A Weak of Grace

I’m not someone who really believes in coincidences, I firmly believe that my God is organized. So organized that He can appear not so…make sense?

On Thursday of last week I was at the corps, and Meghan was doing her exercise class. I am not one of the fittest people on the world, (I blame it entirely on my mother and her exceptional cooking,) but I try when there are skinnier girls in the room – I like to represent me and my chunky girls well! Anyway, pretty much everyone that has taught me any kind of fitness has been less than nice, and yell and scream, generally not having any time for those they are teaching, which is crazy I know, but that’s has been the way of it. Not with Meghan, she couldn’t be more patient, more gracious to us in need of her help. She is awesome with us, I truly appreciate it, and man we smell awesome by the end of it – those poor people in Starbucks that night, Carole and I were not our prettiest I’m telling you.

Friday, I had a debate with someone that circulated around a lack of grace for people. It took wild and various tangents, but for me, the message was the same – the lack of grace, and a lack of teaching toward that end.

Saturday was spent in the city at the 21 club. There were about 10 if us in all, who go in and play for the patrons and then collect some money for them. What has overwhelmed me is how nice the staff is to us. While walking down the stairs, I turned to comment on it to Stephanie, thinking that it was Mike was behind her, I said, “They don’t need to be this nice to us!” When I looked up, it wasn’t Mike, but Jeffrey, the manager, who bends to our, (Debbie’s ;)) every need. I was embarrassed that he caught me talking about the club, which was crazy, I was being nice! If I was being mean, that would have been a reason to be ashamed, but being nice, what is that? What a very 21st century world view. Merely commenting on the graciousness of the club toward the Army; they are very good to us. Why don’t we acknowledge grace?

Sunday was Christmas – Merry Christmas by the way – and I received many lovely gifts, but one was a bottle of shower gel. I am not at all offended; this is some seriously nice shower gel, called “amazing grace” On the front of the bottle is a blurb:

Philosophy: life is a classroom. we are both student and teacher. each day is a test. and each day we receive a passing or failing grade in one particular subject: grace. grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners, reverence, and the list goes on. It’s something money can’t buy and credentials rarely produce. being the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, the richest, or even the poorest, can’t help. being a humble person can and being a helpful person can guide you through your days with grace and gratitude.

Smack number 4! Still hadn’t got there yet…onto Monday. Visiting my pastors/mentors/friends/previous employers, people I can comment on anything and everything, and they seem to have the knack of knowing what to jump on and what to let me wonder for myself with. Janet suggests that I read “What’s so amazing about grace?” So Tuesday, (I am the type of person that either grabs the bull by the horns, or, I don’t do it,) I buy the blessed book. Wow Salvation Army, guess what we all should have received in our Christmas stocking! Grace, so much grace needed in our society of ungrace.

Wednesday, I’m dog sitting this week. For two families, who live in different houses, I’m not complaining, I offered to dog-sit for both. Just to set the scene, I get home from work and head straight to the Kelly’s, and let Jax out. Today I decided to make banana bread, and it takes an hour in the oven, so I go home, put the bread in the oven and head back over to the Kelly’s only to find that the key isn’t in its designated spot. I put it in my jacket pocket and I left my jacket on the couch at the Bates. RAR! I drove all the way back to the Bates, and then all the way back to the Kelly’s, (seriously, it’s like a 6 minute drive in traffic, it’s the principal more than anything,) and I let wee Jax back into the house and put him in his wee kennel. Gotta tell you, I was proud at how I didn’t fly off the handle at myself. I realize it was only because I had time to be driving back and forth, and I wasn’t in a mad dash rush to go to the corps, or pick up the girls, or meet Carole for our “Oh so important, sort out the world over a skimmed latte” meetings, that I was able to get back in the car and drive calmly to the house, get the key, check on the bread and get back the Jax. I realize that that is what grace looks like for me, by me. That doesn’t happen often, we rarely have time to have grace for ourselves, or anyone else, because we are so busy being mad at the individual.

Thursday, first day this week I actually made it to the gym – I’ve been sick, cough, cough ;) or just lazy…

So, I am getting ready for work at the gym and the skinny pretty blonde girl is there, (I think she is a plant by the gym to make us all feel guilty about the second slice of banana bread, or for the evil thoughts of making banana bread in the first place!) who I cannot seem to like. (The man down the corridor is singing along, badly to “Dance with somebody” by Whitney Houston, yes!) This girl looks like my nemesis from high school. We were great friends up until sixth year and then we fell away from each other, and got downright mean to each other. She was the pretty, blonde, blue eyed, athletic, always had the party’s type girl, I…wasn’t. So I think that’s why the girl in the gym annoys me so much. (Let my just get up from my psychologist couch, ahem!) Anyway, as I’m getting dressed, I lift my new bottle of shower gel, (which I didn’t use, even though that was my reward for actually going to the gym this morning,) and read the front for the first time. It smacked me in the face that the skinny pretty blonde girl needs grace, and me being jealous of the fact that she is the “Skinny Pretty Blonde girl,” isn’t really showing her grace.

Grace, I like it as a name, I knew a woman called Grace, people used to tell her that her name was well chosen. I like that in Old Testament names meant so much. It was the blessing for the person throughout their life, which is why it amazes me that people still call people by Old Testament names, I kinda want to yell, “No!” when I hear about babies being given biblical names, I worry for them. What have we blessed them with?
The Salvation Army is our name, what does it mean? I’m not an English scholar; I wonder is there any reference to grace in the meaning of salvation? Is there any grace in salvation? In Christ, yes, but in the ones “like him,” where is the grace?

Fruit Gushers....

Meant to write 5 random facts/habits about myself...and there's meant to be a special line...here it is...

Instructions: Write 5 random facts about yourself, then list the names of 5 people whom you in turn infect.

1. I am the youngest of three, not so random...older brother and sister, (but for the Americans who know little about me, you may find it interesting.) My brother David is older than me by 14 months, we always fought, even to this day - the only person I have fist fought with! My sister Lynsey is a nurse, three years older than me, she's married to a teacher, Jonny.

2. I played Rugby in High School, because my sister played. She was good, I thought cause I was bigger than her I could take her, but, I was woosey. I learned to tackle though and I got to be in the scrum! I didn't like taking tackles...it hurt like crap when you got bruises. Lynsey learned playing with the guys, I was too big for them! I much preferred tapping.

3. I was Head Girl in High School; my speech consisted of my intrigue towards smelly people on buses - it seemed good at the time. It was fun, I bossed the Prefects around...

4. I have a pathological fear of pigeons, all birds, but pigeons especially. The wierdest part of it is that it is a learned fear. My friend Lynsey Robertson was scared of birds, and it seemed reasonable to me - it's the wings.

5. I was 5'8" when I was 11 - always been an amazon woman... 5'10" by the time I was 13

I want to tag others, but all the good ones are taken!!!

Snow days rock!!!

Well, it's been a week, my parents were over! We were in Boston for a week-ish. You know, nobody knows you like your mammie! When I was in Boston, I thought of a thousand and one things to write about, about being with my parents after such a long time - it had been 11 months since I had last saw them - and the city of Boston; it is so beautiful, I could live there in a heartbeat; about visiting family, friends and of course, Maine! I'm gonna retire in Maine, it is so lovely.

Christmas for me, is really about family. Especially in the past few years, being in the US, I've always gone home at Christmas. I've always opened gifts with family, always had steak sausage for breakfast, always gone to church on Christmas Eve...they were my traditions. This year will be the first year that I will not wake up in my own bed, and I have to choose not to be bitter about it. (So much of life is a choice, my mammie and I spoke about that when she was over - while we do not have the choice of being a victim to situations, we do have a choice in being victimized - in most situations, NOT all. Being a victim is not pleasant, but we are all victims of something - you don't get rags to riches stories without victims, they just choose not to be controlled by them. My sister is doing a counselling course for work just now, and they keep telling her that she comes from the perfect family - nothing could be further from the truth - we have had our problems, maybe not to the extent of others, but still by no means small. The reason we are not all falling apart I truly believe is because we were not allowed to make ourselves victims. Life is perfect, we should stop making ourselves miserable searching for it - the guaranteed failure of that is more than we can take...seriously, stop! God knows your situations...if He made a world with all it's complications, your hassles are already being executed. Being that He is perfect, He is capable of perfection, and I think we would all be more than happy to wait for perfection, so wait...

Someone more clever than me once said, (I can't remember his name, which is why they are more clever than me, they probably remember their name!)

"Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have"

Well, I want my family at Christmas, but I have my friends and their are very good to me, so I'll be grand.

My dad bought me a cd player for my car, you know the type you play through the tape deck, and so I HAD to have a new cd to play in it, so I bought the new David Crowder (- I think... it has all the songs from SLMC on it, why I bought it, good stuff so it is, even though it might be Chris Tomlin...) Anyway, I am leaving Boston, I can see my mammie and daddy in my rearview mirror, and I am balling, who wouldn't be? My worry was that when I was with them, all I would be able to think about would be how much I was gonna miss them when they left. The greatest part of them being over, was not what they brought, but what they were, I loved just walking down the street with them and calling out after them and them being there... I was, I am so grateful for the time to be with them.

While I was driving home, I was praying, cause I need someone to talk to when I'm on my own, and I had such a peace, (ok, so don't get wierded out by this, or by the fact that I hear God, we all hear God, we either choose to ignore Him cause He is so loud and makes us uncomfortable, or He is gentle and we think we are making it up in our heads - who are we that He should speak to me? Ocht, it's tough to work out, but practise...see what happens!) and God said to me that this year was about Him.

Ok, so I'm 22, not what you would call old - but in all my life, Christmas has really been about one of two things, presents and Santa, or family, with a side order of Jesus, dressing gowns and dish towels. This year, I have had the family, I have had the presents, it's not time for Jesus yet. Hopefully when it is, I'll be more ready for Him than I have ever been, cause I have had all my idols removed.

I hope you are as blessed with your family as I am with mine.

Face off really could happen!!!

Hey, I got sent this link - click the title of my blog to get to the site; it's about a lady in France who had been facially disfigured and had her face transplanted! More amazed than I can say...read this, it's wierder than wierd.

Doug on eBay...come on, it's for the kids...

So, my sister just called. My mammie and daddy arrive in Boston tomorrow - YES!!! I won't be going home for Christmas, so this is a very much needed time with them. We have an action packed weekend, my wee mammie, she's a wee soldier so she is! Everyday has a plan, apart from Sunday morning, we need a corps to visit.

(For anyone who knows anything about prophecy, can you tell me something about it. I get the basics of it, but was just wondering if you could state some of what you know to me - don't be afraid to state the obvious, that will probably be the most helpful part! Plus, you are not at liberty to ask questions - unless, you have a life threatening disease and will die within 24 hours, your name is Lynsey Campbell, or Carole Jeanne - I will be looking for ID!)

Not got anything else to say, peace