get to it

an important message is captured and conveyed in this 2011 marmaduke comic. and it's a simple one: people...and pets :-) are counting on me. note to self: don't let them down. 


there's a song on the airwaves and the chorus goes like this: "you can count on me like 1, 2, 3. i'll be there, and i know when i need it i can count on you like 4, 3, 2, and you'll be there 'cause that's what friends are supposed to do."


it's true. the people in my life--family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, even random people who cross my path--are depending on me in one way or another. i need to make sure i get to the part about them...in prayer, yes...but also in everyday life. 


the way i see it, i need to be available. to be someone who can be leaned on. i need to be there. or be square. that expression refers to the person who is not cool or in, and is therefore square...square because they're not there. in other words, be part of the scene or the action, or you just ain't cool. and if you aren't there for people, you aren't all that cool either.


so get to it. they're waiting. 

mirror, mirror

confession: i read someone's diary.


i read with some spellbound interest. i read with a measure of ineffable envy. but mostly i read with a very healthy dose of utter disdain. and i read with a preponderance of caustic judgment. and i read with a lion's share of harsh criticism.


i couldn't believe some of the stuff this person did...over and over and over again. like it didn't even matter. like they didn't care to learn from their mistakes. clearly they never read back through their previous entries. they couldn't have! otherwise they wouldn't keep making the same foolish missteps and errors in judgment.


don't get me wrong; there were times when it seemed like they were on track and right on target...but mostly it was the same ridiculous rashness...it seemed to be a never ending rinse and repeat cycle...i was left shaking my head, frustrated for the individual who just didn't seem to get it.


then i realized the diary was mine.


when i got off my high horse and realized i certainly and obviously wasn't above the blunders i'd been reading about with such disappointment, i had to admit that the past is a teacher. i had, in fact, been learning along the way. i really wasn't making the same mistakes with as much regularity as i thought, once i ascertained that i didn't really want to keep doing what i was doing.

the truth is, that diary was every bit me as my reflection in a mirror. and i didn't like a lot of what i read there, but it was me. i was determined to do something about myself. i resolved i would never go down that road again. those roads. all the issues and miscalculations and slips of the tongue that i wasn't proud of in that diary were behind me. i was closing the book on them. literally.


a wise man once wrote, "act on what you hear! those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like." i was hearing a call for continued change for the better with every entry i read. i saw the writing on the wall, and the message was as clear as my reflection in the looking glass. the mirror, mirror on the wall was telling me who i was and what i looked like. and the diary wasn't lying either.


the way i see it, you can't long ignore what you see and hear about yourself. you can't long sustain the lack of doing something about your condition. i mean, you can, but you'll frustrate yourself and others. and the danger is hypocrisy, because the very things you loathe in others are likely the very things about yourself that you need to change.


this isn't a finger pointing. well, it is. but not at you. at me. all i want to leave you with is a reminder to not forget where you've come from, and to not walk away unchanged when you see an image of yourself that you don't love or aren't proud of. like i've intimated--no, outright said--before, don't forget your past or where you came from. the past is a teacher; learn from it. remember it. don't relive it. revolutionize it. renovate it. restore it. recreate it. 


the next time you pick up that diary and thumb through the pages that leave a bad taste in your mouth, be reminded that's not you anymore. you confessed your faults. now move on. 

lasting impression

for almost a year and 6 months now, i have recognized the face and voice of my niece. i can easily pick her out of the crowded play area at chapters or in the busy nursery at church. i recognize her chortles, cries, and chatter in the midst of other noises. i recognize her.


in the past couple of weeks her mother, my sister, told me about 2 separate instances that both warmed my heart and caused me to think a couple thoughts :-)


one day my sister was on facebook and she showed my niece a picture of me. here's what my sister wrote to me via facebook: "I showed Marcail your profile picture. She was smiling and pointing! I was saying, "Hi Aunt T!" and she was waving at you ;)" a few days following that occasion, my sister told me following a church service that my niece noticed me on the platform at my church where i do some singing. it was obvious she recognized me and was pleased to see me, even if only from a distance.


i know my niece has likely recognized me for some time now...but these times were different than when my mom brings my niece close to the platform while i'm singing, or when my sister brings her in close proximity to me for the purpose of us seeing each other, or when i approach her to make over her. it's like these times, brought to my attention, my niece recognized me without having to be reminded who i am. she recognized me. 


here are my 2 thoughts (well, 3 if you count the recurring thought that i have the most adorable and brightest niece in the world)... 

for one, apparently i have done things to make myself recognizable to my niece in a good way. it's not fear, or annoyance, or upset, or indifference based recognition...but, if i may take the liberty of presumption, it's joy and delight based recognition. this made me ask the question, have i made myself recognizable in a positive way to the people i interact with, no matter what the level of interaction is? i'm not suggesting that everyone's gonna like me and want to be my best friend, but have i made the kind of impression that leaves a good taste in people's mouths? which brings me to something i heard on the radio, as the morning show host prepared to do a "listener of the week" draw, employing the assistance of an unsuspecting guest to announce the impending draw with a set of sticks and cymbals. following the cymbal solo and resounding final crash, the host noted the enthusiasm of the percussionist, who in turn remarked that she thought she might have only the one shot at making a lasting impression. the radio host shot back that as far as he could tell, she certainly made an impression on the cymbal. the point is that i make an impression on people. i better make sure it's a positive one and one that i want to revisit; not one i'd prefer to forget or remove like a bad tattoo :-) 


and secondly, i might have a great, "out of this world" impression of God, but does He have a good and positive impression of me? have a left a good taste in His mouth? does He know me in a good way? someday i'm gonna stand before Him, and i want Him to be able to say "well done, good and faithful servant," not "depart from Me...I never knew you"...or like the message translation of matthew 7:21-23 says, "I can see it now—at the final judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' and do you know what I am going to say? 'you missed the boat. all you did was use Me to make yourselves important. you don't impress Me one bit. you're out of here.'" i want to make sure He knows me in a good way. 1 cor. 8:3 (nlt) says, "the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes." and if i love Him, according to john 14:15, i will keep His commandments. i guess doing these simple things will ensure that He recognizes me in a good way :-)

the way i see it, the phrase "lasting impression" has probably been used to describe my impact on someone, and the mark i've left by my actions or inaction, by the things i've said or didn't say, by my behaviour or attitude, etc. i think i've done a good job leaving a good lasting impression on my niece; i want to be careful that i do the same with others, and with God, so that if i was a tattoo, it'd be a good association, and not a bad memory.


and that's all i've gotta say about that :-)

"an open letter"

i just finished reading "dark like mine" and "badbanana". to have a better sense where my thoughts are coming from, you might want to read 'em :-)

what follows is what both posts said to me personally...

both of the above blog entries reminded me of all the times i forget who i profess to be and, by my actions or inaction, project a poor image of God and quite possibly leave people with a bad impression of Him, or no impression of Him...which is just as bad...because who you represent should be clear, and it should be good.

all too often i forget that my life's an open book...ever heard the expression "an open letter?" one of the features of the open letter is that it's intended to be brought to public attention. well, newsflash: "your lives are a letter...everyone can read it...clearly, you are a letter from Christ...this 'letter' is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. it is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts" (2 cor. 3:2-3 nlt). like my fellow blogger friend states, i might be the only bible someone ever reads. i don't want to misrepresent.

even when i'm not feeling particularly spiritual, which is often because i'm a human being not an angelic one :-), these posts reminded me that i might be someone's first and/or last point of contact with Christ. i need to make sure i've left them with some good reading material...something good to chew on that will make them want more. this might mean actually giving an answer to someone about the hope i say i have, since this is what we're supposed to be prepared to do anyway, according to 1 peter 3:15. or, it might be just smiling in traffic and letting someone out ahead of me...or showing myself friendly by holding open a door for an oblivious teenager...or telling the weary cashier she's doing a good job...or letting the dad with crying kids at mcdonald's go first...

be reminded you're an open letter..."known and read by everyone" (2 cor. 3:2 ncv). let's not disappoint.

:-)

auld lang syne...annotated :-)

note: somehow i missed posting this...it has been sitting waiting to be published since...well, new year's...oh well, for your reading pleasure, what follows is the t-ls annotated version of the better known part of "auld lang syne:"

---------------------------------------------------------------

"should old acquaintance be forgot, & never brought to mind?" i'd say forget 'em in 2011 if they were acquaintances who were bad influences & brought you down! if they were acquaintances who are possibly positive friends waiting to happen, look 'em up & forge a connection in 2011!

"should old acquaintance be forgot, & days of old lang syne?" as for the latter part of this rhetorical question, don't forget your days gone by or where you came from. the past is a teacher; learn from it. remember it. don't relive it. revolutionize it. renovate it. restore it. recreate it.

"for auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne." for old times' sake past, & for goodness' sake present, & heaven's sake future, remember you're not an island unto yourself. this line says "we'll." not you. not me. not them. not us. we. you can take the cup of kindness & you will have done exactly that…taken the cup of kindness that could have been, should have been shared. just ask scrooge what taking the cup of kindness meant for him. luckily he had a chance to make it right; you might not, so do it right the first time. be inclusive & open to relationships built on kindness & just watch the year you’ll have in 2011!

happy new year & all the best in 2011 indeed!

"make time"...for what matters least...not what matters most

today, while washing the windows in the church entryway doors, a task i do regularly, i watched as a regular dog walker drove in the church parking lot. i was doing something i do regularly. he was about to do something he does regularly. as i stepped outside to complete my regular task, i observed that there were a couple of other regular dog walkers in the yard.


window washing and dog walking...this combination is what sparked this brief blog entry...i know how often i wash the windows at ccc, and i feel like i have a pretty good idea how often the dog owners exercise their dogs there. these things aren't really things we "make time" for. they are part of our regular routines. i'd hazard a guess that other things happen around these things.


don't get me wrong; we need routine. in fact, this is exactly what this is about. window washing and dog walking are both important. in both cases, someone's depending on the task being done...the guests, the regulars, the dogs...my point is that we never have to "make time" for our habits...the things we do regularly...


ever notice that when u say "i need to make time for ______," it's always something that everything else should be taking a back seat to? i need to make time for prayer, or my family, or the things i sign up for but never stick to...yeah, these kind of things. the kind of things where i'm being counted on to get to it and get it done. the kind of things that all too often take a backseat to all my other habits and priorities. 


i posit that there are things in all of our lives that we should be making time for, so much so, that they become the new regular...that they're no longer the things we make time for and squeeze in last minute if there's time. i bet that they are the things that need to become what everything else revolves around...things like relationships with God and people, for example. i know what i shouldn't have to make time for. i know what should be priority. i know what should come first. i know what should be habitual in my life but has a tendency to become what i give the least amount of my time to in the run of a day.


i'm taking a look at my habits--the things i engage in regularly--and the things that ought to be habitual in my life, but have a tendency to get placed on the back burner. i don't want to get so wrapped up in my important activities that i neglect the things and the people that are at least of tantamount importance, and quite possibly of paramount importance.


the way i see it, taking time to smell the roses is a good thing to do...that very statement implies that it's something you should be making time for. while an idiom, it's an imperative statement. it's not really a suggestion or recommendation; it's a command. just make sure in all your rose smelling, window washing, and dog walking, and all the other habits that fill your day, that other matters don't go by the wayside. make sure you're not just "making time" for what matters so that you can check it off your list as being completed until next time. make time for what's less important, and reserve the best of your time--not what's left of your time--for the habits that matter most.


i dare you.

wonder working...

i'm sure you've heard this: "i wonder what God's up to." or, "i wonder what God's doing." i sure have. and i've said it dozens of times...always when i don't understand...when i'm questioning a situation...basically, when i'm wondering why things aren't going the way i planned in the timeframe i had in mind.

so often we have a situation where we think we know what is best, or when is best. maybe i should talk in the first person. so often i have a situation that i don't understand, and yet i think i know what's best and when's best. in my mind, i can see perfectly how something should go and what the result should be. if this would take place, followed by that, then if this would happen, and if a, b, and c occur, then d will be next, and everything will fall into place. from my particular vantage point, i think that it's as easy as 1, 2, 3...that if it would just go like so, because i have it all figured out like so, i'll be able to pat myself on the back and proclaim that i called it like i saw it, and my pithy analysis and swift interception are what brought about the change or desired outcome.

the other day i was thinking about how i often approach God with a problem...a problem i already have solved, if He would just do what i want. a phrase popped in my head: "the Lord works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform"...which isn't in the bible, by the way...oh, the idea is there, but not this actual expression. i know because i went looking for the reference. the concept, however, is all through the bible, and the phrase is an accurate assessment of what God does for me time and time again. when He responds in a way i didn't anticipate, it's because He's mysteriously working to perform a wonder that will bring me out of or through my problem, and in a way that He'll get the credit...but, it's His wonder...not mine...you might remember the old hymn, "there's power, power, wonder working power...well, it's His wonder working power, and He's waiting for the perfect moment to perform His wonder :-)

bottom line, when it's not going the way i thought it should, it's probably because there was waaaaaay too much of my own doubtful wondering and limited wonder working imposed on a situation that God wanted to be His wonder and work to perform. sometimes i need to take a step back, take my hands off, and really, just stop wondering why God's not doing it my way, and just let Him work a wonder...in my life, in my future, in my family, in my church, in my victories, in my failures, in what i have to offer, in what i have left...


job 9:10 says that God "does great things past finding out, and wonders without number." in isaiah 29:14 God says, "I will proceed to do a marvellous work...even a marvellous work and a wonder." don't worry; God's up to something in your life and situation. chances are, you won't be able to figure it out, or even count the wonderful and marvellous ways in which He responds. the key is to not worry in all your wondering: "don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. then you will experience God’s peace" (phil. 4:6-7).


here's the summary, the way i see it, using a verse that one of my pastors used in a powerful message yesterday (a link that i will add here once our webmaster makes it available as an archived resource): "a thing was revealed...and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long" (dan. 10:1). God's "I shall" and "I will" in and for your life might be slow, but it's sure. don't let your wondering be fraught with worry. remember that your timing might not be God's timing, and that God's true to His Word in and for your life. He's working it out for your good (rom. 8:28). you don't have to wonder or worry if He's working on it. He is.


your "thing" is true; don't doubt it or worry about it. let your wondering be with anticipation and "with bated breath" expectation for the work God's about to perform in you and for you. it might be a mystery to you how God's going to do it, and indeed be "past finding out," but wait for it...the marvellous work and wonder and "thing" with your name on it is just around the corner...