My thoughts on the Auburn fan's letter to Georgia fans...

First let me say, shame on any human who spits on another human being or yells vulgar things due to wearing another team's colors. I will not condone any behavior in which a person is violated or abused. We are all human beings, created by God, and deserve to be treated fairly.

But the sad thing is in a place where 90,000 plus people gather together, the odds of those people knowing, believing or understanding that we are created by Jesus and should treat others fairly is proven to be slim.

I have grown up going to sporting events. I've seen rivalry games between the Red Sox and Yankees in Boston, Cubs and Reds in Chicago, UGA and Auburn in Auburn and Athens, UGA and Tech in Atlanta and Athens, UGA and Tennessee in Athens, UGA and Florida in Jacksonville, UGA and the Tide in Tuscaloosa and Athens and I've experienced disrespectful behavior at a lot of these games. (Heck, I even told a few Aubbies to go to the place the sun doesn't shine once while in Auburn many years ago.) I've tailgated in Athens with Tigers of different likes, Yellow jackets, Gamecocks, Tide fans, and such. I even married a man whose alliance is with different teams than mine. Crimson is just a few shades off of our Georgia red, right? Because of this all, I have seen lots of behaviors that are shameful. I'm also a coach's wife and hate to say I've been treated with disrespect by my own colors when someone doesn't agree with a stand or decision my husband makes impacting their player.

But the bigger issue to me is that people are treated like this every single day. You see, hate brings out the worst in people and I'm not just talking about rival sports teams. Some people hate a team or a certain coach, others hate a person's color, while some hate another's belief. I think this guy just experienced what many face daily just because of their social status, the color God painted their skin in their mother's womb, or even because they believe Jesus is the only way to heaven. THIS behavior happens everywhere. At least this girl could take her scarf off. I have several friends judged by their skin color and that can't be removed and tossed in a dumpster.

I wish we ALL could wake up and realize that every human was "fearfully and wonderfully made" by God (ps.139:14) above and start acting in love. But the fact is, without Jesus coming into someone's heart, you cannot expect them to treat you a certain way. His father could have taught him right from wrong and her mother could have taught her to act like a lady but without conviction in his or her heart, each will continue to disrespect those not like him/her. This letter just reminds me that we live in a fallen world and are educated on fallen campuses and we need to be on our knees for our campuses, nation and the world.

So next time you start to judge another or treat someone with disrespect, remember how upset you get when you hear a story like this and remember Jesus made him too and we have no place to judge. The only place we have is to love, even when we are spit on and treated unfairly for this will show them a little glimpse of the One who taught us to love.

"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him." Matthew 26:27-31

#footballalwaysbringsmetoJesus

Tuesday's Thoughts

A couple of nights ago I was reading a few pages from John Piper's book, Taste and See. It is a great read if you love Piper but can only read a few pages at a time. This book is basically just short journal entries he has collected over the years. On this one particular night I was reading the entry "Her Body, Her Self, and Her God." It is basically Piper talking about how much we, as women, have changed over the decades from women who desire good works, to women who desire good looks. This really hit me hard...or as I like to say, "It rocked my world." He quoted two different passages from scripture, 1 Tim. 2:9-10 and 1 peter 3:3-4,6.

Piper's thought on why we have drastically changed is because the "person" we, as women, seek approval from has changed from God to man. I think I fight between God's approval and man's approval daily. Don't you? I worry more about what stroller Eli is in instead of caring about the way I am leading him through life. I worry more about what clothes I have on than what clothes my heart. I worry more about how my actions compare to others instead of comparing my actions to God. I want to come to a place where God's approval is all I care about; where I am free from man's approval and stop constantly comparing myself to others.

Just the other day I was coveting a friend's possessions while driving somewhere and the Lord reminded me that all that I have, He has given me. And when I covet what someone else has I am basically spitting on what God has given me! That really cut me deep. How am I going to get past this way of mind?

I think the way this is going to happen is to daily learn more about God's character and remember and believe, as my mom puts it, "He loves me more than anyone else does and knows me better than I know myself." Oh that I would live like I believe this and that God would make my only desire to seek His approval and seek to share His name with those He puts in my path. So I am challenging myself to put God at the center of all I do and spend more time with Him EVERYDAY. Just remember, at the end of it all, He is going to be the only one that matters anyway. I would just hate to get to heaven after spending all my time on earth making more of myself instead of making more of Christ.

Monday's Meal

I am always trying to remember what things I can make for supper. "Monday's Meal" is going to be a way to help you think of some dishes you can make for your family.

On the menu tonight will be Hamburger Steak, corn on the cob (silver queen) and a salad. I love to marinade my hamburger meat with Dale's sauce, soy sauce, and some Grill mates seasoning. I put the corn in a pyrex dish with pads of butter, cover the dish in plastic wrap and put them in the microwave. It is so much easier that way! Just watch out for the steam when you pull back the plastic wrap. I've burned myself before pulling it back and it hurt like junk! Our salad will be topped with cucumbers, green pepper, and croutons (because my hubby doesn't think any salad is complete without croutons). Well, I'm off to get supper ready while Little E is still napping!

first post

I have really been wanting to share my thoughts on being a Christian woman, coach's wife, and first time mom over the past few months but didn't want to do so on my other blog. I felt the other blog was for family and friends to see into our life and the people reading our blog probably didn't want to hear me ramble about my own life. I was throwing around the idea of creating a blog just for my thoughts but thought to myself, "Why would anyone ever care to read about my thoughts?" Well, after going back and forth in my head and not being able to sleep, last night I got up and ended up on the couch looking at The Pioneer Woman's website. And much to my surprise, she had just posted about how her website was started 4 years ago today. So I took that as my sign to start up my own page. In NO way do I ever think I'll be up to her status but I know she started her blog just to share her thoughts on life as a rancher's wife and mom. So I'm going to give this a try and see where it takes me. I know it won't be near as interesting as my precious little boy but I've got to get these thoughts down somewhere. So, here we go...