Happy Hump Day

Hey everyone,

I cannot believe today is Wednesday! Where has the week gone?

Sunday, we had friends over for lunch. Monday, we both worked. We were both so exhausted, but we still wanted to spend time together, so I made a homemade pizza (homemade ciabatta crust! mmm!) and we cuddled on the couch to watch "Leap Year". Tuesday we both worked and then went to O'Charleys with my brother and his girlfriend. Today we both worked, but we both got off early (me at 3 and Aaron at 4). I cleaned before Aaron got home and I made chicken parmesagn and couscous for dinner. We took Maddie to the park and opened our windows. It was so beautiful today! 58 and sunny! I know 58 is pretty cool, but compared to 20-something, it was a heat wave. Also, my bombdiggity husband found a local store that sells soy-free chocolate!!!! That means I get to enjoy Valentine's day without cramps! Yay!

I wanted to share what I read today in my devotions. Colossians is one of my favorite books. It talks a lot about living a godly life. Something really grabbed at me today that I know I've read many times, but never really picked up. Colossians 2:5-7:

^"5For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ. ⁶Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. "

I get so annoyed when I see people who claim to be Christ-followers not living like it at all. One example of this is the people who put it in writing on facebook as if that means anything in the grand scheme of eternity, and then post drunken pictures of themselves dry humping at parties right alongside it. This isn't being judgmental-- it's just calling an obvious play.

Paul said he rejoiced to see Christians who are well disciplined and stable in their faith in Christ. I thought about that for a few minutes. To me, being stable in Christ means that I always trust Him no matter what life throws at me. (That doesn't mean I have to like what I'm dealt, but that I trust that God knows what He's doing.) It means I pray often. It means I live a life that reflects Him. It means I try to glorify Christ in my actions and speech. It means I'm trustworthy. It means I think of others before myself. Then Paul goes on to say that we have to be firmly rooted in order to be built up and established. I was thinking about that being firmly rooted part. It's so elementary, really. When you plant a seed, it needs a very specific environment to survive and grow. It needs the right amount of moisture. The soil has to be the right pH. The ground can't be too cold or too hot. Then, as a plant grows and flowers, the roots grow with it. In order to produce beautiful things, those roots have to be very strong. Because I serve in a ministry at church, I have to remind myself of this. Everyone does. I can't just show up on Thursday nights and do what I do out of my own initiative. It's not like a country club-- once you're in, you're in. I have to spend time praying for the teens throughout the week. I have to pray for the other leaders. I have to pray that God will empty me of myself and fill me with His words and His love (growing the roots) so that I can produce good fruit. I think that the people who pretend with their Christianity-- those who show up to church services or show up to a ministry without doing any of the leg work in their time with God-- those people are like the tree that looks normal, but produces no fruit.

On a different note... I'm so excited that it's only 7:00 because that means that after I fold like 8 loads of laundry, I'll still have time to give myself a manicure. My nails were so long and pretty, but two of them broke over the weekend, so I cut them short. I chipped my nail polish at work today, so they're looking pretty shotty.