Parkview Lockport Blog

The Insane Restaurant on the Corner

I have lived in Frankfort, Illinois for over 5 years now, and in that time I have seen many changes in my neighborhood.

I have seen St. Francis Road resurfaced, tore up, resurfaced, tore up, and resurfaced again within the course of what seems like 6 months.

I have seen people lose their mind when the Taco Bell/Long John Silvers opened up.  One of those "lost minded" people would be my good friend John.  The only thing better for him would be if they would deliver it to his house, chew it for him, feed it to him, and then create an iPhone App to explain it.

I have seen the group of kids in our neighborhood grow to now a gang of pseudo-teenagers that have perfected the extracurricular activity known as "Wandering the Neighborhood Doing Absolutely Nothing While Their Parents Sit In the Garage Oblivious To The World Around Them".  Boy I hope Aniston gets snatched up by one of those "gems" someday. (please take a moment to wipe the sarcasm off your monitor)

However, what my wife Cherie and I have painfully enjoyed watching is the Log Cabin Restaurant on the corner of St. Francis and LaGrange Road.  We love the look of  this place as both Cherie and I dream of owning a Log Cabin someday, but in our short time in Frankfort we have seen it go through many owners. Off the top of my head I remember it being called The Northwoods, The Fireplace Inn, Poor Reds, and now I think it is going to be some Irish Pub.  Who knows, but I liked all the food!

It seems no matter who takes over the place, what they name it, what food they offer, or how many lawn signs they stick in their front entrance the business just doesn't work.  New owners come with new dreams and new plans, but seemingly this place is just not meant to work out.  It could be that it is tucked behind a bank. It could be that it is just enough off the road that you can't see it. It could be because the food is el stinko, but what I know for sure is that it never stays open more than 1 year at a time.  The outside still looks great, but something is going on inside that is holding them back.  So why do people keep coming back to this historically unsuccessful location? 

I see this same phenomenon happening in our world every day.

The obvious correlation you are waiting for me to type is that of people that seem to have everything going perfect from the outside are empty on the inside.  They are perfectly empty people and yes that is true.  They need, as we all do, to have Christ fill them up and define their worth by what He has done inside of them and not just on their exterior appearance.  All of this is true.

However the other mind cramping phenomenon that I see day in and day out is even more sad and equally frustrating.  I don't know if you have noticed, but we are walking around with insane people all around us.  Insane in that they keep doing the same things over and over and over and over and over again expecting a different result in their life.

    * Insane people that are looking for solid friendships. Instead of looking for them in good Christian men/women, they party day after day with all of their "friends" and do as many unacceptable things possible to gain the acceptance of a bunch of equally insane people.

    * Insane people that want to get married and have a family. Instead of talking with people with healthy and thriving relationships they "play married" with whoever that comes along in hopes of figuring it out and then they blame it on the economy when asked why they are shacking up.

    * Insane people that want to see God do amazing things in their life, but they still are sitting on the sidelines of life until they have it all "figured out". In the meantime they are losing out on some of the best years of their short life!

Peter cuts through all this in 1 Peter 1:13-14 when he says

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance"

King Solomon  whips out the "duh" stick when he tells us in Proverbs 26:11

"As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly."

I challenged the men of The Fraternity the other day with, "prepare your mind for action so that your life will have purpose and meaning, Stop returning to your vomit of your foolish past ways expecting to get a better result."

Insane people keep returning to the regurgitated remains of their past experiences and sift through them to find some sort of silver lining to justify why they came back.

People that are looking for true wisdom and direction look to what God has called them to and they do it regardless of what the World says.

True wisdom flies in the face of conventional wisdom and relies on Godly wisdom.

Stop living your life insanely and start gaining your sanity in the One who is guaranteed to have the fullest, most successful restaurant in the end.

"Housekeeping, you want pillow?"

What comes to your mind when I say "wake-up call"?

I'm sure many things popped into your cranium just now such as:

• THAT noise.  You know the ONE. The noise that you chose out of all the sounds to wakes you up everyday.  Yep, THAT one.
• Perhaps it is the "click-click-click" of a large greyhound dog walking on your hardwood floors at 4:30 am. 
• Maybe you are still living at home and you think of your mom nudging your arm.  If you are a teenager, enjoy it.  If you are a grown man perhaps between the age of "old enough to have an apartment" and "this is just embarrassing", it is time to get a J-O-B and your own alarm clock.

What I think of these days is my daughter.  Yep, all 5.5 months of her.  One of my favorite..check that...my favorite time of the day is at 7:00 am every morning.  This is when my little girl wakes up for her morning bottle and when the cutest thing happens. 

We are parents who "swaddle" our daughter.  For those rookies out there, swaddling is basically taking a blanket and wrapping it around your child with the end goal of having your child resemble a Chipotle burrito.  The basic function of the swaddle is that it keeps the "Talladega Nights-esque" hands in-check so she can sleep her 6-12 hours each night. It rocks...trust me.

The cool part happens when you undo the swaddle in the morning. Once the pressure is released from the swaddle, her hands pop out, she stretches to the sky, and slowly she opens her eyes one at a time.  However, unlike most people's wake-up calls where a phone may or may not be thrown against a wall as the hotel receptionist's name is taken in vain, Aniston wakes up with the biggest, sweetest, cutest smile ever. It is like each day is something new to see and she is just excited to take in her new world.

Do you wake up each day like that or do you wish you could breathe deep above the waterline of life?

Does it feel like you're running the marathon of life in quick sand, but dream about sprinting on the open road?

Now, what if I told you that you could have been living free this whole time?  What if I went a little farther and told you that you have chosen this life and that you are suffocating yourself?

Check out what my man Paul tells us in Romans 6.

"For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin,once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Consider this your wake-up call.  You have a free life waiting for you.  Christ paid for it and gives it to you freely.  So pick your head up, accept this Truth, and start cutting the ties of sin that bind you. 

Start stretching out and smile big because your life is just beginning.

Did I Stutter?

I got a new Bible a few months ago which is awesome because I am able to read the Scriptures again, as if for the first time.  Every turn is a crisp new page untouched and unblemished by Holy Spirit induced underlines that were penned during that season of my life.  I would highly recommend grabbing a new Bible sometime and allow the Scriptures to come alive again as if entering the Wardrobe to Narnia for the very first time.

Anyway, during these new adventures through old lands I have been mining through the Gospel of John and landed on Chapter 9.  For the Seminary trained person that may have stumbled upon this blog as a result of a bad Google search you may instantly recall what that chapter outlines, but for the rest of us I'll provide a reminder.  John 9 details the interaction between Jesus, a man born blind, and the Pharisees.

Side Bar:  Is it just me or does it seem as though the Pharisees are the modern day TMZ Paparazzi?  Think about it, everywhere Jesus goes he finds these slimy dudes asking dumb questions in attempts to get the next headline.  The only thing missing is a Lawyer turned average TV host named Harvey drinking who knows what out of a Target sippy cup and a swizzle straw.

In this chapter we see Jesus come across a man that has been blind from birth and He heals him with the modern day equivalent of a loogy, red dirt, and a mud pie.  After going to the Pool of Siloam, as Jesus instructed, the now fully healed man is approached by the Pharisee Paparazzi for questioning to which he outlines in detail what Jesus did.

Not satisfied by his answer they bring in his parents for questioning and the parents basically tell them...  He is a grown man...go ask him yourself!  (I can't tell you how much this answer reminds me of most of the people I used to have as members in Buffalo Grove, but that is another story for another blog :) )

Which brings us to the second encounter with the healed man and the Pharisees.  We pick up in verses 24-27.

A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. "Give glory to God," they said.  "We know this man is a sinner.”

He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"

He answerd, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?"

I LOVE THIS!!!  After being asked again how he was able to see this poor man basically says...

"Did I stutter?  I told you once already that this guy named Jesus made a mud pie, put it on my eyes, told me to go wash it off and I was able to see.  Now if you all want to call him a sinner fine, but to quote the great Billy Joel "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints" if it means I am able to see.  To be honest it sounds like you all might be wanting to follow Him too, but you just can't get yourself to admit it!"

I can't tell you how awesome this man's honestly made me feel.  For me it seems like there are those people out there that just can't admit and see how awesome God is no matter how hard you try or how many miracles you show them.  It is like they just refuse to the see the forest through the trees sometimes and it can be very draining.

However where I find the most encouragement from this passage is tucked within the unspoken words.  You see this healed man was not called to convince these Pharisees of the existence of Christ or of His sovereignty.   And Jesus did not say to this man, "Go, now that you are healed convince everyone you see that I am God".  No, He just healed him and allowed the miracle to speak for itself and the belief or unbelief to be left in the hands and souls of the ones seeing and hearing him.

You see too often we try to be the ones saving people. We think that somehow our words or life stories are the things that save people from their sin.  I hate to break it to you, but Jesus is the only one that can do that and He is doesn't need our sinful help.  Does He use our hands and feet?  Of course He does, but the redeeming, saving, forgiving, and atoning is all His. 

So the next time I get frustrated about people not seeing all that God has to offer them, I hope I remember that God doesn't stutter.

 

He saves not me!

 

My Jesus Hobby

I was talking with a very good friend the other night and he was telling me about what God was challenging him with.  It really boiled down to this..."What exactly am I doing in life?".  You see, he found himself doing all kinds of stuff, but feeling like he really wasn't doing anything.

Now, to know my friend you must realize that he is an amazing guy with a huge heart and the ability to go from 0-Passionate in like 1.2 seconds.  He and I are very much alike.  Whether it is sports, causes, MMA,  golfing, or (in his case only :) ) gaming when we get excited about something we go hog wild over it!  We practice, read blogs, watch interviews, and talk to friends about it constantly with the end goal of trying to master it.  After all, we all love to be good at our hobbies.

I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say you can relate.  No?  Do any of these strike a chord?

• Fantasy Football
• I-Phone Apps
• Fashion
• Parenting
• Softball
• Practicing guitar
• Scrapbooking
• Facebook (guilty as charged)
• Should I keep going?

The fact is we all do it.  We all have areas of interest that get us excited and give us enjoyment.  Please hear me out...there is nothing wrong with hobbies except when you are challenged with this thought. 

"What if Jesus was your hobby?"

Now for those over-thinkers out there I'm sure you are already shooting holes in this analogy, but just "Simma-down-now" for a second and consider the possibilities.

• What if for one week you put as much energy into reading your Bible as you did checking the stats on your Fantasy Football team? 
• What if for just one weekend, you took the time you spent in the mall looking for the next best pair of jeans and spent it serving at the church? 
• What if you took all the time you spent updating your Twitter account and went to lunch with a friend to see how they were really doing and ask how you could be praying for them?  
• What if you took the time you spent watching the UFC Pay-Per-View fights and volunteered at a local homeless shelter?
• What if for one day you took all the time you spend worrying (yes, that is a hobby) about everything and spent that time praying or inviting a friend to church?

What if following Jesus became your hobby?

I know it is sounds crazy and I'm sure you would be quick to defend yourself in your best Sunday School voice that "Jesus is so much more than a hobby to me!", but if I could account for all your time would Jesus' column have more time allotted to it then your Suduku puzzles? 

Enough from me, take it away Paul...

1 Corinthians 15:58 "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

2 Corinthians 4:18 "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Philippians 2:21 "For everyone looks our for his own interest, not those of Jesus Christ."

Maybe, just maybe it's time to get a new Hobby?

Excuse Me, My Eyes Are Up Here

In reading through Andy Stanley's most recent book, The Principle of the Path, he landed on a Proverb that resonated with me.  It is found in Proverbs 4:25 and says "Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you."

I don't know about you, but when I get in trouble in life it is usually a direct result of me looking around at the wrong things.  Now, just stop it.  It is not always because of that...believe me my wife's elbows are sharp and have bruised my ribs many a time to refocus me.  But all kidding aside, isn't it true that when we start looking to our left and right in life rather than focusing on what is true and upright we run into problems?

Let's set aside Faith for a minute and just consider a few areas. 

In your job, when you stop focusing on the tasks and job entrusted to you and start looking around at other people's work, promotions, or issues doesn't your work suffer?  It is safe to say that if you are worrying about everyone else you are neglecting your own work.  As a result, you soon have other things to complain about as promotions pass you by, your stress level raises, and you have more "attention" drawn to you for all the wrong reasons.  

What about your marriage?  Ever notice that when you start rubber necking at all the "perfect" marriages around you that yours begins to get worse?  Should it come as a shock that if you stop paying attention to what you have in front of you that when you turn back it may be gone?

As a single person, have you ever caught yourself trying to look over your shoulder at all the things that you have done or been through that might derail any future relationship?  Are you a single mom that feels like damaged goods or a single dad that sees himself about as a marketable as the H1N1 virus? 

Do you feel like you have spent more time looking around at what is going on around you that you have lost sight of where you are even going in life?

The answer my friends comes back to looking up at what is in front of you not what is to your right, left, and especially not behind you.  If we allow Faith back into our equation and place Jesus at the front of our focus our life direction takes on new meaning.  By focusing on Him and the path He has designed for us to follow in our lives we will find ourselves moving along a much smoother road and spending less and less time in the ditches of life.  

After all, what is to your right and left is what Satan wants you to focus on, what is behind is you Christ has taken care of on the Cross, which leaves only one place to look...up and ahead of you.  

Get your eyes up and start living in the direction Christ designed for you and stop running into things that you were never meant to look at in the first place!

Last of the "Firsts"

September 21, 2008 began them and September 20, 2009 ended them.  The last "first" is finally over with as recently we celebrated the First Birthday of Parkview Christian Church's Lockport Campus.  But before we pass by this milestone I wanted to list out a few great highlights from the last year along with a few pictures as well. 

Before I do that I can't help but thank the staff of the Lockport Campus.  Beth, JoAnn, Joyce, Debbi, and Kevin have been tremendous along with the Orland Park leadership of Tim and Bill.  In addition, countless Lockport volunteers and numerous Orland Park staffers and friends have worked tirelessly this last year to make the Campus a success for Christ.  

Here is a brief highlight reel of the Campus' Year of "Firsts".

• First Sunday Service - 454 adults and children came to the services (along with our first use of CPR :) )
• First Year Average Attendance - 415 (*keep in mind the average church size in America is ~85 people)
• First Year Average Children's Attendance - Nearly 85 children each Sunday!
• First Year Total Baptism - 40 adults and children
• First Resurrection Party Attendees - 75 children
• First VBS Attendees - 123 children
• First VBS Volunteer Leaders - 105 adults
• First Adult Baptisms - Chris and Lesley Hipple 
• First Child Baptisms - The Samano Triplets (Alejandro, Jaszmin, and Miguel)
• First Birthday Party - 220 adults and children attended!

Finally one of the first verses we used to charge us up as we launched this campus was found in Proverbs 21:31 where it says "The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD".  I continue to trust in this Truth as we turn the page and look to years 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 20, 30, and so on.  We are ready for the battle but we will always give Him the victory!

Thanks to you all for such a great year and to God be all the Glory!

The Safety Seat

How many of you have heard of a “safety seat”?

 

Ok, a safety seat is a classic move in a movie theatre.  I use it all the time if I go to the movies with a buddy and want to avoid the awkward looks and inadvertent knee touch.  Oh and I used to have it used on me during pretty much every date I ever went on.

 

The whole point of the seat is to create distance between you and the other person to avoid that weird contact and the subsequent weird conversation later. 

 

It is safe to say that this is exactly what we do to God.  We purposefully create a “safety seat” between us so that we never really come in contact.  We think the space we create gives enough room to live the lives we want to live.   We keep Him at arm’s length so that if we need Him we can lean over and ask Him a question or get some help, but we keep Him far enough away that if someone walked by us they wouldn’t really know we were together. 

 

Safety seats in our lives play out in all kind of ways.

-          At work we create space between God and us with our language and crude comments

-          At home we keep our distance from God by doing the bare minimum in our marriages.

-          In our relationship with God we feel safer if we don’t every really crack open the Bible.  Ignorance is bliss..right?

 

The reasons we do this can vary from pride to selfishness to immaturity, but more than anything I think we do it out of embarrassment.  Embarrassment of what God might think if He ever found out what we filled up the gap between us with.  Embarrassed if He knew what I looked at on the internet or how I talked to my kids or how I treated my boss He would be so disappointed. 

 

We are embarrassed about how far we have strayed from Him. 

 

The problem that we face is that the more distance we put between us and Him, the longer it takes us to get back together.  Where you used to be able to lean over and check-in with Him now it seems like there is a plane flight between you and Him.  It is time to start to get to know Him again.

 

Realize that all the things that you think He doesn’t know…He already knows.  All the things you think He can’t see…He can see.  But His love for you hasn’t changed an ounce and the best way to start closing the distance between Him and you is by just saying “Here I am”.  I’m here with all my baggage, all my stuff, all my faults and even though I’m embarrassed about it I’m here to give it to you.  I’m tired of putting distance between us and I want to start knowing you more deeply and worshiping you more completely.

 

I'm tired of safety seats and I'm ready to rub elbows with the Almighty.  

What Are You Searching For?

Alright, I only have time for a short one today, but I will leave the heavy lifting to you today.

I was reading in my "quiet" time (I say "quiet" because I was doing it at Boston's Restaurant while watching Aniston, so quiet is debatable, but I digress ) today in the book of John.  If you have a Bible turn to John Chapter 6 and check it out or just read what I have below.

To set the stage, Jesus has just gotten done with two miracles.  The first was feeding 5,000 people with the lunch contents equivalent to that of a Construction worker and the second was walking on water in the middle of a Monsoon-eske storm.  Both amazing, but only one was witnessed by more than just the disciples.  The Lunch Buffet Miracle. 

The group of people about to speak were part of the 5,000 people that gathered to hear Jesus preach and feast on bread and fish just a day before.  In earlier Scripture we read that these men were convinced after seeing this miracle that Jesus was the Prophet they had been waiting for that would become king.  Knowing their intentions, Jesus retreated to a mountain by himself to avoid the situation.

Well, these men resurface the next day after they realize that the disciples and Jesus had sailed away.  This is where we pick it up in John 6:24.

"Once they crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they go into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus."

These men knew that Jesus was special and although their intentions may have been flawed as to why Jesus had came, they pursued Him nonetheless. 

My question to you is very simple; "Are you pursuing Jesus?"

Each day are you trying to learn more about Him, act more like Him, and worship Him or are you content knowing that you read about Him in the Bible once and that is good enough? 

You may have even gotten to the point where you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, but over the years your JPS (Jesus Positioning System) has been turned off.  You have decided to map your own way through life and hold on to the "Get Out of Hell Free Card" until you get the Pearly Gates.  

Friends I want to challenge you to search for Jesus, pursue Jesus, learn about Jesus, invite Jesus to in ALL of your life, worship Jesus, love Jesus, trust Jesus, and have Faith in Jesus. 

Take a minute to do an inventory of your life and your relationship with Jesus and ask yourself if you have been pursuing Jesus or avoiding Jesus. 

Now that you have rested for that minute...go get Him!

Treo 650 BC

I am the reluctant owner of a Treo 650, but it wasn't always that way. 

In fact, I remember just 3 years ago sitting in small group talking with my friends about how much they loved their Treos and being amazed with all the features it had.  At the time, I was stuck in the stone ages with the equivalent of a rotary dial cell phone and was looking to upgrade.  I mean the Treo had it all!   You could check your e-mail, surf the web, and type text messages in lighting speed.  It was the Cadillac of cell phones and I wanted it.

So for a Christmas present I got the phone and my life changed (OK that last part was for a bit of dramatic effect but you know what I mean). 

Now when you get a phone that costs more than a McDonald's Happy Meal you take good care of it.  I remember wiping the screen down after each call, buying a nice hip case for it, and charging each and every night just like the directions recommended.  I was the poster boy for Treo-care in the USA.

Fast forward to 2009 and times have changed.  The Treo is now the Saved By The Bell of the cell phone market.  It is slower, bulkier, outdated and doesn't have fruit on the outside of it if you know what I mean.  Even the friends that had once talked me into drinking the Kool-Aid have now switched to an obscure phone and have begun speaking a poor grammatical language that starts every word with the letter "i".  As a result, I had to turn in my plaque as the Treo poster boy because I now treated it like a retired NFL lineman treats his diet...poorly.

So how did it happen?  How did I go from valuing something so much to watching it get nicked, scratched, and abused? 

It is no stretch to see how we as Christians do this too. 

For most of us we can pinpoint the exact time in our lives when we accepted Christ.  At some point, we came to a very sobering realization that we were sinners, we had separated ourselves from God with our sin, and we needed Christ to restore back to God.  In most Christian's stories, it is usually from that moment when we are at the top of their spiritual high.  Unfortunately, from then on most people only seem to "loose that loving feeling" to borrow a line from the Righteous Brothers.  The excitement fades as the years grow tougher and life throws more and more at you.

Our reaction to these life waves is comical to say the least.  Instead of looking at ourselves and trying to see if our rough life is as a result of dumb mistakes we have made, dumb situations we have placed ourselves in, or sin that we ourselves committed we blame God.  We can't believe that a God that loved us would allow this to happen and it is then that many intentionally or unintentionally start to shop around for another Savior. 

Some shop in the self-esteem book aisle, others look in the success at work aisle, a popular aisle is the "misery loves company" aisle, still others even nose around in the other religion aisle to see if another god exists that fits their needs better. 

Now, to be fair there are many, many, many things in our lives that we didn't bring on ourselves and aren't a result of our stupidity.  For those I have my Fast Pass ticket punched for the line in Heaven labeled "Why God?" just like the rest of you. However, more times than not our sin results in our tough lives. 

My hope for all of us is that we come to realize the truth of James 1:2-4 when he says,

 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

In order for our Faith to have any sort of legitimacy I believe it has to be tested.  If there is no test then this life is just a big long practice.  You practice so that you can compete in the game; you develop and work at your Faith in Christ so that when it becomes tested by this world you are ready to persevere.   If you haven’t heard, the best part of competing in these games as a Christian is that in the end we always win, but sadly many never make it to the game.  They give up before the good stuff ever begins.

Don't let this happen to you. 

Don't find yourself looking to upgrade your Faith for the Bigger Better Deal that is easier and better looking.  Trust Christ.  Trust His Plan for you.  Trust that in the end you win.

Things We Get Used To

My daughter has taught me so much in the last 3 1/2 months.  I have learned to love spit-up, burp cloths, and gas induced smiles.  I am slowly beginning to like the color pink along with the little ruffles that almost every clothing designer puts on the butt of baby pants for some reason. I actually am pretty good at washing bottles and can use the world "nipple" in public while feeding her without feeling like I'm a weirdo. 

Believe it or not, I have even become used to poopy diapers. 

I should be clear, I know that right now I have it easy.  Since she is on a 100% mommy produced milk diet the diapers are mild in aroma, but what Aniston lacks in fragrance she makes up for in force.  Sometimes I think the diapers are just there for show if you know what I mean.   Because after you've seen what I've seen end up where it ends up you too would say those are like lawn decorations on a gravel front yard.  They are weak attempts at covering an enormous problem. Regardless, I have gotten used to handling the mess, the stank, and the stains. 

Getting used to things in life isn't always as easy as a nose plug and some Febreze though.  To get some insight, I purposed this question to my Facebook friends just this morning to see what answers I might get.

"What are things in your life that you have had to get used to over time?"

Here are some of the responses.

• "Moving away from my family and starting over in a new town." - Alicia
• "My parent's divorcing when I was 10." - Lisa
• "Being diagnosed with Celiac Disease and having to totally change my diet and life." - Suzi
• "Dumb liberals" - Mark (thanks Mark :) )
• "No" - Nicole (again thanks Nicole :) )
• "Sleep deprivation" - Kerri
• "Getting old!  I feel like I'm 25 but the 'ole body just doesn't react the same!"  -Courtney
• "My mom being in a vegetative state for almost 4 years." - Sandi
• "Being diagnosed with Bells Palsy." - Donna
• "Being a Dad." - Scott
• "Bad eyesight." - Laura
• "The death of my daughter...still not over it." - Becky

There are things in life that don't always have a quick adjustment period.  You may spend years getting to the point where you can simply talk about them let alone begin to deal with them. However, as difficult as it may be we eventually get used to the situation, circumstance, or set-backs.  We pick ourselves up by our bootstraps and carry on.

As Christians, we carry on with only the strength Christ can provide as Philippians 4:13 reminds us.  This is sometimes the most miraculous thing God does in our life if we really think about it.  He allows us to move past our pain in our current situation and shows us the joys He still has for us in this life.  Amazing! 

My caution for all of us however is that we not get used to something else in our lives...sin.

I see it far too often in my life and in others' when it becomes easy to lose that "man this is wrong to be doing" feeling in our stomachs to "it isn't that big of a deal compared to 'that'" feeling.  Our hearts become calloused to our sin and somehow we just get used to it.  If we aren't careful we will stray far from what God intends for us and not even realize it because our sin has become part of our routine.

God's strength has the power to free us from our situations, but Satan is in the business of getting us comfortable with our situations and enslaving us to them.  If he can get you to believe that your sin is "just what you do" or "it is who you are" then he can continue to feed you lies and keep you from the life God intended for you.

My challenge to you and to me is to look at every aspect of our lives honestly and see where we have gotten used to how we do things.  It may be in your work ethic, parenting, habits, language, or friends.  It may be in the food you eat, the drinks you drink, or the TV you watch.  It could be in the relationships you had or the marriage you have given up on.  Perhaps digging deeper you may find that you have gotten used to the relationship you have or don't have with God. 

Whatever you unearth in the excavating of your life you have two choices.  Keep doing what you are doing and continue to be comfortable or get a little uncomfortable and start letting the strength of God change you.

The latter will make you work harder, but in the end you will see that getting used to what God wants in your life will always makes things smell a lot better in the end.