take a chance

Boy this will open up some memory vaults for folks......ABBA came out with this song "Take a chance on me"...come on you remember, don't act like you don't remember what you were wearing in the late 70's early 80's. I'll go ahead and age myself, i graduated high school in 1982, so I remember the fashion....uh oh....wait a minute...the stuff we were wearing in the 80's, I'm seeing the kids wear now. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! OH MY GOSH.....This is GREAT, well for some, but boy the years are flying aren't they folks.

In our earlier years, we were willing to take chances weren't we? Especially when it came to asking a girl out. Man the nerves, the asking the potential date's friends 5 kazillion times "do you think she'll go out with me" "did she say she would?" Ok here I go....."are you sure?" Will you go already, we do go and the yes is delivered for some, but let's be honest some said no. But either way, we would never know until we "took the chance." The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat hang on one response, and so with the chance comes acceptance or rejection. Both incredible emotions to travel through and one in particular, rejection, we start to avoid at all costs, and hence we stop taking chances.

Did you see what just happened, in our scenario above? We have the opportunity to be accepted and or rejected, but when i "try" to avoid being rejected, we then give up the chance of being accepted and isolation creeps in.

We see this in our marriages. Before we said "I do" we were flying around for each other with reckless abandnon. Grabbing for life with each other in every shape, form and fashion. Didn't matter what we were doing, as long as WE were doing it. Then careers creep in, hobbies creep in, children EXPLODE in and our willingness to take chances with each other are given to work, hobbies, children and we look around and notice no one's asking me to capture life anymore.

Some would say that Jesus, our bridegroom, took a chance. And i can see how they would think so. Here is the creator of the universe coming down in the form of man, placing himself on the cross, shedding His blood for our sin's; exclaiming IT IS FINISHED; is placed in a tomb; 3 days later comes BLASTING out conquering death forever and providing eternal life for those who believe and now sits at the right hand of the Father, preparing a place for you and for me (who believe).

Jesus didn't model our way of taking a chance by asking God: "will they believe if I do this" "will they come if I empty out the tomb" Nope, He just did it, Oh He asked one time for the cup to be removed if it was in His Father's will, but we know he drank the cup completely in order to give me and you the chance to accept or reject. So did Jesus take a chance? Or is taking the chance left for us to accept or reject what He has already done and that is accept you and me.

pain

I am starting to notice something not only about myself, but in others in regards to pain. Most recently i attended a funeral. A friend of ours lost his dad in an auto accident. Although my friend's relationship with his dad while on this earth was not great, the pain of losing your daddy is HUGE.

Our instinct is to do "whatever" to help take that pain away from the person traveling through it, it is like we are trying to absorb that pain into ourselves in order to relieve our friend, our buddy, our child, our spouse from hurting. But something that is interesting, when we stop to think, is: why do we pretend or deflect pain when it hits us? When we know someone is traveling through difficult circumstances, when we know that life has brought someone to their knees and their entire body screams "I'm dying" we ask "are you OK?" Really? are you OK? If that's not crazy enough the response from our hurting friend is "i'm good" or "I'm alright"......ok I'm off that craziness anyone want to join me? OK good.

God talks about pain throughout scripture, I mean heck think about Job for a minute, that man went through some pain didn't he? Yes, and I believe Paul dealt with physical and mental pain, yet look at his words in:
Romans chapter 8:23 And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

So God is continually teaching us through these moments of pain and then comfort as we travel to the other side. And before I jump off that craziness wagon completely let's take a look at the following:
2 Corinthians 1:4
He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

So now it's becoming more clear (or clearer haha), maybe just maybe we are offering comfort and not trying to wear the pain....Yea i believe that's right and kiddos that ain't crazy...that's lovin em up!

www.loveemupministries.com

clothes line

Ok so i'm 46 and for some reason, as the years pass by, the more i recall some of the most random events, things, thoughts, and even emotions from my childhood. Maybe some of this has to do with our children who ask Debby and I "did yall have bicycles when you were our age?" i'm come on are we from Bedrock? hahaha.

ok Im exaggerating a bit, but stop and think about some of the items, or ways we would entertain ourselves in our younger days. One of the memories that continues to pop up for me, is the clothes line. Yea, where have they gone? Remember those days when all of your neighbors would have at least one line stretched out across the back yard, and if you were high falutin, well they may have two to three wires stretched out. Lines that would decapitate the tallest kid in the neighborhood during night time hide and seek and leave everyone laying on the ground laughing until you peeed in your pants, while he/she checked to make sure both eyeballs were still in their skull.

Man, yea I can remember looking out over the neighbors seeing everyone's unmentionables, and thinking are you kidding me.... Mr so and so really wears those? WOW! I guess when they (the unmentionables) hang out on a line for an extended period, in front of God and everybody, they are not unmentionable anymore......and don't think we didn't turn our heads at the well, you know the marks that clorox, just couldn't quite remove...the scars remain.... The days of running in and out of the clothesline, when mama hung the sheets out to dry and jumping in those same sheets that night with the smell of sunshine baked in was amazing. Those same sheets that left you searching for the cool spots way down at the bottom, as the window air conditioner threw out some serious snowballs. Or after a shower and you reached for a big fluffy.....uh stiff towel, that was baked in the same August sunshine and until it got a bit damp, felt like sandpaper going across your face. Or, or, or.....

Ah your there now, cool, hang out there awhile and bring your children in for some of those memories.