ROUND UP...

1. The boys played soccer this season.
2. Soccer season is over. Two weeks ago. They played for six weeks. You see exactly how many pictures I posted up here.
     - It was MC 2's first adventure with competitive sports and he really enjoyed it. Which is good because they lost every game but one. He didn't care. He just liked being out there.
    - MC 1 loves to play. His team fared a little better. Excluding the cleat to the eye (which his wonderfully attentive mother just took him to the doctor about this week- that is right peeps- mom of the year trophy securely on my mantle), he had a really good season. (You'll be glad to know they eye checked out fine. He had no pain and no vision problems, it just wasn't looking like it should have IMO.)

3. The boys participated in another rodeo.
4. That's over, too.
    - They both rode really well and the church who sponsored it put on a great program. HH is itching for the next one. MC 1 is going to have to find a new group due to the fact he has aged out of the one we always participated in. He is looking to football I think. Shhh....HH is not a fan. 

5. The boys had track & field day at their school.
6. Zero pics of that as well. I really need a camera......
    - MC 2 signed up for three running events, which shocked us all, and did really well. He wasn't first but he wasn't last.
    - MC 1 had one goal in mind. Win the boys 800m. AND HE DID! This has been on his mind since the last field day. When I mowed my track last year, he saw it as his chance to train. He ran, he practiced, he prepared and it payed off. He was so happy.

School is almost out for us, and the timing is perfect. HH is enjoying the longer evenings. I keep reminding him we are not out of school yet. Bedtime still exists.

Okay, well that should hold you for a few days. Hopefully, this summer I can get back here and get in the habit.
Hopefully....
I shall choose to try.

DO WE HIDE BEHIND THE "SEASONS"?

I have been listening to a great deal of James MacDonald the last few weeks as he has become my soundtrack for the soccer practice laps I make around the field. One of the most recent sessions dealt with reconciliation with our brothers and sisters in Christ. That in itself is a different post.....
Thinking on that for a few days, the word "seasons" came to mind. It is a popular word in our Christian culture today. 
In this season of my life....
We're entering into a new season...
You've most likely heard it. Maybe, like me, even said it.
I think one of the most common ways I have heard it, and used it, is regarding relationships. 
A relationship ends...
Friends are no longer friends...
Co-workers change jobs (or don't)...
Church members leave...
The reply most often,
Well, we are just in different seasons of life now.
Which, I think, many times is true. Relationships do, and often should, change. People move away. Lives go in different directions. 
I couldn't ignore the little prick, though, that asked what if we were using that term as a cover,for some camouflage, to hid the fact that we haven't dealt with the situation in the manner God calls us to.
Would we rather ignore the body of Christ than be reconciled with it? Him? Her? Them?


I don't know. I am asking you.
Do you think we over use the term?
Do you think we can hide behind it and avoid doing the work of reconciliation God calls us to?

Waiting to hear from you....

BUT JESUS...

I had an incident with another mortal the other day and not a good one. I took a cussing like I never have before. Fiery darts were shot with the intent to kill.
But Jesus... was there.
He was all over me. We stayed calm. We didn't cry. We answered without accusing. We questioned without condemning. We spoke with a calm steady voice. We humbly sought out and accepted any wrong doing while enduring the wrath of a very angry person.

Then I walked away and cried like a baby. I asked the Lord to remove them from my bubble. Perhaps have them get blessed with a great job opportunity and go away. I told the Lord this is why I hated dealing with people. I asked Him if I could just put a wall up and not even deal with the situation any longer. Hide it, and the mortals, completely out of my sight. Just stay locked tight in my little bubble. 

But Jesus....said no. He said this is exactly what you were called to do. To love the unlovable. To extend grace to the ungrateful. To address it with respect and humility, seeking a solution and not a vindication.

Don't be fooled. It's not all daises over here. There is bitterness trying to take root. I have felt it trying to pierce my heart. The voices of the flesh have screamed. My mind has been preoccupied with what I should have said this time or will say next time.
Those thoughts are trying to build a wall, brick by brick, around my heart. Bricks like
I just won't speak at all....
I've got nothing for them any longer....
It's not worth it....

But Jesus... reminded me that to be a follower is to be persecuted by the world. Maybe this isn't about me being a Christian specifically, but maybe it is. I don't think its a coincidence that just a few days prior I had actually thought about how great it would be if they found Jesus. 
My chief attacker is not this mortal, but the enemy Satan himself. If he can get me to harbor bitterness, if he can get me to not turn the other cheek, if he can get me to not act like I am a follower, if he can get me to keep that heart of stone....

But Jesus...keeps pulling my thoughts back to Him.
Reminding me of the end game.
His glory.
His fame.
His adoration.
People choosing Him.

The world is mean. The world hates Christ. The world will hate us if we are following Him. Being in it but not of it is going to be tough. We can want to with all we have, but our flesh will fail. Our flesh will follow the world. We, in and of ourselves, are ill-equipped to do this.

But Jesus.....