Making Life Count

Ah, teenagers! Strange creatures, some may say. They can be hard to understand, and some find them hard to love. They can seem to be so complicated, unreachable, and hardened, yet hollow. These teenagers whose lives can be so full of anger and pain may seem hopeless to even the greatest of men, but these are not hopeless lives.  Sure, they may be complex, but not hopeless. Our job as parents is to realize this and help them do the same as best we can… it’s not as complicated as one may think.  Give it a try and let me know what changes you see.

I recently got a bird feeder and bird bath (I know… I sound really, really old don’t I?  I just remember being a little kid and loving to watch the birds eat and play in the water.  Something has happened to them over the years though; they’ve evolved or something.  They no longer play in water.  Hmmm).  Anyway, I have to fill the bird feeder up every other day and it’s really a pain.  I have to go get the cup, fill it up, walk over to the tree (I’m exhausted just writing about it), get under the tree and then get “tree stuff” in my hair.  For what?  So some birds can eat gourmet seeds?  Why?  They already have worms somewhere don’t they?

Oh, but i love to watch them eat it.  Sometimes about 7 birds will sit perched on the feeder.  They’re so cute.  Plus, they seem to know me now.  I go outside and I almost feel like Snow White (except I’m just waiting for one of them to poop on me).

I was thinking about this bird feeding deal this morning as I was praying.  I was asking Him for something “silly” (ok, it was another IPOD since my daughter lost my old one), and I stopped myself and said, “There is so much more I could be asking You for… I’m sorry.” Then I thought about the birds.  They don’t NEED me to give them bird seed… it’s not a ”need” for them; it’s a ”want”.  And I WANT to give it to them because it makes me happy to see them happy.  I couldn’t help but to think how much more God must be like that with us.  I know, for the bible tells me so, that He wants to give us the desires of our hearts.  God wants to give us our wants and it makes Him smile to do so.

So… I’m going to keep on giving out bird seed and allow those birds to be a reminder of how much more God wants to give me…. to give you.

“Look at the birds.  They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them.  And aren’t you far more valuable to Him than they are?” Matthew 6:26-27

I realized today (again) that my faith is a tad shy of “great.”  Here is what made me realize that (again):

I was praying for God to do something amazing regarding this certain situation (Ok, the situation is this homeless/runaway youth shelter we’re working on) and I thought, “Oh, don’t expect too much so that way, if it doesn’t happen, you won’t be too disappointed.”  Come on, I know we’ve all done it.

I said to myself, out loud, “Wow.  You stink Mel.  What kind of talk is that?”  I was right… what kind of talk is that?

Then I started to think about why I would feel that way?  Why would I feel God would “let me down”?  I think because, for one, I’ve been let down so many countless times by countless people (who hasn’t right?) and the other reason being, I wondered if I was maybe not good enough for God to bless me with such an amazing thing (So, yeah, I’m STILL working on my self-worth.  But anyway, when you get right down to it, who IS good enough right?  That’s where GRACE comes in).  Finally, I thought to myself, “What if this isn’t what God wants for me, then I won’t get it.” So it really had nothing to do with God failing me, or me not being “good enough” but it still did have something to do with not wanting to be let down.

Now, here’s the thing:  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE chocolate cake (the really moist, homemade kind), but what if I ordered it saying, “Can I please have a piece of that cake?  But wait!  Never mind because what if it’s not as good as I want it to be?  Hmmm….”  What if I never ordered cake again for fear of it not tasting good enough (alright, I have to say, if I never ordered it again maybe my hips and thighs would be smaller, but that’s not the point)… if I did that then I’d miss out on so much… life is just so much better with cake.  I order cake, believe that it’s going to be amazing and if it’s not, it doesn’t make me hate cake, I just wait for the next time I get a chance to order it again and when I do, I believe it’s going to be the most awesome piece of cake ever!

Get my point?

We should pray with all that is within us, believing we’ll have what we’re asking for, if it’s within God’s will, and if we don’t get it, ok then, we don’t get it, but we keep on seeking, and praying, and asking until we get God’s very best.

What have you been afraid to ask God for?

I’ve been working towards a certain dream for a long time now.  I was just sitting here asking myself, “When is it going to happen?”  Then I asked myself, “What is the ‘IT’ exactly???”

It dawned on me that dreams come true through a series of events, don’t they?  Kind of like a puzzle isn’t a puzzle with just one piece- it’s through a variety of several different pieces, each with a different scene, or part of a scene imprinted on it.  Once those pieces are finally all put together, will we see the big picture.

I think our dreams are the same way.  They don’t “just happen,” just as a puzzle is just a bunch of pieces until it’s all put together.  Only then can you say, “Wow!  I’ve done it.”  And even then, true “puzzle maniacs” have to move on to the next one in order to keep their puzzle-passion alive.

True dreamers should be able to relate to this analogy… just because one part is finished, doesn’t mean the dream stops there… it just takes on a different form.

What place are you at in your dreaming process?  Wherever it is… don’t give up now.  There’s no telling at what point it’s all going to come together.

If you were to stick a penny in a jar then throw that jar into the sea, both the jar and the penny would be in the water, but only one would feel the effects of it more- obviously, the jar.  But, does this make the penny any less in the sea?  Of course not, but it’s protected by the jar.

How many times have you felt alone, adrift at sea? 

If you ever feel that way again, remember that although you may be thrown into a rough situation, you are not left without God’s shield of protection.

It’s the end of the day (11:43 PM exactly) and I’ve been contemplating all day what to write about.  It has suddenly dawned on me as sit to read a book… I’ve learned that today has been a day of learning to trust.  There are so many reason why.

For one, I’ve recently felt like maybe God has left my corner.  Things aren’t going just as I’ve had planned…in so many areas, I might add.

I was about to sit down to read a book on how to build a non-profit (might as well have been a “self-help” book of sorts), when it hit me… why don’t I go to God first?  I’m so busy trying to figure things out on my own, or through others, never stopping to ask the One who has laid out this path for me.  It’s like getting in a car to go on a trip then turning off your GPS.  You have a GPS (or some do anyway) so why don’t you use it?  I feel that way, at this very moment, about God.  HE is the one with the answers… HE is the one with the plan… He is the one with ability to get me through, so why don’t I tap into that?  Is it because I don’t feel the answers come quickly enough?  Is it that I lack the trust to believe He will and can do what He said He can do?  Maybe that’s it; I don’t know.

What I do know is:  I can do NOTHING without Him.  Not one single thing.  The tough part is when I don’t feel He’s there; the part when I felt He’s left my corner to go and be with the other fighters in this world; the part when I feel like a child lost in the crowd who is crying out for her father and yet the voices of strangers overshadow the voice of love and desperation.

But then I have to go back to my original thought:  I’m on this trip… this long journey, and I’m not sure how to get there exactly, so why don’t I just turn on my GPS and let it lead the way?

I wonder:  Have you ever felt like you’ve lost your way?