HOLY... I REALIZE...

KETCHUP AND MUSTARD SATURDAY

Catch Up and Must Do

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Whew! This has been quite a week! According to the university that I teach for, this is our Spring Break. NOT!!!! I have been more busy that usual trying to fulfill all my duties. Monday our department hosted a symposium on autism, Tuesday was paperwork out the wazoo, Wednesday/Thursday/Friday were spent helping one of my 11 student teachers who has been having challenges.
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I talked to Steve on my cell as I was leaving her school around 6 p.m. to see where I should meet up with him. We were headed for Erin's high school play (musical). I spent several minutes pondering which route I should take. I was close to Philly and traffic would probably be crazy in almost any direction I went on a Friday afternoon. I chose not to go by way of Breakneck Road.
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Here is a shot I took earlier in the week of the Breakneck Road sign. As I sat at the stoplight, I wondered if stories I have heard are true... that many have been injured or lost their lives on the road whose legacy is described by it's name. I took the picture as a reminder that although my children have been in wrecks, they have not been injured or killed. I REALIZE, with much thanksgiving, that I still have the gift of my children on this earth. I REALIZE that there are many parents who have already lost children.


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Many of us have lost a parent or both parents. My dad passed away in 1998 and my mom is really struggling with alzheimer's now. I REALIZE that I did not lose my parents until I had been an adult for many years. I REALIZE that there are many young children who have lost a parent or parents. Transformed Mom, Tanya, passed from this life on January 1, of this year, leaving behind her husband and 6 children. Here is Tanya with daughters Mary and Erin.

This weekend, Erin is starring in her high school musical, Oklahoma. In April, Mary is starring in her university's play, The Importance of Being Earnest. Their brother, Stephen, will host Spring Sing at the same university. They can only hope that mom is watching!!!
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As Steve and I rode together, I thought of Tanya and what she might want to share with her children about what she knows now. I am convinced that she would say, "God's holiness is beyond anything you will be able to comprehend! JUST REALIZE that your journey with Christ is worth it!"
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Several of our church family gathered to watch Erin. As I read the program, before it began, I read the paragraph about Erin and the last few lines gave me chill bumps, "Erin would like to dedicate her performance in memory of her mother, Tanya McBride (October 23, 1951-January 1, 2010). Her mom was, is, and always will be her biggest hero, best friend, number one fan, and influence in all that she does and she misses her more every day."
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Not too long into watching the musical, I REALIZED the plot: The follies of life: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life! There were many teachable moments throughout the play. Yet, I couldn't help but think of Tanya and what she knows now about this old world that we still live in:
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1 John 2:15-17
Do not love the world nor the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world,

the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world,

the lust of the flesh

and the lust of the eyes

and the boastful pride of life,

is not from the Father, but is from the world.

The world is passing away, and also its lusts;

but the one who does the will of God lives forever."

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The musical, based in the Oklahoma territory in 1906, ends with the characters singing "we know we belong to that land... and the land we belong to is grand... Oklahoma! Where the wind comes sweeping off the plain..." There land would soon become a state.
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Steve grew up in Oklahoma and it is as the song depicts. Yet, Steve, like other christians, long for the "land of fadeless day"... the holy city...
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Revelation 21:2-6

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,

coming down out of heaven from God...

..."Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men,

and He shall dwell among them,

and they shall be His people,

and God Himself shall be among them,

and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes;

and there shall no longer be any death;

there shall no longer be any

mourning, or crying, or pain...

...these words are faithful and true."

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I REALIZE that christian love transcends the world and gets to the heart of the matter... that's what happened when we met up with Erin afterwards...



Mary flew in to see Erin's performance. I took this picture of the two of them with mom in Spirit.

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I REALIZE that, according to the world, these two young ladies have a lot to complain about. The stress they've been under recently should also give them plenty reason to have a short fuse and argue a lot. I REALIZE that in addition to 1 John's encouragement for holiness that our scripture for this week gives another view of how God's people are to be holy:

"Do everything without complaining or arguing,

so that you may become blameless and pure,

children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation,

in which you SHINE LIKE STARS in the universe

16 as you hold out the word of LIFE..."

Philippians 2:14-16

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Even if this world tells me that I have something to argue or complain about, I really don't! God says that it is possible to do everything without complaining or arguing!"

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Holiness?

I REALIZE,

that for those of us IN CHRIST,

it must include getting rid of

lust,

pride,

complaining,

and arguing.

Replace them with

counting your blessings

on a daily basis.

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~~~ LIFE! ~~~~

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