A Milkshake Story

   One day we were out and about shopping as a family. It was around the time that we were becoming peckish, so we went to Chick-fil-A to get sustenance. We ordered our food, and my siblings went to find us a place to sit. Unfortunately, there was no place to be found.

   After waiting a bit, my mother found a place to sit so she sat quick. Much to my dismay, she had sat on the booth side. After reminding her that father and her usually sit on the chair side she went to get up. As she did, her milkshake fell to the floor with a crash! 

   We all sat down a bit more subdued than we were before. The food came and our peckishness (hangriness) went away. But we did not converse with one another due to how tense the situation was. 

   As the meal was ending, my sister pulled out her phone and said, "mother, would you like another milkshake?" My brother looked at my sister, pulled out his wallet, and said "I was going to get her one." Mom half smiled but said, as any mother who was a tad perturbed would say, "I don't need one, it is fine." My sister rolled her eyes, "that's not the point. You may not need one, but do you want one?" My brother did not wait for an answer. He got up and ordered her a peppermint milkshake.

   When it arrived, mother smiled. She didn't say it, but we could all tell that that one act of giving her a milkshake made her feel loved.

   It's funny to me when I ask people, "how have you felt loved lately?" People say things like, "someone brought me a snack when I was hungry," "someone wrote me a note," or "someone listened to me." People say little things make them feel loved. Yet, when we do those things for someone, we don't think they are a big deal. But to the person receiving that thing, it is.

   Many times, we think we need to do big things to show others how much we love them. That's not the case. Little things can make a big difference. John 15:12 says, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." God is a good father who loves us. He gives us what we need. We are commanded to love as he loves. That means doing little things to show others love each day.

   So, are you showing love to others each day? If so, how? If not, how can you get better at showing others love?

 

Assuming

 This story is told with permission. Also, this is not a political post though it may seem like it at first.

   Once a friend told me a story of a time when they were having a party around the time of an election. For the party they would all have to wear crazy hats that everyone brought; but you didn't get to pick the hat you wore. It was chosen randomly, and you had to wear it all day. Then they went around the city to different places to eat and party. The friend was given a "make America great again" hat randomly. He was told he didn't actually have to wear it, but he thought he wanted to participate and that it would be fun. 

   They went out to different restaurants. People would come up to him and either welcome him and say good things about him and Trump or they would come up to him and yell at him and accuse him. At first when people randomly came up to my friend, he laughed and thought it was funny. But eventually, the angry people began to outweigh the welcoming people. And what hit my friend the most is that people wouldn't even come up to have a civilized conversation with him. They would just assume he was a Trump supporter and yell at him. 

   About halfway through the day, he began to feel disheartened. His friends could see it was impacting him. So, when people would come up to him, his friends would get in between him and them. Then they would explain that it was part of a party and for fun. Sometimes people would listen; other times they would continue to be upset. 

   These people didn't know anything about my friend. They didn't know who he was, what he believed, or where he came from. All they knew was he wore a Trump hat, so they assumed he believed in Trump and supported him. 

   Now, I'm sure this could have happened had someone worn a different political slogan hat. But the point that hurt my friend the most was that there was not even an effort for a conversation with him. No one came up to ask him what he believed, they just assumed. And all the negativities got to my friend. If he wasn't a believer and didn't have a joyful deposition, he told me he may have gone home and thought about committing suicide. 

   What has happened to us as a culture? When did what someone wears become more important than the fact that this person is a human being? Why do we choose to berate people because of who they are, what they look like, and what they believe? Whatever happened to having a conversation with someone to get to know them instead of judging them based on surface level things? Do you do these things or are you showing God's love to all no matter who they are, what they wear, and what they believe?

The Pull

    Have you ever felt like the world was pulling at you? Like your flesh wanted something or was focused on something that wasn’t in the Spirit? I know I have. That happens especially when I see some chocolate or yummy looking dessert that I know would be something I shouldn’t have. 

   What about the other way around though? Have you ever felt the spirit pulling at you to do something? I’ve talked about how as we mature in our faith; we end up committing sins of omission rather than commission. In other words, we sin when we don’t do something God is calling us to do rather than choosing to do something that is a blatant sin. Those are the ones that get me now.

   I’ll give you an example. Imagine you are at church one day and your leader says, “now we are going to have a time where we share testimonies of what God has done in your life this week.” Then the microphone is opened for people to go up and share. Suddenly, you feel this tug in your gut. That’s what I call the pull. You may begin to get butterflies. Your heart may beat faster. Your head may feel a bit dizzy. That’s how I feel the Spirit pulling me to do something.

   Now, I’ve felt the pull before, and I have not done anything about it. Usually, when that happens, I feel guilty or like I’ve missed out on doing something. Who knows? If I had done what the pull was calling me to do someone may have had a life-changing moment. But I don’t know that because I didn’t do anything about it. 

   James 4:17 talks about the sin of omission, or not doing what the pull is telling you to do. It says, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Knowing the right thing could be not doing one of those blatant sins. But it could also be feeling that calling to do something. It could be God leading you to grow and make a difference in someone else’s walk with Christ. But you won’t know that until you surrender to the pull.

   So, have you ever felt the pull? What happened when you surrendered to the pull? How can you grow in your relationship with God so that the next time you feel the pull you surrender to its leading?

https://youtu.be/rpNRACyUh9E

Wherever I Go

    One day I was at work and one of my coworkers came to give us a break. She also wanted to know when we were all getting together for dinner. Now, this was no easy feat to plan as some of the people had vastly different schedules.

   I, jokingly, said I was insulted because she didn’t mention inviting me earlier. She said she was planning on it, with one caveat. She said the games we were playing there wouldn’t be ones that were "clean." I said I like playing games but I'm sure we can make the fun and clean. She said, "girl you got to leave that bible stuff at home." I replied, "the bible is with me wherever I go."

   I reflected on that conversation. I've been a Christian pretty much my whole life. But there used to be a time where I didn’t necessarily have the Bible hidden in my heart. I didn’t always act like Christ.

   Now I've grown and I've learned how important the Bible is. It is the word of God. He gave it to us for encouragement, for guidance, and because he loves us. I can choose to sit idly by as someone sins or makes choices that could be dangerous. Or, I can choose to say, "I don’t agree with that, but I love you anyway." I don’t have to harp on them. I don’t have to get into an argument. And I definitely don’t have to judge who they are, where they come from, or what they are doing. I can show God's love just by choosing not to engage in the sin and still loving that person.

   But, in order to know what is right, we must know the word of God. That's why we need to get into the word, so it seeps into us. We need to let the words penetrate us, change us, and seep out of us.

   So, is the bible with you wherever you go? How can you know the word and grow in God?

https://youtu.be/SydRzqHUilk

IDK What's Going to Happen

    Lately I've been thinking a lot about the future. I try not to get too far ahead of God but this time it was bordering on worry. No matter how many times I tried to stop, something else would come up. Someone would say something about the future or ask about my future plans. I don’t have any. That made me spiral and worry about if I need to be worrying about the future.

   All that worrying is futile. It's not helping the situation. There's a saying that goes, "never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." I believe God has a plan for my life. I just don’t know what it is yet.

   There is one thing I do know; I know God is with me. He is for me. He loves me. As long as I seek him, I can never be out of his will for my life. He’s got this. He believes in me, when I doubt myself. I guess that was more than one thing, but you get my drift.

   Life isn’t easy and we are promised it wouldn’t be because if we follow Christ, the world will not like us. But there is purpose in the pain. And the pain will only last a little bit. Then we will be with our creator in heaven. That's the future I'm looking forward to. How about you?

https://youtu.be/ZtsOR-5iOPY