Just for Fun

Do you have a problem with the toilet paper in your house? I do. I don't know why, but my children don't seem to know how to replace the roll when they use the last of it. I am not sure if this is an issue of laziness, inconsideration or just not thinking. So I got a different roll holder. You do not have to do anything except slide the old roll off and the new one on. Didn't help. Never failed that when I had to use the kids bathroom, there was no paper. And I keep it under the sink, just out of reach. Yuck. 

But I found a solution. Actually, God gave me the solution. Through my favorite means: Satire. Namely, I wrote a poem and posted it over the toilet paper holder. Since then, which was over a year ago, there hasn't been a time that there wasn't paper. Not once. And it reminds me too, to put a roll on the floor if it looks close to running out. Hey, even the best of plans sometimes fail. And I don't want to be caught with my pants down. Literally. So here is my poem. Feel free to copy. I am happy to share. After all, it was a gift to me, so I pass it to you!

When you sit to go, 

or you grab to blow,

And you use the last square

I have joined a new Facebook group, Journaling Bible Community. I love it! I am encouraged there, and seeing some of their art journaling has really been inspiring. 

One of my favorite things is that people often share blog posts that said something to them. I came across one yesterday, and it hit me between the “log in my eye”. 

Now if you have been around me for any length of time, you may know this, but for the record, I love satire. To me, it is the highest form of comedy, and the fact that it makes you think, makes it even better. So when I came across this blog, I knew I had to share it. Not just for me, but for all you satire fans. It is called STUFF CHRISTIANS LIKE,  and it is written by a guy named Jon Acuff. It is full of funny, real, satirical things that Christians can relate to. 

Well, it is official. My BFF for the last 13 years is moving. 10 hours away. 

I know this is the best thing for her, her family and all concerned. 

I also know it is the best thing for me too. 

Because God wouldn't have allowed it if it wasn't the best for all of us.

I love God's Word. I have loved it for a long time, but in the last four years, it has become my lifeblood. It has taken deep roots in my heart, and I want to "read it, love it, live it" more and more. (How do you like that? I just made that "read it, love it, live it" up! 

A couple of years ago, our pastor was preaching and mentioned he reads through the Bible two times a year. I dont know why it occured to me at that moment, but I think it was God's voice in my head; regardless of the reason, I thought: If he can read through the Bible two times a year, I can do it once a year. Why wouldn't I want to? 

I knew I couldn't follow a schedule like the One Year Bible. I had tried that before, and it didn't work for me, because when I got behind a day, I would have too much to read and I would just stop. So I figured I would just take my Bible and start at the beginning, and read as much as God led, and if I made it all the way in a year, great; and if not, I would finish when I finished. 

I read at first because I promised. But after a few weeks, something very unexpected happened: I was hearing from God. He was speaking to me through His written word. So I began writing in my journal, and my Bible what I was hearing. 

I love hearing from God. And sometimes, what I heard was so striking that I had to copy the verse or thought into my journal in a special way to make it stick. 

The debates in the news this week between the church and state and the ensuing mud-slinging on both sides of the gay issue has hurt my heart. I am sure it hurts the heart of God as well.

Dear One,

I am so sorry. I am so very sorry for your pain. That you would be seen as unloving or unkind or un-Christlike in your love for your gay child. That you would be ridiculed and belittled because you choose to hang on to your faithful convictions while loving your child. That people who don’t agree with your choice would bully you with words and try to manipulate you to make you feel like you somehow are failing your gay son or daughter because you are choosing to hold out and put your hope in God. That you have been criticized and told that it is impossible for you to simultaneously “love the sinner and hate the sin”. That you have been made to feel you have to compromise what you see God’s word clearly stating as sin in order to be loving and supportive to your child. That either you embrace the lifestyle and all that means or you are rejecting your child, Shunning and shaming and hurting them and pushing them away from God. I am so sorry.