Chicken Soup Courtesy of Patton

“Our job is not to figure out the how. The how will show up out of a commitment and belief in the what.”

–Jack Canfield

Wow, this is a powerful quote! Who would have guessed that Jack Canfield, the architect of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books had a General Patton streak?
I happened to see this quote today on someone else's blog and it struck a chord in me for a couple of reasons.

First, when I woke up this morning, I was headachy, tired and a little groggy. I couldn't remember what day it was and when I did, I was not a happy camper. I've been trying to put together a large project at work and as my deadline draws closer, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

When the Lord first gave me this vision, I was thrilled and immediately saw myself at the top of the mountain-my goal accomplished.
But, this morning, I saw tiny little me back at base camp, staring wearily up at the summit, wondering why I started this climb to begin with. As I ate my breakfast, I entertained the liberating thought of telling my boss I was calling the project off.

Imagine my surprise when, shortly after arriving at work, I began reading a colleague's blog and saw the Canfiled quote waving like a matador's crimson cape in the page's margin ! God was crying, "Toro!" (Loose translation-"What you heard at breakfast was a bunch of bull from the Devil himself !" I guess God uses Chicken Soup not only to comfort the body, but to soothe the spirit as well.

You see, God never says, "Oops!" He gave me this vision and,along with it, the ability to see it through. I know the guy in the red suit (Satan, not Santa) would just relish the opportunity to deprive me of the blessing of completing this project,not to mention keeping the Lord from getting all the glory again!

Back to the quote. It says, don't worry about the "how" of your project. Commit yourself to the project itself and the "hows" will solve themselves. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:19) If He gives me a vision, He, in His graciousness, will equip me with anything I need to see that vision through.

All that ?

Can you walk and chew gum at the same time? How about rub your tummy and pat your head simultaneously? It's all about multitasking, isn't it sistahfriend?

Ever since the women's lib movement of the 70's sold us the "you can have it all' bill of goods, we have no choice but to multitask. That is unless we sprout more arms and being a creationist, I don't see our species going in that direction anytime soon !

Seriously, though, getting back to that women's lib thing, what ding-a-ling came up with that?


I watch old shows like "I Love Lucy" and I think Mrs Ricardo had it pretty good. Get Ricky's breakfast, send little Ricky off to school and spend the day cleaning and churning out clean clothes for everyone. Sit down, have a smoke, play some bridge with the women's club and have a home-cooked meal for the band leader when he came home. Ah, the simple life.

But, we had to have equal rights, careers, TV dinners, McDonald's and daycare. Heck, we even demanded and got our own cigarettes ! You've come a long way, Baby.

But wait, I don't remember voting on all that stuff ! Here's my version of women's lib:

There are some days when I am so rushed and overscheduled, I don't even know what day it is.

I fight the clock so much, I'm considering flying to Washington to testify against Daylight Savings time! How dare they take those 60 minutes from me-that is a perfectly good hour and I've already got plans for it too.

There are some nights when I am so exhausted I could cry and so mentally wired, I can't sleep. I've found myself asking the Lord to come to me in my dreams and give me the answers to the problems I couldn't solve the day before. (Sometimes He does !)

When my son was born, sixteen years ago, my husband and I decided I needed to be a stay at home mom. We had a five-year-old starting school and we had waited nearly 6 years to have our second child so that I could stay home for awhile.

I remember being 8 months pregnant with Joshua and asking some Christian friends for their counsel on whether or not I should quit my job.(At the time, I was making $13 an hour.)

I said, "Whenever I pray about this, the Lord keeps giving me the scripture that says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4) Our good friend, Doug, replied, " Chris, who do you think put those desires there in the first place?" He also reminded us of the verse that follows, "Commit your way to the Lord , trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. " We had to make this choice for our family and then trust the Lord to keep His promises. And He did.

I treasured every day I spent with those children. My family was my first ministry and I reveled in that. I thoroughly enjoyed doing the housework, and cooking and grocery shopping because I knew I was in God's will.

The Lord has taken us down a different path and I've been working part-time for the past nine years. I have homeschooled my son since Kindergarten. He is now a junior.

My point is that I still treasure the time I spend with my family, but it isn't as carefree as it used to be. I still have to do the laundry and cook and shop for groceries along with planning our school lessons and deal with job issues. I am blessed to have a job that I love and all of our needs are met.
So I CAN have it all, right?

Well, if ALL means exhaustion, mental fatigue and a constant whisper in my ear saying that someone at home or work didn't get my best, then yes, I am the proud owner of ALL.

Any woman who says she loves leaving her baby with someone else while she goes off to work, or that she is more fulfilled because she has a career, is either lying or kidding herself.

In fairness to my gendermates, I understand how difficult it is to make a living. It takes 2 incomes to eat out, have a yearly vacation or give your kids a happy Christmas. I know this.
I'm just asking for women to admit that maybe our moms and grandmas had it a little better-not easier, mind you-just better.

Holy Red Light !

" Be ye holy; for I am holy. "
1Peter 1:16

The other morning I was sitting at a red light, my mind already lost in the jungle of what lay ahead that day. As I started across the intersection, my daughter calmly said,"You do know the light's still red, right?" As God would have it, there were no cars headed my way and I repented to the last half of the intersection.

Twice last week, I inadvertently entered the carpool lane on the freeway onramp when it was just little 'ol me in the car. I asked for forgiveness and prayed the Lord would not strike me dead before I got to work. (Obviously, he granted my request.)

Yesterday, I told a small lie to get out of an unpleasant commitment.

No, you're not reading an excerpt from The Enquirer. (I'd be confessing to People magazine for one thing-I do have some class.)
I am making my sordid life public for 3 reasons;

1. After searching high and low, I just can't find an altar at which to offer my sacrifice.
2. Living in a small apartment, and working for a church has left me with neither the space nor cash to keep any livestock to use for said offering.
3. To remind myself and whoever is reading this that my Father still loves me.

I try everyday to be holy, but I frequently mess up. Heck, donuts are always holy, but even they can often be crummy too. (Go ahead and groan !)

I was watching this old sitcom called "Family Affair," in which Uncle Bill spends hours trying to get his 6 year -old twin wards to keep quiet and stay out of trouble , so he can get some work done. (He's an engineer, so in this episode, he was blueprinting an extension to the Great Wall of China or something.)

Anyway, he finally decides to send the kids go off to camp for the weekend . Both he and his manservant, Mr. French, find themselves miserably lonely for the kids and eventually venture to the camp to bring them back. The first thing the kids do when they get home is break an expensive Ming vase. Though, Uncle Bill's work is once again interrupted, he smiles when his nephew asks, "Aren't you mad?" Uncle Bill's reply: "No, I'm not mad . It was just a silly old vase."

Before he sent them away, Uncle Bill wanted the twins to behave like adults. Not an easy task for 6 year-olds , but the kids tried because they loved their uncle and desired to please him.

I love Jesus and my strongest desire is to please Him, but boy, am I glad that when I break the laws of the California Highway Patrol, He gives me grace. I'm also thankful he keeps local Law Enforcement distracted long enough to miss my criminal activity.