Let's have a surprise party!

Have you ever attended a surprise party? My mom tried to throw a surprise birthday party for me when I was about 10 years old. I honestly had no clue what was going on until my friend spilled the beans. On one hand, it's great because you are in on the secret (Na, na, na, na, boo, boo!). On the other hand, you're stuck having to pretend to be surprised (Oh....uh....wow. A surprise party?? For me?).

My mom got another chance, though. When I graduated, she and another friend of mine got together to plan a surprise graduation party for me. This one worked! I was completely blown out of the water. I couldn't believe what they had done and to what great lengths they went to create a fake story (i.e. lie, yeah...I said it) so that I wouldn't find out about the party. We had a blast and I was so blessed by their thoughtfulness.

Half of the fun of the surprise party is the look on the recipient's face when you know they just got so much more than they expected and they are happy about it. Another word that could be used here would be "amazed."

Have you ever felt amazed like this?

We had a party for my daughter's birthday. She knew about the party, but the surprise was the cake. From the outside, it just looked like a regular cake with pink icing. However, once you cut into the cake, you could see a rainbow of bright beautiful colors. As you can tell from the look on her face, she had never seen anything like it!

Here is a thought that you may find shocking: something amazed Jesus much like the rainbow cake amazed my daughter. Something on earth "blew Jesus out of the water." I was stunned as I thought of that this morning, but the Bible tells us that Jesus, the Son of God, was amazed by something. It wasn't a religious teacher of the law. It wasn't the color of the floors in the synagogue (ahem). It was the fact that one man, a Roman officer, had true faith that was anything but typical. Jesus said he'd never seen a faith like that in all of Israel! The officer didn't believe in Jesus because someone told him to and it sounded good at the time. He believed because he understood that Jesus had the authority and power to heal someone that was important to him. His faith was based on humility (understanding his position as unworthy to even be in the presence of Jesus) and authority (acknowledging Jesus as the Son of God who has all authority to answer prayers).

I don't know about you, but I have been challenged to have a faith that is anything but typical. I want Jesus to look into my heart and be amazed!

Check it out: Matthew 8:5-13

Snot Bubbles

As you discovered in my last blog, I am "football challenged." I can admit it. For the first few years of my married life, I rebelled against football mainly because it felt like I had been dropped off in a foreign country with no way to understand the language. Graciously, my husband tried to help me. For Christmas one year (yes, you read that correctly), he bought me a book about football so I could learn. Naturally, my first reaction was, "Really?! You bought ME a book about football?! You're just joking....where's my real present? Oh...this is...it. You're serious? I'm sorry. What a, um, thoughtful gift."

It actually turned out to not be so bad. The book was called, of all things, Snot Bubbles and was written by a woman for women who just don't get it (that would be me). The best part about it was that it was short. I was determined to read it and do my best to understand.

Insert the shocking part....

I began to grasp the general concept and even memorized some players' positions and their job in the game. I felt like I had been given a football/english dictionary with which I could communicate in this new foreign land. TOUCHDOWN!! (That's 6 points by the way.) I could at least talk about football with my husband and understand a little bit of what I was watching on television (even thought I'd rather be crocheting toilet paper cozies).

My daughter has recently taken a bizarre interest in football that is really out of character (i.e. anything but typical). She was asking many questions that I couldn't answer so I shared Snot Bubbles with her. She began pouring through the book, memorizing facts, and then proceeded to lay in the floor with her father watching games and asking football questions all day on Saturday. As I began to question who her real mother was, I was immediately humbled and awestruck.

She was reading Snot Bubbles to take the initiative to learn about her father so they can relate, communicate, and connect on a deeper level. She values her relationship with her father and just wants to be with him and enjoy what he enjoys WITH him.

What a beautiful picture of our relationship with our Heavenly Father! We don't read His word because we have to or because that's what "good Christians" do. We do it to take the initiative to learn about HIM so we can relate, communicate, and connect on a deeper level. Our relationship with God is a precious gift with the promise of being with him in heaven, but we can also enjoy Him and what He enjoys here on earth. Have you connected with your Father today?

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Mr. Announcer Guy, may I have your autograph?

Football. Yes, it's here again. The season where wives become "football season widows" as they mourn the loss of the television and conversations that aren't filled with pigskin metaphors (insert the famous speech given by world's greatest orator, Charlie Brown's teacher, here: Wah wah wah wah....). Shouts and grunts come from living rooms all over America while loving wives roll their eyes, purchase earplugs, and take up hobbies (which reminds me....I need a new crochet needle).

Football is a huge part of our family because my husband is a complete fanatic. He loves the game and could probably qualify for some honor in the Guiness Book of World Records for all the facts and trivia he has stored in his brain. I'm a big fan of Chief Osceola (but can't tell you a thing about the team he represents). And who doesn't love to participate in a good, hearty "WHOOOOOO!" right in the middle of Rocky Top during a Tennessee game?!

That is about the extent of my football involvement, but for my husband, Friday night is sacred. He enjoys supporting local teams by attending a variety of high school games. Some are great games. Some are blowouts. Some annoy him so badly that he leaves at half-time. Tonight's game was, shall we say, "anything but typical."

***Disclaimer: The concept of "Anything But Typical" will be repeated over and over throughout the life of this blog. I can not be held accountable for any profound life-changes that may occur as a result of your eyes being opened to amazing feats of extraordinary activity. You will begin to see it on your own and will find joy as you discover that your world and the people in it are (and should be) anything but typical. You have been warned.***

When he came home even more giddy than usual, I was naturally curious. He recounted the events of the evening and was blown away by, of all people, the announcer. Now, I don't know if you've been to a high school football game or not, but some announcers are cheesy and some are dull and boring (which doesn't make it any easier for the football-challenged, I might add). This announcer was apparently so "southern" that our northern friends may have needed an interpreter. You could almost hear the sweet tea guzzlin' and the buscuit 'n gravy soppin' going on in the announcer's booth, but what was so extraordinary is the atmosphere that he created. One comment that stood out was when he called out one player for making a touchdown, then followed it up with, "Good job, boy! Your daddy's gonna be proud of that one!"

The night was full of comments like that. They were unpolished and unprofessional. They were giggle-inducing and jolly. They were supportive and encouraging. They made everyone at the game feel like they were a part of a family that was happy to be having fun together, even though it was a "we're just playing for the fun of it" type of game. We plan to go back as a family just so we can all encounter the joy this announcer produces.

I may have a new hero that has risen to the top of my short list of football favs (read: Chief Osceola & Rocky Top). Do you realize that your life matters? You may think you are "just the announcer," but your words, attitude, and encouragement (or, ahem, discouragement) have a profound effect on those around you. Do you make those around you feel like family or do you just wake them up when it's over? Are people's lives enriched because of an encounter they had with you?

We each have a choice with our words. We can speak life or death into people's lives bringing either joy or sorrow respectively. What would life be like if we all were more like this announcer and we intentionally tried to encourage others, drawing them into the family instead of making them feel like "visitors" in our lives?

Hmmmm.....I think I'll go grab some sweet tea and join my hubby on the couch for the Friday night Football Highlights on the news. Where IS that old jersey?

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. WHERE??

O.k., people. You've done it now. All of this encouraging has either paid off or gotten us all in a heap of trouble. I'm blogging. Yep, you heard me (er...uh...read me??). This girl has a lot going on inside of her heart and mind and I've been told blogging is a healthy outlet. So, here I go.

It all started when a friend had a bewildered look on her face when she said, "Christy is a different person. She doesn't do what is normal and she goes to the beat of her own drummer. She flies into the face of tradition and approaches life from a completely different point-of-view that is foreign to others." I don't know if that's true (HA! Totally true.), but I have come to realize that God has plans for me. In order for Him to do what he's got to do in my life, he had to make me this way. I do feel like I see things differently than a lot of people sometimes (thus the high count of eye-rolling I see).

Since February of 2011, God has really been moving in my life (which I'm sure you'll hear more about later). He has presented opportunities to me that have forced me out of my comfort zone in very good ways. However, these opportunities have only shown me the truth in my friend's statement. God made us all unique with our own set of talents, desires, wants and concerns. Unfortunately, many of those talents remain hidden. Many of those desires are not for heavenly treasures, but focus on earthly treasures that can be destroyed or stolen without a moments notice.

Why do we focus so much on the things of this earth? We won't be here very long. This is not our home. Of course, I'm not saying we shouldn't have hobbies and interests that take up our time. I think God wants us to enjoy our time here, but he does NOT want those things to take HIS place in our hearts and minds. So many of us have worries and concerns that may (or may not) be legitimate, but God tells us in Matthew 6: 19-21,33

 ¹⁹ “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

This earth will fade away. The Kingdom of God is forever! It's high time we give God the focus of our hearts and desires. It's easy (for some) to do on Sunday morning when they are at church. Why don't we try Monday - Saturday as well and see what He does in our lives. I'm ready. Are you?