What is Christianease?

Recently I was in a conversation with a few of my non Christian friends. One of them asked me, why are Christians so poly-anna like? I asked what do you mean. She proceeded to say, like some christians talk so un-real, and when bad things happen, give this pat answer. It got me thinking...how do we respond to real life situations..and how does it make us look to the world and to the reality of when tough things happen. She shared with me that a few years ago she lost a very close friend. She cried and dumped on a Christian friend of hers..who said back to her..well, it was obviously "Gods Will, and that no matter what, you should rejoice in the Lord, because God allowed it. She said that she has never spoken to that friend again.

Another friend once asked me, why do Christians always say things like bless you, and praise the Lord, and amen everything, she said it just seems so fake.

I heard the term "Christianese" before..and made it a point that I will not talk it. We need to be real with ourselves and especially our non-christian friends. When there is loss, don't quote scripture, or say it is all in Gods hands or will. Bad things happen..and I don't believe that it is always because God willed it. We live in a cursed world..and things happen that I believe that God hurts too. Jesus wept when Lazerous died.

It is not natural to loose a child, it hurts when disasters happen and 1000's are killed. It is devasting to the family who may loose a job, their home..and be homeless. I hope that I will never say to those people, well it was all apart of Gods plan. Rejoice in the Lord! Praise God, because God will allow good to come. Some of this may be true..but wouldn't it be better to say nothing at all. To weep with those who weep. To agree that I don't know why bad things happen and it just sucks! And yes, it is ok to be mad at God, He can handle it, and He empathizes with us. Just some of my thoughts and tidbits...wondering what others think how we as Christians should respond when bad things happen.

I'm not saying that its wrong to say terms like bless you, amen, PTL...I just believe that we should be very careful in the timing and the situation.

Still Top Dog!

For almost 9 months my masters daughter hung out at our house. She became my new best friend, playing with me, petting me, and just giving me lots of attention. I looked forward to her being here everyday. But things were about to change!

About a week ago everything seemed different in our home. My mommy was gone at night time. Daddy wouldn't come home until late, and my masters daughter hadn't been here for days. What was going on? Then one day, my best freind came back, but everything was different. Attached to the front of her was the biggest sqeeky toy that I had ever seen. Naturally I'm thinking yay! A brand new sqeeky toy to play with. But this was no ordinary sqeeky toy.

Everyone kept telling me to stay away from this sqeeky toy. It moved and smelled like my masters daughter, and it made lots of funny noises. Of course I wanted to play with it, but people kept yelling at me to stay away. And to make things worse, my masters daughter wouldn't pay any attention to me, and for the whole time this big, sqeeky, toy would never leave the front of her. It just seemed to stay attached the whole time. I use to be top dog of my house, but now this annoying toy was becoming top dog, and I was getting very annoyed by it.

This was a very interesting toy indeed. I mean how could my family not expect me to want to sniff it, and lick it, and play with it? I was ready for this toy to go bye, bye. But no one would ever leave the dang thing alone. One minute alone with this toy, and I would surely try to snag it and bury it somewhere in the back yard, so I could be top dog again.

One day my masters let me get close enough to lick it, and get a good sniff. But there was something different about this toy..it was like it was fragile and needed my protection, like it needed me. Out of no where an instinct took over..and I felt that this new toy needed me. It needed my protection and my unconditional love. Each day my masters allowed me to get closer and closer to this sqeeky toy, and something inside my doggy heart knew that this toy was different, and I became very protected of it. For some reason I sensed that this toy was connected to my masters daughter, they smelt the same too..and I came to accept that this sqeeky toy was different, and that it would be around for a long time, and that maybe someday we would be best freinds!

I realized that I am still top dog of the house, and that my new mission is to protect this new toy that has come into my life, and that this toy is very special!

A Blessing Indeed!

One week ago today, we were sitting in the hospital anticipating the birth of my first Grandbaby. Ashley had been in the hospital since Wednesday, ( 2days) with a failed induction. The Dr.'s felt it best to do a c-section. My heart was filled with excitement, nervousness, and a lot of prayers going up to Jesus! As she walked down the hospital hall to the OR, I was not able to give her a hug, because she was already to go into the sterile OR room, so Dr. said no hugs allowed, so we all just waved to her, as we saw the anticipation, excitement and a bit of fear mixed on her face. We were all gathered together before she went and said prayers for the safety of both her and her unborn baby.

At 10:10 pm the nurse informed us that Deyton Joseph had arrived and that everything went well. We were waiting in her room, Steve, my brother, my siter in law, my niece, just waiting for the news. My eyes filled with tears, and my heart swelled with excitement. We were told that her and Dee wanted some time to themselves just to bond with the baby before we could see him. This was the hardest waiting time I had ever gone through. My sister in law and I decided to take a walk and see if we could find them. We just couldn't wait! As were passing down one of the halls, we saw a room that said OR. We pressed our ears to the door and sure enough we heard them talking, and baby crying. The anethesiologist opened the OR door, and both my sister in law and I almost fell through the doors. The Dr. and nurses wheeled Ashley into the recovery room, and out comes daddy as proud as could be holding his son in his arms. We took a quick peek, asked how much he weighed, and then we were told to wait.

Deyton Joseph is the most beautiful baby boy I have ever seen. I'm sure that all the Grandmas say this, but this baby is a beauty! He weighed in at 8lbs 15 oz..(but we tell everyone he's 9lbs) and 19 and 1/4 inches. Since Ashley had a csection she decided to come to our home for a few days to recoup. I can't tell you how thrilled I was! From Sunday until Thursday I got to spend my time loving on him and taking care of my daughter. My heart is filled with so much happiness and love.

About almost a year ago a friend made for me a journal, taken from a book named 1000 gifts. The goal is to pen atleast 3 gifts a day that the Lord has blessed us with. I started it in August, and it's so ironic that my 1000 gift that I got to pen was today, #1000 the birth of my Grandson! I have so much enjoyed doing this, that I have decided to continue. My goal is to get up to 10,000, as in the song. 10,000 reasons why I praise Him! Some day I will pass these journals onto my daughter and she can pass them to Deyton. It was in August of 2012 that I started this process and a few weeks later we found out that Ashley was pregnant.

Oh how I love my Lord! He is awesome and worthy of Praise! Thank you Jesus for my 1000th gift! It's the best ever!! Love Your Daughter of the King..!!10000 reasons why I praise his name!

"Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound that saved a Wretch like ME!

Amazing Grace..probably my most favorite hymn out there. Why? Because I was a wretch, and His Grace saved me. Before Christ, I know I went against every commandment..atleast the 10. I'm not bragging about it. The fact is that I still suffer many of the consequences of my rebellion. I'm not going to name them, thats between me and God..but I am so grateful of His Amazing Grace..that saved a wretch like me!

I was in my early 20's when I came to Christ.. I had someone share with me..that every act of sin and rebellion was nailed to the cross as soon as I asked Jesus into my heart. Colossians 2:14, "having canceled out the certificate of debt consiting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." I understood that He canceled my sins nailing it to the cross, and that Christ made full payment of all my sins, before, present, and after. I really needed to understand that, because after I got saved, I still struggled deeply in my flesh..and messed up. As a Christian..I got pregnant out of wedlock. There were many other sins that I struggled with and to let go..but then I was always reminded about His Amazing Grace.

Did I stomp on his grace. NO! Everytime I messed up, I was deeply convicted...and desired to do better. But I believe that it is a work in progress. I know that there are some who automatically change their behavior the moment of conversion..but for most of us its a life time process..I believe the biblical word for this is sanctification.

I am so thankful for the small church that the Lord led me too right after I got saved. I showed up, 26, single and pregant. I had so much shame, and felt everyone was judging me. But this family of believers adopted me in..loved on me..saw my messyness..the times that I still hung on too certain sins that were a struggle to let go of. Sometimes every week at the alter..confessing how I messed up the week before. But they were patient with me. They loved me in my messes. They lovingly confronted me. They extended Gods love and grace too me. They showed me verses like in Romans..where it says ..that it's His Kindness that leads us to repentance..and verses in John that said..that once were in His Hand that nothing..absolutely nothing can snag us out of the palm of His hand.

I truly believe that once were saved..and have confessed our sins, and believe in our heart..that Jesus is God, that He died for our sins..that no matter what it looks like on the outside..God sees the inside..and that nothing absolutely nothing can take that away. I know that for many years in my Christian walk, my outside behavior did not match up to my inside. For anyone else who may be struggling with this..read Romans 7. Paul who wrote most of the new testament obviously struggled with this. He talks about for the good that he wants to do, wars with the evil that he didn't want to do, that he did the very thing that he did not want to do..that it was sin that dwelled in him. Romans 8:1..goes on to say but therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Yay for that verse.

The longer I'm a Christian the more I see the ugliness of my heart and my ways..although I am not the same person I was..and many of those sins I struggled with are not apart of me today..His Holy Spirit convicts me of other sin. Maybe like gossip, or unkind words or thoughts. But thank goodness for His grace, because without it I would be lost.

I'm writing this because I have many friends that struggle with His grace. They hold on to shame, or may be stuck in a habitual sin. But if you have asked Jesus in your heart..His love, grace and His mercy covers you. It is nailed to the cross, finished, paid for. Some of us take longer than others to get it right..but just hang on to his amazing grace and love. His Holy Spirit will mold you into the person he desires us to become. In His time..in His time..He makes all things beautiful in His time.

1,000 reasons why I praise HIM, working up to 10,000 reasons

So a dear friend challenged me to journal 1000 gifts. The concept is that each day you think of atleast 3 gifts from God. Even during the tough days..and especially during those days..you continue to pen 3 gifts. I started the challenge in June. To anyone who truly knows me..I tend to be a glass half empty type. I can be very cynical, a skeptic, a realist..and tend to see the negative more than the positive..so when she challenged me in this..I was like whatever..but because your my friend, and you took the effort in making me that cute little box and journal, I'll do it just for you.

While 6 months later..I can honestly say that this was the best gift ever. I am up to penning # 650, half way to 1000. I can honestly say, that this process has truly transformed my way of thinking. I can't wait to pen something new, and sometimes it's a repeat. Such as..thankyou God for waking me up this morning. Thank you God for breath. Thank you God for your provisions. For sight, taste, hearing, walking, health. Thank you God for your amazing Grace, and salvation..for your Word.

During this time..a song came out, titiled..10,000 reasons why I praise You Lord! I'm like wow...this is amazing, and I felt challenged to continue to 10,000 reasons why I praise my Lord.

Years ago..I was involved in a 12 step support group. They had many sayings..but the one that always stuck out in my mind was.."Get rid of your stinking thinking". Well..I had a lot of stinking thinking..even in my Christian walk. Since doing this challenge..my stinking thinking is all but gone. Even in the dark, rainy months, where I tend to go into a deep depression, I can honestly say that there is no more, " stinking thinking". This really works! It reminds me of the verse in Phillpeans..and this is my paraphrase since I don't want to get up and get my bible. But I believe it's in Phippeans 4.." Finally brethren..or sistern..whatever is true, whatever is lovely, whatever is right, whatever is of good repute, let your minds dwell on these things, and the Peace of God which trancends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus!."

Thanks Dear Friend for the challenge..and I challenge anyone else out there..to take it up.

My daughter is pregnant..and I have decided to continue to my goal of 10,00 0 reasons why I praise the Lord..and I will pass it down to my Grandson!