Rub Me the Right Way

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory 

that far outweighs them all.

2 Corinthians 4:17

I scraped and scuffed... 

I grazed and grinded... 
I rubbed and rotated...

but I could not get the pebble off the bottom of my shoe.

It's amazing how a small object can affect great pain. It reminded me of Scott and my honeymooning days Italy. Rome is perfumed with romance, intrigue and wonder but you have to traverse ancient cobblestone roads to find it. Every day filled with discovery and passion ended with two pair of aching feet.

A few hours after my new found rock friend made a home in my foot, I realized no amount of stomping was going to dislodge him. He'd taken up permanent residence. Ready for a foot rub, I finally turned my shoe upside down. The funny thing is there was no rock in my shoe. The source of my discomfort turned out to be a jewel.

Sometimes life is like that.

The speaking opportunity passes to other lips.
My child doesn't make the team.
The healing doesn't come.
The battle I thought I'd won wages war with me again.

No matter how I scrape, scruff or grind, I can't change my circumstances but I can change my perspective. In God's hands all the little rocks that irritate my life are shined into jewels. As I inch my heart closer to His, He rubs me the right way.

A Blessing's Birth

Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.

Isaiah 38:17

Yesterday I sat around my kitchen table with the five people I treasure most in this life. Together we dreamed about our new home currently under construction and searched for scriptures to paint onto the walls of every room. Tears rimmed my eyes as I watched a long-held dream unfold.

This isn't the first house I've built but it's the first we will bless in this fashion. 

I still remember exactly where I was sitting the first time I heard of a family writing scriptures on building materials of their home. I was in my 20s and had never owned a home. I meet biweekly with other new moms who knew they didn't have all the answers and needed the insight and counsel of someone farther down life's road. 

Our mentor mom gave us a plethora of helpful hints for building a happy home. Tips like:

1) Squirt pinesol in the toilet before your hubby comes home...that way he'll think you've been cleaning all day.
2) Fry up some onions in a pan and then artfully place your purchased meal on your dinner plates...that way your dear spouse will think he's eating a home cooked meal.

But nestled among her tongue-in-cheek humor, she gave us a picture of a Christian woman. She was the first person I've ever known who wrote scripture on her home. She was so committed to making her home a place where God was honored that she sat in the yard and prayed over her home as every board was laid. 

Much has transpired to lead my family to yesterday's table. It is through pain, heartache and hurt we have reached a point where we long so deeply for God's presence in our home. In these difficult circumstances I couldn't see the blessings God was birthing through pain. 

Maybe you're facing something insurmountable today. Or maybe it's just a big pile of little inconveniences are blocking your perspective. The day will come when you sit at the table and watch your dreams unfold. 

Surely it was for my benefit I suffered such anguish...

What blessing will your pain birth?

Where Will Your Pain Float You?

The LORD is great and righteous; our God is full of compassion.

Psalm 116:5

Stretched. Strained. Challenged. Expanded. 

I spent the last week reading Jeff Goin's Wrecked. His book wrecked me. Wrecked dares us to live bigger, love wider and splash our world with a typhoon of compassion-fueled action. 

Frankly it's easy for me to sit in suburbia, nod my head toward suffering with a donation, a remembrance of bygone mission trips and a mention of my church's work in the inner city. It's so safe here our realtor left his BMW running in the driveway when he went in to show us houses. I'm insulated from shock.

Shock can stun you so badly that you don't do anything. Or it can be used to help. But eventually, the shock goes away, and what remains is what we choose to do with the pain that lingers. ~Jeff Goins in Wrecked

 I looked particularly good the February day life shocked me. My hair had been expertly cut and highlighted. My soul had been saturated with scripture. My heart floated above me with exhilaration. A brownie was the punctuation mark on my perfect day.

I settled my two toddlers down for a nap and slid into the kitchen on the wheel of anticipation. A serrated kitchen knife willed my brownie from its comfortable spot in the pan.  It landed in my palm instead.

I had seen enough CSI to know blood squirting out of my hand wasn't good. I wrapped my hand in a red towel to calm my head from my hand's flow. I applied pressure to my gaping wound and left myself with no hands to dial or drive.

Mercifully I found the neighbor's two doors down home. She stayed with my children as he drove me to the hospital. About halfway from my door to the ER, shock melded with reality and pain slammed into my hand like a brick wall crushing my resolve. 

Two hours later I was stitched, wrapped like I was ready for Halloween and enjoying my meds. Four years later my hand is whole but it still hurts. This is the kind of shock Jeff's referring to. We can be shocked by poverty, brokenness and needs but if we don't let shock fade to pain, we have no incentive to keep going.

Loving others is hard. It's costly. It hurts and is rarely comfortable. That day in my kitchen I gave far more of myself to my day then I intended. It cost me and I was never the same.

Today I want to throttle the BMW of my heart where it isn't safe. Where loving might just not cost me something but everything. Where getting involved means giving more of me then I intend. With certainty, I will never be the same again.

Have you been wrecked? Will you wash up onto the shore of compassion-fueled action or let the pain that lingers float you toward futility?
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Do you want to know more about Wrecked? Visit Jeff's website at goinswriter.com to explore the book and Jeff's writing.

The Divine Masseuse

Today I'd like to introduce you to my dear friend, Carey Scott. Carey is an authentic woman of God whose message which challenges women to be real with themselves, others and God touches the hearts of women countrywide. I am privileged to have her posting here today and would love for you to welcome her to Jesus & My Orange Juice by visiting her blog, following her on Twitter and liking her on Facebook.

Welcome, Carey, can't wait to hear the REAL truth God has laid on your heart this morning!
_______________________

I love massages.

My husband knows that if we had more money then we knew what to do with, I’d hire someone to massage my scalp at bedtime and to rub my feet in the morning.

He continues to tell me to let that dream go.  I’m holding out hope.

Well, the other day I treated myself to a massage.  Life’s been so big lately and my body is showing signs of the stress.

As the masseuse began to work on my neck, I was so relaxed.  It felt fantastic.  But then… she went a little deeper.  Ouch. 

I knew for me to get relief, I needed to let her do that deep work. 

While it hurt, I knew I’d soon be feeling better.  My job during that massage was to allow the work to be done.

So, I took in long breaths and blew the air back out slowly.  Instead of tensing up more, I relaxed my body and felt the healing set in. 

You know what I realized while lying on that table?

God is like that massage therapist.  He has the desire and ability to work out deeper things in us. 

·         God knows where life is causing us to tense up.

·         He has the perfect techniques to promote healing.

·         He is not surprised by all our areas of stress.

·         He is fully aware of our pressure points.

When we take our pain to God, He faithfully goes to work.  His focus is to bring us… relief.

Sometimes the process of relief is uncomfortable because it makes us look at who we really are.  It forces us to forgive something or someone who has hurt us deeply.  This process causes us to change, which is overwhelming and scary at times.  Old habits and attitudes are hard to break.

But when we decide to be part of the process rather than part of the problem, it can make a huge difference.  When we allow God to work that stuff out instead of us holding onto it and letting it fester and cause pain… relief is imminent.

He is your Divine Masseuse.

Let God do His deep work in you.  He won’t charge you.  You don’t have to make an appointment.  And His hands never get tired.

Where do you need God’s work today?
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Carey Scott is an inspirational speaker and writer, honest about her walk with the Lord, stumbles, fumbles and all.  She loves to challenge women to be real and authentic. Through her blog she encourages women to stop living a mediocre, risk-free life and instead step onto the battlefield. She is a weekly blogger on CWAHM and serves as the Wednesday host on the Moms Together Facebook community. Most recently, Carey was added as a member of the speaking and writing team for LeadHer. She and her husband live in Colorado with their two kids.