Butterflies

My grandmother who just passed away used to collect butterfly stuff. She loved butterflies and her house is full of butterfly paraphenalia-crystal figurines, coffee mugs, pillows, pictures, etc, etc, etc. One time as a little girl, I picked up tiny clam shells at the beach and glued them to a block of unfinished wood in the shape of butterflies. That block has hung in the breakfast room for over 25 years. I like to think of myself a little like a butterfly. What is the big deal with butterflies?

Well, they are pretty, but that's not what I was thinking as far as myself. I was thinking more along the lines of what they do. Butterflies, unlike birds who build nests, tend to be a bit "flighty," never staying in one place very long. It's a good thing they don't because as they fly from flower to flower and plant to plant, they pick up and deposit seeds and pollen, allowing the flowers and plants to reproduce. Some people are like butterflies as we pick up knowledge and experience from one place and deposit it in another.

I am a school teacher, but I have never stayed in one school for more than 2 years. I like to move around. I grow that way and I get to impact more people that way. I am "flighty," but I like to think of it as being a good thing. Some teachers pour knowledge into their students like a mother bird feeding her babies. I like to plant the seeds of knowledge and let them grow, inticing them to learn more on their own. But don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the birds; the world needs both birds and butterflies. Right?

*The picture at the top was painted by my Great Aunt Norma for my Me-Maw. It hangs in my bedroom.

Sponges

I was chided recently for saying a friend of mine was a sponge. I meant it in the nicest way, of course, but I guess the others who heard the comment didn't understand what I meant. Some of us (perhaps not myself as much as I'd like), have a gift for soaking in the truths of God's Word being more apt to listen than to speak. I was truly complimenting my friend on her ability to do just that. I think we can all take a lesson from the sponge.

A sponge (not the sea creature, but the kitchen tool) is used to clean things, but it's defining characteristic is its ability to absorb liquid. If we think of ourselves as sponges, we will see that we all absorb whatever we expose ourselves to. As does my friend, God's Word should be the chief "liquid" we fill ourselves with. That way when squeezed, whether by the pressures of life and the world, or by allowing ourselves to be used in service, what will come out, but God's wisdom?

There are two dangers with being a sponge. The first, I've already hinted at. We have to be careful what we absorb. Now, I have to confess that I love country music, especially country love songs, but I refrain from absorbing too much of them because I've found that my thoughts turn inward as a single gal wanting to find that special someone like the songs describe. My ability to wait for God's best, my ability to sense and pray for or meet the needs of others, and most of all, my desire to serve and love Him above all else are all directly affected by how much I take in of this particular "liquid." Sappy chick flicks and even Christian romance novels can have some of the same effects, so I limit my diet of those as well. What I'm saying is, we have to be careful how much of these seemingly harmless things we take in. However purely they may present the love of a man and a woman and give us an example to follow in the future, we must be careful to not live in that future by soaking too much in the thoughts they inevitably bring to mind. Of course, I don't even need to mention those things that are obviously harmful to put in our minds, but for the sake of those who aren't tempted by the same "liquids" as I, there are plenty of things out there that we should avoid for the sake of keeping the sponges of our minds pure.

Secondly, the danger in being a sponge is never allowing yourself to be squeezed. A sponge that sits in a shallow dish of water for a long period of time will begin to mold and smell bad. There's a limit to how much a sponge can absorb before needing to release. That point is called saturation. The American church is full of saturated people, sitting in the dish of Bible teaching, but never putting themselves in God's hands to get squeezed. Sure, the pressures of life squeeze us some and we hope that the Word is saturating us at the time so that we will respond with wisdom, but I'm talking about being squeezed in service. There is so much work to be done, but so many of us are stinky saturated sponges unfit to be used because we have never been squeezed. I pray we will learn to give more thus making room for us to absorb more.

Be a sponge. Be careful what you fill yourself with. Take a good inventory of the things that fill your mind. Are they things you would want coming out of you when you get squeezed? Determine to fill yourself with God's wisdom through reading, studying and listening to God's Word. Then, ask God where He wants to squeeze you...do you need to volunteer to work with the youth or keep the nursery at church? Do you need to go on a mission trip or teach a Bible study? Maybe you should be mentoring a younger believer or working in an inner city mission church like the ones we will pair up with for Houston Project. Maybe you need to participate in an evangelistic training and outreach or visit the nursing home and bring some joy to the lonely. Maybe all of the above. It's a continuous cycle...being filled and squeezed. May you find the joy of being a sponge, filled and squeezed by God Himself.

Monet

There's a line from the movie "Clueless" that has always stuck with me, but I never applied it to myself until today. It's at the part where the main character (Cher) has invited her protege (Ty) to a party and they are watching the snobby boy (Elton) who has rejected Ty dancing with a snobby girl (Amber) from school. Ty asks Cher, "Do you think Amber is pretty?" Cher's response is, "Naw, she's a full-on Monet." At Ty's confused look, Cher explains, "From far away, it's just fine, but up close, it's a big ole mess." For a supposedly ditzy blonde, that's a pretty deep analogy.

Here's where I am going with this. I think I may be a little like that...I think we may all be, but what we don't realize is that it's only at the middle range, when the viewer is a few feet away that they see the "big ole mess." I tend to keep people at a distance. I put up my velvet-covered musem barriers and say "you can only come this close." So, from far away, I look just fine, but then as people get close to me and see the big ole mess, they start to wonder what they were thinking wanting to get closer.

What I have failed to realize and by extension have failed to let people see, is that when you get past the velvet barrier and get really close, practically nose to the canvas, you see the mastery of the Monet. How in the world can someone take tiny splotches of color that seemingly have no distinction and make a bigger picture that is simply beautiful? Those splotches of color are beautiful in themselves. They are the individual experiences and elements of a person's life. They are the details that few people ever get close enough to see and each little splotch is worthy of individual celebration. But it takes getting past the barriers to see those for what they are. There are few people in our lives who can see both the big picture and the beautiful little splotches. Most we hold at arm's length where we're a "big ole mess." Sometimes people's ability to only see the "big ole mess" isn't our fault. Sometimes people stop at that point on their own accord and decide not to come any closer. That's when we feel rejection. That hurts.

Our Master is painting each of us as a beautiful person, perfectly placing splotch after splotch on our canvas until He has a beautiful picture that can not be explained, only appreciated. But, each of us is still a work in progress. We must do our part to take down the velvet barriers and let people past the "big ole mess" stage. But, we must also realize that if they don't want to come any closer, they will miss out on the beauty of the splotches, but then again, that is their own loss. Revel in the beauty God is making out of your life. Don't let the rejection of those who can't get past the velvet barriers keep you from recognizing the hand of the Master who is still at work on you. And if someone wants to get closer, let them. You never know, God could be using them as another splotch to complete your bigger picture. And you theirs.

Blogging at Bedtime Part III

I just read the FCA devotional that comes to my inbox on a daily basis and today it happened to be about three things that allow us to stay at our best; they are Sleep, Eating (healthy) and Exercise. I see the writer's point...all three of these activities are important for keeping us in shape, mentally, physically, emotionally and even spiritually. Ironically, I am deficient in all of them! I know I don't get enough sleep and while I try to eat fairly healthy, I still have some poor eating habits. And as far as exercise, well...um...I mean I want to make time for it, but I guess I don't want to enough or I would. We all make time for those things that are true priorities. So, now I'm convicted. I know I need to make improvements in these three areas, so I'm calling all my friends, bloggers and lurkers alike, to help keep me accountable. I may fuss at you if you ask me about them, but don't take it personally! In three weeks summer vacation begins and I know I will be able to sleep a lot better than I do now, but I also know that I tend to not eat as healthy in the summer because I get bored sitting at home and then I raid the kitchen...not good! I will have more time to devote to excercise, but the question is, will I do it? We shall see. I'm going to pray that I will begin to build a better balance in my life in these three areas.

Ok, so now I better go so I can get some sleep and get up in time to make a nice healthy lunch and actually eat some breakfast and then possibly do a little excercise!