right then.

When my niece had examined the contents of her stocking she was ready for the other presents, getting visibly irritated when she was told she had to wait for her little brother to be done with his stocking. After he had looked everything over and was ready for the next step we handed each child a gift to open. She ripped the wrapping off and was ready for another present before my nephew even got all the paper off his gift. It didn't take too long before he got distracted by one of the presents in his stocking and was uninterested in opening any of his other presents. My niece however, opened present after present, not even fully comprehending what each one was and was done very quickly. Seeing that her brother still had unopened presents she asked if she could open his too. She was told no, but the idea was not dropped without a fight.

Because her little brother still had unopened presents under the tree, she was convinced that he had gotten more than her and she was instantly devastated.

It amazes me just how early materialism can rear its ugly head in an innocent child's life.

Children

What a sad world in which we live.

Children's games now end in tears

And parents are perpetuating their children's fears

What awful things now fill their ears

And doing well no longer ends in cheers

The meanest people in life are their peers

But life only gets worse through the years.