I was having lunch the other day with a couple of business associates. We were talking about college football and the conversation turned to Peyton Manning. We were commenting on his TV commercials, his appearance as host of Saturday Night Live, and of course, his football career. And then 'C' said something that has resonated with me ever since. He said the main thing he likes about Peyton is that Peyton loves the sport of football, represents it well, and "he'll protect the sport".
I never thought about protecting football. I mean, come on, it's football. Is it important to protect the game? What does it look like when it isn't protected? And then a few folks who haven't represented certain sports, companies, or institutions very well came to mind.
And that got me wondering...what things are we a part of, and do we protect them? We join and participate in organizations throughout our lives: companies, fraternities, sororities, clubs, professional associations...marriages; and we usually do so without giving enough thought to protecting them.
Do you protect the integrity of the teams you're on?
Father's Day Attack at the Moose Lodge
The attack began around 12:45 pm; that's when Moose walked through the kitchen door from the garage. As he put the bags of groceries on the counter, he noticed something was out of place. The sight of a single can of shaving cream on a piece of paper in the living room doorway floor caught his eye. He leaned slightly forward to read the sign. There were 3 lines.
"Pappy, Happy Father's Day. I'm apologizing in advance."
Then without any warning, the boys launched their vicious attack (OK, well it wasn't really vicious, but I'm going for effect here). The two young padawons pounced on him at almost the same time. Warrior cries could be heard throughout the house as they descended into the kitchen, gel shaving cream was flying toward its intended target faster than a speeding bullet. There was yelling (of the girly sounding variety) as their startled father realized he was being ambushed. Shrieks of laughter and excitement could be heard from the living room as Tasha watched from a safe distance. The chocolate lab grabbed her favorite tennis ball and stood nearby in case one of the humans wanted to play with her when the war was over.
The stunned Moose just stood there in disbelief. He'd just been creamed--menthol style. His favorite orange Tennessee Volunteers shirt was now covered in white shaving cream. So were his glasses. And his arms...and head. Suddenly the noise became muffled. Shaving cream was in his ears and it was impairing his hearing. The boys continued to "honor" and celebrate their father as they dressed him in a new mummy-like wrap.
The kitchen floor was squeaky clean under the fallen shaving cream areas. The men each retreated to a bathroom to shower. All of them still had shaving cream in their ears after the shower & had to go back to get the rest out. It was a father's day to be remembered.
*My sources tell me retaliation will be swift and unexpected. Check back for updates.
No, that's not the size of the coffee I ordered from Starbucks this morning. I wish.
It's the Spanish word for 'large', which describes the size of the mistake it was to make my jello legs get out my wonderful, amazing bed this morning.
In fact, that's all I can hear right now; the screeching of my thighs and calves...I think they're saying "we'll get you, my pretty", or something like that.
Well, now I understand why lawyers make you sign a statement saying you’re of sound mind when you make up your will. It’s so they can’t be sued for the stupid, hair-brained ideas you come up with. Take tonight for instance…
Moose and I were at Wal-Mart shopping for the food we’re taking to tomorrow night’s small group dinner. We decided to browse around and see what was new in Wally World. I stumbled out of the housewares section, and there they were.
The exercise videos, sitting non-chalantly on the shelves. Yep, juuuust sitting there. You know, looking all innocent and harmless like they do. Sitting on the shelf, quietly using their brain altering powers to convince you that you can be as happy and look as good as the guy or gal on the front cover if you own that particular video.
And they had them all in stock, too; the pilates with what’s-her-name, the kick boxing with the bald guy, the yoga, the walking…
And then I saw it. It was called “Dance Off the Inches…Sizzling Salsa”.
I picked it up and showed it to Moose. I said, “hey, this could be fun”. I promise I hadn’t been drinking. But I don’t know WHAT possessed me to think exercise and fun could go together. I know better than that; shame on me.
Yeah, we bought it. Yeah, we used it. Yeah, we totally suck at it. And “fun” is the LAST word I’d use to describe that dvd. Fun? PSH.
What can I say? I just wasn’t of ’sound mind’ tonight. And I’m pretty sure I won’t be of sound body tomorrow. At least, not until the motrin kicks in.
I gotta admit, I flipped out a little when I turned 30. I kept thinking about all the stuff I hadn't done and wanted to do, thought about all the stuff I had done and wished I hadn't, and all the stuff that was still to come, and wondered what my place was in all of that. Well, my birthday has rolled around again.
Today, after spending most of my days in the "T" zone (teens, twenties & thirties), I entered the "F" zone. I'm forty. That's right, the big 4-0, middle age, over the hill, etc.
But I gotta tell ya, entering the F zone hasn't been like turning 30 at all. And if I started to think some thoughts today similar to the ones I had when I turned 30, they were quickly and decisively dismissed this morning when Moose came in to kiss me good bye before work. He put my face in his hands and said "gosh, you don't look 40". Go ahead, call me vain. Tell me I'm shallow; I don't care. There was something about the way he said it that cemented the goodness of entering 'the F zone'. I'm cool with it.
If being 40 is as much fun as turning 40 has been, I'm gonna like the F zone a lot. I was sung to (twice), sent several good wishes and emails, given gifts I had mentioned I wanted, and came back to work after lunch to discover two, count 'em two, bouquets of flowers in my office; both of which contained purple flowers in honor of my favorite color. This birthday will long be remembered as the coolest one. And since I'm 40, there are a lot of birthdays to compare!
If you're reading this and you were one of the well-wishers, I want you to know you touched me deeply with your thoughtfulness. Thanks for celebrating the anniversary of my birth.
To recap the truths that would revolutionize our decision making processes:
1) God knows what’s best for you better than you know what’s best for you
2) Everybody you lay eyes on is a person for whom Christ died
3) God is up to something in the world and you are invited to play a part
Ready for the fourth?
- The single greatest obstacle to living a breakaway life is that when we wake up, we don’t set out on a truth quest.
If I bought a new car and told you I bought it because it’s safer than the Trailblazer, that’s crap. That’s not why I’d buy a new car. I’d be buying a new car because my ‘wanter’ kicked in and I ‘obeyed my thirst’ (no, Sprite isn’t paying me for that plug). And I’d get something with heated leather seats, an in-dash multiple CD player, GPS, MP3 capability, and a sun roof. And that’s just for starters. But buying a new car would only make me happy until I got the new payment and realized how much further in debt I am; then I wouldn’t be happy anymore. So which is it? Did buying the new car make me happy or not?
The thing is, when we make excuses to justify our actions, the people we tell don’t believe it. And we don’t believe it when they tell us their excuses, either. But we convince ourselves it’s true, and our self-deceit is our biggest hindrance to living a breakaway life.
Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? We already heard it once earlier in the series, and here it is again: you can’t trust your heart. If we pursue happiness rather than truth, God’s will will always seem extreme. When we chase truth, God’s will doesn’t seem so severe. In fact, when we seek truth, we’ll realize God’s will brings peace and contentment rather than the unrest that often follows carrying out our own will.
Joe wasn’t trying to change anybody’s behavior; his point was that we aren’t always honest with ourselves. He challenged us with these questions:
- Why am I doing this, really?
- If someone in my circumstances came to me for advice, what course of action would I recommend?
In 1 Chronicles 29, David’s son Solomon had been chosen to build the temple and it was a huge undertaking. David gave his resources to the buiding of the temple: gold, iron, silver, wood, bronze, onyx, turquoise, stone and marble. After he gave a huge amount (the Bible lists the specifics but I’m not going to), he gave his personal treasures to be used as well. Then he asked the assembly if any of them would be willing to give as well. Everyone gave willingly.
David never saw the temple built, but he gave a lot of resources to make it happen. Ditto for the folks under him. And the Bible says they did it willingly. Sidebar: I had to sit and let the principle of giving even though you might not see the result sink in. The point is that God owns it all. We can call stuff ours, but the truth is we’re just the managers of that stuff.
This is where it gets a little weird. Money is one of those things that makes people a little crazy or uncomfortable or trippy when it comes up. But money is just a tool; nothing more, nothing less. Most folks don’t think they have enough. Others seem to have an endless supply. But everybody has strong beliefs about how it should be managed. I’ve heard some say that you have to have money in order to have something to worry about managing. But that’s not true. There’s a Biblical principle that says if you manage what you have well, you’ll be given more to manage. And that’s pretty much true in all of life; employees who manage their tasks well are often given more tasks. Why do we complain about being given more responsibility at work to manage, but never about being given more money to manage? What’s up with that? I’ve seen people with plenty of money somehow manage to have nothing to show for all they’ve made, and others who have made very little, yet stretched it quite far. Most people fall somewhere in the middle.
What really stood out to me was David’s giving out of his kingly resources and then giving out of his personal accumulation. OK, I’ll bare my soul a little here: it seems that when I feel comfortable with what’s in my bank account, I tend to be more generous, but when I feel I have very little, I tend to become more stingy. But if I’m just a conduit, what am I worried about? God can give me some of His stuff to manage, and then move it right on along into someone else’s hands to manage for a while or maybe even for forever. Shouldn’t I care more about the way I manage His stuff, rather than how much of it I manage?
Followers
my never-ending battle
My 411
- Eva M.
- After struggling to fit into the proverbial round hole, I figured it was more honest to embrace the natural facets of my personality: passion for God and people, off-the-wall logic and a twisted sense of humor.
I'm an Air Force wife and former homeschool mom who writes about people and relationships, my faith, and my family. I love my crazy, beautiful, mosaic life...and coffee.