...Will Be Set Apart (I'm not Mexican)

This past weekend my family and I went to Lake Ouchita near Hot Springs, Arkansas, along with some friends of my sister's and parents. We stayed in a cabin this time but would join the others periodically throughout the day and then at supper around the campfire. During one of my conversations, I was talking about the adoption of my children which is a very sweet and tender spot for me because I'm humbled at how God worked in my life to bring these creatures into it. Pearce was sitting in his daddy's lap across the fire when he overheard me say he was Mexican which is a beautiful thing to be in my book...OH, if only I had a little of his coloring! From across the fire Pearce yells, "I'm not Mexican!" Now, if you've ever seen my son, there is no denying his heritage. He has this head-full of jet black hair. The darkest eyes known to man framed in long, dark lashes, and he has the prettiest skin you've ever seen. And he has a Mongolian spot on his cute, tiny hiney.

We try our best to keep people in his life that are hispanic. They may not all be Mexican, but they are bilingual, hard-working people whom we love and who loves our family. There isn't a huge Hispanic population here, so we do things with our Spanish Mission Church. I want him to at least know about his culture. Most of the time he embraces it. This is only the second time he has claimed not to be Mexican.

We are proud of his nationality, his biological culture, but there are times when he doesn't want to be different, and truthfully, we don't focus on it. He's just such a good-looking kid, and that has sometimes been his saving grace which allowed him to live to the next day. (You mommas know what I'm talking about)

How often do we just want to blend in and be like everyone else? Mediocrity? And I'm not just talking about being Christian in a non-Christian environment. I'm talking about being a growing Christian versus a stagnant, close-minded Christian. I'm talking about being satisfied with just going to church once maybe twice a week and never open your Bible during the week unless you're in crisis mode. I'm talking about being luke-warm versus on fire and having a passion to serve and to love on others as Christ demands and gave us examples to be and do. What if when Jesus was washing the disciples' feet, He looked up at them and said, "That will be .25 cents"?

It's time Christians get off their big, backsides and served as our Lord served on their hands and knees, touching those who are sick, walking with the unlovely. It's time we loved on people and got beyond prideful selves because there will come a day when we all will have to answer the question, "What have you done with my Son?" And there won't be anyone standing besides our mediocre behinds to blame things on. We have to take ownership of our faith and our relationship with God. Get out of our comfort zones. Get out of our comfortable seats. I promise you, women's ministry is not my comfort zone. Teaching an all women's Bible study Sunday school class is NOT in my comfort zone -- do you know we haven't had one Sunday where one of the ladies doesn't end up needing a tissue? (Do you remember I work in a primarily male-oriented field in fraud investigations? These guys don't cry.) I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back. What I'm saying is that if I can do this following God's lead, then by the grace of God SO CAN YOU!

Don't blend in. Be dynamic. Be the original God made you to be. Be the growing, godly woman He desires you to be. PUT YO' BIG GIRL PANTIES ON! We are to be as a city set on a hill, a beacon in the night, salt of the Earth. We are to be set apart, different so that others may be drawn to the Lord Almighty. So, GET OUT THERE! SERVE!

His Daughter,

Kristy

...Celebrates Life (Big Girl Panties Are NOT Optional -- They are a must)

I was at TJ Max today killing time until the christian bookstore opened when I found the perfect craft table to put into my new craft room. It came up to my bellybutton and was about three feet square. There was a three feet square of metal beneath that set about one foot off the ground, and on top of the table was a small shelf like area. It was absolutely perfect...wooden top, metal legs, too cute. AND there were two of them, but there wasn't a price tag on either. I really hate shopping and not finding price tags on items...a personal pet peeve, so I hunted down an assistant. I was so excited about my find I walked six feet ahead of her pointing the direction. When we arrived at said craft tables, she paused and looked at me and said, "Ma'am, those are not craft tables. They don't have price tags because they are the display tables." Well, that just made me want it more because I knew noone else would have it! It was and is the perfect craft table...did I mention that?

I don't know about you, but I can so easily get distracted by the most bizzare things, irrelevant things, superficial things at times. I do know people though who are so tightly wound that their "drawers get in a wad" when these small things don't go the way they planned or the way they thought it should go. To these people I say, "Put your big girl panties on and deal with it. Life is too short." I'm also reminded of this today being 9/11 for a couple of reasons. One is for the obvious, and the other is because of what happened on 9/11/2001. (The obvious is that it's my birthday -- HELLO!)

I bet somewhere in the world there is a woman who wished her husband had come home, a child wishing she could know her mom, someone still mourning the loss of their best friend, and then there is the person so wrapped up in their own lives that the smallest things causes them to go into a tailspin.

After 2001, when people use to hear it was my birthday, they would tilt their heads and nod. You know the look, and it use to annoy me. But over the past few years, I have made a conscious effort to celebrate life on my birthday...after all today is my BIRTHday. I use this opportunity to tell those who wish me well and to wish me a Happy Birthday how much I love them and appreciate them because what I learned in 2001 is that they can be gone in the blink of an eye. I don't get to tell everyone who wishes me well that, but I make my rounds. On September 11, 2001, we learned the meaning of life. It should be celebrated and cherished.

Love on those who mean something to you.