Do you ever feel like you're the last one to "get on board"? I have to say I am that person. Quick example; years ago there was this big production about Team Edward and Team Jacob, you may remember? ( I can't help but smile as I type this) if you've never seen the movie you won't understand what I'm talking about, so forgive me. I'm not one to go to the movie theater often and I had no interest in reading that popular book about vampires. I was pretty much out of the loop on all of that stuff. My friends were posting on Facebook whether or not they were on Team Edward or Team Jacob. With no knowledge of the movie I interjected that just from their physical looks; I would have to be on team Jacob. He had those muscles and that tan! I really wondered how anyone could be on Team Edward; his pale look alone did not appeal to my eye. Okay, fast forward to last fall. I'm flipping TV channels and I see this girl sitting in a school cafeteria and she asks her friends who the guy is walking in the door? He gave her an uninterested look and somehow I was hooked. Not only did I sit down and continue watching that movie, I had to find someone to loan me the other movies so I could watch what happened next. Thank you Amy Solesbee and Pam McGinnis for loaning me your copies. I ended up buying the entire Twilight Saga and now I fully get the team Edward/ team Jacob thing. I get why these moms took their daughters to the midnight showing of New Moon. 7 years later and I am finally "on board" with this whole vampire thing. I now know I would have been 100% on Team Edward. It has come to be one of my favorite movies. I love the purity of their passion and the dedication Edward and Bella had for each other. I wish I would have been one of those moms back then and seen it on the Big Screen ( how exciting it must have been). Ok let me get back to my point; I am always the last one to get "on board". I guess you could call me a skeptic. I don't like to follow the crowd or go with what's trendy. You can take one look at my closet and see that. You'll find navy blue, gray, black and a few dashes of color. I own a hand full of clothes and if you were to see me every day for 2 weeks you'd know the 5 Life is Good t-shirts that I wear on rotation. I am a stay at home wife and mother. I work for myself and clean for one family once a week and another family once a month. I read, I journal, I send encouraging cards, I pray and I take care of people. That is who I am and what I enjoy. It's a simple life and I like it. Don't get me wrong I have aspirations of writing a book. I don't know what topic, but if it's the Lords will; He will fill in those details. Honestly, my reasons for writing a book are a bit selfish. I want to write a book to encourage others, but also so I can autograph them :) Yes, I want to write something to help others, then I want the joy of writing the reader a special note and autographing it. That is what I look forward to the most. How's that for honesty?
Another "hip thing" that I am just now coming "on board" with is the show Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines. Chris and I stumbled across it one Saturday while flipping channels and I was hooked. I not only loved their simple and elegant designs, but I loved how they openly love each other. It's apparent they are a Christian couple and have a heart for others and family. I decided to "Like" their page on Facebook and watched a short, yet eye opening video from Joanna this week. She talked about growing up as the child of a Caucasian father and Korean mother and how she never thought of herself as being different until the kids in the school cafeteria stared at her. After feeling like all eyes were on her, she said she went to the bathroom and locked herself in the stall. She went on to say, that was when she believed "the lie was sown, that who she was, wasn't good enough." Oh my goodness !!! When I heard those words I was taken back to my day, when in the D.R. Hill Middle school cafeteria< as a 7th grader, a girl who lived in a brick house in Duncan asked me where I lived? I told her that I lived in Startex. She then asked what kind of house I lived in and I said a wooden, two-story house. At that moment, she laughed and commented to the others that I lived in a wooden house. She made it sound like living in a wooden house was a bad thing. That moment is when my lie was sown, when I too, began to feel like I wasn't good enough. I knew Startex was a lower income Mill Village and Duncan was the community of brick homes and in-ground pools. My dad worked in the mill as a loom fixer and her dad had an executive job and worked in an office. Even though my parents worked hard and provided all of us kids with name brand clothes, dance, piano, guitar and even horseback riding lessons. My mind couldn't get past the lie I was told that day. She didn't tell me the lie ( bless her heart she was believing a lie too), it was Satan. He wanted her to think she was better off than me because of where she lived. He wanted me to believe I wasn't as good as she was or the others in her neighborhood because of where I lived. He is subtle like that, striking when you don't even realize it.
I don't know exactly when I stopped believing that lie. I guess sometime in high school I was confident enough in my walk with the Lord that I realized life was more than where I lived. When I'd go to my Acteen's group at church on Wednesday nights and see the places those missionary's would visit I became very thankful for our mill house. It wasn't the fancy brick house of Duncan, but it was enough. I knew people in my community who lived in poverty and I watched my parents help them on many different occasions. My dad and I would buy groceries for a local food bank and I can remember going with him to deliver the boxes of canned goods. My mom took an unwed mother under her wing and bought her a gown, robe and slippers to take to the hospital when her time for delivery arrived. She also bought formula and baby clothes for that baby. I knew we were not rich, but we had compassion and love for others. I wanted to have an in-ground pool and I wanted to have the latest trendy clothes, but that wasn't part of the Lords plan for my life. It's funny, it wasn't part of His plan then or now :) I have to laugh because I'd still like to have an in-ground pool. God has a great sense of humor with me. I love Him. He knows what I need and what I don't need. What in the world does all of this mean? What is my point today?? Oh yeah, I want to know if you believe the lie?
Satan comes only to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to steal your joy, don't let him! He wants to kill your desire to love others, to do good, or whatever it is that he is working on in your life. Don't let him! He wants to destroy you, your family, your life. Don't let him!!! Don't believe the lie Satan is telling you today. What you can believe is God's word. He tells us in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you against the evil one." For a season, I believed the lie and Satan hasn't stopped trying to spread others. We have to purposely believe in our hearts and realize the truth that is only found in Jesus. I want you to know the truth. Accept Jesus if you haven't and follow Him. Don't wait to get "on board" with Jesus. Trends come and go, friends come and go, but the Lord will be with you always. It's simple; John 14:6 "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Rebuke Satan and he has to flee. Call on the Lord and He will answer. Get "on board" with Jesus and stop believing the lie !!! You are good enough, as a matter of fact, you are a priceless, one of a kind masterpiece !!
Go be a blessing . . .