Author Archives: therealmimi

All together now

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It turns out you need both front tires of your car pointing the same direction if you want to go anywhere.  This morning, Krissy and I were attempting to back out of our parking space to go to school and work when the steering wheel started jiggling.  The car moved erratically and wasn’t doing what I wanted it to.  It veered back and forth and when I tried to drive forward it just sat there, with the steering wheel turning on its own and still jiggling while we began to smell hot rubber.  I hopped out to see what was wrong and saw that the front left tire was facing forward but the front right tire was turned sharply to the right.  Uh oh.  That can’t be good.  We had to get the car towed to the shop because that tire, for whatever reason, wasn’t responding to the steering wheel or the direction I was trying to drive.

I’ve been thinking about change a lot lately, probably because we have some big changes coming up soon for our family.  Even though change happens all around us all the time and is a part of life, we still resist it.  That tendency seems to be built into most people’s core.  We veer toward what is familiar, what we already know, what is comfortable or seems good from past experience.  What if Jesus is turning the steering wheel a different and new direction?  Especially when it comes to teams, families, churches, or other groups who say they have the same goal, all the people have to respond to the direction and turn the same way or no one is going anywhere.  Resisting or being stubborn can cause the whole endeavor to come to a swerving, smelling-like-hot-rubber halt or at least make it a hundred times more difficult for the other “tires” trying to move along.

Our daughter Krissy was a little like our wayward tire when we first started talking about moving a few months ago.  It’s understandable – it wasn’t in her plan, wasn’t her first choice, and didn’t seem comfortable.  Over time, however, I’ve watched as God made needed repairs and adjustments and helped her see that following His lead was the best plan.  Sunday, before John officially accepted the offer to move to another state to pastor a church, we asked her once more how she was feeling and what she was thinking.  She said it would be hard and we agreed with her.  Then she said, with some emotion, “But I feel like God has plans for me there.”  Our hearts swelled.  Our little tire was facing the same way as us again!  Now we can move forward as a family, letting Jesus steer.

If you’re facing changes and feeling resistant, ask God to repair your heart and attitude and help you not be the wayward tire.  You don’t want to hold up what God has in mind for your family, your church, your friends, do you?

The time is now

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It’s the reason I don’t sew my own clothes, or refinish furniture, or knit, or sew quilts.  It’s the reason I love my short haircut, my fast computer, and convenience stores.   It’s hard for me to have the patience needed for time-consuming, detailed tasks because if you want a good result, you have to take time to go through lots of steps and do each one carefully.  Or you have fewer steps but you have to do them over and over and over and over and over and…you get the idea.  I like to see progress more quickly, like when you paint a room or change shoes.  One step and voila!  Change and results!  Our fast-paced, want-things-in-an-instant society only contributes to this mentality of mine.  Maybe you struggle with it, too.

I remember as a little girl feeling impatient while my mom put curlers in my  hair on Saturday nights or when I went to the orthodontist as a teenager and nothing ever seemed to be simple or quick. Just finish and let me out of this chair!  I’ve got places to go and things to do, people.

I suppose I could sew clothes and all those types of projects and rush through but I’d probably get shabby results and ultimately be dissatisfied.

I was driving around this morning in the snow listening to one of my favorite worship artists, Phil Wickham.  One song in particular struck me and I think I’ll make it our family theme song for this year.  It’s called “The Time is Now” and it speaks of how it’s time to make a change, time to step out, time to march or dance into what God’s been preparing for us and preparing us for.  God has been working on us for a while now and when in the midst of things we feel like it will never end – the constant testing, chiseling, honing, refining, rebuking, and training.

I see now how it has all been to get us ready for the next chapter in our lives and it is so worth it.  I’ve learned, actually am still learning, to not complain when the process of being made more like Jesus takes so long.  After all, look at the raw material God is working with.  There’s a long way to go.  The beautiful truth is that God has all the patience needed to keep working on us, to keep lovingly drawing us back when we slip off the stool and try to wander away, to keep making us ready for what’s ahead.

If you’re in the midst of God working on you, feel like you’re getting an exhausting, comprehensive extreme makeover and it’s taking a long time, be encouraged!  When God finally lets you hop off the stool for a while because you’re ready for the next thing He has for you to do or be a part of, you’ll see it was worth the wait, the patience, the surrender and more.

I know we will always be getting back up on that stool from time to time, clay pots never really finished until we get to heaven someday, but for this next phase of life I hear God saying, “Ahh, you’re ready. It’s time!”

A gooder good?

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I heard it a few times throughout the weekend, God telling me that my definition of “good” wasn’t good enough.  I feel like He has been showing me and wants to keep showing me a deeper good than I’ve known in the past.  A different good.  A good not based on warm fuzzies or happy emotion, but on truth and purpose.  A good based on the peace and profound satisfaction that comes from knowing you’re in the place where the way God made you fits the need before you….just right.  No square pegs in round holes here.   Happiness is not necessarily the manifestation of this type of good, not always anyway.

I heard Him telling me most clearly as I sat in the room where the church council and leaders had gathered to hear John’s philosophy of ministry and ask him questions.  Throughout the day I had felt awkward at times, a little out-of-place at times, the typical stuff that happens when you’re in a group of complete strangers Continue reading →

From the inside out

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Snowpocalypse 2011, as it’s been called, is just about over it seems.  Two days and nights of a gigantic winter storm crossing more than 20 states with crazy sleet, freezing rain, snow and gusty winds have left everything outside covered in hard, icy white domes.  It took me about 45 minutes yesterday  morning to free my car’s windshield and windows enough to drive, about 30 minutes today.  Thankfully our little Ford Escort has a great heater/defroster and so once that started heating up my job started getting easier.  I can’t even imagine how long it would take to scrape the ice off without that warm air blowing on the glass from the inside.  I would probably give up and just go inside to wait for spring.

I had plenty of time to think as I scraped and thought about the cold that pelts us sometimes and how if we don’t have the warmth of God’s love inside it could become a tough-to-breakthrough shell all over our hearts.  Even though it still takes some time to be free of hurts, mistakes, troubles, etc. with God’s love and strength keeping the embers glowing inside we won’t be covered over forever.  It will most likely take some chipping away, scraping and sharp jabs, but it soon all falls away and we’re free to drive on.

God’s done that for me this year: freed me from some faulty thinking, hurts, questions, times of doubt, and even just plain tiredness that built up and coated my heart, making me feel trapped and unable to move.  Sometimes the warmth inside wasn’t really noticeable but I know it was always there, deep down.  I can see the last pieces starting to melt and little fissures appearing.  I’m free.  Let’s go!

Church is like Zumba

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My husband and daughters bought me the most thoughtful gift for Christmas.  They went above and beyond what we all agreed to do, chipped in and got me a set of Zumba DVDs because they know I love it so much.  I hadn’t been able to go to class for several months.  I’ve done a few of the workouts and they’re great, the guy who came up with it is one of the teachers and he’s a lot of fun.  I’m really glad to have them because if I can’t go to class, I can still shake the blues and chub away in our own family room.  Thanks to a surprise from a few of my Zumba buddies, I now have some free classes to use up so I went back this week, Tuesday and tonight.  I have to admit that nothing beats dancing off calories with about 125 other women in a big room with really loud music and fun live teachers.  Just being there with all of them energizes me.  No one is a pro.  Everyone is sweaty.  We all want to have fun, get fit and burn fat.  It’s awesome.

It got me thinking – that’s why I love church.  Not for sweat and burning fat, but for the camaraderie, the energy from being with others who are after the same thing, who love the same God, who want to be healthy and whole not only in their bodies, but mind and soul.  I’ve heard people say they don’t need church.   Continue reading →

Standing by while you hurt

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Someday you’ll understand how much I mean it when I say that when you’re happy, I’m really happy and when you hurt, I hurt.  It’s because I love you so much, more than I could ever make you understand.  But someday when you’re a mom and you have to stand by and watch your child learn through hurt, you’ll know what I mean.

I think of the time your daddy had to stand by and watch you get stitches in your lip.  You didn’t cry much but it wasn’t easy for him to do.  He knew it was for your good so he stood by.  He didn’t get in the way of the doctor or try to prevent it from happening.

I remember the heartbreaking time I had to hold you with both arms on my lap while you squirmed and screamed, as a nurse drew your blood for an important test.  Of course you didn’t understand since you were so young, but I had to because it was going to help you.

You know how it was when we used to plant flowers in front of the house and then water them really well.  Sometimes they were so small and fragile that the water pouring down seemed to flatten them.  However, the next day, Continue reading →

The pursuit of truth…unless it hurts feelings

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I admit, now that I think about it, maybe I should have replied only to the gentleman who sent the email instead of clicking “reply all” and sending my message to everyone. I was attempting, in the kindest way possible, to tell him that the email he had sent was false. The reason I included everyone else was because I thought they would want to know that, too. The email he sent certainly wasn’t about a life and death issue but he was getting a bit up in arms over it and it’s the kind of political email that can get others really upset. He, himself, referenced a snopes.com article, inferring that’s where he got his information. I went to that article to see for myself and found that it said just the opposite, so I wanted to let him know.

Today I got a few replies from people Continue reading →

Almost lost the peewee

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I think just about everyone has a story about getting lost.  The scariest and most memorable for our family happened when we lived in New Mexico.  We had taken the girls to the mall and were hanging out a little while in “Tilt”, an arcade.  The girls must have been 2, 4 and 5.  The arcade was one of those that was the size of a store and rather dark filled with all kinds of video games, skeeball, basketball, riding games, etc.  Winning tickets was the goal so we split up and took the girls around to try different games.  I don’t know how or when it happened, but I thought John had Kristine and he thought I had her.  After watching Kimmi play a whack-a-mole game I looked to see where Kristine was.  She wasn’t with us so I looked down the way to where John and Kaitlin were playing.  I didn’t see her there either.  I called out to John and sure enough, he didn’t have her.  I began to panic.  We started calling out her name and rushing around the arcade, looking behind and around all the games, asking anyone we saw if they had seen our little girl.  No one had.  The staff hadn’t seen her but said they’d call security.  All of the sudden nothing mattered but finding her.  I didn’t care who heard me shouting her name or saw me racing around trying to find her.  Then John said, “I’m going out into the mall to see if I can find her.  You stay here.”  So Kimmi, Kaitlin and I knelt down right there in the arcade and prayed.  “God, please.  Please.  Don’t let anything happen to Kristine.  Please help John know where to go.  Please help us find her!”  I couldn’t even cry I was so scared, Continue reading →

Can being a close family be a bad thing?

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I had always thought he wanted to just do his own thing, since he didn’t particularly like board games and such, so I was surprised when he told me, “I’ve always felt kind of on the outside when I’m with your family.”  I mean, we had been married about 20 years by then and I had never known.  I realized that instead of just assuming my husband didn’t want to be a part of games or silliness when we visited with my family, I should at least ask him to be a part, make sure he knows the circle is open and we want him in it, if he wants to be.  Since then, I’ve tried to do that very thing and just have a different attitude about it and things are so much better.  He does enjoy doing things with us or at least being invited.  It’s a lot more fun for everyone else, too, when he’s a part of things.

I sure felt badly that I never knew that before.  I was always having so much fun with my family, whom I love so much, and he seemed happy reading a book or watching TV in the other room.  I assumed and you know what assuming does (If you don’t, send me an email and I’ll explain).

All this made me think of the Church, which is often referred to as a family.  We can get so close to one another and enjoy being together so much that we forget about people who are on the “outside” or think they wouldn’t want to be a part anyway.  Why don’t we try asking them?  How about we let go of each other enough that the circle opens up, ready to welcome more in?  We would probably be surprised how many see the love and life we have in God and long to be included.    God did make us to be a family, but He is also passionate about every one of his kids who hasn’t found their way yet to be invited in.