Stench

Last week there was a smell that filled the house up.  We took out the trash, I ran the garbage disposal, lit a candle and to no avail; the stench was still there. It was driving me crazy as I like to keep a clean house. Finally laundry day came around and as I went to put my first load in I realized there was a tiny little washcloth that had been sitting in the washer after I had cleaned up a messy counter in the beginning of the week.  That my friends, was the source of the smell.  Such a tiny little object filled the house all the way to the upstairs with a funky aroma.  I was relieved to find the source and then I started thinking about it a little more and as the weekend went on I found more lessons in this washcloth than just "don't leave a dirty one in the washer".  As Christians we sometimes hold on to something little, a little sin that we think "eh it wont be that big of a deal, just tuck it away and no one will know" those seemingly little things often cause the biggest stench in our lives.  They eat away and weaken our souls, causing a 'stench' in the way we live our lives.  Everything is effected by it.  

These weaknesses need to be addressed.  Its so easy to push them aside in embarrassment, shame and or the selfishness of not wanting to let it go. But, what we don't realize is that when we give up these weaknesses and let God take care of them He will use them to better us and most of all to glorify Him. 

Hebrews 12:1  (ESV)

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

2 Corinthians 12:9-11 (ESV)

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Whats causing a stench in your life? Is there something that you need to confess and get rid of to get a breath of fresh air? 

\ˈī-dəl\

What a strong word for the Christian community right? I'm sure none of you have a golden calf that you bow down to everyday or you make sacrifices for once a week right?

What is your definition of an idol?

What are the things/ people that you turn to in your life when things go bad?

My definition: A person place or thing that consumes your time.

My run to's: Ice cream, music, chocolate, friends, Jon, social media, clothes (shopping), my appearance, The Lord.

Think about those things listed, would you call any of them your idol? Heavens no...we would call them bad habits, or addictions. We make sure we sugar coat it, really though if we examine ourselves we might see that some of these things take up more time then they should.

Think about it, weed out those things and run to Your Maker and let Him comfort you. Don't let other things take up His time for you.

Marriage isnt for y.o.u.

  Read This!

/pər'spektiv/

noun.

1. a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.

Everyone needs a new perspective sometimes right?  We all need that breath of fresh air, that detail that was previously let out to make things clearer and just a different view of something.

There was a day a few weeks back that I was really stressed out about some different things in life.  I was thinking how its not fair that I have to walk through these trials and that someone else that can deal with it better should be the one to suffer instead.  Basically wallowing in self pity like satan wants us to do, in fact I'm pretty sure he thrives off our pity party, he brings the chips and dip, the drinks, and the cookies to help make it last longer.

I asked a patient how their day was and his tone of voice and the color in his face told me it really wasn't that great. He said he was tired of doctors visits and just wished everything would get better. Hes been on a heart transplant list for the last year and hes hoping that his heart holds out for the right match before it stops working. Talk about perspective, this man is holding onto every day hoping that he makes it another day, hoping that someone will call him saying he has a match.  I know we could all die any day but to think that I was worried about some minuet problems in my life when there are others out there hoping they can get a new heart really put my problems into perspective.  

Judgement

Hello blogger world,

I might try this once again.

Ive been really trying to examine those hidden sins that no one really sees. The jealousy, the judgmental thoughts, envy, hatred, lack of patience. The ones that you can pretty easily hide from everyone else and you just feel them eating away at you, they almost seem ok...after all no one can tell unless you say something right?  Satan seems to get a foot hold in these areas and they are some of the worst problems to get rid of.

I have a really bad habit of judging a book by its cover, or coming up with my own ideas about someone before I even know them. Most of the time I end up being wrong. For example: My best friend Lauren, when I first saw her on facebook knowing that we would be roommates I immediately thought that she would be a snob, totally enthralled in her boyfriend and care less about me. I was in a time of life where I was scared to go to college and I just thought the world was against me.  I should have just trusted that the Lord knew what he was doing. Lauren ended up being the best person I could have ever asked for.  Next would be Jon, I saw him in class and thought that he was a tool and stuck up.  I was afraid to even talk to him because I thought he would be one of those jerks that rubbed it in your face that he was smarter. 1 3/4 years later I'm dating him.  I don't know why my heart feels the need to judge people as if I'm high, mighty and better then everyone.

Yesterday I was checking a patient in. He came to me with a cane, looked about 45 years old and had hair all the way down to his butt. He was on disability and I just rolled my eyes (not really) and thought "you're just sucking it all up buddy aren't you?" He started out being smart with me, and frustrated because someone "jipped" him in line. I tried to calm him down, it was all I could do to be kind and then when I asked to take his picture for his file, he said something that stopped my dumb thoughts in their tracts. He said "yea mine as well get the picture now, I wont have hair next time"  He told me that since he is disabled and cannot contribute to society and work he grows out his hair and donates it to locks of love. While I'm not a fan of men with long hair (since when does my opinion matter) I thought it was pretty admirable that he thought of that. His last donation was over 16 inches of hair.  I was pretty impressed to say the least and quickly remembered that my judgmental thoughts ALWAYS seem to prove me wrong.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to love like Christ loves? Unconditionally, all the time, without the negativity?  

 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

What is love?

Love is when your brother takes his new Oakleys back because he wanted to visit his sister over the weekend and needed the $.

time with ones you love is so limited.

Hello...im stepping back into the world of blog. There's a few things I want to blog about but I cant seem to get them all out. Maybe writing this one will help the rest flow? We shall see...

I was talking to my grandmother today, probably none of my readers know her...but thats ok, Ill give you a picture of her. My 'Mom-mom' lives in upstate PA, she lives with her husband and getting to see her is a treat. My grandparents had a rough time earlier on in life. They lived barely making ends meet, they lived without Christ, and they lived through the death of one of their children (my moms sister). Life has not exactly been a cake walk for them.  Thankfully they found the Lord through Aunt Wendys death and after much convincing they quit the bad habit of smoking about 12 years ago.  Unfortunately their health has been spiraling downward pretty quickly for the last 8 or so years and excelling at a faster speed as of late. For years Ive wondered when the 'ticking time bomb' would go off. When will I lose her? She has congestive heart failure, her weight is not under control, she has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, gout, and has had numerous mini strokes.  Sometimes I look at the statistics and am truly amazed as to how she is still alive. She always tells me that she hears the 'breaks' on her life coming to a halting screech. She says that the Lords not ready to have her in heaven.

I can remember back to so many years ago when I was younger, I was allowed to go and spend time with her and my grandfather at their house. One particular time when I was younger I was up all night screaming because I wanted my mom and dad...they got up early that day and headed to take me back home. We stopped at McDonalds along the way and after eating I decided that I was fine to go back to their house. I still remember sitting in the backseat and telling them that "I was all better now" to which they laughed and continued to drive me back home. It wasn't until I was much older that I was allowed to go back and spend time with them. I have so many fond memories with them. We would always go to the dollar store and I usually had an certain amount of things that I could buy. One time after much convincing that mom let us eat them all the time my brother and I got Sour Warheads...we then tried to sell them on their porch. We weren't very successful but we had a blast, we got in a little trouble when we finally confessed that we never had the candy before but mom would never let us buy them.  There were countless nights that we would stay up late playing monopoly with our own rules. We would have mom-mom laughing so hard. There was another night that we were sitting in the living room watching a TV show and suddenly a bat started flying around in the house. We flipped out, mom-mom made me run out of the room to go get pa-pa. I finally got him to wake up and he was able to catch the bat and kill it. We watched every episode of Touched by an Angel, our favorite being the one with Wynona Judd in it...we would cry every time.  Every year I would call her on April fools and ask her if her refrigerator was running and that if it was she should go catch it, it became such a tradition that I cant ever try to 'fool' her anymore.

My favorite thing about her though? Her prayer life...whenever I need prayer she is one of the first people I go to.  She has told me that whenever she is really worried about me she will get on her knees. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you but when she gets down its usually impossible for her to get back up. Shes had to have my pa-pa come help her up on numerous occasions. He's told me that he's yelled at her before because its dangerous with her health, yet she still continues to do it. Usually when I am going to take a test I will feel anxiety and then I call her and feel completely at ease when taking my test. Its like she has a special connection.  I know one reason why shes still alive...the Lord knew that my prayer life fails so often that I would need someone like her continually praying to get me through school.  My mom-mom is one of my best friends, I love calling her and just telling her whats on my mind, knowing that it wont be gossiped about later, I wont be judged and that she will pray for me about it all.

My Mom-mom isnt perfect, and she'll be the first to admit that, but I have learned so much from her. I cry every time I think about losing her and what it will be like to not have her to call and pray for me. I know my time is limited and I need to take advantage of every moment I can with her. I could lose anyone in my life in the snap of my finger and just thinking about this made me realize how much my time with the ones I love is so limited and I need to make more time for them, and remember to show them how much I love them.