advice

If you knew a couple who had the following circumstances in a certain year:

• 1 broken ankle (on first wedding anniversary)
• 2 miscarriages
• 1 30th birthday
• 1 speeding ticket
• 1 sister’s divorce

Would you recommend that they take a Carribbean cruise under the following circumstances:

• hurricane season
• using passport/driver’s license with maiden name after 18+ months of marriage because waiting for a new passport takes too long these days?

Seriously folks, let me have it.  Should we just take the safe route and go to Branson instead?

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V.

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its a celebration

Yesterday I woke up to find that I had lost another pound (a whopping 3 total in 3.5 weeks).  To celebrate, I had a whole roll of these for breakfast:

just desserts

Before you get too excited thinking this may be another whiskers-on-kittens kind of post about sweet confections, I better just stop you.  Although my freezer is stocked with two kinds of ice cream, three kinds of popsicles, two kinds of fudgesicles and push pops; this post is not really about desserts.

 I’ve been thinking about entitlement – what I feel like I deserve – a lot lately relative to the miscarriages.  Some of my thoughts:

• I waited for a husband, Lord (25 when I got married – husband was 28 - which is by no means old, but was also by no means my plan), why do I have to wait for children too?
• We did everything right – we didn’t live together before marriage, we didn’t have sex before marriage; for crying out loud, shouldn’t we be rewarded for that?
• Why does that girl from my class in high school have an 11 year-old, a 7 year-old and a toddler with three different dads, none of whom have ever been her husband, and I’ve got a great marriage and no children?

I could go on, but I think you get the drift.

So, in response to the above (and other) thoughts of entitlement, I’ve had some different kind of thoughts about what I deserve:

• Romans 3:23 – for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
• Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I think perspective is kind of a tough thing for me sometimes.  It is easy for me to know the rational reality, but difficult for me to always keep a good perspective.  I know that I am so very blessed (see bless me Father) with a wonderful family, amazing husband, great friends, a stable home, solid church, nice clothes, good car, etc., etc., etc.  Sometimes I can get so focused on what I want now that I don’t have now instead of all of the things that I do have now.  Now is such a crazy thing anyway.  Its so diffcut to think beyond now.  I don’t know if that is a cultural perspective thing, a sin thing or a combination – most likely a combo.  Either way, I think that is a lesson that God is trying to teach me through a lot of different circumstances. 

So now, I’ve rambled away from the whole entitlement piece, onto something else and if you’ve made it this far through this post, here is my golden ticket of wisdom for you:

In reality, my now is very small and very short in light of God’s eternity.

P.S. Check out the last sentance on the Golden Ticket.  I don’t think that is in the Bible in just those words, but that sure sounds like something God would say.  That’s entitlement, baby.