distracted.

Ok so has anyone ever noticed how sometimes when you walk into a room that has the television on you forget about what it is was you were doing before you walked into that room? And then fifteen minutes later it's like you wake up and realize that there is life going on around you and you just zoned out.

Its amazing to me how television is like an uncontrollable force in our lives!  

For the past two days in a row I have sat in the living room at my parents house and done absolutely nothing but watch television.  I justified my actions by saying that I have gone nonstop for three weeks in a row and needed some down time - which is true for the most part - but still, Im positive that there are much more productive things I could have done.  What did people do before television?  I come home in the evening and turn it on and don't move from that couch until David Letterman comes on and its time to go to bed... Is there nothing else I could have done for four hours?  

I think my thought behind all of this television talk is that in the past two days I have come to the realization that the tv controls much of how I think, and act, and talk... And that is all due to how much time I spend watching it... And don't get me wrong, I am not bashing on television here, I love television as much as the next person... But it got me thinking about how different of a person I would be if I gave God's Word as much time as I give television.  Do I trust Gods Word to be as powerful and transforming in my life as I do the tv?  Maybe you don't watch that much television, but my guess would be that there is a "television god" for everyone of us.  Anyone have any thoughts?

Bowl at Boulevard

August 23...check it out...

Join us for cosmic bowling at Boulevard Lanes in Edmond from 10 p.m. to 12 midnight. Cost is $8 and includes shoes. Grab a friend!

Epedmeic.

There’s a pinch on the left side of my neck. I’m fully reminded of its presence at the limit of my mobility to turn my head. How old am I again, I ask myself? Despite my youth, there are days when I already feel like my life’s sped ahead to 50 years old—not that it’s an old age—it’s just not my age.

And then, of course, there’s this other “neck ache” possibility…this…this…”thing.” This “thing” gives you sweats and nightmares during the night, it steals away appetites and enhances others, it rumbles tummies and yes…it even gives neck cramps. Some call it a full schedule and one too many “I dos.” But its more common, everyday household name is…drum role, please…stress.

I wonder, what causes stress? Is it procrastination? What about devastation? Or maybe it’s magnification? (Sorry, the Dr. Seuss tirade has ended.) While I truly believe these options to be partly the flame that fans stressful moments in our lives, I can’t help but wonder how much patience or lack there of has to do with it.

You see, I’m a very impatient person. I like things the way I want them in the way I want them done when I want them done. Confused? You can relate. Surely I’m not the only lone soul who feels my agenda is better than God’s? Why is it that even though I know God’s plan and timeline is far greater than my concoction for life, I still battle to take hold of the reins and steer the horse, so to speak?

Lately, this is what I’ve been learning. Patience. Not patience that reluctantly and stubbornly accepts the time lapse between the asking and the getting, but patience that welcomes waiting…understanding that it’s not waiting at all. Rather, it’s recognizing that “in the wait,” there’s growth. God is trying to teach me something. He’s answering all those prayers I’ve prayed to look more like Him, to sound more like Him…to be more like Him.

But am I listening to the voice of growth or am I just hearing?

I’m not a patient person, but I’m not a masseuse either (clearly, because my neck cramp would be gone by now). Sometimes we do the things we don’t want to do to get the outcome we need to fully understand that life isn’t all about me. And just because I think I can’t, doesn’t mean I can’t. Just because I haven’t before, doesn’t mean I won’t.

What is God teaching you? Are you listening or just hearing?

Watch out, there’s a neck cramp epidemic going around!