Thursday, March 8, 2012
No Perfect People Allowed: billboard
No Perfect People Allowed: billboard: This week we started a new series...SIGNS OF LIFE! This is such an exciting series! It was opened up with one of the most thrilling ev...
Friday, January 6, 2012
Ch..ch..ch..Changes
Friday, January 6, 2012
This week at my Church, Granite United Church (in case you didn’t know), we are starting a new series about EPIC CHANGE. Funny because of the circumstances of the past few years, I feel like I am the poster child for EPIC CHANGE. There are those people out there, who when you don’t see them for a while then run into them, things are pretty much the same old, same old.
I was like that for a long time. After the big change, moving from New York to Boston things didn’t change much for a while, I lived in the same house for 12 years, stayed in the same business for essentially 20+ years, had the same friends, went to the same places, same old, same old. It was all very nice, very safe, very predictable.
Well apparently that is not at all what God had planned for my life and what was I thinking that it was going to stay that way. And oh by the way, looking back isn’t going to bring it all back and really do I want to?? As you know, we recently moved, let me add, this move did not in any way lessen my dislike and dare I say, hatred, of the whole moving process. It was an awful experience which included broken appliances, a flood, a fire, complete chaos and more! We’ll leave that on the back burner for now. What I did learn through it all though, was that even through the chaos, God was ALWAYS by my side and what seemed like heartache was actually a blessing.
While there is a point there, I digressed a bit, the move, yes that was a big change, caused by a financial downturn, caused by a job loss, caused by some poor choices, caused by …. Well you get the point. The most recent change we’ve made around here is switching Katherine from a Christian School to a Public School. Now she is going through a lot of changes, she’s been there 3 days and each day tells me how this school is very different from a Christian school. She’s learning at 5, life is full of changes.
One of the big changes for me is that I don’t get the opportunity to walk her in to the school. I was discussing this with Mike last night. In fact, she can take a bus if we choose to. I choose not to, I’m not quite ready for that. Mike was reminding me that when we went to Kindergarten, I was only four at the time, our parents put a tag on us, brought us to the corner, we got on the bus , they waved good bye and essentially hoped we got to our destination. Were we really prepared for that??? After a couple of weeks, they didn’t even walk us to the corner anymore and I had to endure Ricky Jones’ antics on my own and somehow make my way to school.
I actually distinctly remember the very first day of school as the bus pulled up to what seemed like the biggest building ever, all of these other buses were there, hundreds of kids who all seemed to know where they were going and me feeling very uncertain, slightly afraid. I remember walking up to an elderly gentleman who seemed like he knew what he was doing and asking him where I should go, I was wondering if I should have known already. He very gently took a look at my tag which had the name of my teacher on it and I think a line that said “I belong to Al and Pat Norton, if lost return to Hemlock Street, Islip, NY.” I was hoping he’d read that line and send me home. Alas, he didn’t, it was the Principal, Mr. Babcock, he kindly directed me to my classroom. Which, by the way, I ended up LOVING!!!!!! I also then noticed other children who seemed lost going up to him as well. He helped every child find their way.
So here’s the point, because it got me thinking, for most of us, this is what life is all about. Each step we take is a change, hopefully in the right direction but not always, more often than not we are seriously ill prepared!!! It would be great if we all just knew what we were supposed to do or if we wore a tag when we took a misstep and someone could redirect us but we do not wear this physical tag.
I was like that for a long time. After the big change, moving from New York to Boston things didn’t change much for a while, I lived in the same house for 12 years, stayed in the same business for essentially 20+ years, had the same friends, went to the same places, same old, same old. It was all very nice, very safe, very predictable.
Well apparently that is not at all what God had planned for my life and what was I thinking that it was going to stay that way. And oh by the way, looking back isn’t going to bring it all back and really do I want to?? As you know, we recently moved, let me add, this move did not in any way lessen my dislike and dare I say, hatred, of the whole moving process. It was an awful experience which included broken appliances, a flood, a fire, complete chaos and more! We’ll leave that on the back burner for now. What I did learn through it all though, was that even through the chaos, God was ALWAYS by my side and what seemed like heartache was actually a blessing.
While there is a point there, I digressed a bit, the move, yes that was a big change, caused by a financial downturn, caused by a job loss, caused by some poor choices, caused by …. Well you get the point. The most recent change we’ve made around here is switching Katherine from a Christian School to a Public School. Now she is going through a lot of changes, she’s been there 3 days and each day tells me how this school is very different from a Christian school. She’s learning at 5, life is full of changes.
One of the big changes for me is that I don’t get the opportunity to walk her in to the school. I was discussing this with Mike last night. In fact, she can take a bus if we choose to. I choose not to, I’m not quite ready for that. Mike was reminding me that when we went to Kindergarten, I was only four at the time, our parents put a tag on us, brought us to the corner, we got on the bus , they waved good bye and essentially hoped we got to our destination. Were we really prepared for that??? After a couple of weeks, they didn’t even walk us to the corner anymore and I had to endure Ricky Jones’ antics on my own and somehow make my way to school.
I actually distinctly remember the very first day of school as the bus pulled up to what seemed like the biggest building ever, all of these other buses were there, hundreds of kids who all seemed to know where they were going and me feeling very uncertain, slightly afraid. I remember walking up to an elderly gentleman who seemed like he knew what he was doing and asking him where I should go, I was wondering if I should have known already. He very gently took a look at my tag which had the name of my teacher on it and I think a line that said “I belong to Al and Pat Norton, if lost return to Hemlock Street, Islip, NY.” I was hoping he’d read that line and send me home. Alas, he didn’t, it was the Principal, Mr. Babcock, he kindly directed me to my classroom. Which, by the way, I ended up LOVING!!!!!! I also then noticed other children who seemed lost going up to him as well. He helped every child find their way.
So here’s the point, because it got me thinking, for most of us, this is what life is all about. Each step we take is a change, hopefully in the right direction but not always, more often than not we are seriously ill prepared!!! It would be great if we all just knew what we were supposed to do or if we wore a tag when we took a misstep and someone could redirect us but we do not wear this physical tag.
We need to remember that through EVERYTHING, we do belong to someone, we belong to God and if we are lost HE will guide us to where we are supposed to go. Every change, every move, every choice we make, God already knew about. He’s been directing our lives from before we were born and it is up to us to know enough to follow HIM. We don’t get to wear a tag but we carry the Holy Spirit in our hearts wherever we go. He WILL guide us if we just know enough to ask for direction.
We may think we know where we are going and what we are doing but if it wasn’t God’s plan, we aren’t going anywhere! God will change the course and we need to be ready for the CHANGE, it may not be easy but with GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE (Mathew 19:26). He’ll guide us and in the end we will probably end up LOVING IT!!!!
I love my new home, I think Katherine will love her school, I didn’t know how this would turn out but God did! I am still uncertain and maybe even slightly afraid of what the future holds but I know who to go to for direction, I also know that when I lose my way, I do belong to JESUS and there is an awesome feeling having that on my “name tag.” Everything else, all the directions are in the Bible, we can’t wear it pinned to our jacket but we can carry it in our heart and God is always there ready to give directions to all of the people who “think” they know where they are going. Just ask.
We may think we know where we are going and what we are doing but if it wasn’t God’s plan, we aren’t going anywhere! God will change the course and we need to be ready for the CHANGE, it may not be easy but with GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE (Mathew 19:26). He’ll guide us and in the end we will probably end up LOVING IT!!!!
I love my new home, I think Katherine will love her school, I didn’t know how this would turn out but God did! I am still uncertain and maybe even slightly afraid of what the future holds but I know who to go to for direction, I also know that when I lose my way, I do belong to JESUS and there is an awesome feeling having that on my “name tag.” Everything else, all the directions are in the Bible, we can’t wear it pinned to our jacket but we can carry it in our heart and God is always there ready to give directions to all of the people who “think” they know where they are going. Just ask.
Proverbs
3:5-6
New International Version (NIV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Moving is Definitely ONE of my "ISSUES"
Thursday, September 29, 2011
As I am looking around and “planning” on packing I realize that my deep rooted issues with moving go way back to even before I was born!
My Mother used to tell the story that I was on my way to being born when I decided to try and go back into the womb! I had to be forced into moving even then!!!
Well, things haven’t changed much in the last (almost) 46 years. As I am about to approach my 46th birthday and only the 5th move that I have made in my adult life I realize I want to stay right where I am, not because it is absolutely perfect or anything, simply because I don’t want to move! Things haven’t changed much in 46 years, clearly I can’t stay where I am!!!
I am now and have always been afflicted with a bit of OCD when it comes to my surroundings. I like everything to be clean, neat, organized and everything, I mean EVERYTHING must have its appropriate place and must not be moved unless I review the options, think about it and decide that it would be the best new “spot” for such item.
Hence, when I went away to college, for the first time, it was my feeling that I had to have EVERYTHING with me. To my parent’s dismay, I more or less won that argument. While I somewhat adapted over the years the one thing my parents were continually frustrated with, was that when it was time to come pick me up with the usual U-Haul in tow to empty out my single dorm room, I had nothing packed!
The issue, as I now realize, was that because everything HAD to have its place, I couldn’t remove it from that place. Its place wasn’t in a box and “what if” I needed it before I could replace it in its appropriate spot back in my bedroom at home? What a dilemma??? So each Spring, as every college student was packing up and preparing to leave for the Summer, I went about as if I wasn’t going anywhere.
My Mom, God bless her, was the patient one that understood my disorder and kept my Dad calm as she lovingly helped me pack while she explained to me why we had to pack up each book, each pillow, my clothing, albums, alarm clock and every other item that I had ever so neatly put it in its “place” in my temporary dwelling.
Even now I realize how ridiculous it all was I also realize I couldn’t help it. Just like I cannot help it now. I have a move pending in about a week. I have barely anything packed. My house is upside down and things are in disorder and disarray and I am doing my very best to ignore this. I managed to start the clean out and downsizing process in order to have a fairly successful yard sale last weekend. Besides that….nothing is done and very little is actually currently packed.
Yes, I’m busy, yes, my back is excruciatingly painful right now, yes, it is difficult but seriously….what AM I thinking???
The last time I moved, 7 years ago, I moved from a duplex to my current 4 bedroom/8 room house. The representative from the moving company came in and gave me a quote based on what he “saw.” When the movers came to move me the lead mover came up to me, pointed a finger in my face and said “lady, you know what you are?” I asked, “what?” He glared at me, pointed his finger in my face again and angrily exclaimed, “YOU ARE A TUCKER!” I had no idea what a Tucker was but this mover was all too happy to explain to me that a tucker is the worst kind of person to move, worse than a hoarder because nobody knows (not even the guy who came from the company to give me an estimate) how much actual “stuff” I have organized so neatly in “its place.” What happens when you begin to move everything from its rightful place to pack up, well, it tends to “grow”, what seemed like just a little bit of stuff is actually A LOT!!!!! Just as an FYI, Movers HATE Tuckers. It wasn’t a delightful day for anyone involved. I tipped him as generously as possible to try and alleviate his obvious contempt for me.
Well, now I am faced with a move that includes a significant down size. I don’t NEED all the stuff I have, never did. When times were better my husband and I had a bit of an addiction to HomeGoods which meant we got some really cool household items for a really good price and felt that we just couldn’t live without it.
I had a little bit of extra space so I thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful to make a nice home for all of my “stuff.” Now what? Well, I have a bunch of boxes, some packing material, a lot of stuff to pack and a move date.
What do I do? There is no time to get serious psychological help for what I now realize has been a lifelong “issue” I have had since the day I was born! So, I need to pray, ask God for His guidance and His strength, appreciate help and LISTEN to the advice that I have received from my sister, close friends and those wonderful people who have helped me move in the past and taught me to part with “cherished keepsakes,” like the old pair of saddle shoes with the purple and gold pom poms on them I thought I just had to keep from my kickline days in High School.
I gave them up, I can give up some of this other “stuff.” I can take things from their existing place and give them a new place in my new home. I’m definitely not “mobile” as my sister puts it but I can do better than I have been doing!
TIME TO MOVE IT!!!
“I can do all things, through Christ, who gives me strength” – Philippians 4:13
As I am looking around and “planning” on packing I realize that my deep rooted issues with moving go way back to even before I was born!
My Mother used to tell the story that I was on my way to being born when I decided to try and go back into the womb! I had to be forced into moving even then!!!
Well, things haven’t changed much in the last (almost) 46 years. As I am about to approach my 46th birthday and only the 5th move that I have made in my adult life I realize I want to stay right where I am, not because it is absolutely perfect or anything, simply because I don’t want to move! Things haven’t changed much in 46 years, clearly I can’t stay where I am!!!
I am now and have always been afflicted with a bit of OCD when it comes to my surroundings. I like everything to be clean, neat, organized and everything, I mean EVERYTHING must have its appropriate place and must not be moved unless I review the options, think about it and decide that it would be the best new “spot” for such item.
Hence, when I went away to college, for the first time, it was my feeling that I had to have EVERYTHING with me. To my parent’s dismay, I more or less won that argument. While I somewhat adapted over the years the one thing my parents were continually frustrated with, was that when it was time to come pick me up with the usual U-Haul in tow to empty out my single dorm room, I had nothing packed!
The issue, as I now realize, was that because everything HAD to have its place, I couldn’t remove it from that place. Its place wasn’t in a box and “what if” I needed it before I could replace it in its appropriate spot back in my bedroom at home? What a dilemma??? So each Spring, as every college student was packing up and preparing to leave for the Summer, I went about as if I wasn’t going anywhere.
My Mom, God bless her, was the patient one that understood my disorder and kept my Dad calm as she lovingly helped me pack while she explained to me why we had to pack up each book, each pillow, my clothing, albums, alarm clock and every other item that I had ever so neatly put it in its “place” in my temporary dwelling.
Even now I realize how ridiculous it all was I also realize I couldn’t help it. Just like I cannot help it now. I have a move pending in about a week. I have barely anything packed. My house is upside down and things are in disorder and disarray and I am doing my very best to ignore this. I managed to start the clean out and downsizing process in order to have a fairly successful yard sale last weekend. Besides that….nothing is done and very little is actually currently packed.
Yes, I’m busy, yes, my back is excruciatingly painful right now, yes, it is difficult but seriously….what AM I thinking???
The last time I moved, 7 years ago, I moved from a duplex to my current 4 bedroom/8 room house. The representative from the moving company came in and gave me a quote based on what he “saw.” When the movers came to move me the lead mover came up to me, pointed a finger in my face and said “lady, you know what you are?” I asked, “what?” He glared at me, pointed his finger in my face again and angrily exclaimed, “YOU ARE A TUCKER!” I had no idea what a Tucker was but this mover was all too happy to explain to me that a tucker is the worst kind of person to move, worse than a hoarder because nobody knows (not even the guy who came from the company to give me an estimate) how much actual “stuff” I have organized so neatly in “its place.” What happens when you begin to move everything from its rightful place to pack up, well, it tends to “grow”, what seemed like just a little bit of stuff is actually A LOT!!!!! Just as an FYI, Movers HATE Tuckers. It wasn’t a delightful day for anyone involved. I tipped him as generously as possible to try and alleviate his obvious contempt for me.
Well, now I am faced with a move that includes a significant down size. I don’t NEED all the stuff I have, never did. When times were better my husband and I had a bit of an addiction to HomeGoods which meant we got some really cool household items for a really good price and felt that we just couldn’t live without it.
I had a little bit of extra space so I thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful to make a nice home for all of my “stuff.” Now what? Well, I have a bunch of boxes, some packing material, a lot of stuff to pack and a move date.
What do I do? There is no time to get serious psychological help for what I now realize has been a lifelong “issue” I have had since the day I was born! So, I need to pray, ask God for His guidance and His strength, appreciate help and LISTEN to the advice that I have received from my sister, close friends and those wonderful people who have helped me move in the past and taught me to part with “cherished keepsakes,” like the old pair of saddle shoes with the purple and gold pom poms on them I thought I just had to keep from my kickline days in High School.
I gave them up, I can give up some of this other “stuff.” I can take things from their existing place and give them a new place in my new home. I’m definitely not “mobile” as my sister puts it but I can do better than I have been doing!
TIME TO MOVE IT!!!
“I can do all things, through Christ, who gives me strength” – Philippians 4:13
Friday, August 27, 2010
I'm The Dog Pulling Back On The Toy!
A while ago our Pastor did a sermon about letting go and letting God, he was teaching us to give up all of your worries and problems to God and let Him have the control, after all, He is in control anyway. He added humor to the sermon and helped us to visualize what we do when we don't trust God when he talked about how his dog is (and many of our dogs are) when we play with them with some type of pull toy and get into a tugging game.
Basically, think of a dogs pull toy as your problem, and you are the dog. God takes the toy away from you, and wants to help you with the toy, but remember, your the dog, so you try and take the problem back, you WANT that toy back because you aren't trusting God to throw it or take care of it just the way you want in just the time frame you want it done.
When you are playing with your dog and he or she tries to take that toy before your ready, you get into a tugging war with the dog. You find yourself saying "I'll give you the toy back, I promise, just let me throw it or get it ready for you to play with, I can make this really fun for you!" But the dog keeps biting away at it, trying to grab it and get it back, why doesn't the dog trust you????
Why don't we trust God??? Why do we keep gnawing away at this problem and yipping about it instead of just letting God have it and take control??? The real problem is that we think we know the answer to our problem so we say here is the problem God, can you fix it and give it back to me when it's done. When it isn't fixed in our time frame we think, for some reason, we can do it better. Who are we kidding????
I know I need to constantly remind myself, as I am doing right now, that if I just stop being the dog pulling back on the darn toy, if I just let God have it he will fix it and give it back to me better and more amazing than I could ever imagine. If I want him to throw it, He can throw it farther than I can see and the journey from there will be glorious!!
If I don't let God I will just run around in circles with the same stupid toy/problem, I will not have any fun and will never get anywhere. Who wants to do that? I've seen the dogs that do that and it's just silly!
Just let go and let God.
Basically, think of a dogs pull toy as your problem, and you are the dog. God takes the toy away from you, and wants to help you with the toy, but remember, your the dog, so you try and take the problem back, you WANT that toy back because you aren't trusting God to throw it or take care of it just the way you want in just the time frame you want it done.
When you are playing with your dog and he or she tries to take that toy before your ready, you get into a tugging war with the dog. You find yourself saying "I'll give you the toy back, I promise, just let me throw it or get it ready for you to play with, I can make this really fun for you!" But the dog keeps biting away at it, trying to grab it and get it back, why doesn't the dog trust you????
Why don't we trust God??? Why do we keep gnawing away at this problem and yipping about it instead of just letting God have it and take control??? The real problem is that we think we know the answer to our problem so we say here is the problem God, can you fix it and give it back to me when it's done. When it isn't fixed in our time frame we think, for some reason, we can do it better. Who are we kidding????
I know I need to constantly remind myself, as I am doing right now, that if I just stop being the dog pulling back on the darn toy, if I just let God have it he will fix it and give it back to me better and more amazing than I could ever imagine. If I want him to throw it, He can throw it farther than I can see and the journey from there will be glorious!!
If I don't let God I will just run around in circles with the same stupid toy/problem, I will not have any fun and will never get anywhere. Who wants to do that? I've seen the dogs that do that and it's just silly!
Just let go and let God.
Monday, April 5, 2010
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