Post-It Notes Are Pure Evil!

Post-it notes used to be some of my best friends. Let's face it, they come in lots of pretty colors, many shapes and sizes,  teacher's love office supplies, and they practically scream, "You don't have to make a commitment if you use me."  As previously posted, a really long time ago I might add, I don't do commitment and follow through very well.    

Who knew that a small yellow note that started its existence as a hymnal page marker could have come so far and become sooooo evil.  It has become a trickster, a deceiver, a giver of false hope.  How can this be you ask.  Well, let me tell you.

Whenever I sit in a meeting or listen to a sermon or read a book, I will mark information that strikes me as interesting or noteworthy with a post-it note.  I have many books with post-it notes sticking out from pages all crushed and wrinkled.  They lull me into a false sense of action. 

Sadly, I have become a "Post-It Note Christian."  (Thank you Tammy from Common Ground for the phrasiology.) I love God.  I want to serve him faithfully.  When I go to church, I go expecting God to meet me there.  And He does.  God speaks through His people in mighty ways.  I am inspired, uplifted, convicted, challenged, and called to action.  I furiously write down powerful words and phrases on my post-its so that I don't forget them; so that I can do something with them later.  Some of those post-it do make their way to my bathroom mirror, where they will stay until they get steamed and fall off.  By the way, making it to the mirror is a big deal because each day I am reminded of God's word as I wash, brush, and admire.  However, most don't make the mirror.  They stay in my bible or rainbow clutter up my notebook. 

Lately, and for much of my life, God has been calling me to stop being so undisciplined, get out a pen or better yet a permanent marker, and just do it whatever it may be that God is calling me to do.  We are called to action not note taking.

Dear Lord,

Help me to not pencil you in, post-it note your word or put a pin in it to save for later. 



Let's Put A Pin In It
Watch below for a brief scene from Bolt about putting a pin in it.  Cute!



James 1:22-24

22 Do what God's teaching says; when you only listen and do nothing, you are fooling yourselves. 23 Those who hear God's teaching and do nothing are like people who look at themselves in a mirror. 24 They see their faces and then go away and quickly forget what they looked like.



Auto Pilot, GPS, and the Road Less Traveled

Have you ever gotten in your car and started on your way to go somewhere and completely missed where you were suppossed to turn because it was different from your normal routine?   I have even said, "I must have been traveling on auto pilot." when this has happened.  There are times that we become so used to our routine, our comfort zone, that even when we try to change it up, we tend to still travel on auto pilot.

I was blown away last night and this morning, (I went to church 2 times this week), when the pastor said, "The path that you are on determines your destination."  Duh!!!  This is so simple yet so profound.  I, myself have been guilty of relying on good intentions.  I have made lists, joined webistes, visualized a positive outcome, and even prayed.  (Right now, I am mainly thinking about the weight and health issues in my life.)  

The reality is no matter what you punch into the GPS if you don't turn right when it says turn right and just go on auto pilot you will not reach your desired destination.  However, the great thing about GPS is, when you don't turn when it tells you to, it recalibrates. 

When I was younger and would go camping with my dad, he would always get up early each morning and take a walk.  I would sometimes go with him.  As we were walking through the woods we would usually take a path that was there from the many other people who had walked the same way.  That path or trail  made it easier to walk through the woods. 

Once I got on one of these paths not knowing that is was a bazillion miles long, and I would be walking forever.  I did not check the sign at the beginning of the path to see where I would end up.  That kind of lends itself to the "How did I get here?" theory.  We have to pay attention in life.  Just because I didn't read the sign it didn't change the destination of the path. 

Just think, if I had had a cell phone with GPS.  (They didn't have cell phones when I was a child, so it would have had to have been a compass.) It could have recalibrated my course and I could have gotten off of that path.  The trip through the woods may have been difficult beacuse there wasn't a well worn path that had been trampled down by all of those who had gone before me.  And, I may have had to struggle a bit, but I would have been able to reach my desired destination.

God and His word are like a GPS.  He knows the final destination and recalibrates for us when we get off track.  And, sometimes the journey is difficult.  But, all we have to do is turn and follow the path that he has laid out for us and we will end up where we should.  I am just thankful that it is never too late to recalibrate.

Toby Mac: Get Back Up

We lose our way,

We get back up again

Never too late to get back up again,

One day, you gonna shine again,

You may be knocked down but not out forever,

Lose our way, we get back up again,

So get up, get up

Strength Will Rise

I went to a political red tape kind of meeting the other night.  We went into it with a, "God can do anything" kind of feeling.  We were riding high on community spirit.  We all had high hopes as to what the outcome of the meeting would be.  

When we lay our petitions before the Lord and ask something of Him, we always seem to expect a yes.  When we don't get a yes, we sometimes become angry or restless.  We wonder what went wrong, or why did God not answer my prayer.  

It is easy to forget that there are three answers to a request: yes, no, and wait.  Let us not loose sight of the fact that God is in control.  Maybe His answer right now is wait.  Unfortunately, we only see what is right in front of us.  We don't have a God view of the situation.  Maybe there is something that God is trying to teach us.  

God has not forsaken us or this project.  Things will turn out just the way that God wants them to.  We just need to continue to lay our requests before Him and pray that his will be done in this situation and in His timing.  

This song has been runing through my head for the last few days, and I think that it sums up what I have been feeling.

Everlasting God

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

Our God, You reign forever

Our hope, our strong deliverer.

You are the everlasting God,

The everlasting God.

You do not faint,

You won't grow weary.

You're the defender of the weak,

You comfort those in need,

You lift us up on wings like eagles.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

Our God, You reign forever

Our hope, our strong deliverer.

You are the everlasting God,

The everlasting God.

You do not faint,

You won't grow weary.

You're the defender of the weak,

You comfort those in need,

You lift us up on wings like eagles.

You are the everlasting God,

The everlasting God,

The everlasting God,

The everlasting...

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

The Lord is the everlasting God,

The creator of all the Earth,

He never grows weak or weary,

No one can measure the depths of His understanding,

He gives power to the weak, and strength to the powerless,

Even youth will become weak and tired,

And young men will fall in exhaustion,

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength,

They will soar high on wings like eagles,

They will run and not grow weary,

They will walk and not faint,