Why cell phones going off in church (or anywhere else) don’t bother me as much anymore

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We’ve all been there!  It’s a quiet moment in church.  Like prayer time.  Or the preacher is really getting into the groove in his sermon.

And a cell phone goes off.

Everyone looks around wondering whose phone it is.  Some people can’t believe the nerve of the person for not turning the sound off their phone before church.  Some think it’s amusing to look around and see who it belongs to.  Some are instantly paranoid that it could be their phone.  Some remember times when their phone went off in church and they’ve wanted to crawl under the pew to hide!

But cell phones going off in church (or anywhere else) do not bother me as much as they once did.

Recently, a church administrator friend of mine told me a story…

He was sitting in church really into the morning and feeling the Spirit moving when someone’s phone started ringing.  And they answered it in the service!!  He was immediately distracted, annoyed and ticked off at the irresponsible person who was disturbing the service.  It really got to him.

After the service, he went up to the preacher and mentioned the phone going off.  Surely the preacher would be angry too!  Phones going off during sermons had to be a pet peeve of the preacher!  The preacher calmly looked at him and said that it was actually a really great thing that the phone rang!  It was an answered prayer!  The owner of the phone had been waiting on that call for a long time!  They had been on an organ transplant list for years, and when their phone rang, it was the hospital telling them that the organ that they needed was ready!  This person had to answer that call!  It was a life-changing call!

Now, the vast majority of times, phones going off are not that much of an emergency.  But sometimes they are.

We let ourselves get worked up about so many small things, don’t we?  I know I do!  I’m sad to say that sometimes it doesn’t take much to rile me up!

But I’m thankful for friends, stories, etc. who help me see different perspectives.

There is always more to things and life than meets the eye!

Carmen and Cooper

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I had a long trip home from my conference last night. I was exhausted and ready to get home! When I got to the airport, I was told that because my initial flight was delayed, I was not going to be able to make my connecting flight. So I had to find another flight. The options were few. The best option wound up being a flight that was delayed 3 hours. This meant I would be getting home in the middle of the night. The guy helping me felt horrible about this, but I told him it was fine. So he made it happen.

I normally just want to relax on plane rides. Read. Sleep. Maybe do some crossword puzzles. Play on my phone. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t have to talk to the people sitting by me. I would just enjoy some quiet time.

So when I got on the plane, I sat next to a nice older lady with a neck pillow. She looked like she was ready to sleep!

Then walks up Cooper, a 13 year old boy whose family was sitting in the row behind us. He immediately held out his hand to shake hands and introduced himself. And I was immediately intrigued! Here was this 13 year old kid who was so friendly and interested in other people!

So here I was sitting in between Carmen, a 69 year old woman, and Cooper, 13 years old.

And the conversations started!

We learned a lot about each other. And talked a lot about life. Much wisdom was shared on each side of me. Young and old.

Cooper and I encouraged Carmen (69) to follow her dreams! At one point, Cooper and I said at the same time, “If you want it bad enough, you can do it!”

Carmen and I encouraged Cooper to work hard at his dreams for sports and dealing with dyslexia in school.

We all talked about church since I was coming home from my annual conference.

And we all got some rest on our flight too.

I walked away from the flight thankful for my new friends. For the chance to hear their stories and encourage one another.

We were all so different and in three different stages in life.

But yet, we were also much the same!

And that is beautiful!

The best compliment I’ve ever received

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This morning, before I headed off to my first conference session of the day, I went to the hotel coffee shop to get my morning pick-me-up. This girl needs some coffee to get her morning started!

As I was standing in line talking to the man in front of me, the lady behind me heard me say I work in Richardson. She lives in Tulsa but comes to Richardson often. We talked for a few minutes until it was time for me to place my coffee order.

After I picked up my coffee, she came by and we started talking again.

While we were talking, she made a comment/compliment that blew me away! It stopped me in my tracks. It shut me up. Made me think.

She said that I had the light of Jesus in my eyes.

Woah!!

Woah!!

I was floored and humbled by that comment. I can’t stop thinking about it.

And you know what? I can’t wait to use it with others!

There are so many people that I see the light of Christ in on a daily basis! People who love well. Serve well. Are generous. Who are passionate about Christ.

May we look daily for the light of Christ in others. And when we see it, may we tell them!!

Let’s do it!!

5 reasons I should not be allowed to travel alone

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I am at my annual Church Administration conference this week.  It is one of my absolute favorite things to do each year!  I learn great stuff and meet incredible people who I can call when I have a question about work!  The conference is fantastic!  I look forward to it all year!

But after a number of things happened tonight that made me crack up laughing at myself, I decided I needed to make a list of reasons why I should not be allowed to travel alone.  Here they are:

1. I hate hotel room doors!  I can never open them on the first try!  I stand in the hall trying and trying to time the door correctly to get it open hoping that no one comes around the corner and sees me struggling.  Every time!!!  At least so far, no one has caught me in the hall!

2. I sometimes lose my way in the hotel and try to open the wrong hotel room door.  OK, I don’t really do this much, but I did it tonight, so it’s going on the list!  I tried to open a door on the 1st floor.  When it wouldn’t even beep at me, I finally looked at the room number and realized that I was on the wrong floor.  I immediately bust out laughing, turned around and walked as fast as I could away from the door to the elevator!  Luckily, no one came out wondering what the deal was!!

3. I am constantly afraid that I am going to lose my room key, my wallet or anything else!  I double-check these items a million times during the day to make sure I still have everything!  Yesterday, I went downstairs to get a snack, and when I got back upstairs, I noticed that I didn’t have my conference book and meal ticket folder.  I immediately ran back downstairs and found the items on the counter where I had left them, but this just reinforced my fear of losing stuff! 🙂

4. I don’t exercise in the workout room as much as I plan to.  In fact, tonight I went down to a little cafe to get a piece of cake.  As I was walking out of the cafe door to head back to my room to eat my cake, I ran into the association’s president who was just coming from the gym.  I confessed that I really should be going to the gym too instead of buying a piece of cake!  She was so nice about the whole thing and complimented the look of my cake!  Now I feel like I really do need to go to the gym! 🙂

5. I buy cake!!!! 🙂

What funny things do you do when you travel alone?

Christianity: Offense Vs. Defense

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Growing up in church, I felt like Christians were always playing defense. We always felt like we were being attacked or on the verge of attack. We had to do what we could to be ready to fight at all times. To have all the answers. To be ready to win any debate.

Defense. Fighting.

Now that I think about it, that doesn’t seem right. That doesn’t sound like what Jesus had in mind.

I’m reading the book Simple Church right now, and I was blown away when I got to this section:

“Gates are never on offense. Only defense. Hell is always on defense. However, the movement of the church is never on defense. Only offense. The church always has the ball! There are no defenders on the squad. This is good news. Victory is guaranteed. The question is not whether we are going to win or not. Our victory celebration has already been determined.”

“The question is, how much will we win by? How big of a dent in the gates of hell will we make? Will we run up the score?”

Oh my goodness! That is powerful stuff right there!

I believe this wholeheartedly.

So what would happen if I really started living this belief out on a daily basis?

What if we all did?

May we daily storm the gates of hell!

May we run up the score!!

Making my bed

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Alright, time to be honest. When I’m at home, I’m the worst about making my bed. I’m not really sure why. I love a good, comfy made-up bed. They look nice, and I love pulling back the covers and climbing inside. I just don’t seem to do it much at home. Probably because I’m always in a rush to get ready, get my kids up, get them ready and attempt to be on time to where we’re going. There’s no time for making the bed! At least that’s what I tell myself.

But get me away from home, and I make my bed every morning!

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Every time! And I enjoy it! Crazy!!

What about you? Do you make your bed every morning?

Kid sunglasses

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Let’s talk kids’ sunglasses for a minute.

Kids wearing sunglasses are too cute! Everyone loves seeing their precious babies wearing them…

If you can find them!!

I can never find my kids’ sunglasses when I need them. Random times when you don’t need them? They’re in plain sight ready for your kids to play with. But I’m convinced they must hide any time the sun is out.

We’re headed to the beach today, and I searched all over the house looking for my daughter’s sunglasses with no luck.

Then I went to the donut shop.

Our donut shop has donuts with toys on them. And what do you know! They had a chocolate sprinkled donut with a pair of purple Dora sunglasses on top!

Sadie got sunglasses. I got a chocolate sprinkled donut.

Donut shop for the win! Beach, here we come!!

Morning people. Night people.

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Some people are morning people.

Some are night owls.

I am neither!

My husband is both!

When we first got married, it really bothered Chris that I wouldn’t say anything in the morning while we were getting ready for work.

And early on, he would laugh at me because I would snuggle into bed every night and a big smile would come over my face. Climbing into bed at night may be my favorite part of the day!

Oh, and on weekends I require naps after lunch.

It’s a wonder I can get anything done, really! 🙂

When is your favorite time of day?