Emptying the Trash

That's what my husband calls it when I cry.  He says this because I hate to cry.  I stuff things down until I just can't contain it anymore, then . . . who knows what little thing can make everything else just spill out?!?!
But, for someone who hates to cry, I have cried plenty lately.  Of course, some of it has been PMS & I cry about irrational things.  That happened on Sunday a week ago.  Yesterday was another story.
I love the song "Blessings" by Laura Story.  I've wanted to sing it in church since I first heard it last spring.  I've actually had the music since about 5 minutes after the first time I heard it.  I mean, it's pretty.  Easy to sing, musically speaking.  The words have a special message . . .
until it relates to something actually going on in your life, then the message begins to hit a little too close to home.  Not a song for Mother's Day.  Satan knows our weak spots.  When we think he's forgotten about us, all too quickly he reminds us he's still there & we realize he was just taking his time doing his research to find our weakest spot.
Just a little while after I decided I was going to sing the song in church, a mother & father found out that their baby, their only child, had cancer.  To make a long story short, because the message of the song had become all too real, I have been avoiding the song. 
This family now is in New York for surgery.  Although I knew that this song has been special to this mother, I purposefully waited for them to leave town before I would sing.  Now I regret not singing it while they were here.  I blubbered through the entire thing.  I mean, BLUBBERED!  Every time I thought I had it together to sing again, I would look up and see someone else crying.  I don't know if everyone else was thinking about this same family.  It's likely, but I also know that many people in our congregation are hurting for various reasons.  I was not embarrassed.  For a song with such a simple melody, it has a powerful message.  And as Ms. Jane said to me yesterday, this song gave these people the opportunity to cry & get it out.  Empty the trash! 
I will try the song again later.  Hopefully that precious family will be there when I do.  I also hope to make it through the entire song without crying.  I want to share the words!  But, if not, I'll give folks another opportunity to empty their trash.
Saxon family, I'm praying for you.  Regardless of the outcome, you are blessed. 
 "What if Your blessings come through raindrops, What if Your healing comes through tears, And what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near?  What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy?  And what if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights are Your mercies in disguise?"  Blessings, Laura Story

If I Weren't Afraid of Heights . . .

I’d get on my high horse.

First of all, I wouldn't really be on a “high horse”.  I wouldn't be looking down on others. I certainly don’t think that I am better than anyone else.   I’m just trying to take a look at things from a different perspective - a Christian parent's perspective.  Actually, this could be worth reading for anyone trying to raise their children to reach a higher standard . . . but not because "I say so". 

Something that has been mentioned to me several times in the past few months is that our culture is like the frog in the pot of slowly heating water.  Are you familiar?  If not, here goes:  If you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, he will jump out.  If you put a frog in a pot of water & slowly turn up the heat, he will be cooked before he notices. (so they say)

Now that that is out of the way, are you beginning to understand? Like the song by Casting Crowns, our culture has become victim of a "slow fade".  Is anyone else out there noticing this?  I think so, but is anyone doing anything about it?

There was something that happened with my daughter & school the other day (that I will get into later) that I almost decided I wasn't going to be bothered by.  A few things that went through my mind were "Times are different from when I was a kid.", "No one else seems to be bothered by this.", & "If we make an issue of this, others will just think that my husband & I need to lighten up."

I have just begun reading Max Lucado's book "Out Live Your Life".  In the very first chapter, I have been challenged to stand up for what I believe in.  I started this blog so I can encourage parents to stand up to this culture that is beginning to boil to its death without being any the wiser.  I don't claim to be wise.  I just want to be wiserthan that frog.

"Remember, dear brothers & sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.  Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise.  And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful."  I Corinthians 1:26-27 NLT