WANT TO IMPRESS? KISS THE FEET!

     Have you ever met a person who goes the extra mile?  You know, the kind of person who doesn't settle for doing something good, they make it great!  It's doing the small thing that takes whatever you're doing from ordinary to memorable.
     We were just talking about the last time we saw my mom.  It was after a play Grace had done.  Luisa and I decided we weren't going to go to Culvers for the second night in a row.  So, Grace, Sofia,  and Luisa headed for home while I picked up some things my mom had for me in her car.
      As I drove home, my mom pulled up next to me on Main Street.  She rolled down her window and said, "Does that mean I can't just buy them ice cream for you to take home?"
      We were going to Culvers!  But, my mom was in the left-hand turn lane!  She turned left on Roosevelt, had to do a U-turn to get back to Main, and when we finally met at Culvers, it was time to order.
      It's like 8:30 at night.  The girls are going to bed as soon as they eat this.  So, what does my mom order - the two largest Concrete Mixers they have.  Not only was she willing to ask the question, not only did she do a complete turn-around to make it happen, she didn't settle for the small - SHE WENT GREAT!
      Yesterday, we ordered the biggest Concrete Mixers we could - we did not forget that moment!  And Jesus didn't either.
      Remember that time he went into Simon's house and the lady is kissing his feet, drying them with her hair and pouring perfume on them?  Not only did He forgive her, but He made her an example of what true devotion is.  SHE WENT GREAT!
     So, today, when we're tempted to do the safe, ordinary, easy thing - don't!  GO GREAT!

TOP TEN TIPS FOR A BETTER MARRIAGE

      My sister has this speaker that she loves!  Every time I talk to her she's like, "Shauna is so awesome! I love when she's at Willow Creek!  Every message she does inspires me.  I want to be like Shauna!  Shauna! Shauna! Shauna!"
       So, I decided to listen to her message on marriage, and WA-LA the TOP TEN TIPS FOR A BETTER MARRIAGE were born!
10) BE A PERSON OF FORGIVENESS - Forgive first, judge later.....way later (like after you're dead)
9) BUILD UP OTHER MARRIAGES - Whenever you talk to a member of the opposite sex ask yourself, "How can I build up their marriage?"
8) TAKE CARE OF YOUR EMOTIONAL HEALTH - There's a reason you are a two before you can become one.  If you are not emotionally healthy going into marriage or every day of marriage, the marriage is not going to "fix" you.
7) GET COUNSELING - Now, I'm too cheap to get real counseling, but getting together with other people who want to improve their marriages to talk about how to make those improvements - golden!
6) SPEND TIME WITH YOUR SPOUSE - Without kids, talk, ask tough questions, talk about stuff besides kids.
5) ASK GOD FOR HELP - She didn't actually say this, but I think it's a good idea!

    Whoops, I guess there were only five.  I always like when they say a meeting is going to last 4 hours and it takes 3, or when you get out early from work.  So, reading five when you're anticipating 10 - bonus!  I better stop now or else I ruin the positive mojo from the 10 to 5 thing, and really I think we've got enough to think about!

WAS LOVIE SMITH A GOOD COACH?

     OK, I know it's been a year, but I've got a point here so stay with me.
     Lovie Smith was fired because he didn't win enough games, or to put it more succinctly, he didn't win enough games to get into the playoffs.  So, does that make him a bad coach? **** His players respected the heck out of him.  I would venture to say that you couldn't find another team in the NFL that played as hard for their coach.  His teams were constantly competitive.  Although he didn't make the playoffs for five straight years, the Bears were mostly in the hunt and when he was fired the team went 10-6.  There were some issues with the media and not being a great "face of the franchise."  So, was he a good coach?
      I guess it depends on what fruit you are looking at!  What is the fruit that really matters to you?
      I got to thinking about fruit this morning.  All this stuff we do in life, how do we know what's right and what's wrong.  Easy - just look at the fruit!  What are the things that are happening because of the way you live?
      But, then I went a little deeper.  There's a lot of fruit to look at.  In the Christian world it could be how many people have asked Christ into their lives, or feeding the poor, or being a great neighbor, or teaching other's about God's kingdom.  I started to look at my life and realized I'm not really sure which fruit I should be judging it on.
      What are the things that God really cares about?
      I'm guessing bringing people into a relationship with Him would be tops.  There would also be the "thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven" stuff.  And loving your neighbor would be big too.
      You know what?  I'm going to choose those three, and I'm going to say that in two of the three there's some pretty good fruit.  And if I won 66% of my games as a coach it would put me right in the Lovie Smith range.  What does that mean?

***** I think Lovie Smith is a good coach because of the relationship he had with his players.  He got the most out of them and put them ahead of anyone else.

MAN, JESUS KNOWS HIS STUFF!

     Do you know when I'm the most down, the most-likely to do something that Tony Melton should never do, the most likely to boost my spirits with a little Coca-Cola?  It's when I think about how cool other people are!
      Sometimes I just wish I could be as cool as them.  I wish I could talk like them or be as good with people as them or come up with creative ideas like them or be as strong in my opinions as them.  I just wish I was cooler like that.
       OR DO I?
22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
       I just read the Beatitudes - you know the part in the Bible where Jesus takes everything you think you know about the world and turns it upside down?  Food, money, popularity - all great things in the good old U.S. of A.  But, Jesus says REJOICE if you don't have them.  In fact, it almost seems to me like He is saying, if you follow me you are not going to have any of those things (that may be the way you know if you are truly following Him)
       I'll be honest, when I read that (as I was eating a plate full of snacks) it just struck me - how do people live their lives without tapping into the Jesus knowledge?  I don't read the Bible often enough, but when I do it just seems to put my head back on (that doesn't make any sense), it get's me back on track.
      I'm just thankful Jesus came down here to share this stuff with us.  Who would have thought - cool ain't all that important!

TECH COACH OF MEN

     I'm sitting in my office trying to figure out how we're going to incorporated iPads into the classroom.  Jesus walks in and says, "Try a check-out system.  That way more students can benefit and it gives teachers more freedom."
     I try it - the teachers love it.  Student's test scores go up.  The district applauds my work as a tech coach, and parents are constantly complimenting the incredible idea.
     Jesus comes back two days later and I'm blown away.
     "Did you see that?  It was incredible!  I am not worthy!  You are not only the Savior of the world, but an awful good tech coach!"
     Jesus isn't even smiling.  He looks at me dead in the eye and says, "I am going to make you a tech coach of men!"
     I WONDER IF THE SUCCESS JESUS GIVES US AT WORK IS JUST A PRECURSOR OF BECOMING A SUCCESSFUL DISCIPLE!  
     I wonder if anytime we get a great idea, something we do works out, we come up with a strategy that helps not only the company but people - I wonder if that's always Jesus saying, "You think that is something, I'm making you a _________________ of men."
     Honestly, the first thing that hit me when I read that was - who cares if I figure out the totality of Google Drive?  Who cares if I am the supreme knowledge on iPads?  Who cares if I can maneuver my way through Skyward?  My job is to be a fisher (a.k.a. "tech coach") of men.
     I've struggled many times this year because I don't know as much as the other tech coaches, and there have been times when I don't see a lot of technological fruit from my labor.  I'm not sure what this job is and I don't quite know if I'm doing it well.
     But, what I think God has been teaching me is this - this isn't my main job.  He's the boss of my main job.  And if I'm going to determine if I'm successful or not, that's the one I should focus on.

ANOTHER DECISION

     One unanticipated aspect of my new job as Tech Coach has been putting in positions where people actually want to know my opinion on stuff.  As a teacher, people pretty much tell you what to do - every decision you make is behind closed doors (and usually that door is to your classroom and you're the only one who knows about it).  However, these days more and more people are coming up to me and asking about instruction, achievement and the use of technology.
     I'm actually having to form opinions and share them.
     Just now, the head of Math and Science approached me about a computer program we're using and  how we should implement it going forward.  I said a few things, but when I left I thought to myself, "Was that really what I believe?"
     I read two different passages of Scripture this morning.  The first was about the husband treating his wife as the weaker partner.  I'm not going there, but there was definitely a sense of the husband being willing to make tough decisions.
     The second passage talked about Jesus and how everyone was amazed when he taught.  Power and authority were the words they used.  Jesus didn't really care what people thought and how he was perceived.  His main concerns were teaching people about the Kingdom of God - and He just said what God was telling Him too, no matter what.
      All of us are leaders of something.  We all are asked our opinions on anything from Michael Sam to how we should raise our children.  I think what I learned from Jesus today was to...
1) Talk to God before I open my cake hole!
2) Be strong in my opinions - trusting they are from the cake hole maker!
3) Realize that God may have bigger plans for me than I even have.  Maybe I've got it in me to make these kind of decisions.
      To all of us who don't consider ourselves great decision makers - watch out!  God make think otherwise.

I'M DRINKING A COKE RIGHT NOW....IS IT WRONG?

       We had a long talk (ok, like ten minutes) about if God cares about your body.  I'm still not sure it's all that crucial and that God is really more concerned with how you treat people and build the kingdom.  But, as I went to bed last night, a bigger question came to my mind.
       HOW DO I REACT WITH PEOPLE WHO DON'T THINK LIKE ME OR PEOPLE DON'T LIVE LIKE ME?
       I realized yesterday that I'm white trash (alright, I've known that ever since I saw my first blow-up in Romeoville).  But, growing up we kind of made fun of the rich people or the folks that spent a lot of money on things.  And, as a kid who didn't have all the cool clothes or cool things (like CD players!) there was a little jealousy or resentment or something against people who did.  Anyway, even to this day I have an affinity for white trash type of people (by the way, the color of your skin has nothing to do with white trash).  And when I am around different type of people sometimes I feel the need to prove myself or there's just an insecure feeling that comes with being in that situation.
      I also realized that I feel this need to stand-up for the white trash way.  I'm not exactly sure what that way is or what I'm standing up for, but deep down there somewhere I think I'm doing it.  And really, if I'm going to be totally honest - I think I'm like a lot of people who just want to prove whatever they are doing is better than what everyone else is doing.
      The point is - I don't react well with people who are different than me or think different than me.  My first inclination is to prove I'm right or better than that person.  Over and over in my mind I will try to justify what I'm doing and think of all the ways I'm right.  Sometimes, I'll even just keep on doing it, even though I know I'm wrong, to prove a point.
       Instead of focusing on another's opinion and how I could change to be more like Christ, I just want to prove my, let's say, worthiness.
       I don't know how you do this.  How do you look at someone who does stuff differently than you do and just respect that and agree to disagree?  How do you just think, "Well, we've got different views on stuff - no one is better than the other.  I'm not better than them and they are not better than me. We're just different."  How do you walk into situations trying to learn about other ways of doing things or other opinions without having to prove yours?
      God may care more about how we take care of our bodies than I realize, and that's ok.  He made us the way we are for a reason - each of us.
     

WANT TO CHANGE A PERSON?

     Are there people in your life that you wish could be more, um, uh, well.......Godlike?  You know, people that you wish loved their neighbor as themselves, daily picked up their cross, put other's needs in front of their own.
      I think there are two schools of thought on these type of people.  One, you punish them into becoming better.  In the adult world that looks a lot like ignoring them, or talking bad about them behind their back or treating them wrongly even though you don't do it "intentionally" (you know what I mean!).  The second is to just give up on them.  Don't hang out with them, stay away, and avoid any communication or contact if at all possible.
      Well, Jesus gives us a third way.  Treat them like He treated the church.  Give up your life for them.  Put all of their needs in front of your own.  Today I was reading about how to show your wife off to God "without a blemish" and that's basically what He said for the husband to do.  (Full disclosure, the Bible didn't specifically mention other people besides your wife, but I think the theory still holds.)
     God is saying, "You want your wife to be more Christlike - You be more Christlike to her.  You want your coworker to be more Christlike - You be more Christlike to him.  You want".....you get it!
     You can keep going with one and two, and it may work out for you.  But, I'm betting that the only option with people who really matter is #3.

BUZZKILL......BUZZBIRTH!

     I get all excited.  I'm reading my favorite part of the Bible - the part where it says wives have to have "relations" with their husbands.  HAVE TO!  I'm about to write all about how I'm sending this to my wife and all wives everywhere, how Paul was a genius to get this in the Holy Scriptures, and how anyone who doesn't follow this is obviously a non-believer and is going to rot in a fiery pit of fire.
     But then my Bible reading plan makes me read on.
    Paul starts to talk about being content with where you are at in life and staying where God has called you.  He starts talking about how things in this life don't really matter - even up to being a slave because really we are all free in Christ but a slave to Christ.  He starts to really get into some deep stuff.
     I just wanted to talk about "getting sideways." (Let's see how many things I can put in quotes that actually mean "sex").  So, I'm a little bummed out.
    But then it hits me.  We can just be content with where we are at.  We can just stay where God has called us.  This life is just this life - God has something even better for us, even while our feet are still planted on this soil.
     The way I look at life is all wrong, or at least not right!  Yes, we have this physical being that has physical things it has to do in this world.  BUT THAT IS NOT WHO WE ARE!  Our reality, our person is a spiritual being created by God and living in God's kingdom.  That means our perspective on everything changes.
      It gave me a lot of hope and made me feel like I was living more in the truth.  I guess that's better than "the nasty!"

JESUS IS OUR SECOND HUSBAND

     Let me explain that title!  When we talk about our lives with Christ, it's very comparable to when a woman's husband dies.  In the law of the Old Testament (and in my personal opinion except for a few cases), a woman should not marry another man while her husband is alive.  But, when her husband dies, she is free to begin a relationship with another man.
     Jesus is that other man!
     What, what?  We are all wives?  We are marrying Jesus?
     Not really!
     But, all of us are "married" to the law when we're born.  That means if we do something wrong, we get punished.  If we do something good, rewards come our way.  It's the "eye for an eye" way of living.  But, Jesus death was the death of the law.  So, we are free to live a different way.  We are free to find a new relationship.
     Now we can have a relationship based on grace, forgiveness, hope and love.  If we mess up, we can be forgiven.  Heck, we may get rewards for no good reason.  All's we have to do is say, "I Do!"