Christians or Gladiators

Giorgio, a devout Roman Catholic, was our guide when my mom and I visited the famed Vatican City. He did a great job leading the tour and his passion for the subject matter was evident. One of the areas we visited was St. Peters Square, a large public area (which is actually round in shape) situated directly outside of St. Peter’s Basillica. In the round square is an area where, every Wednesday, the Pope addresses an audience.

I got a chuckle when Giorgio described this event. He said, “On Wednesday, thousands of Christians will gather here to see the Pope.” Then he asked, “However, once the Pope appears and begins his journey around the square, can you guess how many Christians will still be here?” He then answered his own question, “None…the Christians will disappear and the square will be filled with gladiators, attacking each other in order to get closer to the Pope!”

His description, although humorous to a degree, unfortunately describes a lot of us who are Christians, yet quickly forget to be Christ-like when we put our wants and needs before those of others. Think of the way so many of us behave during the Christmas season. I’ve seen more than one fish-bearing automobile racing through a parking lot in order to cut off another vehicle attempting to pull into a good parking spot.

So, as we make our way through each hectic day, let’s not forget whose name we represent, remembering these words from Galatians 6:9-10, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

I Left My Heart in San Gimignano

Pretty much my whole life I have dreamed of going to Italy. Maybe it’s because I grew up in New York living next door to a wonderful Sicilian family. Maybe it’s because of my love for Italian food and culture. This adoration of all things Italy even led to my choosing L’Italiano as my foreign language choice in college even thought Spanish would have been a much more practical option.

Finally, after 36 years of dreaming about it, I was able to travel to the “Old Country” and experience Italy, thanks to a wonderful birthday gift from my mom. And, I was not disappointed one bit. Italy was everything I had imagined and then some. At one point during the trip, I found myself standing on the highest part of a tower on the edge of a village that was built 250 years before Christ, overlooking the breathtaking Tuscan landscape. A harpist softly played a melody in the olive grove below and I could literally feel my heart aching for that moment to last forever. There are still times that I look at pictures from the trip and feel that heart-ache all over again. It is a longing that just won’t go away.

I was having one of those moments the other day when I realized that it’s probably a good thing the Bible is very limited in it’s description of heaven. In the past I have been frustrated that God has not revealed more about what we can look forward to when we finally make it home. But, I think I may understand why He didn’t. If my heart can ache over another place on this planet, I cannot imagine how I’d feel if I ever got a real glimpse into heaven only to have to continue living here on earth. I’m not sure I’d be able to go on.

In Corinthians 2:9, Paul writes about how little we really know about Heaven, “Corinthians 2:9, “…but just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.’"

The scriptures tell us just enough about heaven to know that it is a place we can look forward to, a place deserving of our longings. However, there is so much here on earth that needs to be accomplished before we get there. I think if we really understood what heaven would be like, we might never get our heads out of the clouds to take care of the earthly business at hand.

Without Ceasing

I hate exercise. I always have. I have never understood people who say they just looove to spend time at the gym. I don’t like pain or sweat or pain mixed with sweat. Yet, I fully understand how important it is to get physical activity each day, so I look for ways to sneak in exercise to my daily routine. For example, every time I brush my teeth and every time I sit at a red light, I tighten my abs. When I’m in the kitchen waiting for something to cook in the microwave, I do push-ups leaning on the kitchen counter or I walk in place. There are lots of other ways to add activity to your day: park your car far away when you go shopping, take the steps instead of the elevator, march in place while folding laundry, dance with your kids!

Prayer is another thing that I have to “work in” to my daily comings and goings. I really value having an open line of communication with God and I find that when I don’t regularly use it, God feels further and further away. Don’t get me wrong, I know that quiet time with God at a set time each day is valuable, but I have to admit I’m pretty undisciplined about regularly having that time. So, I try to pray throughout the day. Here are some easy ways to do this. Before you put the kids on the bus or drop them off at school, pray about the day ahead. Do the same on your way to work, praying for strength to face whatever challenges that may come your way. When doing housework, praise God for the blessing of having a house to clean and pray for your household. At the grocery store or cooking dinner, praise him for your daily bread. When you are lying in bed at night, pray for your spouse. It’s not important how you do it or where you do it, the only thing that matters is that you keep that conversation with God flowing.

The concept of praying throughout the day is not a new one. Remember Paul’s words to the Thessalonians? “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Expect the Unexpected

Hi, I’m Tami, and this is a Moment for Mom

I recently had a chance to meet Bob Berklow, the head chaplain for Alpha Acres, a drug and alcohol recovery program for men. The men in the program spend a year living at Alpha Acres which is situated on over 100 acres in Yadkinville. For the past two years, Alpha Acres has taken advantage of their sprawling property and hosted a giant corn maze as an outreach to the community and a fundraiser for the program. It’s been a huge success, with hundreds of people coming each year to enjoy a day of old-fashioned family fun.

This year, Bob says he wasn’t sure if the corn maze would happen. You see, one requirement for a corn maize is very tall corn. After all, finding your way through a corn maze when you can see over the stalks is not much of a challenge. Growing tall corn requires a fair amount of rain during the growing season. And, this past summer, Bob says they hardly got any rain at all. So, he did what a good chaplain should do, he prayed for rain. And he prayed, and prayed and then prayed some more. But, the rain never fell. Bob started to worry. Why wasn’t God answering his pleas for precipitation?

Bob says that what he saw was that, despite his prayers, no rain was falling. But what he didn’t see was that, despite the lack of rain, his corn was growing, and growing well. In fact by the end of the season, Alpha Acres corn grew over 9’ tall, while a neighboring farmer’s corn grew only about half that tall. Bob now laughs at his poor observational skills. He realizes that God WAS hearing and answering his prayers. Just not in the way he’d expected.

In fact, God often doesn’t answer our prayers the way we expect, does He? In Isaiah 55:8 God tells us that he doesn’t do things the way we do them and he doesn’t think the way we think. And, in Proverbs 3:5, we’re reminded to “Trust in the Lord with all our Hearts and lean not on our own understanding”.

So, the next time you feel like your prayers aren’t being heard, look around. God may be working, just not the in the way you expected.

Breaking out of the Comfort Zone

Someone once suggested I become a stand up comedienne. My response was that the job sounded kind of hard, could I be a sit-down comedienne instead?

Yes, I’m somewhat obsessed with comfort…you could even say I’m a bit lazy, although I hate to admit it. But, when you think about it, we’re all kind of fixated on being comfortable, right? The number one selling chair in America is the Lazy-Boy recliner. How many of us have stayed at a Comfort-Inn before? When we’re at the end of a stressful day, what kind of dinner do we crave? Comfort food! At night we even slip into our comfy PJ’s and under the covers, also known as our comforters. The "American Dream" might be defined as making a comfortable living, living in a comfortable home located somewhere on Easy Street.

But, consider this…have you ever met anyone who did something great while pursuing comfort for him or herself? Think about all of the heroes of the Bible, they were faced with some pretty uncomfortable circumstances while living out God’s purpose for their lives. Abraham had to make uncomfortable choices, Moses had to face his fear of public speaking, Noah had to put up with years of ridicule from his neighbors for building a boat in the desert. Our friends in the New Testament didn’t have it any easier. Jesus faced the cross, Paul faced Prison, the early church faced severe persecution. If any of these folks had made comfort their priority, think of the much larger blessings they would have missed.

Russ Lee once told me that miracles happen in the places that lie just outside of our comfort zone. I have tested this theory and found it to be true. Therefore, the challenge for you and I is to figure out where that place is, and with God’s strength, to go there and be a part of the miracles He is working.

Do you have a great story about a miracle that God worked in your life that happened outside of your “comfort zone”? Please share it by commenting below.

Flaws and All

Michelangelo’s statue of David is arguably one of the world’s most famous works of art. This stunning piece of work depicts in remarkably life-like detail a young, strong David, with stone in hand as he prepares to slay the Giant.

What’s interesting, though, is that the huge chunk of marble that Michelangelo used to create David had previously been rejected by at least two other Italian sculptors. They complained that the marble was full of veins and too porous. It could easily shatter with just one wrong move.
Yet, Michelangelo saw a masterpiece in that highly flawed chunk of rock, and 3 years later, his careful workmanship came to life.

I know lots of folks who believe deep in their hearts that God could not possibly use them for anything important, because they have too many flaws. Maybe you feel this way about yourself. However, this line of thinking sells God short.

The Bible is full of stories of very flawed folks who God used to great things. I think God prefers to use messed up people, because when they are victorious there’s no doubt that God is the one who deserves the glory.

Listen to this verse from 2 Corinthians "'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

So, do not be deceived. God can indeed use you for mighty and beautiful things. Allow him to be the artist, sculpting you day by day from that big chunk of flawed rock into the masterpiece that he sees within…just waiting to be created.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

I’m pretty sure that, within the past few years, the town where I live has passed some sort of ordinance mandating that all new buildings constructed within town limits must include a sidewalk along the perimeter of their property. I’m assuming this because I’ve begun noticing spans of sidewalk in front of new homes and buildings even when those stretches don’t connect to any others. They look a little weird, really, these random bits of walkways that lead nowhere.

I’m guessing the sidewalk ordinance is part of a plan to help our town be more accessible by foot, more “walk-able”, and I applaud the effort. It must require some very forward thinking council members to put such a plan into motion. Think about it, the people who got the sidewalk ball rolling will, most likely, not live long enough to really appreciate it’s benefits. Decades will pass before, section by section, all of the pieces connect allowing pedestrians walk around town without ever running out of sidewalk.

It’s kind of like parenting, isn’t it? As moms and dads we are constantly, often tediously, paving the way for our children’s futures. We do so knowing that many years will pass before we see the outcome of our work. It’s often not until our children have children of their own before we can sit back and congratulate ourselves on a parenting job well done. And, some of us may never have the opportunity this side of heaven to see the work we began in our children completed. That’s tough to think about.

But we do have assurance that the work we are doing today will eventually come to fruition. Consider this nugget of parenting wisdom from Proverbs 22:6, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” I love this verse because it reminds us that the often thankless task of laying the groundwork for our children that we do today, will eventually be rewarded. Those random stretches of sidewalk we lay each day will, someday, all connect.