My daughter, at age 20, singing…AMAZING

This is my daughter singing at Church.  She has an incredible voice and the song is so meaningful to me as well….it’s called Take All of Me!

Strange thoughts and ponderings….

I just watched the  movie “He’s just not that in to you”.  I gotta say I did find the movie enjoyable and entertaining, however, it had that theme of infidelity that ran through out the whole thing.  I totally get that people cheat…I get that.  I just wonder why?  In this particular movie it was the man who cheated on his wife…which, unless I am just overly emotional about the subject, it seems it is typically the men in movies who cheat on wives.  And, what’s worse is the man had the nerve to blame it on the fact that his wife had given him an “ultimatum” when they were dating that either they break up or take that next step down the aisle.  He didn’t want to lose her so they got married. 

Here’s the thing.  Relationships have to move forward.  They cannot remain in the same place or they will fade away and die.  It is normal and expected to move ahead in a relationship, especially if you have been together, exclusively for a  period of time, spoken those words to each other…ya know the ones…the “I love you” words.  Unless those things are fabricated, and not real by one of the parties I truly believe that moving forward in a relationship is the only way to maintain that relationship.  I feel that is true in marriage as well.  If a marriage remains in the same place, if the love doesn’t continue to grow and change over the years, if the intimacy doesn’t become deeper and more meaningful, the marriage will perish. 

That guy, in that movie blamed his wife on his dilema of “needing to have an affair”.  Consequentally the wife blamed herself for “forcing”him to marry her.  Well, no one can “force” anyone to marry someone else (unless you come from a place of arranged marriages and that’s a whole different topic).  I’m not saying she was blameless because no one is blameless when a relationship ends.  However, I am a firm believer that if you want to end a relationship do it before the affair happens.  Don’t destroy someones self esteem, security, and sense of self by having the affair.  No one knows more then me the damage that an affair can cause not only to the person cheated on, but also the kids of the marriage, friendships that end due to the ending of the marriage, self worth changes.  Why would someone want to hurt another in that way?  And, please…none of that “it just happened” crap.  Things don’t just happen.  People make conscious choices to do or not do things.

So, I guess what I am getting at is that if you are contemplating an affair, if you are in the midst of one, or if the spark has gone out of your relationship STOP IT!!!!!!  Get your head together, get back on track.  Make some conscious effort at fixing the relationship you have or GET OUT BEFORE you have a relationship with someone else. 

I love my husband!  He is my rock.  We have had some rough stuff in our marriage; me being diagnosed with lupus, the loss of a grandchild, problems with our kids, problems with our exes, loss of jobs, loss of parents.  But, we have stayed together, and we are moving forward….not standing still.  Sure there are times when maybe things aren’t as “Hot” as they were when we were first together, there are times when we have to work a little harder to get in the mood, or make time to make love.  That’s normal.  But I know when I feel his eyes on me at the shop, I look over and see him looking at me, I know that I have his heart.  I still feel butterflys when I think of him, I still get excited for our date nights during the weekend.  I feel happy thinking of spending time with our kids and our grandkids, the memories we have shared, the life we  have built.  Just recently my husband and I were laying together, sharing some time together, I was giving him a foot massage, and I jokingly said “Ya know, no one will ever love  you like Ido.”  He told me ,in that moment, that he had just said to one of his co workers exactly that  that “no one has ever loved me like Lori does”.  I looked at him, kind of in shock, and said “seriously”  You said that?”  And he said, “Yes, and it’s true!  And I love you.”  That was one of the most romantic things he has ever said to me.  In that moment I knew that he could feel what is in my heart just by my actions!  

One certainty I have is that I could never have gotten through my moments of doubt, uncertainty and fear with out having Christ as the center of my heart, marriage and life.  It is only by his grace that I am where I am…and I have a long long way to go.  I pray, I plead, I cry, I beg God on a daily basis to make me stronger, more confident in my marriage and relationships.  I pray for temptation to be diverted away from our marriage.  I pray for strength and I have hope that we will survive all that we go through.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!  that’s true in dealing with my lupus and dealing with  my marriage!

Affairs are tricky. I’m not gonna lie.  Because of where I’ve been in my life, the relationships I have had, I get suspicious really easily.  I read a lot into things.  A text message from the wrong person can take on a life of it’s own.  It’s difficult.   I know infidelity sneaks in there and steals a peice of life from everyone involved.  I pray to God that we keep our life together, that we keep strong through it all and stay connected.  And I am working toward that end!!!!!!!!

He makes me melt!

He makes me melt!

She speaks….

yesterday was a big day for me.  It was a big day first of all because I felt pretty good which is always a plus in my book.  But it was also a big day because I was interviewed at our church about living life with lupus.  Now some may wonder “what is there to say about living life with lupus?”  I wondered that myself actually.  But the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of people who, like me, live with an illness, a hardship in life that there seems no way of getting out of, who become angry at God, frustrated, hurt and wonder what the worth of life is when living is so difficult.  There are days that I wonder that the entire time I am awake. There are days that I feel so guilty because I can’t be the mom to my kids that they deserve because I just don’t have the strength to be that mom.  And I feel less then the wife my husband deserves and I often wonder why he stays with me.  I feel depression, shame, loss and sadness.  And I get down right mad at God for all of it.  And that is what I talked about yesterday. 

I have found through this journey that it is okay to be mad at God.  He knows I’m mad.  He made me after all…warts and all. He put me here, he created me.  He sees the good in me and the bad and he still loves me.  And, I have learned that there is healing and beauty in the brokenness and anger. It is in those times that I find my kids arms wrapped around me, I find my husband gently touching my forehead telling me to sleep and rest.  It is during those moments that I see the love that has been sent to surround me during those very moments.  And I have learned to embrace the smaller moments.  The joy that I still have hair on my head when so many people with lupus have lost all of theirs (not that I haven’t lost my fair share), the fact that I can get up every day and drive a car, enjoy the beauty of another day, that is grace and joy.  And yes even the fact that I can cry and get angry and yell at God for this situation, for this illness, for how hard it is, for the pain, the fact that I believe in a God that is there for me to yell at, that I know he does love me and care about me, there is beauty in that.

There are days when I get so upset because I can never live up to the mom that my mom was.  She was wonder woman.  She had more energy and more zest for life then anyone Iknow.  Her house was always clean, laundry always put away, she dusted, vacuumed…I’m lucky if I have the energy to do those things once a month.  that angers me, frustrates me, bums me out.  But, it also makes me so happy that I had a mom that set such an example for me.  A mom that showed me what it means to take pride in my home.   A mom that showed me what it means to love her kids with all her heart.  So, for me, I have woven that a different way.  I don’t always have the energy to do things with my kids like mom did.  But I always can sit with my kids on the couch, hang out with them, talk with them, be with them.  We can watch movies together, or tv or just be together.  It’s not about “going and doing”.  It’s about being together. And my mom taught me that.  This disease taught me that. 

So, yes, I get mad at God.  I get mad at my life.  sometimes I want to run away and give up…many days in fact.  I want to break down andcry.  But God is gracious andforgivingand understanding.  He knows my limitations…he created me…all of us!  I think that He knows we get mad…and I think he’s cool with it.  I think that’s what he’s here for.  he wants me to vent to him.  But he also wants me to give thanks to him for the great stuff that I have in my life.  The beauty and joy!  So, get mad, cry, vent…but also, look for the good stuff…even the smallest of good things…like having hair on your head.  Sometimes you can really find beauty in the brokenness!

You can hear my interview at www.faceofgrace.org.  click on the listen to sermon link then click on Pastor Tim interviews his sister lori about living with lupus.

Does your pastor give away money?

Mine does!   It was part of a “Grace experiment”.  This morning our pastor (who is also my brother) handed out 50 dollar bills to the adults in the congregation, 20’s to the teenagers and 5’s to the kids.  It was to demonstrate how God gives us Grace.  What he said was that God doesn’t just give us grace without instructions.  That is, He (being God) doesn’t give us conditions, he just tells us I am going to show you grace but then I want  you to show grace to others.  You know, do unto others.  So, Tim ( pastor) gave the money, along with the journal and asked people to pray about what they were going to do with the money over the next two months.  And he then asked everyone to journal about their experience with the money and how it affected their lives.

Now, what amazed me is that some people put that into action immediately.  There were youth kids who stood at the back of the church with their journals open so that people would know what they were collecting money for, and took a door offering for the homeless right then and there…mulitplying the money they had recieved right then and there, on the spot.  Some of the little kids were approaching the older people asking if they wanted to add to their fund to help build up the school supplies for the kids in Rhuwanda that we support as a congregation.  Grace, being played out, right on the spot, by kids with out any fear of refusal or denial of any sort.  It was incredible.

I challenge everyone as we approach the holiday season to try this experiment out for yourselves.  And write here your comments and reactions and insights as to how it affected you.  Lets see if we can pass some grace along in this time of economic pain and frustration. Do it as a family, do it with friends, get your congregations, or people at work to try it.  Little by little we can change this negative time for the better!

« Older entries