broken beads

South Padre Island during spring break is definitely an experience, one I will not soon forget.  It truly is a beautiful place.  After being there, I can understand why hundreds of people go there every year to get away for a week.
Of course, the beauty of the island isn't the only thing that draws the crowd.  Hands down, this was one of the craziest weeks of my life.  I went down there with my sister's college group as a part of Beach Reach.  Basically, it's a mission trip to the people on the island:  offering free van rides to anywhere, pancake breakfasts, and the Gospel (if the person is interested).  There's no way for me to write out everything I saw, but I want to try and share at least one thing that hit me hard.
One of the things you see everywhere, even miles outside the island, are beads.  They sell them by the hundreds, and guys buy them by the handfuls.  Girls, however, don't get to buy them...they have to earn them.  And many will gladly do what they have to for them.  It broke my heart to watch.
One afternoon we were coming back from the beach.  In the middle of the road was a broken strand of beads.  It was missing almost half its strand, and you could tell it had been run over several times.  The color was wearing off, and it had lost all its shine.  I have no idea how those beads got there.  Maybe they had belonged to a girl who had them, and then lost them.  Maybe they just fell off of a guy who was wearing them.  I don't know.  But as we walked passed them, I thought about what they represented.  How many girls last week did something they now really regret, all for those beads?  How many of them chose to sacrifice something precious, just to earn them?  How many are ashamed of the choices they made, and have nothing to show for it but a strand of beads...broken and cast off to the side of the road? 
Worse than that, how many things do I run after with my life?  How often do I sacrifice the very best I could have to earn something I only think is great?  How often do I choose the things of this world, rather than clinging to the thing the Lord has promised me is the very best--Himself??  My prayer today is that our lives won't be spent chasing broken beads, things that are cheap and plastic and just end up on the side of the road because they don't truly satisfy.  Instead, may we cling to the very best, and in holding onto that find satisfaction to the fullest.

...to praise His name...

5:40 in the morning is a really hard time to do anything, especially concentrate on reading or writing.  But, there are some things that are too good to keep to yourself, so I'm going to try to put thoughts together in a way that makes some sense.
Psalm 92 says, "It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;  to declare Your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night...For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your work; at the works of Your hands I sing for joy." (vs 1-2, 4).
I love the part about singing praises to His name.  In order to be able to sing praises to His name, His name must first be known.  It is impossible to praise the very identity of someone without knowing them, without first having their nature, character, essence revealed.
And the Lord had indeed revealed Himself:
"The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and fourth generation."  (Exodus 34: 6-7)
Without a doubt, a God worthy to be praised:  a God whose holiness and righteousness requires justice and discipline, but whose steadfast love provides compassion, mercy, and grace.  Like the psalmist, I pray you will find your morning one of praises to the Name of the Most High, to the One who has revealed Himself, in justice, love, and mercy.

...a case of the i don't want to's...

Yesterday, I had a bad case of the "I don't want to's."  I'm sure you've had them.  The ones where you wake up, and you don't want to do anything.  I didn't want to wake up early...it was raining outside.  The day was made for staying in bed, cuddling with my husband and my baby (in my tummy lol).  I didn't want to get out in the rain, or get on a loud, bouncing bus, and even though I adore my kids, I really didn't want to teach first grade. 
Sound familiar??  I doubt I'm the only one who has experienced them.  But the absolute beauty of those days is that they are a choice, in every way.  The second my alarm goes off, I have a choice, and it is one that goes far beyond whether to get up or hit the snooze again (and again...).  It has everything to do with where my eyes are going to be.  I can look upon myself and choose to be dictated by my feelings and emotions.  The result is that my attitude for the entire day is negative.  Everything becomes a burden, a chore.  It seeps into the way I treat my students and co-workers, my husband.  When my eyes are on me, I expect everything else to look that way as well.  And then when that doesn't happen, well...
Or, I can choose to put my eyes upon the Lord.  As I read yesterday in Psalms 93, I came upon these words:  "The Lord reigns, He is robed in majesty, the Lord is robed; He has put on strength as His belt...Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting." (Ps 93:1,2).  As I look to Him, I look to One who is immovable, unshaken by day-to-day things.  As I look to Him, I am reminded of who He is, what He has done for me.  As I think about the sheer glory of the Cross, the fact that He not only purposed me and chose me, He also died for me...I can't help but lose the thought that things have to go my way.  Instead, I remember that I am part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken by weather, sleepless nights, or bouncy buses (Hebrews 12:28, 29), and I am able to worship in the glory of the One who has established that kingdom.  To Him belongs glory, and focus, and all worth...even on days with the I dont' want to's...