Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

~~ Romans 10:13 ~~   for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

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Casey & Taco
"What did we do wrong, Mommy?"
Photo by Carley

You know those moments when you think “what in the world was I thinking?”   Everyone has those at some point or another.  I was thinking about some of these things earlier.  There are just way too many times when I spoke without thinking first, or when I jumped without looking, pressed ‘send’ on my email without thinking about what the result would be.  Sometimes I have to wonder if I have the common sense that God gave a gold fish.  Would you believe that I was absent from class that day when they covered the ‘rational’ chapter?!  Never mind... I didn’t think so.  I guess you would need the common sense of a gold fish to believe that! 

Anyway, this post is a little more ‘light hearted’ than the others.  I thought I would share with you some silly things that I’ve done in my life and the lessons I have learned from them.  I have:
 

• put rice cakes in the toaster.  Note to self: Rice cakes can be flammable.
• filled the washer with laundry and put the water level on minimum instead of maximum (twice).  Note to self: Too many clothes with not enough water will burn out the motor (every time!)
• vacuumed hot embers from the fireplace hearth.  Note to self: Hot embers inside a vacuum filled with dust are also flammable... and can damage the vacuum cleaner too!
• set a plate of food on the coffee table.  Note to self: The coffee table is within doggie reach.
• set a wet paint project on the floor to dry.  Note to self: Don’t get mad at the dog when wet-paint puppy prints end up all over the project and the floor!  It’s a good thing it was in the garage!
• drank too much vodka.  Note to self: Bad stuff happens when you drink vodka... ‘nuff said!
• took photos at wrong times.  Note to self: When the lay-z-boy chair tips over backwards, stop laughing and taking photos, and help BF up off the floor.  (For those who are not 100% computer literate, BF means Boyfriend)  
• tried to be the ‘perfect housewife’.  Note to self: With issues such as; flooding the kitchen, not being able to figure out how to turn on the vacuum cleaner, and fires on the stove (once or twice... well, ok, ok... quite a few times) it means you are not Martha Stewart and you likely never will be.  Accept it!
• tried to make oatmeal – the old fashioned way.  Note to self: Oatmeal is not that hard to do!!... but when the dog refuses to eat it, something did not go right. 
• rescued a kitten from inside a heating duct.  Note to self: Even 8 week old kittens have claws sharp enough to shred an arm.  Reminder to self: Next time you rescue a kitten, wear thick clothing for protection. 

OK... I hope you had a good laugh at some of those things; but, seriously, I bet you also did some silly things.  Please share them with me in the comment section below.

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~~ Dear God ~~    Please forgive me for all the times I have ‘jumped before I looked’, ‘spoke without thinking’, ‘acted without using the intelligence you gave me’.  Thank You for being there to protect me and rescue me each time I end up in a mess.  Oh, and one more thing, Lord.  I am so happy that You do not keep a count, because I am sure that the number of times I have fowled things up are at a very high number.  In Jesus name, AMEN.

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True Colors

~~~ Romans 12:2 - Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

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Free source photo

A friends status message the other day read, "If you want it, get it. If you dream it, believe it. The sky's never the limit. So go on, show the world who you are. Don't be afraid to show your true colors. I love it". Awesome thought, isn’t it?! I mean, it’s inspiring, uplifting and encouraging. If you were in need of reassurance and a friend said this, you would think this friend must be special to give you such a boost.

Well, my first thought; seriously, was 'Dear Lord, please don't let me look at life or the world this way'. Nowhere is God included in this thought. It's such a relative way of thinking; which is redundant thinking. To reach “the limit”; one needs to know what that limit is. Who has defined “the limit”? Have I decided how high I am going to aim? What makes my definition any more valid than others? Why do others opinions matter at all? What makes me, or others around me, qualified enough to make such decisions? This method of selection will not get you “air borne”. What is ‘right’ for one is not ‘right’ for another. This way of life leaves you living alone with no support because other people are living in their own worlds, not in yours. It leaves you without any possibility of expansion, variation, or change; because you can only go as far as your own limits will allow... and you do have limits.  Everyone does.  It means we are human.  Jesus said “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). He is the only one who is qualified to make any decisions on limits. Granted; God gave us a free will, and a brain for common-sense, and He expects us to use it. Philippians 4:13 says “I can do all things”. But that is not the most important part of that message.  In today's relative-thinking society the thought stops there.  The problem is that this is not the whole message.  To stop there would be like watching the first half of a movie and not the 2nd half and claim that you saw the whole story.  The other half of that is “though Christ who strengthens me”. You cannot fly without a plane. You cannot reach the limits of your life without God.

See, I only 'want it', if God wants it for me. I only want to 'get it', if He wants to give it to me. I only want the 'dream' in my heart if it's in His plan for me. I only want to 'believe it' by putting my faith in Him, and not in anything or anyone else. Without Jesus, the sky is the limit, and even then it is only if you are able to aim that high.

I do dream of showing the world who I am. So, who am I? I am a child of God who desires more than anything to be more and more like Jesus. The person who posted this status message was extremely nasty to me once, in another ‘lifetime’. So much so that I had nightmares every night for months because of what they said to me. I hope that the 'colors' that this person is so proud of showing is never the colors that people will ever see in me. They are dark and dreary colors. I want my world to be colored only by the hues, in the saturation, that are inside the heart of Jesus. I am proud to show my bright, beautiful true colors because they are becoming; more and more every day; to be a love, heart, and passion that our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, will be proud of.

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~~ Dear God ~~ Please make Your Will known to me in every situation. Open my eyes to see it, my ears to hear it, my mind to accept it and my heart to receive it. Let all my thinking and my decisions be in line with Your plans for my life. Make the colors of my heart so bright and beautiful that others will see Your grace and glory shinning from within me. In Jesus name, AMEN.

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