Responses ... and the mystery of the missing text message

So, if I were a writer for a mystery show, say Scooby Doo (.... because that is about as mysterious as we get around my house), I would probably use the title of this blog post as the title of one of the episodes.  When I wrote for the local paper, I always had a problem with choosing a title for my articles... I would either (a)be too wordy and explanatory about its contents or (b)leave it with a vague one word title that didn't leave anyone wondering or interested in what I had to say. I would just let an editor or publisher come up with a suitable title 90% of the time. Now, for this blog, I feel the need to be totally creative for the purpose of grabbing your attention. So maybe this isn't really much of a mystery... I could probably explain it away easily.... although, I don't really know the true occurrences in this particular situation. But, for now I am using the title just to get you to read this, so if you are already here, you might just want to read on!! I do believe I am writing for someone other than just myself!!! And after all, sometimes it's  really not about the message...  it's more about the response!!!

The mystery:
It was a hot but rainy afternoon in these parts of Alabama... and I was feeling a bit down. Maybe the graduation of my oldest son had gotten the best of me ... it is a season of change for this Mom and I am slowly adjusting. In the midst of these feelings of resenting this change, I craved only the words of someone who loves me unconditionally, someone who goes out of their way to make my life just a little better or easier... someone like my own Mother. I had received a text from her a couple of days earlier. The text was short and simple and of a spiritual and uplifting nature. I will not repeat the text because I, as  a general rule, don't share texts from other people with anyone if they are personal or without their permission. I will just say that, at that moment, I wanted to re-read this particular text, thinking it would make me feel better.
I opened up the message on my phone and realized that the text was missing... not all of the text messages between she and I, just the one that I wanted to read. What was left and the only reason I knew for sure that there had ever been that message, was my response, "Oh that is so great!!"... and a couple more words.
That was a couple of days ago, but this morning I woke up thinking about the vanished text and thinking that there is a new message in my very own response. Although I can't explain how a text message was plucked out of a group of to-and-from text messages between my mother and I, I can say that what remained was my response .... and mirroring life in certain situations, sometimes all we are left with is our very own response.

Thinking back:
When I had the idea to create a platform to speak out about my beliefs as a Christian... the idea was stemming from a feeling or a message that I received. I had a felt a "pull" (is the only way I know how to word it) to write or speak or be used in some way to talk about things... mostly about loving one another and sharing my journey as I become stronger in my faith in God.... what my co-blogger Ashley and I refer to as becoming Unshakable. I feel this same thing almost weekly, much like I did this very morning of what to write and how to write it. This "pull" forms the content of my blog posts. I realize that I can't make you, the reader, feel this pull... I can only attempt to make you feel something by my response to it.

To You:
I think we all feel these pulls and urges to do certain things when we let God take control of our lives. But, I also believe we shouldn't get caught up in trying to convince someone that God is using us for something in particular.... because while others may not ever be able to see our received message, they can see our response. Sometimes, it is just all about the response.
I encourage you to respond when you should ....because the true message meant to be heard or felt will live in that response. There is no better feeling than letting God use you for good things. If you feel unworthy or incapable, that is only in your mind... you never were intended to set your own limitations with regards to sharing the joy and love that is God.

and on another note....
In some situations we should think think about our response:
Think about our responses to every day situations... when we choose to judge someone, when we choose to post or re-post an article, picture, or just have an original thought on social media and especially when we add in our own response to whatever the situation might be... all that people are left to know about  me is how I responded, if we choose to put that out there. As the world is today, we all have the freedom to give other people a feeling for who we are and what we stand for by what we post on facebook, twitter, blogs... or whatever form of social media we use.  That freedom also gives us a responsibility. Our response identifies us as belonging with one group or another, with one belief or another. How about think about it first? How about think about others first? How about let God be the judge... or how about stand for something that actually needs standing for? How about think about the real reason we love to display others faults? How about thinking about standing in the crowd on that day Jesus was judged... are we in the crowd that screamed "Crucify Him"? Or are we one of the few that choose a different path? Think about how Jesus taught us to let the person without sin cast the first stone. Think about how the disciple's responses to Jesus' life have changed the world and how we too can change it. Think about who we really are and who God wants us to be.

The thing about responding is it can do good or bad... it can create a positive or a negative change in our mentality or morals... and  it can leave others either bitter or better.
As for the mystery of the missing text message... my response is still all that remains... and so I realize the weight of a message is sometimes only visable in our response to it, and that is what we have left to pass along to others.

Let's think about responding... and when we think about it, think about God's love.

Love,
Andrea




 

Friends...

To my friends,

What is a friend?... a friend by definition is a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection.

My three year old... who I love to quote often because of the innocence, honesty and humor in her thoughts.... was hugging her older sister and looked up at me and said "Mommy, I have a sister... do you have a sister?" I smiled and tried to think of an answer that she could understand... I replied "yes Summer, I have a sister that lives with Jesus." She said "Are you sad?" I have no idea why she would have asked me that... did I look sad when I said that? ... I attempted to say it in a positive way but maybe she saw through that? "I am a little sad that I can't hug my sister like you can" I replied "but I am happy my sister gets to live with Jesus. I am happy God gave me two little girls who I get to watch be sisters and love each other, and I have other people that are like sisters to me here... God sent these people to be part of my life... they are my friends." She asked who.... and I am blessed enough in my friendships to be able to have named a handful of people... a few who she knows and she smiled when I said their names. And then she changed the subject to princesses and pink dresses but left me thinking how blessed I am to have the friends I have and how I hope my children have these same blessings from their own friendships.

The story of my sister is for another blog post at another time. And, the friends I named to my daughter don't take the place of my sister... who, looking back now, was truly my best friend. But my friends are so special. Each one of them listens to me when I need them to. Each one of them has been there for me when I called them. Each one of them has seen me through different and sometimes difficult times in my life to help pick me up and move me along.... just like a sister would.

I have no doubt in my mind that along life's path, we are destined to encounter people who redirect us.... who change our way of thinking and open our minds to new possibilities. The ones who truly care where we end up, we call our friends. To be able to name a few people who fit this description in my life, is truly a blessing.

I am watching my children grow and make friends of their own. I treat these friends of theirs like family... just like some of my close friend's families have treated me. Because I realize that when the time comes and they are out there on their own, the friends will be the ones with them through some things and not me.

Along the way, some of these friends come and go... some have even gone in an indescribably heart wrenching way... but left a profound impact on mine and my children's lives. We count each moment as a blessing now, always in the back of our minds not knowing which is the last. Some experiences, we pray we never have to experience again.

But, what I have learned through my friendships and my children's is... to never take friendship for granted... whether it is the friendship from a sibling, a neighbor or a best friend.... it is there for a reason... the two of you, of us, have a bond of mutual affection because you were meant to be in my or their life.

God sends us who we need when we need them or when they need us...  even if we can only be together for a short time.

My message to my children is to be the friend my friends were and are to me.. loyal, trustworthy, respectful, giving, helping, loving, thoughtful, fun and supportive.

I love you, my friends, and pray that my children have or find friends that are much like you! (And loving my kids as much as I do, I don't think I could compliment you better than that statement
!!)

Love,
Andrea

It's time to move! ~~Ash

I have been busy and I know that my co-blogger, Andrea, is feeling the crunch of life, as well, but we talk often of our blog and how we want to keep pace with our writing, and want to include it in our everyday lives. It may not be a daily blog, but what happens in our daily lives definitely forms our blogs.

Both of us have been in moving mode! Andrea moved the location of her business and I moved into a new home. So life has been a series of trips and hauling boxes from one place to another. Boxes, boxes, boxes! Those boxes revealed my life and my family's life. And man did I sort some stuff out! Making decisions to hold on to or let go of certain items was exhausting at times.  I must admit that I held on to some junk for sentimental value or because it had been a part of my household for years. Even though, I have absolutely no use for some of that junk, I still held on to it. But isn't that what we do sometimes? Don't we hold on to junk when we should just let it go? In my new place, I have found that junk that I carried over,  has gotten in the way and takes up much needed space that could be used for something useful, something better. And this moving experience taught me that it is easier to accumulate stuff than to move it!

That can be said of our spiritual life, too.

Maybe it is time to sort out some things that you have been holding on to just because you "own" it. If the past keeps you in a place of shame, although you have repented, then it is time rummage through those second- hand goods and sort it out.  Some of that junk can be recycled and used for the good, and some of it should honestly be scrapped--lesson learned, it's nothing more than official trash. 
So, my sisters,  let's work together to let go of our hoarding tendencies. How can God replenish that which is full of refuse? That is a waste!

 A storehouse that is full, even of junk, satisfies space--it is time to break through, clean-up and get to the fresh new wine! He can restore in ways that are far superior than anything we can imagine!

"Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over." Proverbs 3:10

Pray that God shows you what needs sorting and restores exactly what you need!

And Praying that we remain faithful to a faithful Father! Ash

A message from a tiny ant....

Many years ago, after my sister and I had been called weird many times (by our friends and usually in a friendly way), we made a decision that when someone called us weird... we would just say thank you and take it as a compliment. Our reason-- it is easy to be the same, it is more difficult to be who God made you to be. Never has there been a better time (that I can think of) to form opinions based on what is truly in your heart and not based on those ants marching beside you:

I have been so busy lately that I feel like I am running a marathon most days. As life goes, and most of you probably feel the same way, I have intentions of doing this and that... I even make a to do list at the beginning of each week... and try to check off as many things on that list as possible. Some days I just stop for a few seconds and think... really? Is this really how it's going to always be? And then I try to remember what it's all for. And I take a few moments to look up and give thanks and remember that nothing is as important as one thing.

I can imagine if one were to be able to physically rise above this world and look down at our world as a whole.... we would all look like little ants. Ants always look busy running here and there but following the same path as the one before them.  Just think of those ant farms you can buy, the ones that are thin and glass so you can see all of the ants as they go about their daily routines. We, I am sure, look like those ants from up above.

To my eyes, looking down at this ant farm, I see busy little ants and wonder what they are in such a big hurry for. They spend their entire lives slaving to build their homes and increase their numbers and what is it all for?  Does even just one ant stop to look up at me looking down at them? Maybe... maybe there are a few ants in the farm that realize there is someone bigger and much more powerful watching. Maybe these few ants realize that this someone could easily wipe out the entire farm in seconds if that is what they choose to do.

Other ants think that this tiny ant farm is all there is .... they think whatever decisions they make are only seen by their eyes or the ones right around them. They think it is okay to live in a way that totally disregards the fact that there is a powerful someone watching every move they make and every form of communication with each other.

Looking down at these ants... maybe they start to make terrible decisions... because they are angry, because their fellow ants are not doing exactly what they want them to... so they turn on each other. These ants begin to commit horrible acts .... killing, stealing.... all the while I am watching these ants, my ants. The ants I put together in this lovely farm neither acknowledge or appreciate it or each other.

What would I do? The ants have rebelled against each other against and ignored the gifts and freedom that each of them were given... What would you do? If you had the power to end this ... if you saw from above the pain and that the majority had this disregard for life... what would you do?

There is no comparison between the ants and God and his children, really.... because we cannot grasp his love for us and patience with us with any analogy that might surface in our minds. What we would all probably say about this ant farm... this is sad, these ants are not worth keeping, they hurt each other and they think there are no consequences... they think they can keep on living in this place that I made for them while they are corrupting all that is around them and they are changing all that I meant for it to be.

But then, maybe we see that one ant that stops and looks up and says ... wait, thank you!... What can I do to create a change? This ant taps on the shoulder the others passing by and says: look up!!  There is someone watching us... someone that wants us to live in harmony and love... someone that gave us all that we have... let's tell that someone thank you.

Of course, this is a partly silly analogy of life... I try to find my own way to grasp the concept. All I know for sure is that there are some terrible, scary things going on. Why don't we stop and make the attempt to show others the one looking down on us?! Acknowledge that we are each accountable for the change we COULD make!!! ...Are we just too busy or do we think those terrible things that are happening around the world are not happening to us directly or not affecting us directly? Yes, they are.

So in this moment I am just a tiny ant... and I am tapping you on the sholder

We can create a change together ... Just look up with me!

Thank God! He loves us and he shows us he loves us everyday.... even when we are the ants that never look up.

Love,
Andrea