The Sunday Post

First Service:

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the LORD. Psalm 40:2-3

There is beautiful music within. Let it rise and spill forth. Join the heavenly choir. without the music I have put within you, something is missing. Without your voice, your personal music, there is a hole in the worship. A huge, gaping hole only you can fill. Why rely on the music without? The music within is custom designed for you. It is your perfect fit.

So what does all that mean?


The way I read Psalm 40, God Himself puts a new song in our mouths. Most likely happens at a moment of deliverance or salvation. If God puts the song in our mouths, it must be a tailor made custom design just for us.

If (and I do mean if) that is the case, then the music within us is a unique, one-of-a-kind tune. No one but us can sing it. This idea helps me understand why I have been having the thoughts I have nearly every Sunday. (See former posts)

Waiting and watching during a service rather than participating creates a hole in the service. Something is missing. Something only we can supply to the entire experience. I would not dare to say it is a sin to watch rather than do. I will venture a guess and say we miss something by not tapping into what already lies within us.

Week after week I stand on the platform and see people who appear tired and downhearted. My prayers extend to them and I can't help but wonder what would happen if they would realize what is inside. That beautiful, one-of-a-kind thing God has deposited into them.

And The Problem Is...

Communication.

Ah, yes. The complicated two-way street that is fraught with potholes, poor patch jobs, and perdition. Be aware: Communication only works when two people (or more) are actively involved. When there is a misunderstanding, I would venture to stay that 99% of the time it is not a mismatch of the mind or intent. Rather, it is a miscommunication.

Perhaps we spend too much time assuming that the other party understands what we mean by our hint-giving. We all know what happens when we assume something! The truth of the matter is this: If we want someone to fully understand our requests, meanings, or feelings, we must be straightforward with them. If we want something, we need to be clear in our request making.

If we feel negative emotions, the mature thing to do would be to analyze the situation to see what part we ourselves may have played rather than laying the blame on someone(s) else. We need to be honest with others, but more importantly we need to be honest with ourselves. Communication does require at least two people. That means in any miscommunication, there are at least two parties involved. We need to ask ourselves, "What could I have done differently?" "What role did I play?" and, "How can I fix this situation now?"

Finally, for the sake of friendships, marriages, and cooperation, if a person asks you outright if they have offended you, please...by all means, open those lines of communication and solve the problem rather than perpetuating it by keeping silence and holding grudges.

There are times when we are wronged by the other person involved. It happens. Mostly it is unintentional, but it does happen. Maybe we are wronged. However, could we have done something differently to keep the situation from being blown out of proportion? If so, let us take responsibility for our own part to play and give the other person a chance to take responsibility for theirs.

In other words, we need to grow up and act like adults.

Starbucks

Okay, so the picture doesn't show exactly what I want it to, but the point will be clear as I tell my story.

Yesterday Shannon and I were at Physician's East Urgent Care - which is another story. I was talking to my kiddo about her work shirt & how I'd like to wash it for her. At the same time, a lady came out of the back offices and said, "Why would I want to wash it? It is evidence!" I am certain I gave her my huh? what? look as I said, "Excuse me?" The woman, who I found out later is a nurse, repeated herself. Then she showed us her arm and said she'd been scalded by Starbucks coffee. She had 2nd degree burns on her arm and on her torso. And as she walked out of the office she exclaimed, "And they don't even have any caution signs up about their coffee being hot!"

Well, I lost it. I started hollering - but don't know if she heard me. All I could picture was this woman going off to sue Starbucks for not warning people about their hot coffee. I said, "What? You go to Starbucks for coffee and don't know it is going to be hot? What do you want? You want your coffee to be room temperature? WHAT?? "

Come to find out the old guy on crutches who came out of the office before her was her husband, also a nurse. Apparently, he fell off a roof! You know what I think? I think these folks are just clumsy. They need to stay home before they hurt somebody.

*posts blog entry while shaking head....Starbucks coffee. Too hot. Hmph!*

Hmm...

This morning Andy mentioned that it doesn't take much to make me happy. I started thinking about that statement and this was my response:

No, It doesn't take much.
Space when I need it, though I may not tell you when.
Attention when I want it, but I might not say anything then, either.
Come with me to some of my "thingies," though I may not ask.
No, it doesn't take much to make me happy,
But that does not mean it is easy!

He Did It Again!

Another sacrifice made by my teddy bearish bulldog. After a very hard day at work, he loaded up the trailer and helped my friend move some furniture. The furniture was large & bulky. It took my car and 3 others to get it all, but we did it in one trip. I can understand his sentiment about not wanting to move anyone for awhile ("Again" being "too soon"). I just had to post a thanks.

I'm telling you people: he is a good man!!

I'd Rather Be...

No, I do not mean I want to be smelling the inside of a moccasin!

But sleeping ... making parts of the world go away...

denying my responsibilities for a little while....

Yeah. That is what I mean.

Who is with me!? Moccasin dwellers of the world, UNITE!

(untie?)

Look at This Man

See this man? This is a good man. A very good man. Indulge me as I tell you about this man's weekend. Friday, he mowed the lawn in order to free up his weekend. So. How was his "free weekend" spent? On Saturday, he fixed Kiddo's laptop, formatted the Dell, washed and waxed my Vue, raked the yard, and took me & Kiddo & Kiddo's significant out for dinner. Does that sound like what you would want to do on your Saturday? Well...let us take a look at this man's Sunday:

Up early to play in the band at church both services. Home to fix and hang a lantern in Kiddo's room. Finish the Dell's format. Off to Lowe's to get the necessary items to safeguard the (newly acquired) birds from the cats. Begin practice for next week's song list at church. Called his mother.

This man makes sacrifice after sacrifice for his family. No wonder I love him.

Treadmill

Hate going to the gym? Maybe learning this routine will make it more interesting!

To Whom is He Speaking?

This Sunday during the first service's worship, I heard more of the same:

Why are you waiting?

The water is troubled.

The time is now.

Why are you waiting

For something to happen?

What you need is inside you.

Tap in and make it happen.


My question is...just what is "it?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Second service was different.

We were singing a song our worship leader wrote entitled "Holy Are You." It is a simple but beautiful and heartfelt song. People responded by spontaneously walking up to the altar to pray. Admittedly, I also became lost in the song and the meaning behind its lyrics.

While 'lost,' I saw gold boxes wrapped in deep purple ribbon. They were different shapes & sizes and were piled up at the feet of a faceless Someone. When I asked about the gold presents, I had the thought that He (sometimes?) sees our act of worship as a gift for Him. These boxes .. gifts... were so lovely, anyone would have wanted a present wrapped like that. And that's when I had the thought - as lovely as these boxes were - that is how beautiful our true, heartfelt worship is to Him.

"And that's all I have to say about that."

Things Not Considered

Actually, that isn't entirely true. I did consider the fact that my job change would result in missing my friends at the former workplace. Now that the teachers have gone back to work the lack of an easy rapport with co-workers is glaringly obvious. Seeing that rapport among the staff at my new location hasn't helped. Not that they aren't friendly toward me. They have been very welcoming. But I'm a stranger. We are in "observation" mode. I'm being gauged. I can't blame them since I am doing the same thing in regard to them.


That has been the most intriguing thing about my job change. People watching is one of my favorite activities. Now that I am at a place that has three times the staff, there is much to watch and learn! However, observing my new co-workers has done very little to ease the pain of missing the former ones.

I know my feelings of isolation will pass with time. Wonder how fast the time will pass?

Hello Goodbye

You say goodbye, and I say hello...

Pat's move is complete. There are a few left over shirts & items in the refrigerator that belong to him, but that's all.

Shannon's move back in is also mostly complete. At least, I think so. Her furniture is in the room. Posters & prints she intends to hang are on the floor. Clothes are piled up in the closet and empty hangars are on the rack. But I haven't seen her, yet.

Last night Pat and Julie came for dinner. I had not seen them since last Wednesday so it was nice to be in their company. We ended up moving the washer/dryer & the rest of the things out of the storage unit into Pat's townhouse. It really is a sweet little place that has GOBS of storage! Pat appears to be settling in and seems happy.

That's all I want for my kids. Happiness.

Field of Geese

While driving to work this morning I happened to look to the right at the perfect time. A freshly havested field was covered with grazing geese! If I have done my research correctly, they were Canadian geese. I guess summer is just about over up there. For some strange reason, seeing the geese made me feel very happy and I thanked God for the opportunity to see them.

Feeling Better

My therapist told me a way to achieve inner peace was to finish things I had started. Today I finished two bags of potato chips and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.

Backbone

In his personal life Edward Paxmore had discovered that a man lived best when he maintained some central belief upon which he could hang all action and to which he could refer all difficult moral problems; he was then vertebrate, with a backbone to sustain him, and he had observed that men and women who failed to develop this central belief wandered and made hideously wrong decisions because in time of crisis they had nothing to which they could refer instantaneously. He had found his backbone in obedience to God, in the simplest form possible and with the most direct access.

~James A. Michener
Chesapeake

Better Late Than Never

Patrick knows his mom. This past Christmas he gifted me with this nice leather bound edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. I am one of those who was a huge fan of this writing many years before the trilogy of movies. And before the animated "The Hobbit" movie. I've not yet read it, and it has been decades. It is, however, on my (long) list of pending reads.


Today, Pat started cleaning out his closet in preparation for his move. He knocked on my bedroom door and presented me with a leather bound edition of The Lord of the Rings! He intended to give the book to me for Mother's Day but forgot he had it. (I got a huge bouquet of flowers instead.) There are still mixed feelings about his move, but when he gave me this book one feeling temporarily shone through all the others: I felt loved.

He Has the Keys

And I don't mean "death, hell, and the grave."

Pat signed a lease and picked up the keys to his townhouse today. Naturally, my feelings are mixed. Of course it is time for him to be on his own. Of course I am going to miss him. It is not as if he is moving to another county or something, but I feel as though I will not be seeing much of him.

Perhaps it is time for the re-advent of the Thursday Family Dinner.

:o(

Yes, We are Weird

Why? Why do I not run a fever when I am sicker than sick? And why did this strange trait get passed on to my children?

This morning was spent sitting in the ED and then in my regular doctor's office. Shannon called around 5:50am in pain and in tears. After a 3+ hour wait, we learn she has a raging urinary tract infection that is moving to her kidneys. What was her temperature? 97.2. She's probably been walking around with this thing for a week or more but didn't know she was sick until she started experiencing real pain.

All is well, though. She is sleeping by now and the mammoth-dose antibiotics will have kicked in by tomorrow morning.

Can You Spot the Error?

(and I don't mean grammatically)

"Still more years went by, and no child. Finally, Sarah became pregnant. What changed?"

"I'm convinced that the key to the promise's coming to pass was that Sarah had to conceive it in her heart before she was able to conceive that baby in her physical body. She had to believe she could become pregnant before she actually became with child. It was nearly twenty years from the time God spoke the promise to Abraham and Sarah until the time Isaac was born. And I believe the main reason he wasn't born sooner, one of the major delays in the fulfillment of the promise for year after year, was simply the fact that Sarah couldn't see it through her eyes of faith."

This really bothered me when I read it this morning. Wonder if the same thing strikes anyone else?

When I Say I Am a Christian...

A close friend emailed this little poem to me. I am not overly fond of little 'Christian' sentiments, but this morning the poem struck me. I wanted to shout "YES!" But it is 6:00am and the energy I would expend to shout anything is just too precious right now. *S*

I hope this says something to you:

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I am saved"
I'm whispering "I get lost!
That is why I chose this way."

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Someone to be my guide.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
and pray for strength to carry on.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
and cannot ever pay the debt.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
my flaws are far too visible
but God believes I'm worth it.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartaches
which is why I seek His name.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I do not wish to judge.
I have no authority.
I only know I am loved.

~Carol Wimmer

Scrambled Eggs

From Joel Osteen:

"My life is so messed up. You can't unscramble eggs."

'No, but God can take scrambled eggs and make an amazing omelete.'