~Life in an Antique Booth~

“Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.” James 5:2

Outdated magazine issues, yellowish heavy books, mismatched utensils, postcards from a stranger, handmade toys, kaleidoscopic buttons of all sizes, cups, mugs, empty coca-cola bottles, and whatnot are laid out in front of me and it’s surprisingly pleasing to my eye: I am stranded in a wonderland called the Antique Shop.
At the slowest pace possible I stroll by each booth scanning all that fits into my perception. If anything catches my attention for more than a blink I pick up the lifeless object and contemplate its origin and price. I hold it long enough in my hands until wonder has faded into practical thinking. What can I use this relic for besides the purpose of collecting or decorating? One witty shopkeeper labeled a heavy iron with “would make a great door stop”.
Well, there are two questions I ask myself whenever I’m shopping:
First, could this be something that I would give to my friends as a gift? If the answer is yes, it’s worth buying. You would not want to buy anything worthless for your friends, would you?
Second, would I take this if it’s free? If the answer is no, I don’t consider buying it. Even if it’s free some items are just not worth having.
But here I am in the museum of a former shopper – the Antique store. While hunting for treasure I could not help myself but to notice how every booth would give away certain warmth. I realized that in front of me was the life of somebody who did not need these things anymore. There is this similar feeling that overwhelms me when I visit graveyards. Tomb stones are portraying tangible memories of a man’s life; the same appears with possessions. Suddenly a thought struck me: in the course of time my accumulated possessions will be handled by antique manager one day. What will its price be?
After an hour of searching to find something of a value and usage I came to the register with only hand lotion wondering about the expiration date. While starting small talk with a clerk I noticed that my voice was soft and calm as if I had experienced catharsis. I did not spend money on things, but my soul “purchased” tenderness and serenity along the way.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Luke 12:32-34

A Sweet Tooth for Onions

“The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!" Numbers 11:4-6
I have never tasted the food of angels known as manna, though I wonder if angels eat onions. Often times when I’m upset or tired I find myself craving for good food and I feel like one of those Israelites who had undergone the exodus from Egypt. When hunger knocks at my belly I just don’t want to talk to people until I have that bite. Moreover there is only one thing that puts me at ease better than any other. Before I continue, I am sorry if I offended any of you who personally or professionally know me. Truth can’t be buried forever, even walls have ears (or nose). Thus dear reader, I have to make a confession: I am an addict. Admitting it is the first step, they say. I call my habit “appetitus bulbus”[1], or some sort of addiction to crunching sweet onions. Not chips, but raw onions! How can I resist onions, when they have such a firm texture with layers of spicy nectar that opens up my appetite and can accompany almost any dish? Besides onions are low in pesticides, they are a good source of vitamin B and C, and are known for their health benefits (lowering bad cholesterol, preventing cancer and inflammatory reactions). Onion a day keeps the doctor away (and not just the doctor). I must admit I love garlic too, but I learned that my husband suffers from insomnia whenever I eat that. This is how I earned the nickname “Lukic”[2] whose author is none other but my own husband. A great deal of chewing gum, mouth wash and toothpaste could not erase this begotten name. Now I am stuck with it until death do us part. There is one thing that concerns me: when I get to heaven I hope they serve manna with onions.
“I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” John 3:12

[1] My own pun derived from Latin words: bulbus -i m. [an onion], and appetitus -us m. [longing , appetite].

[2] Bosnian word “lukic” means “little onion”.

Progress Not Perfection

I struggled with my food this past week because of Mother's Day celebrations etc. So when I weighed in this morning, my expectations were very low. I was hoping to just not have a huge gain - and thankfully I didn't! I only gained 3 tenths of a pound.  But I was  happy with this because I knew what kind of week I'd had.

Being satisfied with a gain is a new experience for me. I really am learning to embrace that old mantra - PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION. This approach is working for me because I'm making lifestyle changes instead of dieting. For Example:

•  I'm learning  if I eat too much or don't excercise one day, then the next day I need to eat less and exercise extra hard. This strategy works for me and keeps me from giving up when I mess up. It allows me some room to just relax and live.

• And I'm learning that  celebrations and rewards are important. I've started treating myself to certain food indulgences after my weigh in for that one day only. Like today I went out for coffee with my friend  and ordered a Hot Fudge Sundae. It came in a tall sundae glass with whip cream, nuts and a cherry on top! I felt special and like I was really having a treat. But I only ate about 1/4 of it.  That was all I needed to eat to feel like I'd celebrated. And trust me, this is a huge step for me. Geneen Roth , noted author on emotional eating talks about this concept alot in her books and lectures.

 I think the PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION approach must've been what Jesus had in mind for the human race. Afterall, He talked alot about forgiveness and mercy and human fraility. Consider just a few of the following scriptures:  

"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him... For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." (Psalm 103:13-14)

"Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:38)


So whatever you  might be facing today or trying to change about yourself, please remember it's all about PROGRESS (how many forward steps did you take today?) and it's not at all about PERFECTION.

UNperfectly Yours,


Debbie

Mother's Day

It's been a great Mother's Day weekend for me. Yesterday, I spoke at the Bartlett United Pentecostal Church for their Mother/Daughter Tea. God allowed me to minister to about 60 women. I talked to them about the importance of developing spiritual roots for their Family Trees. We had a lovely time and the Holy Spirit really ministered. The decor was beautiful!(See pic) The theme was Branches of Blessings.

Then, I came home from speaking and my middle son, Jeremy had a dozen roses and a beautiful card waiting for me. His card really touched me because he wrote a personal note about how much he and his brothers and sister really love and respect me.

For those of you who don't know I am actually my kid's stepmother. I married their father when I was 20 years old and he was 30 years old twenty-five years ago. He was a widower and the 4 little kids. The oldest was nine and the youngest was 2! You can read INSTANT MOTHERHOOD one of the first articles I wrote (it DEFINATELY reads like someone's first ariticle) but it tells my story...

And then, if that wasn't enough at church, my sweet husband was leading prayer request and paused and told everyone how thankful he was that I raised his children and that they love me so much. He welled up with tears as he did it and just touched my heart so much. I was overwhelmed with joy already, thinking things can't get any better and  came home and got on my Facebook Page and my daughter had written a beautiful post about me and said this song from Brad Paisley should have been written about me(see below). She said even though Brad talks about his step dad, she thinks it describes me beautifully:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjO1F6oCab8

I just had to share all this with you my faithful readers. It's been 25 years and there were hard times like any mother experiences. But when you give in love and sincerity God ALWAYS brings things around. Truly, I am blessed today and every day to have had the life I have and the family I've had.

Now it's your turn. Write and tell me about how YOUR MOTHER'S DAY went. I honestly want to hear!

Dwelling In Truth

Every Wednesday, I  weigh myself on the special scale for obese people that is in the Emergency Room at the hospital where I work. Just the action of walking in there in front of the ER staff and telling them I need to use their special scale is an act of faith. By doing so, I am facing a painful truth: I am obese. And I'm not just obese, I'm morbidly obese. My body fat percentage is like 50.

But please don't feel sorry for me. My purpose in sharing this isn't for sympathy, or even for encouragement (although a pat on the back is always nice). No, I share this to put a face on an important Biblical truth:

 "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."  (John 8:32)

Jesus spoke these words to the Jews who believed on Him. And He speaks the same words to us today. While it's true Jesus was speaking of the gospel message, I believe knowing - and more importantly facing the truth in our struggles is a key part to freedom.

It is for me anyway.

So today, like every Wednesday, I face the truth of my body size. Some weeks, I'm happy because there's a loss - like today I lost 2.4 pounds - but some weeks I'm sad because my weight stayed the same, or I gained. But always, I can rejoice because I'm facing truth head on and Jesus said that's what really matters!

Godly Perception

My day started as any other first day of the work week. I hit the snooze button a few times; drank an extra cup of coffee to shock my system into the alert zone; and tried to get my mind wrapped around the fact that 9 hours of responsibility and labor awaited me.

The nice thing is that I used to dread Mondays as much as the next person, but I don't so much anymore. Why? Because my heart fills with anticipation at what treasures God has prepared for me.

You see, every day  I am able to share Christ in some way. And knowing this causes me to look forward to who the Almighty is going to send my way.

For example,  on my lunch hour, I went to a friend's house for a cup of tea and some prayer.

See what I mean? Every day is an adventure with Christ because I see myself as His ambassador and He responds by sending me people to minister to.

What's interesting is that my job itself hasn't changed at all. I have the same work load, the same stresses etc.

But my outlook is different.
The blessings, the joy, the strengthening of relationships, was there all along. But I didn't see it. In essence, my vision was skewed.

And isn't that what Christ wants from all of us? 

 Could it be that Christ  is waiting for us to climb up to the high places with Him so we can see things from His vantage point?

You decide.

FACEBOOK FORGIVENESS

I'm still toying around with what I want this blog to totally be about. For now, I'm going to try to post 3x a week. ( I know it's not much in terms of serious bloggers, but it's the best I can do at the moment) So Mondays will be mostly musings about work, and Wednesdays will be about my goal to lose over a 100 pounds... but what about Saturdays?

I think I shall call my Saturday posts unofficially Saturday Snippets as in -anything goes!

So today I feel like sharing my struggle with accepting someone as a FACEBOOK FRIEND. She's someone who wounded me severely a very long time ago and although I feel like I've forgiven and let it go, I don't necessarily want her to be my FACEBOOK FRIEND.

But she keeps sending me a friend's request. The first time she sent it, I ignored it for 2 weeks, prayed and wrestled with what to do, and ultimately hit the ignore button. I felt justified in this decision because she had shown herself to me in the past a wolf in sheeps clothing so why would I want to let a known wolf back into my safe zone?

I had forgotten about doing this  and moved on. But  this morning, I got another Friend Request from her. I rolled the mouse over the the Ignore Button but did't click it. So it's just hanging there waiting for me to respond.

Does my wanting to deny a former enemy access to my Facebook world make me less Christ-like? I honestly don't know. These are the kinds of questions I make myself nuts with! I so want to please Christ in all that I do, yet I don't want to be a doormat either. I don't think Christ expects us to be trampled on. But He does clearly tell us to love our enemies and do good to those who despitefully use us. But does that mean we have to have them over for dinner? I don't know. I'm still trying to sort this one out.

So, my precious readers, what do you think? What would you do? And I guess more importantly, what would Jesus do?