I Wanna Be Rich

I want money lots and lots of money!  I wanna be rich!

Now be honest.  Did you just flash back to 1989 and sing those lyrics?  Maybe it's just me.

 

This week my family flew to Phoenix AZ to celebrate Christmas with my family who lives there.  It was quite an expensive trip.  We had to pay for the airfare for 5 people plus suitcases and golf bags.  We had to purchase gifts for 19 people who would be at the Christmas celebration.  We wanted to be able to chip in and cover some meals and groceries.  My husband wanted to golf.  I wanted a mani/pedi while we were there.  It was quite an expensive trip.  My husband is a pastor and we don't make a whole lot.  All of our needs are met but there is not a ton extra at the end of each check so I started selling on eBay for some additional income.  This is what we call our "play" money.  We don't want to overextend ourselves and use it as income because you just never know if it is going to be a good eBay week or a slow one.  We use the play money to take trips and buy fun things for the family.  That is what paid for our entire trip to Disney World and it also funded our most recent trip to Phoenix and bought all of the presents and things.

 

While we were there I went out golfing with my husband.  We were at a VERY nice country club.  The kind with dress codes and things.  This is not typical for us.  It was a big splurge.  We decided to eat lunch in the restaurant on the course.  As we were sitting there, I started to people watch.  It is one of my favorite pastimes.  It drives my husband crazy.  I was watching all of the people who "belonged" there.  You could tell just by looking at them.  They talk different.  They dress different.  They carry themselves different.  You could pick them out as having a boat load of money probably just as easily as you could tell that Matt and I didn't.

 

At one point I leaned over to my husband and made this statement.  "Do you think they realize how blessed they are or do you think that they take it for granted?"

 

As soon as the statement left my mouth the Holy Sprit pricked my heart and asked me the very same question.  "Rachel, do you know how blessed you are or do you take it for granted?"

 

Sometimes it is so easy to compare our lives with others and forget about all of the good things that the Lord has done for us.  It is easy to say "I wanna be rich" and forget that we really already are.  So I am dedicating my last post of 2013 to brag about my wealth!

- I have 3 healthy, beautiful girls

-My husband adores me and treats me like a queen

-My husband has not been hospitalized with his Crohn's disease at all this year

-I do not have cancer

-I have been able to visit with all of my family this year

-I have a great church

-We are debt free

-My parents and grandparents are still alive

-I have a warm dry beautiful house

-I have great friends

-Jesus Christ has redeemed me

-I have a brand new van

-All of my children have accepted Jesus as their Savior

 

The list goes on and on and on  And I wouldn't trade it for any country club membership anywhere!!

 

Blessed,

Rachel

"Mom, look at that woman!"

"Mom, look at that woman!" said my 5 year old as we checked out of a store yesterday.  She was referring to the cashier who had numerous body piercings and tattoos. Thank the Lord that my daughter waited until we were walking out the door to make her comment so the lady didn't hear her.  I have many stories like this with all 3 of my girls.  In this crazy world that we live in, I am sure that you do too.

And here begins the tightrope walk - that delicate balancing act of teaching them morals and standards without turning them into judgmental Christians.  And it is hard - very hard!  We have been commanded by Christ to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed.

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
I truly believe that God has a very high standard for His people and I want my children to learn that principal, but I have to handle the process very delicately.  Giving them a list of what I believe is wrong for Christians to do will never work.  It will only make them see what everyone around them is doing wrong.  "That girl's skirt is too short!"  "That guy needs to cut his hair!"  "Did you hear that man cuss?"  You get the picture, and while all of those things might be true - pointing them out certainly doesn't help my children or the person who might be in error.

So what do we do?  Do we throw out any standards in an attempt to not be judgmental.  Do we just stop teaching our children about the fact that God wants His people to be different and act different from the world?  No way!

We need to teach our children to be transformed into the image of God.  We need to guide them in standards and morals, but most importantly they need to see us love those who don't hold to the same standards.  My husband has a saying, "Unsaved people do unsaved things - Don't be surprised by it!"  This is what I teach my children.  When they see someone who is doing something that they know is wrong or displeasing to the Lord, I try to remind them that the person may not know Jesus.  They might not have had the privilege of being raised in a Christian home.  And then we go out of our way to be kind to that person.  It teaches them compassion instead of judgment.  That is exactly what Jesus did when he walked this earth.  You never see Jesus drop His standards, but you do see him show compassion on the unsaved.

What about people that they know are saved?  Here is where the tightrope gets even harder.  There are probably no 2 people in our church with the exact same standards.  Some ladies wear pants.  Some don't.  Some people smoke.  Some don't.  Some people listen to rock music.  Some don't.  I know that it can be very confusing for kids.  They have been taught a set of guidelines from their parents and then they go to church with truly good Christian folks, but they believe a little bit differently from what they have been taught.  I can't use the same reasoning that they may not know Jesus to explain their actions to my kids.  I must teach them about the Holy Spirit. 

It is not our job to police the standards of our church members.  I have to trust that the Holy Spirit can do a much better job at it than me.  I have to teach my children to let the Holy Spirit work in people's lives and while He is working I need to show them real love and kindness - even if we differ on our standards.

Compassion and love really do make the difference.  I can still teach my kids to live a life with high standards and morals, but they must see me show compassion and love to those who differ.  Last week my middle daughter went to the hair dresser with me.  We love our hair dresser.  We have followed her from working at the salon in Wal-Mart to owning her own shop.  All of this time we have been working to get her to church.  She has piercings and is covered in tattoos.  She has spiked multi colored hair and no matter how hard she tries a few cuss words slip out every now and then.  Once again we told her we would love to see her visit the church sometime and once again she told us that she might show up one of these days.  When we got in the car my daughter asked me if I thought she would ever come to church.  I confidently said yes.  I told her that some day when she is going through a very rough time she is going to remember that our family was always kind to her and loved her even though she was different than us.  We always tipped her well and sent customers her way and she will come to us for help.  I truly believe that she will be saved one day because of compassion.

Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:

It really does make the difference!

Blessed above measure,

Rachel

This Winter I Hope My Electricity Bill Is Through The Roof!!!

This past Sunday in church my husband gave an illustration to enhance one of the points in his message.  The story was about a woman who finally got electricity running to her house after many years of living without it.  When the electric company came to read her meter, they found that almost no electricity had been used.  Thinking that something might be wrong with the wiring, the gentleman knocked on the door and asked the woman if her electricity was working properly.  She told him it was working just fine.  In fact, she told him that she used it every day.  As soon as the sun would go down, she would flip her switch on until she had lit all of her candles and then turn it right back off.  This woman was tapped into the power, but she was not using it.

That story immediately sent my mind to thinking.  For many years I have struggled with a battle with in me...my self vs. The Holy Spirit.  I don't think that I am alone in this battle.  I think that most active Christians struggle the same way and might not even know it.  It has only been recently that I have realized that I have a problem with it myself.  You see. I have been saved since I was a child.  I have been active in my church, gone soul winning for years, taught Sunday school classes, led ladies meetings etc.  You name a ministry and I bet I have been involved in it at one time or another.  Yet here I am at the age of 35, and as I look back I can hardly remember a time that I was doing any of those ministries under the power of the Holy Spirit.  Now don't get me wrong, I was always doing it to please the Lord.  I have always loved Him and wanted to serve Him.  My motives were never to get glory for myself and bring attention to me, but looking back now I do realize that there was not much involvement or power from the Holy Spirit.  I was like the lady in the story.  I was turning the power on just long enough to light my own candle.

Can you imagine trying to clean your house by candle light?  You could do an okay job, but you would have to work much harder than you would if you could have electricity to see by.  It would take much more time and energy to clean it by candle light and in the end it probably wouldn't look as nice as you thought it did.  Once the electricity gets flipped on, you would look around and see all the things that you never realized were left undone when you were working by candle light.

This is where I feel I am in my life right now.  I have been consciously trying to work and serve with the Holy Spirit's power in my life now.  The light switch has been turned on and now I realize that all those things that I thought I had accomplished by candle light don't look so good.  I have a long list of accomplishments and by the grace of God even some results, but how much more could there have been if I were Spirit controlled.

That is my aim now.  I never want to turn that light switch off again.  It is so easy to do things in my own power.  Got has given me a few talents and if I am not careful those talents will push the need for the Holy Spirit to the side without me even realizing it.  It is easy to need the Holy Spirit when you are not good at something or uncomfortable, but we need to determine to yield to His power when it comes to our strengths as well.

What about you?  Have you been using your "electricity"  or is your meter reading low as well?  Lets determine that this winter season our "electricity" bill will be through the roof!  (I never thought I would say that sentence!)  :)

Blessed by His grace,

Rachel

My Daughter Wants Me To Turn Into An Old Lady!

This morning I read a great blog that challenged parents to sit down with their kids and ask them this question: If you could change one thing about me, what would it be?  They were allowed to tell you anything with out consequences.  The author of that blog said that his daughter told him that she wished he didn't have a cell phone.  It gave him a new perspective.  I decided to take this challenge so I sat down with all three of my girls and asked them this question:  If you could change anything about me, what would it be?

None of the girls wanted to answer right away, but I reassured them that they wouldn't hurt my feelings and that I truly wanted to know so that I could make our relationship better.  My middle child Olivia started.  She is 9 years old and has quite the personality.  She yelled out almost immediately, "I wish you would let us watch Sponge Bob!"  That is my Olivia :)  Concerned about the important things of life!  That show drives me crazy!  Even the sound of Sponge Bob's voice is like nails on a chalkboard for me.

My youngest, India, piped in next.  She is 5 years old.  "I wish we could eat at McDonalds every day!"  Well this conversation was getting real deep!  My oldest daughter had yet to speak up and was acting very hesitant.  I reassured her she could tell me anything without getting in trouble.  Autumn is 11.  She is just entering that teenage stage of life.  She still hesitated.  Her sister piped in, "Autumn tell her that thing that mom does that embarrasses you."

Oh no, I was in for it now!  Reluctantly, Autumn said, "I wish you didn't borrow my clothes."  Autumn and I are the same size right now.  We wear the same size shoes even.  Every blue moon I will borrow something of hers to wear.  Now realize, Autumn is wearing something of mine almost every day.  I asked her why it bothered her so much that I would borrow something that was hers when she borrowed from me all of the time.  I thought she was just being stingy, but her answer almost shocked me.

She told me that when I wear her things it makes me look younger and she wanted me to look like a mom.

It was right then that I realized something about my child and I believe most children.  They are not looking for a parent that can relate to them or be hip and look cool around their friends.  They just want a mom.  I don't have to be her best friend or act like one of the teenagers to influence her.  I have to parent her.  This goes against almost everything in our society right now.  Society is pushing away that parent/child boundary and promoting that a parent turns into a child's peer.  This will never work!

Eph_6:4 ... but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Pro_22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

You can't do this by being their BFF, but you can by being their parent.

So I know what you're thinking.  Are you going to let them watch Sponge Bob?  No, my nerves can't handle it and we will not being eating at McDonalds every day.  I will wear less of Autumn's things though.  I will let her turn me into an old lady and I will do it gracefully -except maybe her shoes.  She has some really cute shoes :)

Blessed,

Rachel

That Ugly Green Dress Is Worth WHAT??????

Hideous?  Yes, I agree, but for some reason this gaudy avocado green dress caught my eye.  You see, I have a confession to make.  I am an eBay addict.  I started selling on eBay a little over a year ago and now I am addicted.  I buy vintage and name brand things at the thrift store or garage sales and turn around and sell them on EBay.  It is so much fun.  It has funded a trip to Disneyland, bought all of last years and this years Christmas presents, paid for airline tickets for our whole family to Phoenix, and a whole lot more.  I really enjoy doing it and my eyes are always on the look out for things that might sell.  One time I bought my daughter, India, a gift from the store and when we got home she had a very sad look on her face.  When I asked why she was sad she told me it was because she didn't want me to sell her toy on EBay!  I guess I can go overboard at times.

On Wednesday, I went "EBay shopping" to one of my favorite places, The Goodwill Outlet.  This is the last chance for thrift store items to sell before they get recycled.  This place is an eBayer's dream.  There are huge blue bins full of merchandise.  Nothing has price tags.  Nothing is sorted.  Everything is thrown into these bins and you dig through to find "treasure".  You load up your cart and you are charged by the pound!  Last time I went I had over 60 lbs. worth of stuff to sell.

This place is a madhouse.  Every 2 hours they take out all of the old blue bins and bring in brand new ones.  They make everyone stand behind a line painted on the floor while they are doing it.  When all of the new bins have been brought out the manager says some announcement about no running or pushing, but no one can hear him because everyone is running and pushing to grab all of the good stuff first.  It's insane!

This brings me to the hideous green dress.  I found it in one of the bins.  No one was pushing or running to get it first because lets face it - it's ugly!  I don't know why I decided to toss it in my cart.  Maybe because it looked vintage.  Maybe because when you pay by the pound I would only be paying a few cents for it.  I could just toss it out if it wasn't worth anything.  I went ahead and bought it along with about 59 pounds of other stuff.

The next day I sat down to list all of the items that I had bought.  When I looked up the brand of the dress, Paganne, I was shocked to see how much their dresses were selling for.  I was expecting $15 maybe $20, but all of the dresses by this designer were selling in the hundreds!  WHAT???  And I discovered that the dresses that were signed by the designer sold for even more.  I frantically searched the dress for a signature and guess what?  It was signed!!

Who would have thought that this ugly, hideous dress was worth something?  Not me!

This morning I was reading my devotions and I came upon this passage.

1Corinthians 1:25-29

  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

 

This dress is not valuable because of its beauty. It is not valuable because of its material - its made of polyester.  The reason that this hideous dress is valuable is because it has the signature of its maker.

 

I am so thankful that God uses the base, seemingly worthless things and puts His signature on them.  It is not our flesh that can accomplish great things, but it His hand writing His name upon our lives.  This way all the glory can go to the designer, Jesus Christ!

 

 

So blessed'

 

Rachel

I Want To Be A Goose!!!

This past Monday I was asked to substitute teach in a Kindergarten class at our church's academy.  I taught this class a couple of year's ago so I agreed to help out when the teacher was ill.  Back when I was the teacher, I always had the same problem.  I always ended up with a lot of extra free time at the end of the day.  I am a woman a few words.  It doesn't take me long to explain to the kids the lesson that is being taught.  We get down to business and get 'er done.  Once again at the end of our half day Kindergarten we had about 15 minutes and I had no more lessons to teach them.  15 minutes of 5 year old free time can turn disastrous if you don't give them something to do so I decided that we would go on a walk.  We played follow the leader into the gym where the older students were eating lunch.  I was the leader and the children had to copy everything that I did.  As I started walking around the lunch table I started patting people on the head and saying, "Duck, duck, duck..."  The children copied me.  The older kids at the table gave me quizzical glances and started scooting to the edge of their seats just in case I patted their head and yelled , "Goose!"

As I circled the table and patted each head I started to think which child seated at the table would be a good sport and chase after our class if I choose them to be the goose.  After all, I didn't want my impromptu  game to fall flat for these adorable cutie pies.  I carefully chose my target.  She was watching us closely.  She had a smile on her face.  She was perched on the edge of her chair.  She was ready and willing to entertain these sweet Kindergartners in a chase of duck, duck, goose.  I tapped her head and yelled, "Goose!"  She didn't disappoint.  She waited until each child tapped her head and yelled Goose and took off on the chase.  The Kindergarten class loved it.

As we were running around the table I heard a few of the other students murmur the words, "I want to be the goose!"  They also were eager and willing to participate.  It did my heart good.  Later that evening I started to think that must be what it is like for God sometimes.  I can imagine Him up in Heaven seeking for that perfect person to accomplish a task on hand.  I can see Him walking around the cafeteria table of life looking for that person who is on the edge of their seat.  He is looking for that person with the right attitude that will drop everything that they are busy with to do whatever He asks of them. 

When I was circling the table there were kids that didn't even stop eating there lunch to pay attention to what we were doing.  I didn't pick them to be the goose.  There were people with their heads down making no eye contact.  I could tell they didn't want to chase us.  I didn't pick them to be the goose.

I chose the person who was making it crystal clear. "Pick me!  I'll do it!"  They were my goose.

Eze_22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

That is how I believe we should present ourselves to the Lord as well.  We need to be attentive to Him.  We need to be on the edge of our seats, willing to drop our peanut butter sandwich in an instant to follow Him.  Don't get so busy with your "lunch" to see what is going on around you.

I want to be the goose!  I want Him to pick me!  I want it to be my turn to accomplish His task.  How about you?  Do you want to be a goose?

Blessed abundantly,

 

Rachel

I Only Shave My Legs Up To My Knees!

TMI????  I know, right?  But I have learned in my few short weeks of blogging that if your title doesn't get people's attention, they won't read what you have to say.  Well, it worked didn't it?  You are still reading!

It is true though.  Almost every time that I shave my legs I only go to the top of my knee.  Why, you ask?  Because I don't need to go any farther.  All of my clothes come down to my knee, so why put out any unnecessary energy to do more?  I know, I am weird like that, but as I examine a lot of areas in my life, I find this same pattern of only doing what is absolutely necessary.  For instance, last Sunday I wore open toed shoes to church.  As I slipped them on I realized that I needed to paint my toenails.  Only 2 1/2 of my nails showed through the peep toe so those are the toes I painted.  I have been walking around all week with 2 1/2 painted toenails on each foot.  It goes on.  I always only set the table with the utensils that we will need for that particular meal.  If we don't have use for a spoon, it doesn't go on the table.  Only what is necessary, that is my motto!  I got new windows earlier in the year and all of the sills need painted.  Did that get done?  Of course not, the curtains hide them anyways.  No one can see them so why paint them, right?  You see my pattern?  Only what is absolutely necessary!

While this habit of only doing what is required might not adversely effect anyone in my day to day life (except my poor husband with my pokey legs) I have to be very careful that it doesn't spill over into my spiritual life.  As a pastor's wife and a ministry leader in our church, I find quite a few people that are only willing to do what is absolutely necessary for the Lord.  I see people only doing what is "required" of them and never serving the Lord with their whole heart.  These are the kind of people who question every standard and walk as close to the line of worldliness as they possibly can.  If you can't give them a chapter and verse for a standard or guideline, they completely dismiss the idea.  They feel they don't need to study scriptures to find God's thoughts on a subject or allow the Holy Spirit room to convict them about anything.  Only what is required.  Only what is absolutely necessary.  That is their motto.

This kind of Christianity is permeating our society.  No wonder the generations coming up seem to know nothing about their creator and Savior.  When we only do what is necessary in our Christian walk many people will suffer.  We are commanded to be light and salt to this world.  The "only do what in necessary" philosophy makes you focus on yourself and not on the needs of others.  How will this standard effect me?  Attending church will take up all of my free time!  Giving offerings to the church will hurt me financially.  When we begin to focus on ourselves we forget about the purpose that God has put on each of our lives.  We are supposed to be ministering.  Being light and salt definitely requires us to do more than what is required and absolutely necessary.  We have to have a close walk with the Lord so that He can use us effectively.  We have to die to self.  That definitely meets the requirements of going above what is absolutely necessary, but that is what Christ has asked each believer to do.

Galations_2:20   I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

The Lord has done much more for me than what was absolutely necessary.  The least I can do for him is to serve Him with my whole heart!

With all my heart,   :)

Rachel

Why is My House Filled with Girls?!?!?!

These are my lovely daughters.  They mean the world to me, but I have to tell you honestly that I never wanted girls.  You see, I was the only girl in my family.  I have all brothers.  I understand boys.  I am familiar with boys.  I get how they work, but girls are a mystery to me.  I know what you are thinking.  You are thinking that statement makes no sense because I am a female.  Yes, I am a female, but I have never considered myself a GIRL.  At least I have never felt that I was very similar to all the GIRLS around me.

I was raised by a single father from the time that I was young, so my house was literally filled with all boys.  I played boys games.  I watched boys shows.  I can remember many evenings in our house watching WWF wrestling and acting out the matches with my brothers afterwards.  Amazingly, I never really turned into a tom boy.  I still had baby dolls and Barbie dolls and stuffed animals, but I could transition from them right into transformers with out any problem.  I was never a girlie girl though.  I never matched (thanks to my color blind dad).  I didn't even own a brush until 6th grade.  My dad was bald and my brothers had crew cuts.  My dad owned one little black comb, the kind that men carry in their pocket that I would use once in a while.  I can remember changing from a Christian school to a public school in 6th grade and realizing that I didn't look anything like those girls.  They looked cute and stylish.  Their hair looked smooth and neat.  Mine looked like a rat's nest.  Luckily, I have always been one who could adapt easily, so I asked for a hairbrush and hair products for Christmas.  I learned how to match clothes and didn't get made fun of for too long. 

All of my life I feel that I have been playing catch up with the other girls.  I just recently subscribed to some YouTube videos demonstrating how to wear eye makeup.  I know, 35 is a little old to be learning things like that, but I working on it.  I feel like I am almost caught up with all of the other girls in appearance and femininity, but there is still one area that I am lacking and desperately working on.  That area is how to relate to women.

This is something that I have always struggled with.  I literally feel like running in the opposite direction when I see a group of women talking.  I get butterflies in my stomach and I feel very uncomfortable.  I am terrible at small talk.  My dad is a direct person.  There was not a lot of chit chat in our home.  I am just not used to it.  I take after my father in many ways.  I got his calm even temper.  There are not a lot of things that get us worked up.  We are pretty even keeled.  I have always been that way, so when I get around women that are emotional and high strung and talk a lot, I just don't know what to do.  I don't understand them.  I don't relate to them.  This is a problem!

This is a problem because it is my job to help them.  I am a Pastor's wife.  I am in charge of the ladies' ministry of our church.  God has called me to this job.  I have often wondered if He really knew what He was doing when he decided to place me in this position. (Joking) And I really wondered if He knew what he was doing when I delivered each of my 3 girls. (My husband calls them strike 1,2, and 3.)  Really Lord?  Three girls?  And these are not 3 low, key unemotional girls.  He gave me 3 emotional, prissy girlie girls.  But the Lord didn't stop with that practical joke.  One of my best friends passed away from cancer a few years ago and left behind three daughters.  The girls' father works in Pittsburgh, so they come to my house almost every day after school.  They stay with us and eat with us and play with my girls.  That gives me 6 girls!  My poor husband!  Even the dog is a girl.

Is this a cruel joke on me from God?  On some days it seems like it, but when I stop to see the bigger picture I realize that it is really a help.  I didn't interact with a lot of women growing up.  I didn't have many girl friends.  It was not my fault and there was nothing that I could do about it.  But God has a plan for me.  He has a ministry that he wants me to thrive in and it is a ministry to women.  I realize that through all of the girls in this house he is allowing me to once again play catch up.  He gave me girls to soften me and tenderize my heart.  He gave me emotional girls to help me see that there are all kinds of women with all kinds of personalities that are worth my time and my efforts.  He gave me hurting girls so that I could learn compassion.  You see God gave me all of these girls - to help me.  Because he loves me.  Because he wants to be able to use me.

And once again I come to the realization that God has always had a plan for me. 
Romans 8:28   And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

 

Blessed beyond measure,

Rachel

Average..Mediocre..Middle of the Road..Ordinary

Average..Mediocre..Middle of the Road..Ordinary

I hate those words.  Those words have been the bane of my existence for many years.  Why?  Because I have always been the typical, average, middle of the road, ordinary sort of girl.  I know that to most people that may not sound like a bad thing, but it has driven me crazy all of my life.

I am of average weght and average height.  I am of average appearancs, brown hair and brown eyes.  My talent level is...well, average.  I am not the greatest at things, but not the worst either.  I can sing but not carry a harmony part.  I can play volleyball, but my skill level is average.  I can cook, but nothing close to gourmet.  Average has been the story of my life for as long as I can remember.

I can remember going to my brothers when I was a teen and asking them if they thought that I was pretty. (Not a wise thing to do by the way!)  I can remember them telling me that I wasn't really ugly or beautiful.  They just thought that I was....you guessed it...AVERAGE!  And I pretty much agreed with them.  I clearly wasn't hideous.  I had a few dates and a few boyfriends back in the day.  Some of them were even really cute, but boys weren't chasing me by any means either.  Average was a fair assessment, but I hated it. 

I longed in my life to stand out.  When you are average it is easy to blend in and be forgotten.  That is how I had felt most of my life. If I was sick and missed the game,  they could get along without me.  If I didn't go to the party, no one would really miss me.  If I was sick for choir, no one would notice.  And the worst part was, that there was nothing that I could do about it.  I looked the way I looked.  My personality was what it was.  Other than extreme plastic surgery or acting like a complete phony, I was who I was.  Average.  I had to learn to be okay with that.  There was nothing that I could do about it.  Until one day I came across these verses:

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Revelations 3:15-16

Wait a minute!  Hold the phone!  Check it out!  God hates average too!  Average..Mediocre..Middle of the Road..Ordinary. Those words disgust God.  He is not talking about appearances or talent level though.  He is not talking about personality or cooking skills.  He is talking about our Christian walk.  He is talking about our love for the Lord.  He is talking about something that I have the ability to do something about!

I may not be able to add height to my stature or thickness to my thin hair or musical ability to my average voice, but I sure can do something about my relationship with Jesus.  I sure can serve him with my whole heart.  There can finally be someone that can look at me and say: "She is not average!"  And it can be the person who's opinion counts the most.  Jesus Christ.

When I finally understood that there was a way for me to do something more than average for Jesus, I was thrilled.  I chose the following verse to be my life and ministry verse:

Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

 

I determined that there would be nothing average about my devotion for my Savior.  I would let him work in my life in whatever way that He thought was best.  I would serve him with my whole heart.

 

I would give this ordinary life to my extraordinary Savior  and believe me, since that moment life has been anything but average!

 

 

Blessed extraordinarily,

 

Rachel

 

Last Week I found Out That I am Dying...

Last week I found out that I am Dying...

I found a lump.  Every woman on the planet has had that fear.  This month is breast cancer awareness month.  There are pink ribbons everywhere.  There are reminders everywhere to do self exams, but that is not what prompted me to do one.  I had pain, tenderness if you will, and I couldn't figure out why.  So I checked and I found a lump.  I did what I do with most problems and ignored it, hoping it would go away, but it didn't.  I finally told my husband and we got the ball rolling on some tests.  My doctor confirmed the lump and sent me that seem day to get a mammogram.  I kept telling myself it was nothing.  I kept assuring myself that everything was normal, but when they brought me back to do a second mammogram, I started to worry a little bit.  After the second mammogram they had to do an ultrasound.  A little more fear crept in.  The technician who was doing the ultrasound took a long time.  She kept coming back to the same area and taking pictures.  I could tell it wasn't good.  Then she told me that she was going to bring a doctor in to talk to me.  As I was lying on the table, I tried to pretend that the doctor was just coming in to give an all clear sign, but I knew in my heart that was not what was about to happen.  After the doctor did her own ultrasound, she told me that I would need to come in the following day for a biopsy.  The situation was not looking good.  Then the worst part of the day happened.  The technician and the doctor no longer treated me like a patient.  They started being very kind and caring.  The tone of their voice changed.  They both became softer and more gentle with me.  Never in my life had I wished for a doctor to be impersonal with me until that moment.  I knew something was very wrong. 

I came back the next day for the biopsy and then the dreaded 72 hour wait started.  Do you know how many awful scenarios that your brain can come up with in 72 hours.  Do you know how many scared tears can be shed in 72 hours.  Do you know just how unimportant all the day to day things seem in 72 hours.  I stopped going to the gym in the mornings to work out.  What did I care what my figured looked like if I was going to die.  I normally shop and sell on EBay every week but in that 72 hours, I couldn't have cared less if I made money.  I wanted to just lie in bed for 72 hours, but I didn't want to alert my children before I knew if something was definitely wrong.  So I carried on with my day to day activities.  I went grocery shopping, I went to a hockey game, I coached volleyball...  and I realized in those 72 hours just what things in life really matter and what things are just a waste of time.  I saw people be rude and mean to other people and I thought in my head, "What if they just received terrible news like I did and people are treating them that way?"  I realized in those 72 hours that you just never really know what a person is going through, so be nice to everyone.

 God in his mercy let the doctors expedite my tests and the results came a day sooner than we expected.  Right before I was about to coach a volleyball game I answered a call on my cell from my doctor.  The tumor wasn't malignant.  I did not have cancer.  I don't ever think I have experienced that kind of relief before.  Life seemed to flood back into my body.  Hope was restored. 

That evening, in the quietness of my living room the Lord spoke to my heart and it was then that I realized that I was still dying.  We all are.  It might not be from cancer, but our life on this Earth is short.  A vapor if you will.  Here today and gone tomorrow.  We should live each day like I had to during that 72 hours.  We should be evaluating just what things are really important and what is a waste of time.  Trust me, clothes and money and entertainment slide way down on the list of important things when you are in that 72 hours.  The thing that I thought about most during that time was my family that didn't know Christ and the ones that I loved that have moved away from God.  I wanted my life or my death to touch them and move them to God.  I thought of my girls and wondered if I had taught them the things that they would need to take them into womanhood and still love the Lord.  I wondered if I had shown my husband enough love.  I wished I had told my extended family more often that I loved them.

I truly believe that God gave me a vision during those 72 hours of how he wants His children to live here on Earth.  Live like it is temporary.  Don't wait to do His will.  Focus on the important.  Yes. I learned this week that I am dying...someday.  You are too!  Make your life count!

I'm So Glad That God is Color Blind

I am so glad that God is color blind.

 

I was out to eat with a few girlfriends last night.  It was a mommy escape date.  A few of us get together at about 9 p.m. and meet up for coffee and dessert every couple of months.  We get our kids settled in bed, get our husbands settled with sports center, and sneak out for some girl time.  It works out great.  There is no guilt of leaving your kids because they are asleep and there is no need to pay a sitter. Most of the time the dear hubby doesn't even realize that you are gone because they are so engrossed in whatever game is being over analyzed.  Anyways, somehow we started discussing the subject of being color blind.  Strange topic, I know.  I informed them that I am an expert on the topic.  I grew up with a color blind father.

 

I was raised in a single parent home for most of my life.  I was the only girl and color and fashion were not my father's forte.  For years he would lay out my clothes every morning for school and not knowing any better, I would dress in whatever he would pick out.  I remember being around 10 years old when I noticed that I didn't dress like all of the other girls at school.  It seemed that my dad would just pull any shirt and put it with any skirt without the thought of matching the colors.  I am the type of person who never wants to hurt anyone's feelings and I was very nervous about asking my dad if I could start picking out my own clothes.  When I finally mustered up the courage, my dad actually seemed relieved.  You see he was color blind and he had no clue what color any of my clothes were.  Once I realized that he was color blind things started to make sense.  We had orange paint on the walls, country blue carpet, and kelly green furniture, but all of the colors looked the same to my dad.  I can remember spending hours upon hours matching all of his socks.  He couldn't tell the brown from the blue from the black.  I asked him why he didn't just buy all of the same color socks and he told me that he thought he had. 

As I went home from my girl's escape night, I continued pondering the idea of not being able to differentiate one color from another one.  It would be a strange life.  My dad can't tell the color's on a traffic light.  Red and green look the same to him.  He has to count the order of the lights to know if he should stop or go.  If you ask him if they both look red or if they both look green he would tell you he doesn't know.  He doesn't know what either of those colors look like.

 

I began to think that must be similar to what God experiences every time that we go to him with a black sinful heart.  We can see the wickedness in our heart as plain as day.  We see each sin and each wrong doing.  We see our lives and our hearts blackened by our sin and our failure to do the good things that God has prompted us to do through the Holy Spirit.  We come before His almighty throne in humbleness to repent.  As we hold our black heart out to Him asking once again for Him to clean us up and make us white again, the perfect, almighty God becomes color blind.  He sees you holding out an offering of a spotless white heart.  It looks the same color as His son's heart.  Just like Jesus' heart, yours is a brilliant white to Him.  In fact every person who has been washed by the blood of the Lamb possesses that same brilliant white heart.  You see Jesus already forgave you of any wrong that you have ever done or ever will do.  When you got saved His heart became what God sees instead of your own.

 

I still find it hard to grasp how a person can not see the vivid shades of the rainbow and tell the difference between them.  Sometimes, I have felt sorry for my dad.  Sometimes, I have just laughed at the crazy outfits that he puts together. (My elementary school pictures prove that!)  But maybe, just maybe, his color blindness is just a glimpse into the wonderful, forgiving God that we serve.

 

Blessed beyond measure,

 

Rachel

P.S.  If you can't read the words in the box at the top, you might want to get your eyes checked :)

My first blog

Welcome to my first blog.  I have been wanting to start blogging for a long time now, but have kept putting it off.  I love to write, and I am so much better at sharing my thoughts and feelings on paper than in person.  When I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to blog he asked, "What will you write about?"  I replied, "A little bit of everything."  Hence the title All Things... 

 It is an added bonus that:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

is one of my favorite Bible verses.

I hope you will enjoy the posts and that you will receive encouragement and motivation by the Lord through them.

 

Blessed beyond measure,

 

Rachel