What is Worth the Lifetime it Takes to Get it?

"Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire!"-

Many years ago, I attended a wedding. I may have even been in the wedding- can't remember. After a beautiful, God-honoring ceremony, my lovely and smart, very next of kin and her fun-lovin' husband, who both know and love the Lord Jesus, surprised us all by be-bopping down the aisle and out the church door, to this song that topped the charts in 1957, during the recession at their wedding. Not knowing whether to stand and shimmy or pray fervently for God to forgive this saved soul's love induced, temporary insanity, I peeped out from under the hair of my slightly bowed head, toes a tapping and trying to keep my shoulders from swaying to the beat, and looked around. Yes, pure shock froze the faces of family and friends and my Presbyterian minister uncle appeared to have fallen from the pew. Loved ones stood, row by row, at the usher's nod for dismissal. A few boogied, the rest filed out a little stunned to:

"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain...Too much love drives a man insane! You broke my will...oh what a thrill....Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire!"

I asked myself, "On a scale from 1 to 10, how okay is this?"

Here, I pick on my well-loved relative, but only because examples of the interesting choices I've made in my life might be too despicable to share. The point is: we followers of Jesus Christ are in process. It's called sanctification and it begins the moment we believe and ends with our last breath. It's our journey of becoming holy. Becoming more like God. It has nothing to do with being saved; that happens by grace through faith in Christ alone. (Ephesians 2:8) Salvation is an unmerited, undeserved gift from the Father, God, the one who knit each one of us together in our mother's womb. (Psalm 139:13) Sanctification is what happens to us when we take hold of the gift.

Chugging along this two-track of potholes, trying to dodge the roadkill, on my way to victory, I'm thankful for the fuel that God keeps providing: a will to look into his word, understanding that comes by his help- the Holy Spirit, friends and family in real time and blog time, who know and love the author of The Book. Christian radio. Christian authors. Church.

I often think about what it means to be in the world, but not of it- what that really looks like and if it is even truly possible. I've decided it is possible, if not wholly, then in part- bit by bit, through the process of sanctification that comes by the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer. These words from Joshua Harris, in his new book, Dug Down Deep (page 187), helped me sort out a few thoughts on this subject:

"When the Holy Spirit is working in our lives, there will be a dynamic quality of holiness, evangelistic boldness, and an otherworldly willingness to play the role of a servant to others. I'm not arguing against the supernatural and spectacular. But I think we need to broaden our definition of both. The truth is that there is no such thing as normal or nonsupernatural Christian living. Every day of faith is a day of the supernatural work of the Spirit in our lives. Every time we're filled with love for God, every time we become aware of how glorious Jesus is, every time we read God's Word and understand and believe it, every time we choose to obey God and turn away from sin, every time we selflessly use our abilities to serve others- the Holy Spirit is powerfully working in us."

Today I had a little time to myself, so I swirled some cream and honey into my uniquely Charleston mug of half caff and headed downstairs to the computer. I clicked straight to my favorite place- Blogaritaville and scrolled my Google FriendConnect reading list down until I found "Today is Tuesday, You Know What That Means". Every Tuesday, My ADHD Me has a special guest on her blog, "Monkey's Are Funny". If you want to know how I got my thrills in the good old days, when I was about 12, click on over there and enjoy the clip. I cranked it up, and whooped and hollered every word along with my old favorite t.v. show star. Dad and I used to love watching her out-sing Sonny, in her skimpy sequined costumes, as she licked her top teeth (without parting her shiny, red lips) and tossed her miles of black hair behind her with a flick of her foot-long, painted nails. My mom would sometimes disgustedly blurt to my dad, "Honey!", if the outfit was too lacking in material. I think that meant, "turn that show off", but we just couldn't do it. She was too captivating. I re-played the clip about five times. The memories make me chuckle! Turns out my good old t.v. idol was a pretty good example- of something...

My dear blog friend, My ADHD Me had some awfully nice things to say about me today in her post that went with that special guest clip. Thank you!! I love My ADHD Me- she is such a fun blog friend! Her kind words also convicted me to shed a little light on the truth of the matter.

This morning I.T. could not find a white undershirt. He has several. Now where on earth do you suppose they are? I don't know either. All I know is my 23 year old sofa gets no respect- everybody dumping laundry all over her, looking for their lost t-shirts! Sheesh.

Due to an over expenditure at the health food store, on a variety of wheat-free flours, egg replacer and xanthum gum, in an attempt to bake gluten-free bread, because this is central to my newest craze of solving all of our family's gut issues- this is all the food we have in the house right now. So, with these: a plastic tub of arugula (rotting because I didn't use it soon enough), a bowl of romaine, a bag of spinach, half a red pepper, 3/4 of a cucumber and a block of thawing cream cheese (that I now find should never have been frozen- since freezing it turns it to mush)- with these ingredients, I must design something that will resemble- dinner. Good thing I.T. is not home tonight for that.

Finally, I must tell you, I want what I want and I want it when I want it. Putting others before myself does not come naturally for me, maybe with the exception of my kids- I seemed to tend to their needs instinctively. But they're all grown and mostly gone now. I'm working hard (and sometimes hardly working) on putting I.T.'s needs before my own. I want to do it- to show him that respect and that kind of love. But I have to stop myself dead in my demanding desires and focus on focusing on him. That is why I cited "being a wife" as one domestic skill I wish I could improve (Question #3 from Random Dozen, Feb. 10th).

Every time I am filled with love for God, every time I am aware of how glorious Jesus is, every time I read God's word, understand it and believe it, every time I obey God and turn from sin and every time I put my selfish desires aside to serve another, I prove the reality of the indwelling Holy Spirit working powerfully- sanctifying me. The process will take a lifetime, but nothing I desire compares to being made in the likeness of Jesus.


Hope with me now- that I will be able to convice I.T. that salad and gluten-free bread is the new Breakfast of Champions,