Be a Yes Woman or Man

The Hopper family Christmas night tradition we adopted years ago (once we started staying in Charlotte instead of going to GA where both of our families live) is to go to a movie as a family. Last night, we went to see "Yes Man". You may not like Jim Carey, and I will certainly admit that some of the language and scenes were not to my liking. However, the overall message of the movie was a good one: embrace life by saying yes more often than not. I won't share anymore details in case you want to go see it.

I headed to bed not too long after arriving back home once I finished up the dishes from Christmas dinner....since there wasn't enough time to fully clean up after the meal AND get to the movie on time. It had been a good but exhausting Christmas day for me filled with alot of cooking. We were blessed to have 12 around our dining table this year, 6 of which were outside of our family.....more on that in a separate blog.

As is often the case when I sleep hard, I dreamed...this dream is, I believe, somehow "significant". For those who know me, I know you are probably laughing right now because "significant" is a word that is.....well "significant"! The significance is found in how the Spirit seemed to take the message of the movie and apply it to my life spiritually. The summary of the dream is that I along with some other believers were seeking to say "yes" to living in the presence & power of the Spirit constantly. What a concept! It was amazing, so real and believeable...in other words, it seemed like it could really happen.

In the "Yes Man" movie, Jim Carey is stuck in what I'd call "No-Land"....he says no to everything and is therefore in a big-time rut, and it affects everything in his life, from his dead-end job, to his failed marriage, to friendships, and the list goes on.

Hmmm....how many times (aka: weeks, months, years, even seasons!) have I been stuck in "No-Land" regarding living life in the Spirit and much because of my preconceived notion that it's just not do-able?! I think to myself, "it's just too hard" or "there's too much opposition."....both of which are so true, but that doesn't mean it's not do-able!...which is what my dream depicted: the reality that there is going to be difficulty (saying yes seems to inevitably bring what is at first hard but eventually turns out good....that sounds alot like Romans 8:28 to me) & opposition (from others who don't know Jesus as well as some who do but are choosing to live what I call an "in the box" believer's life). It was astounding to me to "see" myself in the dream living in a way that was saying "yes" to everything the Spirit was saying to me and prompting me about. And, it was so cool to see the COMMUNITY of believers that were around me seeking to support one another in living this way. At times, we would "lose" someone to one of the other groups, but then after observing our "yes lives", some would return. Each victory, great or small, was genuinely celebrated together.

Generally-speaking, the dream depicted this life as a battle....not surprising since that's how Scripture also describes it...see Ephesians 6:10-18. Often times in the dream, the in-the-box believers and/or not saved group would try to "mimic" the Spirit-filled life...in other words, it was a counterfeit version. And for those who were "lukewarm" (see Rev. 3:15), this imitation was very enticing. Those of us who had been convinced to live life saying yes to the Spirit would have to work hard at not working hard to do the work that ONLY the Spirit can do in the lives of those who were lukewarm.

The final detail of the dream is really important.....because at the start of the dream was a conversation I was having with my husband who was sharing with me that the Spirit had basically impressed him with a message that said, "Sherri's about to have to go through something hard, and although you are her husband, she will have to go through this on her own." Don't misinterpret me here....not alone in that Neal couldn't support me in prayer and other ways, but my understanding at this point is that it was going to be MY battle, not his and that it was going to get harder before it got easier.....something the Spirit made evident again and again throughout the dream. I think this is important for me AND you to remember....we don't live our believing lives joined at the hip with someone....we EACH have our OWN personal life with Jesus.

I awoke with a sense of renewed hope as well as a realistic understanding about living my life saying YES to Him. How incredible that my BIG God can take something as INsignificant as a secular movie and use it in a profound way?!

The Christmas Pageant

I don't know who "authored" this, but it's just too great not to share! All you "mama's " will sooo identify.
Enjoy & Merry Christmas!

THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT

My husband and I had been happily married (most of the time) for five years but hadn't been blessed with a baby. I decided to do some serious praying and promised God that if He would give us a child, I would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heart and raise it with His word as my guide. God answered my prayers and blessed us with a son. The next year God blessed us with another son. The following year, He blessed us with yet another son. The year after that we were blessed with a daughter. My husband thought we'd been blessed right into poverty. We now had four children, and the oldest was only four years old. I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it. As a minister once told me,"If you pray for rain, make sure you carry an umbrella."

I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children each day as they lay in their cribs. I was off to a good start. God had entrusted me with four children and I didn't want to disappoint Him. I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks. I tried to be understanding when they started a hotel for homeless frogs in the spare bedroom, although it took me nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three frogs. When my daughter poured ketchup all over herself and rolled up in a blanket to see how it felt to be a hot dog, I tried to see the humor rather than the mess.

In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand diapers, never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for more than thirty minutes at a time, I still thank God daily for my children. While I couldn't keep my promise to be a perfect mother -I didn't even come close...I did keep my promiseto raise them in the Word of God. I knew I was missing the mark just a little when I told my daughter we were going to church to worship God, and she wanted to bring a bar of soap along to"wash up" Jesus, too. Something was lost in the translation when I explained that God gave us everlasting life, and my son thought it was generous of God to give us his "last wife."

My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant. My daughter was playing Mary, two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man. This was their moment to shine. My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line,"We found the babe wrappedin swaddling clothes." But he was nervous and said, "The baby was wrapped in wrinkled clothes." My four-year-old "Mary" said,"That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly. That's dirty, rotten clothes." A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing. I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped the doll representing Baby Jesus, and it bounced down the aisle crying, "Mama-mama." Mary grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it tightly as the wise men arrived. My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown, knelt at the manger and announced...

"We are the three wise men,and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense and fur."

The congregation dissolved into laughter,and the pageant got a standing ovation. "I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one,"laughed the pastor, wiping tears from his eyes. For the rest of my life, I'll never hear the Christmas story without thinking of gold, common sense and fur." My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing," I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.

BUT GOD is so good.

Earlier this week, I was sooo sick with the flu ( or something?)....it came on suddenly IN the car (yuck) on the way home from being in GA for the Thanksgiving holiday. Barely made it in the door before the worst hit....no further details required! About mid-week I started to feel human again. Being sick is sooo....no fun.

BUT GOD is so good. He brought me through the sickness. It wasn't cancer or some other terminal health problem. I am keenly aware of that fact because my sweet 83 year old Mama has advanced bone cancer. When I'm around her (she lives in Atlanta & I am in Charlotte), I am blessed because I see her persevering in the midst of a GREAT trial. Last Saturday was particularly hard on her. She was in excruciating pain...so much so that she was screaming and asking Jesus to take her home. At one point, she even accusatively asked me, "Don't you care?!" I didn't take her comment personally because I know my Mama knows that I love her and that I do care immensely about her. But the pain was talking at that moment. Later when the pain meds finally kicked in, she was resting easier and I was on my knees beside her chair laying my head on her chest, she said in that Mama-like way, "I pray you NEVER have to experience pain like this." My reply...."If I have to Mama, I hope that I will be able to remember how strong you were and that if you could endure, then so can I."

In the midst of so many health challenges, sweet Stella chooses to focus on the good things in her life. She has her down moments for sure, but she's an amazing woman of God who's lived her life before me with all its many ups and downs, all the while trusting her God and displaying His glory as over and over again she chooses joy.

Today, to my surprise, a little bit of my Mama came out OF me.........the plumber had to be called earlier this week because of an outside water leak. An opportunity to worry & complain or choose joy & trust. Which will I choose this time? (another "to my surprise").... I let my husband make the "call" about how he should handle the details of this situation (I reeeeally have to work hard on the submitting thing due to a very strong sin nature in this area!!!). Because Neal just couldn't make up mind about what to do and which plumber to use and what work he wanted him to do or not do (what an opportunity for decisive Sherri to force things!), the plumber didn't come yesterday. BUT, he did come today. When he arrived and walked downstairs to our basement, a gigantic mess awaited him. The toilet had overflowed and lots of "poo" and other wonderful things had found their way all over the bathroom floor and into the family room.

When Neal came upstairs to inform me of what they had just discovered, I raised my hands to my head and said, "Oh no!" But just a few minutes later, my mind began recounting all the blessings of the situation.......wait! who is this Sherri & what has someone done with the "old one"?!!!

1-we are having a large Christmas party at our house next Saturday, not today; it didn't happen next weekend!
2-we have a stained concrete floor in the basement so no carpet is ruined!
3-the plumber was already on his way today when the other problem ocurred! if he had come yesterday, another call to come out would have most likely cost extra money & there was no waiting to address the problem!
4-God has graciously provided some extra income through Neal's sales, so there is CASH to pay for it! THIS IS HUGE because we NEVER have extra money!
5-it didn't take me days or weeks to have this perspective! wow, God reeeally is still working IN me!

There are just sooo many issues in this life to juggle, aren't there?! I know. I understand.
BUT GOD is so good!