Why Did the Checkbook Cross the Road?

I’m forever running into “little surprises” my kids have stuffed in my purse when I’m not looking. One time I was trying to whip out my checkbook at the grocery store, and instead, I whipped out a rubber chicken. Can’t you just hear the checker: Will that be cash, check or chicken? Surprise!

The Lord has better surprises. Every time we whip out his Word with a deep desire to let him influence our lives, he surprises us with exactly what we need to begin to think as he thinks and everything we need to live in a way that honors and pleases him—everything we need for holy living. 2 Peter 1:3 makes it clear: "As we know Jesus better, His divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive His own glory and goodness!"

How glorious it is to be called to know him better and to know his glory and goodness personally. And keep in mind that it’s all absolutely free. You don’t even have to charge it to your chicken!

Surprise Center

We had those little pigs in a blanket things a couple of nights ago. Don't you just love the sausage surprise in the center? What is it that makes those Little Smokies so good? Lard, right? And it’s amazing to me how you find them at every Christmas party—smothered, wrapped and slathered with every tasty thing you can think of. Get ready, people. We’re heading into the heavy-duty Little Smokie season.

The bad thing is that I don’t realize I’ve had too many until…well…I’ve had too many. I finally figure it out when I can’t get my jeans zipped. Then there’s weeping and wailing and trashing of jeans. So many Smokies. So little wiggle in the jeans.

Okay, maybe the blue jean wiggle room is inching away, but I really don’t want to let the season inch away without making sure Jesus is at the center of every holiday prep, present and party. I want to be all about preparing HIM room. Not the kind of room that can be measured in inches. All the room. Every part--allowing him to occupy every spot in every corner of my mind and soul.

So, we're kicking of the holiday season here by centering on Jesus. No surprise, Christ should be the at the very center of our Christmas--the very heart.

…And not on purpose, but maybe also kicking off the holiday season by trying to learn how to zip these jeans without my eyeballs bulging out of my head.

Imagine That!

Did you ever have an imaginary friend when you were little? I don’t think I ever thought of it, though if I had, since I tend to like an audience entirely too much, I think I would’ve preferred an imaginary entourage.

Either way, I’m wondering now if I really might’ve missed something. I can definitely see some advantages. Imaginary friends don’t get mad when you forget their birthdays—they don’t even have birthdays unless you want them to. They never interrupt and they don’t squish you if they sit on your lap. And by the way, when you go to Six Flags, your imaginary friend gets in totally free. They’re pretty quiet, though—not great conversationalists.

Isn’t it sad that a lot of people think of God as sort of an imaginary friend? They think of him when it suits them and how it suits them. But that’s no real concept of God. He could not be more real. He is the standard for “real.” He created everything we see—even us. And he’s not quiet. He speaks to us through his word. In Jeremiah 23:23-24 he says, “‘Am I only a God nearby,’ declares the LORD, ‘and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the LORD,” NIV.

The Message phrases the last question this way: “Am I not present everywhere, whether seen or unseen?”

No, he is no imaginary friend. And pondering his omni-presence is heavy thinking. It causes me to praise God all the more that his omni-presence comes with omni-power! And, if there’s such a word, omni-mercy.

And hey, I guess if there’s no such word, I can just imagine it.
Speaking of imagining, I met someone the other day with a longtime mentoring calling. He didn’t have an imaginary friend growing up. He had an imaginary protégé.

Text-mania

A friend of mine recently experienced a major texting disaster. Her thumbs were flying when with one bad thumb-move she accidentally lost control and dropped her phone. That wouldn’t have been so bad, except that the phone fell into a large container of water. I’m trying to keep it family-friendly here, but let’s just say that the next slogan for character-building week could be “Just Say No to Toilet Texting.”

I think I’ve figured out why texting is so hot—and why it seems to happen nonstop these days with some folks. I think the text-mania is because so many of us have decided we would rather talk (or type) than listen. Dishing it out, but not taking it, as it were. Tech-savvy lets us get across our own message, then skim the response. We can ignore the response altogether if we want. It’s kind of the way of our culture sometimes, isn’t it?

But it’s not the Bible way. In the book of James, for instance, we see a call for us to emphasize the listening, not the speaking. And if we’re not listening, we’re missing that call. Voicemail won’t help there.

Our call is to get our eyes off our own needs and flush out new ways to listen—and hey, texting can fit in there. Oh, and sorry about the “flush” reference.