Lalaloopsy Curly Hair Silly Hair Insanity

A couple of weeks ago my wife made the mistake of asking our 4 year old granddaughter what she would like for Christmas. Out of her mouth with a blair of enthusiasm was her request for a “Lalaloopsy Silly Hair” doll. Show quickly ran to the Sunday paper, pulled out the “ToysRus” ad, and showed her Nama what she was talking about. Of course, we are completely oblivious as to “what’s hot” and my wife said alright. Ouch!

Has anyone tried to find one of these dolls? It is the “Tickle Me Elmo / Teddy Ruxpin / Cabbage Patch Doll / Nintendo Wii” of 2011. It’s gotten so bad that quick witted people in the know purchased these things for $24.99 early on and are now “scalping” them on Amazon and Ebay for $75 or more. Really? For a stupid doll that will end up forgotten by Christmas 2012?

For the past week I have spent endless time online looking for one of these dolls at a realistic price. Guess what. It’s not out there. And if anyone believes otherwise I challenge them to find it.

So why then I am writing about this “Jingle All The Way” (a lame movie starring Arnold Swartzeneger) experience here at the Christmas season? Because it is something that the majority of Americans get caught up in every year during Christmas. We want to find that special gift that pleases those we love. How misguided we are.

My family had to step back a take a realistic evaluation of this situation. We either deal with my granddaughter Isabella’s minor disappointment of not receiving the one thing she asked for this Christmas while she is still four years old, or we compound it by supplying this insanity laced item and deal with the fallout next year when it is something else. Where is the meaning of Christmas in all this? Why are we so driven?

I have said it before, but for the benefit of first time readers, I will say it again. Satan knows you better than he knows himself. He knows what tugs at your heart. He knows what drives you. He knows the just right button to push to steer you off the path. It is satan himself who makes sure that you load your credit cards, overspend on children, and lose the entire meaning of Christmas by wasting all your time and money on the pursuit of his “stuff”. Hurts doesn’t it?

In the words of our Lord from Matthew 6:19-21:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

We are not going to get Isabella the doll she asked for this Christmas. Instead we are going to focus our energy on teaching her what Christmas is all about. We are going to find ways to help others in need and teach her now that helping others and sharing the love of Christ is the “true” meaning of Christmas.

What is your Lalaloopsy this year?

An “Apple” a day keeps the headaches away

Well everyone, you are not going to believe this. After after all these years being a PC I have finally converted over to a MAC. It’s not an easy transition. I still want to do things the way I did on my PC with some futility ridden results. But I am slowly catching on to the whole MAC thing. Now if you really want to be messed up, try using a PC all day and then come home to a MAC. THAT my friends will really mess with your head. The pages don’t scroll the same. You get used to the keyboard on one and then switch to the other. I even caught myself today trying to spin the document around with my fingers on the mousepad of my PC. Argh!

Isn’t this a little like how it feels when you become a Christian?  You meet Christ and commit to living for him each day. And it’s way cool when you are church. Almost everyone there has something in common with you. Everyone sings together. Everyone is talking Jesus stuff. All is good with the world. And just as soon as you get comfortable with your MAC, Monday rolls around and you are back to work on your PC: aka, the life outside of church.

All of a sudden it doesn’t feel like church. The people you are working with are pulling you in 15 directions at once. You get caught up in the rat race and constant demands of life. Before long you have went days and not one thought of Jesus or your church. Then Sunday rolls around and we head back to the comfort of our MAC.

If only it were easier. If only there was some way to keep this world from interfering with our eternity. It has to be a priority in your life. It’s not going to happen on it’s own. You have to plan a daily routine and cut out the time for God. More importantly, you have to remember that everything you do for others you should do like it is for God. God created us to Worship, so everything you do is a form of Worship.

Finally, remember to pray. It is the simplest, yet most looked over way to keep on you path with God. You can pray anywhere, or anytime. God wants a relationship with you. Talk to him. Don’t just ask for things. Tell Him you love Him. SHare your life like you do with your family and close friends. He is the BEST friend you will ever have.

Psalm 141:2

“Accept my prayer as incensed offering to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering”

I challenge each of you to get a good daily devotional going. If you don’t know where to start try the YouVersion bible from Lifechurch.tv . There are hundreds of devotions and daily reading programs on their website in a vast array of topics. I don’t care what devotional you read, just do it! And please, if nothing else, get into God’s word. The bible is the best place to start your relationship with God.

Say goodbye PC, and hello MAC in your life!

One True Heaven

For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. http://bible.us/Heb9.24.NLT

Awakening

Sometimes we have no idea when the sun rises what the day is going to bring. Very often we get caught up in the moment, and before we know it, something tragic happens. Then we are left with questions, regrets, and even possibly some guilt.

Today was in some ways like that for me. I did my best to squeeze every minute I could out of my bed before launching out the door to work. I was feeling pretty good about myself and looking forward to the weekend. Then I pulled into my first client call of the day. There were police everywhere. There were multiple fire trucks and rescue vehicles. My first thought was there was a shooting or a fire. But shortly after getting out of my vehicle an ambulance went past me escorted by a couple of police cars. Someone had been injured.

Shortly, one of the guys I deal with walked up and told me a loader had fallen on one of the workers. They didnt know how or why it happened. But evidently some of his co-workers had to help get the loader (a huge piece of construction equipment) up so the rescue could get him out from under it. Everyone was visibly shaken. It was an unbelievable site. At the time I didnt even ask who it was. It seemed silly because I had only been coming there for a few months and really didn’t know but a couple of the guys. What I did do though was to let my contact know that I would have the victim and his family in my prayers and tried to offer him some comfort.

Before leaving I saw a secretary standing at the door in tears. I went to her and shook her hand. Then I told her that I would have the victim and his family in my prayers, as well as the others like herself that worked there. As I walked to my truck I felt helpless and void. I prayed again for this man. I knew that I could not pray for his salvation, but only that at some point he had accepted Jesus as his saviour. Once again I felt hollow.

Word of the accident had already reached my next stop. Some of the guys knew the injured man. Turned out so did I. It was “Barefoot Ronnie”, a name given by his co-workers because of his backwoods ways.

I knew Ronnie as a guy who had a ’65 Mustang he had been building for 15 years to drag race and never got it on the track. I met him while making a sales call and overheard him talking about his race car. He boasted about all the work he had put into it and how close he was to getting it out on the race track. Ronnie showed me pictures and shared his dream of one day burning through the 1/4 mile. That dream ended today. Ronnie died.

As I made my rounds, people everywhere, whether they knew Ronnie or not, had heard about the accident. Many reflected on how short life is and how quickly it can end. Without going into full gospel mode I shared as best I could that we all need to be ready when that day comes. It was “my” comfort today. I know that when that time comes I am ready. It is probably the one thing I am most sure of.

I don’t know if Ronnie was a Christian. If I had to bet I would say he wasn’t. I only met him a couple of times, but he left an impression on me. Could I have done more to try to convert Ronnie? Probably not. God is usually the one that does the moving. All we can do is to be the vessel should he choose to use us. The truth is, Ronnie was probably doing more to bring people closer to God in his death than many of us do in life. Something to think about when you wake up in the morning.