life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans

I know you’ve been missin’ me.  I’ve been missin’ you, too.

I’ve been living in transition-world for the past several months.  Ever since November when I left my beloved Hyperwear, I feel like I’ve been trying to figure out what to do next.  Not that I can’t think of a thing to do, rather there is SO MUCH to do, I can’t figure out where to start…

I have more free time than ever before and I always said that when I had free time, I would write.  Looks like someone has called my bluff.  I’m not sure why I’m not writing more…I’m just not…  I think I’m just lazy? Scared?  Too busy?  Preoccupied with too many other things? Yes, that’s the one. Preoccupied…lacking in discipline.

See, writers make it look easy.  You read a book or an article by someone whose writing you really like and they sound so eloquent and interesting.  The truth is (for me, at least) sometimes my first draft comes out eloquent and interesting.  Sometimes my thoughts translate into written words that others can read and then think, too.  Sometimes it all comes together easy-peasy.

Sometimes.

Don’t misunderstand.  It’s not that I haven’t been writing AT ALL.  I have written pages and pages and notebooks full of stuff I would never let anyone else read.  Sure, some of that seeds ideas that I do put out there for others, but much of it is ill-conceived drivel.  Guess I’m just working up to my 10,000 practice hours so I can become an expert…

So there you have it.  I’m not dead, just resting.  I hope you’ll be hearing from me more in the near future.  Maybe you can pray for me?  Maybe you can comment with some encouragement?  I really love encouragement…  I bet you do, too, so here’s a little from me to you ~ God did not send his Son into the world to condemn you, but to save you through Him!

Have a fabulous day!

confession.

i have a confession to make.

i already confessed it to God last night and now i’m confessing it to you in the hopes that this will make me even more accountable.

a little history… last year in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) we studied Isaiah.  it was amazing and convicting.  if i had to sum it up in one thought it would be this: “don’t worship idols.”  seems pretty simple, right?  i have no little wooden or metal statues of weird gods around my house that i pray to or bow to or leave food for.  so, check that one off the list and move on.

fast forward to this year as we are studying Acts and several other New Testament books.  idol worship is again an issue only now the definition is a little more in your face: “an idol is anything or anyone that takes your focus from God.”  hmmm.  not quite so cut and dried.  a little more pokey.  that can mean that something that was not an idol yesterday may be an idol today and not tomorrow.  it’s all in how i respond to it.  it’s about my treatment of it, heart toward it, motivation in having it.

i confess that i have an idol in my life.

if i’m perfectly honest, this has been coming on since last year.  last year.  geez…i’m a little slow.  quite often, i would hear the question, “is there anything in your life that could be considered an idol?” and, “is there anything that causes you to take your focus off God?” and then, “remember that if something came quickly to your mind, that’s most likely the conviction of the Holy Spirit.”  sure something popped into my mind and just as quickly the justification monkeys start explaining it away.

justification monkeys.  i just came up with that just now.  i kinda like it.  think kooky chaos and loud screeching to distract you from whatever else is going on.  monkeys creep me out – especially when people dress them in clothes.  i recently saw Wicked – those monkeys in Oz really creep me out…always have.

sorry.  tangent.

so last night i was watching some show on Netflix.  it was an interesting show, but it was foul.  the language, the innuendo, the topics.  foul.  i kept watching – several 30-minute episodes.  i was almost ready for bed and kinda had an icky feeling.  i get icky feelings when i watch icky stuff – it’s like i have a physical reaction to it.  so i decided to watch something less icky to get rid of the ickiness i had just ingested for the last two hours.

and that’s when it finally hit me.  what God has been telling me over and over.  it was like a punch in the stomach and a lightbulb in the brain.  IDOL.

i can’t explain it fully.  i can’t really give you all the reasons or explain my thought processes or reason through it.  i just knew, in that instant that television had become my idol.  i was turning to it for comfort, for relaxation, for escape, for encouragement, for happiness, for a lot of things that A) it can’t provide and B) God provides truly and deeply and fully and really.

i turned it off and prayed.  i confessed.  and i made a decision.  i am giving up television.  indefinitely.  i tried to bargain with God and put a timeframe on it, but He was deafeningly silent about the length of time i was to fast from tv.  i have a feeling it will be until i don’t want to watch it any more…

i realize this may come across as fanatic, crazy and down-right un-American.  i’m sorry, but i just can’t do it.  i just can’t continue to ignore God’s request.  He is my Lord and that means He gets to make the rules.  frankly, i’m a little surprised He’s been so patient with me.  i mean, He is known for His enduring patience, but i’ve been really dense and blatantly disobedient to His nudging for awhile now.  i’m a little surprised my tv didn’t just die sometime over the last year or mysteriously stop working or burst into flames…  i think the results of my disobedience have been a little more personal, but that’s a blog for another day.

if you’ll indulge me, i’ll keep you posted as to how it’s going.  i’ll let you know what effect tv has on me by blogging about what the reverse is doing for me.  future posts will not be this long.  and they will have pictures.  promise.

note: please do not take this as a judgement on you if you watch tv.  this is a personal conviction.  we are each answerable to God for what He directs each of us to do.  it is not our place to assume the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of others.

Wicked!

Thursday night tries to be date night around here.  Sometimes that means just sitting home watching a movie and eating dinner, other times it means going out to a movie, some weeks we change it up and go bowling or out to eat or to an arcade or something else we enjoy.  Every once in awhile one of us will surprise the other and plan it all. It all depends on energy and budget!

About a month ago, I saw that Wicked was coming to Austin and really wanted to go see it.  Tickets were pricey, so that fact, combined with my procrastination, meant we kept delaying on purchasing them.  Then one day, my procrastination paid off!  TravelZoo offered a discounted ticket price for pretty decent seats!  I scooped them up and we had reservations!

This week, I told my hubby that since I got the tickets, he was in charge of picking the restaurant.  He asked the hip UT student who works for him and she gave him three fabulous choices.  We selected Moonshine, a casual restaurant downtown that serves comfort food with a twist.  The food was amazing.  Beer-battered asparagus for our appetizer.  Molasses and chile cured pork chop with bourbon apple sauce and a side of to-die-for macaroni and cheese for me.  Broiled rainbow trout with corn bread stuffing with chile sage butter and a side of mashed potatoes for him.  Both came with carrots and steamed kale salad…oh my.  And then the signature skillet apple pie with maple ice cream for dessert.  There were leftovers, I’m delighted to report, so I get to relive this meal over the weekend!

Suffice to say, we recommend Moonshine.  Delish!

And Wicked…it was phenomenal!  If you don’t know the story, the best summary I can give without giving anything away is the one I read that made me want to see it: “So much happened before Dorothy dropped in.”  Great story, fabulous singing, beautiful costumes, talented performers.  Just all-around excellent!

Now for a moment on my soap-box…  People of America: What has happened to your sense of decorum?  (Do you even know what decorum means?)  You pay a boatload of money for tickets to a live performance.  You get dressed up (well, “up” is an over statement.  Some of us got dressed up, others just got dressed…).  You enter a fabulous theatre with a beautiful stage set before you.  Amazing performers emerge and share with you their astounding talent.  And what do you do?  You text.  During the performance.  You sing along (yes, at least it means you are a fan, but show a little respect to the ones on stage that you paid to see).  You talk (out loud, while it is going on) about how many times your friend has seen it.  Call me crazy, but this is not what going to the theatre should be.  Take one night off from being tethered to your cell phone.  Take one night to dress up a little.  Get swept up in the theatrics and the costumes and the story.  And for the love of Pete, and the sake of all that is good and pure, don’t sing along!

Ok.  All done.  If you live in Austin, go see it tonight or tomorrow or Sunday afternoon.  It is truly fabulous.  But if you think you might be bored or can’t control yourself in some way, spare the rest of the audience and stay home!

Happy Birthday (to me)!

When I was a kid, growing up in a small town, the annual stockshow was always the weekend around my birthday.  We always had Friday off from school for the stockshow, but I was convinced it was for my birthday.  I’ve never quite gotten over the fact that we don’t automatically get a day off for our birthdays.  I’m also disappointed in a few other realities of things we do or don’t get on our birthdays.  So, in honor of my own birthday, I’ve compiled a list of the “10 Rules I Think Everyone Should Observe on Their Birthday…”

1.  You have an automatic day off on your birthday – from school, from work, from any and all responsibilities.

2.  You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.

3.  You don’t have to pick up after yourself (someone else does it for you so it’s not there for you to pick up tomorrow).

4.  Calories don’t count for you and anyone celebrating with you.

5.  Everyone knows it’s your birthday and treat you nice – like let you go in line before them at the store or slow down in traffic so you can merge easily.

6.  You get presents, no matter how old you are.

7.  You also get money so you can go shopping…

8.  Your friends and family call, email, text, or Facebook you, en masse, with wonderful birthday wishes.

9.  Eat cake.

10.  Thank God that you were born.

Oscar Wilde

I was reading another blog today and was reminded of this picture.  Hope you like it, halfway.