I don’t know if a Sunday post is now my new routine, or if my mind just has lots of thoughts on Sundays. Regardless, here’s what’s marinating in my mind currently….
–I love to sing. I sang in worship back on January 19th. Then, the next two Sundays Patty had me scheduled to sing with the praise band, I either was battling my allergies or a cough. Last weekend, my cough was gone, and my voice was back. However, I didn’t trust spring. This past week, even though I was on spring break, I vetoed outside walking…to avoid my allergens.
Yesterday, I went to celebrate the upcoming birth of a baby girl. It was at the Old Red Barn, so the doors were open. Didn’t think a thing about it…until this morning when I spent a few minutes coughing. Ugh. I used the dreaded neti pot and said a prayer asking for the voice to make it through the singing. Thankfully, except for a cough between the first two songs, the voice hung in there. But…goodness was it warm.
–Since today was “Family Worship Sunday”, I had the privilege of sharing a children’s message as part of the worship service. I love teaching kids lessons from scripture. Yesterday, as I sat coloring my Message Box objects, I thought, “Wait! The bulletin didn’t switch the ‘children’s dismissal & blessing’ to ‘children’s message.'” Now, sadly…there was only one person to blame for this snafu. It was me. I do the bulletins. I made the mistake. I was highly irritated with myself. I confessed to Pastor Brynen, Tyler, & Kamra, and they extended grace to me. Alas, I wasn’t as nice to myself.
–As I sat visiting with Chuck prior to the service beginning, I looked up at the screen. The slide asking for volunteers to help with the children’s ministry popped up. My first thought was, “I really like how that looks!” My second thought, “Ugh! That IS should be IF.” Man, I’m really slipping.
–My low voice came in really handy during the second song this morning. Patty, who leads the praise band, has to work to hit the low notes of the verses of “Good God Almighty.” During practice on Wednesday, she asked me if I wanted to sing them since my voice can go there more easily. Low voice for the win…and today’s after effects of yesterday’s outside air made it even easier.
–After the songs concluded, the kids gathered around me. I’m always tempted to break out in my ‘Granny Myrtle’ voice…as it feels like I’m Mother Goose getting ready to teach the children. Alas, I withstood the temptation. The objects in my box guide the message and the kids interaction help it move along. To be honest, today’s was a challenge. I try to align it with the pastor’s message…or at least the pastor’s scripture focus. When he told me his focus for the day’s sermon, a couple of friends and I determined that was a bit above the thinking of a child. So, I took his “4 part” series and combined it into a 5 minute message. I thought it went pretty well. Pastor Brynen even game a high five afterwards for pulling it off as he told his wife he didn’t know how I was going to tackle today’s passage. That’s all well and good, but….as I listened to it afterwards, I sadly focused on, “Wait! I made a point of sharing that I had THREE scripture passages, but…I only shared TWO.” UGH.
Then, Pastor Brynen started preaching. He started with a question: How are you today? I’m just saying…90% of the time when I’m asked that question, my response is a simple, “I’m peachy”. I figure…life could be worse, so I’m peachy with what the day holds as I trust Who holds it.
Then, he moved on to today’s challenge. He reminded us that we need to love ourselves and find our identity through Christ and not the approval of men. He proclaimed that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. As I told the kids today, we were created in the image of God. For us to genuinely love others, we must love ourselves which requires us to fill our tank. How do we fill our tank? I mean, we can’t pull up to Shell or to Kroger’s. LOL.
We must fill our tank by resting in the assurance that God loves us. We are called to be children of God, and as His child we must find our identity in Him. Not in the opinion of men…Our identity must be secure in the fact that we are a child of the Living God!
What does filling our tank look like? We do so by training to be godly. By setting our hearts on the things above and pruning away those things that belong to our earthly nature. As a child of God, we should bear fruit. When we’re bearing something other than the fruit of the Spirit, we must prune it away.
So, what needs to be pruned from your life? If you’re like me, you tend to be more critical of yourself than you are of others. That typo in the bulletin. That misspelled word on the announcement slide. That skipped verse in my message. That cough between songs. Countless other things I could list….they’re the thoughts that want to bruise the love and acceptance I am called to have for myself.
At the conclusion of the sermon, Pastor Brynen asked us what “fruit pie” we needed to eat….humility, goodness, patience, joy, etc. As I sat around the lunch table, I realized I needed to eat some “Gentleness Pie” and “Patience Pie”. I need to treat myself more gently and less critically, and I need to accept my shortcomings and not expect perfection.
What about you? Where does your identiy come from? Do you love the person God created you to be? Look in the mirror. See the image bearer of the Living God. Let Him train you to be godly, so that you can truly love Him, others, and yourself.
So, were you curious which Bible verse I neglected to share? It was my wrap up verse. After reminding the children that the greatest commandments tell us to love God and love your neighbor as yourself, I was going to share John 13:35. You see, that love that we show to God and to others…and to ourselves shows the world that we belong to Him. It’s our birthmark. It’s our fruit. So, my dear friends, bear fruit through the love you show God, your neighbors, and yourselves. It’s a great choice. It’s….the greatest commandments.
Jodi Lea Pflaumer, Author 