Monogamish or Monogamy?

2 days ago by Monica Prescott in ( Personal Growth )

 

“If you have not yet heard the terms ‘negotiated infidelity’, ‘non-monogamy,’ ‘polyamory’ and ‘monogamish’ you soon will….”

SERIOUSLY??? I shouldn’t have been stunned reading the recent magazine article purporting the benefits of “open relationships”. I am not a hermit. I do not live in the American Bible Belt. I do not live under a rock. I fully realize that a large portion of the human race has grossly failed “Relationships 101”. What stunned me was the fact that “negotiated infidelity” and “monogamish relationships” (relationships that are mostly monogamous but allow for some sexual dalliances now and then) were laid out as normal and even expected if you want to avoid the pain of rejection from broken promises.

 “Given monogamy’s abysmal track record [ie: North America’s 1-in-2-couples divorce rate]…in the long run it’s much better to risk rejection by proposing an open relationship than to break a promise to be monogamous.”

If we used that same reasoning, we should tell people to stop eating – given that MORE THAN 1-in-2 North Americans (over 60%) fall into the overweight/obese category. Why risk it? Just don’t eat.

I am not a marriage expert but there are a few things my decades of marriage experience have taught me:

Love IS a 4 letter word: it’s spelled W-O-R-K. 

Love as a verb packs more muscle than love as a noun. Love as a choice, as action, vs. love as a feeling. I love how one wise woman put it: “Feelings are real but they are most often not true. Often times what we ‘feel’ so intently is really just our physiological response to a chemical release in our brain and bodies.”

You get what you expect. It’s called faith and it can work for you or against you. I expect to have a marriage that WILL go the distance. I expect there will be challenges but I also expect that when my love gives out, I can tap into another “love source”: my amazing God in heaven Who graciously releases HIS love to and through me.

If you go into marriage with an escape clause, you will find a reason to use it. When my husband and I pledged our vows to each other, there was no thought of “I hope this works but if it doesn’t….” The D-word is not in our vocabulary.

There are seasons of marriage just like natural seasons. “And this too, shall pass.” Some seasons are much more enjoyable than others. What makes spring so exhilarating? Winter. What makes spring so beautiful? Winter, where a lot of things “die” in order for new life to come. During the winter seasons of marriage, sometimes there are things that need to “die” – not the relationship, but things in us: attitudes, habits, destructive thinking patterns. Understanding the seasons enables you to adjust and grow as needed.

Building God’s House and His Kingdom is one of the greatest “marriage builders” you could put into practise. There is something about having a greater cause that the two of you are building together – something eternal – that keeps you bonded together and focused on what is truly important.

My husband and I are as polar opposite as two people could be yet what bonds us together isn’t simply a “passionate love for each other” (which we do have) – it’s a passionate love for God, His House, and His Kingdom. THAT, my friend, is a bond you can bank on. You weave that element into your marriage and you have a “3 stranded cord that cannot be broken.”

(Next week I will celebrate 20 years with my incredibly amazing, ever-so-hot husband – who by the way is even more sexy than he was 22 years ago when I met him; sexy isn’t what you build a marriage on but it is a wonderful bonus! :) Happy Anniversary Hon! Here’s to 20 more adventurous years – sowing, building, loving…and great sex too! xxox)

What’s Your “Deep”?

9 days ago by Monica Prescott in ( Personal Growth )

 

Luke 5:4 – When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish."

Remember as a kid swimming in a lake? It was great as long as you had even a murky vision of the bottom below you. But as soon as you got past the drop-off point where the bottom was no longer visible, your mind started to play tricks on you. At least mine would.

“What’s down there in the darkness I can’t see?”

The unknown always freaked me out.

My mind would start to create all sorts of invisible creatures that were waiting to swim up and devour me – especially sharks. (This was even more irrational given the fact that I was swimming in a slew of fresh water, generously called a “lake”.)

Or my mind would start to create all sorts of worst-case scenarios:

“I can’t touch bottom – what if I get a cramp and can’t swim any more?”

“What if I get too tired to swim???”

“What if I go too far out and can’t make it back to shore???”

I desperately wanted to go out farther into the deeper water but my overactive mind would paralyze me with all sorts of “What if’s…”

Here’s what I’ve since come to realize: what you think you know – not reality – is what eventually causes you to pull back and stay close to the shore where it’s comfortable and easy.

What “deep” is beckoning to you?

What “unknown” is God asking you to trust Him in and step into?

Here’s what I’ve come to know about God’s faithfulness in calling us to trust Him:

1. God calls us to go out deeper because that’s where we’ll find what our heart is truly looking for.

Peter was fisherman. What are fishermen looking for? Fish.

God calls you on your faith journey into trusting Him in the deep because He knows your heart better than you do and He’s the One that knows where the longings of your soul will be filled.

 

2. God calls us into the deep because that’s where we’ll discover the provision that will overtake the disappointment or frustration of our soul.

Peter was one frustrated man. Earlier in this same story, he’d voiced his frustration to Jesus: “Master we worked hard all last night and haven’t caught anything…”

Could have Jesus sensed Peter’s disappointment at not having caught anything earlier? He was on the shore cleaning his net when probably the other fishermen were still out fishing. “Simon, what you’re really wanting and looking for is found out in the deep.

 

3. Peter’s fledgling faith: “Master we worked hard all last night and haven’t caught anything…but if You say so I’ll do as You say….”

“Whatever…I guess I’ll do it again but know it’s not going to make a difference…”

When you hear the call to go deeper – to take the bold faith step – say yes, even if it’s a “whatever-yes”. Say yes in spite of what your previous attempts may have brought or hadn’t brought.

Maybe you’ve been frustrated in your spiritual journey…in your faith…in what you know or don’t know of Who God really is….Frustrated because you’re not seeing results in your life like you’d like to see.

Your solutions are found in the deep. 

​​Go ahead.

The sharks aren't real.

You won't get a cramp.

And if you start losing strength, He will give you His. 

Lessons From the Yoga Mat

58 days ago by Monica Prescott in ( Personal Growth )

 

“Plank.

Inhale.

Exhale, lower.

Up-dog.

Now go back into downward-facing-dog. And breathe.”

It was at that point I nearly drowned as rivers of sweat ran into my eyes and nose, choking me as I followed the yoga instructor’s directions to “breathe”.

Welcome to hot-yoga where you willingly contort yourself into very unusual twisted body positions in a room that is at least 40C. You sweat like a pig. And THAT is no exaggeration. (For the record, the yoga I practise is simply the stretches, not the weird spiritual side of it, just to clear things up for anyone who might be wondering.)

“Ok, kick your right leg high up in the air; now bring it through and plant it on the ground in front of you, high lunge, arms in the air – Warrior 1…”AND the sweat continued to run in rivers down my body. I glanced over at my husband who was taking the class with me. He was drenched, looked at me, eyes wide, and had the “Oh my gosh, this is HOT!” look on his face. 

Even though both of us are experienced hot yoga-goers, we were nearly dying tonight. This class was killer hot, much hotter than usual. Every breath, every move was excruciating. Sweat pouring off in buckets. Clothes absolutely drenched. Wheezes and heavy breathing echoed in the room and the mirror reflected about 20 exhausted people, most probably thinking, “I am paying money for this??!”

I was bound and determined to finish off the remaining 20 minutes of class. With every “downward-facing-dog” pose, I would tell myself, “You can do this. This isn’t that bad. Hell is hotter. Hell is WAY hotter! Suck it up, princess.” (Not exactly typical yoga lingo.) Then all of a sudden, “Whoosh!” the door opened and a blast of air filtered into the room. COOL AIR! REFRESHING AIR! A loud, unified “Ahhhh!” went up from the class.

Door shut. Pain and sweat once again ensued. A few minutes later, another cool breeze wafts in. “Sorry guys, I don’t know why it’s so hot in here tonight. I’ll try to go a bit easier on you,” our yoga instructor encouraged as she opened and shut the door a few times, waving in some fresh air.

As class was coming to an end and I lay on my mat in “corpse pose”, relishing every slight breeze of fresh air that came in through the instructor’s gracious door-flapping attempts, I heard this little voice, “This is what My Gospel is to your soul.”

God had my attention. (Yes, God will speak to you on your yoga mat if you will listen.)

The Gospel, God’s Good News refreshes. It renews. Restores. Enlivens. Revitalizes.

Throughout the Bible, heat is used in analogy not only for our sin but the combination of sin + human effort. Everything we try to do to make ourselves right or acceptable to God or every sinful craving and indulgence we give into because we recognize we will never be able to live up to God’s standard, so why bother = Heat. Scorching. Pain. Discomfort. Weariness. Exhaustion. Death.

Throughout the book of Ecclesiastes you repeatedly find the phrase, “under the sun”. It was Solomon’s way of describing how difficult, how exhausting, how painful things are when we slave away through life, in our sin, striving in our own efforts to make life work and worthwhile. “Under the sun” – not fun.

That’s why the Good News is such good news: In the midst of the heat of life’s pressure and sin’s weight and our own works, God offers refreshing. HE opens a door and we encounter His grace – His divine Life which He offers us through Jesus Christ. Except God doesn’t just swing open the door, flap a few breezes to us, and leave us where we’re at. He opens the door, says, “This class is over. For good. Follow Me out of here and I’ll bring you to REAL refreshing! Trust Me. It’s much better out here.”

Grace has absolutely nothing to do with us and everything to do with God. That’s why it’s called “Good News” – God does it all. Ephesians 2:8 in The Message says,

“Saving is all HIS idea, and all HIS work. All we do is TRUST HIM enough to LET HIM do it. It’s GOD’S GIFT from start to finish!” [emphasis mine]

That is GOOD NEWS for my soul! God does it all. I can continue to drown in the sweat of my own efforts to “make my life” or I can say “Yes!” to the open door of God’s refreshing grace that Jesus Christ is offering me. And you.

“Under the sun” or “under the Son”. Which will it be?

“Love Her even though…”

118 days ago by Monica Prescott in ( Personal Growth )

In less than 5 months it will have been 20 years since my husband and I launched out to plant City Life Church. What a whirlwind that was: May 19th, 1992, we held our first “Here we are, we’re going to start a church in this city, come meet us!” meeting; May 22 my husband and I graduated from Bible College, May 30th we got married, went on a 2 week honeymoon and returned to begin the plowing/sowing stage of church planting. What makes 2 normally sane people (although that has been called into question at times) DO THAT??? 

Passion for God and His House. For us, they have always been one and the same. To have a relationship with Christ but not His church is like walking around with a decapitated Jesus as your friend. Not cool. But crazy love for the Two will motivate you AND enable you to do crazy things.

Over these almost 20 years, like most pastors, I’ve had my fair share of “What the heck am I doing here??? And why, please tell me WHY, I’m doing this again?” There was even a moment a few years back at a more challenging time in ministry where I’d seriously contemplated taking a new career path: med school. You know it’s bad when med school looks appealing! Ha! Actually there wasn’t anything really that bad going on in church life – the angst was mostly internal. 
I find though that every genuine believer and follower of Christ – pastor, leader, Joe Christian – will at some point, or points, find their passion challenged. 

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Hosea. (Side note: my all time favorite novel, “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers, is an allegory of Hosea’s story. Get it and read it!) Only the grace of God would enable a man to do what he did. It’s one of the more mind-blowing examples of God’s passionate love for His Bride.

Hosea 3:1 NLT – Then the Lord said to me, “Go and get your wife again. Bring her back to you and love her even though she loves adultery. For the Lord still loves Israel even though the people have turned to other gods, offering them choice gifts.”

“Love her even though….” There’s a continual love, persistence and faithfulness God asks of us towards His Church, no matter Her failures, Her weaknesses, Her rejection.

“Love her even though…She sometimes has stinky attitudes.”
“Love her even though…She doesn’t perform exactly how you want.”
“Love her even though…She lets you down.”
“Love her even though…She’s challenging to lead.”
“Love her even though…She’s weak.”
“Love her even though…She’s a mess.”
“Love her even though…She’s stubborn.”
“Love her even though…She turns Her back on God.”
“Love her even though…She’s given up.”

As believers we’re all called to be ministers and stewards of the House of God, His Church, His Bride. Our main role: “Love Her…even though…Because She’s still growing up.”

Church life is full of seasons. Some are honestly more challenging than others. I’ve had my fair share of “Love her even though…” seasons. For the record, I’m thrilled to say, THIS SEASON IS NOT one of them! Just in case anyone was wondering. 

But just like in marriage, you make the commitment, “‘Til death do us part” – It’s the same as saying “I’ll love you even though…” 

God’s Church – His Bride – I don’t believe there’s anything more powerful or amazing on the planet. She is the living, breathing expression of Christ to the world. He’s passionate about Her. He Loved Her – loved you and I – “even though”. And it’s His grace released through the greatest act of sacrifice that we can lean into in the “even though” seasons we face. 

Bow or Burn!

120 days ago by Monica Prescott in ( Personal Growth )

 

“Bow or burn!”

That was the ultimatum given to 3 guys who found themselves standing in a sea of backsides lifted high in the air, bowing down to the towering gold monstrosity.

The conversation that ensued may have gone like this:

“What should we do? I think King’s calling us up front. This doesn’t look good.”

“Maybe we could bend over and adjust our sandal straps – it might look like we’re bowing but really we’re not…”

“Seriously? This is crazy! Look at that statue. All that gold – what a waste! It could have been put to a much better use.”

“Shadrach! Meshach! Abednego! Come forward – NOW!”

As they made their way to the King, heads bowed down to the ground turned ever so slightly to look up at the 3 guys walking past, who were trying carefully to avoid stepping on someone’s hand or tripping over their foot.

“You guys shoulda just bowed,” someone whispered loudly. “If you set King off, he’s likely to go in a rage at all of us. Couldn’t you have used a bit more discretion?”

The king remained seated as the men approached. “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments…”

“Here’s the thing, King: If our God – the One we serve – is able to rescue us from the furnace of flaming fire and from your power, Your Majesty, then let Him rescue us. But if He doesn’t, know this for certain, Your Majesty: WE WILL NEVER SERVE YOUR GODS OR WORSHIP THE GOLD STATUE YOU’VE SET UP.”

I’ve read this story numerous times, heard it retold in so many different versions, and watched so many times I lost count the VeggieTales’ version of “Rack, Shack & Benny” which my kids loved when they were little. What struck me when I read the story again in a different version I’d never read before, how the 3 guys responded:

Daniel 3:17 Common English Bible  – “If our God…is able to rescue us…”

“IF our God is ABLE…”

They didn’t seem to know for sure whether God was able. They didn’t appear to have any real facts to go on. At least not any facts that caused them to say, “Well, we’ve seen God do this before so maybe He’ll do it for us.”

Their question wasn’t “If it’s God’s will to save us….” Their question was: “Well, if He’s able to…” These 3 guys weren’t some spiritual giants in the faith department. It wasn’t like they’d seen God perform this type of deliverance before. One Bible translation has an even more extreme description of where their faith was at:

Daniel 3:17 HCSB – If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire…

What it boils down to: these guys weren’t relying on the facts in any shape or form. It was raw, reckless trust they were engaging in. I am blown away by the conviction these 3 guys lived by! Their commitment to God whether He showed up or not in their greatest time of need is one of the greatest examples of unwavering trust.

They trusted God beyond any type of results. Their faith was in God – period. Their faith wasn’t in what God would give to them or do for them. Their faith was in God’s character. They had a greater trust in truth and what was true than in the facts.

I love their complete trust in God even beyond what they’d known or experienced of God up until that moment. “If our God is able…” OUR GOD. He’s still our God regardless of how this works out. He’s still our God even though we’re a bit uncertain about Him right at this moment. He’s still our God even if we become BBQ. “WE WILL NEVER SERVE YOUR GODS OR WORSHIP THE GOLD STATUE!!!” I can almost hear that statement come out in a roar.

How deep are you willing to put your trust in God? What aspect of God are you banking on: results – do you need facts? Or are you banking on truth – the truth of God’s character – that He IS, always has been, always will be the last Word — Emmanuel. God with us. It’s from that deep, reckless trust in Who God is that we find the greatest peace, rest, and confidence even in the greatest challenges we encounter.

“Bow or burn!” They didn’t bow, they didn’t burn. They banked on truth. They became 3 guys who got to dance with God Himself in the middle of a fiery furnace. And they came out without event a hint of smoke on their clothes.

You want to experience crazy miracles? Put all your chips in on truth over the facts. Truth trumps facts every time. 

The God-Gap

122 days ago by Monica Prescott in ( Personal Growth )

 

When I was a kid our house was about 800 meters from a lake. It was the place where I first learned to swim. There was a little pier off the shore where small rowboats would dock. It was a great place to get your water-confidence built because at the end of the pier the water was deep enough to canon ball jump into but you could still touch the ground and your head was easily out of water.

But there was another pier in the lake – the place where all the big kids would hang out. Everyone out on the other pier was usually laughing and yelling. To a 5 year old THIS was the coveted place to be in the lake.  Except there was one problem: it was out in water way over a 5 year old’s head. I remember trying to “walk” out to the pier – the “swimmer’s walk” – where you try to bounce your way out because the water is too high. If you bounce you can take a quick breath and if the water goes over your nose it’s not a big deal – you just bounce and breathe and keep doing that until you get to your desired destination. Technically you could still touch and you were still obeying Mom’s instructions of “don’t go past where you can touch”. The problem: the pier was beyond reach of where I could “bounce and breathe” my way out. I was just learning to swim – not confident enough to totally go for it and push myself past the place where my feet still had a tentative connection to the ground – where I was swimming.

I remember when I finally got tired of watching everyone else have fun. I bounced and breathed my way out as far as I could go and then paused bouncing and breathing in place – knowing that my next step would be my last and I would have to swim. The short 10 foot gap to the pier looked so much further. I remember how much the adrenaline was pumping and my heart was racing with that last bounce I pushed off with that sent me dog-paddling into the gap. You’d never seen a 5 year old dog-paddle so fast with a more terrified look. But then I heard the shouts and cheers of the bigger kids that were on the pier, their hands reaching out to actually close the gap by grabbing my hand and pulling me in. OH! WHAT A FEELING! That first real swim in water that was over your head! I’m a big kid now! And it was ridiculously fun being on that pier with all the other big kids. I was also surprised at how quickly it felt normal to make that swim back and forth. The fear and apprehension faded almost completely by the third swim out and back. That pier would become my favorite place to hang out during the summer.

That gap between where I could still touch the bottom of the lake and where I would have to swim in order to reach the pier – we experience that same gap throughout our lives. I call it the “God-gap”.  The God-gap is the gap between what we could humanly accomplish and what could happen only if God intervened. It’s the place where God says, “It’s time to swim!” It’s the place where He invites us to fearlessly trust Him.

What does the God-gap look like?

“What was I thinking when I said yes to this?!”

“I have no idea what to do…”

“I don’t have enough time…”

“I feel so overwhelmed!”

“I don’t feel the least bit qualified…”

“I have zero energy / ambition / desire…”

How often do we default to the habit of looking at things out of our depth as barriers instead of possibilities, as points of discouragement instead of opportunities to trust and learn? There is a fierce and fearless trusting in Him that God beckons us to jump – or swim – into.

Isaiah 30:15 – This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says: “If you come back to Me and trust Me, you will be saved. If you will be calm and trust Me, you will be strong.”

When we lean into Him in trust, we tap into a strength beyond our own. When we get fed up with our “bouncing and breathing” techniques of trying to make things work, and just push off, giving a go, paddling our brains out, trusting God to close the gap, He’ll bring us to places and opportunities we’ve never experienced.

Where is the God-gap in your life? In what areas is God saying, “C’mon – you can trust Me. I know you’ve got the ‘swim’ in you!” It’s time to push off.

 

Dust Bunnies Be Gone!

123 days ago by Monica Prescott in ( Personal Growth )

Wednesdays! I love Wednesdays! It was the glorious day of the week when I would come home from work to a spotless, pristine house! The floor literally glistened. There were no coats or shoes to trip over in the back entry or dirty dishes in the sink. Even the toilet paper rolls had the end paper folded up into a nice little point that silently said, “This toilet has been cleaned.”  The whole house smelled fresh. I LOVE MY CLEANING LADY!!! 

However my wonderful cleaning lady spends her winters in a much warmer climate. And while I’m genuinely thrilled she is able to enjoy a warm winter, Wednesdays aren’t as much fun anymore. The dishes are piled, it’s been way too long since the toilet paper roll had its nice little “point” put into place, and there’s so much grease on the stove top you could probably scrape it off and reuse it. (Might save us on butter.) The worst: there is a serious dust infestation on nearly every surface of my home. No more glisten. No shine. DEFINITELY no fresh smell.

I started to reflect on how the state of my house is a lot like our lives. We get dusty.

Hebrews 10:17-18 in The Message describes the state of our lives:

“He [God] concludes, I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins. Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.”

“I’ll forever wipe clean…” – THAT’S CLEAN!

Here’s what’s interesting:

Hebrews 1:3 – …When the Son made people clean from their sins, He sat down at the right side of God, the Great One in heaven.

“When the Son MADE people clean….” – for anyone with English grammar experience, “made” is PAST TENSE. Through the work of the cross, the cleansing was done once and for all . YOU ARE CLEANSED of your sins. We’ve been redeemed, cleansed, made pure and holy through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Does that mean we are forever and always clean? Just like my house – NO! We still accumulate “dust” from the journey. We pick up dust from doing life in a broken, messed up world. We pick up “dusty attitudes” that don’t reflect Christ’s character and frankly sometimes smell really bad too. Our thinking patterns that are in the process of being renewed, are quite old and dusty. We have dusty old habits that should really be put in the trash. We pick up dust from other people who are still living with an old, unclean “house” because they don’t yet know the power of Jesus' work for them.  And sometimes we find ourselves in really bad “dust” –  bucket loads of dust that’s been mixed with all sorts of gook and turns into serious MUD. 

Dust comes when there’s little or no activity – it just settles. In life, when we simply “settle” for good enough, when God has created us for greatness; when we settle for “this is just the way its going to be” instead of pushing forward and pushing through; when we settle in disappointments or defeat or failure –  dust begins to accumulate in our lives.

You know what dust does? It chokes out breath, it dries things up, it corrodes, blinds, it penetrates into tiny, closed off areas – places it shouldn’t be but places where it can cause great damage.

Even though Christ has “made us clean from our sins” we still need a daily cleanse. The Bible talks about “being washed with the water of the Word”. Through God’s Word, we’re reminded of WHO & WHOSE we already and truly are. By bathing ourselves in the presence of God, allowing His Spirit – the “river of living water” – to wash over us, we’re cleansed from the accumulation of dust. Or mud. Don’t allow dust to go unchecked, especially in the little things, the little corners of life that we might not think are important. Put up a dust guard to protect.

Take a few minutes to run your finger across not just the surfaces but all the layers of life. What’s the dust accumulation look like? Time for a clean? Get at it!

 

 

Meltdown-Man & an Attitude Moment

124 days ago by Monica Prescott in ( Personal Growth )

“Mom, why isn’t this line MOVING?!” There was little to guess at when it came to my wonderfully expressive teenage daughter’s thoughts. Exasperated the questions began for the 2nd time. “What time is our flight leaving again? Are we going to make it? We better make it to California tonight!”
 
The connecting flight check-in line was looking less and less promising.  Two lines, we unfortunately were in the slower of the 2. I also noticed the agents were starting to send people away with hotel vouchers. Not a good sign. The couple in front of us was beginning to have a meltdown. EVERYONE in close proximity new exactly what this guy was thinking. I scoped out the line next to us that seemed be progressing a bit quicker. “Let’s jump over there, Sam.”
 
“Next!” the ticket agent called. Ah, progress!  Or not.
 
“What? You’ve got to be kidding me!” meltdown man exploded as HIS ticket agent proceeded to leave his post. “YOU CAN’T LEAVE! DON’T YOU SEE ALL THESE PEOPLE WAITING IN LINE? I’VE BEEN FLYING ALL DAY AND YOU’VE HAD US WAITING HERE A *%&$$# LONG TIME AND YOU’RE GOING TO LEAVE? YOU CALL THIS SERVICE? WHERE’S A MANAGER?!” And then he proceeded to yell at his wife, and continue the barrage against the airline, the ticket agents, and pretty well anything else he’d been ticked at that day.
 
“I’m sorry sir but you’ll need to go over to this line over there…” MY line.  We won’t discuss the tirade that continued as he and his wife began to haul all their luggage over to our line 4 people behind us. And then I heard the nudge.
 
“How much do you trust Me?”
 
“Awwww, I think I know where this is headed…” My daughter and I were next in line for the counter. I’d come to terms with the fact that our flight was cancelled and we’d either be one of the lucky ones making it on a different flight or heading to a hotel to catch a morning flight. “Let the guy in front of you.”  
 
“Sir, you were in front of us in the other line. Why don’t you and your wife jump in front of us and go next.” He looked very sheepish and extremely stunned, quietly expressed his gratitude and moved in front of us. The ticket agent gave me a look of relief.
 
“MOM!” my daughter whisper-shouted as she rolled her eyes and turned away fighting back the tears. She was silent for a few minutes then whispered through gritted teeth, “I know it was the right thing to do, but I just really want to get to CALIFORNIA!”
 
Soon we were up at the ticket counter, and after hearing our gracious appeal for another flight, the agent smiled, made some changes on the computer and slapped “First Class” tickets on our luggage. “I’ve given you an upgrade. Enjoy your flight.”
 
“First Class??! We’re in First Class?” My daughter’s face lit up. She literally started to vibrate.  Now time for a teaching moment.
 
“This is what happens when you listen to and trust God and keep your attitude in check sweetie. REMEMBER THAT!”
 
Your attitude is a powerful attractor – it attracts what it is. Negative, critical, harsh, defeated attitude? You attract the fruit of those things into your life. A faith-filled attitude that’s surrendered to trusting God – you attract the goodness of God into your life. God’s goodness overshadows you. God is a good parent: when His kids are throwing a tantrum whether literally or internally with their attitude, that’s not the time to shower on the gifts. The flip side is – God is good Dad who takes great delight in releasing His blessing when we lean in trust on Him, allowing faith, grace, kindness, patience, the list goes on…to fuel our attitude.
 
What “altitude” – or rather attitude adjustments is God nudging you to make? Take a risk. Trust. Lean in. Watch the adventure unfold.
 

Fuzzy FX Filters – Reality Doesn’t Have to Bite!

125 days ago by Monica Prescott in ( Personal Growth )

Family picture day has become a tradition for us for the last 10 years. I’ll be honest – when the kids were young it was near hell. Trying to get 3 & 7 year olds to continue to put on their “cheese” and not squirm and keep their eyes open for over an hour required creative language and veiled threats through your own pasted-on smile. But our photographer is a miracle worker! And every year he would produce these amazing memory making shots. “Man, we actually look good!”

I’ll never forget the awakening I received one year. The kids were older, things had gone remarkably well. I was greatly anticipating some stellar family photos. As we were in a bit of a rush to get the annual Christmas card out to the printers our photographer graciously offered to drop off the disc of photos the next day so we could get a jump on things.

Disc goes into computer. Icons of the images begin to load. “Oh these are going to be great!” I muse as I quickly scan through the mini images to find the particular sitting I was hoping to use. “There’s the one.” Click. “Oh this is….YIKES! Oh my! What is wrong with my FACE? Are those wrinkles??? Those are REALLY BAD wrinkles! What happened to the lighting??!” As I was flipping through picture after picture the phone rang. It was our photographer. “I forgot to tell you. These are the none-touched-up ones. I always do a bit of touch up on the finals…” I’ll say! “Do I always look like this?” There was a bit of a pause at the other end. “I only do some VERY MINOR touch ups…”. Yeah.

For the last several years I’d been looking at myself through some nice special effects or filters. And you know what – we’re all prone to look at ourself through filters. However the Bible challenges us to “Put a mirror up to the real you, with no fancy “soul enhancing” lighting FX… (Philippians 2:3, Word on the Street Bible Paraphrase.

How do I see the real me? am I looking at me through the nice ‘fuzzy effects filter’ that reduces all the flaws – eliminates the blemishes, evens out the skin tone, smoothes out the wrinkles? Am I looking a myself through the filter of good works or self-achievement?

There actually IS a filter that isn’t just a nice effect – it literally does away with our flaws, imperfections, & failures. It’s the filter of the life of Christ. When I choose by faith to live according to His identity, it’s not just a nice fuzzy effect – He literally transforms my flawed, sinful, very wrinkled inner man.

Paul worded it this way:
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 CEB)

The real me is found in Jesus Christ and the life He made possible. He is the greatest “special effect” you’ll ever need.