I WANT THE REAL ONE!

We were leaving the house; me, my four year old daughter, and my seven year old son.
The leaving-the-house ritual ensues. You might have one of your own. Ours looks like this. I bark orders that sound something like, “Quickly, get your shoes on! Don’t just stand there. Grab your coat, its cold outside.”
Yet, in the midst of the chaos time stands still as I watch my children respond to my orders. As my daughter looked for her shoes in the closet, I hear her say, “where are my croqs? “I don’t want those,” she says to her brother. “I want the real ones!”
You see, like every good thrifty mother, I purchased the knock off brand of imitation croqs for my children. Kids grow out of their shoes so fast. My wallet hurts at the prospect of paying high dollar for shoes that become too small before they are well used. Both of my children continued to ask me for Croqs despite having a perfectly good imitation. Once again, like every good thrifty mother I looked for Croqs that were on sale; I never found them on sale.
One day while my husband and I were Christmas shopping, my husband finds both a pink and blue pair of Croqs at full price. It is Christmas after all so we splurge on two pairs of full-priced Croq’s. You can imagine the delight on their faces when they unwrap their gift and open their shoe box on Christmas morning. Finally, the real deal! They never thought it would happen, but their Croq dream became a reality!
As I stood watching this scene with my daughter, I thought to myself, “We are wired for the real thing.” My daughter is four years old. She has no brand sense yet. I, with my thrifty nature have obviously not taught her about name brands. How does she know the difference between a Croq and its imitation and more importantly, why does she care?
We are wired for the real thing. No imitation will satisfy. The void in our souls can only be filled with God; the one true God. The bible says, you are God, there is no other. You are God, there is none like you.
I tried for many years to fill the void in my soul. I chased new age religions like Eckankar and I studied self improvement techniques from men such as Tony Robbins. These methods provide temporary relief. They are a band-aid on a wound that never heals. For years my soul cried out, “I don’t want those. I want the real one!”
I have found the real One in Jesus and because we are wired for the real thing, no imitation will do. Stop shopping for an imitation. No need to be thrifty, Jesus is a free gift.

Blessings,

Theresa

CHILL OUT!

Occasionally, I tell my son, "Chill out, dude." I am attempting to accomplish two things with this comment. One is to lighten up an intense moment. Second, I want to get my point across that it is time to end the drama.
Occassionally, I also need to listen to the instruction I give my son. God often shows me, through my son, the character improvements I need to make. For instance, if my son has trouble with obedience, interesting enough, I also have obedience issues. So it seems, this particular day, God taught me to chill out.
One morning as I backed out of the garage, I heard a noise. It wasn't a loud noise but an unfamiliar one. I noticed it but didn't think much of it. I arrived at my destination, got out of my car, stepped onto the curb, and noticed something out of the corner of my eye. When I turned to look, I noticed a tennis racket sticking out of the grill of my van. Yes, that's right, a tennis racket sticking straight out of my van like it had a tennis match on my short drive to the gym. I laughed out loud as I tugged on the tennis racket to dislodge it from the jaws of my van.
In the past, I might have rolled my eyes and grumbled some inaudible complaint about my kids leaving their toys out. As I thought about how the tennis racket could have gotten there, I remembered my husband pulled the van into the garage the previous evening. He evidently had pulled the van in too far and drove right into our children's sports box. In the past, I might have grumbled some inaudible complaint about the driving and parking incompetence of my husband. However, this time I got a good laugh at the expense of my husband. Bless his heart!
This event was a comical yet apparently insignificant moment in time. However, this was a breakthrough for me. I had officially chilled out! I had taken one of life's mishaps and enjoyed the humor of it rather than get cranky.
If such a breakthrough can happen to me, it can happen to you. What has God shown you that needs improving? Do you need to chill out or do you have other issues? God is in the restoration business and He can restore your humor, innocence, purity, health, reputation, joy, etc. Listen to Him, obey Him, and let Him restore your life.
Blessings,
Theresa

THE LIGHT OF MY WORLD

Matt 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world." A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

She was officially my sister. My oldest sister in fact, but she was more like a second mother to me. She was also my friend, my confidante, and my counselor. Barbara lost a battle with cancer and I lost a sister 16 years ago. She was a light in my dark world. She embodied all the qualities I wanted to be but I wasn't conscious of it at that time; I just knew I liked her company. She was kind and gracious and I was critical and self-absorbed. She created a home for her family and I was lonely young woman looking for love in all the wrong places. She was a patient listener with a tamed tongue and I was a talkative complainer that had a habit of sticking my foot in my mouth. Honestly, she meant much more to me than I did to her. I imagine I was quite a nuisance for her!
Prior to her illness, I was a young working woman but couldn't make it on my own so I moved in with her and her family which included a husband and 3 young children. I didn't just move in; I was unoffically "adopted" and became a part of their family. I joined them for family dinners and family vacations and outings. Being a part of their family was a departure from growing up as a child in my own family. I was the youngest of eleven children and couldn't wait to leave the house. But with my sister's family, I couldn't wait to get home. My sister showed me a loving home.
I remember Barb's living room well even to this day. She loved antiques and they fit well in her country style colonial home. In the corner of her living room was a tall oak hutch with glass pane doors. Atop that hutch was a small lamp with a blue and beige checked shade. That lamp was always burning. She never turned it off and I never thought to ask why.
It was the Christmas season when life slipped slowly away from my sister. She became certain she would not see her children grow, she would not become a grandmother,nor would she travel in retirement with her husband. She wrote goodbye letters to family members not Christmas cards and she gave away her personal belongings rather than wrapped gifts. Her only wish was to live through one more Christmas with her family. I watched her husband carry her from the bed and gently place her on the couch that Christmas day. Tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't want to die and she didn't want this to be her last Christmas. But on January 3rd she took her last breath. The light in my dark world was gone and the light in her living room was turned off.
A lamp continuously shines in my kitchen in honor of Barb and Jesus is now the light of my world. I pray I am the light of my home as Barb was in hers and His love continually shines through me for all to see.