Can it be saved?

It broke. As I finished filling the muffin tins, this perfect-sized green mixing bowl slipped out of my hands, onto the ceramic tile floor, and broke in two almost-even pieces.

In the six-and-a-half years I’ve had this bowl, I have used it a lot. It is the perfect size for cake mixes, muffin batter, mashed potatoes, tossed salad, and so much more. And now it is in two pieces on my kitchen counter as I try to decide if it can be saved.

I hate to toss it out. Not because I am a hoarder (contrary to some people’s opinions). Not because I can’t buy another (even though it was a part of a set that I got as a gift when replacing Katrina-lost kitchenware). I hate to toss it out because I wonder if it can be saved. If glued back together with the amazing E-6000, will it still be useable?

I’m so glad God doesn’t deliberate over our salvage-ability this way. From what I can tell from reading Scripture, it seems that God welcomes us in our brokenness and makes us new in His strength, power, and wisdom. He doesn’t worry that we’ve tarnished His reputation, or even that we may mess up again. He just starts the “new creation” process with a little transformation here and a little pruning there, and kingdom usefulness results.

The jury’s still out on whether I’ll try to save the perfect green mixing bowl but I am so thankful today that I’ve been redeemed and rescued by our good and perfect God!

Picasso Would Be Proud!

The Picasso Party was a blast! Thirty-six women spread out across the Creole Room with easels and canvases, doing something many had never done before.

I loved this event on so many levels. One, I love when adults try new things. I remember a bunch of years ago when a friend introduced me to the question: “When’s the last time you did something for the first time?” Adults tend to be scared of trying new things. What if I fail? What if I’m not that good at it? Well, what if you are? What if you find a new hobby or talent or even a new friend while you’re doing it?

Second, I love the idea that when we draw, paint, craft, or whatever you call it, we are imitating the Master Creator, and He loves to be imitated! With a stroke of the brush and splash of colors, we all produced vibrant ‘masterpieces.’ While they may all seem to look alike, a closer glance would reveal that there were a lot of unique canvases. God created beauty and allows us to individualize our expression of His gift.

Third, I didn’t think it was a good idea to have an event on the Thursday night before Spring Break. I figured too many ladies would be packing up and moving on. You proved me wrong. Apparently you were willing to stick around for something fun and different. I was schooled!

My takeaways from Picasso Night:
• Local artist Tonya Mohler is an organizational genius and teaching phenom. We all finished within two hours and were relatively pleased with the results!
• Ladies bond over shared experiences. The seeds of new friendships were planted as ladies painted together.
• Coffee punch is a crowd pleaser!

Weather Blues

Somebody PLEASE remind Mr. Weather Man that it is early March, and we would like some cooler weather! I don’t mean to be picky or not appreciate the blooming azaleas but it’s hard to get excited about breaking records for this time of year with our temps in the 70s and 80s!

It’s really about expectations. I mean, if it were May, I’d be appreciating a forecast of temps in the 70s and 80s. Why? Because that’s when the 90s start debuting, and I know that the 100s are not far behind. I expect it to be cooler in the winter and hot, hot, hot in the summer. What I don’t expect is for summer to show up early and winter to not get its turn to show off.

As you well know, life is full of unfulfilled expectations. I don’t think it’s bad to have expectations or goals or dreams (as a matter of fact, we better have them or we’ll have to tear out a page or two from Scripture), but what we do when God writes a different script tells the true tale of our faith. How do we adjust to the unexpected?

I’ve been praying for a friend whose 29-year-old son was killed recently in a military mission. So unexpected. So difficult. It makes my complaints about the weather seem so trivial and petty because, well, they are.

We need to consider what we’re doing with our unmet expectations. Maybe it’s time to stop whining and start trusting because only God knows when an unexpected and very difficult turn will come our way. We don’t want to be caught worrying about the weather and miss the opportunity to ‘faith’ our loving, all-knowing God!

Excellence vs. Perfectionism

At the QUEST Panel Discussion/Luncheon a couple of weeks ago, we explored the seminary’s core value of Characteristic Excellence. Sharon “Dr. T” Thompson and Beth Masters did a great job challenging us to remember those who have modeled excellence for us and to follow their lead as we guide others.

What I didn’t know when I asked them to participate in this event together is that they both grew up at First Baptist Church of Pensacola, FL, and that Sharon actually attributes Beth’s grandmother with having inspired her toward her love for missions. Wow! That’s a legacy of excellence!

I really appreciated one of the audience questions trying to differentiate between characteristic excellence and unreasonable perfectionism, especially with the scheduling loads so many of us try to balance. The response was a reminder to make sure we are taking care of what’s important in the big picture of our lives, doing what we can to do these things with excellence. Then we can -- and should -- consider what God wants us to add … and only add what will honor Him.

Ouch! It appears that characteristic excellence can collide with our habitual busy-ness, even when what keeps us busy is good. As one student offered, “Just because it’s a good thing doesn’t mean it’s a God thing.”

What did you do with your day off last week? Hopefully, you took advantage of the change of schedule to do one thing with excellence, instead of a million things just to get them done. ME? I did two biggies (at least big for me): I ran the distance of a half-marathon just in case I don't get out there on Sunday for the Mardi Gras Rock-n-Roll Half that I'm signed up for; AND I cleaned out my upstairs office at the seminary so that now it is empty and ready for someone else to fill it up with their important things. Sure, there were a lot of other things I could have done but, on THAT day, I wanted to do these two things with excellence. I hope God smiled.

Giving up Clutter for Lent

Whew! I don’t know about you but I’m glad last week is behind me! While I loved having a day off for Mardi Gras, negotiating the madness in the city left me a bit frazzled.

And here we are, heading into Lent and pondering what this will mean to us Protestants in a great big Catholic city. Sure, it’ll probably be easier to get a seat at Outback over the next five Friday nights. But, then again, the price of crawfish will be at a premium during the same time. Oh, the quandary we find ourselves in!

On a deeper note, the concept of ‘giving up’ something for 40 days seems a little shallow unless, of course, it costs us something. So, what are you giving up for Lent? What is cluttering the quality of your life and relationship with the Lord that you can put aside to give you more time or room to breathe?

I’ve decided to combine Lent and Leap Year. I’ve decided to de-clutter my world of at least 29 things that I value but just don’t need or have a place for. Of course, these words are easier typed than lived but my goal is to live out Hebrews 12:1 and so, surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (you!), I am setting out to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and run with perseverance the race marked out for me. To be able to do this, I’ve got to keep going with verse 2: fixing my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith.

So, keep checking the Swap Shop, you might find a Leap Year/Lent treasure you can use!

God's Escorts into Glory

I recently heard a speaker call stressors "God's escorts into glory." If you're like me, you might be imagining quite a company of escorts because you've got a lot of stressors in your life.

Well, here's the good news and the bad news: your escorts are here to stay, at least on this side of heaven. If you're living and breathing, you're going to have stressors. Question is, how are you handling them?

Christian counselor and pastor Steve Pettit presented a list of stressor categories that summarized many of the situations on our lives. A couple that grabbed my attention included "uninvited angels" and "chains."

Pettit described "uninvited angels" as those life-changing interruptions that alter the plans we've so carefully laid for ourselves. What if, instead of allowing these interruptions to frazzle our faith, we embrace them as opportunities to join God in His work and, in turn, to get a glimpse of His glory? What if we surrender?

Then, in explaining his "chains" category, Pettit used the following fill-in-the-blank: if it weren't for ___________, referring to any confining or restraining circumstance we feel holds us back. We get to thinking that we're chained by situations, prisoners of our fate. But what about Paul? He could tell us a thing or two about chains! But he didn't let this dictate his destiny. He claimed to be a prisoner of the Lord, and used His circumstances to share Christ boldly.

So, how are you treating your 'escorts'? As Pettit says, never see these as coming from any hand but the Father's . . . and hasn't the Father shown Himself faithful to you before? I know He has to me!

How are you praying?

How are you praying these days? No, not who are you praying for, but how are you praying for those God has put on your heart and in your life?

I am intrigued by Paul’s directive in Colossians 1, a challenge to get beyond “God bless so-and-so” to praying for specific knowledge and specific evidence of His presence in each life.

So what does this look like? Check out verses 9-13. How about we pray for our friend to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will? And, with this knowledge, that she will live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way?

We then can pray that this will be evidenced by her bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father.

I join Paul in challenging you to pray this over at least one friend for the next week. I expect that you, like me, will be anxious to see how God will impact this person’s life because you have regularly lifted her name up in prayer. And, if you can’t think of anyone specific, then feel free to pray these verses for me … I welcome the coverage.

Let me know if you would like me to pray these verses over you (judiajackson@gmail.com).