Lukewarm Showers, Dirty Dishes and Lessons on Contentment

This morning I woke up a little on the crabby side. I know what started it all. I came downstairs to dishes that I didn’t wash before going to bed last night. Dang it. I hate it when I do that. Then I was in a rush to get ready for an early morning appointment.

In my house, I’m a hot water hog. I take showers that my husband swears would boil a lobster. Well this morning because I used up all the hot water washing the dishes I had left last night (my own fault) and Jeff had jumped in the shower before me — I found myself taking one very lukewarm shower.

GRRRRRRRR. I found myself grumping getting ready. And it wasn’t even like the water was cold. It was just mildly warm. That was when the Holy Spirit spoke straight to my heart. “You know Julie the people in Haiti right now would do anything for a lukewarm shower in a real bathroom.” Ouch.

There is a verse I keep coming back to over and over again since the start of this new year. I think it is to be my verse for 2010. But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Tim 6:6 NKJ. I’ll be honest. I don’t know exactly what this looks like for me in the day to day, but I am learning. Oh I am learning.

As a dreamer I always like to think about what is out there, what could be. And honestly I know that this way of seeing the world is a strength of mine. But what I deal with at times in all my “futuristic” thinking, it leads me to be discontent. So I am walking this balance of godliness with contentment.

So, today, I pray you are made aware of things in your own life that you need to be content with. Think through what is making you grumpy when you really should just be chillin. That waitress bringing your food a little later than you think you should have it, the guy behind the counter who keeps answering the phone and cutting you off. That friend who never seems to have time for you or the car that just won’t start.

We are so blessed. Take time to look for godliness in the everyday and for goodness sake try to be content. With it comes great gain. The Bible says so.

Holy Discontentment. What is the one thing I hate? Debt.

This weekend while visiting a church wrestling with God about Saturday church. I was challenged with a question from the speaker that has stuck with me all week. What is my holy discontentment? What the speaker meant was what is the one thing that really stirs up a fire in your belly? We live in a fallen world, and within that world there is sin and brokenness. What is the one thing that when you see it just makes you go grrrrrrrrrr.

I didn’t know right away, but the question haunted me. At times in my Christian walk it has been different things. When I was younger it was substance abuse and the destruction it brings to families.

Later in my life I believe the Lord gave me a holy discontentment for what abortion does to women. I took this fire and worked diligently with pro-life ministries, and today still fight to encourage others to value life at all stages.

But recently a new holy discontentment has cropped up. I HATE debt. I hate what it does to families. I hate what it is done to our culture. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. Have I been unclear about how I feel about this?

Almost three years ago God put our family on a journey to break free from this cycle of debt. We have gone three steps forward and then three steps back. We have been really good at following the plan at times, and at others we have been really bad. We were introduced to Dave Ramsey and drank the Kool Aid. This year is our year to finish it.

I am tired of getting frustrated that I can’t provide help for God’s people because of our own stupidity. Recently Jeff and I heard about a friend who is getting ready to finalize an adoption. We wanted to help them bring their girl home, but stinking filthy debt has kept us from being able to do so.

So in 2010 I am going to use this discontentment as a motivation to help others. With the Lord’s help, I am committed to doing everything I can to help people free themselves from this curse on our culture. I truly believe that my generation is starting to get it. I know of so many families who are creating a new normal and getting out of this pit.

The light bulb has turned on for them and they have seen what the people of God can do for the kingdom when they don’t have this chain around them. Can you only imagine what the next 10 years is going to look like for the Church once these families start infusing life and resources into it? The blessing  they will be, and the lessons for their children!

So that is it for me in the new year. What is yours? What is your holy discontentment, and what are you going to do about it?

Never Say Never

This weekend I did something that I actually am embarrassed to admit I swore I would never do. No, it wasn’t putting up a Facebook profile. Even though last year I did swear that wasn’t going to happen. Fast forward one year later and I am just one of the  thousands of adults obsessed with this social media outlet.

If it wasn’t Facebook, then what is it? I went to a Saturday church service. OK stop laughing. Why on earth am I using blog space to talk about this? Because I don’t think I am alone in the pool of Christians who have made absurd line-in-the sand commitments that have absolutely NOTHING in the reasoning rooted behind them in Scripture.

Welcome 2010

I thought that I was the only one who really didn’t have a good time hanging out in 2009. That was until all of those year-end re-cap shows that were on this week confirmed that  I so was not alone.

My mini recap: In February 2009 I became a national statistic when I was laid off. Little did I know at the time, I would occupy land of the unemployed for less than 5 weeks. The whole timing of things last year was totally a lesson in something I thought I knew a lot about- God’s sovereignty. I had NO idea the wild ride He would set me on and the lessons in trusting Him and His plan.

My Favorite Time of the Day

Morning. Yep, I’m one of those. I love getting up early, usually around 5:15 AM. I come down stairs, start my coffee and spend time in the Word.

The Lord speaks to me in the quiet while the dishwasher is running about things like what I learned this morning: “The righteous care about injustice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern” Proverbs 29:7. Things I know in my head, but in the stillness of the morning God writes them on my heart. I also use this time to write in my journal, pouring my whiny heart to God.

Sometimes, like this morning, I just sit after I finish my reading. It is the only time during my day that I can sit in one spot, and just enjoy the quietness of my house. There is something about the stillness that settles my soul. When you have a family as busy as mine you need to have some time just to think, and for me it is before the sun comes up.

Here is a picture from where I sit in the mornings and start my day. How about you? What is your favorite time of the day and why?

Crazy Busy

I know everyone is crazy, out of their mind busy this time of year. But the last few months I literally have been hair on fire, insane. I fell off the grid in October due to a family vacation at Estes Park, only to be followed by a run in with the piggy flu, aka H1N1. It was not fun let me tell you.

Then the month of November hit. Yeah, it was a wild one. Family Life Services, the amazing ministry I work for hosted our first ever Heritage of Hope Art Show and Reception. This was the first time I had ever worked on a large event that had so many parts and pieces. The event turned out great and was a wonderful time celebrating the ministry with the community.

Below are some pictures my good friend Lindy Keffer took at the show. Shameless plug for Lindy: If you need great pictures for an event I highly recommend her. She does an amazing job at capturing the essence of your activity and crowd. There wasn’t anything she missed.

Going into the Christmas season I am looking forward to some downtime with friends and family. Time to reflect on this last year and all that the Lord has done. I am very blessed. Very blessed indeed.

Now check out how cool our Heritage of Hope Art Show and Reception was…

Our theme for the evening was Heritage of Hope.

Our guests enjoying the silent auction.

Jeff's photo Morning at Moulton Barn was in the live auction.

I was able to share with our guests about the wonderful work FLS does for single moms and their children.

The Hubs and I.

Shannon & Rich Schur were our auctioneers for the live portion of the event.

Michelle from Schur Success showing off items for our live auction.

Save the date! Next year’s Heritage of Hope Art Show & Reception will be at the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs on November 12th 7-9 PM. For more information about Family Life Services be sure to visit the web site.

Things I Don’t Do On Thanksgiving

I don’t stress out over fixing dinner for a crowd. I am obsessive about it and only let people bring dessert. Which leads to another item I don’t do on Thanksgiving, I don’t bake. Wait, let me change that, I don’t bake ever. Thanksgiving is just one of those days out of 365 that I refuse to venture into this discipline. My kids have learned to live with it. They have resorted to begging our friends for cookie, cakes and pie handouts. Village Inn pies have become a staple.

I don’t nag at my husband for watching football on Thanksgiving or eating too much. We love football in our house and Thanksgiving is just one more day we get to enjoy watching this great American past time. As for eating too much, I have always loved Thanksgiving. What other day during the year do you just eat and eat, and who cares about the calories. It is all about the butter and on Thanksgiving I use a ton of it.

I also don’t go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Are you kidding me? Some of you actually think that this is fun? I just don’t get it. We stay home, have even more friends over on Friday and watch more football. Call it Thanksgiving Day Part Two.

Our family used to travel on this holiday to West Virginia. As the kids have gotten older, we have pretty much cut out all holiday travel. I want to see my family during a less hectic time of the year when I can enjoy them. Colorado is truly home now and I like having my kids waking up under our own roof for the holidays. I miss my family like crazy, but traffic and flying makes me grumpy. Better to do it another time of the year when there is less stress.

So enough of my rant…What do you not do on Thanksgiving. I’m curious.

Fall is Around the Corner

I could feel it this morning when I woke up. It was so foggy I couldn’t see Pikes Peak. I know when it clears out later today there will be snow up there. Walking earlier this week I noticed that the tips of the trees are turning. My favorite time of the year is just around the corner.

I don’t know why but there is something about this time of year that makes me yearn for James Taylor music, breakout my Smart Wool socks and watch You’ve Got Mail. When we first moved to Colorado for the first few years I felt I got cheated every autumn. The season doesn’t last nearly as long here as it does out east, and there is one color for the leaves to turn.  The biggest difference is that you can find yourself shoveling snow anytime after October 1st.

But over the years I have learned to love this time of year in Colorado. The aspens and their gold coin-like leaves are stunning. The sun against a clear blue sky is magnificent. And while it doesn’t last long, it makes you appreciate the last few warm days of the year even more.

This year our family is wrapped up in our son’s first year of junior high football. Football has always been a part of our family’s fall rituals, but now in a much more participatory role. We not only will be watching college and pro football all weekend with our Institute students and friends, but we will be going to games to cheer Jacob and the TCA Titans on as well.

I have so many good memories of this time of year when I was a kid. I think that is why I love it so much. What about you? What are some of your favorite fall season memories? I know you have them too…

Land of the Living

Over the last few weeks I have not been able to get the words of David in Psalms 27:13-14 out of my head.

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

I love the thought of seeing the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. That is here and now! I don’t have to wait for some future event. I can see it today, right now — just living the life he has for me now. These verses give me insight into true joy. The joy of contentment. The joy that only the Lord provides.

What encouragement this has been to me. Also the fact that I can wait. I don’t have to make things happen all of the time. Sometimes it is OK just to wait. Meditate on this and let me know what you think about this Psalm. It has been water for my soul recently.

Faith Walk

Faith, what is it? Biblically speaking in Hebrews 11:1 it is described as being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see. Confession time — as far as Christians go I really stink where faith is concerned. I just haven’t had to exercise this spiritual discipline a whole lot in my twenty years of walking with God. Let me explain.

I have never been in a situation really where I have had to be completely dependent on God. I have always been in a state where I knew where things were coming from. This has been true through every area of my life.