one girl (adelaide) is down for a nap. there apparently was a meltdown while i was out taking rosie for a haircut. sorry i missed those photo moments.
we are all tired (frankly when i heard adelaide was down for a nap i had a moment of sincere JEALOUSY). i am still nursing a “7 days away with youth” hangover mixing with a “7 days of less than 4 hours of sleep a night” scratchy throat and “498 minutes of yelling while directing games on the bus” really sexy throaty voice that isn’t quite as sexy when it is matched with circles of exhaustion under my eyes. nope. i just looked. not sexy at all. next week will be my “7 days of sleeping 10 hours or more a night at the beach house” cure.
it has been a busy week for everyone. especially robyn who i am making cook and clean and wash and iron all week. i love free help. perhaps she will stay for a few months. i will pretend that i have more photography hints to tell her and she will devote her life in service to me.
so here is the other devotional that i wrote for the choir tour kids.
hope this keeps you all busy for a while because i am too tired to think of anything else to write.
I did it MY way!
“I did it MYYYYYYYYYY way” is an old Frank Sinatra song. And it is an even older way of living life… and a way that a lot of people LIKE to live their life even today (and will be living their lives until Jesus comes and every knee bows and He is finally King of this world). But we can’t blame Ole’ Blue Eyes (sorry, that was Frank Sinatra’s nickname, but you are all WAAAY to young to have know that) for being the first one to talk about doing things MYYYYY way. Satan kind of holds the record for that lovely dis-honor….
Genesis 3:4-6 (the message) The serpent told the Woman, "You won't die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you'll see what's really going on. You'll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil." When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she'd know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.
Satan still croons (sorry again, that is a really old fashioned word for “sings”) the same song to us today… to do it OOOOOOUUUUUURRRRR way….
Paul was VERY aware of this as he warned the Galatians about what happens when we try to get OUR WAY all of the time….
Let’s look down this little list of all the GREAT things that happen when it is “all about ME”… (Note that all the writing in the parenthesis is MY words)…
Galatians 5:19-21 (the message)
It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time:
repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; (that may look fun in the movies, but trust me, that is not a good time at all)
a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; (ooh, a nice stinking pile of emotional garbage. Someone will need a therapist for that.)
frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; (nothing like a joyless grab for happiness to start off the day)
trinket gods; (a god you just keep in your pocket like a little souvenir)
magic-show religion; (come on God, can’t you pull an “A” on the math test out of your magical top hat)
paranoid loneliness; (lonely AND paranoid, nice combination. Better have 357 cats to keep you company….)
cutthroat competition; (always judging others and thinking you have to be better than them, whew, that is exhausting)
all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; (a list of items that is miles long, things I MUST have NOW, being defined by what I HAVE and OWN)
a brutal temper; (mean and angry, always a nasty combination)
an impotence to love or be loved; (not loving and not being able to be loved, very sad)
divided homes and divided lives; (lives not in sync, everyone in it for themselves)
small-minded and lopsided pursuits; (caring about really stupid and trivial things, fighting over really unimportant things)
the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; (this just screams MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS doesn’t it? sorry, middle school girls, but you KNOW what I am talking about… and don’t think it ONLY happens to middle school girls, it is REALLY a problem for all ages when we see EVERYONE as a threat to us, they can’t be prettier, smarter, more cool than us OR we have to gossip about them and point out ALL of their faults so we look so much better))
uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; (addicted to anything and everything)
ugly parodies of community. (not real sharing or caring even in families OR youth groups. Being part of a group BUT not caring about each other. Having 1,277 facebook friends but never really going our of your way to help any of them or really KNOW any of them on a real personal level.)
I could go on. (please Paul, don’t go on. That is plenty of warning for me…)
But is there a better way? IS there a sweeter song?
Oh yes, just a few verses down is the GOOD NEWS…
Galatians 5:22-23, 25-26 (the message)
But what happens when we live God's way? (yes, please tell me something better happens)
He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—
things like affection for others, (oh that sounds better)
exuberance about life, (an excitement about living)
serenity. (peace)
We develop a willingness to stick with things, (finish things well, not just stop in the middle of a task)
a sense of compassion in the heart, (caring about others)
and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. (caring about people NOT because of what they can do for us or how popular or attractive they are but because God made them and He loves them)
We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, (being faithful friends and family members)
not needing to force our way in life, (not PUSHING open doors, but door opening for us)
able to marshal and direct our energies wisely…. (making smart choices)
…Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.
That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.
Yes, you are an original. God made you to do things that He made NO ONE else to do. They are GREAT things, they are AMAZING things… and they won’t happen if you are always trying to do it YOUR way….
Doing it MYYYYYYY way leads to a bunch of miserable, selfish, self-centered, whining, complaining, and angry people. Walk through any school hallway (or for that matter most businesses, malls, and even a lot of churches) and you will see the results of “I’m doing in MYYYYYYY way.”
God back over the list of things that happen when we do things MYYYYYYY way. Circle three things that you have seen happen in YOUR life when you have done it MYYYYY way. Was it ugly? Is it still ugly? When you see any of those things in your life… it is a sure sign that you are trying to get YOUR WAY all of the time.
Now go through the list of what happens when you do things God’s way…
Circle three things that you REALLY REALLY REALLY would like to see in your life, things you would like to see happen today, this week, this summer, the next school year.
How to start living those things? First stop comparing yourself with others. STOP IT NOW. And second, don’t just hold this as a great idea… LIVE IT. Stop thinking only about yourself and what you want and how you feel right now. Live beyond yourself, involve yourself in helping others so much that you forget your own selfish feelings every once in a while.
And when you start to see some of those old bad things creeping in… send them away by choosing God’s way of love and service by singing a new song… forgetting yourself.