Hang ‘Em
What makes Twitter light up? When do TV ratings go off the charts? How do things become trending topics that everyone is talking about? When someone has done something wrong and the mob goes after them. As much as we hate to admit it, we …
Tag: Jesus
In-n-Out, Kaepernick, & Satan
The title sounds like the start of a joke: Satan and Kaepernick walk into In-n-Out. Ha. I won’t go there. But, I am going to talk about these three. I woke up in the middle of the night the other day. I instantly began thinking …
Judge-y
Do you watch Netflix? Have you ever binged a show and gotten the “Are you still watching this” question? Netflix can be so judge-y. So can we.
I was on my weekly Tuesday walk when a neighbor drove by me. I waved. She didn’t take her eyes off the view ahead. If anything, she had an angry look on her face. This neighbor, the husband and wife, don’t seem to like me very much. They once did, but then something switched. Not sure what, but all of a sudden I was on their bad list. I kept walking and felt judged. I felt like I had been wrongly read and dismissed. Have you ever felt that way? Someone created an opinion of you that was way off base. It’s tough.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-6
I don’t know about you, but I don’t realize how often I judge. The moment my neighbor didn’t wave at me, I created a story; a false narrative. I have been the judge and I have been on the receiving end of judgement. Neither is good. Most of us have heard Jesus’ words in Matthew 7. Even if you are not a Christian, you have heard the log and speck analogy. I think about the many ways I have been judged: my looks, finances, what I do with my time, my kids, my marriage, you name it. Most of the time, the judgments are false.
What if we stopped. What would happen if we just let people be. Let’s stop making assumptions and started freeing ourselves from the bondage of false narratives.
Judging eats up so much of our time and energy. It spawns anger and resentment deep within our souls that drags us down and makes us unlikable and difficult to be around. Our judgments don’t bring justice for the wrongs of others. Instead, they paralyze us and rob us of our joy.
We are all worse than Netflix. We are all more judge-y than any of us is willing to admit. Most of us, if we are being honest, judge more than we love. What would change in your life if you stopped?
I am calling all of us, myself included, to call ourselves out. Every time that judge-y thought crosses our mind, we stop it in it’s tracks. I will take it one step further and have all of us write down every time we have a judgmental thought or word. I bet we’d be surprised how quickly we fill a page.
I don’t know about you, but I have plenty to work on for myself instead of being tied up in judging anyone else. I need to solve my own issues instead of the world’s. My log far outweighs your speck. I am looking forward to a more joy-filled peaceful life because I am willing to release the chains of judgment. Will you join me?
Love & Blessings,
Meg
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Walls
Flashback Friday Walls What is holding you up? Where does your foundation lie? I was sitting on my bed admiring the TV that hung on the wall. I have wanted our TVs hung since we moved into this house. I have three boys and visions …
Chasing Go With The Flow
I’ve read many blog posts and articles about how we as a society “chase busy.” I’ve also read posts that tell us how we need to start “chasing slow.” We talk about balance and how we need it, but know it’s unattainable. My husband often …
Unity
I was listening to a podcast the other day and the girl was sharing her life story. Her story was one of redemption. If someone looked at her life today, they would assume she was living the good life. What they wouldn’t see is the mountains she had to climb to get to this place.
Her story, like many of us, included a dark season. There was a moment in her life when she made the decision to have an abortion. Don’t stop reading. This isn’t a pro-life vs. pro-choice debate blog. This is a story of how we can love better.
In order to enter the abortion clinic, she had to walk past protesters. People lined the sidewalk in front of the clinic spewing all kinds of hate and nasty comments. They even attacked her car as she drove in. The protesters did not deter her from walking into the clinic and following through with the abortion. If anything, they pushed her deeper into that decision than changed her mind. Their hate-filled speech even propelled her roommate who drove her to the clinic to apply for a job there. She didn’t want other women to feel the way her friend did so she decided getting a job there would allow her to be a source of peace and comfort in such a tumultuous time.
I am all for protesting. We all have a voice and we all have a right to share that voice. But, I wonder how many of us are using our voice for good; for the betterment of others. I can’t believe shouting horrific things at another human being would do anything to change their mind. I often tell my boys: God gave us emotions. He wants us to feel. It is how we react to and express those emotions that matter. Same with our speech. We can either help or hinder the situation. The choice is ours.
I am studying the book of Ephesians. Paul is talking to the Ephesians about Jesus. In chapter 2, Paul talks about the division between the Jews and Gentiles (non-believers). These two people groups had a huge wall built between them. They did not mingle. They did not hang out. They did not like each other. They were vastly different. Then Jesus came onto the scene.
Jesus unified two people groups that never thought they’d cross the border onto each others’ sides. He unified those that were once divided. He brought peace and reconciliation where it never seemed possible. He took up their quarrels and brought them to an end.
When I think about this one girl’s story and read about how Jesus reconciled the Jews and the Gentiles to one another, I wonder why we are doing it so wrong. Why do we think shouting hate will change someone’s mind? Why we think our platform resides in hurtful messages.
I honestly believe that if Jesus were standing outside the abortion clinic, He would have walked up to this beautiful girl and given her a hug. I also believe that He would have walked her to her car after she went through with it. He didn’t come to divide and shout hateful messages. He came to love and give grace. We should, too.
For he himself is our peace; who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier. The dividing wall of hostility. Ephesians 2:14
Love & Blessings,
Meg
Demonizing
“Darkness does not drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.” Martin Luther King Jr. I love you. Some of us say this statement flippantly. Some don’t say it at all. This sentiment can bring …
Summer of Chaos
If you’ve known me or hung around The Messy Mingling long enough, you know that I like order. I like my house clean, pillows coiffed, and fingerprints cleaned from the fridge doors. You’ve made my day if there are vacuum lines in the carpet upstairs. I just do better when things are neat and tidy. I have been like this for as long as I can remember. My family likes to joke about the time I was about 3 years old and I put a bunch of snails in a perfect line. If one got out of place, I quickly put it back and gave it a scolding.
Order. It’s where I thrive.
I keep waiting for the long summer days where we don’t know what time or day it is and have nothing to do but swim, eat, and play video games. We shot out of the summer gates into a slew of goings-on after a manic May. This wasn’t intentional. Usually, I don’t plan much for our summers. I like to keep it low-key since the school year if full. However, this year feels different. Add a house flood on top of it all and chaos has swept in and almost swallowed us whole.
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41
The waves were all-encompassing. The storm was going to overtake the boat and the disciples knew it. Fear and chaos ruled their thoughts and hearts. They didn’t know what to do and I am sure they were thinking un-Christianly thoughts about Jesus who was snoozing through it all.
But Jesus.
Jesus was asleep because He knew the chaos wouldn’t envelope them. He was calm because He knew the storm didn’t have as much power as the disciples were giving it. He was confident they were going to see this through to the other side.
We, too, go through our own storms; our own chaos. We can’t control when it is going to hit or how hard. Fear rushes in and stress takes over. If you’re like me, you try to find control where you can when you can only amplifying the chaos. All the while, Jesus is telling us not to fear and not to stress out. He’s got this.
What do you do when life is not easy?
What is your reaction when the storm hits?
I try to manage and control the chaos. I also give myself little pep-talks. I tell myself that this chaos won’t last long; life is smooth sailing so just hang on a second and it will pass. What I’ve come to realize, is that life is chaotic. Yes, there are seasons where the seas are tranquil but, the storms still come.
Instead of sitting in the chaos and allowing myself to be all-in in that moment, I am fretting and freaking out wondering why Jesus is asleep. I ignore the center of the storm and reach for the shore where it’s safe. But Jesus tells me not to be afraid and to have faith in Him.
No matter what comes my way, my confidence is in Him. Jesus is worthy to be trusted because He is trustworthy. Even when things don’t work out the way I have written the script in my head, He is still worthy to be trusted. He gets me to the shore safely every time. Every time. No matter what the journey looks like to get there, He is right by my side calming the storm as I drive through it.
We try to outrun the storm. We reach for the shore and don’t press into the difficult. We look for the peace and try to create it instead of seeing the challenge as an opportunity.
Chaos is the name of the game right now and I am all-in. There is something for me to learn in this season; a time for growth. I need to be stretched and my anxiety levels need to chill out. It is okay to have some walls taken out, to be displaced for a little while, and for the pillows to be in the wrong place on the couch. I will survive and come out unscathed on the other side. Jesus is walking alongside me calming my storm. I only need to have a little faith.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
Someone Else
I didn’t become myself until I tried to be her. I love Ree Drummond and Joanna Gaines. I mean, who doesn’t? What a dream to create beautiful meals in the middle of nowhere and design gorgeous spaces! I spent years trying to be someone else. …