Romans 5:3-5 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

We have heard it said many times… “We do things out of love or we do them out of fear.” When we do not take inventory of our motives, we tend to live quickly and reactively to everything and everyone around us out of fear. We are afraid of being rejected.

When we are fearful about something, we often get angry with ourselves for feeling that way. When we get angry, we behave poorly. We behave poorly by over or under do things that keep us disconnected from what is going on inside of ourselves.

We remain disconnected through our poor behaviors which become addictions. It is easier to stay at work late than to finish the argument with your spouse. Maybe spending hours online is easier than validating your child for success he has in an area of school that you didn’t do well in yourself. It is not always easy to see how these seemingly small choices can affect the rest of our lives at the time we choose to do them, but they do over time.

Why is it such a big deal? How can one night online change my life? Every time we cave to the temptation to choose to avoid reality, we choose to have a lack of faith. We can trust God for we know how dearly God loves us but that doesn’t mean that it is always going to be easy to have faith in him when things are awkward or tough.

Every time we make the right choice, God will walk us through it and our faith will grow stronger. On the other hand, every time we choose to treat temptation like it’s no big deal, our faith will become weaker. Truly we behave our way out of faith. More than likely, anyone who has stepped away from God did so slowly. One step at a time, steps that seemed so small, until finally our faith is small or gone. Maybe it can help us to consider this. Giving into temptations steals from our family, our future, our friends, and our faith.

God loves you. He has never changed his mind about how much he cares for you. Have you changed your mind about him? It might be that you have completely walked away. It might be that it is just a few things that you are hanging on to or maybe you’ve been holding onto a lot of fear deep inside. What do you need to stop avoiding today? What keeps you down when you want to be running the race with faith? We can be sure that we will gain so much joy when we endure, do the right thing and keep growing our faith. The race isn’t always easy but it does make us stronger.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

You don’t have to be first to know how good it feels to finish a marathon so don’t compare yourself to anyone else, just be ready to have faith when God says go!

I was decorating sugar cookies today. It is a hobby that I enjoy because my mom and I used to do it together when I was in high school. We made cookies all of the time for my class as a senior trip fund raiser.

Today’s cookies were a basic smiley face. They brought joy to my heart as I made the little smiles and eyes. I was a little scared that I might mess up on them though. Black icing on yellow icing can lead to big mistakes that cannot be fixed.

Then my mind wandered… when I was about 5 years old I was so excited about a gift and card that my parents had brought home so I could give it to my friend at her birthday party. I probably jumped the gun by taking the card and a coloring crayon to it as soon as I could. I decided to use my creative skills and draw a smiley face inside. Oh, so that’s how my mind connected the cookies to my wandering thoughts! It wasn’t long before I was wearing a sad face because I had drawn one eye much bigger than the other.

With big tears in my eyes I tried and tried to make both eyes the same size. I would make one eye bigger, and then try to scrape the black crayon off the extra large eye. Soon it looked like my smiley face had a black eye! The more I tried, the smudgier (is that even a word?) and the messier my smiley face looked. My parents let me know that it was okay but that they couldn’t go out and get a new birthday card for me so that I could start fresh.

Don’t you think sometimes we do this in our Christian walk? We try to over compensate for our pain. Trying to make ourselves appear more balanced and prettier than we feel on the inside.

Has church become a place where you wear a smiley face so that you don’t have to show how you really feel? Have you come to find that fellowship means being over joyful so that you don’t inconvenience your friends? If that is what church has become for you, how about trying something new? Try connecting at a real level with someone besides your pastor in a counseling session when all seems lost. Start with the little things and see if you can trust someone. Ask someone to coffee so you can get past the Sunday morning smiles.

I humbly gave my card to my friend for her birthday. Will you take a brave step today too and share your “blobs” with a friend?

I was in a store the other day and overheard a little boy who looked about six years old talking to his mom. It was one of those one way conversations where mom was looking at purses and her brown-haired, brown-eyed little soccer player was telling her how he was going to conquer an opposing team single-handedly.

He was so cute that I couldn’t help but listen in as he started to figure out his big plan, “Mom, I’n not gonna pass that soccer ball, ya know. I’n a good kicker so I’n jus’ gonna kick dat ball all the way down the field by myself.”

Mom replied without even knowing that she did, “Uh huh.”

He continued, “Yeah, I’ll jus’ push the other team outta the way & I’n gonna be so fast they won’t even see me comin’ then I can make a goal all by myself.”

“Uhh huh. That’s great, honey…” mom picked up a little black purse and looked at the price tag.

As her son stepped into superhero mode by displaying his winning kick, he had already claimed the praise he would soon deserve, “Yep, then my team will all cheer for me really loud ’cause I did it all by myself and the other guys will be crushed & they’ll never want to play against me again!”

Inside I chuckled about how hard this little guy’s coach had probably worked to help this boy and his team learn to pass the ball to one another. I’m sure the coach had talked about how a team is not a one man show while mom had unconsciously just commended his new idea of playing a superhero who would get all of the credit.

Really though, this is not a new idea at all. We all have envisioned ourselves playing the superhero but I don’t have to tell you that superheroes aren’t real. Capes aside, we all need one another.

I remember being a kid and kicking the soccer ball down the field during the one whole month that I played. Our coach was always reminding us to look for our teammates if we had the ball and to make ourselves available if we didn’t have the ball. I was always too scared to look up and pass the ball. I guess I thought that if I looked up that I might get kicked in the shins.

Feels that way in life sometimes too, doesn’t it? If I look up, someone else might come in and take away the credit. I need to do this all by myself.

It’s all about relationship with God and other people. It’s good to look up. So, let’s play ball and we’ll give God the credit.

I went down to the coop to visit our chickens today and they had laid one new egg. We have brown, tan and even green eggs now. The rooster was beautiful yet fiesty with his ruffled feathers and attitude that wouldn’t quit. I think he was protecting his lady chickens from me.

Have you ever let your feathers be ruffled by the things that you perceive? It is a slippery slope we head down when we decide to start adding our perceptions with little “facts” about friends. We let the sum of these two things eat away at our respect for others.

I saw a t-shirt on a young lady while at Disneyland that read “Respect is earned.” Seemed like an ok statement for a moment but then I gave it a little more thought. If our trust in others is broken while we are young, we tend to look at everything through eyes of mistrust. No one can earn your trust unless you allow them to. If you cannot give them your trust, how can you respect them? Respect follows trust. Trust comes when we believe the best in others.

I have a dear friend who understands this. As we talked over coffee she shared with me that her husband had come in one day after talking to another neighborhood dad. He shared with her that the neighbor’s foster daughter had been through a lot of things in her life. Horrendous, life altering things. My friend politely asked her husband to please not share the stories because she adored the neighbor girl and wanted to be able to give her little friend an opportunity for a fresh start on life. What an amazing testimony to my dear friend’s character.

What thoughts do you hold inside that are based on your perceptions of others? Are you willing to give others a fresh start? Can you trust those you love? I pray a fresh start for you and those you love today. I think we could all use fresh starts more than ruffled feathers.

Consistency. There is a lot to be said about being able to be counted on.

I count on my hair stylist to cut my hair just right every time I visit. I count on Jamba Juice employees to make my favorite orange drink exactly right without using too much energy boost powder which can make it taste fuzzy. I count on my family and friends to respond with love and warm fuzzies every time I see them.

When you are consistent, you earn other people’s trust.

I bravely tried two different small latte stands last weekend. I am embarrassed to say that I spent a total of $7.00 trying to find the perfect coffee smoothie. You know those times when you get in the mood for something and can’t shake it? I was in one of those.

The first place I went to handed me a mocha coffee with small chips of ice floating at the top and the second place was more of the same with something unidentifiable but frothy going on in the middle. Neither tasted like something I would give to another human being, at least not to anyone that I liked.

It was then that I began to reflect on how important it is to give it your best and then be consistent. I like going to latte stands where I can count on my favorite coffee being served just right. It has nothing to do with the size of the coffee stand. For instance, there is a little coffee house in Plains, Montana that really knows how to make a coffee smoothie – Montana High Espresso. The lady there uses real ice cream and makes them really thick. Of course, I never said they were good for you, but boy are they delicious! They are so consistently delicious that I mentioned them to an ebay customer from that city and she knew right away which latte stand I was referring to.

No matter what your age, size, financial status or your perception of the gifts you have been given to use while on this earth, remember to use what God has given you consistently and do your best. It is not through big showy moves that we earn another’s trust but by consistency.

When others think of you, do they think flakey or consistent and dependable? Something to ponder over a coffee smoothie perhaps.

We just returned from a few days off camping. One night I heard some noises and thought the six baby squirrels we had been watching all day had come out to play again but it turned out to be one large set of glowing eyeballs looking my way instead.

Now, I’m no dummy, in about the first grade I learned about wild animals and how even the cutest creatures can be dangerous. The picture of a hissing raccoon in a cage, teeth and all, came back to haunt me as I backed away from the glowing eyes that were just about 5 feet away from my campfire chair.

I talked to John in the same tone of voice we had used many times when our kids couldn’t spell. In code and with careful steps, I told him that I was making my way to the “t-e-n-t.” Lucky for me, the raccoon didn’t understand as much as I thought he did and he just sat there happily eating his shelled peanuts.

We pulled out our flashlights and cameras after we alerted the kids who peeked out of the tent door. They were thrilled and the raccoon looked as though he was at a modeling shoot. We got some good poses but after awhile he began to grab a peanut and then stepped out of site to eat it. He would return only to do more of the same. When the photoflashes didn’t stop, he decided he’d had enough and vanished into the forest.

I wanted so badly to ignore everything I had learned in elementary school and go try to hug the adorable, cuddly looking animal. Surely our situation was the exception to the wild animal rule. He looked friendly, lived at a state campground, accepted our peanuts and even posed for our pictures — pictures that I cannot wait to scrapbook, by the way! :)

You know me; a story isn’t a story until there is a moral to it, right? Like our family’s raccoon friend, this little story is no exception.

When we think we are the exception to God’s standard of living, we will get hurt in life. These hurts also affect those we love. Just like my good fear of raccoons from the first grade, we should hold onto the truth that we are all capable of coming too close to temptations and trouble and plan now to take the steps necessary to get away from it so that if “glowing eyes” come our way we are prepared to get out of a potentially dangerous situation.

As harmless as whatever comes our way might look at first glance, we must remind ourselves of the “wild in the raccoon” and give up our cozy seat by the campfire to be safe from harm. There are no exceptions. This goes two ways for we are not superhuman and wild raccoons are not harmless cuddly stuffed animals.

Get away before it even so much as hisses (flee), shine the light bright (bring God into it), share your situation with others (bring trusted friends in for accountability) and be ready to watch it run away (yippee)! Every time you do these steps, you faith gets stronger and stronger.

This weekend we had a big surprise birthday party for my parents. What a great day it was! The days before were busy. We cleaned our house from top to bottom for guests, some of whom we hadn’t seen for years, all while my mom and dad watched and wondered what we were up to.

Since my parents live with us right now, it was not until the night before the party that I had a chance to try, emphasis on try, to decorate their birthday cake. With the above 100 degree weather at our house the icing began to melt, and for some reason, the cake began to as well.

I could not figure out what was happening! I had decorated many cakes before. Being a professional cake decorator’s daughter, mom had taught me the tricks of the trade but chunks of the deliciously moist chocolate cake were literally falling off the sides and crumbs were everywhere.

I finally gave up my Martha Stewart persona and reluctantly tossed the cake into the trash. Brittany was shocked and asked what had happened. I told her that I thought someone had snatched cake from the side and so the rest of the cake was weak and falling apart too. She smiled slyly and aadmitted that she had had a very small piece of the edge of the cake while walking by earlier in the day.

John joined the end of the cake tossing ceremony in the kitchen as Brittany gave him the “mom’s not happy look.” He too asked what had happened. After telling him my story and hoping for some sympathy, he laughed and said, “Well, I’m sure that isn’t what caused the problem but I had a small piece off the edge.”

We all decided that it was bedtime and I took a mental note that I needed to stop by the grocery store to pick up a not-so-personal birthday cake in the morning.

We were up early the next morning putting our birthday celebration plans in place when Josiah asked where the cake was. I told him about my dilemma while he took the chocolate scented garbage bag outside. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Oh, yeah. I had just a tiny piece off the edge.”

After calculating all the small pieces that each family member had torn off the cake, I began to think, “Isn’t that just how it works.” We think the small things won’t matter too much but they really can add up to a crumbly mess and may eventually even fall apart. God loves you so much. Consider what he would have you do in every little step and he’ll be able to decorate your life with awesome blessings!

Ooooo Ahhhh… Ouch! Have you ever had a neighborhood fireworks show?
We’ve been to quite a few. Some were great but some were just down
right scary. We had one neighbor who was making bombs in his garage
years ago. After that year, we started hosing down our house and taking
off to the big community fireworks shows. At our last neighborhood we

had wonderful neighbors that were able to throw a great party without

too much of a risk. Well, uh, unless you count the time that one large

firework tipped over and started shooting toward a house on our block.

Then there is the mess the next day. These are pictures of last year’s big
neighborhood show…. and mess. Looking at these pictures just got me
thinking. How many times in life we want the good stuff but forget that
the messes are a part of the journey too. You can’t have a parade
without horses doin’ their thing in the road. You can’t have a lovely
face without a good product, like those green face masks, or at least
good cleansing scrubs. A picnic without ants? Kids without little
mishaps?

I was watering my garden the other day and stepped on a
sticky slug. The slime was right between my toes! I read a book
recently that said our kids aren’t getting enough dirt in their play
life to stay healthy… and we all know what happens if you don’t get
enough fiber. All that to say, we can be thankful for the lessons,
mishaps and messes along the way. Many of them are needed to live a
full and healthy life. Just remember, your neighbors are going through
the same things. We are in this together and nothing and no one is
always perfect.

P.S. I tried to find the good qualities of slugs
but haven’t found anything yet! If you look up slugs on wikipedia.org,
guess where one of the slug pictures was taken. Yep, you got it! Right
here in North Bend. Ugh!

Repentance. Easier said than done. I had a great discussion with my kids this weekend about repentance being a way of life rather than an annual festival. Repentance is so much more than saying we are sorry. Repentance is being humble, completely honest and is often a bit gut wrenching. The freedom that comes from practicing repentance with God and others is freeing though on the other side.

I have been reflecting a lot lately on memories of the church family that I grew up in. These people knew real joy. At the annual Christmas party they would chase one another around the church during gift exchanges. I couldn’t wait for mom & dad to come home from functions to hear stories about elders who had dyed their grey hair black for a fifties party only to find out that they had used permanent hair color by mistake. They knew how to enjoy life; but most of all they knew how to truly love each other. The key was living repentance with God and each other. Apologizing even when they weren’t sure if the other person was offended, seeking God’s forgiveness as well. This freed them up to laugh and love one another much.

That’s good stuff. That is walking the walk. Do you have the weight of unforgiveness on your back today? Who do you need to forgive? Who do you need to ask forgiveness from? Sometimes we think we are too busy to talk with people and be honest. We are just fooling ourselves. It only makes our burden heavier. Free yourself up today. Talk to those you need to and talk to Jesus. It feels real good.