Happy Day after Christmas!!!!
I had such a wonderful Christmas and it was so much better than Thanksgiving!!!
Andrew and I left Christmas Eve morning right after he got home from work. We finished wrapping up some presents and making an I.O.U. card for my mom because her present hadn't gotten here yet and then we hit the road. When we arrived in Dyersburg, we first went to Andrew's house and sat with Katie (sis-n-law) and then went to my house. I wish that everyone could see my dog when she sees our family's dog. They love each other. I'm so thankful that we have a dog that gets along so well with most dogs. Andrew and I then went back to his house and waited for his dad to get home after being on the road since Thanksgiving. We then attended the First Baptist Church's Service to see my mom play. My sister and I have a hard time sitting by each other because we get so tickled. At First Baptist, their music minister talks just like Matthew McCaunahey(sp?) and their pastor is just like that page from 30 Rock. Christmas morning we opened presents with my family and then we to my grandparents home for brunch. After brunch we went to Andrew's house for lunch/dinner. We were able to spend a lot of time with each member of the family.
Here's a list of my Christmas presents:
1. Heated blanket
2. Cozy Cuff-like a snuggie but better
3. Sweater
4. 1 scarf
5. 2 scarf
6. 3 scarf
7. 4 scarf
8. 5 scarf
9. 6 scarf
10. 7 scarf
11. Then my grandmother made us play dirty santa for a guess what?
8 scarf
The funny thing about getting so many scarves was that they were all those $5.00 ones from Wal-mart and I didn't get a single repeat.
I got other things too:
My parents gave Andrew and I the rest of the money we needed for the chair we put in layaway. Yay!!!
One of my favorite gifts was the Bible my parents got me. It's my Big Girl Bible because it has my married name on it and it has a larger font so that I can read it as my blindness progresses during life. It's really really nice.
Today, I'm spending my day after Christmas wrapped in my Cozy Cuff and watching Love and Basketball.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Stuff Christians Like
I love love LOVE the stuff Christians like website. Jon Acuff has a way of being extremely funny; i.e. Why can't we have a Christian Lady Gaga?
He has started something called Serious Saturdays and this one just hit home to me.
9 words that changed my life.Dec 19th by Jon
"9 words that changed my life.", url: "http://stuffchristianslike.net/2009/12/9-words-that-changed-my-life/" });
ShareThis
Sometimes, hope hurts.
It shouldn’t. The phrase, “hope hurts” should be an oxymoron like “Lady Gaga gospel album.” But I promise you, it’s not.
Sometimes when you’re so deep in a season of hurt, you get used to the bad. You start to think you deserve it. You start to expect it and get comfortable with it and get numb to it. And like a creature that lives so far down on the bottom of the sea, you adapt to it. You cobble together little survival mechanisms that help you get through. You get by.
But hope is tenacious …
Even in the darkest of my days, when I’d journal about suicide and despair, a fragment of hope still bounced about softly in the dryer of my head. (When you’re married with kids and have lots of laundry to do, 42% of your metaphors and analogies become housework flavored.)
There was a problem though, there was a painful obstacle between me and hope. You see, I was so far down the path of hopelessness, I was so lost and selfish and bent on destruction that I found myself in a terrible lose-lose situation. For example: If my wife was kind to me, I felt hurt because she didn’t know how hurtful I was secretly being to her with porn and a cadre of lies that would have killed her. If my wife was mean to me, I felt hurt because she had been mean to me. Any way I turned, simply resulted in more grossness.
And that is one of sin’s goals. Not simply to remove the good from your life, but to have it actually serve as a weapon of mass destruction.
Have you ever felt that way?
Have you ever felt completely unworthy when someone offers you love?
Have you ever been ashamed of the lies you’re living when someone offers you truth?
Have you ever felt undeserving of something good, because deep down, you believed that person wouldn’t really love you if they knew who you were?
It’s very possible that I’m the only one, and that’s OK. But I do need to tell you about the 9 words in the Bible that changed the way hope felt for me.
I’ve written about this before, but I’m a big fan of “edge verses.” I’m a big fan of looking on the periphery of a scene in the Bible and seeing all the deep truth that often gets hidden amidst a major scene. And in Luke 22 that certainly happens.
Jesus is on the threshold of getting crucified. He has the last supper with his disciples. He is sharing his thoughts on the father and the concept of serving and ruling. There is a sense of great importance heavy in the air. In the middle of that, he has a short conversation with Simon about how he is going to betray him.
It’s going to happen. Jesus knows this, but he wishes it wasn’t. He says to Simon in Luke 22:31-32:
Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.
And then, in 9 words, he explains a big part of the reason I thought a mess-up like me could be a Christian.
Jesus tells Simon:
“And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
That’s it, those are 9 really simple words, but they demand a second look.
Do you see what Jesus is saying in that first half of the sentence, And when you have turned back? He’s saying:
And when you fail.
And when you sin.
And when you blow it and sell me out like a common thief.
And when you literally and physically turn your back on me.
And when you ruin it all.
When you turn back.
That concept is part of why our God is so different than everything we expect. We can turn back. There’s a return. There’s a comeback. There’s a loss and a brokenness and a state of falling, but you can turn back. That door is open. When I read the phrase “And when you have turned back,” I read a loud, wild picture of what grace really looks like.
Then you get to the part that is so easy to miss, the comma. Thank God for the comma, because that’s not how I would have written that sentence.
Mine would have looked more like:
“And when you have turned back, repent for three years before you try to get within a mile of my holiness.”
“And when you have turned back, don’t think for a second you’re qualified to tell other people about me.”
“And when you have turned back, here’s a long list of works you’ll need to do in order to clean yourself of the mistakes you’ve made and the consequences you’ve earned.”
But Christ doesn’t do that! He throws in a comma. He continues the sentence and simply says, “strengthen your brothers.”
Four years ago I ruined my life, but you know what?
God gave me the gift of the comma.
And that’s why I write Stuff Christians Like.
I have turned back. Not once, not twice, but a million times. And now it’s time to strengthen my brothers.
I don’t know what you’ll get this Christmas for a present, but please know this, God wants to give you the comma. He wants to give you grace. He wants you to know that when you have turned back, you can still strengthen your brothers.
It’s time to accept the comma of grace.
He has started something called Serious Saturdays and this one just hit home to me.
9 words that changed my life.Dec 19th by Jon
"9 words that changed my life.", url: "http://stuffchristianslike.net/2009/12/9-words-that-changed-my-life/" });
ShareThis
Sometimes, hope hurts.
It shouldn’t. The phrase, “hope hurts” should be an oxymoron like “Lady Gaga gospel album.” But I promise you, it’s not.
Sometimes when you’re so deep in a season of hurt, you get used to the bad. You start to think you deserve it. You start to expect it and get comfortable with it and get numb to it. And like a creature that lives so far down on the bottom of the sea, you adapt to it. You cobble together little survival mechanisms that help you get through. You get by.
But hope is tenacious …
Even in the darkest of my days, when I’d journal about suicide and despair, a fragment of hope still bounced about softly in the dryer of my head. (When you’re married with kids and have lots of laundry to do, 42% of your metaphors and analogies become housework flavored.)
There was a problem though, there was a painful obstacle between me and hope. You see, I was so far down the path of hopelessness, I was so lost and selfish and bent on destruction that I found myself in a terrible lose-lose situation. For example: If my wife was kind to me, I felt hurt because she didn’t know how hurtful I was secretly being to her with porn and a cadre of lies that would have killed her. If my wife was mean to me, I felt hurt because she had been mean to me. Any way I turned, simply resulted in more grossness.
And that is one of sin’s goals. Not simply to remove the good from your life, but to have it actually serve as a weapon of mass destruction.
Have you ever felt that way?
Have you ever felt completely unworthy when someone offers you love?
Have you ever been ashamed of the lies you’re living when someone offers you truth?
Have you ever felt undeserving of something good, because deep down, you believed that person wouldn’t really love you if they knew who you were?
It’s very possible that I’m the only one, and that’s OK. But I do need to tell you about the 9 words in the Bible that changed the way hope felt for me.
I’ve written about this before, but I’m a big fan of “edge verses.” I’m a big fan of looking on the periphery of a scene in the Bible and seeing all the deep truth that often gets hidden amidst a major scene. And in Luke 22 that certainly happens.
Jesus is on the threshold of getting crucified. He has the last supper with his disciples. He is sharing his thoughts on the father and the concept of serving and ruling. There is a sense of great importance heavy in the air. In the middle of that, he has a short conversation with Simon about how he is going to betray him.
It’s going to happen. Jesus knows this, but he wishes it wasn’t. He says to Simon in Luke 22:31-32:
Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.
And then, in 9 words, he explains a big part of the reason I thought a mess-up like me could be a Christian.
Jesus tells Simon:
“And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
That’s it, those are 9 really simple words, but they demand a second look.
Do you see what Jesus is saying in that first half of the sentence, And when you have turned back? He’s saying:
And when you fail.
And when you sin.
And when you blow it and sell me out like a common thief.
And when you literally and physically turn your back on me.
And when you ruin it all.
When you turn back.
That concept is part of why our God is so different than everything we expect. We can turn back. There’s a return. There’s a comeback. There’s a loss and a brokenness and a state of falling, but you can turn back. That door is open. When I read the phrase “And when you have turned back,” I read a loud, wild picture of what grace really looks like.
Then you get to the part that is so easy to miss, the comma. Thank God for the comma, because that’s not how I would have written that sentence.
Mine would have looked more like:
“And when you have turned back, repent for three years before you try to get within a mile of my holiness.”
“And when you have turned back, don’t think for a second you’re qualified to tell other people about me.”
“And when you have turned back, here’s a long list of works you’ll need to do in order to clean yourself of the mistakes you’ve made and the consequences you’ve earned.”
But Christ doesn’t do that! He throws in a comma. He continues the sentence and simply says, “strengthen your brothers.”
Four years ago I ruined my life, but you know what?
God gave me the gift of the comma.
And that’s why I write Stuff Christians Like.
I have turned back. Not once, not twice, but a million times. And now it’s time to strengthen my brothers.
I don’t know what you’ll get this Christmas for a present, but please know this, God wants to give you the comma. He wants to give you grace. He wants you to know that when you have turned back, you can still strengthen your brothers.
It’s time to accept the comma of grace.
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Christmas Story
I have heard the story of Jesus' birth since I was a small tot. Every Christmas my BamBam (Grandfather) reads us the story. Never once have I really really really considered Mary. It says in Luke that she was "favored" by God.
This is what we know:
1. She was a sinner
2. She was willing to do what was asked, even though she didn't really know what she was agreeing too.
3. She called herself a servant for God.
Mary had to have had some great characteristics in order for God to pick her to be Jesus' earthly mother. He must have known that she was going to be a wonderful mother and loved him without ceasing. It takes a strong woman to raise a child and then watch him die on a cross.
I wish that the Bible talked about Mary more. I wish we knew more of her characteristics.
I want to be like Mary. I want to be someone that God would choose to do something important. I don't think God would have chosen me to be the Virgin Mary. Thankfully, that ship has sailed. But to think that God might one day look at me and say, "I want Dana to..."
As much as I would want to be a Mary, I think I am more of an Elizabeth. God choose her as well, but to give birth to John the Baptist. Now, John was great but he wasn't Jesus. I also love how Zechariah doubted God's promise to him. I do that all the time. I say, "No Way. I think it will be better this way." To prove His point, God shut him up until Elizabeth gave birth.
Mary has compassion, humilily, and sympathy. I want that.
This is what we know:
1. She was a sinner
2. She was willing to do what was asked, even though she didn't really know what she was agreeing too.
3. She called herself a servant for God.
Mary had to have had some great characteristics in order for God to pick her to be Jesus' earthly mother. He must have known that she was going to be a wonderful mother and loved him without ceasing. It takes a strong woman to raise a child and then watch him die on a cross.
I wish that the Bible talked about Mary more. I wish we knew more of her characteristics.
I want to be like Mary. I want to be someone that God would choose to do something important. I don't think God would have chosen me to be the Virgin Mary. Thankfully, that ship has sailed. But to think that God might one day look at me and say, "I want Dana to..."
As much as I would want to be a Mary, I think I am more of an Elizabeth. God choose her as well, but to give birth to John the Baptist. Now, John was great but he wasn't Jesus. I also love how Zechariah doubted God's promise to him. I do that all the time. I say, "No Way. I think it will be better this way." To prove His point, God shut him up until Elizabeth gave birth.
Mary has compassion, humilily, and sympathy. I want that.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Sooo...I got called fat AGAIN today. Not in a nice way either. She just came right out and said, "You've gotten fat."
What do you say to that?
Here I was having a good day. I got up 30 minutes earlier to get on the treadmill and I did it. I did my hair this morning and got to work a minute earlier than necessary. Once again...at least my hair looks nice.
What do you say to that?
Here I was having a good day. I got up 30 minutes earlier to get on the treadmill and I did it. I did my hair this morning and got to work a minute earlier than necessary. Once again...at least my hair looks nice.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Poo on Self-Esteem
I have always had low self-esteem. I don't know if it is genetic, but I do believe that parents pass on their insecurities to their children. Growing up, I would hear my mom tell about how she was so shy and self-conscious growing up. She would share how she had horrible acne and that she didn't know how to tame her curly hair. I remember the first time I got a zit and she told me of my fate-My father and her both had horrible acne problems and I surely was going to receiving these little blessings. OH NO!!! Thankfully (and selfishly) the acne gene grazed over me and landed like a tub of oil and puss on my sister. I have had pimples, but not bad enough to have to go to dermatologists. The reason that I'm sharing this lovely piece of information with all of my devoted readers (hahaha!!!) is that I have to teach my young impressionable clients about self-esteem. I struggle with this every year. How am I supposed to teach these girls to recognize their strong points and be proud of how God created them when I constantly struggle with this myself?
Psalm 34:5 says: "Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame."
2 Corinthians 3:18 says:
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Psalms 139
13For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Anyone who has ever lived with me would tell you that I am lazy with getting ready. I have gotten a little better with age, but I hate putting make-up on and doing my hair. In college, you were lucky if I showered that day. If I did shower, you could pretty much bet that my hair would be back in a ponytail and there would be little or no make-up on. I felt that make-up wasn't covering up my imperfections, so let them shine. I also didn't have much to do with my hair because it took so long to do.
I have learned several things though over the past couple of months.
1. I have great hair.
This takes a lot for me to say, because for the longest time I believed that there wasn't anything great about my appearance. I have come to this conclusion because of my mother. My mom complained about her kinky curly hair everyday and now it's gone. We don't know how her hair is going to look after it grows back after chemo, so her beautiful curly hair might be gone forever. I need to be thankful for what God has given me and take care of it NOW. I have been trying to do my hair more. I used to wear my hair in a ponytail at least 3 days out of the work week. Now, I'm only allowing myself to do that one time-unless there's an emergency and I am running extremely late.
2. I have pretty eyes.
This has not come out of my mind, but out of the mouths of babes. I was doing a visit with one of my precious children that I could just take home with me and love on and I had let her older sister participate in the visit. We were playing a game called "The Feel Good Every Day Game." I pulled a card that said "say something nice to the person on your right." I said something nice to the sister on my right. She wasn't supposed to say anything back to me, but she did. She told me that I had beautiful eyes and my client agreed with her. I just told the girls thank you, but inside I was thinking,"Do I really?" I did not go home and stare at myself in the mirror, but I just took their words for it.
High self-esteem can not be built by your parents telling you that you are beaufiful, it can not be built by your friend telling you that you are not ugly, and it certainly can't be improved by dating guys and marrying someone who is not ugly. I know that Andrew thinks that I am beautiful, but I could be a super model and still be dealing with self-esteem issues. Stephanie's job puts a majoy emphasis on outward appearance. I couldn't do it. Luckily, I am in a job that people just want you to care and listen. My friend Leslie who does the same job as me in another county said it wisely,"My clients don't fix their mullets for me, so why should I fix mine for them?" Leslie doesn't have a mullet by the way.
I am thankful that God uses me and that through my imperfections, God is made perfect.
Psalm 34:5 says: "Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame."
2 Corinthians 3:18 says:
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Psalms 139
13For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Anyone who has ever lived with me would tell you that I am lazy with getting ready. I have gotten a little better with age, but I hate putting make-up on and doing my hair. In college, you were lucky if I showered that day. If I did shower, you could pretty much bet that my hair would be back in a ponytail and there would be little or no make-up on. I felt that make-up wasn't covering up my imperfections, so let them shine. I also didn't have much to do with my hair because it took so long to do.
I have learned several things though over the past couple of months.
1. I have great hair.
This takes a lot for me to say, because for the longest time I believed that there wasn't anything great about my appearance. I have come to this conclusion because of my mother. My mom complained about her kinky curly hair everyday and now it's gone. We don't know how her hair is going to look after it grows back after chemo, so her beautiful curly hair might be gone forever. I need to be thankful for what God has given me and take care of it NOW. I have been trying to do my hair more. I used to wear my hair in a ponytail at least 3 days out of the work week. Now, I'm only allowing myself to do that one time-unless there's an emergency and I am running extremely late.
2. I have pretty eyes.
This has not come out of my mind, but out of the mouths of babes. I was doing a visit with one of my precious children that I could just take home with me and love on and I had let her older sister participate in the visit. We were playing a game called "The Feel Good Every Day Game." I pulled a card that said "say something nice to the person on your right." I said something nice to the sister on my right. She wasn't supposed to say anything back to me, but she did. She told me that I had beautiful eyes and my client agreed with her. I just told the girls thank you, but inside I was thinking,"Do I really?" I did not go home and stare at myself in the mirror, but I just took their words for it.
High self-esteem can not be built by your parents telling you that you are beaufiful, it can not be built by your friend telling you that you are not ugly, and it certainly can't be improved by dating guys and marrying someone who is not ugly. I know that Andrew thinks that I am beautiful, but I could be a super model and still be dealing with self-esteem issues. Stephanie's job puts a majoy emphasis on outward appearance. I couldn't do it. Luckily, I am in a job that people just want you to care and listen. My friend Leslie who does the same job as me in another county said it wisely,"My clients don't fix their mullets for me, so why should I fix mine for them?" Leslie doesn't have a mullet by the way.
I am thankful that God uses me and that through my imperfections, God is made perfect.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)