It's amazing how much culture influences us in ways that we don't even realize.
As Christians, we're told to watch out for "worldly" ways. We shouldn't gossip, be sexually loose or be financially irresponsible. A lot of what to watch out for, we realize. However, as we start to talk about the importance of work in Sunday school, I am seeing that culture has influenced Christians' view of work without us realizing it.
I think my view of work has boiled down to two things --- working to pay for a good life and dealing with daily work until I can have fun. I always wanted to have a job that I enjoyed --- who doesn't? --- and of course I hoped I'd be somewhere I could make a difference, but I knew the real purpose of work was to pay the bills and hopefully have enough left over to have fun with.
Even work in my free time --- cleaning, laundry, yard work --- just had to be plowed through to get to free time when I could watch TV and relax.
I never considered that God created us to work. It goes all the way back to Genesis, when God created us --- his own work --- and then put man in dominion over everything on his creation. He created us in his image, and that means as a being that works, and then he gave us work to do.
Culture tells us we are supposed to trudge through work to get to play and that retirement and not working is the pinnacle of success. That's not true though. We have to watch out for where culture enters our lives and don't even know it.
Instead of listening to the world and working for the weekend, Christians need to listen to God and start working for him. He created us to work, so how can we find fault in that? Well, we can, but we shouldn't...
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Friday, January 30, 2015
Exercise buddies
It's going on 10 months since my friends and I started regularly exercising together.
My friend Ashley suggested that we do a Color Run in town, and we started Couch to 5K to get us going since none of us were runners.
We did it, and we ran about half of it, which at that point was a success.
Instead of quitting, we decided to keep going. That led to needing new sports bras and to finding a place to exercise inside when the weather got too cold to run outdoors to struggling through Insanity for the third time to getting running shoes as a Christmas present. Who would have thought I would ask for new running shoes for a Christmas present?
Although it's been a long time, I have to say, exercise still isn't easy. Of the three days a week that we get up at 5:30 a.m., every one is a struggle. I hate to get up early, and I still want to lay in the nice, warm bed and doze instead of getting up.
Having friends who are there waiting for makes all the difference though. I can't leave them hanging, so it forces me to get out of bed and put on those workout clothes and turn on lights and get moving.
It takes me until the cool down usually, but by then I'm glad I did it. I know I'm in better shape and that I'm healthier, and the whistles from my husband are great motivation too.
A lot of people have made new year's resolutions to work out and get in better shape this year, and this is probably about the time that they want to quit. I hope that they have friends like mine who force them to keep going though. It's nice to have someone there to kick your butt in gear.
My friend Ashley suggested that we do a Color Run in town, and we started Couch to 5K to get us going since none of us were runners.
We did it, and we ran about half of it, which at that point was a success.
Instead of quitting, we decided to keep going. That led to needing new sports bras and to finding a place to exercise inside when the weather got too cold to run outdoors to struggling through Insanity for the third time to getting running shoes as a Christmas present. Who would have thought I would ask for new running shoes for a Christmas present?
Although it's been a long time, I have to say, exercise still isn't easy. Of the three days a week that we get up at 5:30 a.m., every one is a struggle. I hate to get up early, and I still want to lay in the nice, warm bed and doze instead of getting up.
Having friends who are there waiting for makes all the difference though. I can't leave them hanging, so it forces me to get out of bed and put on those workout clothes and turn on lights and get moving.
It takes me until the cool down usually, but by then I'm glad I did it. I know I'm in better shape and that I'm healthier, and the whistles from my husband are great motivation too.
A lot of people have made new year's resolutions to work out and get in better shape this year, and this is probably about the time that they want to quit. I hope that they have friends like mine who force them to keep going though. It's nice to have someone there to kick your butt in gear.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
TV wives vs. godly wives
Debra and Ray fight constantly on "Everybody Loves Raymond," with Debra often berating her husband for little things that should not cause drama.
Kari picks at Doug on "King of Queens" and acts like an all-around...not nice woman.
Molly dominates her boyfriend-then-husband on "Mike & Molly."
The other night when we were watching TV, Nate turned to me and said, "They should make a TV wife like you."
"Nice?" I said.
He continued on about how annoying it was to see woman constantly immaculate their husbands and act like it's OK to dominate a relationship and constantly nag and berate men on TV. He said a biblically good wife would be much better to watch.
Wives who submit to their husbands, serve their men by cooking and cleaning and support their husbands as they go to work day after day after day don't make for interesting TV. Those kinds of wives don't create drama in their household, don't pick fights and don't cause the ups and downs that creates a sitcom.
However, the sad part is a lot of women do act like the wives on TV. They see those horrid examples on the little screen at home and on the big screen in the theaters, and the women of today think that's how they're supposed to act. They think it's normal to want everything they see in stores and to expect their husbands to pay for it. They think it's normal to want their men to work hard and bring home the bacon but not to work so much that it interferes with their schedule.
Then the moment they don't get what they want, they think it's OK to pick a fight or give the silent treatment or storm out of the house, because that's what they see the women on TV doing.
But it's not OK.
God put men as the head of the household. That wasn't a problem until humans ate of a tree they weren't supposed to eat of and sin entered the world. From that moment on, Eve and all her female descendants were cursed with "your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." Another translation says, "Your desire will be to control your husband."
The fact that women want to control their men is not a sign of strength, like our culture tells us. It is a sign of sin and weakness. We should support our husbands. We were created to be their helpmates, but ultimately we are to listen to them as the more logical sex and let them lead the house. It doesn't always feel good, but that is the way that God made it and that's the way that it works.
That also means that men have to step up and not let women control them. For years, Nate has joked that when he puts his foot down I listen. Most of the time it's just playful, but he knows that if we did disagree and he put his foot down, I would step back and let him lead. That's my job, and it's his job to put his foot down if need be.
A relationship with mutual love and respect and trust, working in the way that God created marriage to work is a beautiful thing.
And I wish that it made for good TV so people could see what a real relationship looks like instead of falling for the lies told to us on TV.
Kari picks at Doug on "King of Queens" and acts like an all-around...not nice woman.
Molly dominates her boyfriend-then-husband on "Mike & Molly."
The other night when we were watching TV, Nate turned to me and said, "They should make a TV wife like you."
"Nice?" I said.
He continued on about how annoying it was to see woman constantly immaculate their husbands and act like it's OK to dominate a relationship and constantly nag and berate men on TV. He said a biblically good wife would be much better to watch.
Wives who submit to their husbands, serve their men by cooking and cleaning and support their husbands as they go to work day after day after day don't make for interesting TV. Those kinds of wives don't create drama in their household, don't pick fights and don't cause the ups and downs that creates a sitcom.
However, the sad part is a lot of women do act like the wives on TV. They see those horrid examples on the little screen at home and on the big screen in the theaters, and the women of today think that's how they're supposed to act. They think it's normal to want everything they see in stores and to expect their husbands to pay for it. They think it's normal to want their men to work hard and bring home the bacon but not to work so much that it interferes with their schedule.
Then the moment they don't get what they want, they think it's OK to pick a fight or give the silent treatment or storm out of the house, because that's what they see the women on TV doing.
But it's not OK.
God put men as the head of the household. That wasn't a problem until humans ate of a tree they weren't supposed to eat of and sin entered the world. From that moment on, Eve and all her female descendants were cursed with "your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." Another translation says, "Your desire will be to control your husband."
The fact that women want to control their men is not a sign of strength, like our culture tells us. It is a sign of sin and weakness. We should support our husbands. We were created to be their helpmates, but ultimately we are to listen to them as the more logical sex and let them lead the house. It doesn't always feel good, but that is the way that God made it and that's the way that it works.
That also means that men have to step up and not let women control them. For years, Nate has joked that when he puts his foot down I listen. Most of the time it's just playful, but he knows that if we did disagree and he put his foot down, I would step back and let him lead. That's my job, and it's his job to put his foot down if need be.
A relationship with mutual love and respect and trust, working in the way that God created marriage to work is a beautiful thing.
And I wish that it made for good TV so people could see what a real relationship looks like instead of falling for the lies told to us on TV.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Purposes for unjust suffering
We're still going through 1 Peter in church, and last week was on unjust suffering. This week the pastor also talked about this topic and the reasons unjust suffering can be beneficial.
Unjust suffering can be looked at in a myriad of ways --- illness, faith persecution, getting in trouble for doing something right. One way to look at it is law enforcement, which is controversial right now. Many law enforcement officers are suffering unjustly for doing their jobs, for trying to protect us.
Looking at Jesus's example, it says in 1 Peter 3 that just suffered to take on the sins of the unrighteous. His unjust suffering had a purpose for it. It's somewhat similar to law enforcement, who fight for us and take on the issues that come along with fighting evil. Instead of citizens having to protect themselves and dealing with death and injury that comes with that, they fight for us and take on those consequences. It's purposeful, although unjust, suffering.
If Christ suffered in the flesh, we can "arm ourselves with the same way of thinking. " God let his son through suffering and did incredible good, and if any of us face that he can do wonders through us as well.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Work wasn't meant to be bad
Christians often seek work as the result of the fall in the
Garden of Eden. We think in a perfect world that we wouldn’t have to do work at
all and that we could just play and “enjoy life.”
At church, our pastors have gotten together a group of
professional individuals from a variety of fields and invited us to take part
in a class with the theme “Work Matters.” It started this Sunday and began
right at the beginning of the Bible to show that work has been around since the
very beginning.
God worked when he created the Earth and all its
inhabitants. He immediately asked Adam to work as well, putting him in charge
of all of creation and asking him to maintain the garden. That means Adam had
responsibility and something to do every day.
Of course, after the fall, sin made work more difficult and
made us dislike it. But it wasn’t meant to be that way in the beginning.
We are to see work actually as a blessing. It was given to
us by God, and it was given for a reason. If you look at work as an act of
wor(k)ship for an audience of one, it becomes more important and makes you want
to give your all.
Plus, we know that God is in charge of everything. So in
that effect, we’re his subordinate, his employees. When we see him as our boss,
we will want to do quite well at our jobs.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Monopoly City: Winner, winner
A huge push of ours at work is to get people out of the house and into nature.
It often makes me think about what we have been doing in our free time and makes me want to get away from the television and either outside or doing something that connects us a little bit more.
This Sunday I pulled out Monopoly City from the shelf in the basement that it's been stored since we moved into our house. We couldn't even remember how to play, because I think we only played that version once when we first got it.
It took a little direction reading, OK, a lot of direction reading, and we finally figured out how this version of the game differed from the original.
The game said to set a timer and that it would beep at us when the first hour was over so we could decide whether to play longer or not. I didn't figure it would take us that long to play, since it was just two of us.
Turns out, that might make the game even longer.
It was tight at first, as we figured out how to play this more elaborate version of the business game. And then the tide shifted into my favor.
Little by little, I started to buy while Nate started to have money issues. Little by little he mortgaged his properties and I continued to erect buildings. Little by little it became obvious I was ahead.
Three hours after we started, Nate went bankrupt, and I joyfully realized my success.
You see, I don't think I have ever won at Monopoly. Ever. I don't remember ever winning at Monopoly Junior, regular Monopoly or Monopoly City. And there for a while in high school, we played a lot of Monopoly.
Nate always wins at Monopoly. Always.
I have to say, winning felt pretty good. It was a high I kept going for about an hour, before we headed to a friends' house and my team started to lose pretty good to Nate's at euchre.
Good thing we never finished that game.
It often makes me think about what we have been doing in our free time and makes me want to get away from the television and either outside or doing something that connects us a little bit more.
This Sunday I pulled out Monopoly City from the shelf in the basement that it's been stored since we moved into our house. We couldn't even remember how to play, because I think we only played that version once when we first got it.
It took a little direction reading, OK, a lot of direction reading, and we finally figured out how this version of the game differed from the original.
The game said to set a timer and that it would beep at us when the first hour was over so we could decide whether to play longer or not. I didn't figure it would take us that long to play, since it was just two of us.
Turns out, that might make the game even longer.
It was tight at first, as we figured out how to play this more elaborate version of the business game. And then the tide shifted into my favor.
Little by little, I started to buy while Nate started to have money issues. Little by little he mortgaged his properties and I continued to erect buildings. Little by little it became obvious I was ahead.
Three hours after we started, Nate went bankrupt, and I joyfully realized my success.
You see, I don't think I have ever won at Monopoly. Ever. I don't remember ever winning at Monopoly Junior, regular Monopoly or Monopoly City. And there for a while in high school, we played a lot of Monopoly.
Nate always wins at Monopoly. Always.
I have to say, winning felt pretty good. It was a high I kept going for about an hour, before we headed to a friends' house and my team started to lose pretty good to Nate's at euchre.
Good thing we never finished that game.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Following that voice inside
It's our job to ask, it's not people's job to accept.
I have felt called to reach out to a volunteer from work, and it was a huge blessing to be able to go to her house last weekend and bring her meals and run to the library to get some books for her to read as she is stuck at home due to back pain.
I called this week, and I was going to stop by to give her some company. She said she was busy, which is perfectly fine. She may be busy, she may not be. However, I realize it's my job to ask but it's not her job to accept.
When God asks us to do something, I don't think it always works out. Just because I felt like I should call and offer my company again this week, God knew that she was busy and didn't need me to stop by. However, he certainly expected me to follow through with what he was calling me to do.
Part of it is that he is just testing us to see if we are going to do what he asks us to. What you think God is calling you to do might not work out, but that doesn't mean that you don't have to do it.
I'm trying to get better at following the still, silent feeling inside. It's so easy to see something that you know you should do, but you would rather go run errands or go about your daily life and stay comfortable rather than put yourself out there. It's hard and often uncomfortable to do something that, well, makes you uncomfortable.
Even when I am called to serve someone that I know well, I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach and I start to sweat when I make the call about it. I don't know why it's hard to serve someone, but I know that it's even more uncomfortable to face God in my heart and know that I have intentionally ignored him.
When I start to worry about how people have taken me or what I have said, I have to keep thinking back that I am doing what God told me to do. If people can fault me, that's OK. If God can fault me, that's certainly not OK.
If I do what I'm supposed to, the rest is up to God. If I ignore God I can't expect him to stand up for me in that situation.
Help me Lord to hear you still, small voice inside me and to have the courage to follow what you're calling me to do, no matter what it is. It's hard and it's scary, but I know that I can rely on you if I'm doing what you've told me.
I have felt called to reach out to a volunteer from work, and it was a huge blessing to be able to go to her house last weekend and bring her meals and run to the library to get some books for her to read as she is stuck at home due to back pain.
I called this week, and I was going to stop by to give her some company. She said she was busy, which is perfectly fine. She may be busy, she may not be. However, I realize it's my job to ask but it's not her job to accept.
When God asks us to do something, I don't think it always works out. Just because I felt like I should call and offer my company again this week, God knew that she was busy and didn't need me to stop by. However, he certainly expected me to follow through with what he was calling me to do.
Part of it is that he is just testing us to see if we are going to do what he asks us to. What you think God is calling you to do might not work out, but that doesn't mean that you don't have to do it.
I'm trying to get better at following the still, silent feeling inside. It's so easy to see something that you know you should do, but you would rather go run errands or go about your daily life and stay comfortable rather than put yourself out there. It's hard and often uncomfortable to do something that, well, makes you uncomfortable.
Even when I am called to serve someone that I know well, I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach and I start to sweat when I make the call about it. I don't know why it's hard to serve someone, but I know that it's even more uncomfortable to face God in my heart and know that I have intentionally ignored him.
When I start to worry about how people have taken me or what I have said, I have to keep thinking back that I am doing what God told me to do. If people can fault me, that's OK. If God can fault me, that's certainly not OK.
If I do what I'm supposed to, the rest is up to God. If I ignore God I can't expect him to stand up for me in that situation.
Help me Lord to hear you still, small voice inside me and to have the courage to follow what you're calling me to do, no matter what it is. It's hard and it's scary, but I know that I can rely on you if I'm doing what you've told me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)