Show Up To Your Life
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 It’s time. It is time you show up to your life. Too many of us are sitting on the sidelines …
Tag: life
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Cultural Christianity
I think there is one thing we can all agree on politically: the United States has been nothing short of wonky in the political arena in the last few years. We have fallen off our rocker. Am I right? Don’t worry. This is not a …
Image vs. Character
Like most moms, I am in my car driving a lot. What is it about motherhood resembling an Uber driver? What I’ve noticed more frequently in my carpool adventures are an abundance of Teslas and Maseratis. I don’t know what’s changed to make those two cars the car of the year around these parts, but it seems every time I am on the road I spot one of these bad boys. Now, I am all for a fancy car. I used to drive the most beautiful semi-fancy car pre-kids. Today I drive the typical mom vehicle: an SUV. It’s almost like a uniform for moms, the SUV. I must admit that when I see these vehicles on the road, the thought of “image” comes to mind. A Tesla and a Maserati all come with an image. Just like the SUV being a piece of the mom uniform, those cars come with a fancy connotation.
Image.
We live in a culture of image. Thanks to social media, image has become ever present and at the forefront of all of our beings. Even before social media existed, image was a thing. You knew where someone came from just by the way they looked. I know when I fly into my old stomping grounds (Orange County, Ca), I am going to see a certain type of people. And when I fly back to Texas, the people will change to match the image of the area.
Image.
It’s important to us. Image gets us in the door for an interview. Image can even land us that job or that deal. Image matters when you are in high school trying to fit in and when you are an adult trying to make mom friends after having a baby. Image is important to all of us whether we readily admit it or not. I wonder, however, if image has taken the place of character.
“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27
I’m going to admit something to you. I care what you think of my home. When you walk through my front door, I care about the thoughts that are flowing through your head. I care whether you like it or not; whether you think it’s pretty and well decorated. I care about the image of my home. Probably a little too much, if I’m being honest. That care got me thinking: Do I care more about the image of my home or the character? Because if I care more about the character of my home than I care more about you. When my focus shifts from image to character then my focus shifts off of me and onto you and your well-being while you are here. Does my home feel welcoming, inviting, and nurturing? Do you feel rested and accepted when you step through the thresh hold? Do you feel loved?
Image vs. Character.
It matters.
Genesis 1 tells us where our image comes from. God, in the beginning of time, created you and I. And He created us in His image. If we believe this, then our image is taken care of. We should never have to worry about our image again if we believe we are created in God’s image. But we do. Why is that?
We’ve lost sight of what needs filling and what does not. Our image does not need a boost. If it did, then God would need a boost and I think He is doing just fine on His own. Our image is secure in the most beautifully exquisite image out there: the image of God. Therefore, we don’t ever have to strive for a certain image. Our image is secure in the One who made the heavens.
So, what does that mean? It means we can stop all the striving and climbing to achieve a certain image and start focusing on our character instead. And honestly, that sounds a lot less stressful to me. Just like when I can exhale a bit as my focus shifts from the image of my home to the character of my home, so I can do the same when I shift my focus off of my image and onto my character.
When I focus on my character, who I want to be, I lose my self-centered ways and can see life outside myself. I can love more, bigger, louder, and better. I can open my grasp and reach for people I didn’t even see before. I become a welcome place to land instead of a hard place to fall.
Character.
It matters.
In a world that has lost its focus and is wrapped up in image, be the one who stands out because you know where your image lies. Character stands when image falls. Character invites when image slams the door closed. You don’t ever have to chase a certain image. Your image is already secure.
You are made in the image of God.
Your image secure.
Now, focus on your character.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
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
Imperfectly Perfect
FLASHBACK FRIDAY
I am a recovering perfectionist. Weeellll, I can’t honestly say I’m recovered, but I am working on getting there. I did have to do about a bazillion things and get them all perfectly in order before I could sit down and write today. So there’s that.
I have always chased perfection. Ever since I was little, I have had a longing for everything to be in its place; including my life. My lovies had a particular place on my bed. The knick-knacks and barbies all had a home. When I got married, my husband used to mess with my throw pillows because I had to have them in a certain order. I usually can’t sit down until everything is picked up and put away. When something in my life goes wrong, I react illogically and emotionally and typically clean and organize like a mad woman. It’s my fantasy for control.
Perfection is not attainable this side of Heaven.
I was on a walk admiring the scenery around our town lake. Everything grows naturally. There are so many types of plants, bushes, and trees. The turtles sun-bathe on the logs floating in the water. It’s gorgeous. Some people would love to see the landscape a little more manicured. I like it a little wild which is in contrast to how I like my life. Neat and tidy vs. wild and unruly. I enjoy the lake disorderly and overgrown. My life? Not so much.
As I exited the trail, I thought about my boys. I thought I wanted perfection for them. But, I don’t. Perfection isn’t reality. I want them to live life, make mistakes, and experience reality. I don’t want them chasing something that they will never find. I want them to grow naturally, like the foliage around the lake. It is in that wild growth where beauty blossoms.
We desire to protect our children. We long to keep them safe and cushion them from getting hurt knowing that our hearts will shatter just as hard as theirs, if not more. But, when I look back at my journey, I see a slew of mistakes and bumps in the road that made me who I am today. My mistakes and the twists and turns of life taught me, humbled me, challenged me, made me stronger, shifted perspective, shifted directions, and taught me more than I would ever had known had I lived a sheltered life. I don’t want my boys to hurt, but I do want them to learn.
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12
Perfection isn’t reality until eternity. If I convince my sons that they can live a perfect life than I am preventing them from wanting more for themselves, for their friends, for their families, for the strangers they meet. I don’t want to limit them by sheltering them from imperfection.
I look at the trail down by the lake seeing the untamed landscape and am reminded that life grows there. Life expands in all its twists and turns and knotted limbs. Sometimes, there is overgrowth that needs to be trimmed back or weeds that need pulling. But, that’s where experience happens and wisdom matures.
I want life for my kids (and myself), not perfection. I will (slowly) give them wings as they filter out this life being there to help them trim back the impassable trail and pull out the stuff that’s choking them down. I will remind them that they were meant for more: their longing is a longing for eternity where perfection will meet them at the gates. For now, however, I will teach them to embrace the longing for perfection and not to shy away from the imperfect because that’s where Jesus resides. I will show them my scars and allow them to see that mommy, too, lives an imperfect life. We will trudge along together on the path where the terrain runs wild and free learning, growing, and searching for the only One that can bring us true perfection.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
