Farewell "Jesus Pants" - Part III of the "Cursed Pants"

One of my favorite series of posts are on my Jesus Pants - a pair of khaki pants that seem to attract stains.  In my first story about them, I referred to them as the "cursed pants" - a post that talked about the cycle of sin and forgiveness.  Then my perspective changed - "cursed" is too harsh a word for these amazing pants - they are Jesus Pants!  They accept the stains to keep other clothes from being ruined! :)


Unfortunately... a couple of weeks ago, the Jesus Pants met their end... but God is not without a sense of humor, that's for sure...!!


I had worn my Jesus pants on a date with my husband.  We went to Qdoba for lunch and were stopping by the grocery store after (I know, I know... when you've been married 15 years, a kid-free grocery store visit IS a date!! - LOL!).  We'd been all through the deli aisles, the bakery area, the fruit and veggies, and the pasta/Mexican aisles when I zipped ahead of David (who had the cart) to skirt between two older ladies who were clogging up an aisle.


When David caught up to me, he could barely speak, he was laughing so hard!  I was backed up against a display as he leaned down and told me that my pants had a H U G E rip across the backside!!!


Apparently all of those cycles of bleach had finally worn them out and my favorite pants how had a 7" tear at the very top of my thigh in the back!  I had been flashing the world for several aisles already!!!


Fortunately, I still had my "winter" purse - a bigger messenger bag style so I shifted the bag to hide my behind, and slowly walked out to the car to wait.  When I got there, I could tell this tear was big -- mainly because I could feel the seat of the car on my upper leg!!


God has a great sense of humor.  Rather than a quiet end to these great pants, they got a BIG send-off!!  I hope He was laughing in Heaven -- not at my expense, of course -- but at the general hilarity of the situation.  The pants are gone - but its stories will not be forgotten!


Take the time to find humor in the world around your world.  Our God is the One who created the giraffe (with a tongue long-enough to clean out it's own ears), the annoying mosquito, the freaky naked mole rat, and the horned frog.  This is a God who obviously likes jokes!


:) Mags

My God Is NOT Anonymous!

I REALLY like it when awesome things happen to people and they remember to thank God.  Too often we run screaming to God BEGGING for "HEEELLLLPPPPP!!!" when things go sour, but then forget to run screaming to him shouting "THHAAANNKKK  YOOOUUU!!!" when we've been blessed.


Fortunately, this week, there have been some great examples of people remembering the Lord...


1. Scotty McCreery won this year's American Idol.  One of the FIRST things he said, to the ENTIRE cheering audience was "I've got to thank the Lord first; he got me here!"  In fact, every week over the course of the competition, Scotty has taken the time to give thanks for his successes.  How fantastic is that?   This blog article written by a person from his hometown area further explains how God has blessed Scotty AND how he has openly offered this thanks to Him.  It is so refreshing to see someone in the public light, with thousands of fans (many of them tween kids) seeing a role model who is opening faithful to God.  Rock on, Scotty!!


2.  Tornadoes have been ripping through areas of the US this week.  One even touched town briefly in Liberty Township, OH which is just a few miles from our house!  Despite "only" being an F1 tornado (the 2nd weakest), the short 100 yards it hit were devastated.  Take THIS house:

YIKES!!  Hannah Hawkins (17) and her Mom were asleep UPSTAIRS when the tornado ripped the roof and walls off of the second floor in the middle of the night.  As the father ran up from the basement (after hearing his daughter screaming), he could stare right up into the night sky.  The ROOF WAS GONE!  

There is a wonderful article in today's Cincinnati Enquirer chronicling this scary event.  The Hawkins' across-the-street-neighbor, Kelvin Scott, found one of his cars completely flipped over.

  This is what he said about the tornado:

“God preserved everybody in this neighborhood. This is all just material stuff. Cars, homes can all be replaced. But human life cannot. So God gets all the praise. He was looking out for everybody in this neighborhood last night.”

God gets all the praise.

This should be our mantra - in every awesome moment, in every quiet success, in every GOOD thing in our lives, to give thanks AND to tell others of the blessings we've received.

I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart;
   I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

Psalm 9:1 (NIV)

God does NOT want to be anonymous.  He wants you to share how He has blessed and changed your life.  Whether you blog, or Facebook, or witness, or just talk amongst your friends, be sure to weave in a comment or two that shows others that your God is not anonymous, and that you are thankful for His blessings everyday!

:) Mags

I Found God in Fake Rabbits...

One of our pastors told us this story on Sunday:
A pastor went to visit a home.  At the house, lived a retired greyhound racing dog.  As the pastor waited to talk to the family, he decided to talk to the dog.  "Why are you retired?" he asked.  "You look to be pretty healthy." 
The dog looked at him and said, "I am healthy.  But I quit."  
"Were you not any good?" asked the Pastor.
"I was very good.  I won the races many times," replied the dog.
"Were you treated poorly?"
The dog considered this.  "Conditions for a greyhound are not the best," he admitted. "But that's not why I quit."
"Then why?" asked the Pastor.
"Because," answered the dog.  "The 'rabbit' I was chasing wasn't even real."

Think of all of those greyhounds... chasing that fake rabbit.  Around and around they go thinking that they will be successful... thinking that they will snag that bunny.  Yet every time, the race suddenly ends, the rabbit disappears, and the dogs shake their heads in confusion.

"It was right there!" 
"I almost had it!"
"Just another second...!"
"Why are we stopping??!"

How many times do we chase fake rabbits?
How many times do we work, and work, and work for something only to see that it wasn't nearly as good as we thought it'd be?   A new car... a promotion... expensive clothes...?  How many of us remember the days in high school or college where we were encouraged to make "Goal Lists?"  Where will you be in 5 years?  In 10 years?  How often did these lists include things like I will be the boss of my company....  I will make a 6-figure salary...  I will have a big house and nice car....

I once had a neighbor who moved away because she wanted an "executive house" -- a house that reflected the stature of her husband's very "important" job.  Nevermind that her current house had 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a screened-in back porch, and really cool neighbors*. (*wink)  Ignore the fact that her only child had already left for college and it was just her and her husband.  The need for something MORE overshadowed being grateful for what she already had.  And how long would it be before the new "executive house" was suddenly not flashy enough...?

Mark 10:17-21 talks about the rich man who wants the "secret" to getting into Heaven...

¹⁷ As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

   ¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

 ²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

 ²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

 ²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

If God came to you today, and told you he could give you a ticket to Heaven right now IF you would give up everyTHING to follow Him, would you do it?

I think for most of us, including me... that would be very hard.  My mind would be racing... trying to weigh the pros and cons of a "sure thing ticket" vs. keeping my stuff and finding another way...

Fortunately God isn't exactly say that... but He is telling us that STUFF can get in the way of our relationship with God.  It could be physical STUFF like overspending on your house, cars, vacations, etc.  It could be the poor choices you make with your time, talents, and money.  It could be the secrets you keep:  adultery, cheating, porn, addictions.  While all of this STUFF might make us feel safe or in control, it becomes a substitute for trusting God.  As our pastor reminded us:

Until you LET GO of what possesses you, you will never be FREE to follow Jesus.

My husband and I are big fans of reality TV - and the Hoarders show is especially disturbing.  These people are plagued with an addiction that forces them to collect STUFF:  be it food, supplies, or animals.  They are tormented with the feeling that there is never enough... and it leads them to unspeakable living conditions.

While we may not stockpile 300 cans of green beans (unless you're one of those Extreme Couponers and it was a really good deal...), we still have our own Hoarding issues.  We hoard our THINGS:  our TV's, our cars, our electronics, our hobbies, our money.  And while God doesn't need us to dump everything, He does want us to put our stuff into perspective.  

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle 

than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Mark 10:25

He who dies with the most toys... still dies... and leaves one heck-of-a garage sale.

NONE of our THINGS will get us into Heaven.

So be generous.  Use what you need.  Share your blessing with others.

And, stop chasing the fake rabbits.

:) Mags

It's okay to be Second...

When I was a first grade teacher, asking the kids to "line up" at the door was always comical.  First graders cannot just walk to the door.  They *must* run as fast as possible, elbowing every other child out of the way as they race to be FIRST!!  No matter how many times I sent a kid to the rear of the line to be the "Leader of the Back," I could always count on the fact that the next time we lined up, that same kid would again smash his or her way to the front of the line.  The desperate need to be first rarely lessoned.


Kids ALWAYS want to be FIRST.... And when you think about it... grown-ups usually want to be first too:  the first to get the glory, the big paycheck, the best house.  "Keeping up with The Joneses" is a never-ending competition for some families.


For example, we have some great friends who once built a house.  All of the other houses in their neighborhood were also newly-built and just had dirt yards.  Everyone was just trying to grow grass.  But our friends had a plan... in the middle of one fall night, under the cloak of darkness, our friends snuck outside and planted 100 daffodil bulbs.  They were hoping that come spring, while everyone sat back looking at "just grass," their house would have this EXPLOSION of COLOR as all of the daffodils sprung up, seemingly out of nowhere.  They would actually BE "The Joneses" for that brief moment.  Everyone in the neighborhood would want the yard with all of the bright and happy daffodils.


It still makes me giggle... imagining them sneaking out to plant all of those bulbs at midnight...!  But the need to be "first," can actually take completely rational, educated adults... and turn them into crazy people.

This week, I took Jack and Luke to see the movie, Soul Surfer.  It's the story of 13-year old Bethany Hamilton who, in October 2003, had her left arm eaten off by a shark while she was surfing.  Do you remember being 13?  The peer pressure?  The social angst?  I know that when I was 13, if I wore the wrong clothes to school, I was a complete mess.  I cannot imagine having the fortitude to just shrug off the stares of other people and say, "Yup... I am missing my arm... let's move on."  (or something similar!).  


Bethany credits her faith in Jesus for her amazing attitude.  Instead of wallowing in the "WHY ME?!!!!!" stage, she grabs her surfboard and figures out a way to surf one armed... enough that she wins a national championship just 2 years after her shark attack.  Since then, she has used her fame/notoriety/infamy to show God's love to others.  She has figured out that God had a plan for her all along - that He never abandoned her - and that He has allowed her to do more with one arm than she ever could have done with two.

Can you imagine the sheer number of people - kids and grown-ups alike - who have been inspired by her story?  People who have suffered incredible hardships or pain?  I know that I'm feeling a little less inclined to complain about stupid stuff... I keep hearing Woody's voice from Toy Story, "Did you hear what I said? I AM MISSING MY ARM!!!"   My frustrations or problems seem a little bit dumb when you compare them to this.  And when you compare your own issues to the major pain and suffering that Jesus experienced through the crucifixion?  Well... it's much easier to accept that "I am second."  GOD is first... He is in control... and He has a plan... for each and every one of us.


Bethany Hamilton figured out that she doesn't have to be first either.  She's willing to sit second to God and let Him work miracles through her.  Want to hear it in her own words?  

Go here: Bethany Hamilton - I Am Second

Do not be afraid.  I am the First and the Last.  I am the Living One.

I was dead.  But look!  I am alive forever and ever!  And I hold the keys to Death and Hell.

Revelation 1:17 

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Matthew 20:16

:) Mags

Plastic Jesus

I have an issue with "fake..."  Fake attitude, fake happiness, fake family, fake faith, fake Jesus.  I'm sure it's because I've met too many people in my life who completely false:  

• They act nice to you... but talk nasty about you when you walk away.
• They pretend to have it all together (making me feel like a dolt), but really they are falling apart... just like the rest of us.
• They pretend to be "THE BEST" spouse, parent, friend, associate, leader, whatever... but really, they are beyond flawed and their relationships are a disaster.
• They pretend to be a Christian... they talk big, but walk small.... clutching their "faith" in a tightly-held fist and waving it front of everybody.  But their faith is fake... plastic... like the little Plastic Jesus they grasp.

I've posted several videos by IgniterMedia on this blog - largely because they "get" everything I'm thinking.  This one about "Plastic Jesus" is no exception:

Stop pretending!!  You don't have to be the PERFECT person/spouse/friend/parent/child/etc.  You just have to be YOU... flawed, screwed-up, YOU.  Because believe me, all of your friends are flawed and screwed up too.


I am a HUGE Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanatic... as in I own all of the episodes, have action figures, posters, and other prop-replicas... scary, I know!  One of my favorite episodes is called Earshot.  In this, Buffy is tainted by a demon's blood and is suddenly able to hear everyone's thoughts... all of the time.  She overhears what she thinks is a plot to murder kids at school and finds herself in the school's bell tower with one of the school nerds who is brandishing a high-powered rifle.  This is an excerpt from her speech to him (before she disarms him):


JONATHAN
Stop doing that!

BUFFY
Doing what?

JONATHAN
Stop saying my name like we're friends.
We're not friends. You all think I'm an
idiot. A short idiot.

BUFFY
I don't.I don't think about you much at all.
Most people here don't. Bugs you,
doesn't it? You've got all this pain,
all these feelings and nobody's
paying attention.

JONATHAN
You think I just want attention?

BUFFY
No, I think you're in the bell tower
with a high powered rifle because you
want to blend in. Believe it or not, Jonathan,
I understand. About the pain.

JONATHAN
Oh, right. 'Cause the burden of being
beautiful and athletic, that's a crippler.

BUFFY
I'm sorry, I was wrong. You are an idiot.My life happens very occasionally to
suck beyond the telling of it. More than
I can stand sometimes. And not just me.
Every single person down there is
ignoring your pain because they're way
too busy with their own. The beautiful
ones, the popular ones, the guys that
pick on you... everyone.

If you could hear what they're feeling -
the confusion, the loneliness... It looks
quiet down there. It's not. It's deafening.
Everyone has struggles... Everyone has pain...  You don't have to pretend that "everything is perfect" when it's not.  Jesus was the only "perfect" one... and His life was full of hardships and pain!
The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Psalm 9:9-10

Learn it... believe it... God is a refuge - a place of safety and comfort.  You don't have to pretend anymore.  He will help you.  He understands.  And if you really looked around, you'd see that all of your friends are also dealing with their own issues too.
Why settle for the illusion provided by the Plastic Jesus when you can have the real thing?

If Jesus Had Twitter...

Igniter Media is one of my very favorite Christian video groups - their stuff is AMAZING!!  This Easter, they created a video called "Follow" that tells of the crucifiction as if Jesus was on Twitter.  I'm not as much of a Twitter fan as Facebook... but they're similar enough! ;)  Considering Facebook is my homepage (I'm a total FB junkie!), this video really spoke to me!! :)  I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did - and I hope your Easter was full of laughter and fun and a moment or two of gratitude for the sacrifice made by our Savior.  He is RISEN! :)


PS - This video has sound, so be sure to pause the music at the bottom of this blog so you can hear it!

:) Mags

Rise Up, Congregation!!

Frankly, if your own church isn't doing something like this for Easter, I think you're missing out... LOL!



I would LOVE to be a part of something like this!!  How much fun are those people having!!  Reminds me of the joy I always felt when I was a part of my high school and college dance teams!

This Easter, I hope you get a chance to really feel the JOY of God's grace and sacrifice.  Because of Him, we have everlasting life... and if you don't get the chance to dance like this on earth, you can bet you're going to be able to dance like this in Heaven!!

He is RISEN!  And that's something to be joyful about!!

Wishing you and yours a blessed Easter,
:) Mags

God Heals.

A friend a link to this wonderful video on Facebook - it's about a little dog, Starfish, who suffered years and YEARS of horrible abuse before she was finally rescued and adopted by her forever family:


Think of all of the suffering this little pup endured... all of the painful days and undoubtedly sleepless nights... how the majority of her little life was probably miserable. But by the love of a family who wouldn't give up on her, she was able to run and jump and sleep peacefully for the remainder of her life.

When I saw this, I immediately thought of how God heals us. We can have years of doubt, anger, sin, isolation, questions, baggage, misery, and bad choices. We can literally be broken like the fragile bones in this little dog... Yet when we ask God into our hearts... when we reach out to Him.... His love and peace and understanding fills us with a healing that cannot be rivaled. Our sins are forgiven (again and again)... Our questions are answered... Our doubt, and anger, and isolation, and misery are enveloped by Him with a love that is so mighty it can heal our wounded hearts and minds and souls.

Psalm 103:3-4
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion...

God heals... no matter how severe our wounds. And I am so thankful for that!

Hoping that your wounds feel a little lighter after watching the video,
:) Mags

I Found God in Coffee...

I LOVE coffee.

Regular coffee (with cream)... flavored coffee... hot coffee... lukewarm coffee... ANY coffee...! I'll make my own coffee - get "good" coffee - drink vending machine coffee. I just love it all.

My favorite coffee shop is a local spot called Kidd Coffee; it's my happy place-- the place with the GOOD coffee. A large Almond Joy (expresso, steamed milk, coconut flavoring, almond flavoring, and mocha) or a Nutty Irishman (expresso, steamed milk, irish cream, and hazelnut flavoring) is the BEST way to start my day.

I've designed my own coffee cups - one with photos of my kids, one with pictures of my favorite TV show (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), one with photos from my favorite book (Twilight), and one with a collage of my dog, Mick. The cup really doesn't matter - it's the coffee that I love - but I do love having a fun cup to drink from.

I found this wonderful story about life and coffee at Spiritual-Short-Stories.com. I hope you enjoy it as much I did. :)

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. Savor the coffee, not the cups! The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just MAKE the best of everything.

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
Psalm 24:1

Our quality of life is not determined by the stuff we have, the money we've piled, or the size of our house, car, or wardrobe. The quality of our life is determined by our relationship with God, our acceptance of Jesus, and our relationships with others.

Don't make the cup more important than the coffee inside.
Enjoy the coffee.
:)

God & Tools

When I was a kid, my mom bought my dad a lathe at an antique shop. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, this was a gigantic monster of a machine that is supposed to help a carpenter shape table legs-- the theory being that my dad could make some table tops (the easy part) and use this $200+ hunk of metal to create the detailed legs (the harder part).

That lathe sat UNUSED in our garage for several years... before my parents finally sold it at a garage sale.... they probably should have dumped it much earlier, but they clung to the thought that SOMEDAY... Dad would use it.

Our church just completed a month-long study on a book by Kerry & Chris Shook called One Month To Live." If you only had 30 days left on earth, what would you do? How would your behavior change? And WHY aren't you doing that already?

One of the chapters talks about people that bug you - and equates those people to different types of tools:

• The HAMMERS - the ones who are always forcing their way and railroading everyone into their way of thinking.
• The SKILL SAWS - who know just the thing to say that cuts to the quick and hurts feelings.
• The VISE GRIPS - the needy ones who ignore social boundaries and suck the energy right out of you with their issues and drama.
• The GRINDERS - people whose emotions are always on the edge - ready to explode at the slightest infraction.
• The AXES - who tear down the hopes and dreams of others with their negative attitude and comments
• The HATCHETS - who hang on to those o-l-d grudges... forever!!
• The PUTTY People - the ones with no spine, who agree with everything and never stand up for themselves nor anyone else. These people can't say no, and you never know what they are thinking because they can't think for themselves.

It'd be easy to think, CHUCK 'EM! These tools are defective! Irritating! Broken! Why should I keep hanging around these tools in the shed when they are such drainers???! Just like Dad's lathe, I should have dumped them a long time ago...! However, we're not talking an old bucket of toxic chemicals - these are just the regular tools in the shed...

God hasn't placed these "sandpaper" people in your life just to annoy you. One of the reasons He may have gifted you with a Vise or a Hammer-friend is to help you learn to deal with all types of people AND... to maybe point out one of your own tool-type behaviors.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."
Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV)

It's not our job to judge these people - or point out how they are such a tool... Rather our job is to serve as a healing agent... To use the gifts we have been blessed with to help others and to accommodate others' needs. We cannot point out all of the faults of others all the while ignoring our own quirks and issues. I can be such a tool sometimes... a little hammer mixed with a tiny bit of hatchet with some grinder moments mixed in. I'm just thankful that the other tools in the shed overlook (or just resign themselves to dealing with) my quirks and continue to be my friend.

What tools are in your life? How can you be the best possible friend to them?

And what friends are you SO THANKFUL for because they put up with you and your own tool-type behaviors...?
:)