See Me.

Please forgive any incoherent thoughts today.  I finally went to sleep after 11PM last night only to wake up at 2AM... and never returned to sleep!  When your mind is full, sometimes sleep is elusive.  But everyone once in a while, I feel a strong calling to write something very specific on this blog, and today, I have a message to share.

I know this will come as a surprise to those of you who know me in person, but as a child, I was a "Kick-Me-Kid."  You know the one:  I was last-picked at gym-- likely because I was terrible at any sport involving a ball... or climbing... or running... or sweat.   I had a hard time making friends-- because I was, (pick one)-- needy, bossy, afraid of confrontation, teacher's pet, attention-hogging, who knows.  I was a teacher's kid-- as in my Mom was THE English teacher for our school-- and nothing says "popular" like the straight-A kid of the English teacher. (note:  sarcasm)  Add to this that my school only had 15 kids in my GRADE, and you've got one nice recipe for

LEFT. OUT.

Fortunately, things changed for me when I went to high school for several reasons.  First, there was a HUGE ocean of students in which I could hide OR thrive:  440 kids in my grade alone... and all kinds of kids!  Tall kids, short kids, smart kids, arty kids, techy kids, bandos, hoods, goths, singers, student-counsel-power-people, homecoming queens and kings.  The sea of students was huge and wide and diverse... and heavenly.

Because there, I finally found people who "got" me-- People who didn't see a "kick me" sign on my back, but saw the "SEE ME!" sign up front.  People who ignored the "needy" and saw "funny" ... "clever" ... "hilarious," even.  People who (grudgingly?) accepted the "bossy" (the trait that would later make me a really good first grade teacher), but also saw the creative writer, the dancer, the musician (mostly heart vs. talent, but a musician nonetheless!), the thinker, and the loyal friend.  And now I'm blessed - because I have found good, solid, help-you-bury-the-body-in-the-backyard-friends who accept me in all my quirky, funny, awesome glory.  And to be honest, I don't have to be friends with people who don't!  What a freeing concept!  I can be polite and friendly, but I don't have to open myself up to people who don't get it.  And that is... well... awesome. :)  Because God made ME awesome - just like he did with you:

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. -Ephesians 2:10 NIV

He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
    and all his ways are just. -Deuteronomy 2:4 pt 1 NIV

I wish my "kid"-self could have known such great things lay ahead!  

Another child I know is dealing with a version of the same issue right now.  This child is quirky, goofy, creative, hilarious, witty, sarcastic, and more.  And for the most part, he has "never met a stranger."  But he and another kid he'd really like to be friends with just. don't. get. each. other.  They don't speak the same language, and I'm not talking about English!  I'm talking sarcasm vs. literal, goofy vs. serious, free-thinking-vs-straight-arrow.  It's frustrating them and for both families because they bring out the worst in each other.  However, I was reminded last night (or possibly early this morning, remember I've had just 3 hours of sleep), that God made all sorts of masterpieces:  the silly ones, the serious ones, the creative ones, the mechanical ones, the bossy ones, the quiet ones.  ALL of these children are important in their own way - and they have all been bestowed with amazing gifts that will serve them well later in life (EVEN IF those same gifts are hard to handle now).  

These two kids might have to settle with "friendly" vs. "friends." -- Which is such a hard lesson to learn!  Because it is NOT okay for either kid to be in a situation where EACH one makes the other one feel badly.  But for both of them, it is important to remember that their respective quirks and gifts have meaning and significance; they just might not know yet what for.

I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. 

-Romans 8:39

God has GREAT plans for you, Kid.  Embrace them, because

YOU

ARE

AWESOME.

"Be More Christian"

Every once in a while, I read an article and am amazed how the author MUST have been walking around in my brain.  With the recent controversy surrounding Chik-Fil-A, I've had lots of opinions, but just haven't been able to get it organized right.  Fortunately, I don't have to - because THIS article by Jen Hatmaker says it all:

OPEN ARTICLE IN A NEW TAB

(then come back here!)

This whole issue has made me realize that I have a very diverse group of friends - because across my Facebook wall, there are dueling posts arguing very different opinions.  Personally, I believe that a business owner, like everyone else in the USA, enjoys the same freedom of speech as any other citizen.  Likewise, any citizen who disagrees or find offense has the same right to show their displeasure in discourse or by spending their money elsewhere.  That's the way America works.  And those freedoms of speech and religion are two of the critical freedoms that our founding fathers worked for and our brave soldiers continue to fight for.  So I'm not anxious to give them up!

What bothers me the most, is how some of my fellow Christians behave when they try to convince people that it's "the Bible-way" or the "Hell-way."   This is not helpful!  There is a difference between a "salvation issue" and a "sin issue."  In one respect, salvation is easy:  Believe with your heart, mind, and soul that Jesus is THE Christ, the Son of the Living God.  That's it-- Ticket to Heaven in hand.  Unfortunately, some believers take that "ticket" and use it as a free pass to bully others for their alternate or conflicting beliefs.  Add to that the part where EVERYBODY (regardless of their belief in Jesus) sins almost daily in some manner or another, and we've got a problem.  

I really like this paragraph from Jen's blog:

When we resort to the same tactics being leveled at Truett Cathy, we sink to the least common denominator and – this is important – we make everything worse. How are these culture wars working out for us? Well, the church is losing around 50K folks a week, and the next generation downright refuses to come. The gay community is ostracized entirely (oh, they’ve gotten the message alright), and Christianity has turned into white noise.

Digging our heels in even harder is the problem, not the answer.  Love is, if you believe anything Jesus ever said or did.

I get it - it's hard to walk the line of living a Christian life, surrounding yourself with Christian friends-yet-still reaching out to others to lead them to Christ. Believe me, I have my own opinions about religion, politics, Republicans-vs.-Democrats, gay rights, the death penalty, abortion, immigration, Harry Potter, the devil, Creation-vs.Evolution, and more.   On some issues, I'll eagerly leap upon the soap box and declare my hand (I have my train ticket to Hogwarts, thank-you-very-much!).  With other issues, I'm still working it out - trying to follow what I believe the Bible is saying about both a sin AND how Jesus behaved toward sinners.  "Hating the sin but still loving the sinner" is sometimes not exactly as easy or simple as it should be!  And while I may have a lot of opinions, I don't have all the answers.  So I'm adopting this policy (as much as I can):

(Yes, I made this myself.)

I keep thinking of the Chik-Fil-A slogan of "EAT MORE CHICKEN," and what I really want to encourage my friends is to

BE MORE CHRISTIAN.  

As in "BE MORE CHRISTLIKE!"  Be patient.  Lead by example... Be honest... Be authentic... Be truthful, but have self-control... Be generous... Be real.  You may have a ticket to Heaven, but God is charging you NOT to come along solo.  God wants ALL of his children in Heaven, and you won't change any minds by acting like a religious lunatic on Facebook or Twitter.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

-Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)

Huh... looks like I found my own little soapbox after all.

Take care of each other,

♥Mags

Get Over Yourself...

Feeling sorry for yourself this morning?  Think you've got problems... annoyances.... nuisances to deal with...?


Watch this video.  Re-evaluate your "problems."  Get over it - because some people are dealing with a LOT more.  And God can conquer ALL of the problems...


(You should probably turn off the music for this blog.  Scroll down to the very bottom of the blog to the Music Player, and press "Pause."  THEN watch the video!)

Colossians 1:11-12 (NIV)

¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

Romans 8:37-39 (NIV)

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 12:9-12 (NIV)

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Be kind to one another today; you never know what someone else is dealing with...
:) Mags

I Found God in Ingenuity...

This is a great little story that's making the rounds on Facebook...


The Tomato Garden

An old man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his tomato garden, but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Vincent,
I am feeling pretty badly because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me.
Love, Dad

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Don’t dig up that garden!!! That’s where I buried the bodies.
Love, Vinnie

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love you, Vinnie

I love the creative thinking!  The son, trapped within the confines of his cell, knew he, himself, could not help with the garden.  But his letter, which he knew would be read by the authorities, ensured that his father's garden would get tilled.

Now I'm not advocating tricking the police... But I am encouraging you to tap into the creative side of your brain - because you have one!  You are fearfully & wonderfully made...

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 
   your works are wonderful, 
   I know that full well.

Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

So think outside the box once in a while!

:) Mags

Suck it, Satan! Part II

Ever have one of those days where you realize Satan is up and running with his "A-GAME" while you are still crawling out of bed...?


I'm having that kind of day...

• My son fumbled with this prescription allergy medicine - and the bottle slipped from his hands... spilling little pink pills on the kitchen floor.  I was scurrying around trying to get them all before the dog ate one... while assuring my son that the 5-second rules doesn't apply for prescription meds...
• Then, I had to go grocery shopping - which is like a scavenger hunt now because our local Kroger is re-vamping, re-modeling, and re-arranging the entire store - so it took me at least twice as long to find what I needed... and the cashier's computer jammed up... where the cashier oh-so-helpfully let me know that it was MY fault for having both paper coupons AND electronic coupons which gum up the machine....
• While I was excited to remember to pick up some pretty nail polish at the store (it's spring... sandals-weather!), there was apparently a hole in my grocery sack because it fell out and broke.... on our kitchen floor... spraying metallic-pink nail polish all over the WHITE kitchen tile and grout.  So desperate was I to paint my toenails, that I scooped up the broken bottle and quickly opened the regular end, dipping the little brush into the spilled blobs of paint to paint my toes before it dried.  THEN I cleaned it up and put away the groceries... ;)
• After the groceries were stored, I stopped down to visit a friend and her cute dog... who decided to pee on my jeans... the cute jeans I WAS going to wear to an event at our church tonight.
• My friend was making these special cakes for the church event.  One wouldn't hold together and effectively disintegrated while I was there... at least I got to eat the broken cake and it's yummy icing (score!), but she'll have to make a whole new cake.

And it's only noon.

Today is one of those days where Satan has planned ahead, gotten his act together, and is letting his little, irritating gremlins run free.  Nothing big - no huge catastrophe - but a bunch of little things that have pushed me into a truly foul and funky mood.  

But I remembered a post I did in December 2010 called "In a Nutshell... Suck it, Satan!" and I decided to just shake off this bad mood, count the many blessings, be thankful for the days that aren't a mess, and tell Satan to go bother somebody else!

Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.

1 Peter 5:8 (Msg)

Suck it, Satan.

God has my back.

And He is BIGGER than you.

:) Mags

God, Protect Me...

From the Thou Shalt Laugh Comedy FB Page...

Anyone else cringe a little once you realize this is sometimes....... you?
Yeah, me too.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 18:2  (NIV)

Thanks God, for all the unseen things you do to protect me - each and every day.


-Mags

Finding God in Adversity...

As much as I would have loved to have come up with this myself, this post was copied from the Cowboys-4-Christ Facebook page.  Please support them by "liking" their page.  




----------------------------------------
A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it, and wanted to give up. She was tired of all the fighting and struggling. It seemed as though in solving one problem, two more would arise.

Her father, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil.

In one he placed carrots,
in the second he placed eggs,
and the last he placed ground coffee beans.

He let them sit and boil without saying a word. The daughter impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners.

He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.
He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl.
Then he ladled the coffee out and poured it in a cup.

Turning to her he asked. "Darling, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.
She humbly asked. "What does it mean Father?"

He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrots went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, they softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, the insides became hardened.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. 

"Which are you," he asked his daughter.
"When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
Are you a carrot,
an egg,
or a coffee bean?
----------------------------------------


In the face of adversity, how do YOU respond?
Do you become weak?  Do you become strong?
Or do you do even more... and take that hardship, and turn it into something amazing.


Consider Bethany Hamilton, Nick Vujicic, or this little boy:

Those people are testaments to doing MORE than surviving.  Those people are like the "coffee" - they changed the atmosphere and the people around them - by sharing their stories (both the good things AND the hard things), and by going out and LIVING... out loud.

But, some scars people have are hidden... pushed deep down in a dark place so that they can manage each day without falling apart.  To these people I give my prayers and encouragement that they find, at least ONE person, to whom they can unburden themselves.  Because sometimes, all you need is to open the door a crack to start the healing.

A favorite show of mine is Grey's Anatomy.  In one of the episodes, the Chief of Staff stops one of his interns from wallowing in her perceived failures with this quote:

Chin up.  Put your shoulders back, walk proud, strut a little.

Don't lick your wounds; celebrate them.

The scars you bear are the signs of a competitor.

You're in a lion fight.  

Just because you didn't win [that time] doesn't mean you don't know how to roar.

The scars you have, whether they be physical, mental, or emotional, do NOT have to define you.  You are not broken.   And sometimes... many times... surviving = winning.  And you are never alone in your fight... God is with you.

God's the one who rebuilds Jerusalem, 
      who regathers Israel's scattered exiles. 
   He heals the heartbroken 
      and bandages their wounds. 
   He counts the stars 
      and assigns each a name. 
   Our Lord is great, with limitless strength; 
      we'll never comprehend what he knows and does. 
   God puts the fallen on their feet again 
      and pushes the wicked into the ditch.

Psalm 147:3 (MSG)

So when you are faced with a hardship, a problem, or a catastrophe, at the very least, try to be the egg - get stronger with each hard moment.  And eventually, you might find that you can become the coffee bean.  Because you can affect others with your strength, endurance, and perseverance.  That's #WINNING. 

:)

A Squashed Sandwich... Part 2 of "A Fork In The Road"

This post is a follow-up to "The Fork In the Road" Discussion.  If you haven't read it yet, you should probably read that first. :)

----------------------------------------------------------

There was a girl in my 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes in elementary school who, every day at lunch, would reach over with her fist, hover over someone's sandwich or bag of chips, and then slam her fist down - crushing the food flat underneath.  Since each grade level at my small school only had 15 kids in it - half of them girls, you pretty much HAD to sit with this bully (let's call her "Hester*") or face sitting alone in the cafeteria.  At least, I was safe in the knowledge that Hester was an equal-opportunity squasher; by statistics alone, I had a 6-in-7 chance of keeping my sandwich intact.  But at least one day every couple of weeks, I knew that I'd be eating squashed peanut butter & jelly - or have to forgo lunch altogether.  :(

I was thinking about this as I talked to people about my last blog post on purity and forks.  That post was largely concentrated on people who CHOOSE to have sex in high school (or younger - *sigh*), but I was reminded by more than one person, that there are too many girls (and boys, even) who have had sexual behaviors forced upon them without their consent.  I remember hearing statistics in my junior high sex education class: that 1-in-4 girls would be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.  (That was the mid-1980's).  And I remember looking around at my classmates thinking, "Surely that can't be right? - That would mean that, statistically, 2 of my female classmates could face that sometime!"


The current statistics are even more sobering-- and have moved to 1-in-3 vs. 1-in-4.  According to RAINN, 44% of rape victims are under age 18.  Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.  And there is an average of 207,753 victims of sexual assault each year, aged 12 and older.  Approximately 2/3 of all assaults are committed by someone known to the victim, and 38% of rapists are a "friend" or acquaintance.


That means YES - quite possibly, that girl you sit next to in chemistry class... might be dealing with a friend-of-the-family hurting her.  The withdrawn girl on the bus... could be being molested by her uncle.  That "promiscuous" girl that everybody "knows"... may just be acting out because she has been raped already - so she figures why bother "protecting her virtue."  The goth girl who pushes everybody away... she is trying to be as "ugly" as possible so she won't be raped again.


And it's even quite possible that one of your friends - someone to whom you share your secrets (the boy you are crushing on, the math test you failed, the normal everyday angst of high school) has been stuffing down her own horrible secrets of abuse so that she can forget... just for a minute... and feel "normal" by listening to your "problems."  It is quite possible that you'll never know what horrors your friend faces each evening when she gets home from school


These kids-with-secrets didn't ASK to be raped... or assaulted... or abused.  Like my lunchtime sandwich smashed by Hester's angry fist, they were attacked by ruthless bullies who get off on the "power" of hurting other people.   And I imagine it would be easy for them to think that God does not care about them.  Like Jenny in Forrest Gump who prayed "Dear God... make me a bird... make me a bird so I can fly far, far away (from her abusive father)," these kids might be wondering WHY God allows this pain and suffering to happen at all.


I don't want my next words to sound empty or condescending or out-of-touch, but I truly believe that while God may not have unleashed a bolt of lightening to smite your attacker, He was with you - each horrible minute - crying with you and helping you endure... and survive.  While He will not stop a human, one of His children, from making a free-will choice, He is heartbroken when one of His children commits such an evil and horrible act upon another.  At the same time, he feels every ounce of pain and suffering and shame you experience.  God, as Jesus, felt pain, hopelessness, embarrassment, heartache, sickness, suffering, and more at the hand of Pontius Pilate and his angry mob.  And every day, when people are cruel and inhumane to other people, I believe he feels double the pain - the pain of the victim as well as the pain and brokenness of the deranged or sick perpetrator of the attack(s).


While God won't interfere with anyone's free will, I believe, if you ask Him, he will gladly offer strength, healing, peace, and comfort - by placing other people in your life who will lift you up and support you as you deal with certain horrors and memories.  You were NOT alone then... and you are NOT alone now.   Surround yourself with kind and caring friends and family - you don't have to continue to stuff down these secrets... because the people who truly love you will support you and allow you to unburden your mind to them.


And while you may feel dirty or soiled like the Sharpie'd up forks from the last blog post, I believe that when you give your life to Jesus, and when you give your burdens and your secrets over to God - not only does He clean your fork... He gives you a whole new one.


To the people who read this who are holding horrors in their minds from their childhood or after, I pray that you will find strength and peace and healing.


Most sincerely,
Mags


PS - April is Sexual Assault and Awareness Month.  To find out how you can help, please visit RAINN and read about 7 easy ways you can support Survivors of Abuse.




*Not her real name... exactly.

Fork In The Road... An Object Lesson on Purity

The other morning, our 8-year old son, Luke, was eating small, dill pickles.  As he chattered on about various topics, he eventually paused, held up his pickle, and asked me, "Mom... do you know how I know THIS pickle... is mine....?"


When I looked at him quizzically and asked, "How?," he replied by sticking out his tongue and licking all over the pickle.


He's right about one thing.... that is definitely HIS pickle.


And that funny episode rattled around in my brain for a few days until this morning, when I started thinking about my sons and the road ahead of them regarding purity.... and a white plastic fork.


(Don't ask me how my brain works... just go with it!)


This is untested - as I don't run a teen group and my kids are too young for this talk... for now.  So if you use it, please let me know how it goes.

Fork In The Road

An Object Lesson on Purity

by Maggie Buckley, 2012

Intended Audience:  Junior High or Older

Materials

• White plastic forks
• Sharpie Markers
• CAKE! (or some other awesome dessert)

Instructions

Pass out one plastic fork to each student as well as a Sharpie Marker (any colors - having each kid with a different color will help illustrate this better).

Adapt this conversation for your group:

Take your fork, and color on it with your Sharpie marker. You don't have to color the whole thing - just make enough of a mark to show you've been there.  Imagine you are using the fork for real - the marker symbolizes your spit/germs/etc.  But obviously, for germ reasons, we are not all going to lick the forks!  Instead, we are going to color with markers to show that we "used" it.

Now pass the fork 2 to the left.  THIS is now your fork.  Claim it by coloring on it.

Pass it 3 to the right.  THIS is now your fork.  Claim it by coloring on it.

Pass it 2 more to the right.  THIS is now your fork.  Claim it by coloring on it.

Continue passing the forks around in different directions and patterns until the forks are all yucked-up with marker.

Then bring out the gooey dessert.

• If all of these people had "licked" or "used" your fork for real, how interested would you be in using the fork to eat this cake?
• How many people would prefer that I give them a new, clean fork?
• Notice that while you all had fun coloring the forks, but when it actually came time to USE the fork, you didn't want the dirty, germy, used-up forks; you wanted a nice CLEAN un-marked fork.
• Notice that sometimes, when you got another fork, someone had colored where you would like to have colored on the fork.  You had to move over and find a new place.

Now imagine that fork was your body.

When you make decisions about sex you are like the fork.  Every time you choose to have sex or intimate behaviors with someone, it is just like when your fork was colored on by someone else .  And when you choose to have sex or intimate behaviors with multiple people, you are used over and over just like the forks that were colored on again and again.  And, as with a permanent Sharpie marker, those experiences never go away.  They are always stored in your brain - comparing experience to experience.

When you receive God's wedding gift to you (sex) on your wedding night, you *SHOULD* be able to enjoy it without worrying who else has been there too.  And your spouse deserves the same consideration.

Choosing abstinence may not be the world view or the "popular" path... But if you wouldn't even eat cake with a fork that had been used by 1...2...5...10+ other people, why in the world would you share the most intimate of moments with a person who had similarly been so used?!

In a bar, the best liquor is kept on the top shelf - hence the expression "Top-Shelf Liquor."  This is the most expensive and typically viewed to be "the best" when it comes to liquor.  Middle-priced liquor is on the middle shelves - and the bottom shelves, the "well," holds the cheap stuff.  Not many people buy the "Top-Shelf" liquor - because it's too expensive and they are just as content with something cheaper or more common.  "Top-Shelf" liquor is considered exclusive... special... priceless.  Not many people experience a "Top Shelf" drink.

When you are looking for your future husband or wife, you need to be looking for a "Top-Shelf" person.  You are deserving of a "Top-Shelf" Spouse!  Find someone who didn't choose to be common, used, average, or cheap.  Find someone who valued their body enough to treat it as an exclusive treat for their future spouse.

Back in high school, we studied Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Less Traveled."  In it, Frost ponders the choice of which path to take when you come to a "fork" in the road:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both... Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

He took the path LESS traveled - the exclusive one - the one NOT already trampled by a myriad of other people... that THAT has made all the difference.

Cherish yourself and your body.  Treat yourself as a "Top-Shelf" person and look for the same in the person to whom you will pledge your faithfulness and the rest of your life.

You are worth it.

:) Mags

My Son Found God In His Teeth...

Obviously, I've been a terrible blogger... as it's been 2 months since my last entry.  I've had some great ideas, but I've let myself be distracted with other stuff.  Nothing more "important" or anything - just stuff.  


But I wanted to share with you an ongoing story my 8-year old has been telling me.  I think it shows how God can speak to us in "everyday, ordinary places."  Luke started his musings after a standard trip to the dentist.  The next morning, he says "Whenever we get a cavity, it's like when we sin against God.  The cavity just grows and grows with our bigger sins.  Then when we brush our teeth or go to the dentist and have our teeth all fixed up, it's like God's grace - when He forgives our sins... and our teeth are nice and clean again."


They say God speaks to us in mysterious ways.... I don't feel inspired at the dentist, myself.  I feel tense, grumpy, and sore!  But my sweet son saw a link to God's grace with the swipe of the dentist's toothbrush; the dentist's chair is certainly an everyday, ordinary place.


And that's what this blog is really all about.
Keep brushing,
:) Mags