DMV or DUMB

For those of you who have ever dealt with the DMV for anything knows it can be frustrating. All in all, the people I have encountered are rather pleassant but they do occassionaly lack intelligence. I am still dealing with the ripple effects of my wreck. One of these effects is getting a new license plate to replace my stolen one. I have often wondered if the DMV accidentally gave me the wrong plate when I bought it, but dismissed it until yesterday. After returning home I checked my plate against the registration, and sure enough they were 2 different items. Shortly after my discovery the phone rang. It was the DMV wanting to know if my plate and registration matched. I am getting new registration in the mail some time next week.

It is not rude to double check information and goods infront of the person giving them out. Now if you have a arrogant attitude yes, you are a moron and should go learn some tact from people who actually have some. It is a good thing to double check. In Colossians, Paul was writing to the church asking them to be aware of teaching that was not the truth. Maybe if the church had double checked the information against the true gospel Paul would of saved on some postage. As a rule if you ever hear a preacher, Bible study leader, or anyone say something that you have questions on, double check it. After all that is a function of our Bible. It is here to help us.

Moral of this Story: Umm...Double check things. I mean really, can't you figure this one out on your own.

Wrecked

A week ago I wrecked my Blazer. Belton is not the ideal place to have a car accident. For those asking, "Whose fault is it?", it was mine. I was blinded by the sun that blurred the colors of the vehicle infront of me masking the brake lights. Maybe it was a cause of old age. Maybe it was lack of attention. Maybe it was due to heavy traffic. Maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe God takes opportunites to teach us things even if we see it as an accident. So an accident, when things happen that we never meant to. The results are up to us; how we handle things reflect your character.

Immediately I began searching for what God wanted me to learn. Every event is an opportunity to learn. I look at the other driver, she was watching me. I looked at the officer, she was watching me. I looked at the tow truck people, they were watching me. All the cars passing by were watching me. It got a little creepy. So I looked at my Bible in Colossian 2:5 :

"For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is."

I hope that they saw something in me that reflected my faith in Christ. Character is often descibed as the person you are when no one but God is watching. But your character can be evaluated by all those watching including God. I wonder how I would be evaluated? Do you ever wonder how you are evaluated?

Moral of this story: If we asked the world to "look at me!" What do they see?

Best advice EVER!

I received this advise while I was in school and it has helped me in ways I cannot explain. If you really think about it, this simple phrase can shake off all those stupid ideas we have in our heads. Prepare yourself, here it come...

"Take your job seriously not yourself."

Let this sink in. If we would take our life's work more seriously than we take ourselves, insecurities will be slashed by half if not more. No more worrying about what we wear, or how our hair looks. Vanity is not a priority. We will stop staying awake at night wondering if "they" like me or not. We will have fun at church, at school/work, at the DMV!

Now the big kicker is what is your job? What is your life's work? What is the one thing you want to be taking seriously? Is it your family...I suggest you go bigger. How about your area of employment, after all it is your job...but not necessarily your life's work. A sport...you are thinking way too small. Come on now your life's work, what you want to be remebered for. Sit and think about this for a while.

Moral of this story: Seriously, you are your life's work. Make it count for eternity.

Ghosts of Christmases Past

I thought I would share an image from a past Christmas celebration with the family. I actually cannot tell you what year it took place but you can check my references on their authenticity.

I remember the year we almost didn't have a Christmas tree at my Grandmother's house. Earlier in the season my Aunt Joan, has tradgecally messed up her ankle and was on crutches. As we were gathering for a pre Christmas get-together, Joan made her way into the living room with her crutches. Just to give you a little insight, Joan is not the most graceful of individuals. Though she is not the most clumbiest person in the world she does struggle. Honestly I think it is a lack of paying attention. My grandparents tree, as most grand-parental trees consist of ornaments that are truly one of a kind. They are handmade school projects, dated figures from the beginning of time, and ornaments from their grandparents trees. A priceless treasure to some and useless junk to others. But on this ocassion it was reduces to smashed "what-was-that's." Yes Joan the Graceful fell into the tree and almost redured it unrecognizable. My grandparents, being the lovers of tradition that they were, had an artifical tree. We spend more time bending the trunk and branches out, replacing the broken ornaments, and finally going to the store to buy new lights than we ever have before. All in all we did learn a few lessons from this experience. First do not let Balance-handicapped people on crutches near the tree. Second, always buy an artifical tree for family gatherings just in case you have to mend it from a crushing fall. Lastly, we learned to start buying the smaller light that so many people have today. Those larger bulbed lights for trees are pretty but you do not want to be the one to help your aunt to get the shards of glass out.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Do rocks think I'm stupid?

Do rocks think I'm stupid? Seriously, have you ever thought about what nature thinks about our faith in Christ? Have you ever walked though the woods and heard a sound of whispering or laughter? Was nature talking about my faith? Do they have a clear view of its weakness? And why don't they tell us when we are being stupid? We have never skipped a season change, but I worry about what to fix for supper that evening. The sun shines so bright that artificial light wasn't needed on earth for thousands of years, but I fret when the power flickers. Birds don't have central heat and air, but I worry about where to place my Christmas tree so the vents won't dry it out. Have you ever heard a dog ask what job he can get after he has completed his Puppy Chow years? God makes promises to people he never even intended for the rest of creation. Christ came for people. His sacrfice is for people. His unending love is for people. Of all the things he created in 6 days, we were the only thing he breathed into and created in his image. We bear his fingerprints in our basic design like nothing else on earth. But we doubt more and stray further than any other entity of creation. Why? Thanksgiving is coming and our prayer request list is longer than our list of things to be thankful for, why? Is it because God has fallen down on the job of helping people and focused more on plants and animals? Or maybe it is because we focus more on what we don't have rather than the millions of things he has given us? Ungrateful? Yeah. So when the Bible talks about "rocks crying out," does some of that include hystericallaughter to the point of tears because of my stupidity? I don't know if that is totally true, but they would have every right.

Cliques

Alright this is dedicated to Judith, who suggested this topic to see what I would say.

Cliques are an annoying substance, like Mold. It gets in your way and can eventually make you very sick. So why have them? Because we have to have somewhere for those people to go. Seriously, if cliques didn't exsist we would not think highly of acceptance or unconditional love. To have a closed group of people reject you makes you appreciate those who actually accept you. So for the record..."Thank you people of the cliques!" Thank you for sticking together, because God knows no one else would like you. Thank you for being snobby, because it makes us realize you really do suck. Thank you for rejecting people who are not like you, because they are so much fun to hang out with.

Moral of this story: Cliques aren't bad when you take it into the proper prespective.

Ignorance.

Ignorance is bliss. Or is it? They say that wisdom comes with age and we all remember the thoughtful sayings of the young and stupid; but do these really apply? Does gray hair come with intelligence? Maybe not, I mean doesn't gray hair come from stress? And if that is so, does intelligence come from stress? NO! They are just strung-out people frequenting the Walmart for Clariol #5 hair coloring. Seems to me if they were smart they would know of ways to avoid stress. But why do we always associate intelligence with age? All old people are not smart; some still can't work a VCR much less a DVD player. And how many people have you tricked with the "Spell VCR" joke? Seriously can we ever get to the bottom of the young/old intelligence arguement? Probably not, but here are some things I have noticed.

A) Young people have an enthusiam that everybody wants. They don't know their limits yet so they seem unstoppable. Notice I said "seem." Most young people find a realization of their limits in their mid twenties. The body starts to fail, health insurance goes up, but car insurance goes down. They usually make mistakes that will follow them until they are old. Young people do still have a thirst for knowledge, even if the lessons are learned the hard way. Some (without naming names), learn by challenging the limits of their own knowledge. Enthusiasm is great until it is pitted against experience. Then we see that kids don't know crap!

B) Older people see thier limits and refine to perfection their actions within those limits. This is what makes them seem wise. Again, "seem." With the possibility of losing their minds to disease or just natural decay, they try to hold on to their youth. This is a complete waste of time. When you can pass your knowledge on to others doesn't that make us last longer than dating people 10 yrs younger or buying a sports car? However, there are few who learn valuable lessons about pretending to be young or don't go that route altogether; they are truly wise. These people tend to live life to its fullest. They make the most of what little time they have left. They use their experience to shame the enthusiastic. It is wonderful.

Moral of this story: God uses people of all ages, but the ones we always talk about are over 25. IE...Paul, Moses, Abraham, Peter, JESUS!