Convenient Christian

..."so I replied by sending this message to them, "I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why shall the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?" -Nehemiah 6:3

How would you define "Convenient Christian?"

I guess we could break down the words first. My trusty dictionary, Google, defines convenient as;

Convenient: Adj, 1. Fitting in well with a person's needs, activities, and plans. 2. Involving little trouble or effort.

The first thing that pops into my head is convenient stores or drive thru's. Those require little effort. They are quick, easy answers to a need. "I need a soda and gas and a gallon of milk and it's 2:30 in the morning. Oh what shall I do?!" Most people head to the nearest QT.


Now let's define the next word; Christian.

I'm not going to Google here, that would be too convenient of me. I'm going to choose the inconvenient path and define it myself. We'll call this the Meganary, not Meganary, that contains different meanings of words all together.

Christian: Noun, Adj, Verb, Pronoun, 1. Not fitting in well with some people's needs, activities, and plans. 2. Involving all your life, heart, emotions, thoughts and can be effortless because of Love. 3. Changing the world. 4. The belief that Jesus, born of a virgin, took my convenient life to the cross, died and then rose three days later all so that I can live.

This morning when a commenter on my blog called me, and I'm semi quoting here, a 'convenient Christian' I didn't get angry. When he or she used the word diatribe, that raised my blood pressure. What's a diatribe?! I'm too lazy to Google that one and I can't find it in the Meganary. When he or she basically called me an Edmondite! Now thems fightin' words!!

I decided to write this post not as a 'comeback' or a 'let me show you how I really am a Christian.' I'm not really sure what this is. I'd call it a diatribe but I still don't know what that means.

My angry friend, I am sorry you might have had a bad experience with a 'member' of LifeChurch. I am truly sorry, I am. Please don't conveniently paint all Christians with the same brush. I would agree some are convenient, but this Christian is not.

I am inconveniently in love with Jesus.

Nehemiah Type Burden

"So on October 2 the wall was finished- just fifty-two days after we had begun." -Nehemiah 6:15

(Yes, it's Monday and I normally do my "Weekly I Am," but I need to get something off my heart.)

The sermon series at church is titled "Change Your World In 52 Days." It's over Nehemiah, upon hearing the wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, his actions from that point and his work getting the wall rebuilt in 52 days. OH, it's also important to point out the wall has been destroyed for 140 years.

When Nehemiah learned the wall had been destroyed, it crushed him. He fell to his knees and wept and then he prayed and then he began his steps at getting to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall.

These past few weeks, while going through this story at church, I have felt challenged. I've always known and have had a feeling for quite some time that there's just something I need to be doing, I just don't know what. The question was poised, "What issue brings you to your knees weeping because it breaks your heart so much?"

Well, that's an easy one; starving children. 

There are millions, MILLIONS! of babies literally withering away because they have no food, MILLIONS! Disgusting.

Flip that around and there MILLIONS of babies dying and I am just me. Then I think about Nehemiah. He did something no one dared do for 140 years and he completed it in 52 days. It sounds impossible, but all the babies in Africa could be saved in 52 days. You scoff, but I serve a God who can do it. He made the sun stand still didn't he?

My first job is my family, but it is becoming clear my heart's desire is to be a voice for these babies, these moms watching their children die. Sound harsh? Good. It's harsh stuff.

Want to help?

There is one great way. We support Compassion International You can sponsor a child, make a one time donation, meander their site, check out their color of choice, blue, or look at their Child Survival Program. They do great great work and they truly want to release children from poverty in Jesus' name.

Another site I stumbled upon last week is Sevenly.org Each week they sell special Tshirts and $7 from each T goes to the 'organization of the week.' This week it's Compassion! Yah! Since I only wear Tshirts and this helps an organization I love, I bought one. Go check out their site and watch the video.

PS. My heart spewed these thoughts, which includes the mispellings and improper English.

Symbols

"The Lord is a warrior; Yahweh is his name!" -Exodus 15:3

When I picked out the hammered gold and silver wedding band that I would put on Matt's finger; it symbolized something.

When the Lord would tell His people, "build an altar;" it symbolized something.

When I grabbed the orange Walk MS shirt to wear, it symbolized something.

So many things in our world symbolize something. The golden arches, the brown trucks, an apple that has been partially eaten, a rainbow, a cross. To most those things mean McDonald's, UPS, APPLE, a Promise, Eternity.

Yesterday this helmet became an important symbol for me.

When I laced up my shoes, put on my bright orange MS shirt, headed to Turkey Mountain with my husband, peed in a porta potty, jumped over a car, crawled on my hands and knees under barbed wire, climbed a wall, swam in a poo smelling pond, raced up a mountain, attacked a cargo net, flopped in mud and finally hurdled over fire, the God of my heart smiled.

When I look at this picture, it symbolizes more than me looking like a bison, but of Hope of answered prayers. 

So even though these hats probably symbolize a couple of muddy bison, to us they symbolize something much greater.

They symbolize the Warrior in me, the miracle God has performed and His name is Yahweh.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekly "I AM"

"In those days I was the king's cup-bearer." -Nehemiah 1:11b

Outside my window... It looks like it's hot, but it's NOT!! Finally the temps are cooling off

I am thinking... First thing on my mind is Netflix and how they annoy me. The Warrior Dash is Saturday. I'm really excited for it but also a little tad bit nervous. I've seen the pictures of the people that do this thing and let's just say, if they can finish so can I. I'm going to wear an old MS shirt from one of the walks, so that'll be neat. My house is a disaster. I clean and clean and get it looking great, then I blink and it's like the stuff had baby stuff and it's taking over. You remember Gremlins, how if they got wet they multiplied. That's what's happening here only the 'water' is when I clean. Our Christmas shopping is done! Yes, you read that right. We decided to do no gifts for Christmas and take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge instead. We'll go the week before Christmas, stay a few days and just have fun. The kids are going to flip out. I told Matt since we aren't doing Disney World, we can present it to them like the parents do on those Disney commercials.

I am planning to cook... We will do the Crocked shredded chicken tonight and it will last for tomorrow's dinner also. Then Cashew Chicken will be sometime, then probably breakfast. I'm trying to get back into the cooking schedule. It's hard because the kids have swim lessons two afternoons a week and when they are done, I go workout so dinner is usually late on those nights.

I am reading... I finished The Help over the weekend. It was so great. I got to see the movie on Sunday and it was wonderful as well. It's hard to compare because they were both really great just presented differently. I thought the movie was a great companion to the book. I recommend both. Now I'm reading the first book in The Hunger Games series. Like a friend said, "It's not groundbreaking literature..." She's right, it isn't but I'm going to give this first book a chance and just read for the storyline and ignore the way it's written. If you haven't read Unbroken, that is still one of if not the best book I've ever read.

I am hearing... Just the keys on the computer. C1 and 2 are at school and C3 is sleeping. Very quiet.

I am learning... Be more purposeful in life. As small example would be... At night, when the kids are going to bed. To turn off everything and read to them. Normally Matt reads to them every night in their room but I have been reading to them a sweet little devo that is perfect for them to understand. I thought it wasn't sinking in, but one morning Chloe and I were walking out the door and we heard something strange in the neighbor's bush. Both of us froze. She asked what that was and by then I had unfrozen and said I wasn't sure. She started walking and said, "Oh well, doesn't matter, God is with us when we are scared." It was the funniest and also coolest thing ever because we had read about that, God being with us when we are scared, a few nights prior. So cool to hear her say it and see her believing it!

I am praying... Patience. To be like Nehemiah. Africa. My health. And many other things.

SOOC: Taken during my latest fishing trip with Matt. It had rained that morning, the sun was coming out and the clouds looked like snow drifts. It was really incredible. I saw a heart.

Growing Up

September 11, 2011: Ten Years Later

Since I print this blog, I wanted to document the Tenth Anniversary of September 11, 2001.

I don't remember much from yesterday, let alone 10 years ago, but I can remember vividly this day.

I had gone to Stillwater to stay the night with one of my best friends, Connie. The morning of the 11th, she came into the living room, I was sleeping on the couch, woke me up and said a plane hit one of the World Trade Center buildings. I can remember I was still asleep and I honestly paid no attention to watch she was saying. I wasn't familiar with NYC buildings, their size or location, let alone the comparison of the buildings to an huge airplane.

When I didn't pay her any attention, she snapped, "It's a big deal Megan." It was in that moment that I figured I had better get up. I don't remember if I saw the second plane hit. Those memories are clouded by all the images that have filled my mind and heart for the last 10 years.

I remember the mass chaos at the gas station as I was trying to get back to Edmond to school and my apartment. I remember going to class either that day or the next and the teacher was very somber. She was upset because her husband was so close to being able to retire from the military and she knew that he was going to get the 'call.' She cancelled class and told us to go home and be with our families.

I've spent most of today avoiding everything that has to do with September 11. I feel bad saying that, but I have a good reason. It haunted me, those images, they still do! I can see it all if I think about it. I can feel that same feeling I had 10 years ago. The knot in my throat, it creeps up on me and I don't like it. I can remember what happened that day therefore, I don't need to see any pictures, slideshows, tributes,  Presidents, past or present, people mourning.... All of that makes me sick, literally sick to my stomach.

So today, I spent loving on my family, serving my church and eating. Those things are small things, but a huge sacrifice was paid for me to get to do those small things.

I thank all those that have fought, have died and will fight again tomorrow for me to be here now.