Rock the Vote

Did you know that when the President of the United States travels by motorcade from the White House to the Capitol, they do not stop at any redlights?
I just learned that.
These days, I'm watching alot of election coverage. I'm not politically savy, so I need to watch...I have alot to learn.
One thing I think is very cool is the DIVERSITY among the candidates: the very old to a woman to an African American to a pastor. What a bunch!
If the Presidential vote was tomorrow, do you know who you'd vote for? Hum....

TEAM!

Tonight, 21 of us went to see U2-3D at the IMAX theatre. A motley crew of gender, age, ethnicity, image, interests and experience. We even had 2 from another country join us!
So how can we be diversified yet unified?
How can we be one but we're not the same?
Who knows.
All I know is if 21 Heather's went tonight, it wouldn't have been as fun or memorable.
I hope you have a team. There is an exciting piece of life we miss out on if we do life alone.
But it's a Beautiful Day when we're part of a team! The Desire for team is from the Creator Himself. And it's In the Name of Love that God put us together, as different as we are, on One planet (even though He created nine planets!)

Turning Crusty

If you are young, I am here to prepare you; if you are old, I am here to empathize with you. Here's what happens when you turn the corner from "chipper" to "crusty" (or what I'm experiencing, anyway):

1. Your plumbing can't handle stuff like it used to. Kids can swallow nails & pennies and be just fine. I eat a salad and I'm paying for hours.
2. Lines show up. Allow me to differentiate: you get LONGITUDE lines around your mouth; you get LATITUDE lines across your forehead. I'm turning into Rand McNally.
3. You need more sleep. When I was 20, I'd party til 4am and go to work at 8am. Maybe we need more sleep 'cause our bodies need it. OR...maybe it's God way of getting us to stop partying?
4. Your skin changes. It's been in this 30-something range where I've experienced the world's biggest zits. And if you are really lucky, after Mr. Zit goes away, he leaves a beautiful discoloration behind...so you'll NEVER forget he stopped by.
5. What are these little tiny red things? They're much smaller than moles or freckles. There's like 2 of them on me. Can someone please tell me what these are? If I knew they weren't anything dangerous, I'd almost think they were cute.

It's all good, though. I might be fighting my gravity, but I'm embracing my miracle that I'm still here and God's not finished with me yet.

Came to my Rescue

I'm borderline-annoying with the amount of times I request this song at church:
Falling on my knees in worship
Giving all I am to seek Your face
Lord all I am is is Yours...
...I called, You answered
And You came to my rescue and
I wanna be where You are
(click here to check it out)
I know why I have such an affinity to this song, but I've never shared why.
Three times God came to my rescue. The 1st was when I put myself in a perilous situation at a highschool party in 1989. The 2nd was when I was ambulanced to a psych ward in 2000. And the 3rd was when my lungs took a critical turn w/ one of my pneumonia bouts in 2003.
In those moments, all I could do was call on God.
I didn't have time to figure things out.
I didn't know how to find my way out.
I didn't want to give up.
So I called on God. And all 3 times, He came to my rescue.
And I will live the rest of my life living out the beginning of that song....
falling on my knees in worship, giving all I am to seek His face.
HAS GOD COME TO YOUR RESCUE?

A Lamb, a Baby, a Cat

It was hard to make the permanent decision to not have more kids. I've prayed about this alot, asking God to give me peace but to also give me occasional opportunities to nurture. Last weekend, God granted me the opportunity, TWICE! My bro and his wifey had a baby boy, Anthony. I got to love on him alot at the hospital.

I also got to keep & care for my pastor's prop (a lamb) at my home. Now these fixes could've pacified my nurture-need for months. That is, until today. For the first time in my life, I hit an animal and took its life. I was so upset. All I knew to do was cry out to God. Folks, do you know there's just nothing I can do apart from God? One day, I'm thanking God for the opportunities to nurture; the other, I'm imploring Him to take away an animal's suffering. Two TOTALLY polar instances, one God who's there for both.

Kind of Crappy Day

Help me with this, folks. I start my day off on some ethereal clock that says 7:30 (when it's really 8:30). And it's all downhill from there. Cutting one meeting short, late to another, driving like a maniac, people waiting for me, people not waiting anymore; I'm fuming, impatient, embarrassed, yada, yada, yada...
What is the success-formula for starting your day off wrong???
'Cause we don't get do-over's; and make-up attempts to those we afflict sound so petty and pithy: "I'm sorry, it's just that I don't know how to tell time." Please!
I'm wracking my brain wondering what Jesus did when he had these kinds of mornings....but he's Jesus, so did He?
I need a formula, I'll even take a theory. Anything is better than just plowing through the rest of a bad-start day and ending it that way.

Driving with Your Knee

Last week, I was driving Andy to preschool, when he asked, "Mommy, why awn't your hands on tah teering-wheel?" I told him that sometimes I drive with my knee. He didn't like that. So I put my hands back on the steering wheel. Today, while driving solo, I caught myself driving WITH my knee, WHILE texting, ON the Interstate. Scary.
Often, the parallel is made that God is the driver and we are the passenger. And now I know why.
God never takes His hands off the steering wheel. He has never been distracted on the roadtrip of your life.
He doesn't take calls; He doesn't steer with knees, He doesn't carry on conversations. He doesn't even blink.
On the roadtrip of my life, in the passenger seat, I can get drowsy, motion-sick, worried or distressed, but that's why I'm not the one driving.
God has to be the driver; I get to be the passenger.
Andy's probably wishing for that too. : )

A Sinner's Post; Another Sinner's Reply

Dear whoever,
My name is....well, it doesn't matter; you don't know me anyway. But I've got to get this out & I'm not ready to take this to people, so I'll take it to this keyboard. I've really screwed up. As a matter of fact, I am a screw-up. I don't feel like I could live for God because I'm too far from where He is. Don't get me wrong, I know God. When I was a kid, I invited him into my heart. But now that all the naivety and innocence is gone, I think God is too. You just don't know how bad it is. I've done, seen, and been the worst. What can God do with someone like that?
Later,
a screw up

Dear screw-up,
I'm one too. I lived a miserable life for a long time. I was far from God always thinking, "Why bother finding my way back?" But I didn't, 'cause God found His way to me. I can't share with you the condition God found me in, but I can tell you it was a shameful place. And when He did, He entered quietly & gracefully. It's like He knew the last thing I needed was loud and forceful. And like my pastor shared this weekend...He tapped me. Hey, listen, there's alot of people God's done this for. And I'm gonna ask them to leave a comment to let you know that. Cause we want you to know you're not the only one; and God won't give up on you, even if you were.
Later,
another screw up, Heather

I Did It!

Today was my first gymnastic lesson. I was embarrassed & nervous as I walked up, wondering what the staff & students were thinking when they saw this grown woman beaming with little-girl excitement. But this was it!! Literally carrying around 26 years of unfulfilled business and here I was, ready to fulfill it. Coach Dave is so cool! He's from my hometown area and he has the same accent as me! I also got to meet his wife (an accomplished coach herself) and their 3 very talented daughters (must run in the family). Anyway, it was a fulfilling & exhilarating hour that I can't WAIT to repeat next Friday!! If any of you are interested, click here, they have openings!! Oh, wait...how's my body, you say? Well...

here's what I looked like at the lesson:

here's what I look like now....

Open Your Mouth; Let God Out

Today, I was the guest-speaker at a staff meeting of a small business. I was anxious because this is not a crowd I usually speak to. What would I say, and how? Would I speak in "we's" or "you's?" Would I speak to them as potential leaders or current followers? Would I use scripture? How much of me would I be willing to share? I undoubtedly had more questions than answers.

So the hours leading up to this involved alot of praying, from friends and me. Praying, praying and more praying.

And when I stood in front of this staff and my mouth opened, everything in me stood still except for my heartbeat and God in my heart. I spoke for 15 minutes because God only had 15 minutes of things to say. It was cool.

When you have a big opportunity to use your mouth for God, pray alllllllllllllllllllll the way leading up to it. Exhaust ALL your words through praying, because when God takes over to speak through you, you won't need them. : )

Questions

Tonight, after dinner, DJ hopped up on Raul's lap & had some questions:
"So that person (satan) isn't a monster, is he?"
"What does the bad-angel (satan) do to people when they go there (hell)?
"Why did someone kill the dark man (MLK Jr.)?
"If they shot him because he was dark...will they shoot you because you are brown?"
"Where did the man go who killed the dark man (MLK Jr.)?
I share this because it's cute, but I think it's also something else...
a sincere exchange between a godly one and a seeking one.
And maybe in our "big-people" world, others are thinking the same things....they just aren't asking 'em.

I Have an Announcement!

When I was 8, I started gymnastic lessons.
When I was 10, I had to quit.
The reason I quit doesn't keep me up at night; not finishing has.
For 24 years, there's been a tiny piece of real estate occupying the corner of my heart with a sign that reads: unfinished.
Well that's gonna change.
I just got off the phone with a local gymnastics- coach and this Friday, I start private lessons.
I'm coming back, folks & I'm finishing what I started: a successful round-off back handspring.
AND I AM SO EXCITED I COULD SCREAM!
I can't believe this coach is going to work with a no-future, middle-aged mom like me.
And if I wasn't so freakin' excited about this, I think I'd be embarrassed that I'm sharing it with you!

"I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got."
1 Cor 9:26, TM

Prostrate

• Prostrate: to cast (oneself) face down on the ground in humility, submission, or adoration.
• This word is used 13 times in the Old Testament of the NIV.
• Tonight I read them all.
• This one spoke the loudest: "the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened" (Num. 24:16)
• I wonder why prostrating was more of an action in the OT than the NT?
• I wonder if it's just a thing of the past?
• I wonder if God wishes it was more part of the present?

So whatta ya pray?

1/11/08, 6:30am
I am journaling my prayers, the last entry reads: "God, please do a purifying in me today, especially before I teach for you this Sunday."
1/12/08, 1:00-3:00am:
I'm bowing at the toilet, barfing my brains out. In between explosive barfing, I'm huddled on the cold tile in a fetal position, moaning. Dehydrated, cramping, sweating. As I project my dinner beyond the porcelain bowl onto the bathroom walls, I am praying, "God, please help me!"
1/13/08, 9:30am:
I am at our Doral campus, getting ready to walk out on stage to teach to the congregation. My stomach muscles are still sore;
my appetite isn't quite restored.....But my body has surely been purified.
Hum?
Perhaps one had to do with the other, you know the old adage, "Be careful what ya pray for!"
Or, perhaps, it just simply means that Legal Seafoods should change their name to Illegal Seafoods because they served me bad steamers!!!!

Bummed

I have a good bud who doesn't attend the same church as me, nor shares the same faith.
However, due to the beautiful level of respect we've built for each other,
she kindly accepted my invitation to attend my church over Christmas.
Which was a really cool answer to a long-awaited prayer.
Well, this morning she shared with me that on Christmas morning, her extended family vocally ganged up on her for going to Flamingo.
They questioned her loyalties--to her faith and to her family.
And this has just about killed me.
I've thought about it all day: the unfairness to her; the helplessness in me.
It seemed like I was on such a clear mission for her. Albeit slow, at least it was going smooth.
Not sure where to go from here.

Smile-Counting, Day 2

As a follow-up to yesterday, according to my little tally sheet, I smiled 29 times in a 15-hr day. Now I don't have a clue what that means, scientifically or psychologically. But it was interesting to note why I smiled and to whom I smiled. Some highlights:

• smiled when a coworker said something funny to me
• smiled when another coworker & I worked on a video
• smiled watching DJ & Andy do their stunt show
• smiled when I greeted the Pest Control guy
• smiled when I chatted with the bagger at Publix (then gave him an invite to my church!)
• and smiled when DJ drew this picture:
• DJ was drawing a picture of what he endearingly coined, "special people." When he was done, I asked him who these two special people were. He said Pastor Allen and Pastor Troy (look close enough & you'll be able to tell who's who). As a mama-bear, this made me smile. A 5-yr old, void of a home where God is, could have drawn a myraid of things. Of which could have disheartened his mommy. But DJ drew a picture of 2 godly guys. I'm sure God is smiling at DJ too.

Smile-Counting

There's an old adage, "turn that frown upside down." And I once heard it said that more wrinkles are created by frowning than smiling. So tomorrow (from 6am to 10pm) I'm gonna tally how many times I smile. 'Cause I have this terrible feeling that my frowns far outweigh my smiles. And if that's the case, I've got some self-evaluating to do. And here's why: How many times has God wanted to show Himself thru my smile, but couldn't because my frown was in the way?
Has my smiling become such a rare commodity, that it's seen as peculiar instead of contagious?
Well, we'll find out alot after my smile results come in.

I Dropped My iPhone in the Toilet

Yes, you read that correctly. My 2-yr old and I were in the world's tiniest bathroom stall when I fumbled my iPhone and dropped it into the PUBLIC toilet...GROSS!
To boot, it was after we had done our business.... EVEN GROSSER!!!!
Here's a replay:
So not only did I have to stick my hand in the nasty toilet bowl to rescue my little iPeePhone, but I had to fidget with it as I attempted iPhone-CPR. And you can't wash, rinse or sanitize it (though 1 chic suggested I put some Clorox on it...hello???). So I guess I'm thankful that nobody will EVER want to use my iPhone, though it still remains that I have to.
I salvaged most of it, just one injury: the on/off button doesn't work anymore. So I have an iPhone that will never shut off. So what's my point? Are you wondering how can I possibly spin this into some leadHership principle? Wanna bet a new iPhone that I can?
Our things: our cars, our jewels, investments & toys - they aren't bad. God's richly blessed us with a democracy & economy to have them. I just have one piece of advice: Hold your things in open palms....not clenched fists. When we do, it communicates 2 powerful things: 1. "God, these are yours to take; not mine to keep." 2. "World, my palms may hold my temporary things; but my heart holds my permanent Savior."

MBWA

In college, my favorite prof was my business prof, Bill Wilson. He introduced me to the Rule of MBWA (pronounced "mah-bwuh"). Which stands for, "Management By Walking Around."

Today, Raul & I MBWA'ed. We stepped outside of our area of management (Flamingo Road Church) to walk around and see it in others (Christ Fellowship Church and Fellowship Church).

Instead of being participators or spectators, we were INVESTIGATORS.

Thru investigative eyes, I took notes, asked questions, networked & learned. I felt encouraged, challenged, intrigued AND reassured--all from just MBWA-ing!

If you are an at-home CEO or a corporate CEO;

if you are moving up the ladder or just stepping onto the first rung; if you're in it for a profit or in it for a non-for-profit, we ALL gain when we MBWA. Because...

always looking on the inside, will never get us as far

as when we take time to walk around on the outside!

Dedicated to the One I Hate

I hate the cliche, "green with envy," because envy is hardly green. God said, "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." Rots my bones? Envy is black, man! Because anything that rots turns black. UGH!
Now, jealousy is an attitude toward another person; envy is an attitude toward another person's success. Double UGH!
Here's the dealio - envy started in Genesis 1 and we're still writing its history. It's a dark part of our human nature & virtually untreatable without God.
Envy is always just around my corner: as I constantly strive to do my best, there's someone else doing better.
I am deathly afraid of envy because I've seen its demise in my past. So this post is dedicated to the one I hate: the little-envy Heather, dormant but not dead, inside big-girl Heather. So what am I gonna do? Pray hard! And keep my ruthless resolve to not let little-envy Heather make a comeback.
Look, we're gonna suck and fail at things, but do we want envy to be one of them? Envy is such an embarrassing, senseless, futile thing to fail at. Anybody with me?

Ferris Wheels

Raul has always been afraid of thrill rides. It's something he doesn't prefer & it's something he does fear. In spite (& for the first time in decades), he hopped on a Ferris wheel so that our little Andy-man could experience it for the first time.

And boy did he! Raul said Andy could barely catch his breath due to his exhilaration.

Don't you just know that Jesus did the same for us? Don't you just know that He put ALL of Himself aside, so that we'd almost be catching our breath from the exhilaration of a life with Him in it? What do I want for 2008? I want to see my life thru the spokes of a Ferris wheel.

I want to be exhilarated by the views of each day; more so at the fact that God is like Andy's daddy in this picture below....seated next to us, enjoying our life with us.

Random Starbux Stuff

OK, so I'm at Starbux. I can't help but hear the convo that's going on at the table in front of me. I almost feel like I should move. It seems this woman is managerially over this guy. It also seems she is evaluating him (based on her papers, posture, and very frank feedback). So this leads to one question and one principal:
1. Where is the line between eavesdropping and overhearing? What one would you say I did? You can see the proximity of me to them in the photo...you decide.
2. If you and me have to evaluate or reprimand each other, let's not do it at one of the most HIGHLY visible, HIGHLY busiest places of business, k? This poor guy! Just how comfortable can an employee be having a private evaluation in a public place?
OK, well, packing up my things. I've heard enough....literally!