Make wise choices, they will direct more than just your life

In Genesis 36, Moses wrote about Esau's lineage, and it showed how his life ended up different from Jacob.

First, Esau didn't marry godly women like Jacob waited to do. They ended up leading his family away from the Lord. It says in 2 Corinthians, "Do not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever." It doesn't seem as big of a deal to date someone that is not a Christian, but we marry the people we date.  And a good and healthy marriage is impossible without the center point of Christ.

There are so many points in life that I so do not want to hold my tongue, that I don't want to put my husband first, that I don't want to clean the house, that I don't want to wait until my husband and I can see the movie together --- the moments that my desires are selfish instead of selfless, that's when I have to turn to Jesus. And I know my husband has the same thing. Without God, I can guarantee our marriage would be much angrier, much unhappier and much less solid.

Esau also wasn't careful about where his family lived. He took his family outside of the Promised Land. It's important where we live. It's important the environment our children are in. Can I relate this to the black lives matter movement? The biggest point against what this movement seems to stand for is that the biggest violence against blacks is blacks, but they don't seem to make a big deal of this. "That's just the culture where we live. We have to deal with it. That's the only place we can afford." I bet that's true in big cities, but take your family to a small town and you will be amazed at what you can afford. Esau thought he had to leave the Promised Land to have enough room for all his stuff, but had he prioritized his family he would have chosen where to live on different parameters. We should all pick where we live based on what is best for our families.

Esau's family does become a ruling family where it settled down. His sons and grandsons became chiefs, which means rulers over 1,000 plus. One of Esau's wives was Oholibamah, who was a part of a ruling family, so many of the men in their family also became rulers. That looks good, but Esau was becoming assimilated into an ungodly culture. He was no different than anyone else.

The judgment on the Edomites, Esau's family, has lasted generation after generation. From Old Testament times to today in the Middle East, God's judgement has been on that land. We never think that what we do will affect our families for that long, but it can. From who we marry to where we live, it's these decisions that make up a life, a family and a future. Make wise choices.

Reminders to be thankful for everyday moments

I think the events of this week have really made me take pause and think about what's important in life, about treasuring everyday moments when, like the families of the officers in Dallas, those moments can be over so quickly and without notice.

So, what are you thankful for today? What are those little moments that you'll remember today?

1. When I'm cooking and my husband walks through the kitchen, wraps his arms around me and kisses me on the cheek.
2. When my dog has free reign outside and chooses to sit on the porch and watch the world go by, just like a little person.
3. A "Love you back" text.
4. A video of a friend's baby walking.
5. A picture of a friend enjoying her birthday and smiling with her husband.
6. A compliment on my newest cupcake experiment, Boston Creme Pie cupcakes.
7. A text from your mom telling you about a house for sale six hours from you just because she wishes you would move closer to home.

It's not about the washing machine that's not working, the house that needs painting, the cleaning on the to-do list --- it's about appreciating those everyday moments that make up a life.

The 5-foot root

It's been a busy few weeks and my blogging has lapsed unintentionally. As a welcome back, I'm not going to delve into the political climate or the events of this week that have brought me to tears and to unfriending a few people on Facebook who don't support law enforcement, instead I'm going to talk about a little lesson that I came across a week or so ago.

I decided it was time to buckle down and work on the house, and in order to scrape and paint, some weedy bushes needed to come out.

So I went to start cutting branches and digging at root systems, which turned out easier said than done. When I had gotten the largest branches out of the way, I had to get the rocky landscaping out of the way. A few rocks in a single layer I figured.

Wrong.

One layer of rock. Two layers of rock. Three layers of rock. A layer of black plastic, and wait more rock.

What? Two layers of rock and plastic? Who does this?

I dug down, and got one root out, and then saw that this root jutted out horizontally and another bush was coming from the same root a few feet away. The entire structure was actually one plant.

An hour later and plenty of sweat later, I couldn't go on. Literally. I was jumping on the shovel and it wasn't budging. I physically couldn't dig any deeper and I physically could not loosen this root, so I packed up and waited for my husband.

The next day, I was at work and he had a day off, and I get a video of him trying to pull this bush root out with a wire winched to the four-wheeler. It wasn't budging.

Then I got another video showing the 5-foot root that had finally come up, breaking the four-wheeler winch while it was at it.

Now, go with me here, because Nate said this is a stretch, but I think those bushes were a whole lot like sin. I could get the small bushes that were growing nearby out pretty easily, but I pulled them when they were little and young. But the longer we left these bushes, the more they grew and the deeper their roots were. By the time they were developed, it took more than the little bit of pruning that I could do. We needed help from some heavy machinery.

Sin is easy to get rid of when it is small. And you can probably do it yourself, of course with the forgiveness of God. But when sin starts to dig in, it's not only incredibly difficult to get out but it's also impossible to do on your own. You're going to need the help of others to eradicate sin from your life, the support of others, the strength of others.

Don't let sin become a 5-foot root that won't budge. Take notice of it when it's little and don't let it get a foothold.

Thank God for Miss U.S.A.

Nate came home on Sunday night to "Miss U.S.A. 2016" on the television.

So, I usually wouldn't watch this when he was home, but I haven't watched a beauty pageant in years and really did want to.

He picked up the remote and joked, "You enjoy Miss U.S.A.?" I'm sure he figured I would say, "It was just on, go ahead and change it." Because I normally would have. But this night, I said, "Yes, I am. I haven't watched one in years and really want to see this."

He looked at me with a "Really?" look on his face but didn't say anything else, and while dinner finished cooking we watched the beginning of "Miss U.S.A." together.

The part that most surprised me was when we brought our dinner into the living room and I muted the TV, Nate said our usual pre-dinner prayer. At the end, he thanked God that we could watch "Miss U.S.A." and thanked God that it made his wife happy.

Melts your heart doesn't it? Gosh, I am so thankful for this man and the fact that he treasures things that make me happy, even if they don't him.

Sermon notes --- Jacob leaves Laban behind

It was 14 years after Jacob left home, when he was supposed to be gone just months while Esau's anger calmed, that Jacob finally decided to bring his family to his hometown.

However, his father-in-law, Laban, realizes that his successful flocks were due to Jacob, and he didn't want Jacob to leave. Laban had profited from Jacob's work, but he hadn't shared his wealth with anyone. Jacob's family was still poor, and he didn't like that he wasn't providing for his family the way he wants to.

So Laban decided to share with Jacob, and Jacob just asked for the spotted, speckled and dark sheep and goats. Laban agreed, but he went back on his word and took all the speckled and spotted animals out of the flocks himself and gave them to his sons instead of to Jacob.

Can you imagine how mad Jacob was when he went out to get his animals and they were gone?

"Seriously Laban? I'm trying to take care of your daughters and grandchildren. You won't let me?" Aaaah! I'm sure Jacob yelled in frustration.

Jacob tried to get more speckled and spotted lambs and kids by putting speckled and spotted sticks by the sheep and goats that were procreating. They thought it worked like that in those days --- we know that doesn't work today, but they didn't know how genes worked then.

In difficult situations, we have to figure out how to respond. That response should be trust God and work hard. One doesn't work without the other.

God saw how Laban was trying to take advantage of Jacob, and he decided to bless Jacob by providing him with more speckled and spotted lambs and kids than the perfect ones that went to Laban.

Laban's sons were jealous of Jacob's success. Laban was jealous. Jacob was uncomfortable and decided once again to leave. His wives had seen all their father had done to Jacob and how their father treated them badly and stole their inheritance, and they were fine with following their husband back to his hometown.

Just think, Rachel and Leah agreed on something. They bonded over the fact that their father treated them like dirt.

When they left, Rachel stole her dad's household gods, little gods of Laban's making. These gods were so powerless that Laban had to go after them and save them, while Jacob's God saved him. Jacob's God appeared to Laban and told him to leave Jacob alone.

Applications

1. Work for an audience of one. Work hard and trust God. Even if your situation is difficult, God is in charge and will treat us right even if it takes 20 years for us to see the rewards of our hard work.
2. Seek the God who can actually change your life. We may not have hand-crafted gods at home but we certainly have household gods that we pursue, places we pour out time that are not worth it. Seek the God that can make a difference.
3. God wants to set me free from slavery. Whether it's slavery at work, slavery to a certain sin, slavery to illness --- God can set free those who trust him.

A right heart versus right actions

You know what I wish, I wish it was easy to do the right thing.

I guess it says where I am in life that it's not always easy to do the right thing. If my heart was at the place it should be with God, it probably wouldn't take so much effort to do the right thing all the time. It should just be second nature, and I really shouldn't think anything about it.

When it comes to a choice between doing the easy thing and the right thing, I often think, "How do I want to be remembered?" Do I want to be remembered for me as a regular human, or do I want to be remembered for a woman who served, loved and gave without pause. Definitely the second.

But it's not always easy to make that decision. There have already been a couple of times this week that I've been faced with some situations that I didn't want to deal with. I've been so tempted to do what I wanted to do, what felt more comfortable, what didn't frustrate or disappoint me. But I knew what the right thing was, and I did it.

However, I haven't been super pleased with my reactions to doing it. I've thrown up my hands and growled in frustration, and I've cried in disappointment. What I really wish is that I got joy from doing what pleases God instead of getting upset about it inside while doing what's right on the outside.

I feel fake when I act right but my heart isn't in it. I guess it's not fake, it's obedient, but I want my heart to desire to do the right thing and for it to feel good instead of just acting in the right way.

I have to say, I think this is something I've dealt with my whole life. I remember when I went to college and made a few poor decisions that my mom told me she wished that her and my dad had instilled in my brother a heart that desired to do the right things and not just made us act right on the outside. I am in no way blaming my parents. I actually think they blame themselves way too much for this attitude. I think this is the attitude of sinful humankind, and I think it's my fault for not being in love enough with God to have a heart that just desires to do what he wants and finds joy in giving in difficult situations.

I'm not sure this is the most coherent blog. Sometimes when I write amidst emotion it doesn't always come out right, but I guess it does come out honestly. I honestly pray that God will give me a heart that desires to selflessly give and that it is not just me acting in the right way but it is me not even noticing that I'm doing the right thing because I'm so used to do it and so passionate about what God wants that it is just second nature.

Until then, here's to doing the right thing and not always enjoying it.

Look forward to something

I am a firm believer that you always need something to look forward to.

When life seems the same old, same old, day after day, we often start to get annoyed. The little chores start to pile up; family and work stresses don't have a release; the to-do list seems to take over weekends.

But when you have something to look forward to, the mundane everyday is bearable because it's leading up to something greater.

For me, the things I look forward to are trips. Last April, we took a trip to Jamaica, and I think it was over lunch at the resort that we started to think ahead to what our next trip would be. Would it be Ireland this time? What about Israel? Italy? Apparently we were in the "I" mood.

We started a few trips on paper and then changed our minds as to where we wanted to go. In January, I stumbled across a pretty good deal for a trip to Sandals Ochi in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and we decided that we would start planning a trip there.

And we planned ahead. About a year ahead.

Time drags on, and I am already incredibly excited to head out on our vacation, but it does give me something to look forward to each day. I ogle over Sandals resorts on Facebook, and I look up Ochi on Trip Advisor to read reviews and look at pictures. I have even started to count down the days.

We had some friends who planned an exotic vacation in only two weeks. That makes for instant gratification, but I do have to say, I think I like planning further ahead than that because I like the anticipation. It makes the vacation so much more special.

In the meantime, I had a trip to Colorado to look forward to, which is now over. There's a trip to Wrigley, some possible weekend excursions for weddings this fall, maybe a small anniversary getaway?

My trips make my everyday life more exciting. What do you look forward to?