What Holds Us Back

I've had the amazing opportunity to watch several people make the decision to be baptized ... and what a wonderful and joyous occasion it is! It often makes me wonder what keeps other people from making the same decision? What holds us back from baptism? It is not a decision to be made lightly  -- but it is a decision that needs to be made. So, what keeps people from jumping in?

I'm sure people who have waited to be baptized could give lots of reasons for their wait. I'm sure those who are still waiting have lots of reasons, too. Whatever the reasons, I think the things that hold us back could be narrowed down to these three categories:

1) A lack of understanding.
2) A lack of urgency.
3) A lack of spiritual focus.

A lack of understanding:
This one starts out with the obvious: a small child does not understand why their parents want them to sit still and quiet through church services, let alone understand anything about baptism. As children learn and grow however, this begins to change. The point at which one is "old enough", "mature enough", and 'understands enough" is different for each individual. However when a person understands that Gods son, Christ, came to earth, lived a perfect life, and died for our sins, and that they need to turn away from sin and follow Gods will - beginning with baptism and continuing on the rest of their life - in order to be saved and have a home in Heaven, they are ready.

You don't have to know everything about the Bible. You don't have to feel ready to answer any biblical question anyone throws at you. You simply have to understand that Gods son, Christ, died for you, and that you need to be baptized and live for him (Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21, 1 John 3:16).

If you understand you've sinned, Christ died for your sins, and you need God ... That's all.

You then have the rest of your life to work on understanding more and doing better (because no matter how old you get there is always the opportunity for more and better! Proverbs 19:27, Proverbs 1:5).

If you understand what you need to do .... Then do it.

A lack of urgency:
Somewhere, somehow, we developed the idea that we have all the time in the world. We live as if Christ won't come til we're dead, and we won't die til we're old .... But those things are simply not guaranteed. I could die tomorrow. You could die tonight. Christ could return at dawn. We don't know (ECC. 12:6).

And because we don't know how much time we have, any moment you let go by *not* being saved, you are taking a risk. A HUGE, unnecessary, risk.

You could die in your sin. Christ could come back and find you in sin. You could live an eternity in hell.

That one lie you told even though you knew better? That could keep you out of heaven. The one time you stole even the smallest thing? Hell worthy sin.

The smallest thing, the biggest thing - if it is a sin - it is keeping you from God. And if you haven't been saved, you have no way to rectify that situation. You have no way to God. No way to Heaven.

Isaiah 59:2 reads "your iniquities have separated you from your God, your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear you..."

If the thought of dying in your sin and going to Hell doesn't fill you with urgency ... Perhaps you need to take a hard look at point 3.

A lack of Spiritual focus:
Perhaps one of the biggest things holding us back is that our focus is in the wrong place. Raised in the Church or not, we often fall into the same trap: we focus on school, on family, on choir, band, basketball, football, volleyball, keeping grades up, going to college, friendships, taking care of family, having jobs, finding a spouse, being a spouse, raising children, being there for others, following our dreams, ..... Etc.....

And we forget the most important thing.

We forget that we are spiritual beings. That our earthly selves (no matter what we do in a carnal sense) will eventually die. End of story. And our highschool experiences, our careers, our world dreams won't really matter anymore.

But our spiritual selves will live on. And how we chose to spend our worldly existence will determine where we spend our eternity.

So while we enjoy our lives and chase our dreams, we need to do so with our focus on spiritual things (Matthew 6:20).

Furthermore....
A lack of understanding, a lack of urgency, and a lack of Spiritual focus don't only hold us back from being baptized. It is these same three things that often hold us back from living up to our potential as Christians.

Baptism is simply the first step. Because if you never start your walk with God, you'll never be ready to run the race in such a way to win the crown (1 Corinthians 9:24).

Spending Time

This summer I read a book called "The Lost Track of Time" and I LOVED it. Based on a girl who resents her mother's need to schedule every moment, most of the book takes place in an alternate universe where the girl must search for the great Moodler and fight against the clock works.

The book fit right in with my determination to "go with the flow" this summer .... and by "the flow", I mean my 1 year old.

We played. We "fed our fancies" so they could grow and sometimes got carried away on them. We got dirty splashing in the creek and played til the bath water was cold. We borrowed time. We lost track of it. We scheduled time for ourselves.

Amidst a world where we frantically try to save time in the effort to gain an extra minute, Lydia and I spent time instead. And we loved every minute of it.

Now summer has come to an end. My meetings start tomorrow so I was going to get up early and get to my classroom to work. But at 5 something o'clock when Lydia started crying .... I turned off my alarm and we snuggled back to sleep in the recliner.

Clearly not the option that saves time .... arguably not the *best* use of time .... but, oh, for more mornings like this!

Because after all - "Time is not important dear, YOU are."

#Heisbigger

We live in a crazy world.

A world where "black lives matter" and we have to "stand behind the blue line".

A world where "Never Hillary" is shouted against "Never Trump" and there seems to be no good option.

A world that has somehow gotten the idea people can choose their own gender and that abortion is only about a woman's ability to make choices.

A world that *dares* you to try telling someone what to do. Or that they are wrong. Or that their actions may possibly have consequences.

A world where priorities are absent and askew and standards of morality are lacking.

But we aren't the first to be here. God has seen his people through such times before. Judges 17 tells of a time when there was no king and each one did what he saw fit "in his own eyes". And it is not a pretty picture.

You see, it is our eyes that are the problem.

We look through our own eyes. Do what is right in our own eyes. And we fall apart. Because our own eyes are not -  and cannot be - the standard.

It is when we look through Gods eyes ... strive to see things the way HE sees them ... That is when we are able to find the right path.

Here is a thought of comfort though ... God did not abandon the people in Judges 17. Do you know why? Because there is no sin that is more powerful than the power of God. Nothing we can do, no sim we can commit, is somehow more powerful than our God.

God is more powerful than the wickedness of this world. Period.

We have no need to fear. We may sorrow for the wickedness. We must stand up for the right. But we should not fear this world .... Because our God is greater.

So, perhaps we need to quit telling God how big the problems of this world are ... And start telling the world how big and powerful our God is.

#HEisbigger #powerup

Mind Training

I started back to work today after 2 glorious weeks with my sweet girl at home.

I started back to work today with meetings and came home exhausted, still needing to plan for the following first day back with kids.

I started back to work today and came home with work to do and a husband who is sick and crashed on the couch.

I started back to work today, and tomorrow I take my sweet girl to her first day of daycare (we have been so blessed to have my mom keep her all this time -- but now Monday's will be Nana days, and every other day will be a Mrs. Loretta day).

I started back to work today and I'm tired and a little whiny.

Then I was scrolling Facebook and came across this posted on a friends wall:

**Loading .... Attitude Adjustment**

I started back to a job I absolutely love today after getting to spend 2 glorious weeks with my sweet girl at home.

I started back to a job I absolutely love today and got to spend much of the day collaborating with other educators who I admire, am inspired by, and enjoy the company of --- and we learned and discussed things that will make me better for my kids.

I started back to a job I absolutely love today and then returned to the comfort of my home and got to relax and watch TV with my hubby while playing with my daughter. And then worked after Lydia was snoozing.

I started back to a job I absolutely love today, and I have a loving, safe, wonderful place for Lydia to spend time every day when I can't be the one with her.

I started back to a job I absolutely love today, and Im tired. But its the good - I have so many wonderful blessings to enjoy - kind of tired. So its all good.

Sometimes you have to train your mind.

New Years

I'd love to tell you my New Year's resolution is to blog more. 

In fact, I was going to blog about that resolution a couple of days ago.

Then I remembered that I have to go back to school on Monday.

And while I was remembering that I have to go back to school on Monday, Lydia picked up the dogs food and water bowl and dumped it all over the floor. 

And while I was cleaning up the dog food and water, all 4 of my dining room chairs were pushed into the kitchen and the dogs ball was rolled under the baby gate and down the stairs, and he stood crying for it ... so of course we had to open the gate and play a few rounds of fetch. 

Which led to playing in the basement for a while, until we finally returned upstairs for snack.

And while I was grabbing the Puffs from the cabinet, I noticed my Mac sitting open on the counter with the words "I will blog more" in the first line ... 

and I decided I'd be better off deleting that (and possibly writing my own version of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"). 

So here we are.

I won't tell you I'm going to blog more. Because I can't promise that. Nope.

But I will tell you this.

Being a momma is awesome. It is cuddles and hugs and playing toys and singing silly songs and peek-a-boo and climbing up and down stairs just for the fun of it and baby chasing and blowing kisses, and wonderful.

And its made me better. Better at time managing (because I used to think I was busy -- but now I have no idea what I did before Lydia - except for sleeping more). It's made me better at flexibility. Its made me a better house keeper (because when your kid puts everything in their mouth, it become more important to have a clean floor). It's made me play and have fun more. Its made me enjoy little moments more. It makes me a better version of myself in almost every way.

But there are things it doesn't make me better at.

It doesn't make me better at focusing in Church (keeping an active and vocal 10 month old busy, still, and quiet = momma doesn't listen to much of the sermon sometimes). It doesn't make me better at personal Bible study. It doesn't make me better at self reflection. 

It's easy to get distracted - there are alway 5 billion things going on in our little world. And when L is content ... I throw a load of laundry in, pick up 70 toys, do the dishes that are in the sink, make the bed, dust something, clean a bathroom, put the books back on the bookshelf, something. And when L goes to bed, there are e-mails to respond to, and papers that need graded, time to spend with my husband, and then I crash into bed because lets face it 5:00 is seriously way to early to be getting out of bed. Especially when L is bound to wake up at least once (and probably twice) before 5.

Notice whats missing? Prayer. Bible study. Reflection. Writing.

And I miss it. I need that time. I need that focus.

So, I won't tell you I'm going to blog more. But I will tell you I am going to pray more. And read my Bible more. And dwell on Godly things more. 

And while often that will mean using my newfound mom ability to multi-task to consciously count blessings and pray while I'm throwing in that load of laundry, or sining a song of praise and actually thinking about the words while I'm wiping down the bathroom or doing dishes .... my favorite way to dwell on God's word and reflect on my own life and blessings will always be to write --- so maybe this blog will be visited a bit more often.