Christ

I’m Not Buying It

/ Gina Haney / 9 Comments

I don’t know if you’ve browsed the toy section lately, but if you have you’ve likely viewed the latest club wear modeled by top brand dolls.

And don’t concern yourself with our good childhood friend not fitting in. That girl has been everything from veterinarian to aerobics coach to a US Navy petty officer, and now – um??? I am not sure… the box doesn’t exactly say, but it appears she’s made good friends with the younger girls in the doll isle and they live for the weekend.

If you’ve walked through the mall lately you’ve noticed the shop windows are full of prom dresses that resemble something more like exotic dance wear.

Step on in the store and you’ll see that crop tops (look more like bras to me) and shorts that have more fabric extending up the waist then down the legs are a hot look this year.

Really, I could go on and on but I don’t need to. You can go to dinner at your favorite restaurant and see girls standing in line wiggling and tugging at their hems.

All this wiggling and tugging tells me something; they aren’t comfortable with this either. They may be begging for it or maybe they don’t have to, but there is a lot of squirming going on. Their minds think they want this but they are wiggling like their souls are trying to escape it.

Oh Mommas, I know it’s hard. I’ve given my little girl many birthday and Christmas gifts that weren’t what she thought she really wanted most.

I’ve been tempted to give in. This one isn’t sooo bad. Right? I always come back to this:

If this isn’t who we want our little girls to become, then why is this who we are letting them pretend they are?

Isn’t that what imaginative play is? Pretending you are______?

And isn’t that our job; to say no to the things that they want short term so they can be who they want long term?

When did doll company’s go from encouraging greatness to condoning trashiness?

It’s easy to see why parents are willing to fork out literally hundreds on American Girl and Build-A-Bear toys. A company based on values encouraging innocence and whimsy has my dollars too.

Have you noticed that many women’s swimsuits are going back to a more conservative retro Hollywood styles, and girls swimwear has strings, holes and plunges?

We shouldn’t be too hard on the manufacturers though should we? After all, they are only making what we are buying.

This is a link to an amazing ministry tool I’ve used in teaching modesty to teen girls in our youth group in the past. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WJVHRJbgLz8

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A Purpose and a Place

/ Gina Haney / 5 Comments

The coffee said it right there on the package; Paradise is where I am.” Ha! Bologna! How can that be? It sure doesn’t feel like paradise when your heads spinning with the bewilderment of it all.

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It was time. After eleven years of youth ministry the job we never thought we’d leave was not our calling any longer. How did we know?
• We lost motivation.
• We noticed our conversations during the week shifting from child centered ministry topics to adult centered ministry topics.
• Unsettled feeling. We were growing uncomfortable in our comfort zone.
• Our productivity had dropped.
• A fire began stirring inside of us that we can’t quench but have no outlet of release as the pressure builds.

So with certainty, and I won’t lie – a bit of fear; Josh resigned youth ministry last fall.
Whew! That was a load off! You know that amazing piece God gives when you are in perfect obedience with Him.

Now?

Hmmm…
It feels more like we’re stuck in a game of pin the tail on the donkey. Blindfolded and dizzy trying to find our way.

If you think it sounds like I’m pouting you’d be right. I’m the grumpiest pin the tail on the donkey contestant you’ll ever meet.

I like to know where I’m going and what’s to be expected of me. I also like – no – need to feel useful. And doesn’t everyone need to feel they have a purpose and a place?

The aha moment hit about here. When I bounced my thought off a wizened christian woman she disagreed. While I respect her thoughts I still can’t shake the feeling that she’s wrong about this one.

Is this valley another lesson in serving because He loves me, not so He will love me?

I’ve learned of a couple of fine lines we Christians kinda have trouble finding balance on.
A. The line between law and love. We get hung up on one and forget the significance of the other.
B. The line between works and faith. Again, we get hung up on one and forget the significance of the other.

I don’t know about any of you, but I get to feeling like I am such a mistake that I go about trying to makeup for it. And if that isn’t an insult to the blood; I don’t know what is.

The wizened Christian doesn’t think God likes siestas. She likened it to car shopping. “Does God care if you buy a car? Yes”, she said. “Does he care what color it is? No.” So if I heard this right; God cares if we serve but, isn’t picky about how we serve? And that just sounded absurd to me.

I don’t know how this is going to all turn out. I wasn’t sure it was something I could write with authority on, because I’m still feeling a bit bewildered.

I started the coffee and stood at the sink to wait for the ready beep. The snow flakes were falling fine and fast but you know the way they slow and twirl right next to the glass of the window? It’s like they’re dancing for you!

I’ve got approximately 22 minutes and 14 seconds to be alone with God before the kids start trickling down the stairs, and the house is filled with “No! It’s my turns.” and “What’s for breakfast?”. I don’t think I’ll do a thing. I’ll just set and be with He who created to have communion with me. Paradise is where you are. Yeah, maybe so. So far as earth is concerned anyway.

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Aid for the Grey Sky Days

/ Gina Haney / Leave a comment

Our story’s aren’t the same. Some have buried friends, children, siblings, parents. Some have been martyred. Some are clinging to their I.V. pole as they heave from the chemo. Others are swaddling babies and cheering victories. But whatever in this broken world you’re doing; this still rings true.

Josh proclaimed it from the pulpit that Sunday morning; how we have peace not because we understand, but because we have faith in our God who understands.

A few hours later we read the news. I realized we can proclaim the truth when our hearts need it – then witness how things really can get worse and our hearts can need it even more.

Our souls groan at the headlines, and we must recall the truth we’ve heard, we’ve spoken, we’ve read, and we believe; to deliver us in this time.

Yeah! Absolutely, God is our crutch. Because we are those people who’d rather hobble through broken than set down or set out.
We would rather acknowledge our weakness’ and lean on God’s strength than pretend we’re fine, it’s fine, we’ve got this, and walk around saving our pride and hiding our authentic need for a savior.

That truth that we must declare isn’t just for the brokenness within our own flesh, or within our own walls. It expands across the ocean. It reaches into houses, and huts, and hearts.
The only effective aid that can span the whole space of the broken world, and hold up the to the weight of it all – is Jesus.

If we hide it, deny it, or make light of it; then we are withholding the aid the whole wide world needs.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid from them who are lost. 2 Corinthians 4:3

We can know it in our heads, hide it in our hearts, and feel it in our bones. “Your ways our higher than ours.”

Jim said every breath we take is only possible because God gives it, but the last thing we do when we die is exhale. You can die without God, but you can’t take your next breath without Him.

For better or for worse; it is impossible to hear someone’s last words and not be changed. For better or for worse; it is impossible to hear Gods word and not be changed. Your heart becomes tough or tender.

Lisa ask where the happy was. I could have sworn the whole world was a monochrome grey that day. I said I didn’t know, but that’s not exactly true. It’s just that neither of us needed a sermon right then. We just needed to be real, and to lean, and to not put some phony patch on things. Just lean on our crutch, and let the tears fall, and the sky look grey. Because God always sends a rainbow, but he reserves it for after the storms done passed.

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