The danger of a Fake Snake

My dear daughters have a fake snake that they love....

Notice how at a glance you would think it's real?

I am not a lover of snakes.  I tolerate them the way I tolerate... poopy diapers, they are necessary.  I don't want mice running the world and I don't want poop on my carpet.  Just as I prefer the poop stay in the diaper; I prefer that snakes stay outside and even better off my property.  In the 11 years we have lived in this house..I have seen 2 snakes.  It makes me love the place even more.

So...to the point I go! 

As I was doing my before bed prep I noticed the fake plastic snake laying in our hallway.  In all honesty it has gotten me a few times.  I have seen it out of the corner of my eye, poking out of a box in the garage and skipped a heartbeat before I realized it was the fake snake.  One of my girls moved it, it did not move itself(I would tell my self as I was trying to breath through the heart palpatations).  However I find myself growing used to it now and I barely acknowledge it other than the thought that it no longer bothers me.

I realized as I headed for bed that I would not recognize a real snake in my house until I was right up on it if it had the same coloring as the fake one.  I would either be bitten or scared out of my mind thinking I was approaching the harmless fake snake.  So what other fake snakes are there in my home?

What are some of the things that I think are harmless that are truly not?  Even more so what are some of the "high places" that I think I can ignore or that don't affect me because I know they are bad but just by watching it, reading it, talking about it; I am sending a message to my girls that it's not sooo bad because mom watches, reads or talks about it.

We are entering a day and age I never imagined growing up.  A time that we have to worry about the commercials our kids are watching.  Forget the shows that are at least rated now.  The majority of commercials today are about what I can get, what I can take from someone else, how I can be better, stronger and beat my neighbor, sex sells, the way you look outside is super important and knocking people over is ok as long as you're getting what you want and on your way to being the best.  It's about Me, Me, ME.  That is not the will of God.  The will of God is to love your neighbor as you love yourself (Mark 12:31 "The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”).

The things that look deadly but are harmless are the most dangerous of all. They desensitize us to the real threat, making us more vulnerable to it. Making us more likely to walk up on a real snake.  Justifying the entire time that it's just a (commercial, dress, word, tv show...) it's not hurting anyone and my kids, friends, husband are not paying attention to it.  We think that until we get ask a question about the commercial we don't want to answer, see our daughter wanting to dress a way we find unacceptable, hear our toddler say that word to our pastor clear as bell when every other word in her vocabulary only you fully understand, or find our husband watching shows that have more foul language then actual words.  It was harmless until you have to pay the price for allowing it.

So what are your high places?  Your "fake snakes"?  The things in your life that you kind of shrug off.  They're harmless... until they're not.  What are your fake snakes and what will happen when you let your guard down enough not to realize a real one when you see it?



God Bless!

Hello ladies! 

I linked up with Time Warp Wife for Titus Tuesdays...



It's meant to encourage us to be better women and has quite a few links to other blogs that has encouraging words for moms, women, wives, daughters etc.

Go check it out!!

God Bless!

Putting things into Practise...

I have been very intentionally laying it all down to God lately. Trying to be very intentional in giving Him my concerns and fears, not allowing myself to hoard my "little" worries from God.  Acknowledging that He knows the exact number of hairs on my head as Jesus tells us in Luke 12:6-7 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. He took the time to not just count them but PLACE them! If every single hair on my head (that is so easily cut, dyed, grown out and changed on an almost daily basis some weeks)is important enough for God to know the exact number then why on Earth am I waisting time and energy thinking or believing on any level that my worries and concerns are a burden to Him or for that one moment no matter how many times He tells me in His word or shows me in my life, how much He loves me, I still struggle to truly feel worthy of it.

Do you know the answer? I do. I am human. Yup. Human. Seems so simple. We all are so lets just pack up and go home. Doomed to struggle forever and always. Oh but WAIT!! God gave us a blessed way out. A way back to Him. It is not done by deeds or good will, nice thoughts or being in church every Sunday (Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast" It was done by the Blood of Jesus (John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.")

The fact is He is paying attention.  He does not have to stop looking at one thing to see me (Psalm 33:13 From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind;).  He already knows everything I have going on ...He is just waiting for me to tell Him about it; to have a relationship with Him.  The more I talk to Him, the more I listen for His reply and His desire for my life the easier and better my life is (Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.).  When I am so intentionally focused on God's will my desires line up better with His.  I start to want the things He wants for me.

In Matthew 11:28-29 Jesus says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  Rest for our souls.  It just sounds peaceful doesn't it.  When I read that scripture I can't help but think of the peace He's offering us.  For our burdens, the things that are weighing us down, keeping us awake, sending us deep inside ourselves or out where we don't belong.  For the things we can't tell our friends, have trouble admitting to ourselves and sometimes guard closely.  For those things those BURDENS He will give.  us.  rest.  Not just a unisom, melatonin type of rest.....nothing you can get over the counter at CVS or with a prescription.  This is the absolute SOUL healing rest that can only come from Jesus.

After a week of Katie's struggle with allergies having me up at 2am for 1-2 hours and then awake again at 5am let me tell you I am weary!  There is a lot of tired in me right now and like aloe on a burn the promise that Jesus will not only take my burdens but give my soul rest, soothe the places in me that I had not realized I was sore.  Not just physically but mentally and emotionally. He soothes.

Just ask.  Just tell Him, tell Jesus those places that hurt, ask Him to show you the places you may not know are weighing you down and then to help you hand them over.  I like to think I am a honest person especially with myself but even I have to ask the Lord to show me the things I hide even from myself.  To help me let them go. 

So the challenge for this week, today maybe just a moment from now... Ask God to show you those things you hide even from yourself.  Those things that slow you down and are making you weary.  Then ask God to help you hand them over and let go of them.  Putting them completely in His hands so you can have rest for your soul.

God Bless You!