Fall 2009 Bible Study..."The Relationship"

Fall 2009 Bible Study "The Relationship"....5 distinct parts, yet all connected! Trying out the web-cam and no I don't have anything in my eye...evidently I just like to blink and talk with my eyes! I don't really think anyone looks at this anyway, so I'm going out on a limb and posting it! I need to seriously work on my promo skills! By the way, at the end...I meant to say "join me" but I crossed it with "enjoy" and got..."en-join me!" LOL!! Seriously though, I am excited about Bible Study this year. Obviously...there is no video. Darn. It wouldn't upload. You'll just have to trust me, it was a hoot! Still excited about Bible Study, hope you can come!

A child will lead them...

I must say, we all know kids can be, well…kids. Cute. Funny. Annoying. Kids. I have a unique relationship in my life with a 56 year old adult, who has the mental capacity of about a 4-5 year old. My friend “Lilly”. Lilly comes to church with us every Sunday as long as the weather is ok, otherwise she’s on “vacation”.

Lilly has been “dropped in my lap”, by the Lord, and honestly I’ve struggled with that. Please don’t get me wrong, I love Lilly but I have my own kiddos to take care of and sometimes I struggle resenting the fact that I have another. Honestly (I’m ashamed to admit it) I’ve thought to myself, “what is the point of all this?”

Until on a Sunday a few months ago, I picked up Lilly for church and we were driving along talking about her week. She mentioned something she was “teaching” her little 2 yr old niece…something that was not appropriate at all. Lilly thought it was SO very funny and I gently mentioned that teaching her niece that particular song/action could really teach her something wrong. Not much was said but as you would correct a kindergartner…I corrected Lilly, end of story…so I thought.

We went to Sunday school and Church as usual and I “watched” Lilly…again, slightly annoyed at times. At the end of the service, Lilly broke down in tears, hung her head, and cried into her arms…it was really quite heart-breaking. I put my arm around her (lots of times she cries over things she wants, or people who might be sick in her family) and said…”Lilly, what’s wrong?” She looked up at me….”Mandi, I don’t want to teach *Carrie bad things. I want to teach her good things…things about Jesus. I want her to grow up and be a good girl.”

In a span of just a few hours I saw such genuine, beautiful, and authentic brokenness in this 56 yr old/ 5 yr old. She understood what she taught her niece mattered. So was torn up and broken before God that she might led her niece away from the things of the Lord. That hit me like a ton of bricks…Lilly led me. Simply, sweetly, not even being aware….she taught me about brokenness over sin and softness toward others. What we do, matters…what we teach with our lives, matters. I was in danger of teaching my children that all people, don't matter-as I can be impatient with Lilly. What we teach by our brokenness over our own sin or lack of it, matters. A little child, in a 56 yr old body can and….will lead them. That morning, Lilly led me to my own brokenness over how I treat her. It was quite beautiful!

My Mom...

My Mom turned 80 today…amazing, how did she get that old!? I just hope I’m a lot like her in 40 years. She is sharp, active, loves life-family and Jesus. She is truly an amazing woman. I spent the day celebrating, watching, asking reminiscent questions and listening to her answers. Wow, it was fun and I loved it. I have heard all this before, but listening to her again, my how things have changed in 80 years.

Here is a few things that she shared...She was born in the year of the stock market crash 1929, the year the Great Depression hit our country. They had no telephone…they “shared” with a neighbor. They did have running water and electricity but no refrigerator, just an icebox….a literal box that held ice! My grandmother had 3 sons and the nun at the hospital promised my grandmother if she had the baby before midnight it would be a girl and if after midnight a boy. Well, my mom was born at 11:54pm….and my grandmother had her girl! Go figure!

Life was simple and my mom has seen so much in 80 years…I can only imagine that I will see and have seen so much too. Life and time just flies by. Only a few things last…may we be like my Mom and invest in things that WILL last.

Just thinkin...

I’ve spent 20 years “preparing” for an event….dreading an event. And you know what? I’m not prepared. I wonder how much time I have wasted over the last 20 years in my “preparing”, ok, I’ll call it what it is. Worry.

Ugg. This is a lesson I really need to learn, and the Lord is patiently teaching me. It struck me like a 2x4 today…all that “preparing” did nothing; I’m not prepared at all, at least not prepared because of the worrying.

I have a tendency to be a “glass half empty” kind of gal and a “let’s just be prepared” worrier. It’s a chronic kind of condition for me. I’m not justifying (ok maybe I am) or just saying that is the way I am and I can’t help it. I’m confessing. I was reminded very clearly today…

Matthew 6: 27, 33-34 says…
27"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
33"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I’ve been thinking on the merge of theology and practicality lately, because honestly there seems to be such a gap for me sometimes. Where what I believe and what I live don’t really match. Thus speaking to what I truly believe.

I tend to justify my chronic sin issues in the lane of indecision between my theology and my life. There lies the problem. That doesn’t speak very highly of the relationship that was purchased for me on Calvary, by Jesus, does it? This relationship He purchased is living, breathing, changing, growing…in spite of me. Maybe my focus should be more on the “preparing” of that eternal relationship, instead of “preparing” for all that life has? Worrying. Just me thinkin….

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Who's Leading Who?

The Cornett's are dog people, but usually we are "used" dog people. In our 19 years of marriage we have had 3 fully grown "used" Airedale's- all loved and then buried...until now. We have a puppy from the pound. My how different puppies are, needless to say, we were not prepared.

I usually give Oliver his morning walk, in my PJ's and a coat and I'll tell you, the real question is; who is leading who on our walks? He tries to lead me, or should I say...he drags, pulls, yanks, and runs his way around the block. I hold tight of the leash and give him only so much rope. We have tried the "spike collar", it has helped but boy...he has a mind of his own.

Sound familiar at all to your life? I sure act like Oliver sometimes...OK, more than I'd like to admit. The Lord is leading and I'm running around the block, pulling and yanking. Sometimes I think I need "spike collar" yet what I receive is grace and mercy. God is so good, so patient, so faithful. He is an ever capable "Trainer". He knows what He is doing, where He is leading. He fully supplies all that is needed. I think I just need to get a grip and maybe a bit less distracted...and follow.

I Don't "One Two"!

My daughter is almost 7 and I was just reminiscing about her young life this morning. When she was just a toddler one of her cute phrases was..."I don't one two". What she really meant was "I don't want to." Well, the phrase, "I don't one two" stuck and John and I laugh thinking about her sweet voice saying it to this day.  Funny how those cute phrases from childhood stick with you!

I was just telling the Lord this morning something...."I don't one two" do. I don't want to love a particular person.  I don't want to. I know I need to. I know I'm called to but the fact of the matter is...I don't want to. Sometimes we need, like I did this morning, to ask the Lord for the "want to" in things. Things that, I don't want to obey. I don't want to wait in. I don't want to...you fill in the blank. 

 It made me think of Maggie's "I don't one two" phrase.  One....I need to see the need to "want to" in the first place and Two...I need to acknowledge the fact that I can't just suck up the "want to". I need Him to give me the "want to" of this Christian life.  It's His work in me and you...do we have the "one two" He wants to impart to all of us? Are we in the pattern of asking Him to give us His "one two"?  

Is He Alive Today?

Well, we just celebrated the most important holiday on the Christian calendar yesterday...Easter. He is alive! Churches were packed, bells were ringing. So many acknowledging the fact that He is risen...Jesus is alive!

So, I've been thinking and I question; Is He alive today? Of course, He is, that's the obvious answer but what does my life really say? What does my life testify too today? Yesterday my mouth testified that He is alive...but how about my life today?

Fundamentally speaking, what we believe is what we act upon. Think about it...what we truly believe is what we do. Belief and actions are directly connected. If I think I won't get caught, I just might...you fill in the blank. If I think I can, I will. If I don't think I can, I won't. If I believe I'm going to go for a walk later....I'll eat those jelly beans now. Whatever. What we do is directly connected to what we believe about something.

So, we need to ask ourselves....what do we believe about the resurrection of Jesus, today? Is He alive? What we believe about who Jesus is and if He is alive, today is directly connected to how we will live out our lives. The resurrection is not about a holiday we celebrate once a year...it is a reality that is suppose to transform how we view the world and transform us 24/7 ....365 days a year. What does my life speak really speak about what I say I believe? Not what I know about. Is He alive today? Yes. The question is; what do our lives say that we truly believe?

Pea soup...

I hate pea soup...always have. It looks, how shall I say it, like baby poop and the smell of it? Well, let's just say, I've had my issues with pea soup. I know I sound childish but I'd rather eat practically anything other than pea soup.

Earlier this year, I was at a weekend retreat where all the women involved were to make a meal...you won't believe it, at lunch one day, it was pea soup. I had seen her making it, I had desperately hoped two choices would be available, but no. The lunch menu was pea soup. This was a small gathering of ladies, no flying under the radar here, so I did the only polite thing I could think of; I took as little of it as I could to still look like I was eating and grateful. The childhood memories of pea soup and the hope of pea soup escape over-took me as I sat down for lunch... no way of escape. We prayed, I prayed harder that I would not shame myself at the table. Taking my spoon and with a "MMMMM" smile took a bite.

What happened next totally floored me...I liked it. This pea soup tasted nothing like the pea soup I have had in the past. This was good, it wasn't only good...it tasted great. I actually enjoyed it. I went back for more. I asked for the recipe. I went home and bought split peas for the first time in my life. In my book, pea soup has been redeemed. Wow. Never, ever thought I would think that! Pea Soup.

So, what does this have to do with anything? It made me stop and consider, how many things in my life, in my circumstances, or even a few people, I can tend to look at and even treat like pea soup. Yuck. There are things in my life that make my stomach twist and turn, I dread...things and issues that I hate, just like pea soup. Things that I have conditioned with a response, just like my pea soup response.

But, what if the Lord is able to make things that we have issues about, preconceived opinions about...even unpleasant experiences we have had and change the "taste"? What if He could make them "taste" different? What if these people or circumstances could be transformed into something other than what they are...what if I am transformed? What if my "taste" for these things changed...and it was great? Or am I just so conditoned with my response of "Yuck" I don't even give them a try? Do I just asumme it's the same old, same old. Ummmmm....

Isaiah 43:18-19

"Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

Our God is in the business of making and re-making. He makes things new....even a pea soup life. How am I viewing my pea soup?