A Challenge to honesty

Today... I admit that I already failed this challenge today, so I will have to do this and another one tomorrow.  My challenge was to write down every time I spoke in an unkind manner.  Now, I, of all people, understand the urge / desire / compulsion to use less than loving ways of communication, ESPECIALLY to the short people that run around you and on more than one occasion test your patience.  But that does only serves as an excuse from speaking unkindly. 
Christ always spoke truth in a kind way.  It wasn't necessarily easier to hear, but yelling at everyone like a maniac to drive His point home was probably not His preferred manner of speaking.  So why do I use it so often?  In order to be an example to my children and husband, not to mention my neighbors (some of whom probably don't know Christ) I need to be a living example of the Gospel that changes lives. 

But why write it down? Because you will blush and probably be humbled to your knees once it becomes evident just how frequently unkind words are spoken.  Discipline and correction do not need to come out of frustration, but out of love and a concern for the recipient. Yelling rarely communicates this point in a proper manner.

Blessings to you and yours!

The forgotten post

Funnily enough, yesterdays Weird challenge has lead to forgetting that I was supposed to post about it!  So, what did I do? I banned the computer from my living/working space and have put it where it belongs,  on my desk.  I had this bad, bad, bad habit of checking the Internet and email every 20 minutes. Really, as if I were THAT important. OR the status updates from friends.  No offense folks, I love you, but I think 20 minutes at the end of the day should really be enough to catch up on what is going on in the virtual world of FB. 
It got so bad that I stopped using FB for a couple of days, and even now, I give myself twice a day to check. Because.... I am probably the only one struggling with this, but if my first thing is to check the virtual world (including FB, or yahoo news), instead of spending time with me Lord and Savior, its save to say that my priorities are of this world.
So, my weird challenge for today is... Find your distraction, and put it where it belongs. Don't get rid of it in a radical process of (wrongful) purification, but find the place where it is a tool, not a crutch.

Blessings to you and yours!

More! I need more!

Today's Weird Challenge is... My closet.  Now, I have five kids and a husband. And a backyard that produces lots of mud for those five kids.  So my laundry load is, at best, big, at worst... Debilitating.  I average about three loads a day. If I don't, then I end up with my current mess: It's Monday around noon time and I am on load number 7, sadly, that means I am only half way done. 
This morning I was considering this. It's a huge time investment, so how can I make it easier.  Do I really, really, really need all these clothes?  Why do I need them?  Because I want, or because there is an actual need.  In my case it had a lot do with WANT.  I am not working in the corporate world, nor do I represent anybody in front of cameras. If anything, my kids will smear their PB&J on my shirt,  followed by the flour for the muffins we are baking and not to mention one of my twins cleaning his nose off on my shoulder.
Now, please keep in mind, clothes are objects.  They are not good or bad, they just are.  But I am challenged to remove things that keep me from following Christ, and 4 loads of laundry a day are part of it.  So, downsizing it is - even if I REALLY like that skirt... 

Now, as for why I started this: You can blame it on the book "Weird, because normal isn't working" by Craig Groeschel.  It's challenging me.  Stretching.  And occasionally gets me to think: "Do you have ANY idea what my life is like. It's not THAT easy."  But that in turn made me realize how often I use the same phrase when I get challenged by Christ and my daily life.  So,  in order to grow I am getting weird.  Bear with me while I try to grow.

Blessings to you and yours!

30 Days of Weird

"What is she doing?" you are asking.  That is a good question, frankly, I am not sure myself.  All I know is that today the question was asked in Sunday school: What has following Christ cost you? - And to my shame, there wasn't much I could think of.  Now, one could assume that is because I am very in tune with what Christ wants from me,  but sadly, it just has something to do with me being complacent and content where I am at. 

So, for the next 30 days I will do something weird a day. Something that will, hopefully, bring me closer to following the only One worthy to be followed.
Today's weird is the fact that I am starting to blog about it.  

Blessings to you and yours!
UWi