Wrecked & Broken

I was driving up I-35 from a friend's house, radio blaring and AC cranked up to keep me awake and alert. As I drove, I was thinking how few cars there were on the road. Many going the opposite direction, but I didn't pass a single car until right before the I-40 onramp. Red lights narrowed the 4 lanes down to 1. When I saw the police cars, I first thought they were doing car searches. I slowed down and began to process what was going on. An officer motioned for me to continue on. As I drove, my eyes swelled with tears when I saw what was left of this white car. The paramedics were working desperately to get inside the vehicle. My heart was pounding as I started to pray. Did the person or the people inside know Jesus? Did they have a relationship with their Creator? Where would they go if they died tonight? The lump in my throat tightened with each thought.

I have been reading the book 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper. It's about a man who was in a terrible car accident and was pronounced dead. He believes that he experienced Heaven. I started reading the book myself to decide if this guy was a quack or if there was truth to his story. From my perspective, I believe that he fully and honestly believes he went to Heaven. With that said, here's a remarkable passage from the book where his friend is talking to him.

If you saw a little kid run out in the street, you'd dash out there and try to save the child's life. Human nature is like that. We try to preserve life, and I will do that any time I get the opportunity. So would you...Yet here we are sitting in this place, surrounded by people, many of whom are probably lost and going to hell, and we won't say a word about how they can have eternal life. Something is wrong with us.

We're not guaranteed tomorrow. Car accidents have a way of making me realize that fact. If you're still on this earth, God has a reason for your life. Gradually, He's pulling me out of my comfort zone. My flesh fights back as He gently but firmly guides me. God is putting things on my heart that, honestly, I'd rather He find someone else to do it.

There are so many people out there in the world who are starving for Jesus. They don't know Him, but they sense that something's missing. It may be the person at work, or the Sonic carhop, or the ad exec in the fancy Beemer. Who is it in your life? Who is the person, that if they died tonight, would not know God? But more importantly, what are you going to do about it?

Parties & Roofs & TV, oh my!

So Friday I'm supposed to be throwing a bachelorette party around 7pm. I was out running some errands that afternoon. When I arrived back at the house at 3, the roof was completely torn off! I had no idea the roofers were coming that day! I figured since they hadn't shown up by noon, they weren't coming. That's what happens when you assume! So all the workers were chilled out on my front porch (one of them in my rocking chair). I walked up and asked with my best Spanish speaking abilities, "When are you going to finish tonight?" The guy in charge replied casually, "Nine-o'clock."

Nine!!! What!?! Are you kidding me? My mind was racing at that point. I felt the rage boiling up inside of me! I'm a schoolteacher! I'm slighty OCD! This was not on my itinerary! Quickly, I turned and walked back to my car before I blurted out any inappropriate Spanish words at them, especially the one in my rocking chair.

Once I got in the car and screamed for a few seconds, then I called my mom. Luckily, my parents were going out of town this weekend, so they agreed to let me move the party to their house. I called to let everyone know the party was moving, loaded up the groceries, gifts, etc. and took them over there. Everything worked out fine. It just didn't seem fine at the time.
Daily, I have to remind myself that God is in control and I am not.

Saturday, they finished roofing my house about noon. After they had left, I noticed my electricity wasn't working in the den. 87% of my time is spent in the den. I ran outside and flipped the switch in the breaker box. Nothing. "God, I fasted from TV on Tuesday!" I pleaded as I flipped more switches. Still nothing. "I want you to spend more time with me," He whispered.
Gee whiz, He is a jealous God.

Have any of those moments to share when you overreacted to something or thought, "God, did you just...?"

A Fast Fast

So, Lifechurch is fasting every Tuesday during the OnePrayer series. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should have your fingers stapled together. j/k
Anywho, I was thinking about what to fast when one of those Holy Spirit-God whispers said, "Why don't you give up TV?" I thought to myself, "God, you're crazy! What am I gonna do all day??? How about I give up doing laundry or exercise?" At that point, I could almost picture God giving me one of those disapproving looks. It was pretty clear what I was supposed to do, and from previous experiences I had learned not to make God wait.
So today I went TVless. No Rachel Ray, Days of our Lives, Dr. Phil, Reba, Wheel, nothing. And you know what happened? I spent more time with God, I got a lot of stuff done, and I didn't really even miss the TV. Most of the time, our lives are filled with things that aren't necessarily bad, but they aren't really productive. What is it for you?

A Whole Lotta Nuttin'

It seems I have a bad case of verbal diarrhea at 1:30am. So here's what's on my mind. (Hey, I just used 2 contractions back-to-back!) Sorry. Anyway, I've decided that every day I'm going to find at least one funny thing to laugh about when I start feeling cranky. There was a bird sitting on the fence, when all of a sudden...the wind knocked him off balance. So it wasn't the most hilarious of things, but it made me smile. Thank you clumsy birdie!
And here goes with a bunch of random thoughts I had today...Playing guitar is a lot harder than playing Rockband. We should make fuel out of peanuts. (Santa Fe and Logans are full of 'em). Every time I wash my car it sprinkles, because some jerk turns his sprinklers on so they spray the street! How many Go Green recycle bags are going to be wasted cuz they are everywhere? Bleeding Love is on every radio channel in my car. The word ridiculousness is ridiculous. Why does pulling someone's finger make them fart? It just makes my knuckle pop. I always feel like cleaning, writing, or reading after midnight. But I don't want to do a darn thing during the day.