Monday, March 28, 2011

Am I that immature?

I used a question to title this blog, "am I that immature?". I had to ask myself that question after receiving an awesome word from the Lord on Sunday. My pastor, John Brooks-Macedonia Baptist Church, preached a sermon titled "What are you going to do?". The sermon came from Matt 25:14-30, the parable of the talents. As God was using my pastor to tell me how I am not being a good steward of the money that He has so graciously provided me with, I began to realize that I really need to mature in this Christian walk. I say that I love God and that I trust Him but how can I when I am not handling my (well His) money how He sees fit? What's crazy about this is that for a few weeks I have been telling myself that I need to do better and I am going to do it with the next check, and then when that check comes I then say 'oh the next check'. Well, how many more checks will I receive before God says, "no more, your time is up?" I was truly convicted by the sermon. All I could do was sit there and say, "Lord, I am sorry".
When things got rough for me, I took matters into my own hands, yet at the same time saying, 'Lord, I know that you're going to work this out'. What was I thinking? I quit allowing God to be the captain of my ship. I tried to take the reigns, quit assisting in areas where I was needed and tried to do things on my own. As time went on, God went from being captain, to co-captain, to being a crew mate, and then I realized what I did. As I kept pushing Him back (unintentionally), I quit depending on Him like I should. My time and money were no longer invested in Him but into my own problems. As this was going on, my ship kept sinking. But by His grace, he didn't let me sink to the bottom. He did something that caught my attention...He anchored me. What I mean by that is that he made me sit and think about what I was doing before I could go further. I am thankful that He did so. By anchoring me, I am clearly seeing my immaturity in this Christian walk. I need to quit trying to take the lead. If I told Him that He is Lord of my life...then so be it.
God has given me a package. The package contains the following: my job, finances, children, car, home, friends, family, spiritual gifts/talents, and a voice (just to name a few). With this package, He has given me a command to go out make disciples. He has entrusted me with many things for the purpose of His kingdom. When he returns to collect, I should be able to show something, not just what He has given me but the growth of the investment that He has instilled me.
God has given you a package. That is His investment in you. Investments are made to grow. When you invest in something, you expect positive outcomes. Show God the same thing. I have been convicted....I am glad that He hasn't come to collect from me....He just checked on it. Now, it's time for me to really show some maturity in this walk.
Be Blessed

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Special Moments

You know, there are times in every parent's life that their child does something that only a parent (grandparent, guardian, aunt/uncle, etc) could love. Today I attended my son's school's talent show. My initial thought was 'who has a talent show on a Thursday morning at 8am?' To answer that question...it's Bernard Campbell Middle School. Anyhoo, I do thank God for allowing me to have a job that has flexibility so that I can attend events at such strange times. So, for the past couple of days my son has been rehearsing constantly (oh by the way...he plays percussion so, anything that remotely looks like a drum stick was beaten against anything that made a noise). He also felt the need to remind me every 30 minutes to bring my video camera to record his performance. One day, he, along with many other children, will understand that they don't have to ask their parent(s) to record them, this is something that we love to do....basically so that we can show everyone how talented we think our child is (thank God for new technology). OK, back to the show. So, I sat there and watched some children beat on chairs, play out of tune, sing off key, and dance off beat. The audience, consisting of a few parents, staff, and all  of the students that attend the middle school, enjoyed every moment of it. We cheered and clapped after each performance, no matter how many mistakes were made. At the end of the show, I realized...there are times during parenthood that no matter how bad something sounds or looks, that if your child is a part of it, that is one of the most special moments in your life.
If you're raising a child, helping someone raise a child, caring for a child at anytime (baby-sitting, visits, etc), enjoy every moment you spend with that child. Those small moments are actually very special moments that the child will one day look back on and remember that you were there to share it with them.

Be Blessed.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Thank You

Throughout life, we'll come across many people. Some will be there for a moment and some will be there for a lifetime. Some will cause havoc, while others will comfort. Some will laugh and cry with you and some will make you laugh and cry. There are some people who you rarely talk to and then there are those that you talk to everyday. Sometimes it seems as though the ones that you don't talk to daily are the ones whom you're very close with. I have friends and family that are my encourager, cheerleaders, support and help. There are some that I talk to daily and then there are some that I only talk to weekly, monthly, or yearly. But all in all, they all serve some sort of purpose in my life as I do in theirs. I thank God for friendships and relationships that have been established throughout my life here on earth. Sometimes I don't understand why He placed a certain person in my life during a certain time, but I do know that it all works out in His timing.

Appreciate those that God has placed in your life (good/bad). Some of those people have made you stronger. Some may have caused you to be humble when you were arrogant (we all have those moments). Some may have shown you the true meaning of friendship and love. Take the time and tell someone "thank you" for allowing God to use them in your life. Thank God for allowing you all to cross paths.

Be a blessing to others.