Unashamed

There's a song we sometimes sing and we did this weekend...it's called Unashamed.

I love the chorus: Because of mercy, Because of Your grace, Although I'm unworthy, I stand here unashamed (I may have the words slightly mixed up...age will do that to the mind ;) )

I've been thinking a lot recently about a friend who years ago had someone important to her family drop by her home unexpectedly. She was embarrassed as the place was untidy. (I used to love going to her house because I knew it wasn't just me! LOL)

But she talked about how that incident and a couple other things impacted her. She declared it wouldn't happen again and made her motto: No Shame!

What a great motto!

What a challenge to fight, though, at least for me. I don't need to wear shame like a favorite pair of comfy jeans but too often I do. The enemy loves to throw things in my face.

But God's mercy, God's grace....God Himself is so much bigger than my faults.

That doesn't mean I should abdicate taking responsibility for myself. There are lots of things I need to work on...but I'm not alone. Praise God! I'm not alone.

Shame feels like a desert island. Like I'm stranded without hope and standing isolated and frozen and hopeless in despair.

But because of mercy, because of grace, because of Jesus, I can shout, Go away, Shame! No Shame!

I hope I can follow my friend's example in improving my housekeeping...she is still doing great as far as I know (she lives far away now) but much more than that, I pray I can day by day, moment by moment, reject shame and reject rejection and move into the wholeness of holiness that God has for me....

And that anyone else who might feel stuck on a deserted island will know you are not alone. We can shift our thinking and find our little islands coming together and forming a supportive community. We are not alone! We are loved!

Let's live unashamed!

Little People Cause Big Grins!

Two cute things have happened at church recently (well, probably tons of cute kid moments but these two made me giggle!):

In Bible study, we were talking about how as Moms (and Christians in general) we influence others whether we know it or not, particularly our kids.

One Mom said this came home to her when after her husband, trying to discipline their little girl who is not quite two and a half yet, came down and said to his wife: Do you know what our 2 year old just said to me??? Wife: No. Husband: She looked me straight in the eye and said, "Honestly, Child!"

Hahahaha! Wonder where she heard that? :)

Then this past weekend, as the kids were leaving Kidz Church, this little boy spoke to me. I noticed on his name badge that he had the "no photos allowed" symbol. We work hard to protect the kids and ask parents' permission about posting pictures on the web or even on the bulletin boards, etc.

So this little guy who looks like he's about 8 or 9 looks up at me as he's leaving and says, You can follow me on Facebook if you want to...you have to go under privacy settings...then he said something else but I couldn't hear for the noise of the room and also for the shock of this small person seeming so adult in his interaction.

Too cute! I love those moments!