Last week was a lost week in many ways as the girls had off Monday and Tuesday, Mr C had conferences on Thursday so he was out at 11:30 and had no school on Friday, and then Miss A had her school musical on Friday too so that meant there was only one day in which to "git er done" around here! I took that as my chance to eat lunch out with a friend. Who cares that it became brunch/lunch and was nearly time to pick up the kids from school! It was a refreshing break and I loved it.
Needless to say, when I had chance to get things done off my to do list, it was working at lightening speed. Not only did I have my 40 bag challenge awaiting me, I had a number of volunteer jobs that needed my undivided attention. I find on those days I work best if there is music in the background, the fireplace roaring, and a big glass of ice tea awaiting me.
I listened while I worked. It sounds a little like Snow White (whistle while I work), but I got to listen to some great sermon podcasts and some great talk radio. What was really amazing was how a lot of the "talk" I heard dealt with standing firm in the faith and not giving into compromise or worldly standards. Every blog I read talked about this wave of political correctness and how the world is chipping away at what is right.
Now while a part of me wants to just pack it all in and head to Little House on the Prairie or Amish Country, I know that that this is not what God is calling me to do! If He ever did I might have to bring along Air Conditioning........just saying!
However, He does call my family and I to stand firm. We are to know the Truth and not fear standing up for it in the world around us. As a sweet way to affirm that this is truly God working on my heart, my husband just happened to pass along an email he'd gotten with a great story about compromise. Not only did it confirm that it's ok to have standards, convictions and lines in the sand it also made me chuckle a little bit.
Nothing like a little humor to bring a lesson home. I've not shared this story with my children yet; I'm waiting for the moment that I need to "preach"' a little life lesson, but trust me it's stored away in this momma's heart and mind. I know it's a lesson I'm still learning as a Christian living in the World, but not Being of the World. I just know that I'm grateful that God uses moments like this to work on my heart and gives me opportunities to see that His ways are always best.
I'm thinking a batch of brownies might just be in our future!
Dog Poo Brownies (I'm not sure who deserves credit for this story; I got it from the Christian Businessman's Association weekly email" Fax of Life".)
A father listened to all the reasons his children gave for wanting to see a particular PG-13 movie: it had their favorite actors, everyone else was seeing it, even some church members said it was great, it was only rated PG-13 because of the suggestion of sex-they never really showed it, the language was pretty good-they only used the Lord's name in vain three times in the whole movie, the video effects were fabulous and the plot was action packed. Yes, there was the scene where a building and a bunch of people got blown up, but the violence was just the normal stuff, it wasn't very bad. Even with all these explanations for the rating, the father wouldn't give in. He didn't even give them an explanation for saying, "No." He just said "No."
Later that evening, the father asked his kids if they would like some brownies he had prepared. He explained that he had taken the family's favorite recipe and added something new. They asked what it was. He calmly replied that he had added dog poo. He stated that it was only a tiny bit and that all the other ingredients were gourmet quality. He had taken great care to bake it at the precise temperature for the exact time. He was sure the brownies would be superb.
Even with all the explanations of the perfect attributes of the brownies, the kids would not take one. The father acted surprised. There was only a small amount of poo, so what could the problem be? He assured them that they would hardly notice it at all. But they all held firm and would not try the brownies.
He then explained that the movie they wanted to see was just like the brownies. Satan tries to enter our minds and our homes by deceiving us into believing that just a little bit of evil doesn't matter. With the brownies, just a little bit makes all the difference between a great brownie something really gross. He explained that even though the smallest amount of dog poo makes the brownie totally unacceptable, they seemed to having no problem watching a movie of similar ingredients. The people who make movies and TV shows would have us believe their entertainment is acceptable for adults and youths; but they are no more so than dog poo brownies are good to eat!
Now when this father's children want to do something or see something they should not, the father merely asks them if they would like some of his special dog poo brownies and they never ask about it again.
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