"Lonely Weirdo"

As soon as I read Matt's Valentine's card that he gave me this year, I just knew this was going to be "blog material"! I was ahead of the game this year. I bought Matt's Valentine's card at Christmas time. I saw it, liked it, so decided to save it until this February. The only problem with buying early like that is taking the chance of misplacing it. Sure enough, that happened to me. I finally found the card the day before Valentine's day, so no sweat. Hand delivered right on time!

The following is what my card said to him:

"My Husband...

the most special person in my life-

the one I can count on

to be there for me,

to believe in me,

and to care about me.

Today and always,

I want you to know

that I'm proud of the life

we've made together-

I'm proud of the wonderful man you are."

Happy Valentine's Day with All My Love

And I will spare you the mushy stuff I wrote after that! Sweet card, huh? I thought so.

Now then...the following is Matt's card to me:

"Before I met you I was a lonely weirdo...

now I'm no longer lonely!"

Happy Valentine's Day

Hmmmm, um, yeah, great card Matt! I will say that he was so excited to give me this card that he begged me to open it a day early (which I didn't). He kept telling me how much I would just LOVE this card and how it would make me laugh (which it totally did!). I laughed and I laughed and I still am laughing as I type.

I share this with you, because those of you that KNOW my husband will think this card is hysterical! Not just because of the words, but because if you know Matt even just a little bit, then you will know that the card he picked out for me truly reflects him. Don't get me wrong...I am not saying he is a weirdo...well, maybe just a little...but this really does reflect his sense of humor. A lot of people don't get him. But I do. Because I KNOW him.

How many of you really GET God? How many of you can honestly say that you KNOW him? I admit, I know of God, I know some things about him, but there are a lot of things I don't really know about him. Sure, I know that Jesus loves me because the Bible tells me so. I know that. I know that God sent his only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for me, and for you. I know that. I know that God wants us to love him, and to love our neighbors. I know that. I know that someday, those of us who have committed our lives to him, will go to Heaven. I know that. I know all of those things, but yet, sometimes I feel as though I don't really know him as intimately as I should. You can ask me a million questions about my husband and hopefully, I would get them all right. Because I know him, and I know him intimately. (On second thought, don't ever ask me what the names of all of his tools are in our garage...not a clue! He knows tho')

Have you heard of the song called "I want to know you" by Sonicflood? The chorus goes something like this:

"I want to know you

I want to hear your voice

I want to know you more

I want to touch you

I want to see your face

I want to know you more"

That's how I want to know God...I want to really know him, I want to be able to hear his voice and not mine. I wanna know him more. I want to be able to see him and do what I know he would have me do. I wanna know him more. I wanna know him more personally, like I do my husband or my best girlfriends. The way to do that? You gotta spend time with him. I am guilty of pushing him aside to do other things that I want or need to do.

After reading the card that Matt gave to me, I thought to myself, "It's just like Matt to get a card like this"...and I mean that in a very good way. It's just him. I get him. That's the humor and personality that God blessed him with. The card was so funny to me because I know Matt. I want to get to the point with God so that I can say, "It's just like God to do something like that". That only comes with truly knowing him.

FYI: Those of you that have already accepted Jesus as your Lord and Leader of your life, I'm excited for you. You may still be a "weirdo"...but at least you're not lonely because you have God on your side!!! :)

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." Ephesians 1:17

"Can't she just do it for me?"

Last night we took our oldest daughter, Macayla, to the emergency room. For some reason, our girls have been sick a lot this year and seem to just get over whatever they have, only to turn around again and catch something else. She had come home from school complaining of a stomach ache and was very hot to the touch, so I took her temp. At that time it was 103.6 but spiked to 104.2 later that evening (even with ibuprofen!). Needless to say, the high temperature concerned us, so we were out the door within minutes. So the 4 of us loaded up and headed off to the hospital. My friend and neighbor, Nicki, came a little later and took Rachel home with her.

But before Rachel left, the 4 of us were sitting in the room waiting on the doctor to come in and take a look at Macayla. After checking her out, the dr. mentioned that we needed to check for strep throat and go ahead and draw some blood. I immediately looked at Macayla because I knew what reaction she would have. She instantly had a look of fear and concern on her extremely flushed face. She had already been through this same thing last fall, so the idea of drawing more blood didn't thrill her too much. The dr. told us that the guy would be in shortly. I moved over by Macayla to console her and let her know "it will all be okay and we need to do this so we know what is going on with you". Do you think that helped? No way! Macayla said two things at that point....1) "Can't we just leave right now?" and 2) "Since sissy and I look a lot alike, can she just do it for me?"

I know what you are thinking....you're thinking how rude and unloving on Macayla's part to want her sister to go through all that pain for her! I did tell her that she wouldn't really want Rachel going through that, but hey, if I would've had a temperature that high, I just might have thought the same thing! After all, if you've ever had kids, then you know that "labor" isn't exactly a picnic. It would be great if "someone else could do it for me", knowing full well that no one else can and I have to go through that pain myself if I want to see my little miracle bundle. Her dad explained that if Rachel would do it for her, then it would be her blood and the doctors wouldn't know what was going on with Macayla. Do you think that helped? Negative!

Matt held Macayla the whole time she had to endure the pain, while Rachel sat on my lap. Immediately, Rachel turned her head, pulled her coat over her eyes, and put her hands over her ears because she didn't want to see the blood or hear the possible cries that would come from her sister. I don't blame her. I don't like to watch either. All I could do was just pray for Macayla while she had to endure that little bit of pain.

Hmmm....the events of last night got me thinking. Aren't you thankful that Jesus didn't say, "hey, can't someone ELSE just do this for me?"..."I mean, hey, can't we just leave right now?" Of course He didn't say these things. He shed HIS blood for you and for me. He went through that pain and suffering and died on the cross for all of mankind. Amazing! It needed to be done and only He could do it...for us. God in His wisdom knew that...amazing love, how could this be!!!

As Rachel sat there eyes closed and hands over ears not wanting to see any blood or hear any pain coming from her sister, the thought that came to me was this.....I wonder how Jesus' mother, Mary, felt seeing the cruelty done to her son. The afflicted pain and agony would've been too much for her. I imagine her wailing out. I imagine tears beyond comprehension. I imagine levels of hurt that I have never been through in my entire life. I imagine her covering her eyes and ears not wanting to see the pain on her son's face or hear the screams that would come from each nail....the nails meant for you and for me. I imagine those things, yet, I cannot truly imagine ever experiencing something like that.

I don't know about you, but I'm guilty of thinking that the hurt and pain I go through in life is so bad. I mean people just don't understand. After all, my hurt is worse than yours. And I hate to admit it, but sometimes when people hurt me, I want them to go through some of that pain as well. And when I'm going through it, I just want to pull my covers over my head, close my eyes and cover my ears so I don't have to think about all the pain going on around me. Good news...Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28.

The next time the pain of trials come your way, consider it joy. Yes, you heard me right. These words are just as much for me as they are for you. Instead of wanting someone else to go through it for you, consider this as a way that you can struggle through it and be better on the other side of it. Jesus did it for us. Let's be thankful for that.