Reality Check

I just received my March issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine.

It really is a lovely magazine. The cover picture is inspiring and spring-y. The colors are lovely. The headlines enticing.

But it also gives me a horrible case of the "I wants".

I want crisp, white cove molding in all the rooms of my house. I want a room with a little nook for a comfy chair, reading lamp and cute little side table. I want silk draperies in my livingroom. I want an outdoor entertaining room. I want a gazebo and a cute little tool shed. I want to be able to find all the ingredients to just one recipe at my local grocers. Oh, and I want brand new cabinetry in my kitchen.

Oh yeah, and I want a beautiful colonial/ranch home with the beautiful yard and woods. And a brand new crossover vehicle with all the bells and whistles.

Honestly. Are these homes for real? Are the people in them really as happy as they seem? And just how much do you have to net a year to afford to live like this? And why is this held up as the norm. As if everyone has the time and money to afford all this stuff? And why do we feel we ought to have it all? Why do we feel entitled?

My friend Jen at Grace and Glory recently wrote a very insightful post about our expectations as Americans and material wealth. It has really gotten me to start examining my own battle with covetousness and what I think I deserve out of this life.

Reading BH&G is really not helpful in this examination process. Neither is watching HGTV or going to my favorite store (um...that would be IKEA). It's really a form of temptation that leads to dissatisfaction with the blessings I have. That then leads to being unthankful. Whoa....we're getting awfully close to sin here.

God has given me soooo much. Much more than I deserve. I mean to say that a generation ago what I have would have been considered to be living at the top of the middle class heap. How much more do I want? He has given me all I need and a little more. For all of that I need to be thankful.

I think I will be letting my subscription to BH&G lapse. I want to be happy with what I have. It may not be all coordinated just so. There may be unfinished spots here and there. But it is all that I need and more.

Pruning

You know, when the Lord decides you need some pruning so that you can do some growing He really doesn't mess around. I've been getting pruned lately. It's been painful, humbling and freeing all at the same time. It has also made me assess my preconceived notions of what valid service to the Lord is.

I think that a lot of us see valid service as being anything that is done in, around or for the benefit of the church. Many times it has a title or lable attached, such as, pastor, Sunday school teacher, elder, deacon, deaconess, Bible study leader, etc, etc, etc. Certainly it is an honor from God if you are in any of those positions...however they are not the only areas of valid service. What about the person who cleans the church every week, or folds and stuffs bulletins, or makes coffee and cookies, or wipes a runny nose, or helps an older person across the parking lot? "Yes, you say. "that's valid service!"

Alright, we agree that those small areas of service are just as much ministry as the more prominent areas. Now, does ministry only take place at the church building? "Well no," you say. "there are those who visit the sick at the hospital, or the person on the prayer chain, or taking a meal to a family in need." Yes, I agree, those are valid service too.

Okay, what about the Mom at home, trying to raise her children to be Godly in a world that is doing everything it can to contridict the Bible and what it teaches? Is that ministry? Is that service? What if that Mom decides not to do church service but simply concentrate on what she has before her at home? Is she still doing ministry? If she chooses not to be at church every time the doors are open is she any less spiritual than the person who is at church every time the doors are open? If what she does is not as obvious to everyone around her is it still ministry? Is it still service?

These are questions that I have been wrestling with lately and here is the conclusion I have come to. (Actually, I have not come to these conclusions on my own...the Lord led me to them, to reinforce His call on my life, for this season of my life.)

Yes.

Yes, it is still ministry and service if I choose to do it in my home and for my husband and children.

And no.

No, I'm not any less spiritual if I don't do it at church. I'm not any less spiritual if I'm not at church every time the doors are open.

So the Lord has been pruning church activities out of my life. It's kinda weird but I like how it is challenging my preconceived notions of what ministry and service are. I'm doing exactly what the Lord has called me to do. To raise my children in the grace and admonition of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6: 4 - 7 tells me, "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."
I'm clinging to these words as I walk this path the Lord has layed before me.

Changes, Changes, Changes

In a former life I was a Graphic Designer. That was some...ahem...twenty years ago. Computer graphics was still in it's infancy and so I was mainly trained in old origination and print techniques. No one had heard of the world wide web and blogging...what was that? There was hardly any going to a computer to generate type. You went to a typesetter. Computers were for data and maybe some word processing.

And then life took a new and different turn in which I moved away from the cutting edge of Graphic Design and into the world of handmade crafts and tole painting. Anything "manufactured" or computer generated was abhorant.

After the craft world came the kiddos...a whole new world of creativity and sleepless nights!

Now here I sit with the desire to design my own blog and none of the tools I need. Actually I am in the process of acquiring some of those tools but it is taking a little longer than I want. Sigh.

So what am I getting at here? Well, in case you hadn't noticed I changed the template for my blog. Currently my only options are what Blogger has available. But you just wait until I have the tools to really make some changes! In the meanwhile, don't be surprised if you come to my blog one day and it looks totally different from the day before or something is just a little wonky. I hope that this won't keep you from reading it though. I do have some ideas rolling around in my head and when I can finally execute them things won't be changing.

I think...well I hope not...well maybe....you know us creative types.

The Calendar Conspiracy

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that more and more day planners and desk calendars are starting the week on Monday? If you don't believe me take a moment next time you are at an office supply store or Barnes and Nobles and start checking out the calendars. They nearly all start the week on Monday. For centuries the week has started on Sunday and now all these calendar makers have decided it should start on Monday. What I want to know is why?

I know that there is a vast portion of the working public that view Monday as the beginning of the week. It is the first day back work and school, but it is NOT the first day of the week. The Lord asks us as believer's in Him to give of our first fruits. The first fruits of the week is Sunday. Jesus rose on the first day...hello Sunday! I would like to announce to the world that the first day of the week is SUNDAY!

So why can't I find a desk calendar that begins the week on Sunday? I keep looking for a Mary Engelbreit desk calendar...she hopefully will still start the week on Sunday.