Share God's Love

As a part of a Better BeckE in 08, I've decided to evaluate and in some cases change the way I view things and people in my life. For example, let's take today. For those of you who weren't aware (not sure who you are) today is Valentine's Day. It's the wonderful Hallmark holiday our society has created to make sure we tell others how much we love them. I've never understood why we need a specific day, because if we love someone shouldn't they know it already? Shouldn't we tell them we love them more than just one day out of the year?

If you can't tell already, I've never really been a big fan of Valentine's Day. In the past I always looked as it as a day to remind me of what I didn't have. There was no gorgeous man waiting for me to get home to eat this elaborate meal he cooked me (yes I need a man who can cook. I appreciate food, not so much cooking it, as I do eating it, ha). There was never a secret admirer who would send me endless amounts of flowers, (which I must say I'm OK with. I'd much rather have the chocolates and home-cooked meal. I never really understood the fascination with flowers because they just wilt and die.) My point is: Valentine's has never been my favorite day of the year because I was trying to make it about something it's not.

So I've decided to change the way I look at Valentine's Day. Society says it's about relationships we have with others, but I've decided to make it about the relationship I have with God. Today isn't the day for me to remind everyone that I love how important they are to me, instead it should be about sharing God's love with them and yes, even to strangers. Today is a day for us, as Christ-followers, to show the world love isn't an emotion, as much as it is an action.

Take as many chances as you can today to share God's love. Buy a stranger a cup of coffee. Let a car pass you and don't get annoyed even if they do cut you off. Call your grandma and tell her you love her. Send a letter to an old friend. Take time today to share God's love. Because today is about love, just not as society says it should be. It's not about the love we don't have, as much as it is about the love that we have.

"We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love."
1 Corinthians 13:12-13

Better BeckE in '08

Ok, so I've been inspired to start a campaign. Maybe it's all the politics in the news. Maybe it's the fact it's election year. Maybe it's the fact the State of Union was on last night. Or maybe it's the Mexican food I had yesterday kicking in. Regardless of the cause, I'm off and running. Here's the slogan: "A Better BeckE in '08!" Pretty clever, huh? Well I can't actually take credit for it, G. Fowler made it up the other day and it just stuck.
I got to thinking, what if we all spent about half as much time into making ourselves better, as we do complaining about what's wrong with everyone else. I am sure the main reason is we never like to think we are that bad. There's always someone worse, right? Not to mention it's always easier to tell someone how to fix themselves rather than make changes ourselves. Hey, there's my platform. "It time for a Change!"
Although there may not be too many people who would support that. I mean there are plenty of people out there who say "It's Time for a Change," but in actuality they won't stand up for change. Think about it. This year there could possibly be a woman on the ballot when we go to vote, but how many people do you think that's all they were pushing for. I'm not so sure America is ready to be lead by a woman, but I do believe there are a lot of people who are ready to make it look like they are. Ok think about it this way, how many of us say or even believe we need to lose a few pounds, but when it comes down to getting out of bed a little bit earlier or changing our meal habits we question if it's really worth it. It sounds good, but doesn't always feel so good. It's so true and I'm tired of it.
That's what this campaign is all about ... making changes that last. Making changes that last longer than a dozen of hot fresh donuts! (any other mouths watering?) I want to stop saying the changes are coming, but actually start working on them. It's not going to easy and maybe that's the problem. I think too often we forget that anything worth anything is never easy. We just expect things to be and that's where the complaining comes in. More importantly that's where the CHANGE needs to happen.
So will you join me in my campaign? What is it about you that needs to change? Are you willing to make the change or will you just keep complaining?
This ad has been sponsored by C3 Church. The place where dreams begin and changes are made!

Warning: I'm Back!

Well after taking a few months off, I'm back to blogging! I just couldn't take all the hounding from my fans (both of them have just been driving me crazy about returning to the blogging world, ha,ha).

Blogging is the one thing that should be easy for me, but that's not always the case. I mean I love to write. I know it is a great gift God has blessed me, but at the same time I always feel I have to write something profound and long. I feel since it's a gift it's my job to use it effectively. But I am learning that if God blesses us with gifts then it's only our job to use them, he will supply the meaning. Afterall, how effective is a gift if you never use it.

So as I set my personal growth plan for this year, I vow to make blogging a part of it. I will also do my best to try not to get caught up in the details of what I write about and just write. So you've been warned!

Just say "No"

So I am reading this book called "Boundaries" and I am learning more and more how important it is to have boundaries in my life. I think it's crazy how as a child all I ever wanted to be was a grown up and now as a grown up I find there are times I'd much rather be a child. I never really understood why, until I started to read this book.

You see as a child I grew up never wanting to have limits. Actually I grew up believing I had no limits. I wanted to know how to do everything everyone else did and putting up boundaries would mean I couldn't do some things. Thinking back I know how silly that sounds, but it was my mentallity. I believed if I said "no" to something I was admitting I was less or weak. BUT now after reading through this book, I know that "Nos" are just as much as sign of strength as weakness. I am learning that saying "No" is OK and even necessary at times.

This book has truly impacted my life because for so long I have been walking around believing "I" can do anything. But now I know "I" can't do it all nor do I need to try to. Now I know the power of "No." I am learning to say no and leave it at that. No guilt, no shame. But I also know it is a process. You can't just set up boundaries overnight and think that's all that needs to happen. Boundaries need to be followed. So I am starting small with food and exercise boundaries, with the antispation of bigger boundaries. Who knows by saying "no" to some things, I may be able to say "yes" to more things.

Becoming an athlete?

Some of you may be wondering if I finished the race (a half marathon) ... well... I did. But let me tell you it wasn't easy! This was probably one of the hardest, most fullfilling things I have ever done.

I know a lot of folks were a little hesitant of me actually finishing, which may of had something to do with the fact I didn't train. (I know I'm insane.) When I first signed up for this race, I think I was signing up once again to try and prove something to everyone. And once again God used this race as a way to prove to me that I don't have to prove anything to anyone.

I've been a fan of sports my whole life (yes my whole life)and I've always had this desire to compete and I always had this even deeper desire to prove something to everyone. Because of the birth defect I was born it's obvious I would never score the winning shot on a b-ball team or spike the winning point for a volleyball team. I think every athlete has that desire to impact his/her team and make a winning touchdown or shot. Sometimes that desire is what even keeps many from playing. At least it did for me. I always thought if I can't be competitive, why even play. Over the years I participated less and less in sports and became more of a spectator. I became that crazy fanatic person who went ballistic when the ref missed a called or made a wrong one. I became the one who was jumping up and down on the sideline why someone else was crossing the goal line.

But then that got old. And my desire to be in the game never went away. So I thought why not run. I got two legs! As I began to train, I forgot how hard it was to work for something you really want. You see I was so used to being a spectator that I forgot about all the pratice that goes in before the big game. I had become comfortable being a spectator, which meant I never really felt the thrill of winning. And the idea of working for it became less of a thrill. So I trained less and less. And the day of the race kept getting closer and closer. As the race approached I knew I had a decision to make. I could just walk away from the race, say I didn't train and leave it at that. But that would also mean saying "I quit," which isn't something I do. It isn't something athletes do and I'd like to think I'm an athlete in this game of life.

So I did what any athlete would do. I finished the race. Did I run at top speed and blow away the competition? No. In fact, I walked a lot of the race. And I would have walked all day if that's what it would of took to finished (I actually finished in a little under 4 hours, not too bad for not training). I just used the time during the race to start listening to my coach. I began to hear His voice more clearly and run/walk off all the other junk that has been holding me back. Finishing the race felt so amazing. I had this awesome feeling of accomplishment. And most importantly I no longer felt like a spectator. I became an athlete.

Classics

A couple of weeks ago, I traveled with the family down south to Pigeon Forge, Tenn. There was this huge car show. I am not kiding, there were easily more than 100,000 folks there. The last time we went down for this car show (several years ago) my dad backed our van into a pole, because he was too busy starring at some car (it was more than likely a '63 Chevy Impala SS). As soon as we got there this time my mom was constantly telling him to pay attention to the road, but I'm sure he didn't even hear her. He just kept saying, "Look at that one!" "Man, look at that engine!" "Beck, did you see that Chevy?" "There's a GTO, how much is it?" (Knowing there was no way he was buying one.)

I was amazed at how many people showed up to look at these classic cars. The majority of them were probably reliving the "good old days." That's all my folks kept saying: "Remember when I had that GTO?" or "That was just like the Chevy I had, only mine was red." My dad keep saying "Man I wishy I would have kept my Chevy."

It's funny how we never really know what we've got til it's gone. My parents said when they were younger a '63 Chevy was just a car, but now it's a classic. That just blows my mind. How something that was just a mean of transportation is now something you rarely want to drive. Then I began to think about life, my life, what are the things that I am possibly taking advantage of now that I could regret later? What or who is it in my life that I am not enjoying enough now?

I don't ever want to think of my life or the people in it as classics. Just like great friends and family, classics are cool to look at and to be around but expensive to repair and rebuild. Classics are just a more expensive version of what used to be and of what we wish could still be.

(If I did own a classic car, it would be the one in this picture.)

Lost

Things have been a little crazy lately (not that they aren't always crazy, just a little more than usual). For the past few weeks I've been through so many emotions. Laughing one moment and sobbing the next. My grandma died the last week of August. She was diagnosed as being in the last stages of Alzheimer's in May. Everytime I start to think about how hard it was for me to let her go, I think of my mom and how hard it had to be for her. My grandmother went from this stubborn, outspoken, loving woman (yes you can be all of these at the same time) to a quiet woman who didn't know anyone. There were days when I am not sure she even knew who she was.

She was lost, or at least that's what people would say. Even when she died people would call, come over and say how sorry they were for our loss. I am curious to know how that saying even got started, because I don't think I lost her. If anything I gained her for etenity. My grandma was not a Christian growing up or even in her adult life. But she gave her life to Christ in a hospital bed a short time before she was diagnosed in May.

Whenever I think of something I've lost, my mind immediately takes me to the last place I was when I had it and then my mind takes me to the fact I will never have it again. Think about it. Think of something you've lost. Growing up I was just a little squirt. I only weighed 17 pounds in kindergarten and 15 of that was probably my head! I was just this cute little bobble-head, kind of like Dora :) My mom used to lose me all the time in the store (well maybe I would get lost from my mom, I had a tendacy to get swallowed by the clothing racks). Anyways my point being as soon as I was out of my mom's sight, I could almost always hear her saying "She was just right here!" Then I would hear her say in shear panic,"What if someone took her?" When we lose something or someone, we instantly think about how they will no longer be around and how we will no longer be able to talk with them, laugh with them, cry with them or just love them.

I don't think of my grandma's death as me losing her, because now when I think of her I know she is happy. I know she knows who she is and all the people who love her. I know she's not sad and lonely. I know she's laughing and smiling constantly. I know she knows exactly where she is. I know she's waiting for me. I know she's not lost.