MY BLOG POSTS

Book lovers – Do you know there are programs that will send you new books for FREE?

If the answer is “yes,” read no further.

But if the answer is “no,” I am about to be your best friend…

There are programs that will send you new books for FREE!!

The “catch” is that you must post an honest review of the books on your blog and on a consumer website (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christianbook, etc). Not bad, right?

If you don’t have a blog? Start one! There are tons of free templates you can use: WordPress, Blogspot, Blogger, Xanga, and Weebly are some of the most popular . VERY user friendly. And lots of choices so you can make the site your own. Check out some of the many bloggers out there who are doing this to see how it’s done.

So what are these programs? Booksneeze and NetGalley. Check them out! And happy reading!

Last week, a friend’s teenage son committed suicide. The news was devastating – to his family, his friends, everyone. But it wasn’t just devastating – it was completely unexpected. Had his parents known he was struggling, they would have done anything possible to help him. Their love for him is deep.  There is nothing they would not have done to spare him this tragic end. But they had no idea. He suffered in silence and, when he couldn’t stand it any longer, he chose to end his suffering.

As I pray for this precious family, I keep thinking how I am sure they would give anything – anything – to turn back time a week, a month, to change what happened last week. I have no doubt his parents would have gladly given their own lives to spare his, had they been given that option.

Tragically, time cannot be turned back, and this painful reality will always be a painful reality for this family. But, just in case any of you reading this are considering suicide, please – PLEASE – seek help. Talk with someone. Pain is real and disappointments are real and life can sometimes be incredibly difficult. But the answer is not to end this life. Even if you have been hurt by family, by friends, by a girlfriend or boyfriend, by crushing disappointments, life is worth living.

You are loved. Deeply. By the Creator of the world, the Savior of mankind. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jn. 3:16 All through the bible, we read about God’s amazing, incredible, limitless love – for all of us. Because all of us are flawed, sinful, in desperate need of a Savior. God knew that, and He sent us a Savior: His son. And that Savior is waiting with open arms for YOU. Because He loves you so very much.

Every life on this planet is valuable. You are important. You are unique.

You. Are. Loved.

My kids don’t watch Barney anymore.

That’s mostly a good thing.

Sometimes,  though, I miss their little kid shows. I really loved Diego’s “Rescue Pack” song. I used to salsa around the house whenever that came on. If I wasn’t in the room, my kids would call for me, knowing I wouldn’t want to miss it.

Here’s what I especially miss — those shows, shows like Barney and Dora, Dragon Tales and Blue’s Clues, they had nice people in them. Or nice animals. Or accessories. Whatever. And they were even nice to the bad guys. They didn’t yell or scream or curse. They taught good lessons like share with your friends, use kind words, always carry a blow-up raft with you in case you’re caught in the terrible current of raging river rapids while looking for an endangered bird.

Why are shows like that only for little kids? Don’t older kids need those lessons? Teenagers? Adults?

Don’t you think this world would be a better place if Barney moved up with us? If there were a cute song all about how we shouldn’t yell at our brother just because he ate that candy bar we had been saving? An adorable Vera Bradley purse waltzing around and keeping us out of trouble? Some peep-toe pumps that led us to clues about where to go to college?

How much nicer would we be if we all walked around singing the “I love you” song? If we really were all a big, happy family. “With a great big hug and kiss from me to you”?

Maybe the solution to all the violence and anger in this world is simply because we leave the shows like Barney behind when we grow up.

With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you…

I am a people pleaser. Big time. I want everyone to think I’m great, to invite me to all the parties, and to speak of me fondly when I’m not in the room.

There are major problems with that, as you can imagine.

One of the biggest problems is that I sometimes have a hard time saying “No.” People ask me to do something, and my automatic response is, “Sure!” Because I feel like it is something God wants me to do? Not usually. Usually it’s because I am afraid if I say no that person will not speak of me fondly when I am not in the room.

But there’s a problem with never saying no – I get overwhelmed, I end up doing so many things that I don’t do any one of them well. Colossians 3:23 says, “In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people.”

Ouch. I have to tell you — I worry WAY more about making people happy than making God happy. But that is SO backward. And stressful. Because God knows just how much I can handle. God loves me. He speaks fondly of me when I’m not in the room.

So I have tried to listen more to him than to others, to say “yes” to God even when that means saying “no” to others. I don’t always succeed, but God is growing me in this. Sometimes he uses friends to come alongside me and say, “Krista, you do not have time for this.” Sometimes it is a simple realization that my plate is full. I cannot add one more thing to it. I have had to say no to some good things – ministries, parties, activities, dinners, you name it. And, as a result, there are people who do not speak fondly of me when I am not in the room.

But that’s all right. Because I need to focus on pleasing God, not people. I need to let go of the fear that people might not like me and embrace that reality that I am deeply loved by God. I need to look to him, what he has for me to do. Because there is joy in that, peace in that. And there is rest. Rest is something that is hard to get when you’re constantly saying “yes.”

Jesus says that, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt. 11:30). So join me in trading in the burden of being a people pleaser for the freedom of being a God-pleaser.

And, go ahead, don’t speak fondly of me. I can take it!