Leave Wubbie Outside

I don't have kids. I do work with the youth group at my church and I have a multitude of teenagers (OH MY STARS!!  Some of them are 20 now!) that I love and adore and would welcome any of them at my home at any hour of the day or night.  But, for whatever reason, besides not giving me a husband at this time I have also not been given biological children. What I do have are 2 dogs. My sweet, sweet Sophie Marie and the ever-frustrating Tucker Allen

Often I say that I am raising a two-year-old when talking about Tucker. He is my Dennis-the-Menace-problem-child.  He is also the one that teaches me more about my walk with God than anything else.   There are a few things, very few, that Tucker has mastered:  he knows not to touch a kibble of food unless I tell him it's OK; and, also knows that under no circumstances can Wubbie ever come into the house. There are other things, MANY other things, that he still working on.

Unfortunately for him, there is much that he hasn’t learned. He has a bizarre addiction to toilet paper rolls and kitchen utensils. Specifically wooden spoons. I don't know why and I don't know why he won't stop.  He also has an odd attraction to shoes - I don't mean he chews them, thank the Lord, rather he moves them. If a pair shoes is left sitting out and I leave Tucker out of jail (a.k.a. his crate) when I come back the shoes will be in an unknown location. A pair of shoes left out in the bedroom could have one end up in the living room and the other in the laundry room.

I have come to realize that Tuckers behavior, both good and bad, are much like my reaction to sin.  There are many things that I know are sin and that I know not to do.  There are just as many, some days MORE things that, although I know they are wrong, I still continue to do.  And just like Tucker, it often takes God’s gentle correction (and sometimes not so gentle) to show me that I need to stop or change.  Lately I find myself wondering why I just don’t get it – why do I keep doing the things that God and His Word CLEARLY show’s me I shouldn’t.  Why do I keep “moving shoes” and “chewing wooden spoons” when God wants so much more from me?

I don’t have any answers.  I know I’m not alone in this.  I do know, that much like I continue to love Tucker regardless of his latest fiasco, God loves me tenfold – regardless. 

Until the next light bulb,
Alice

 

Wait for it...

I used a blog a lot. Mainly my blogs were all about things that God was teaching me through His Word, life lessons, humorous antidotes, that sort of thing. Then I got into a slump, not because God wasn’t teaching me anything or I wasn’t learning tough things in humorous ways, just that I didn't feel like writing. As time passed it just seemed too overwhelming to start again. None of this is particularly valid, but at the time it was real. But I enjoy blogging – I really do. I don’t think what I have to say is particularly insightful or funny or any of any value - but I enjoy it.

And so I'm back. I'm not going to hold myself to writing about any one topic and not even writing every day.  One day it may be about something God is teaching me, three days later it could be about a furniture project I'm working on, and a week after that a new recipe I tried (I'm sure I'll throw in the occasional reference on hot I think Adam Levine is & periodically bore folks with how amazing my sweet pups are).

Deliciously ambiguous – that’s what it’s all about for me.  Some may see my life (and my blog) as boring:  I don’t have that perfect husband/boyfriend, drive a fancy car or live in a huge (and most days spotlessly clean) house.  Others (and you  know who you are) may see it as exciting:  missions trips to places like Belize, Peru, Haiti, my own home that I can try (and fail at) as many Pinterest projects as I want and 100% control of all 6 remote controls (yes 6).  You can decide for yourself – the interpretation is up to you.  But for me it’s just life as I live it and share it whenever I feel like it. 

Until the next inspiration hits me….

Alice

PS – Adam Levine is hot, just saying.

 

So I'm Thinking...

Anyone who knows me well know that whatever is about to follow that statement is a disaster waiting to happen.  Not so much things like, “So I’m thinking, since the oven is on fire we should do something about it.”  Those are good thoughts.  Or, “So I’m thinking, since Ann Taylor Loft is having a 95% off EVERYTHING sale we should leave work early and GO!”  Those are GREAT thoughts. 

The thoughts that I’m talking about are the ones that rip into my self esteem, threaten to destroy my relationships, and rob my hope.  These are thoughts that cause me to question what I know is true.  They make me act in a manner I’m not often proud of and they are nearly always, ALWAYS false.

Always.

And more often than not, they end up hurting whomever it is I’m having those “thoughts” about.  I’m not saying I have some random thought about someone and then proceed to run around telling others what I’m convinced is true, rather I have the thought, I’m convinced it’s true and to cut to the chase, I destroy a relationship – or at least come close to destroying it.

Always.

So I’m thinking this is NOT a good way to live.  (Another example of a GOOD thought).  What I don’t know, is how to NOT do it, how to NOT have those thoughts, or if I do, how to not REACT to those thoughts, believe they are true, plot my course of action based on those thoughts.

Prayer is the obvious answer.  Lots and lots of prayer.  For me, though, I need to go deeper, I need to figure out why I do this and I really, honestly and truly, want to stop.  Or at least figure out a much better way to deal with these thoughts. 

I don’t have any answers right now.  But I’m starting to unpack these thoughts and slowly organize them.  I honestly welcome any advice or thoughts about how to go about this.  I’ve already been told it’s a life-long, never-ending battle (yeah…) but I’m convinced something’s gotta be better than living like this. 

Touched by an Angel

Over the weekend I had a chance to help feed over 400 homeless people in downtown Columbia. And while I could probably write for days about what I saw and experienced and the people whose lives touched me, probably the two people who had the greatest impact on me weren't homeless.  Nor were they part of the group from my church that was down there serving.  Honestly, I'm completely convinced, they were

Angels.

And not your typical angels either.  They didn't come floating in with wings.  There were no halos or long flowing white clothes.  Rather they drove up in a completely pimped out Lexus:  heavily tinted windows, chrome wheels, laser lights and LOUD music.  

Angels, I'm telling ya.

They parked close to the area where we were setting up and I just happened to be the closest person to them.  When they got out, I must admit, I was scared.  For those of you who may not know this, I lived in the highest crime rated section of Orange County, FL, for several years (by choice, FYI).  Drug dealers, prostitutes, homeless folks and the like were the norm in front of our house.  After the first month or so, gun fire no longer made me flinch.  These two men, however, terrified me.  I instinctively moved to the closest male person I could find for protection - so what if it was a short little Asian man with no teeth.  I was scared.

They stood by their car for a few moments, looking like they were checking out lay of the land, then walked around to the back of the car and opened the trunk.  Everyone had stopped what they were doing and, as if we had practiced, we all took two steps back. 

Mommie!!

All eyes were focused on these two men.  No one moved for what seemed like an eternity.  The only sound was the music coming from their car.  Finally the men walked out from behind their car caring the largest roasted turkey I've ever seen.  They brought them over to where we were, set them down and went back for more.  For the next 10 minutes these two men kept bringing out more and more food.  Easily tripling what we already had.  They had turkey, ham, numerous casseroles, and it just kept coming. 

Angels.

When they were done, they stood on the edge of the crowd (none of us had moved), told us thank you for what we were doing and that they loved us.  They turned, got back in their car and sped off.  Three hours later when we had fed everyone and had virtually no leftovers, someone remarked, had it not been for those two men, we would have never had enough food.  We wouldn’t have even come close.  But because of those two strangers, not one person left there hungry.

Angels.

"Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained

angels without realizing it!"  (Hebrews 13:2)

I admit I wasn't very hospitable to those men.  And I learned my lesson.  I am completely convinced that they were angels.  No one knew them.  Even the guy who organized all the food and donations had no idea who they were.  They came.  They gave.  They left.

Angels.

Everyone Needs Hope

Everyone should have Hope in their life.  I love this girl.  She is such a blessing to me.  The tears and joy this card brought to my life is beyond description.


Thank you, God, for creating such an amazing, beautiful and wonderful creature.  Thank you for allowing me to play a tiny role in her life.


Happy Monday, y'all.

It's All In The Preparation

I love Christmas.  I don’t mean I think it’s a cool time of year and I enjoy it, I mean I L.O.V.E. CHRISTMAS.  The sights, smells, music, weather, lights, food – you name it, I love it.

Love it.

Right about now, I start getting my house ready to be consumed by the joyous day.  I wash my mom’s china and pack it away to make room for my Christmas china (yes, I have Christmas china!).  All of my normal chatski stuff is given a good dusting/cleaning and put away until January 1.  I clean, wash, rearrange, condense, make lists, check those websites that leak the Black Friday ads, start playing Christmas music (actually that started November 1) and basically spend the middle two weeks of November getting ready to usher in the most wonderful time of the year.

Love it, I tell ya!

This morning as I was trying to squeeze 1 more minute of packing my mom’s china away before I had to stop to have my quiet time, it hit me… I spend more time PREPARING to decorate my house for Christmas than I do PREPARING to fellowship with my Lord.  My preparation is usually something like this, “Father God, forgive me of my sins.  Give me….. Bless me… Help me… Amen.”

Excuse me?

Over the past week I’ve read in several places by a few different authors the importance of us Christians confessing, by name, our sins to God daily before we talk to him about anything else.  Those very sins are what hurts our fellowship with our Father.  And by just saying, “Forgive me of  my sins,” does that really make us cognizant of WHAT sins we’re doing or does it just allow us to kinda gloss over what we’re doing so that we’re REALLY not admitting that we’re sinning?  Taking the time to confess my sins, one by one, is part of the preparation I need to do to in order to experience true fellowship with God.

It’s kind of like trying to spend good, quality time with a dear friend when one of you has offended the other.  Until that offense is cleared up, and have genuinely forgiven or been forgiven, any time you spend together seems empty because there’s that THING between you.

Preparation.

On Sunday I had the pleasure of hearing my friend Tommy Bolger preach at his new church, Friend Church – Florence.  He challenged each of us to not just go to God asking for things, but instead to ask God to use us to bless others.  Huh…  He said that we come away far more blessed than if we just keep asking God to bless us (MAJOR paraphrase of what he said!).

So here’s where I’ve landed… preparation for ANYTHING is GOOD - ESPECIALLY when it comes to talking to God.  If I spent even a FRACTION of the time preparing my heart to talk with Him, IMAGINE what He could do!!  PREPARATION for most things is NECESSARY especially when it comes to going before my Father and humbly asking for anything.

It’s good to be back, friends!  Now, I must prepare to write something tomorrow!!

I'm Not A Mother - I'm Aunt Alice

I had the most amazing Mother’s Day yesterday.

Since my mom passed away in 2001, Mother’s Day, for me, has been just another Sunday. I try to make sure I let all my close mom-friends know how much I love and appreciate them, and generally make sure to call my Aunt, but I have certainly never felt the need to be made to feel special or appreciated on that day.  I don't expect breakfast in bed, flowers or presents.

I’m not a mother, after all.

I’m just a single girl, with a dog and a cat and a smathering of AMAZING young women (all 16 and under) who call me Aunt Alice. Each of those beautiful ladies puts a HUGE smile on my face every time I see them or hear from them. I’ve gone from playing Barbie pet shop to talking about boys (“Aunt Alice, is it wrong to flirt?” HOW do I answer THAT one??) I’ve laughed with them, cried for them, crawled the mall with them, travelled to another country with them (well 2 of them) and most importantly have had the incredible blessing of watching each of them as they grow into Godly women.

Yesterday morning, as I got ready for church, I got the sweetest text messages. All of them basically said, “Happy Mother’s Day, Aunt Alice. I LOVE YOU!!” After I responded a few times, I got one back that said, “I’m so glad God put you in my life, Aunt Alice.”

That one made me cry. Wash-my-face-reapply-my-makeup tears.

I felt more love, more appreciation yesterday for just being me than I ever have. It was breakfast in bed, flowers and presents all wrapped in one text messge.

I had the best Mother’s Day EVER!