We aren’t fancy enough. Hail, go away.

We aren’t fancy enough to own a garage. Midtown is full of older homes with either converted garages, or houses that just simply never had a garage. Ours is the former.

When we first bought our home, the “garage” looked like this.

Yep. Toilet, shower, awesome paneling and fake brick linoleum flooring. (Mind you, we had already removed the wooden swedish sauna.)

So, although our house is a nice size-with four bedrooms and three bathrooms-we have no garage.

Meaning, no protection from snow, falling debris, rain…

…or hail.

This morning, about 5 am, I heard the faint sound of ice pinging off the back porch’s metal awning.

During the torrential downpour, the hail continued to bounce off of our unprotected and garage-free sweet ride.

This made me think about how unimportant my possessions were and how quickly they can be destroyed.

(Thankfully, Biceps and I don’t put much stock in fancy possessions-we want to be debt free rather than own an impressive vehicle.)

But, our slightly dinged, slightly used, 15 passenger van is still a possession that I worked hard for and paid for with real, green cash.

And, I was reminded of this scripture: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:34 (NIV)

It made me think if I was storing up treasures here on earth or focusing on the treasures in heaven? After all, I can’t take my possessions with me.

The only thing that I will leave this earth with is what I did while I was here. I hope what I do today for others creates a treasure for me in heaven.

Now, that’s something fancy to possess.

Family, Forgiveness, Failure

You may argue with me, but I have the best family in the world-both sides of them. My family and my husband’s family are absolutely amazing. Not to say there aren’t flaws in our families, but if one were placing blame, the flaws would mostly rest on me and my inability to be a decent human being.

Look at what my families have to put up with.
It becomes more and more apparent just how flawed I am and how much I need God when I study his Word. How many times when we come together do I allow myself to be frazzled, short with my temper or just plain jerk-like?

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And then I realize that to live in peace with everyone is the evidence of my maturing in faith. I am one immature little puppy.

And then to really grind salt in the wound, God showed me this:

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:2-3

AGH! BE COMPLETELY HUMBLE?! AND GENTLE? AND PATIENT? What?!-I don’t have time for that!

Artist Lastman Pieter-“Abraham on the Road to Canaan”

Take the story of Abram (Abraham) and Lot, for example. Abram takes Lot, his nephew, under his wing and cares for him and his entire family. Eventually, the two families become rather wealthy-like Bill Gates wealthy-all due to Abram’s generosity. Knowing the land cannot sustain both families and their livestock, Abram and Lot decide to part ways before the herdsmen ripped each other to shreds.

Abram chose to make peace in his family and approached his nephew.

Abram said to Lot, “Hey nephew, what land do you want?”
He gave Lot first choice, although it was Abram’s right to choose first.

Lot responded, “That looks pretty good over there. That’s mine.” He picked up his tent, his family, his livestock and moved to the best possible location for himself.

What a selfish jerk. I would never do something like that. I always put others first and not try to position myself into the best situation.

Abram was generous and knew that, “A generous man will prosper, he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed”, Proverbs 11:25.

God told Abram not only was the land Lot was living on going to be Abram’s eventually, but everything else Abram could see. Now, who got the good deal here?

And, this is when the story gets good.

Lot, being the dumb-butt that he was, not only moved close to the most wicked city of the time-Sodom-he eventually moved into the city and became a judge. Lot must have forgotten everything his Uncle taught him. What an idiot-I remember every lesson that I’ve ever learned from wise people.

The city was invaded by competing kingdoms and Lot and his entire family were captured.

Abram gets ticked off at this point. Not at Lot-which is what I would have done. Abram tucks up his tunic, grabs his 318 trained men and goes to kick some butt.

I can hear his wife, Sarai, saying, “Um…this is the same guy, Abram, that totally screwed you over. Are you sure about this?”

He doesn’t use a tank, but since I’m a military brat-I knew there was a tank called “Abram’s tank”. Hilarious.

Anywho-He wasn’t afraid of loosing his life-all he could think about was rescuing his nephew. Abram rescues Lot and his entire family.

Lot chose the easy life, the pleasant life-and had to be rescued from his life, twice, by Abram. You’d think the man would learn a lesson and be forever grateful.

Nope.

Lot eventually lost his property and his wife and then spent his last, pointless, wasted days in a cave. (Genesis 19:30). That sounds like fun.

Lot missed out on all the awesome promises God gave to Abram-even though he should have received everything. And his godless family followed in Lot’s footsteps and have become enemies of God (Genesis 19:37-38).

Because of selfishness and being a self-seeking person, Lot missed out on all that God had for him.

Abram became the father of many nations. Lot became worm food.

Wow. So, because of Abram’s awesomeness, I have started asking myself how I’ve been approaching my own family.

1. Do I seek out the best for myself, take what’s best for me and forget easily what others have done for me?
2. Do I want to be right instead of being a promoter of peace in my household-even though I deserve to be told that I’m right?
3. Do I want temporary gain over God’s eternal best?

Dang you, Abram. I was just getting comfortable in my rights and boundaries and selfishness.

When everything seems to be going wrong…

Yesterday was one of those days. You know what I mean-a bump your head, forget your lunch, drop a brick on your toe, and the car wont start-days.

Except for me it started off with two of my carefully planned Christmas presents that were left in the wrong hands, turned out to look like poop. Not cute baby poop, but that English Mastiff neighbor dog next door gigantic, smelly poop.

And I didn’t feel great, so I was hopped up on meds. Which of course makes me sleepy and dizzy. This normally clutzy girl doesn’t need any help to injure herself, however yesterday I ran into the door frame of our bedroom-several times, tripped up the stairs and shut my hand in a drawer.

The cats are freaking out without their outdoor time and without Rebekah time as I slept the morning away. I awoke to a shattered vase, broken Christmas ornaments and several feathers (source was unknown), strewn about the house.

Then, the window in our sweet ride decided to retreat into the door without warning. There was no amount of coaxing and pleading that brought it back to its upright position. And there didn’t seem to be a repair guy on earth who could fix it last night.

I had promised Biceps a dinner of meatloaf, roasted sweet potatoes and carrots before he left for the day. And by golly, he was going to get that meal. Don’t get the wrong idea, this was not a sweet thing by the time it came to preparing aforementioned meal.
Instead, I was going to make sure Biceps knew that:
A) I was sick and didn’t feel like cooking
B) this meal was a lot of work
C) and now I had to do the dishes and did I mention I was sick?

And of course, I took all this frustration out on Biceps-because I’m a mature Christian who lashes out instead of talking to God about my frustrations. Biceps has his midterm today and needed to study even more than usual. The poor guy who didn’t deserve my retribution, also didn’t have time for it. Which made matters worse.

After Biceps put up with me for awhile, I retreated to our room. AND that’s when I decided to talk to God. I’m such an idiot-why does it take me so long to get where I need to be?

I read these two scriptures and was reminded of how blessed I am and where my hope is:

“But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.” Psalm 33:18

“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” Luke 6:21

I didn’t feel like laughing quite yet.

This is the one that got me, convicted me and caused a change of heart.

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;, to be made new in the attitude of you minds, and to put on the new self, to be created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24

I returned to the land of the living to ask forgiveness from my loving Biceps. Thankfully, my husband is patient with this “work of art” that’s still being painted by the Creator.

All of those things that seemed to be so important and frustrating just moments before seemed a little less important and a lot less frustrating. It was a round-about and fairly embarrassing way to get to this point of total dependance on God.

“My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.” Psalm 62:7

He sure has a way of reminding us just how much we need Him, doesn’t He? He is such a stinker sometimes.

My Best Friend Knows Everything

This morning I was driving home at 5:15 am, after just dropping off Biceps for another long day at the Fire Academy. The roads are pretty bare this time of morning and there’s really nothing on the radio-I think the DJ’s are sleeping the night off.

I’m left alone in my silence. I love silence.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good party and I love to entertain. But, I crave silence especially in the morning.

When I get home, the day is still dark, the dogs in my neighborhood aren’t barking (yet) and the birds haven’t even begun to sing. My phone isn’t chiming at me and my inbox is still manageable.

It’s the perfect time to talk to my best friend. And he knows EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING.

Example:

Me: “You know God, I’m really concerned about my friend X.”
God: “Yeah, me too.”
Me: “I think what’s she going through is going to be really hard on her kids. It may affect them forever.”
God: “I know. I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
Me: “So, what should we do?”
God: “Well, I need you to be a friend to her, encourage her and pray for her. Jesus, the Holy Spirit and I will take care of the rest. I have a plan.”
Me: “What’s your plan?”
God: “Rebekah, quit being so nosy.”

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After talking about the serious stuff for awhile, then He and I get into a lot of joking. Did you know that GOD created humor? That means He’s the funniest person/being that I know.

Example:

Me: “So, God-what do you have for me to do today?”
God: (in a deep announcer’s voice) “Are you ready for this?”
Me: “Sure.”
God: “I can’t hear you! Are you ready for this?”
Me: “YEAH!”

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*Cue the angels playing “Are you Ready for this”.
*Cue smoke and lights.
*Cue God laughing and dancing wildly with arms over his head.
*Cue me joining in and wishing God gave me the ability to dance better.

Phew. After that kind of a workout, we both sit down and rest a bit.

Me: “That was awesome. So what do you want me to do today?”
God: “Keep visiting with me, and I’ll let you know. But for now, have you called your mother?”
Me: “Oops. It’s past 7, isn’t it? With all that dancing, time got away from me.”
God: “Tell her I said, ‘Hi’ and she’s one of my favorites.”
Me: “Will do, God. Thanks. I love you.”
God: “Oh, Rebekah-you have no idea how much I love you. You are one of my favorites, too.”
Me: “Ah…I bet you say that to all the ladies, don’t you?”
God: “Yep, and to all the men.”
Me: “God, you are pretty awesome.”
God: “I know.”

He really does know everything.