Day: June 9, 2009

Several girls in the youth group have \”gifted\” themselves with a tattoo upon turning 18. They get them on their shoulders, upper back, or neck. Just this weekend, I saw two new tattoos on my girls.

\”That looks pretty,\” I told one of the girls. \”And when you are an old woman, it will be really pretty down around your waist.\”

We all laugh, but come on, girls, we all know exactly where that tattoo is going to end up, right?

Later that day, when I was talking to another youth leader about it, she told me that she has implemented the 80-year rule in making many decisions. \”When I am 80,\” she asks herself, \”how will I feel about this decision?\” That\’s pretty good, I think, especially when it comes to our bodies.

It\’s no secret that as we age, our bodies…drift. I still have a vivid memory of the morning I looked into the mirror as I was drying my hair and realized I could no longer see certain body parts. They had started the slow slide–and it\’s been downhill ever since!

Think about your face. After a while it begins to hang off your jaw bone. Your neck shrivels and begins to look like a prune, if you can find it behind your face. If, at some point in your youth you had your cheek or your lip pierced, and you still haven\’t grown up enough to take it out, you might have trouble finding it later on in life. If you even remember that you had it to begin with. Your arms–oh my goodness!–your arms! One reason we older women are called angels is because when we raise our arms it appears we have \”wings\”.

Here a few things we might want to consider in the 80-Year Rule plan:
-Tattoos of any kind will eventually melt with your skin into something unrecognizable and undesirable.
-Tattooed-on eyelashes will become part of the wrinkles on your cheek, resembling skin cancer/liver spots.
-Nothing lovlier than tattooed-on red lips against an ash white face, right?
-That heart above your breast will end up around your waist.

And piercings! belly-button piercing will be covered by your—um, nevermind.
Don\’t even want to think where piercings in other body parts will end up, but I can tell you, you might get lots of compliments about that unusual knee piercing (you get my drift, right? –pun intended).

Let\’s see…Well, those artificial body parts, for instance. Consider all the plastic folks are putting into their body in an effort to stay young looking. Now, consider all those parts that aren\’t artificial wrinkling and jiggling around the fake stuff. My personal opinion is that older women who are \”enhanced\” are more unbecoming than those who choose to age naturally. Others may hold a different view on that, but this is my blog, so there.

In honor of growing older, and as a way to laugh through the pain ;o)))), I have developed a new line of clothing called Landslide! Someday soon, I\’ll post pics of the items I have developed so far.

Seriously, though, there are life-altering decisions that could stand the test of the 80-Year Rule. I\’ll blog about those later. I have to clock back in to work, now.

---

(When Nate was four years old)

On the way home from church, my 4-year-old grandson asked, \”Grandma, when we get home today, can I help daddy mow?\” (Daddy is his granddaddy, my husband).

\”No,\” I told him, \”we don\’t mow on Sundays.\”

\”Why not?\” he asked.

\”Sunday is our day of rest. God doesn\’t want us to mow grass today.\”

\”Why do we have to do what God says?\” he wondered.

\”Because God is the boss,\” I told him.

Huffily, he replied, \”God is not the boss!\”

I questioned him. \”Then who is God?\”

\”God is GOD.\”

\”And then who is the boss?\”

\”I am the boss,\” he told me matter-of-factly.

After I finished laughing at that, I made sure he understood that God is God, and He is also the boss. The problem is that as a first-born child, this grandson of mine really does think he\’s the boss!

It may be funny coming from the mouth of a little child, but it can quickly lose its humor when we take ourselves too seriously and become our own bosses. I wonder how many of us live our lives like that. “God is God,” we say, “but I am the boss. I\’ll figure this out for myself, I\’ll take care of this problem without any help; and if I get into a really big mess, then I\’ll ask God for help.”

The first man, Adam, gave over authority to Eve and forgot–or ignored–the words of the Boss. And consider Abraham, who let Sarah become his boss, instead of waiting for his promised child, as he\’d been instructed by the Boss. Then there’s David, who let lust become his boss and made a huge mess of his life. There’s even one fellow in the Scriptures who had to be reminded who was the boss by an ass! The Bible is full of folks who took unauthorized authority over their lives, so at least we\’re in good company, right?

In the book of Isaiah, God said it over and over, “I am God, there is none other. Listen to Me.”

Wonder how many times He’ll have to say it to me before I finally get the message?

(c) 2005

When I began my new life in Christ over 30 years ago, I have to admit, I thought it would be different. I’m not sure what I expected—well, that’s not exactly true—I expected my life to smooth itself out. I expected problems to be minimal, if at all. And I expected that–after the totally dysfunctional life in which I’d grown up–I should have a really good life. I thought I “deserved” it.

Boy, was I wearing “rose-colored” glasses, or what?

Life has pushed, pulled, tossed, ripped and beat me to pieces. People I love have broken my heart and devastated my life. Friends have laughed with me one moment and turned their backs to me the next. I have found my life wanting in many ways, not the least of which would be the need for just one moment of peace. And lately, I’ve felt truly kicked in the tail by life in general.

Wonderful experiences have also been a part of my life. I’ve known true, committed love from my husband of 30 years. The births of my two children have only been topped by the births of my three grandchildren. Young people with whom I’ve worked for great lengths of time have finally stopped fighting and given their lives into the hands of the Savior. God has allowed me to be a speaker who encourages women through the “challenges” of life. I have been privileged to teach the Word of God in classroom settings.

What really bugs me is that tendency I have to let the struggles outweigh the cool things God does for me. It’s just so easy to fall into that “woe is me” trap. Some days, my greatest challenge is to remember to thank God in all circumstances.

My firm belief is that every experience has a reason, the greatest of which is to learn what God is teaching through the situation and then take it to the world. I really do believe that God is good all the time. I really do believe that He works all things for my good. I know that He loves me. And while I would never have chosen to have the “challenges” I have experienced in my life, yet even through the dark clouds and the gray days I am learning to thank God for what good will come from every circumstance.

James 1:2-5 \”Consider it all joy, my brethren,when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.\” (NASB)

Nope, this is not the life I asked for. Too many days of too much to deal with. But if I can help just one more person, if just one more person can come to understand God’s love even in their time of pain because of the testimony He has given me to share, then my life is just right. It’s all for Him, after all.

Romans 8:28-29 \”And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.\” (NASB)

Claudette Wood
(c)July 26, 2005
revised October 2006

A sheep owner had to go on an extended trip. As he prepared for his journey, his neighbor came to him and said, \”Friend, while you are gone, I will take care of your flock for you.\” The owner was grateful and accepted his neighbor\’s offer of help. Then he went on his way.

While he was gone, his neighbor was not faithful to remember his offer to help the owner. He spent much time at the city gates playing \”throw the stones.\” In the evening when he would come home, the neighbor would pass by the owner\’s house and say to himself, \”Oh, well, I forgot today, but the flocks will be alright until tomorrow.\” Then he would go into his home and sleep. After a while, the sheep owner\’s flocks began to be sick and some of them died. The gate developed a break in it and many of the owner\’s flock escaped through the break.

When the owner came home from his trip, he noticed that the men at the city gate gazed at him with strange, angry expressions. He didn\’t understand why his friends would behave so. His neighbor was also at the gate, but he refused to meet the owner\’s gaze. Upon his arrival at his home, the owner found his flock dead or missing. The men from the city gate followed him home and stood accusing him of being cruel, to leave his animals without anyone to care for them. As they spoke, the owner’s neighbor stood with them and allowed this criticism, and he even offered criticisms of his own, without any mention that he had offered to take care of the flock in the owner\’s absence. The city-gate men told him that they would hold a council to discuss this owner\’s negligence and pass judgment on him.

The owner was amazed at his neighbor’s accusations. At the council meeting, he reminded the neighbor that while he had intended to hire someone to care for his flock, the neighbor had made the offer of help, and the owner had accepted his generous offer. His neighbor accused the owner of not being thoughtful enough of him to leave the animal\’s food where he could easily reach it. He spoke of the struggle to get water from the city well to the flock, and that the owner had not told him how difficult it would be to care for this flock. Then the owner asked the city-gate men why they had not done anything to help keep the flock from dying, since they saw that the flock was not being cared for.

The city-gate men then knew the truth of what the neighbor had done, and they turned their gaze upon him. The neighbor was unable to look at the city-gate men, because he had made many false accusations against the owner in his absence. And the city-gate men were ashamed that they had not been better friends to the owner and tried to save the flock. The owner went to his home vindicated. The city-gate men went back to the city gate. The neighbor went back to his home, and every day he would go to the city gates and play a new game of \”throw the stones\” with the men at the city gate.

(c) 2006

---

More and more, I encounter folks who say, \”I am a Christian,\” but who live with both feet firmly planted in the world. God\’s Word has no more weight to them than the latest magazine they are reading. His standards are adopted only as they don\’t interfere with the lifestyle they\’ve chosen for themselves. They pick and choose what aspects of God\’s character they will believe. Several times over the last few months, I have been frustrated to find friends and family members alike who say they are Christians, but who are practicing sinful lifestyles–mostly in the area of sexual immorality. One person said to me, \”Yes, I\’m a Christian, and I know I shouldn\’t be living with my boyfriend. I don\’t plan to ever marry, and I don\’t plan to ask him to leave. But I do love God. People live together all the time now.\” Hmmm, what\’s wrong with that picture?

How do we help them understand that God is not One who changes with the whims of society, that His Word is eternal and unchanging? It seems that even the thoughts I share with them from the very Word of God only serve to anger them and bring out the most famous verse in the Bible–\”Judge not, lest ye be judged.\” Ugh. What I am finding is that I must just let them go. I pray for them, I continue to love them, and after we have had an opportunity to discuss our differences–based on the Word and not my personal opinion–I continue our relationship as before the conversation (as much as they will allow, understanding that I have a problem with their lifestyle). I want to be available if or when they want to talk.

The Bible has some very specific instructions for dealing with wayward brothers and sisters–all with a view toward bringing them back to the Lord. Sadly, in this world of political correctness, it\’s becoming more and more common that it doesn\’t bring them back, but places them in the league of the bitter and disillusioned. They choose to believe they were wronged–judged (ugh)–unfairly. And they absolutely refuse to accept that their lifestyles have caused Jesus to be dragged through the mud. Rather, it is those who attempted to point them out of their wayward behavior who have embarrassed God with their \’judgmental\’ (ugh) attitudes.

So, do we give up? Do we stop trying to be a witness? We do have our own feet of clay, you know…

Of course, I don\’t believe we should give up. God has called us to be His witnesses. When Jesus told us to be His witnesses to the world, I thought He meant for us to witness to the lost…

now I see He also meant for us to witness to those who\’ve lost their way…

(c) January 2007