It's that time again...

My aunt sent this to me today - I thought it was a good story to prove an important point.  Read on...


While walking down the street one day a Corrupt Senator was tragically hit by a car and died.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the Senator.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from the higher ups. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really?, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the Senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They played a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and the finest champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who is having a good time dancing and telling jokes.

They are all having such a good time that before the Senator realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises.

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens in heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him, "Now it's time to visit heaven..."

So, 24 hours passed with the Senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The Senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell...

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulders.

"I don't understand," stammers the Senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil smiles at him and says,

"Yesterday we were campaigning, Today, you voted.."

Vote wisely on November 2, 2010

Revelation

It has taken me a long time to realize this - but, I don't think that I was born to be a leader.  I have been fighting this my whole life.  I wanted to move up, "prove" myself, have people respect me, etc....I have learned recently to be careful what you wish for.

Lately, I have come to realize that I was much happier when I didn't have the responsibilities that come with being a so-called leader.  Before, I thought that I needed to strive to move up to the next level, that I had more to offer that couldn't be achieved where I was.  Now - I am starting to learn that no matter what level you are at, you can be as effective or more effective than  if you were the CEO of the company.  It all depends on what gifts you have that you can use for the greater good.

I don't think I am gifted with leadership.  I have discovered that I don't like being a supervisor over anyone.  It's not that I've had a bad experience (I just work with 1 person who is an easy employee.) - I just am not comfortable with it and don't believe that I am good at it.

I believe that I am good at what I do as an analyst.  I enjoy working on my own and knowing that I have done a good job at a task - and I get great satisfaction out of that.  I think there is something to be said for being a hard-worker and getting the task completed correctly and efficiently.  And, no matter how much I have tried to fight against it - this is how I am wired.

My grandfather once said that in life there are work horses and there are show horses.  I am wired to be a work horse...I am beginning to embrace that.  It is not easy all the time - but I am beginning to realize that what I thought I wanted for myself, may not be where God has gifted me to be.

Soccer with Estin

Estin is in the middle of soccer season.  He loves soccer.  It is a new sport for my family - I grew up with a dad that was a football coach and a brother that played football and baseball.  I have never watched soccer other than watching Estin the last few seasons that he has played.

We were at Estin's game yesterday, and had a great time.  It is so neat to see him growing up and progressing in the game.  He is learning to strategize to figure out how to get a goal or to determine how to prevent the other team from making a goal.  It is neat to see him do that on the field.

In the game yesterday, Estin scored 3 goals. Two of the three were from great passes from his teammate - Cornelius.  He was so into the game and so excited with the goals that he made.  I loved seeing the enjoyment that he got from playing the sport.  What a great day in the life of a kid!

I am looking forward to the rest of the season and seeing how far the team will progress in their skills together!

Cheers! Where everyone knows your name....

At our church, we have small groups instead of Sunday School.  I absolutely love this concept!  I have enjoyed both of the small groups in which we have been involved.  A small group meeting inside someone's home is an intimate setting where everyone can let their guard down and really get to know the other individuals in their group.

Someone once said to me that they really don't have to let people in their class get to know them - they can only let them know the parts they want them to know.  I think this is exactly the opposite of what a small group environment should be.  A small group is a place where you feel free to be yourself and not have others judge you.  You get to live life together.  And - you also conduct Bible study.

Our church is a big church - but it has been such a blessing to be in a small group.  We can feel part of a smaller community within the church, and that has been great.

Difficult Road Ahead

A few years ago, my dad started showing signs that something wasn't right.  He wasn't acting like himself...so he and mom started going to doctors.  About 18 months ago, he was finally diagnosed with PSP - Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.  It is a neurological disease that effects your muscle functions, autonomic body functions, and other brain functions.  To be honest, all I know is the stuff that is effecting him.  I have never researched it on the internet, because I am scared of what I will find; and I really don't want to think about it.

The last 6 months have been really hard on both of my parents.  Daddy has really progressed with the disease and mom, as any wife would, is having a hard time seeing this happen to him.  My brother said it best, when he said he didn't understand why dad had a disease that he couldn't even fight.  You can fight cancer....but you can't fight this....you just have to sit and watch it slowly take your loved one away.

It's tough....each time we see them, there is a decline of some sort - it's just been more of a decline lately.  They were able to come visit us for Estin's 7th birthday 2 weeks ago.  I am so thankful they were able to come, and will be thankful for every visit that I can have with my dad.

Please pray for my parents during this difficult time in both of their lives.  It is hard on our entire family - but especially the two of them.  Daddy is currently recovering from a fall, which broke a rib, so he has been in some pain lately from that.

I am doing great work here, and I cannot come down

We just ended a study with our community group entitled Discovering God's Will, by Andy Stanley.  I thought the study was okay, not great, until the last lesson.  Now - I think the end was worth the wait.  The prior week, Andy was talking about vision and making a general plan for how you would like for your life to be...then let God shape and mold the plan into what He wants it to be.  In this final lesson, Andy is talking about learning to say no to the things in life that do not help you achieve your vision instead of doing everything that everyone asks you to do.  Then, he brings in the story of Nehemiah. 

Nehemiah is building a wall in Jerusalem that he has traveled about 800 miles to build - because he felt a burden to do so (a calling from God).  He is building the wall to protect the city.  There are many that oppose the wall, and there are some that decide to lure Nehemiah away from the wall so that they can harm him and he will not be able to complete it.  They act friendly and send a messenger to say, "Come, let us meet together in one of the villages." (Let's meet on neutral ground.)  Nehemiah senses that they intend to harm him, and responds, "I am carrying on a great project, and cannot go down."  Four times they come back, and four times he sends the messenger away with the same reply.

Decisions that we make in life to get involved in various activities don't necessarily lead us into such a dire situation that Nehemiah would have been in if he would have accepted the invitation.  But, it has to make you wonder -  How many activities are you involved in that do not move you forward in the way you want your life to be in 5, 10, 20 years?  What is your vision for your relationship with God, your children's future, and your relationship with your spouse?  Shouldn't those be the most important visions for our life? 

I have thought about this since we had our group meeting Wednesday.  I intend to write down some visions for my life...and be conscious about the choices that I make in the future.  It is okay to say "No" any time you feel the need; because it may just be that "I am doing Great Work Here, and I Cannot come down!"

Chinese Fortunes

For Memorial Day weekend, my parents and grandparents are in town at our house.  My grandfather loves to go to New China Buffet....so we go every time he is here.  We went tonight and all of us got good fortunes in our cookies...which were actually pretty true!  Grandmother had a fortune about having her greatest wish come true - don't know what better wish you could ask for than to be married for 60-years (they just celebrated that milestone in March).  My grandfather's fortune was about having a smart, loving, and beautiful family.....which, of course, is true!  LOL.  It was a great dinner together.  We even had a good laugh....

Estin was attempting to use chopsticks to eat.  Dad was sitting next to him at the end of the table, and he says, "Jenn! Fork!" I asked him if he wanted another fork and he said yes.  So, I give him an extra fork - wondering the whole time why he needed two forks.  He then sets the fork beside Estin and says, "I'm tired of watching him!"  He was tired of watching Estin mess with the chopsticks and he just wanted him to eat.  You kind of had to be there....but it was a good moment.  Especially because daddy can't talk much anymore with  his disease....it was nice to see a part of my old daddy come out - I haven't seen that in a while, and I've missed it.