Population: Me

The lyrics below really have been speaking to me this week:

In my own little world it hardly ever rains
I’ve never gone hungry, always felt safe
I got some money in my pocket, shoes on my feet
In my own little world
Population: me

I try to stay awake during Sunday morning church
I throw a twenty in the plate, but I never give ’til it hurts
I turn off the news when I don’t like what I see
It’s easy to do when it’s
Population: me

What if there’s a bigger picture?
What if I’m missing out?
What if there’s a greater purpose
I could be living right now
Outside my own little world

when i Stopped at a red light, looked out my window
I saw a cardboard sign, said “Help this homeless widow”
And above that sign was the face of a human
and I thought to myself, “God, what have I been doing?”
So I rolled down the window and I looked her in the eye
i thought how many times have I just passed her by?
I gave her some money then I drove on through
And my own little world reached
Population: two

Father break my heart for what breaks Yours
Give me open hands and open doors
and Put Your light in my eyes and let me see
That my own little world is not about me

What if there’s a bigger picture?
What if I’m missing out?
What if there’s a greater purpose
That I could be living right now
and i know theres a bigger picture
I dont wanna miss it now
i know theres a plan and a purpose
I can be living right now
Outside my own little world

I recently heard this Matthew West Song on Klove and absolutely love it and was so convicted by it. Isn’t that how we live so often in the world of population: me? I know I do. I wish I could say I was more selfless and cared so much more for others but I would be lying. I want to but I get caught up in the entanglements of this life and my world so easily.

I love the line where he says he saw the widow holding up the sign and above the sign was the face of a human. It kind of reminds me of Jesus. He was all about the individual. We can’t change the world all at once or make a difference in everyone’s life. But we can make a difference and notice one person at a time.

Oh Lord, forgive my selfish heart and open my eyes to the ways I can notice and love those around me even if it’s just one person everyday. Turn my eyes upward and outward instead of inward. My world is of little consequence in the grand scheme of things. Give me greater Heavenly perspective. Amen.

Homeless for the Holidays

I received a free screener copy of a Christmas movie a few weeks ago so I could watch and review it. I’ve seen it in the Family Christian Store magazine so I figured it couldn’t be that bad. I am usually skeptical of these type of low budget films and don’t care for them too much.

However, this one had a really good message. No, the acting won’t win any academy awards and there were some cheesy, over the top moments. But overall, I thought it was well done and a good family movie.

The premise of the movie is what happens in the life of a man and his family when he loses his job and finds himself homeless for the holidays. It touches on some great truths about the way men and women think. It deals with the pride of a man and his desire to provide for his family. How much is too much and what is really important? What is a man willing to do to provide for those he loves? It deals with the insecurities of a woman and how important it is to be supportive of your husband.

Most importantly it speaks of the issue of generosity and how much of a blessing we can truly be to others, even when we don’t have much to give. It was certainly a challenging message but a great reminder of what Jesus calls us to do. And not just this Christmas season, but always. We are called to give generously and to love others. How often I fall short of that!

So despite the weak moments in this film I would recommend it as a great tool for reminding yourselves and your kids of what the truly important things are in this life. And even better is if you are able to put into practice the truths brought to life.

Go check it out at: http://homelessfortheholidaysmovie.com/

1st Things 1st

Life has recently gotten away from us. Oh we've been living and busy but some important things got pushed to the back burner. I could make up excuses. Our schedules have changed, we have more going on at night, we're too tired. Like I said, excuses. But God really convicted me last week that we needed to make a change. I feel like he was telling John the same thing in a different way.

When we were dating we would pray together on the phone. When we were engaged we would pray together almost every night. When we first got married we did devos and prayed quite frequently. And then the past few months is when life got away from us. We both know how important it is for us to be praying together. Personal time with God is important too, but praying together is a special time when we are spiritually connected and laid bare before God and each other. It's key to the health of our marriage.

So God prompted my heart to mention that I miss praying together and John agreed. We came up with a new schedule and so far so good. We've been getting up a little earlier, both of us, so that we can pray before breakfast and before work. This seems to work better for both of us because we are fresh and not tired from a long days work. It is so refreshing to start off the day that way.

I am telling you this not to brag, but to be an encouragement. There are so many things in this life that we can't do. We can't fix everyone's problems.  We can't even fix our own problems most times. We can't heal people. We can't be there for everyone all the time. We can't be everything for our spouse. We can't be everything for our family. We need help. We can't always give of our time or money to help others. But we can pray. And it's one of our best spiritual weapons against the enemy. And when we pray together it unites us in serving together.

I also think it helps in a marriage because it is a place of transparency. Hopefully you don't intentionally hide things from your spouse, but you can't hide from God. And if you are really open to Him when you pray together you will be surprised at the things God shows you. After all He knows us better than we know ourselves.

So I challenge you to try it out. But you have to be intentional about it. And feel free to check up on us. We're definitely not perfect. So I hope we can keep it going too!

Sometimes you just gotta get away

Two weekends + two road trips = too much fun!

A few weeks ago John and I headed out to Kansas for one of my friends wedding. It was a 9 hour drive one way. And two more hours to the wedding. So I figure if I add it all up we spent nearly a complete day in the car. 22 hours. Oddly enough, we both really enjoyed it. Here's some highlights at lightning speed:

1. BBQ, yum. John really liked it. And I had not had ribs in forever.

2. The food at the wedding was really delicious. 

3. Chik-fil-a. I am so excited they are opening one near us. It tasted so good and they gave us a sample of their new peppermint shake. Soooo good! Can't wait to go buy one. It's the little things.

Ok so beyond food, there were other really fun things:

4. Meeting up with an old friend who we rode to the wedding with. Yay for Sara.

5. Shannon's wedding was beautiful!

6. Laughing, singing and talking with my best friend for 18 hours

Last weekend we went our separate ways. John headed to a men's retreat in Indiana with my brother in law and dad, and us ladies (me, mom, and sis) went to Kenosha, WI for a shopping trip, and boy did we. We shopped til we dropped. Saturday we started out with a Panera breakfast and I just have to say that I absolutely LOVE their asiago cheese bagel. So the day started out great. We shopped at the outlets from 10-4. And then went to Cracker Barrel for a much needed hearty meal. Played phase 10 at the hotel and hit the hot tub before crashing. Sunday we visited the Jelly Belly warehouse and got some free samples before heading to Gurnee Mills and doing more shopping. I think I wore my family out but it was some much needed shopping therapy for me.  I did find some great deals, though I did not get as much Christmas shopping done as I had hoped. Oh well. 

A beautiful sunset greeted us as we pulled into the hotel. I had to snap a shot.

At the Bass store with my sis. Pretty warm for the North Pole.

We didn't completely fill the back of Jen's car but we did have quite a bit

No more traveling for a little while. But we do have a Christmas road trip to North Carolina planned so that should be loads of fun.