4 days until the Halloween Party where Josh, baby, and me will be Thing 1, Thing 2, and Thing 3 (Coming Soon).
12 days until my very first baby shower. Baby and I couldn't be more excited about this. :)
19 days until baby shower number two... Equally exciting!
25 days until the Auburn Homecoming game that we will be attending.
30 days until Thanksgiving.
31 days until the ROCKETTES! :)
32 days until the start of Josh's whole entire week off of work.
54 days until the Christmas Musical
61 days until Christmas
68 days until 2012
76 days until Baby Jack is due to make his grand entrance into the world.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Lemons full of gunpowder
We've all heard the saying, "When life gives you lemons..."
Well, I guess this saying is appropriate for some situations, like maybe when you spill coffee on yourself on your way to work, or you get a ticket because you we're driving too fast when you're late to something important and then the whole being pulled over thing makes you even later than you would have been...
But what about when you're going through something more serious and the whole "lemons" saying just doesn't quite cut it?
Sometimes it can feel more like the devil himself is chunking lemons full of gunpowder directly at your head that subsequently explode on contact and leave you in a smokey haze wondering what in the world just happened and where do you go from here.
Yea, those are definitely the words of someone who has been there. Recently.
All I can say is that I am so thankful in the wake of each of my recent exploding lemons kinda days that I have a God who always shows up for me.
What exactly does she mean by exploding lemons, one might inquire.
Well, I'll tell ya. Your lemons are specific to your particular situation. They are representative of whatever it is that is plaguing your life and stealing your joy.
You know, when you are struggling with something and you feel like you're almost free and maybe, just maybe the devil has moved on and given up on your and then suddenly, without warning, WHAP! You're hit right between the eyes with a big fat exploding lemon. You didn't even see it coming. Yuck.
The real questions here is, how to we make the throwing and the exploding stop? How do we get away from the devil when we know he has really good aim and one heck of a throwing arm?
The only answer that I can give that really makes any sense at all is to get into the Word of God....and I don't just mean flip your big dusty Bible open and read whatever is on the page. I'm not saying you can't do that, you can. I'm just saying that if you want to truly defeat the devil and find real and lasting peace from his persistent effort to drown you in your lemon juice, you're going to have to really throw down with him. Look him in the eye and speak the Word of God with a trusting heart, knowing that you're speaking scripture that God ordained for your situation.
How do I know what scripture is ordained for me? That sounds complicated.
Good question, my friend. Let me just tell you about what happened to me.
For a long time, I didn't spend any time at all in the word of God because I didn't understand it. I would try to read it but then I would get all ADD and lose my train of thought because it was just boring. Then one day, I got hit in the face with a big dumb lemon and then felt myself being led to open my Bible (or a book called Battlefield of the Mind which was a scripture based and filled, life-altering book that everyone should read) and suddenly the Holy Spirit began to show me just how amazing the word of God really is. Suddenly every single story, verse and parable related to my life and what had happened to me. I understood the words of God and my hunger for more began to ignite and grow. Each time I opened my Bible, I found a new revelation about how gracious, forgiving, loving, accepting, and just plain amazing our God is. How no matter what kind of lemons were coming at me, He wouldn't let them take me down. He was fighting for me. He had a plan...and even though I couldn't see it then, and sometimes can't even see it now, He gave me the most steadfast assurance in deepest place in my spirit that He had a plan, and I was going to be ok.
Well, that covers one step, but we're far from done. Getting into the word is only a part of what you have to do if you want real freedom from satan's grip.
Another piece of the puzzle, and I would say the most important, is that you have got to train yourself to trust God, even when its hard.
See, God, although indefinitely gracious and loving, doesn't always do it the way that you might want. He has a plan. His plan. Not your plan that He works out for you. You have to remind yourself that He knows so much more than we could possibly ever know and that His plan is what is best, even if it doesn't seem that way to you. Oh, sometimes this part can be a real tough pill to swallow. Believe me, I've been there. It's easy to get mad at God when things don't go your way. But if you can find it within yourself to muster up the strength and courage that it takes to truly and completely trust God no matter where he takes you, or how long it takes to get there... Then you will truly be set free.
It won't be easy. I promise.
Trust is hard to come by. Especially when we are so certain that its our life and we know whats best. But if you can get there, you will be more free than you've ever been in your life because you'll come to a place where you can look in the mirror and in complete honesty you can say that no matter what, even if God takes you down the one road that you really really don't want to go down, you have Him and He has a plan and therefore, You. Will. Be. Ok.
..And when you get there and lift your hands toward God and watch the chains of your fear fall to the ground, you'll look back at your former self, who is huddled in the corner of a dark room holding onto a bucket full of "what-ifs" and "I-needs" and you'll see the demons that you were clinging onto and you'll realize that the devil HAS to flee when you tell him to in the name of Jesus Christ. He has to put down his box of lemon-grinades and leave the room and shut the door behind him. Because God is SO much bigger than he could ever dream of being and because God has already won the victory over you. You are the only one holding you back. God is waiting patiently for you to stand up, turn on the light, throw down your bucket, and lift your hands to Him. But if you want that real, true freedom, you HAVE to trust. Period.
Now, I know you're wondering where exactly do I get off telling you all about how to fix your big dumb problem. Maybe you're reading thing thinking that I've got it all together and have the whole trust in God thing totally down. Well, if that's what you're thinking, please guess again. I really genuinely wrote this post for me. Earlier today the devil hit me with a big ugly exploding lemon and in the moment of my emotion, I thought it was going to take me down. Then someone reminded me that he can't do that. The devil can't take me down. The only way I'll go down is if I choose to. and I don't.
Like I said before, trusting God will not always be easy. Sure, it will be peachy when life is giving you nothing but flowers and sunshine, but when the lemons begin to fall into your lap, you're going to need a firm foundation to fall back onto if you want to be able to stand and not fall. Life can get real heavy sometimes. The key to surviving those times and finding your way back to the flowers and sunshine is knowing in your heart that God and God alone is the rock. No person, job, hobby, etc. can fill that void. Only He can keep you standing. And also know that no matter what happens to you, He has a plan and a purpose for all things, good and bad. They are all worked together to do the greatest amount of good for His kingdom and for you. You will NOT always understand and you probably won't always agree, but you have to always trust. Just be still and know that God is God. Lemons or no lemons.
Well, I guess this saying is appropriate for some situations, like maybe when you spill coffee on yourself on your way to work, or you get a ticket because you we're driving too fast when you're late to something important and then the whole being pulled over thing makes you even later than you would have been...
But what about when you're going through something more serious and the whole "lemons" saying just doesn't quite cut it?
Sometimes it can feel more like the devil himself is chunking lemons full of gunpowder directly at your head that subsequently explode on contact and leave you in a smokey haze wondering what in the world just happened and where do you go from here.
Yea, those are definitely the words of someone who has been there. Recently.
All I can say is that I am so thankful in the wake of each of my recent exploding lemons kinda days that I have a God who always shows up for me.
What exactly does she mean by exploding lemons, one might inquire.
Well, I'll tell ya. Your lemons are specific to your particular situation. They are representative of whatever it is that is plaguing your life and stealing your joy.
You know, when you are struggling with something and you feel like you're almost free and maybe, just maybe the devil has moved on and given up on your and then suddenly, without warning, WHAP! You're hit right between the eyes with a big fat exploding lemon. You didn't even see it coming. Yuck.
The real questions here is, how to we make the throwing and the exploding stop? How do we get away from the devil when we know he has really good aim and one heck of a throwing arm?
The only answer that I can give that really makes any sense at all is to get into the Word of God....and I don't just mean flip your big dusty Bible open and read whatever is on the page. I'm not saying you can't do that, you can. I'm just saying that if you want to truly defeat the devil and find real and lasting peace from his persistent effort to drown you in your lemon juice, you're going to have to really throw down with him. Look him in the eye and speak the Word of God with a trusting heart, knowing that you're speaking scripture that God ordained for your situation.
How do I know what scripture is ordained for me? That sounds complicated.
Good question, my friend. Let me just tell you about what happened to me.
For a long time, I didn't spend any time at all in the word of God because I didn't understand it. I would try to read it but then I would get all ADD and lose my train of thought because it was just boring. Then one day, I got hit in the face with a big dumb lemon and then felt myself being led to open my Bible (or a book called Battlefield of the Mind which was a scripture based and filled, life-altering book that everyone should read) and suddenly the Holy Spirit began to show me just how amazing the word of God really is. Suddenly every single story, verse and parable related to my life and what had happened to me. I understood the words of God and my hunger for more began to ignite and grow. Each time I opened my Bible, I found a new revelation about how gracious, forgiving, loving, accepting, and just plain amazing our God is. How no matter what kind of lemons were coming at me, He wouldn't let them take me down. He was fighting for me. He had a plan...and even though I couldn't see it then, and sometimes can't even see it now, He gave me the most steadfast assurance in deepest place in my spirit that He had a plan, and I was going to be ok.
Well, that covers one step, but we're far from done. Getting into the word is only a part of what you have to do if you want real freedom from satan's grip.
Another piece of the puzzle, and I would say the most important, is that you have got to train yourself to trust God, even when its hard.
See, God, although indefinitely gracious and loving, doesn't always do it the way that you might want. He has a plan. His plan. Not your plan that He works out for you. You have to remind yourself that He knows so much more than we could possibly ever know and that His plan is what is best, even if it doesn't seem that way to you. Oh, sometimes this part can be a real tough pill to swallow. Believe me, I've been there. It's easy to get mad at God when things don't go your way. But if you can find it within yourself to muster up the strength and courage that it takes to truly and completely trust God no matter where he takes you, or how long it takes to get there... Then you will truly be set free.
It won't be easy. I promise.
Trust is hard to come by. Especially when we are so certain that its our life and we know whats best. But if you can get there, you will be more free than you've ever been in your life because you'll come to a place where you can look in the mirror and in complete honesty you can say that no matter what, even if God takes you down the one road that you really really don't want to go down, you have Him and He has a plan and therefore, You. Will. Be. Ok.
..And when you get there and lift your hands toward God and watch the chains of your fear fall to the ground, you'll look back at your former self, who is huddled in the corner of a dark room holding onto a bucket full of "what-ifs" and "I-needs" and you'll see the demons that you were clinging onto and you'll realize that the devil HAS to flee when you tell him to in the name of Jesus Christ. He has to put down his box of lemon-grinades and leave the room and shut the door behind him. Because God is SO much bigger than he could ever dream of being and because God has already won the victory over you. You are the only one holding you back. God is waiting patiently for you to stand up, turn on the light, throw down your bucket, and lift your hands to Him. But if you want that real, true freedom, you HAVE to trust. Period.
Now, I know you're wondering where exactly do I get off telling you all about how to fix your big dumb problem. Maybe you're reading thing thinking that I've got it all together and have the whole trust in God thing totally down. Well, if that's what you're thinking, please guess again. I really genuinely wrote this post for me. Earlier today the devil hit me with a big ugly exploding lemon and in the moment of my emotion, I thought it was going to take me down. Then someone reminded me that he can't do that. The devil can't take me down. The only way I'll go down is if I choose to. and I don't.
Like I said before, trusting God will not always be easy. Sure, it will be peachy when life is giving you nothing but flowers and sunshine, but when the lemons begin to fall into your lap, you're going to need a firm foundation to fall back onto if you want to be able to stand and not fall. Life can get real heavy sometimes. The key to surviving those times and finding your way back to the flowers and sunshine is knowing in your heart that God and God alone is the rock. No person, job, hobby, etc. can fill that void. Only He can keep you standing. And also know that no matter what happens to you, He has a plan and a purpose for all things, good and bad. They are all worked together to do the greatest amount of good for His kingdom and for you. You will NOT always understand and you probably won't always agree, but you have to always trust. Just be still and know that God is God. Lemons or no lemons.
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