Crossing Cultures

No, I will not be watching "Magic Mike" or reading "50 Shades of Grey" with my girlfriends. But not because some consider it to be unGodly.

I won't spend my (valuable) time absorbing those images and ideas because I'm actually intentionally going somewhere with my husband... I'm building something with him.

I understand how undermining and eroding sexual images can be to the intimacy in a marriage. Those images and ideas stick for years and become something that you have to wrestle through in your daily life. Why would I intentionally allow something into my life that damages what I'm trying to do? And I'd actually have to spend $10 to do it!? Ha! No, I'm not interested in self-destruction.

I AM interested in building a strong, powerful, intimate relationship with my best friend... a relationship that provides a secure foundation for our children, and a relationship that pursues and accomplishes the fantastic purposes that God has orchestrated for us.

Nope, not interested in wasting my time or my resources when there's so many more truly incredible things to do. I understand that the NBA championship was a huge win for LeBron, Dwyane and the Heat team... but popping a $75,000 bottle of champagne to celebrate, when there is so much hunger, thirst, and need in our world is just obscene.

Wake up, people! Our lives, resources, and time are not to be wasted on self-destructive, wasteful things. We each have a deep and thrilling purpose to pursue and accomplish...that, if we all begin to pursue, will change the face of this earth. So, let's stop all the foolishness and get to work.

P.S. To those who are flirting with the idea of reading the book or watching the movie because you're curious or because other you know are doing so... (I'm betting that spending $75,000 on some bubbly doesn't have quite the same lure for you)... my question for you is, Where are you going in your life? ...What are you trying to accomplish? If doing those things mentioned above hinders you at all, then why are you wasting your time considering them??

Selah was so excited about our steak family dinner for Valentine's Day this evening. As we sat at the table and enjoyed dinner, she started a surprising conversation.

Selah: "Mommy and Papa, you are the best daddy and mommy ever! I love you sooo much and I am so happy that you are here! (Big smiles.) I'm going to pray that you will never ever fall away from each other." (I blink twice. Did I hear her right?) "I want you (points to me) to always be Papa's wife, and I want you (points to Kenneth) to always be Mommy's husband. I don't want you to fall away... so I'm going to pray for you, OK? (Deep breath.) Father, please keep Mommy and Daddy safe and make sure that Mommy is always Papa's wife and that Papa is always Mommy's husband and that they never fall away from each other. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen!" (Big smiles.)

Me: "Wow, Selah...thank you so much for praying for us." I look at Kenneth and back at Selah, confused and surprised. "Selah, why do you think that Papa and I might fall away from each other?"

Selah: "I just don't want you to."

Me: "But what makes you think about that? Do husbands and wives fall away from each other?"

Selah: "Yeah."

Kenneth: "How do you know that?"

Selah: "In my dream. I saw it. And God speaks to me and tells me the words to say. So I prayed for you." (Big smile.)

Selah turned four years old two weeks ago.

I can't keep up! I've taken some time off of my personal blog (as you can see, I haven't posted in FOREVER). Personal stories abound and I laugh often, posting some of the funny comments from my girls on Facebook, but storing away most of it in my heart. My time to process through all that is happening in life has been recently hijacked by the Holiday burglar and the Globalife Journeys train.

In case you'd like to read where I'm currently blogging, then check out the Globalife Journeys blog. It's certainly all about some stuff that is near and dear to my heart. But all the personal thoughts and stories about my girls saying profound and ridiculous things, about me forgetting where I put ANYTHING because I'm pregnant, and all that God is doing inside of me will just have to wait until I can sit down with a latte and exhale.

It's been a while since I've posted. It's been even longer since I've journaled. Weeks go by and I can hardly believe that another weekend has come. My days are spent in blocks of time filled with activities that go from one block to the next until it's late at night and my eyes are locked on my bed.

I'm loving this time with the girls... spending time with the girls as they each learn different levels of preschool skills. I spend as much time as I can each week building Globalife Journeys, our non-profit humanitarian aid and missions organization. Then there's also worship to prepare for two services, play dates to organize, library and grocery shopping trips, and let's not forget the ever present cooking, cleaning, and laundry.

I love where we are in life. I love the direction we're heading in. Like my mom used to say, I do wish there were more hours in the day... but the Lord knows that I would just fill it with more stuff. Last weekend, K and I had some time to ourselves on an overnight date. It was fantastic. We both need that time to reconnect every once in while.

I thank God that His mercy is new every morning and He is with me when I rise. He reminds me every day to breathe deeply and not let my desire to accomplish more override His desire for me to simply live loved and love others.

"Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience, and we soon shall see them in their proper figures." ~Joseph Addison

There's something in me that says that paying all your bills on time and not going into foreclosure and keeping your "life" in order is all about integrity and responsibility.

I mean, people who find themselves in a financial bind, who have "poorly run" finances or bad credit, or who are surviving on unemployment or govt. aid must surely have made some poor, lazy choices in their life. Right? Because... that would definitely not be me. I am a person of integrity and responsibility.

Well, maybe it's not so much about those two traits as it is about arrogance... the arrogance that I think hardship is beneath me because I control my "life" so well.

My arrogance... maybe that's what all this is about...all this stuff we find ourselves in the midst of. And if so, then forgive me Lord. And thank you. Thank you for the lesson... for taking the time to cut it out of me. Your grace is so humbling.

Just in case you were wondering where she went, she's living in my house. And she looks suspiciously like me. In fact, we're practically the same person.

And just in case you felt free to rip her a new one yet again for what you believe she did, I just wanted to stand up for a moment and share something. You might as well throw me in the fire, too.

You see, if you believe that she committed murder and got away with it, as I do... then she's not so different from me. Because I am also guilty of lying to cover up for myself. I'm guilty of manipulating and undermining in order to get my way. I'm guilty of being selfish and wanting my own way. I'm guilty of silencing others by refusing to listen them. I'm guilty of cutting others with words. I'm guilty of putting myself before family.

But the similarities don't end there. While the death sentence was swirling around over our heads, and an obvious sentence of judgement was expected... we were both handed a supernatural portion of grace.

Regardless of whether you think it was a maddening lack of condemning evidence, or a gift of grace from an ever-loving Father, I know what I believe. Because I received the same gift. So, the next time you see someone go off on a tirade about her, think not about the depth of her sins... think instead about a God who's grace can even reach into the clutches of death and rescue someone.