The Analogy Of The Dishes

This morning, I got up and was doing some cleaning and going through some articles that had been given to me that I planned to put in a garage sale. In the stack, were a set of dishes that I did not need and planned to sale, but they had something on all of them- some kind of oxidation or ? I wasn't sure what it was, but I threw them in the dishwasher, just knowing they would come out clean. They did not. I thought- what in the world is on them that the dishwasher would not remove? Regardless, no one would want them that way so I was about to throw them out when a thought occurred to me... what if I could wash them by hand and scrub that stuff off of them? It was worth a try so I opted to do that first before just tossing them out. As I preceded to scrub, an analogy came to mind. Now anyone who really knows me knows how I LOVE analogies. Especially my girls. ;) As I took that extra time and effort to scrub and try to remove the yucky substance from these dishes, I thought... how often do we do that with people in life? And what if God chose to do that with US? What if He looked and saw all the *yucky substance* in our life and decided just to *toss* us out without giving the special time and effort that it takes to bring us back to looking new again? And not only that, but just because those dishes have something that is clearly affecting the OUTSIDE of their appearance, they were clean on the part that you would actually eat from. So how often do we disregard people because their outside is a little rough, without ever truly giving the INSIDE a chance? Isn't that where it really matters? Does it really matter that the outside of those dishes don't look spotless? Or does it truly only matter that they would still serve their purpose in being good enough to eat from?

God truly works in mysterious ways sometimes, at least I see it that way. Sometimes He speaks to me through butterflies, sometimes through presents, sometimes through ice cream and, yes- sometimes- even through dishes. ;)

Have a blessed day, all!
Melanie

Happy 7th Birthday, Kalann Joy! :)

For those of you who don't know, here is the story of our precious *baby butterfly*...

"You Have Touched So Many Hearts"

~ Kalann Joy ~

At the time of writing this (5/20/02), our family is in a very deep valley of emotion, grief, and- at the same time- hope. Five days ago at a routine sonogram, our baby- Kalann Joy was diagnosed (by my OB/GYN) as having "anencephaly". I looked at her with a blank look because I had never heard of this- to me it was just another medical term that I didn't understand. Unfortunately, in the days to come, I would learn all too well what it was. "Anencephaly" is a condition that basically means that when the baby is developing, at about 3-4 weeks after conception, the neural tube does not close as it should, therefore, the baby's brain does not fully develop.

There are a million ways to describe what I felt that day- disbelief, shock, grief, devastation, denial, hope.. and many more. We went to church that night because there was nowhere else I'd rather be than in the Lord's house. The baby and I got prayed over and anointed with oil and I prayed that at the sono the next day with the specialist, he would see that it wasn't true. Unfortunately, he saw the same thing, as did 3 others that viewed it. The worst was that we could see it, too. Now I wasn't just dealing with trusting what 1 Dr had diagnosed or 10 Dr's.. Jimmie and I could see that black, dark blankness above our baby's precious eyes where her little brain should be. It hit me like the world had just ended. I was devastated and began crying uncontrollably.

The day before, I had been so weakened by my emotions and Jimmie had been so strong for me- this day would be no different. I remember moments of feeling bad for him because I couldn't find it within me to be strong for him- if but for just a moment. The only time I saw him breakdown was when we told our 6-year old, Brianne, after the second sono. I had taken both of our girls out of school the day before to go see their little brother or sister on the screen. Instead of seeing the baby, they were sent out of the room and instead of being told what we were having, we were given a death sentence. It took everything within me to keep it from them 'til the next day when it was *confirmed*. Later that day we picked Brianne up from school a few minutes early to take her home and tell her. While we were at the school, we told the Principal so that they could be on the lookout for any changed behaviour at school. She said she would get the counselor to being grief counseling immediately if they noticed anything. At any rate, we brought Bri home and showed her the video of the baby's sono and then told her that the Dr's had said that the baby didn't have a brain and, therefore, she would die. Bri looked blank at first, but then it was like reality dawned and she- just like us- started trying to understand. She asked why Jesus couldn't just make her have a brain. I remember that question being the one that hit me the hardest because it was the same one that I had. How do you answer that? I told her all I knew to tell her.. I didn't know why. But even if she didn't have one on this earth, Jesus would give her one eventually and she would be perfect in heaven. Not that I believe that you need a brain in heaven, but it was what she could understand. On this earth, her baby sister could not live without a brain, but in heaven she would be able to live. I honestly don't remember all the other questions or comments that she made.. I just remember the look on her face, one that I will never forget. In her short little 6 years of life, I had never had to see that look. She was just as heartbroken as we were and it was so painful because we couldn't save her from that pain. Her Daddy absolutely fell apart at this point. To see his baby girl so torn up was too much for him to bear. We didn't even think to give her hope for a miracle or to have her pray at this point, we were just dealing with what we were told was *inevitable*. Some would question if we should've told her at all or if we should've- later- asked her to pray for a miracle. All I can say to those people is that I have always tried to be honest and upfront with my children and this wasn't the time to change that. My children understand and know that my faith and belief in God far surpasses anything that we experience on this earth and had I done any less than to have them hope and pray for a miracle, but to prepare for the worst.. I wouldn't have been true to myself or to them. They count on that from me.

Later that evening, after Faith returned from a choir competition, we told her. We also showed her the video first, we did this because we wanted the baby to be real to them- not just something in my tummy that they couldn't identify with. She cried alot, but she didn't ask questions much.. just said- over and over- how unfair it was. I had to agree. But how can we say it's not fair for us to experience this or feel the pain of losing a child when so many others have had to deal with this very same thing? What makes us so special that we should be excluded from such pain? If there's anything that I've learned in this life it's that it is NOT fair! There is no such thing as fairness. Why do some children grow up in normal, wonderful homes with great parents and other children are abused? Is that fair? What I've discovered- more than ever- is that it does no good to question why. We can ask why and I think God understands our need to question why, after all He created us.. but it doesn't mean we'll ever know why. And does it really matter to know why anyway? It won't change what is. Does the why of it really help diminish our pain? I don't think it would. *Faith* is believing when you have no reason to believe. I preach faith to my children and others, I even named my child Faith, but if I don't believe what I say I believe then my words are nothing more than lies. So I believe, I hope, I have faith. I pray for a miracle. I wake up in the middle of the night- numerous times- trying to believe that it's all a horrific dream and then it becomes real to me and I pray some more. I believe that Kalann's spirit communicates with me. She hadn't been very active at all until 2 days before the sono appt and she's been very active ever since. Coincidence? I don't think so. I felt that she was telling me something. Before I could even comprehend what the Dr was trying to get me to do by "inducing", I came home and collapsed on the bed in a heap of tears and she started moving and kicking within me. I felt like she was trying to plead with me not to *get rid of* her. Anyone who knows me knows that this would never be an option for me anyway. God put her within me and I'm her life-line right now. If God wants her, He will have to literally remove the breath from her because I refuse to. So we're in this for the long haul and, in the meantime, we'll pray furiously for a miracle. Noone can take that from me. And when it's all said and done, if God chooses not to heal her and she goes home to be with Him.. I will know that I've done all I could do.. and that's all I can do. We have alot of wonderful, loving supportive people around us.. family, friends, church family- they've all been so incredible. If you are any of them, thank you.. from the bottom of our hearts. It DOES ease some of the pain to know you are supporting us and praying for us. God, give us all strength....

Casual Christianity? Right On!!

This morning's message in church really hit home for me. I love a Preacher who ISN'T "P.C." and ISN'T afraid to "step on your toes". Preaching shouldn't be about the "fluff". If you're not being convicted, if you're not feeling conviction stir within you, if you can't see your sins in the message- there is something wrong. I loved this...

* drinking out of your "Jesus Fan Club" mug... $13
* eating a "test-a-mint"... 50 cents
* wearing your WWJD bracelet... $4
* showing off your Christian t-shirt... $15
* a perfectly placed Icthus (Christian fish) on your car... $7

... having merely the APPEARANCE of a Christian... WORTHLESS.



An author named George Barna wrote a book called "The 7 Faith Tribes". From a Christian perspective, perhaps Mr. Barna doesn't have the best approach, but his research and facts are still worth looking into. Beyond that- regardless of his intent or motives- he makes very valid points. He determined that there were 2 types (or "tribes", if you will) of Christianity and that when interviewing people for this book, THEY THEMSELVES classified themselves in one of the two following categories...


"Casual Christianity" and "Captivated Christianity"


Here's where it gets good and here's where toes get stepped on. :)


"CASUAL Christianity" is the flip-flop style of Christianity... and it's one of the most dangerous lies of the enemy. It's the "pick and choose what I want of CHRIST and pick and choose what I want of the WORLD and make my *PERFECT PACKAGE DEAL* of Christianity. Who wouldn't want that? Sounds great, right? I can still do the things I want of the flesh, still fit in with the world, still have my *fun* AND "serve Jesus"! I can party on Friday and go to church on Sunday. I can be in a crowd of people through the week and do whatever they do, not be set apart, not let people see the Christ in me and then give myself to God and the church on the weekend. Half Christian, half world. How do they coexist? Do they? No. They do not. And yet a whopping 66% (2/3 of the Christian population) classified themselves this way! Astounding. How does this work? When the very idea of Christianity is to be TRANSFORMED. The definition of the word "transformed" is:

to change in form, appearance, or structure;

to change in condition, nature, or character; convert.

and my personal favorite "to metamorphosize"!


So tell me something... when a caterpillar goes through metamorphosis and becomes a butterfly, can it ever go back to being a caterpillar? Even if it could, why would it want to? It has been TRANSFORMED into a BEAUTIFUL butterfly! Why in the world would it ever want to go back to being a simple little caterpillar? That would be ludicrous. And yet we try to do it all the time. Or we DO. When we became Christians, there was (or should have been) a RADICAL transformation. Now let's look at the word "radical".

thoroughgoing or extreme,
a person who holds or follows strong convictions or extreme principles;

How "RADICAL" is your Christian walk? How EXTREME? Do people see your RADICAL, EXTREME following of Christ? If not, why not? It should be evident. You shouldn't HAVE to wear a WWJD bracelet or a Christian t-shirt or have a Christian fish symbol on your car- your OUTSIDE SELF should be EVIDENT of what's on the INside. Is it?

Your deeds/works do NOT save you, but the LACK of deeds/works reflect your incompleteness on the INside. If you struggle with something- an outwardly sin- there is a direct correlation with that outwardly sin and what is going on on the inside.

We are called "the Bride of Christ" and yet we *cheat* on Him all the time. Can you imagine what your relationship with your spouse would be like if you gave them the same time and devotion that you give to Christ? What if you only talked to THEM a couple of times a week? Probably wouldn't work, right? What if you were only faithful to THEM a couple of times a week and the rest of the week, did whatever you wanted with whomever you wanted? Your relationship would be doomed to fail under those conditions. So what makes us think we can give only that to Christ and it be acceptable? What makes us think that the limited time and attention we give to Him will be enough to sustain our relationship with Christ? Does it?

Pastor Seth gave a great analogy of a rose. When you buy roses at the store, on the corner, from the florist- wherever- it's beautiful and smells good and is still alive, right? Or is it? If you leave that same beautiful, perfect rose that smells so good for any length of time without water and care- what will happen to it? It will die. And if let for a long time, it will start to smell. You cannot see any of the beauty that rose once held when it was still alive. The thing is... once you purchased or picked that rose- it was already in the process of dying. It was in that process as soon as you (or whoever) detached it from the rose bush that gave it life. Jesus said I am the vine and you are the branches- what did he mean by this? The same as the rose analogy. If a branch gets detached from the vine, it is cut off and it dies. We cannot be cut off from Christ and still "live".

We are under a period of grace and the Bible says there will come a time when that grace will end. And there will come a day when some will appear before Him and will say Lord, Lord and will tell of all the things they did in "His" name and He will say- depart from me... I never knew you. What a shockening day of awareness that will be for those that THOUGHT they were doing all the right things, saying all the right things, living like the Church of Sardis in Revelations 3. I'm pretty sure they were shocked by that, too. Our period of grace is running out and time is of the essence... will you wait? Can you afford to risk it? Why would you want to? The fruit we bear MUST resemble that of Christ. It is our birthright, it is our inheritance. Our desire should be for that. It should not be to be able to get away with whatever we can of living in the world and of the world and doing the little bit we *THINK* we'll get us there. First, it's a deception to think that way. Second, it is a selfish, self-centered way of living. And it's not representative of Christ.

It is so easy to get bogged down in the day to day of living and just going about our daily lives, getting bound by our problems and struggles and whatever is going on in our lives at the time. I understand, I do it everyday. I have many things I'm struggling with right now. But satan would have it that I get so wound up in all that that I forget what my purpose here truly is, what I am called to do in this life. It is NOT allow those things to overtake me and captivate my mind and attention away from Him. He IS the core of my being, He IS the very essence of my existence. I should be showing that... always. So should you...

be blessed!
- Melanie

Do I Trust You?

Sometimes my little heart can't understand
What's in Your will, what's in Your plan.
So many times I'm tempted to ask You why,
But I can never forget it for long.
Lord, what You do could not be wrong.
So I believe You, even when I must cry.
Do I trust You, Lord?
Does the river flow?
Do I trust You, Lord?
Does the north wind blow?
You can see my heart,
You can read my mind,
And You got to know
That I would rather die
Than to lose my faith
In the One I love.
Do I trust You, Lord?
Do I trust You?

I know the answers, I've given them all.
But suddenly now, I feel so small.
Shaken down to the cavity in my soul.
I know the doctrine and theology,
But right now they don't mean much to me.
This time there's only one thing I've got to know.

Do I trust You, Lord?
Does the robin sing?
Do I trust You, Lord?
Does it rain in spring?
You can see my heart,
You can read my mind,
And You got to know
That I would rather die
Than to lose my faith
In the One I love.
Do I trust You, Lord?
Do I trust You?

I will trust You, Lord, when I don't know why.
I will trust You, Lord, till the day I die.
I will trust You, Lord, when I'm blind with pain!
You were God before, and You'll never change.
I will trust You.
I will trust You.
I will trust You, Lord.

("Do I Trust You" by Twila Paris)