Wednesday, January 26, 2011

WHOA NELLY! Hop off Yo High Horse There Lady!

Today was mani/pedi day.  AhHH... I could not wait to sink my tootsies in the hot bubbly water while I sat in the massage chair.  I picked out my favorite Red polish for my toes, then shuffled through the selection of magazines.  There were the typical Nail Pro Magazines that really do not interest me.  shuffle. shuffle.  ok.  I'll take Time Magazine.  I'll take Herrington Catalogue.  I'll take Charisma.  I didn't know what Charisma was.  As the water began to fill up the foot basin, I chose Charisma.  I was prepared to thumb quickly through the thin pages to see if anything caught my interest.  You know what I mean by flipping through magazines absentmindedly.  It's just a pass time or a way to stay within your own little bubble as you get your pedi..  The first advertisement was  for a Joel Olsteen seminar held in January.  I flipped through.  Then, a title page caught my attention.  There was a large sinister looking face staring straight ahead.  The title of the article read something like Devil in Pew 7.  I was curious about what it was about.  I began to read.  The first paragraph captured my attention as it began with the tension of any good suspense story.  The character was running scared.  In first person, the author writes how she could feel the pain of her bare feet slapping against the black asphalt street.  She could not stop.  She needed air.  She could not stop to breath.  She was running in fear and running for help.  As the story unfolded, the author went back to the beginning to tell of a character named Mr. Williams who sat in the Pew 7.  Mr. Williams was a manipulator within the church.  What he said, went. No one EVER went against his wishes.  Until, that is, her father became the new pastor.  Her father recognized this man for who he was.  He also realized that even though Mr. Williams had been sitting in Pew 7 for many years, he was not even a member of the church.   The new pastor explained to the church that only members are allowed to vote on decisions within the church.  Mr. Williams, realizing that he lost his authority, began to threaten the new pastor and his family.  They found their tires slit, found bomb threats against the church.  One night, there was a glass that was shattered in her baby brother's room even as the baby was in the crib.  Miraculously, with shards of glass all around, the baby was left unharmed.  Then, one night, the Devil from Pew 7 entered the family's home and shot to kill her mother and father.   Her mother died that night.  The author who was a young girl at the time, ran for cover under the kitchen table.  She remembered hiding behind the table and chair legs.  When she saw her helpless father try to lift his arms and could not.   She knew that she was the only person able to run for help.  It took all her courage to try to be as quiet as possible and sneak out the kitchen back door. She ran and ran with everything she had. 

Years later, she received a phone call.  She could not believe who it was.  It was the man that murdered her mother.  During his stay in prison, he was ministered to and found true salvation.  He knew that the first thing he needed to do was seek her forgiveness.  

Wow,  then the next article was a teaching on the Principles of Forgiveness.  Do you sense a pattern here?

Then, the next article was a re-telling about the mad man who went into the Amish School House and fired away at 10 Amish school girls.  5 were killed.   Even though their loss was so great, the parents of the children reached out to the wife of the murderer.  They wanted to let her know that they held no ill will toward her.  After burying their own children the day before, 75 Amish men and women attended the funeral of the man who turned the gun on himself after the massacre.  Along with their forgiveness, they brought food and gifts for the family.   Heartbreaking and Heart Lifting at the same time, right?

Yesterday, I wrote about the bitter distaste that was left with after someone disappointed me.  'Whoa NELLY!   Hop off Yo High Horse There Lady!'.  That was the message that my spirit received loud and clear.  By some 'strange coincidence',  I got the preachin' that I needed through the pages of a random magazine at the nail salon.  That magazine, like most of the literature was probably something dropped off by someone as a donation.  You know the sort of publications I am talking about... previously perused and passed on!  Do you think it was a random coincidence?  I don't.  I think there are no random coincidences.  I know the Word says that God spoke this world into existence.  I think God speaks to us in many ways.  Sometimes a whisper, sometimes He will snatch us by the ear.   I think I got an earful today. 

I received that needed preachin' and I have to say I was properly humbled.  Humbled by how I blew a  situation all out of proportion in my mind.  I blew my cool.  I repent of my own sin of pride and unforgiveness that I was willing to carry.  I need to get over myself because my SELF can only get in the way!  I am humbled by the examples of forgiveness freely offered by the Amish.   In my SELFishness, I realize that I could only see how I felt.  How I was impacted.  How I was being taken for granted.  How I refuse to budge one more inch.   ewe.  yucky selfishness. 

Please forgive me AND my silly SELF, O' Lord.
TRANSPARENCY.
i see you, seeing me.