Category Archives: God Stuff

October 21, 2009 · 6:00 am

I Don’t Drive 35.

It’s true.  I’m 35 years old today.  I don’t feel a day older than 34 ½.  When my mom was 35 years old, she had a sixteen year old.  Wha?  It appears I’ll be 40 with a 5 year old.  I’ve heard having children a little later in life doesn’t keep you young, but it keeps you active.

Whatev’. 

I’m chilling an expensive bottle of Welch’s Grape Juice to celebrate tonight.  Should be a total blast.  I’d invite you all to my party, except there isn’t one.  I’m not bitter.  And, don’t y’all run out and get me something….until, I get you my correct address. 

Thirty-five.  35.  THIRTY-FIVE! 

Here are 35 random things I’ve learned in 35 years. 

1. When a toilet appears clogged, don’t flush it just to see what happens.

2. Don’t spend money you don’t have unless you really can’t live without those Ugg boots.  And, you can’t.  Trust me.  Wait, is that bad advice?

3. Take your sunglasses off when a police officer pulls you over for speeding.  I’m just sayin’. 

4. Put your preferred thing to do aside, and play Sorry! with your kids.  Even if it does take FOR-EVER.

5. Suck it up.  It’s not always about you.

6. Forgive.  Immediately.

7. Go get your child out of bed on occasion, and put her in bed with you.  Just because you want to snuggle.  She is your child.  And, the years do fly by.

8. Pride doesn’t work well in a marriage.  Humble yourself, and speak kindly.

9. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Lord knows, I can’t lean on my own understanding.

10. It’s usually not as bad as it seems.

11. My husband is a terrible mind-reader, but he can make some mean cinnamon rolls.

12. Surround yourself with positive people.  Even funny people.  They make life bearable.

13. Listen intently to your little ones now, so they’ll share their heart when they are older.

14. Mosquitoes are aggravatin’.  Always.

15. Nothing good happens after midnight.  Get to where you’re gonna get by 12am. (Thank @jburengoss for that one.)

16. Whenever you feel disconnected from your Creator, do whatever you’ve gotta do to reconnect.  And fast.

17. Never say never.  It’s a very long time.

18. Honor your mom and dad for as long as you live.

19. I never want to exercise.  Ever.  But, I’m always happy I did.  *I need to remember this more often.*

20. Friends are great investments.

21. Junior Mints are always a good idea.

22. So is sweet tea.

23. And listening to Sting.

24. Meeting Sting is one of my favorite moments ever.

25. Right up there with graduating from college.  For real.

26. My Big Mama makes the best biscuits.  And, she makes me laugh.  I wish I could spend more time with her.

27. Divorce is hell.  Period.

28. Communicate, communicate, communicate with your spouse.  But, learn how to communicate the right way.

29. In all my travels and life experiences, I’ve seen nothing more beautiful than the birth of my children.

30. Contentment is bliss. 

31. Being with family is, too.

32. I love the local church.  Love it.  I’m so thankful for the Sunday experience with body of Christ.  Nothing refills your tank quite like it.

33. My prayer life is essential.

34. So is living a life of gratitude. *Though, I need gentle reminders of this.*

35.  And, I continue to learn how wide and long and high is the love of Christ.

I could add to this list.  So could you.

Wanna share sumpin’ you’ve learned?

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October 20, 2009 · 6:00 am

A Fish Story.

Few people make me laugh until I cry.  My dad is one of those people.  It might be intentional like the time he replaced my toilet paper holder with a trick one.  When I rolled, a recorded, “scary” message from my dad played.  That was pretty funny.  Frightening, but funny.  Or, it might be unintentional.  Regardless, whenever I’m around him, I’m just sure to laugh. 

This most recent family vacation was no different.  Many laughs were had.  But his attempt at booking a fishing boat nearly sent me into early labor.  Not really.  But, dang, it was fuh-nee. 

Driving around the gulf coast, Dad pulled into a bay area where many boats sit waiting for someone to rent them.  A few men were standing in front of one boat.  Dad thought it a good idea to call on that particular one.  He called and inquired.  While speaking with the boat captain, he noticed a gentleman in front of the boat talking on the phone, too.  Dad continued to collect information when he said to the boat captain:

“I think I’m lookin’ atcha right now.”

A moment of silence ensued.

Then, I heard Dad simply respond, “No?  No.”

“Err, this boat is not available on that day,” the Captain told Dad.

Nor was it going to be available any other day seeing as how this Captain, who was probably resting soundly in his bed up to the point that he thinks some freak is spying in on him, more than likely felt…uneasy?

I laughed until I cried.  I especially laughed when Dad hung up his phone only to find the gentleman in front of him was still talking on his. 

He’s a funny man.  A funny man who loves the scriptures more than any other person I know.  A funny man who is more excited about Christ today than he was thirty-three years ago when he first entered ministry.  A funny man who is real.  Who never speaks ill of anyone.  And loves those who don’t even return that love.

I may never be as funny as him.  But, I sure hope I pursue Christ and love people like him.

Oh, and he did get himself another fishing boat.  He just had someone else call. 🙂

Dad - fishing PCB

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October 7, 2009 · 6:00 am

Heart Check: I Want That, Too!

I am a blessed girl.  I don’t struggle with envy.  I don’t covet my neighbors’ material goods.  Because, I really have this understanding of God’s goodness in my own life.

Or do I?

Pastor Craig Groeschel of Lifechurch.tv shared this past weekend on how to be dissatisfied.  I am pretty satisfied most days.  But when he suggested that comparing what I have to people who have more is a step that leads to living a dissatisfied life? 

I had a heart check.

To be honest.  I mean really honest.

I have a nice home.  But, I can go to an even nicer home and think, “Wow!  I want one of these!”  Then, I go back to my “shack” and fail to recognize my blessings. 

Granted, I don’t live in a shack.  But, that’s the attitude that can penetrate my heart. 

I never resent God’s goodness and blessings in others’ lives.  At least, I’ve got that goin’ for me.  But when I want more, I ignore God’s goodness in my own life.  And, what is holy about that?

We left that Saturday service and I confessed my conviction to Kris.  An issue I didn’t even realize was there.  I then told him, “Babe, my love doesn’t cost a thing.”

“Really?” He said with a little sheepish grin. 

I laughed.  He lightened my mood.  However, the reality of my heart check remained. 

Conviction.

I am so much farther from “considering everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ…..”  I am so far from “considering them rubbish….” (Philippians 3:7-8)  So, I’m letting God deal with it. 

Do you ever compare what you have to people who have more?

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October 2, 2009 · 6:00 am

My Pre-Blogging Life: Part Four

journal entry june 03 wp

“Someone has altered the script.  My lines have been changed….I thought I was writing this play.”  – Madeleine L’ Engle

It was this last entry that I acknowledged my life, so far, was much different than I had planned.  I was divorced.  I was a single mother.  And, now I had reconnected with a gentleman named Kris Takle.  I was supposed to still be married to Bryan living in Griffin, Georgia.  Instead, I was engaged to another and soon to be living in Oklahoma. 

OKLAHOMA.

That’s far, far away.

From my family.  My friends.  My church.

But, I wasn’t writing this play.

Sometimes, our life takes a turn, because it’s the providential will of God.  Other times, our life changes its course, because of someone else’s choices.  Or even our choices.  No matter what causes the shift, I know God will turn a mess into a message.  He will heal brokenness.  He will see to it that the work He began, He’ll finish. 

Because, He’s faithful. 

God didn’t cause my shift in life.  But, He did make something really good out of it. 

I’m mean reallllly good.

Kris-kids wp

See?

So, keep holding on.  Keep pressing toward the mark.  Never, NEVER give up.

Need more encouragement?  Hop on over to my good friend, Kim’s testimony.  Seriously!  Go do it! 

He makes all things good.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God….  Romans 8:28

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September 30, 2009 · 6:00 am

My Pre-Blogging Life: Part Two

I continued to read more of my old journal last night.  I read the frustrations of a fifteen and sixteen year old girl wanting to date one Bryan Landreth.  We’ll save that for a completely different post.  I’m just thankful I’m not sixteen any more.  Can I get an amen? 

I read an entry written in 1998 about loss.  About losing my Grandfather five months after he danced at my wedding.  About losing a best friend to a rare disease only one month after my Grandfather’s passing…….

About how we learned so terribly young to not only tell those dear to us we love them….

but why we love them.

I not only drew closer to friends and family during this time of loss.  I grew closer to my Creator.  I wrote in that July 9, 1998 journal entry:

“God has really been stirring in me a greater need for intimacy with Him.”

We already know that when we draw close to Him, He draws close to us.  Or, perhaps, He draws close to us waiting on us to draw close to Him.  Either way, when we do, we learn this:

journal entry july 98 wp

“The greatest revelation one can obtain is the knowledge that God loves them very much.”

Ya know, even eleven years later, I still believe this to be true.

God loves us so, so very much.  He loves us no matter what we do or don’t do.  His love is unchanging.  And, when we really get the revelation of how much He loves us, we can walk knowing we are forgiven.  We are free.  And, we belong to Him.

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September 29, 2009 · 6:00 am

My Pre-Blogging Life.

Long before I started this Randomness journal online, I had this journal.

journal wp

This book has been in my life since October of 1986.  Susan Woodward (Mimi) gave it to me.  See?

journal - susan wp

That was twenty-three years ago.  TWENTY-THREE!  That would have made me 11 years old.  I pulled out that old journal last night.  I have written in this journal every year since 1986 until 2003.  My very first entry began like this:

Journal entry 86 wp

The title of my entry was “The First Time the Lord Spoke to Me.”  I read through the writing of an eleven year old with a thirty-four year old heart.  I can still remember her and what she felt.  I read about a young girl wanting to hear God speak to her about a situation.  I wanted to hear a yes or a no.  I simply heard a trust that my parents’ decision is the will of God. 

I can remember my father telling me “no” concerning an event I wanted to hear a “yes” to.  I wrote, “Before the Lord spoke to me, I just knew I’d be disappointed if dad said no.” 

When God speaks, it should bring us peace.  It should make trusting Him easier, because His thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts.  It was such a simple concept for me to grasp at age 11.  But, at 34, I forget, on occasion, to be solely dependent on Him and what He says. 

I forget to trust His voice.

I forget to trust His voice in scriptures. 

I need that eleven year old girl to remind me more often that His very voice can calm stormy waters and bring peace to an unsettled heart. 

How do I ever forget that?

Incline my heart to your word.  Psalm 119:36

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September 24, 2009 · 6:00 am

What Does He See?

Every once and awhile, he commandeers my camera.  When I upload my pics, I’m sure to find one like this:

JH - 7yo blog

And this:

JH 7yo blog 2

I don’t dare delete them.  Not even the random pictures of a plant on my end table.  It gives me a peek into what captures his attention.  I’m sure he goes back and observes his photography on my digital camera.  And, I’m sure he sees his self-portraits. 

I wonder what he sees when he sees himself.

Does he notice how beautiful his eyes are?

How his gentle spirit emanates from him every time he smiles?

Does he see God’s grace in his reflection even though he doesn’t know what to call it?

Does he see how he was perfectly and wonderfully made?

Because, that’s what I sure see every time I look at him. 

That’s what I saw seven years ago today when I held him in my arms for the very first time.  He is my sweet reminder of God’s incredible presence in my life in the midst of joy and suffering.  He is my sweet reminder that no matter what season I am forced to endure, God’s grace is always sufficient.

Happy Birthday, John Henry. 

Love, love, love you.

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September 23, 2009 · 6:00 am

New Season. New Thing.

I put long pants and long sleeves on my four year old yesterday morning.  I didn’t need the AC blasting on high.  I lit my Pumpkin Spice candle.

Autumn had officially begun.

There is something magical about the start of Spring and Autumn that sends an excitement pumping through my veins.  Spring means I can break out my favorite flip flops.  It means that new things are getting ready to appear.  Fresh things.  Leaves begin to make a once barren tree beautiful. 

It’s a new beginning.

Autumn means I can break out my comfy Ugg boots.  It means I can bear to sit outdoors a little longer without wiping sweat from my brow.  The leaves turn the most amazing colors before they touch the ground. 

I’m glad a new season is here.  I need a new season.  I need a falling away of the old so God can do something new. 

I am trusting God to do something different this season.  Something new.  Something good.  As a matter of fact, when I have prayed recently, I have referenced the changing season and claimed new and good things over my family. 

So, along with the joys of candy corn and soups on a stove, I’m going to walk in the joys of God doing something new in my life.

Do you need God to something new in you or your family? 

Forget the former things; do not dwell in the past. See, I am doing a new thing!  Isaiah 43:18-19

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September 8, 2009 · 6:00 am

Picking Up The Mantle

My dad is currently covering a series on the prophet, Elisha.  Here is a guy who had so much anointing in his dead bones that they revived another corpse that had been thrown into his tomb.  (2 Kings 13:21)   That’s kind of a big deal.  I mean, what do you have to do to die and leave this kind of anointing behind?  According to the life of Elisha, you have to serve in another man’s field – the way he did for Elijah.  You have to seek this kind of anointing with your own blood, sweat, and tears the way Elisha did.  And, you have to be willing to pick up the mantle God places on you.  Or, in some cases, pick up the mantle when it’s passed onto you. 

I emphasize “when”, because I see so many men and women in ministry itching to pick up a mantle that hasn’t even been passed to them instead of picking up a mantle that God already placed inside them long ago.  Good examples of “when” are the Joel Osteens, Ed Youngs, and Andy Stanleys of the world who had fathers to pass on their mantle. 

The fact of the matter is, God has given each of us a mantle – a calling.  We can run our entire lives and never pick it up.  God won’t give it to someone else, but He’ll certainly allow someone else to operate in your place.  Someone may wait until the latter years of his life to pick up his mantle.  Another may never pick up hers.  Others, from an early age, will pick theirs up and begin operating in it the way God intended. 

Elisha wasn’t below serving in another man’s field.  He gave his life to doing the work of the Father, even when it made sense to do otherwise.  And, when the mantle fell, he picked it up with obedience and fulfilled the call of God on his life.

What would the scriptures look like had Elisha not been obedient?  What would have that next generation looked like?  It’s a scary thought.

What will this generation look like if we don’t pick up our mantles and operate in the gifts and callings Christ has given us? 

There is a mantle lying on the ground waiting for you to pick it up.  God has given you a gift to use for His Kingdom.  So, when you leave this earth, your anointing remains and affects another generation. 

Have you picked up your mantle?

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September 4, 2009 · 6:00 am

The Faith Life.

I asked John Henry last night what he is learning or wants to learn about God right now.  His answer?

FAITH.

“What is faith?”  I asked him.

“I don’t really know,” he said.

So, I explained to him “the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen” in terms his six year old mind can understand.

Several years ago, my dad gave me a book called The Real Faith by Charles S. Price.  Price states, “You can’t have faith without results any more than you can have motion without movement.”

I fail to walk in this kind of faith every day.  Sorry to disappoint.  But, I have learned a key to my faith life is my talk life.  That’s right.  My talk life.  Joshua 1:8 says “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.”  Both scripture and human experience teaches us the power of our words.  So, when our hearts are full of God’s Word, then we are always armed and ready to encounter any threat to our faith.

Whether it’s bad news or a just a bad day. 

My talk life and faith life aren’t perfect.  But, I know the more I fall in love with His Word, the more I will walk by faith.

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