Lost In the Prairies.....Found by God

 

It's that time of year.  Yes, vacation time for the Slomp family.  We are going on vacation and therefore I will be away from the blog for a few weeks.  I'll lurk about.  Pop in from time to time.  You won't even notice the difference.  I'm not even going to leave you in a lurch if you are wondering what will happen to your favourite Friday meme (OK, maybe my favourite Friday meme).  I am going to post some of my favourite blogs from when I first started blogging.  They may not necessarily be my best posts, but they will be posts that have moved me.  

Now you may be thinking to yourself "Didn't she already go on a vacation?"  Yes I did with my husband in Phoenix and it was lovely.   This is the annual family vacation.  I'm not telling you what we are doing - yet.  We always take the children for two weeks somewhere.  We've taken them to Jasper, Vancouver Island, and Silverwood.  This year it's exciting and it's only in one more sleep.  

You may also be thinking - why aren't her kids in school yet?  Or oh she's waiting to start her homeschool year until September.  It's neither of those things.  We don't homeschool.  The idea stresses me out and school starts here the day after Labour Day.  I know many of you have already started school and for the past 4 years, school has started for us the last week of August.  For some reason, yet unexplained, the school year is starting in September.  When I grew up that was what happened.  You spent Labour Day weekend watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon and then got ready for the first day of school.  I don't know why people would want to start school in August and then end school the last week of June.  I know many of you are done in May, but here the last day is June 28.  Then we get two months off.  I always thought it unfair of the school board to short change us and make our kids start in August.  It just felt wrong.  Now I know we get two weeks off at Christmas and one week in February for "Teacher's Convention" and one week off during Easter.  However, add in all the PD days and I think you owe us some time off when we want it - in the summer! 

For those who know me, I bet you are a bit perplexed right now.  Michelle isn't an outdoor sunshine bathing beauty kind of girl and no I am not.  However, this summer we've done lots.  The two big kids went to camp together.  Nic got to go to horseback riding camp for a week.  They both attended the local library's reading program.  They just spent a week at VBS and had a fun time.   We've had friends come and visit from Saskatchewan.  We went and visited my in laws.  We went and saw some of our Province's attactions - Frank Slide and Dinosaur Provincial Park.  We had some lazy days, some rainy days, and some unbelievable hot days.  It's all been fun, exciting and busy and yes, we are still going on two weeks vacation.  

Today the worst catastrophe happened.  No it wasn't a tornado, hail storm, wild fire, or attack of wild animals.  It was worse than all of those.  My land line went down and I had no phone. GASP!!!  

I didn't know what to do.  I was planning on talking with the evil twin while I cleaned bathrooms.  How would the bathrooms get done?  What would I do?  I called my husband immediately and told him.  He was as aghast and horrified as I was.  (This is very sarcastic, as he was not).  I called our phone company and there were no problems in the area and no reason for the phone to be out.  NOOOOOOOOOO!  It was something else beyond my control and the soonest they could have someone come in would be Friday after lunch (if I was lucky).  I tentatively scheduled the service call and called my husband.  He said he would look into when he got home.  That was 5 hours of waiting.........

I called the evil twin on my cell, but it wasn't the same.  I have a Blackberry Torch.  I love my Blackberry.  I love my QWERTY keyboard, thank you very much iPhone lovers.  But you can't cradle your cell phone on your chin and shoulder the way you can a cordless phone.  It fits perfectly.  It becomes part of you (until you get a stiff neck).   My kids even know that the phone is part of me.  When they are little they run around with little fake phones cradled in their necks and gibber on the phone.  There is a part of me that gets very proud at that moment, until the reality sets in and realize I probably spend too much time on the phone.  

Any way.......I managed to survive the afternoon with no phone.  It is a miracle to be sure.  God gave me the strength to persevere through this time.  I also got a lot more accomplished than I ordinarily do - 4 loads of laundry, kitchen cleaned, bathroom cleaned, administrative stuff done, etc...  There were a few things I wanted to do that didn't get done, but they were out of my hands.  

When my hubby came home, he immediately began to set right the wrong.  He immediately realized the problem  (the wiring at the junction was shorted).  He went to the hardware store and found the parts he needed and within a short time (I was very patient, another gift) we had a dial tone.  I was excited.  It was like being given fresh air for the first time (Ok, an exaggeration, but it was exhilarating). 

Now I am sure that many of you are wondering why I was so upset over the phone and so excited about it being back in commission.  If you have been following the blog for a while or/and know me, you will know that my phone is my little "g" god.  If you haven't, you probably think I'm crazy and wonder why you are following me and why you are even reading this blog.  For those not in the know, my phone is a part of me.  It is my little idol that I worship on a daily basis and keep in contact with my friends (aka my little "g" gods).  I did a post regarding my relationship with the phone and friends a year ago.  

We all have idols in our lives.  Those things we lean on for alleged support, growth, rest, peace, etc...  However, there is one thing that can truly give us those things - JESUS.  He alone can support us.  

He alone can give us rest and peace.  

He gives us wisdom to grow and strengthen our relationship with him.

God requires our attention and obedience.  The first commandment is "You shall have no other gods before me."  (Deuteronomy 5:6-8).  When we cease to focus on God, we become distracted and we drift away.  We become focused and obsessed with things that are not of Him, but are of the world.  We learn to trust others and not Him.  We strive to please others and not please Him.  

As you can tell I have been struggling with this issue for a while.  I am consistently working on my relationship with God.  I also try to go to Him first.  It's a process and I'm growing.  Luckily for me and you there is grace.  He is a forgiving God.  He loves us just for us.  He wants us and will seek us.  He will find us and bring us back.  I love this.  When I am too hard on myself about the time I spend on the phone with friends and family, I am reminded of this.  I thank God for His love and grace.  It is easy to live in self condemnation.  It is easy to live in self loathing and pity.  It's where Satan wants us.  God wants more for us, we just need to be willing to accept it.  

Now if only there was a way to put him on speed dial.  ;)

Do you struggle with a little "g" god?  Have you accepted God's grace or do you live in self condemnation?  

Come link in with the other Java Junkies and share your randomness this week.  

If you are part of a Good Morning Girls group you will recognize this verse.  It was one of the verses to SOAP this week.   At first glance I realized that I had already done SOAP on this verse about a month ago and wasn't going to redo it.  However, God wanted to tell me something new this week.

Lately, I have been feeling rather large.  That's right large.  The weight I lost earlier this year has somehow returned with extra.  As a result I've felt ugly, depressed, ....ok I'll say it, disgusting.  Why?  Because everyday I'm inundated with images of what beauty should be.

Our world places extreme emphasis on beauty.  It is a multibillion dollar industry focused on clothes, make up, hair, diets, training, etc....  We look at ourselves and compare ourselves with women who are photo shopped to look even more perfect than what we think they are.  We starve ourselves; run ourselves ragged; and cut ourselves in the chase of an extreme that is unattainable.  In fact even if we attain it, its still not enough.  People continue to starve themselves to keep thin and to get thinner.  People keep seeing plastic surgeons after having something small done until what they look like is nothing like what they started with.  Satan has us where he wants us.  We've bought into the lie that perfection is within our grasp if we only work for it or buy it.

God tells us a different truth.  We are already beautiful.  He created us the way we were supposed to be made.  We are each "fearfully and wonderfully made."  God didn't make us to look like each other.  He loves variety.  He loves colour.  He loves shapes.  He loves youth and age.  He created us and He doesn't make mistakes.

What I've been focusing on is what everyone else focuses on - our outsides.  But God doesn't really worry about that unless it's affecting our health.  What God worries about is our insides.  The Message calls us to "cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God loves."  God wants us to be kind and full of grace.  He wants us to help those who need help.  To be forgiving as He is.  To love and help our neighbours no matter what.  To be a reflection of Him here on earth.

We need to "cultivate" this by 1st working on our relationship with Him with as much energy and enthusiasm as we give the latest diet or exercise trend.  We need to be in the word daily learning more about Him.  We need to be in prayer, strengthening our relationship as much as we do with our friends.  We need to be in tuned with the Spirit who will direct us the way we should go.

I know in my mind the way God sees me.  I just need to get my heart on line with this.  God sees and loves me for me.  Just like Darcy in "Bridgette Jone's Diary".  He "loves me just the way I am."  Not skinner, prettier, funnier, or smarter.  Me.  Just the way I am.  He only wants me to be closer to Him.  Why wouldn't I want to when He thinks I am a perfect 10.

Come share your randomness just the way you are.