I’m Feeling a Bit Sheepish

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Sheep are stupid. I know, I know. You look at a lamb and think, “Isn’t that the cutest and cuddliest thing ever?” But really sheep are helpless and defenseless without a shepherd. Yet Jesus calls His believers sheep, not to be insulting but to remind us of who we are.

Most of us (especially in this time) look at children and see innocence. We at times tend to idolize and adore children almost to the point of worship. But have you ever seen a sick child refuse to take the medicine that might make him well? Maybe you’ve been that child at some point. Or maybe you’ve seen a child engage in behavior that will lead to injury because he won’t listen to the parent that tells him not to do that.

Jesus calls attention to little children. True, He wants us to have the unwavering faith of a child, but He also wants us to see that we’re completely dependent on a loving Father who sometimes makes choices we don’t like but end up being way better for us in the end than what we would have chosen.

The point is that we’re all fallen creatures who live with the consequences of Adam and Eve’s bad choices (hey, they both messed up and are equally to blame). We’ve ALL sinned and ALL fallen short of the glory of God.

I think Jesus wants us to remember who we are. We’re frail, fallible human beings who need a Savior, even after we’re saved. We will never not need Jesus.

There’s a great book that I read a long time ago that really delves into Psalm 23 from a shepherd’s point of view. It’s by Philip Kellor and is called A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm. I highly recommend it.

So remember that you’re not perfect. You’re not the be-all, end-all. But also remember that you do bear the image of God, even in the midst of all your flaws and failures.

The Ultimate Mash-Up TV Show

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I was thinking how great it would be if Chris Carter (of X-Files fame), Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly), and J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost) got together to create the ultimate TV show. I’d watch it.

You’d have a teenage girl who finds out she is the  chosen one to fight the evil forces of vampires and other things that go bump in the night. She also happens to be a secret operative for the CIA and has a younger sister who was abducted by aliens and sparked her obsession with all things paranormal. She ends up on a plane that crashes on a mysterious deserted island with its own set of mysteries and paranormal activity. She does all this while maintaining a relationship with her boyfriend who is an RA at the state university.

I personally think we have the next colossal blockbuster series. As long as it’s not on Fox.

 

 

Falling Back Again

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It’s that time again. Time to turn the clocks back one hour. I’m not exactly sure why we still have to do this. Why not just leave the clocks alone and skip the spring forward part as well? Daylight savings is so overrated.

Of course, there’s the small bonus of getting to sleep an extra hour. Unless you’re like me and end up staying up two hours later than usual and actually end up losing an hour of sleep.

It would be nice to be able to set the time back to a period when everything was going great and life seemed easier to manage. Maybe when you were in college or maybe that one job that you really loved. Maybe it was a time when you had a great group of friends and made some really special memories. Or maybe it was a relative that you didn’t appreciate enough at the time and would give anything to have one more conversation.

I still think that for me, this moment is my best moment because God is in this moment and when He’s at work, anything truly is possible. So I choose to be where I am right now in this moment so full of possibilities and potential.

I might go back and bring the old gas prices back with me. Especially from when I was in high school. Man, I wish that were possible.

Halloween Is Over

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Technically, Halloween lasts for another 23 minutes. But really it’s over. I can’t imagine too many kids are still out there trick-or-treating.

And I personally don’t have a problem with Halloween.It really is about kids getting to dress up and have fun and get lots of candy. I mean really what other time will you get to interact with your neighbors and their kids and show them the love of Jesus? When else will you get such a perfect opportunity? Just thought I’d throw that in there for what it’s worth.

The best part about Halloween is what comes after. It’s almost like I can really start anticipating Thanksgiving and Advent season and then, my favorite of them all, Christmas.

Part of me still wishes that retail stores would hold off on the inevitable Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. At least until after Halloween. But then again, as I get older this part of the year tends to fly by so much faster with each passing year.

I can’t wait to bring out my colossal collection of Christmas movies and music. I have to admit that when it comes to all things Christmas, I like the old stuff. All the old movies like It’s a Wonderful Life, The Bishop’s Wife, White Christmas and Christmas in Connecticut really make me feel all Christmas-y inside. And there’s nothing like Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole to put me in the perfect holiday mood.

Part of it is pure nostalgia. All the old music and vintage decorations really bring me back to when I was a kid and all those people I’ve loved and lost were still a part of my life. It’s like I can remember them more vividly at this time of year than any other time.

Plus, fall is my favorite season. All the crisp weather conjures up visions of bonfires and hayrides and s’mores (with burnt marshmallows) and hot dogs (that are hopefully not burnt).

Oh, and I really like that all those Starbucks out there now have pumpkin spice everything on their menus.

Grace on an October Thursday Night

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“For it’s by God’s grace that you have been saved. You receive it through faith. It was not our plan or our effort. It is God’s gift, pure and simple. You didn’t earn it, not one of us did, so don’t go around bragging that you must have done something amazing. For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

We are heaven’s poetry etched on lives. I like that.

You and I are not accidents. We are not mistakes. You and I matter very much because God says so.

You and I have a purpose. Some may take longer than others in finding theirs, but all of us have one. And I believe strongly that it is never too late to find out what that purpose is and to discover who you might have been and still could be.

Just remember that when you go to bed tonight, feeling tired and worn out and useless. You do matter. God says so.

 

I Miss Record Stores

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I’m a big fan of Amazon. You can find virtually anything from music to books to movies to electronics and appliances. I think you can even order groceries there now. But I miss record stores.

I don’t even mean places like Borders that sold books and music and movies. I mean places that sold music. Period.

Granted, there are one or two record stores in Nashville– one that actually sells honest-to-goodness vinyl records like in the ye olden days. But those are on the other side of town from where I live. Not the most convenient places to go browsing.

I remember one particular music store chain called The Sound Shop. There was even Memphis-based chain in Memphis called Cat’s Music that had both new and used music.

I loved checking out the new music releases as well as hunting through the bargain bins. I especially remember seeing ads for a new Grateful Dead album coming out on October 31, 1989. I don’t know why I remember that specific memory from 25 years ago and not what I did last night, but that’s how my brain works, apparently.

I read somewhere that Vince Gill said that one of the reasons that music feels so disposable these days is that you can pay the same 99 cents for a song that you would pay for an app on your phone that makes fart noises. So much for incentives to be creative.

I believe that music more than any other form of media can trigger memories in vivid detail. I can hear a song on the radio or from one of my own personal plethora of CDs that I have accumulated over the years and instantly remember exactly where I was and what I was feeling when I first heard it.

Maybe record stores (along with bookstores) will make a comeback some day. I hope so, but I’m not overly optimistic.

 

 

A Narnia Moment Brought to You by the Good Folks at WordPress

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“It isn’t Narnia, you know,” sobbed Lucy. “It’s you. We shan’t meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?”

“But you shall meet me, dear one,” said Aslan.

“Are—are you there too, Sir?” said Edmund.

“I am,” said Aslan. “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”

From The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Compiled in A Year with Aslan

If you’ve read the Narnia books, you can already guess what that name is. If you haven’t, I won’t spoil it for you. If you want the answer without having to read the books then too bad, so sad, your momma wears plaid. Or something like that.

PS I’m already anticipating re-reading these books in 2015.

Peace and Courage and All That Other Stuff

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“I have told you all this so that in me you may find peace. In this world you will have trouble. But courage! The victory is mine; I have conquered the world” (Jesus, John 16:33).

Some days it’s easier to believe these words than others. Some days it’s easier to feel that peace of Christ surrounding you and holding you together.

Some days fear wins. Some days you feel overwhelmed and stressed and defeated. You wonder where the peace has gone or if it will ever come back.

The peace never leaves. You may not always tangibly feel it all the time, but it’s there. How do I know that? Because Jesus promised that His peace would remain.

That’s what I’m holding on to these days.  That peace of Christ that passes all understanding, that passes what I can comprehend of my present situation, that stands when I can’t.

It’s like in Voyage of the Dawn Treader when Aslan whispers. “Courage, dear heart,” to Lucy. It says afterwards that she felt a very little bit better. Not a lot. She and the ship weren’t immediately delivered from the darkness, but they began to see a way out on the horizon.

Maybe that’s what it is. Peace is the ultimate knowledge that no matter how bad things are now, God will work all these things out for the best possible outcome. Everything will be fine in the end, as the movie quote goes, and if it’s not fine, it’s not the end.

I don’t necessarily think that peace always comes with a calmness. Sometimes, you can have those butterflies in your stomach, that gnawing in your belly, and still have peace. In the same way, just because you don’t feel the nearness of Jesus doesn’t mean He’s not there.

So that’s where I am, craving that peace and finding it in the unlikeliest of times and places. God is good like that.

 

Trusting in True Love

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“But for my part I trust in thy true love.
My heart shall rejoice, for thou hast set me free.
I will sing to the Lord, who has granted all my desire” (Psalm 13:5-6).

That’s where I am, folks. My life hasn’t turned out like I thought it would, and that truly is okay. It only means something better’s coming.

I still believe that with all my being. I still believe that God has taken me by a unique path because He has unique blessings in store for me.

Maybe that’s you. Maybe your life hasn’t turned out nearly to be what you’d thought it be at this point. Maybe you haven’t hit those all-important societal markers that tell you that you’ve arrived.

Maybe you don’t have kids. Maybe you’re not married. Maybe you’re (gasp) still living with mom and dad, It’s easy to feel like you’re the world’s biggest failure.

But maybe, just maybe, that’s where God has you for a reason. Maybe, just maybe, you’ve got something special coming and you’re just not ready to receive what God has in store for you right now.

I know that the Bible is replete with stories of people who had to wait for their promise from God. Joseph, Moses, Abraham, and David are just a few out of many. So if you’re waiting, you’re in good company.

The point is that what God has promised to you is truer than your present circumstances. In fact, He is so true to His word that whatever He’s promised is as good as done and you can truthfully say right now that God has “granted all my desire.”

That’s not an easy place to be, waiting on God’s promises. Waiting is never easy. But it is a good place. And always, always worth it.

 

 

 

A Little Perspective

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Sometimes it’s easy to lose perspective.

You look at where you are right now and see where you want to be and the gap seems so wide. You feel like you’ll never get to where you want to be, that maybe you should just settle for the way things are right now.

When you only see how far you have to go, it’s easy to lose hope and to want to give up. It’s easy to give in to despair and hopelessness.

Just try this one little trick. The next time you see how far you have to go, look back and see how far you’ve come. See what God has already brought you through. Remember that the God who rescued you yesterday is the same today, tomorrow, and forever.

Remember that God is still God, and what seems impossible to you or me isn’t even remotely difficult for God (props to Pete Wilson for that one). Remember that God has promised to finish that good work He started in you. And God has never yet broken a promise. Ever.

I suppose this is me preaching to me again. Usually most of these posts are me reminding myself of what I already know, or what I ought to know and have forgotten.

Hopefully, my reminder to me will help you when your hope seems hardest to find.