T-I-R-E-D!

You know there are those days when you are just tired!
T-I-R-E-D!!!

Tired of running kids.
Tired of talking about things that really don't matter in the grand scheme of life.
Tired of picking up toys.
Tired of doing laundry.
Tired of seeing sticks laying in the yard after the snow melts.

Just T-I-R-E-D!

You know your mind starts wandering...

Tired of feeling.
Tired of helping.
Tired of doing.
Tired of hearing the bad news
                               the sad news
                                    even the glad news.

Just T-I-R-E-D.

Today I got a text from my sister that a friend's father had passed. This came just minutes after getting off the phone with a friend whose relation will bury their 16 year old son this weekend. And only days after talking with a student about the death of her pastor and his wife who leave four children behind.

Three deaths. Three funerals. Three families grieving the loss.

I would be lieing if I didn't say that the news hit me today. The news reignited those feelings of watching my father take his last breath here on earth. Of seeing the sadness in my mother's eyes the past nine months as she attempts to go on in this world without the love of her earthly life. It reignited the tears, the grief, the feeling of utter loss that just doesn't seem to get replaced even as much as I try to fill it.

The news hit me.

It reignited the memories of running in the church parking lot with my dad, of hearing his funny, sarcastic comments like, "Did you get wet?" as we returned from the swimming pool, of the long talks focused on Jesus on the front porch.

It reignited those feelings of calling out to God and saying,

"Why? What is the purpose? What is the goal? What else can we do to follow you?"

And then came the feelings I felt as I sat on a plane, having kissed my dad for the last time just a week prior, holding a little girl from a foreign country in my lap who was scared and crying, and myself crying out to God and saying,

"I am T-I-R-E-D!"
"I am D-O-N-E!"
"I can't do ANY MORE!"
"I QUIT!"

And then... the whisper comes.

I love how gentle God can be with me.
I wonder if I can even come close to his method of loving me.
Here I am, his child...throwing a temper tantrum, crying out to him, saying I am done, wanting to throw in the towel, wanting answers, wanting to know why, and how, and when all in one swift swoop...

         and gently, ever so gently God whispers...

"Jen, I don't want you to do it."
"Jen, I will do it through you."
"Jen, just listen and come close to me."
"Jen, my arms are open."

And this afternoon, as I sit with my beautiful daughters on an early out school day, with a warm cup of coffee in hand, and a devotion propped open, I climb up on my Father's lap and say, "Let me rest Lord. Let me rest."

And He does...

He does!

"Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest!"

Matthew 11:28

Sticker Lady Part II

 

Here it is, just for you Madonna!!! Part II to the sticker lady story from several months back...

I wrote about the lady at Walmart who gives Lucy stickers. I wrote about how I had been too busy to even find out her name, how I didn't know her story, didn't take the time to do anything more than smile and say, "Lucy, tell the lady thanks for the sticker!"

Well, I don't have a ton of news....but I did find out her name... it is VIRGINIA!

That's it, that's all I know so far! I know...this is not making for a very exciting blog post is it?

Hang in there my sisters...

Here is how I found out her name.

I went back to Walmart again and again and the sticker lady was nowhere to be seen! She was gone...not there, not smiling, not holding the big roll of stickers!

And you know what...I sortof missed her!

Now, of course I missed her because I had made this big promise to myself to get to know her and now she wasn't around, but I also missed her because, well, you know the saying, "You don't know what you have until it's gone!"

So, trip after trip after trip...no sticker lady!

I actually started to get a little flustered! I was even getting a bit bitter! Seriously at one point, it actually crossed my mind to walk over to the manager and say something like, "Excuse me sir, but I am quite sure I keep this Walmart in business with my tri- to quad-weekly $75-$199 trips! The least you could do is REPLACE the sticker lady!!!" 

But then reality set in, or Lucy dropped something, or my hand got dirty from the old carts they still have there, and instead I thought, "Oh well, no sticker lady...onto the Goldfish aisle!"

And then the moment happened...I pulled Lucy from the jeep, walked up the monstrous parking lot with her, plunked her down in the cart, straightened her bib, pulled out my list, pulled my shirt over my muffin top, straightened my hair and looked up to see....A STICKER MAN!!!! 

A STICKER MAN!!!

And well, he had this HUGE smile on his face! A STICKER MAN!!!!

He not only gave Lucy a sticker but he asked about her. He wondered why she couldn't talk. He stroked her little hand and tried to get her to laugh. He wanted to know how to say "You are welcome" in sign language so he could better serve his non-hearing customers, and you know what...he just simply MADE MY DAY!

His name is Tom! He loves his job at Walmart and while he has not fully replaced Virginia (I asked him her name), he seems to be the one who greets us most frequently now.

And every single time...HE SMILES!
And every single time...HE WELCOMES MY LITTLE LUCY.
And every single time...HE GENTLY PATS HER HAND.
And every single time...HE ASKS ME HOW TO SAY "YOU ARE WELCOME" in SIGN.
And every single time...HE MOVES FROM ME AND MY CHILD TO THE NEXT MOTHER-CHILD DUO WITH A STICKER AND A SMILE!

And every single time...I AM CONVICTED!

You see my sisters, I have a wonderful job at a BEAUTIFUL college. I work in the newest building on campus, with the best and brightest students. I have a tremendous husband who supports me, challenges me, and lifts me up in my walk with the Lord. I have four beautiful children in my home who are happy and healthy and full of energy.

And yet, my sisters, there are days...there are weeks that go by and I don't give a smile to everyone I encounter. There are moments when I don't even give a smile to my children or welcome my husband home! Times when I am too busy to slow down and enjoy what God has brought to my door!

Oh my dear sisters...might the Lord forgive me! Might he continue to remind me of the amazing blessings He has given me! Might he force me to lie down in green pastures, to stop for a moment and welcome my family, my friends, my neighbors.

Might He continue to convict me as I enter Walmart. 

My dear sisters...don't let another day go by without welcoming someone with a smile!

"Kind words are like honey--sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."

Proverbs 16:24

and one of my father's favorites:

"Those who refresh others, will themselves be refreshed!"

Proverbs 11:25

Our newspaper

So tonight I was looking through our local newspaper. You see this is not your typical small town paper, with news about the latest family reunions, basketball games and home recipes. We have that paper too...it's called the Pella Chronicle. No, the Town Crier, is a paper all its own...it is 100% advertisements!

Yep...that's it...all ads, every week!

Four, sometimes five, sometimes six pages of local advertising!

At first I was a bit taken aback by this paper.

Everyone mentioned it.

"Oh, you should look in the Crier."

                 or

"Hmm...looking for some dance lessons for the girls, have you checked the Crier?"

                or

"Oh man, can't wait til Pella Days when the stores list their great deals in the Crier."

I just wasn't that keen on it at first. But then, and I don't know when it happened,  I became hooked on the Crier. I love it when I come home and see it sitting on my steps. All wrapped in it's plastic wrap to stay dry! My heart literally skips a beat when I see it there!  I look forward for getting the kids to bed and settling in next to Doug and just looking through every single ad in there!

Wood cutting? There's an ad for that.

Babysitting services? There's an ad for that.

New furniture? You can find it there.

Basketball clinic? Yep, got that too (www.shoot-it.com) (Love ya honey!)

Just ad after ad after ad...anything you could ever want...it's there, just call em up, email em or show up in the store!

Ok, so here we go, (even though I LOVE shopping),  there has to be a theological connection here somewhere right? 

Well, this is how my brain works, so hang with me...

Tonight as I saw the ads sitting on the table it sortof hit me.

Isn't that sometimes what we do as Christians, as churches?

Have depression? We have a group for that!

Child with special needs? Newly formed group...meeting on Wed. nights.

Not married? Wanting to find other singles? Meet at the bowling alley...Friday night.

Women's ministry? Turn left and enter room 101.

Struggling with the way your parents treated you growing up?  Tuesday at 5:00.

Moms? Tuesdays at 11. Childcare provided in the basement!

We have an ad for everyone don't we?

Now, don't get me wrong...don't get all in a huff...it is just where my mind is going....

Doesn't the Bible tell us we were a new creation in Christ once we are born again?  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Aren't we all together as believers? One in Him?   (Galatians 3:28)

So, why do we insist on separating ourselves?

Why do we insist on looking for the "ad" that fits us?

Why do we think that we have to find others who have the same needs as us instead of just looking at everyone as in need...in need of our Savior?

Why not find out where we meet...in the middle...with CHRIST as the Center?

Just thinkin...

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Galatians 3:28

So today my sisters...let's STEP UP...let's move out of the comfortable "ad" that fits us...

let's meet each other with the focus on CHRIST! 

And for the sake of salvation, if there is someone I encounter, who doesn't know my Jesus...Oh deear Lord, help me introduce her to You instead of staying within my own little Christian group!