sheri carlstrom...slices of an ordinary life

Say it Isn't So.....

This has been the motto of our house all summer...but school starts tomorrow. I'm not ready to shift gears just yet, so I"m thinking I'll leave it up on the door just a little longer.

We had a family meeting over lunch to make sure all our calendars are synced up before we head into this week ~ football, cross country, games, meets, travel. Check, check, check, check, check. It doesn't feel quite so easy in the fall.

We'll (I'll) adjust, we (I) always do, but that part of me that doesn't like change, doesn't like the unknown, and the part that just wants to just slow time down will have a little bit of a hard time this week.
 

Grateful that we got to live out our summertime saying.

The $1 Difference

It is the season for the Red Kettles, sponsored by the Salvation Army. They are everywhere it seems, and I believe at some point or another, we've all done this...walked in the other door to avoid the kettle.

Sometimes we don't want to give not one more dollar. Sometimes we don't have even have one dollar to give.

Last year our pastor encouraged something that changed my spirit and my direction for this year. He suggested getting a bunch of $1 bills and dropping one in every time we pass a Red Kettle. Giving perspective, he said even if you cross 50 kettles in the season, its $50. So a few weeks ago, I went to the bank and got one dollar bills. (I keep them in a specific place in my purse so I don't spend them at Starbucks.)

The difference in me has been noticeable; I am excited to hear the bells ringing now. In fact, last week we were in New York City and instead of feeling grateful for the crowd that gave me the excuse to move away from the Kettle, I had fun navigating the crush of people to get to the many Kettles.

If you can, I challenge each of you who read this to get your one dollar bills and post back your thoughts and responses!

'Tis the season to Spend Less. Give More. Worship Fully. Love All. (That's our current message series at my church. It seemed to fit into this post. If you want to listen to the first message, given 11.29.09, click here.)

Right there the Whole Time

A few weeks ago, on a staff retreat, we received the gift of fifteen minutes of silence. We were told to go find a place to walk or sit and simply be with God. The trees were still very full of leaves, but were coming down like snow that day due to the wind. I found a bench under a tree that was covered with leaves, I brushed them off and sat down.

I had not been feeling very close to God for some time, and so I started out by reminding myself that God is not a feeling; whether I felt He was close or not had no bearing on where He actually was. As the leaves continued to pour down from the trees, I said to God, "Could I have a leaf, right here in my lap, as a sign that you are near?"

I immediately thought of Gideon who asked God to give him a sign by making his fleece wet while the threshing floor remained dry. When God did that, Gideon then asked the next day that the fleece be dry while the floor was wet. (Judges 6:36-40)

Then I thought about the verse"Do not test the LORD your God..." I was reminded of the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They knew God was faithful whether they burned up in the furnace or not. (Daniel 3:16)

"OK," I said to God,  "it doesn't really matter if I feel you or not, it doesn't matter if you give me a leaf or not, I will trust that you are near." And I went on to pray and worship Him. When it was time to head to lunch, I dropped my hands out of my lap to stand up, and there it was...a leaf...in my lap.

I don't know when or how it got there, my eyes were open the whole time as I sat there on the bench. I watched leaves go to the left and to the right of my legs, I never saw the leaf drop into my lap. I laughed out loud - and thought, This is so like God. I didn't see or feel the leaf (or Him) show up, but I suddenly knew He (and possibly the leaf) had been here the whole time.

The other thing about the leaf was this - it was smallish and brown. I laughed at that too, I pictured a big, beautiful red leaf in my ask...God gave me a small brown one. As I chuckled, here's what I heard in my head, My grace is sufficient for you.

I walked to lunch and I tucked that leaf into my pocket as a reminder of God's faithfulness, presence and grace in my life; whether I feel it or not.

Cute, Little Bites

I love candy, and I'm trying to follow Weight Watchers, so with trick-or-treating coming up, and candy in every store...on every end cap, its a tempting time for me. The candy is mini-size and some even bite-size, so it can't really be too bad, right? This is what I tell myself.

A few years back my sister Jamie was here visiting at this time of year and we had an interesting discussion about my Halloween decorations. I had some pumpkins, a few cute little witches, an adorable little ghost, witch place mats and a few more such items. I don't remember exactly how the conversation began but she asked some questions about how having these items in my home lined up with my faith.

Ummmm....well...I hadn't given it much thought. In fact, I had given it no thought whatsoever. I saw Halloween as separate from my faith. Not connected. It was just a time of year, almost a season really, like autumn, and lots of people decorated with the very same items. Its not like I went to a dark ally to get them, in fact I bought them in the brightly lit isles of my favorite stores. And they were harmless. Adorable even. Seriously the witch was so cute.

But our talk and her questions resounded in my head after she left. What did they really represent? Did it matter? Was it OK for a Christian to display symbols of witches and ghosts in her home?

I looked at my cute little witch sitting on my mantle, the adorable white ceramic ghost, they didn't appear to be scary or wrong. But isn't that just how evil works? Making it look harmless, cute, adorable even. Cute mini and bite-sized images of witches and what not can't hurt, right? This is what I told myself for awhile. But then I wondered, if Jesus walked through my door for dinner in October, would I be ashamed of the symbols he would see?

The answer was obvious to me.

On my best day I have enough to be ashamed of, I don't really need to add to that by displaying symbols on my mantle of that which he opposes. I still decorate this time of year, but now it with symbols of harvest and thanksgiving. I guess I always knew what my Halloween decorations represented, I just never thought about it. I'm glad someone asked the question that led to the clearing of the idols that never really belonged.

2 Kings 23:24    John 17:15-17    Galatians 5:19-21    Dueteronomy 18:10