The Dishwasher

Katie and I have a deal in our house that when she cooks I wash the dishes. Afterall, she has spent several minutes playing with a son who loves to tug at her leg while she prepares a meal for our family. She should not have to worry about the dishes when she is done. So in my best husbandly fashion I taking to task.

But I cannot stand having to wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. How annoying is it to spend way too much money on a machine that cannot do what it is designed to do unless you do it for it. Well, that is I have to deal with at home. If I don't wash the dishes and make sure almost of the stuff is off of it before I put it in our washer, the dishes will simply not be clean!

Last night after youth group, Katie told me of a conversation she had with one of our students. Her desire is to know God but she feels like she needs to clean up her life before coming to Him. Sounds a lot like my dishwasher.

God does not need us to pre-rinse, soak, spray, scrub, or even bleach our lives before coming to Him. He is the ultimate "dishwasher". He is the real thing (sorry Coke) and longs to cleanse of our sins just as we are!

So next time you think you need to get things straight before going to God, think of my dishwasher. It needs all the help it can get. But God can handle our mess.

I Want to Leave a Legacy

Sorry that I have been AWOL for a bit. Work and life have kind of gotten in the way of me being able to blog. Anyway, I want to fill you in on some of the happenings of the past couple of weeks. God has really been pressing on my heart to examine my life. He is encouraging me to ask myself the question I hope you too will consider; what kind of a legacy am I going to leave behind?

There is a sad but joyous reason for me thinking of this. A friend of mine just recently went on to meet her Maker. Lauren Jones was only 22 years old when she was killed in an automobile collision. She did not die in an accident, because God was right there with her! God saw it fit to take Lauren home, much to our objection. God, in His infinite wisdom, sees the beauty in this tragedy and tells us that "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psalm 166:15).

Lauren lived a life worth writing about. In the midst of the sorrow of grieving her death, there was great rejoicing among her friends and family due to the life that she lived. Her life was filled with purpose. She longed to know here Lord and to make Him known to others. She invested her time into the lives of younger girls and modeled to them how to live out their faith in a unbelieving world.

So, when my time comes, what will be said of me? That I was really bad at keeping up with my blog? That I needed a haircut really bad? Or that I lived a life that impacted eternity?

In the words of Nicole Nordeman (singer/songwriter)- "I want to leave a legacy. How will they remember me? Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough to leave a mark on things? I want to be an offering, child of mercy and grace who blessed Your name unapologetically. And leave that kind of legacy."

I pray my life and your life will reflect that!