Tuesday, February 16, 2010

PET PEEVES!

Ok, this has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time, but today it's exploding inside of me, so I have to let it out!
Why is it that the worst people I deal with at work are self-proclaimed Christians and ministers? Why is it that a pastor who has a blog and website extolling his work in missional outreach and how he gives seminars teaching Christians to reach out and be relevant to the community is the biggest ARSE in the world? Why do my peers hate handling claims for ministers/pastors? SERIOUSLY??????
What happened to being light? Or loving like Christ loved?
We all get frustrated. We all want to throw a customer service rep out the window a time or two, but what separates us from the rest of the world is our love. Isn't that what Jesus said?
They will know we are Christians by our love......
So, what if instead of being the biggest cheapskates in the world, we tipped our server AT LEAST 15% every time, even if they don't deserve it? What if we stopped taking our frustrations out on the representatives who are trying to help us, and take our issues to the Lord and believe HIM for the favor that we have as children of the King? What if we actually for once lived for God's reputation rather than our own pleasure and comfort? What if......

Monday, February 8, 2010

The Story of Dreams Come True


The Story of Dreams Come True

I always knew that I would travel to Europe again some day. I always wanted to kiss my love at the Eiffel Tower. Little did I imagine that I would get to do both within just 3 years of being married.
If you had told me in 2006, that I would spend New Years Eve 2009/2010 in Paris, I would have laughed at you. So, how did we get there?
In the faithfulness that only He lives up to, God led my husband to sign us up for Financial Peace University in February 2007, much to my chagrin. The next 13 weeks would radically change our lives and alter the course of our destiny. We learned Kingdom principles for handling money, most of which are counter culture. We shredded our credit cards, put together a budget, and stuck with it, often delaying the "I wants" with the less fun "We don't needs". It was soon after we started this process that my best friends moved to Germany, and invited us to come and visit. Of course my "I WANTS" screamed louder than ever, but with the wisdom of God, Paul simply said, "not now - later". I was mad; I pouted; I was pretty sure Paul was just punishing me for my debt (school loans and a tahoe payment comprised of most of our $77K in debt). But, pretending to be the good wife that I someday hope to be, I submitted to his direction (and the Lord's). We remained faithful, knocking out our debt little by little until we got to June 2009, and we owed $2700.
I got home after a beating of a day, to find my husband grinning from ear to ear, with the excitement of a little boy who just got his first bike. He said nothing, but handed me an envelope. Curiosity got the best of me, and I opened it to find a letter from a relative which stated, "We have been blessed this year, and we want to bless you. Please use the enclosed gift however you would like." But there was nothing enclosed? SO I looked up at Paul, and that's when he handed me the check for....$3000! I was speechless! I choked, sputtered, but no words would come. It was exactly enough to give 10% to the Lord and pay off our debt! We danced around, jumped up and down, and I cried tears of joy. It was then that Paul looked at me and said, "Do you know what this means?" I looked at him, and I screamed "EUROPE!"
So we booked our days, started shopping for tickets and the rest is history. We spent a glorious 3 full weeks exploring Southern Germany, Switzerland and Northern France (and Paris, obviously).
It was magical! It was refreshing! It was life-changing! It was a kiss from God! It was simply a dream come true!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" ~Eph 3:20