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My Childhood Best Friend, Rebekah

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I just learned that my childhood best friend, Rebekah, has passed away. She leaves behind her mother, brother, and two teenaged children.

My heart is broken. 

As I learned the news of her passing, my mind was flooded with the memories we made.  There are so many memories and I treasure them all.

Like most childhood best friend relationships, Rebekah and I were inseparable during our elementary and middle school years.  We spent countless weekends together which always involved junk food and staying up late.  I remember us wearing matching outfits and spending hours teasing and spraying our hair before heading out to the skating rink or movie theater.

Before cell phones were invented, Rebekah and I kept our landline phones busy talking to each other almost every night.  Isn’t it funny that all these years later, I still remember her phone number?  We would talk for hours about school, boys, and our life dreams. Our friendship was special and I felt lucky to have Rebekah as my friend. 

Do you know what else made my friendship with Rebekah special?  We talked about our faith with each other.  

Rebekah loved Jesus.  I can remember us staying up until 3am talking the night way and it seemed our thoughts about God always entered our conversation.  We did not have all of the answers to life’s biggest questions, but I knew she believed in Jesus and she knew I did too.  She was a safe place for me when it came to the things of God. 

Rebekah’s faith encouraged my faith. 

Although we promised each other we would be best friends forever, like many childhood friendships, Rebekah and I began to drift apart in high school. She was gifted in drama and singing while I was busy with cheerleading and was discovering my love for science.

We found new friends who shared our new interests, and with each passing year, our connection with one another became less and less.  When we graduated and went away to college, I lost contact with Rebekah. I thought about her often, but we never reconnected.

The news of Rebekah’s passing has broken my heart.  Although we lost touch so long ago, she has always had a special place in my heart.  She was such an important person in my life, and as I learned the news that her life had ended, I could not stop the tears from flowing. 

Rebekah was my childhood best friend.  She encouraged me to think deeply about the things of God.  Rebekah’s presence in my life helped strengthen my faith.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
~Proverbs 27:17

What about you?  Did you have a special childhood friend you felt safe with to talk about the things of God?  Was there someone who helped strengthen your faith?  

What happened to that special friend in your life?  Maybe they have already passed away from this life.  Maybe you are still close with that friend even today, or maybe like my friendship with Rebekah, over the years you drifted apart. 

If it is possible, I encourage you to find that special friend.  Invite them to lunch.  Laugh and reminisce about your childhood.  Tell them what they meant to you all those years ago.  Thank them for being someone who strengthened your faith. Don’t wait until it’s too late!

It brings me such sadness to know that Rebekah has lost her battle with cancer.  I am so thankful for her presence in my life and the memories we made. I know she loved Jesus and I know I will see Rebekah again in heaven.  I look forward to that day!

Grateful for you,
Joy

This is the Day I Almost Died

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Hello, November 20th! I am so happy to see you!

I bet you don’t know what day of the week Nov 20th was on in 2005. Well, I do.

It was a Sunday. The Sunday before Thanksgiving. It was also almost my last day on earth.

It’s funny the things we don’t know. I am a pharmacist. I am a healthcare provider and I did not know that you could die from a stomach bug. Well, I’m here to tell you that you can. You can absolutely die from a stomach bug and I almost did.

On November 20, 2005, I was 31 years old. I had been married to my husband, Bryan for over eight years. We were living in our new home.  Our daughter Ellie was three years old and our son Sam was nine months old.  Our lives were full!

We went to church that morning, and then out to lunch with family. I did not feel 100% myself, but I had no idea what was coming.

When we got home from lunch, I felt unusually tired so I went to lie down. Bryan was watching a basketball game while Ellie played and Sam took a nap.

Early that afternoon, my symptoms started. It was a very bad stomach virus. I had not had a stomach bug since I was 16 years old. I guess it came to me with a vengeance, because it hit me fast and hard!

I was very sick for hours and I found myself completely lethargic, lying on the bathroom floor. I managed to pull myself up and look in the mirror. I looked gray and I was scared.

The TV was on in the den and I was in our master bathroom. Bryan had no idea how fast things had progressed or how seriously ill I was. I did not have the strength to call to him loud enough for him to hear me, so I crawled to my bed and thought I would just sleep it off. As I started to drift off, I felt God urge me not to sleep. About that time, Bryan came in to check on me.

He panicked when he saw me! I had never been this sick before. He called my Mom to come over and stay with the kids and we drove to the ER. At this point, I was very dizzy and things were blurry.

By the time we arrived to the hospital, by kidneys were shutting down. My pulse was around 170 beats per minute and my blood pressure was 65/39 (normal is 120/80). The doctors told Bryan to call the family. This was a serious situation we were in.  They also told Bryan that if I would have tried to “sleep it off,” I would have died.

A whole team of folks came over to start working on me. Over the next few hours, they gave me EIGHT liters of fluid in order to make my kidneys start working again. I was given multiple antibiotics and was monitored very closely for the next few days. After several days in the hospital, my body began to improve, but I was not out of the woods yet.

Over the next six months, I struggled with more dehydration. I continued to have virus-like symptoms and was in and out of the ER getting bags of fluid. My resting heart rate was between 115-130 bpm (normal resting is around 70 bpm), so my heart was working like I was running a marathon at all times.  This made me lose significant weight.

I weighed under 100 pounds even though I forced myself to eat. Everything went straight through me and I was a mess. I had no energy…none! I could not take care of my family. I was out of work and I wondered if I would ever get better.

I would lie in my bed or on the couch asking God what was He trying to teach me?  I would be home alone throughout the day, and would say, “please let me learn whatever lesson I need to learn so I can get back to my life!”

I went through anxiety and bouts of depression like I had never experienced in the past. I wondered if God heard my cries. I wondered if this would be my new normal.  I prayed and prayed, begging God to fix this, but my body would not get back to normal.

My primary care physician was perplexed with what was going on with me. I was so young. Why could I not get better?  I saw every kind of specialist under the sun in hopes of finding an answer to this illness.

Although it took a full year for me to get back to having 90% of the energy I had before, life did get back to a more normal state.  Slowly, my body recovered, but I was not the same person I was before November 20, 2005.

This time in my life was dark and uncertain, but do you know what happened through this experience? I gained a fresh appreciation for the little things in life. My marriage grew stronger and I learned that every single day is a blessing from God!

I grew closer to God through that experience like never before.  I came to the end of my rope and I had a choice to make.

Do I believe God to be who He says He is, or not?

I decided to believe God and somehow, someway, He would work this illness for good.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  ~Romans 8:28

So here we are again…It’s Nov 20th.  It’s the week of Thanksgiving.

This is the season of Thankfulness.  It is the season of Gratitude!  I believe one of the keys to living a happy life is to have a grateful heart.  Being grateful to God for who He is and all He has done for you, is the starting point.

You see, when your heart is set on being grateful, there’s no room for complaining.  When your heart is set on being grateful, there is no room for bitterness.  When your heart is set on being grateful, there is no room for unforgiveness.

Sure—life is hard. Sometimes it is really hard!  People let you down. Sickness comes.  Dreams are broken.  Money is uncertain.  If we look hard enough, we can always find something to complain about.

But you know what else? When we look hard enough, we can always find something to be grateful for, too. Why don’t we choose to focus on that, instead?

So, hello to you November 20th, 2018!  I am so grateful to see you!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

-Joy

Wake-Up Christian Mamas!

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A friend of mine brought to my attention a video game that her 12-year-old son is begging for.  Most of his friends already have this game.  It is called Grand Theft Auto V, otherwise known as GTA.

Now maybe I’m coming in late to this party, but I had never heard of this game.

My friend told me she was going to order it on Amazon for her son’s birthday gift and wanted to know if I knew anything about it.  She said it was very popular among middle-school boys and since I have a middle-school-aged son, I decided to educate myself about this GTA game.

My goodness!  I was not ready for what I found out!

Here are the facts:

  • Versions are rated M for maturity (17+) or R
  • There are explicit sexual scenes throughout the game and sex is a part of the main story line or “campaign”
  • There is a strip club mini-game where you can “touch” breasts and save provocative panties
  • You can watch a man and woman having sex
  • Players can be required to take video footage of celebrities having sex
  • Players can participate in many sexual activities at ANY time
  • Bloody/gory/murderous violence is throughout this game
  • Players can shoot police officers and innocent people
  • Torturous scenes include beating a helpless man
  • Animals (including pets) can be killed at will
  • Players play the role of criminal characters
  • Players can randomly kill anyone in the game

This list goes on and on.

Do you want to know the most shocking part of this review?  This game earned $800 million in its first day of sales and $1 billion in its first three days.  It is one of the most popular games of all time.

Wake-up Christian Mamas!

My friend is a Christian.  She loves her husband and her kids deeply.   She takes them to church and serves The Lord fiercely.

She and I were in a casual conversation about how hard it is to buy a birthday gift for your 13-year-old son.  We were just chatting about ideas over lunch when this came up.  She said all of his friends played this GTA game and he wanted it too, so she was thinking about getting it for him.

STOP THE BUS!!!!!

My point with this post is that you and I need to wake-up and get involved in what our kids are doing behind closed doors.  We cannot just willy-nilly buy any video game or App for our sons (or daughters) without doing a thorough Mama-Bear investigation.

The images in these video games will be engrained in the minds of our sons for their life-time.  These games are evil and these boys will have long-term negative effects from filling their minds with these images.

Today’s video games are not like our video games back in the days of the Atari.  This is not your standard Pac-Man or Donkey Kong type of game.  Games like GTA are full of sex, violence, murder and more.

There is also an option with these games to connect to wifi so you can play with your friends. Kids gang up together in the storyline and engage in these activities together.

They talk about it at the lunch table at school.  They brag about how many people they killed while playing the game and how many sexual acts were performed.

Evil!  Pure evil!

Most of us would never knowingly allow this type of garbage into our homes.  The problem is that we are often uninformed.  We assume the game is safe because other kids are playing it.  We are also not informed about the ratings of these games.  We may not even know what “M” stands for.

Life is busy and time gets away from us….well this is a wake-up call to me that I need to be doing my homework!

Uninformed parents are in their living rooms watching “Fixer Upper,” while their sons are upstairs in their rooms watching people have sex on a video game that their parents ordered on Amazon for their birthday.

It happens every day.

It could happen to me.  It could happen to you.

This is a call to all Christian Mamas!  We need to be nosy!  We need to be educated!  We need to be involved!

Sift through your son’s video games.  Review every phone App thoroughly.   Be aware that kids can even hide games similar to GTA on their electronic devices.  Read more about that here:  http://abc13.com/technology/discreet-apps-help-teens-hide-things-from-parents/998592/

What can we do?

  • Pray for our kids and with our kids
  • Help our kids know God’s Word and what He desires from us
  • Talk to our kids about the dangers in these games
  • Be very frank with our kids about sex, shootings and crime
  • Talk to the parents of our kids’ friends and make a stand together
  • Be nosy
  • Ask questions
  • Set standards
  • Say, “no”

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…and He is after your son and mine.

 

~ Mama Bear Joy

Getting on my nerves!

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Are there people in your life who get on your nerves?  I imagine there are!

God made us each different and sometimes personalities clash.  As Christians, what are we to do when other people get on our nerves?  Have you ever thought about it?  Well, I’ve been thinking about it and God has led me to John 13:35:

Loving one another is the way the world knows we are Christians.  Sometimes I get caught up in worldly things and it is good for me to be reminded that God has standards.  He has given me His guidelines to live by.  He has told me how I should act.

We are NOT TO BE LIKE THE WORLD!  We are called to take the higher road…..and that includes in how we deal with people.

When people get on your nerves, it is hard to know what to do.  I would like to share with you some things I have found helpful when other people get on my nerves.  Here are a few tips:

1.  PRAY!  Pray for the person who is driving you crazy.  Ask God to bless that person.  Confess to God how you feel.  Tell Him what your issues are with that person and ask Him to help you!

2.  GET TO KNOW THAT PERSON!  Take a step towards getting to know the person who is getting on your nerves.  Ask them to go to lunch or find a few minutes to inquire about their life.  The more you learn about this person, the more opportunity you have to find common ground with them.  We all have a life story and you may be shocked about what you learn about their life.  You probably have more in common with them than you think!

3.  TAKE YOUR THOUGHTS CAPTIVE TO CHRIST!  When a negative thought crosses your mind about that person, confess it immediately and ask Christ to replace those ugly thoughts with more positive ones.  Quote scripture and keep your thoughts pleasing to God.  Don’t allow your mind to entertain negative thoughts about this person….guard your mind!

4.  DON’T GOSSIP!  Whew!  This can be hard.  When someone drives us nuts, we want to go “vent” to someone else.  We want someone else to help validate the way we feel.  Plain and simple—-DON’T DO IT!   If you have to, lock yourself in a room until the urge to gossip passes you by.  Trust me, I’ve learned this lesson the hard way.  Gossiping and spreading ugly information about someone else only makes things worse AND it displeases God.  He hates this type of behavior (Proverbs 6:16-19).  Although it may feel “fun” at the time, it is wrong and we should not do it.

When it comes to dealing with people, we all know that sometimes, personalities clash.  Sometimes, we do not enjoy another person’s company.  Sometimes, people in our life get on our nerves.

As followers of Christ, let’s remember that we are called to love others and God’s Word tells us that love is patient and kind!

Let’s practice patience and kindness as we strive to love those people who drive us crazy.

Thanks for reading, my friends!  I hope you have a great weekend!

~ Joy

I am going to run over your iPad with my car….

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Sunday mornings can be tough for families.  Many times, Saturday has been filled with fun activities which can include staying up late.  When Sunday morning gets here, it can be hard to get out of bed.

So it was for the Greene family this morning.

As the rest of us were up, getting ready for church, Sam was still in the bed.  He was dead to the world.  Time was ticking and I was growing impatient because the Lord knows how much I hate to be late.

After I had called him FIVE times, Sam was still not downstairs.  He had let out an occasional grunt to let me know he heard me, but he was still dreaming away in his comfy bed.

When you’re trying to motivate a 12 year old boy to obey, you use whatever arsenal you can find in your brain at that moment.  Sometimes things come out of your mouth that you did not plan for.  It is also quite possible that sometimes as a Mom, I may overreact from time to time.

Have you ever seen those videos of parents who get so frustrated with their kids and their electronics that they destroy them (the electronics, not the kid)?  I saw a video several months ago of a Dad who was at the end of his rope with his son.  The Dad was so outdone by the amount of time his son spent on his gaming system, that he took the gaming system out into the yard and ran over it with his lawnmower.

I guess this video stuck in my mind as a possible new parenting technique.

When Sam did not respond to me for the fifth time this morning, I had reached my “nice Mom” limit!

I walked upstairs and with a very calm, cool and collected voice, I leaned over and whispered in his ear, “I have called you five times this morning.  If you do not get up, eat your breakfast, put your clothes on, brush your teeth, fix your hair and have your Bible in hand ready to go in 10 minutes, I am going to run over your iPad with my car…….good morning, sweetheart.”

Ok, let’s wait just a minute here.  In hindsight, I probably overreacted and could have thought of a more loving (and less destructive) way to get Sam out of bed, but it was effective. Sam got out of bed….and fast!  Plus, he accomplished everything I asked him to, with his Bible in hand ready to go to church, on time.

Now, I’m not advocating that we take our kids’ belongings and run over them with our cars, but I am advocating that we take seriously the role we have as parents to teach our kids to obey.  I think this is one of the most difficult things we deal with as   parents, because as human beings, our nature is to disobey.

We see this from the beginning of time with Adam and Eve.  They disobeyed God.

The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it.  ~Genesis 3:6

When we continue to look into the Bible, we see this same theme of disobedience with the Israelites.  I am reading through the Bible this year and I just get flat worn out with these Israelites.  Over and over, they did not listen to God.  In so many instances their hearts were not set on following Him.  In fact, they wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years because they had not obeyed God, and they missed out on a BIG blessing because of it.

Might we take notice that there are consequences to disobeying God?

The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.  ~Joshua 5:6

God is always faithful and loyal to His people, but His people are not always faithful and loyal to Him.

Isn’t this still true of us, today?  We love God.  We believe in His son Jesus and we follow Him.  Yet, we struggle with doing what God tells us to do.  Too many times we do what we “feel” like doing instead of doing what God commands us to do.

As far as parenting goes, my encouragement to you today, my friend, is to not give up.  Whether it’s getting your child out of bed in the morning or dealing with things much more serious, parenting can wear you down.

As Moms, we make mistakes, but when you and I fall down, we must not stay down.  You and I will battle with our kids over their disobedience.  It is a battle we must fight, with love, as we obey God in our calling as Moms.

Remember, if a child will not obey a parent they CAN see, how will they ever obey a God they CANNOT see?

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’-which is the first commandment with a promise-‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.’” ~Ephesians 6:1-3

Just like God loves us and He promises to never leave us, our kids need to know how much we love them and how we will never leave them.  We may run over their iPads with our car, but we will always be there for them.

Thankful for you,

~Joy

You are not called to trust everyone…

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This has been weighing on my heart all day and I have felt God urging me to write to you.  I just know someone needs this word of encouragement tonight.

I want to remind you my friend, that there are people in your life who want you to fail.

There are people who want you to quit chasing after God.  They want you to stop pursuing the calling God has placed into your heart.   

There are people in your life who do not want the best for you. In fact, they want the opposite.

How you respond to these people, matters.

God requires His children to do things outside of their comfort zones.  Living for Jesus is not the easy road.  It is the narrow road.  It is also the best road.  

When you examine God’s Word, you see God using the most unlikely people to do the most extraordinary things for His Kingdom. They did not do these amazing things because they were unusually gifted or talented, but because they trusted, and obeyed God. 

They walked by faith, not by what they saw in front of them. They believed God and they, too, had opposition facing them each step of the way.

My friend, you have a decision to make each day. Who’s voice are you going to listen to?

Are you going to listen to those people who tell you that you cannot do what God is calling you to do?   Are you going to listen to the people who question your motives and call you a fool?  

People may tell you, “it’s not possible,” or “you can never do that.”  

Do not listen to them.  

Instead, make the daily decision to stay focused on Jesus.  Stay connected to Him through prayer and reading your Bible.  Cling to Him and keep running your race with courage and perseverance.  

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
~Proverbs 4:23

Guard your heart as you take each step of faith and BELIEVE that God will do what He says He will do!

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
~1 Thessalonians 5:24

YOU have a important race to run!  YOU have an incredible life to live!  Do not miss out on what God has planned for you.  Listen to the voice of God and go full steam ahead! 

Remember, we are called to love everyone.  We are not called to trust everyone.  May God give us the wisdom to know the difference.  

Grateful for you,
~ Joy

The night I knocked out my front teeth…

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When I was 11, I had a crush on a boy that lived nearby. Let’s just call him, Greg.

Greg was three years older than me and when you’re an 11-year-old girl, a 14-year-old boy seems like the coolest person on the planet. I thought he was a super cute but he had never even noticed me.

One summer evening, my Mom and I were coming home from my piano lesson. It was getting dark and had rained earlier that day. When we pulled into the driveway, I could not believe my eyes! Greg was standing in my backyard!

Lucky me!

My Dad and Greg’s Dad were friends.   That evening, Greg and his Dad had stopped by to talk to my Dad about some farm equipment.

An important part of this story comes from the fact that I grew up on a farm where I spent most of my days outside. I had a rectangle-shaped trampoline in my back yard that I jumped on a lot and I was pretty good at doing flips.

You need to remember that this was back in the ‘80s when there was no such thing as a NET around a trampoline nor was there padding around the metal frame.

No sir! That is not the way we did things back then. Safety was not really that important.

Us ’80’s kids just got on that rectangle springy device and jumped and flipped and laughed.  Sometimes, we would fall off and smack ourselves right onto the ground. No worries, though. In our perseverance, we would get right back up and go at it again. It’s a wonder any of us survived the ‘80s!

Well, on this particular evening, when I saw Greg in my back yard, I quickly devised a plan.

As soon as my Mom parked the car, I told her that I needed to go talk to Daddy. I ran out to where they were standing, and in an effort to try to impress Greg, I said with confidence in my voice, “Hey—I can do flips on that trampoline over there. Want to see?”

He said, “ok”, so off we went. I got on the trampoline with complete self-assurance!

This was my chance!

As Greg stood on the ground in front of me, I started jumping. I put everything I had into that moment and jumped higher than ever. I wanted it to be the best flip I had ever done. When I felt the moment was right, I gave it all I had and I did my flip.

I flipped so fast and strong that I over-flipped.   My toes hit the damp trampoline mat and I lost control. My body flung forward right towards Greg. I let out a loud scream as my face fell towards the edge of the trampoline. My mouth hit the large green metal post that held the springs in place as my body did another flip over that bar. I landed flat on my back right where Greg was standing.

This was not the magical moment I had envisioned.

There I was, lying flat on the ground with Greg looking down on me. “Are you ok?” he asked with nervousness in his voice.

I was shocked, embarrassed and mortified about what just happened. I tried to salvage my pride by jumping up to my feet. I knew by the pain I felt in my mouth that something bad had happened to my teeth.

It was dark, so I could not tell if I was bleeding or not, so I got real close to Greg’s face, opened my mouth and said, “Is it bleeding?”

He did not answer me, but instead, just looked at me in horror. In a panic, I asked again, only this time, louder, “I said is it bleeding?” He looked at me like I was some kind of monster and said, “you might want to go inside.” I ran inside and looked in the mirror. It was a bad sight.

My two permanent front teeth were hanging by their roots and blood was everywhere.

Needless to say, the hope I had for Greg to fall in love with me that evening went right down the drain as I headed with my Mom and Dad for an emergency dental visit. Thankfully, and miraculously, the dentist was able to save my teeth.

My whole point of running out to see Greg that evening was because I liked him and I wanted to prove to him that he should like me too. I wanted to impress him with my skills and I wanted him to notice me.

My actions were driven by my pride.

God teaches us in His Word that we are to be humble, not prideful. We are to position ourselves rightly before Him and others. It is not a prideful spirit that brings honor, but instead, it is a humble spirit that obtains it! (Proverbs 29:23).

Plain and simple. God hates pride.

To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. ~Proverbs 8:13

In almost every example of pride that we see in the Bible there is a link to failure, not success.   God resists those who are prideful, but he gives favor to those who are humble. (Proverbs 3:34)

My friend, don’t let your pride prevent you from living the life God intends for you to live. Humble yourself before Him. Humble yourself before others.  Consider their needs above your own. Forgive quickly.  Love deeply and serve Jesus wholeheartedly. Do not be motivated by impressing people.  Be motivated by the love and humility of Jesus.

That night back in 1985, I think I lived out Proverbs 16:18 which says: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”  I learned a big lesson through that experience.  Today, I am no longer doing flips on trampolines and I am keeping Micah 6:8 close to my heart.  “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Grateful for you!

~Joy

 

When God Speaks at Wal-Mart

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Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

~Philippians 2:3-4

Did you catch how clear these verses are?  Do NOTHING out of selfish ambition.  Whew!  Now that convicts me!

I think most of us want to be patient and self-less people and in theory, we know these are attributes of followers of Christ.  This is not news to us, but I wonder if you, like me, ever struggle with actually living it out in your daily life?

Too many times I look out for my own personal interests instead of the interests of others.  It is as if MY time is more valuable than someone else’s time.

The other day, I stopped by Wal-Mart on my way home from work, just to pick up a few items.   I only needed THREE things.  Of course it was a Monday and of course it was getting close to 5:00 pm.  Looking back, I realize maybe this was not the best idea I had ever had, but regardless of my lack of judgment, there I was.

I was making great time zipping through the aisles UNTIL I went to checkout.  I made a quick pass through and examined the checkout lines.  The self-checkout line seemed to be a mile long.  I noticed a lady wearing strappy red shoes at the end of that line and I felt sorry for her.  I quickly went to find a faster, full-service line.

As I quickly pushed my buggy along the aisles, I found a checkout line with only one buggy in it!

SCORE!!!

I jumped in behind a young lady and her toddler and waited.  This lady’s buggy was full, but I felt sure it would go fast.

As I waited, I watched as the young lady in front of me was having trouble with her toddler misbehaving.  The toddler was picking up items and dropping them one by one.  I found myself getting irritated because it was slowing down the checkout process, but I remained positive and still felt sorry for the lady with the red strappy shoes in the one-mile self-checkout line.

As the young lady’s last items were scanned, I felt happiness in my heart until the young lady dug around in her purse and whipped out a stack of coupons.

I resisted from letting out a loud sigh of despair, but I could not hold back the look of disappointment that came to my face.

“Oh no,” I thought.  “Maybe the self-checkout line would have been quicker.”

The cashier started scanning each coupon and of course some of the coupons did not work.  Some were out of date.  Some were for products the young lady did not even purchase.  Some had restrictions on them.  One by one the coupons were scanned and I was relieved when the last one beeped with success.

Just as I thought it was almost my turn, the young lady scanned her credit card and wouldn’t you know it?  It would not work.  The cashier did not know what to do and said, “There must be a problem with the machine.”

INSERT MY FRUSTRATION!

After trying several times to get the card processed, the cashier had to call for the manager to come over and help.

As I looked up, the lady with the red strappy shoes (who was in the mile-long self check-out line) was exiting Wal-Mart with her paid items.  I mumbled under my breath and made a mental note to always choose the self-checkout line.

It was too late for me to change lines now.  I was stuck.  It had been a long day and I was busting at the seams to get home.  I was frustrated.  I was tired.  I just wanted to leave Wal-Mart.

It was then that I felt God’s Spirit speak to me.

Through my frustration and impatience, God reminded me of those verses in Philippians about valuing others more than myself.

My heart began to soften and my frustration faded.

As I watched the young lady struggle with her toddler, God reminded me about how hard life is.  He brought to my mind how difficult it was for me to complete a Wal-Mart shopping trip when my children were toddlers, and how being a Mom is one of the hardest jobs in the world.

As I watched the cashier desperately try to process the young lady’s credit card, God reminded me of my first cashier job in college.  I, too, felt insecure when something went wrong with the credit card machine.  I thought back to the time I meant to charge a customer $15.00 but instead, I charged them $150.00.  I was so nervous as I called my manager over to help me correct my mistake.

Right there in the checkout line at Wal-Mart, God convicted me about my attitude and He reminded me of the importance of showing compassion, patience and kindness.

When I finally did get to checkout with my three items, the sweet cashier told me it had been a hard day for her and that she was sorry it took so long.  She also told me she was new as a cashier and was still learning.  I smiled and said, “It’s no problem.  I’ve been there too.”

I believe one of the biggest “proofs” of our faith is how we treat other people.  When we get frustrated, complain or mumble, we do not please God.  What pleases Him is when we use kindness and patience with others.  He is pleased when we put someone else’s needs above our own.

The truth is, I had a bad attitude and was in too big of a hurry that day in Wal-Mart.  I am grateful the God of the Universe spoke to me and reminded me of His Truth.

The next time you find yourself in a situation where your patience is running thin, I hope you think about these verses in Philippians.  I hope your heart softens and you show the love of Christ in that situation….even if you’re in the middle of Wal-Mart!

~Joy

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
~Colossians 3:12