Reap What You Sow

For the most part, anyone reading my blog from Texas knows a bit about farming, but for those of you who are unfamiliar with the practice, let me give you the basics.  You plow the land, plant a seed, cover it with soil, water it, give it sunshine and time, and it will grow into a plant and you will be able to harvest whatever you originally planted off it.  That's the key - if you plant a corn seed, you will get a stalk of corn, you won't get an apple tree out of the cord kernel.  Another key is that if you plant one or two corn kernels, you will not get just one or two corn kernels back - you will get between 2 and 4 ears of corn with around 800 kernels per ear - which is an average of 2400 kernels for the one or two you planted.  That's an increase of 1200%!


Now, lets take that practice and apply it to our lives.  It's as true in our lives as it is in farming - what we put into our bodies will come back out, but at a very increased rate.  So lets say you're trying to lose weight and get fit, but all you're eating is junk food - chocolate, ice cream, sodas, etc.  Do you really think you are going to lose weight?  NO, you're not; you're going to gain weight very quickly, even if you are getting some exercise every day.  If you plant a strawberry seed, you're not going to get a pear tree out of it! 


Let's take it a bit further:  If you want to get closer to God, but all you're listening to is secular music (secular means separate from religion), you're not going to get closer to God.  If you want to get closer to God, but all you're watching are secular tv shows and movies, you're not going to get closer to God.  The only way to get closer to God is by reading is word, and worshiping Him.  The only way to get an apple tree to grow is to plant apple seeds.  You have to plant God's word in your heart, and give it sun, water and time to grow.


So lets say you have decided to walk closer with God, and for the first week, you spend time everyday in God's word - you plant the seed and water it and give it everything it needs for that first week. But then, you slip up and miss a few days of reading the Bible - that's ok, as long as you get back into it as soon as you can.  But if you miss a few days, and then decide that since you've already planted the seed, it will just grow on it's own, you're wrong.  If you plant a grape seed and keep it happy for the first week, it will not continue to grow if you ignore it for the next 6 months.  It's going to wither and die.  The same will happen to your walk with God - if you give it what it needs for a week, that will not sustain it through the rest of your life.  You have to continue to put the word of God in you and continue to nurture it in order to get it to grow.


It's kind of like a grape vine in the sense that they continue to produce grapes year after year - you don't have to plant a new set of seeds every year; once you have planted the seed and it begins to produce fruit, you do not have to re-plant every year - all you have to do it continue to give it water and sun and time. 


We can apply the same concept to our lives in general - what we put into our bodies when we are young will come out when we are older.  What we plant in our lives as teenagers and young adults is what our lives will produce when we are older.  If we spend our youth partying and not taking care of our bodies, it will come back and bite us in the butt when we are older, possibly in the form of heart conditions, liver disease, etc.  If we spend our youth being rude and obnoxious to people around us, we will spend the rest of our lives being rude and obnoxious and we will drive away the people we love and that love us, and we will end our lives with disappointment and regret.  If we spend our lives, however, spreading the love of God to everyone we meet, we will continue to spread Jesus' love throughout our lives and we will have the joy of knowing that we made a positive impact on at least one person's life, and probably many, many more, and we will have the reward in Heaven for sharing Jesus with that many people.


So today, I want to ask you this:  What will you reap from your life?  Are you going to reap Heavenly rewards, or are you going reap disappointment and regret? 


Please remember that, even if this far in your life you have only planted anger and hate, you can still plant the word of God and it will grow if you nurture it.  So, if right now, you feel like at the end of your life, what you will reap is not going to be good, take this time to change it and make a better life for you and your family.


Take the time today to tell the ones you love that you love them - because you never know if you'll get another chance to do it.

Dating

Continuing with the theme I started yesterday, I would like to talk about the topic of Dating.

A date is "a social appointment, engagement, or occasion arranged beforehand with another person".  Another definition is "to assign a time".  Dating seems to be a bit anti-personal, doesn't it?

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of dating.  Dating, in essence, sets you up for divorce.  For example, let's say you're dating Guy A, (and by dating, I mean setting aside some time to meet with him), but then Guy B comes along and he seems so much nicer than Guy A.  So you break up with Guy A for Guy B.  But then, Guy B isn't really as nice as he originally seemed, so you break up with him to look for something better.  If you're dating, then you will more than likely do this a number of times before finally finding a guy that you feel like you can spend the rest of your life with.  But the problem is that you have gotten into the habit of dumping a guy (or being dumped) when things aren't perfect, so when you do find a guy you want to spend the rest of your life with, it's really easy to just "dump" him (divorce him) and go find something better.  But God has intended marriage to be forever - thus the "for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, til death do us part" NOT "only when we have money to pay all the bills, only you're in good health and we have no medical bills to pay, and only until I get tired of you and your habits that I originally fell in love with but that will eventually get on my last nerve".

So, instead of dating, I offer "courting".  To Court someone means to "try to win the favor, preference or goodwill of; to seek the affections of, woo; to attempt to gain (applause, favor, etc); to invite; to seek another's love, woo".  Another definition is "to fawn over, and pay attention to".

Courting involves not just spending time with someone, but getting to know them.  Courting, I think, should be done in groups - like going on double dates with other couples who are courting.  That way, you aren't alone with a guy in a situation where he might take advantage of you.  Courting is more enduring than dating.  It's the period in a relationship when the couple decides whether or not there will be an engagement and marriage.  Since God designed marriage to be a forever type deal, I believe courting is the more Godly way of finding your mate.  You begin the relationship looking for your future spouse, not just someone to pass the time with.   Dating tends to leave a lot of space and time for future regrets, whereas courting involves waiting until after marriage to share a bed, among other things.

So which will you choose? Dating - where you will spend a lot of time along with a guy, where he has the time and the privacy to try to take advantage of you, and where you will train yourself for divorce later in life; or courting - where you will spend a lot of time with a guy in a group where he won't be able to take advantage of you and where you will train yourself to have a successful marriage and learn how to work through your problems instead of just throwing the towel in like in dating? 

Until next time - Take time to learn something new everyday - no matter how small. :)

Don't Grow Up Too Fast

So, when I got home tonight after a wonderful date night with my husband, I sat down on the couch to get ready to watch the latest Grey's Anatomy (since I missed it Thursday).  Before we put it on, however, we had put the channel on The Country Network just for some background noise.  A song came on that I hadn't heard before, so I started listening to it.  It's called "Don't Grow Up Too Fast" by Daisy Mallory. I have linked to the music video above, and here are the words:

If I had a little sister, and I could talk her,
I’d tell her everything I know and everything I’ve learned.
What I’ve found out the hard way,
That might save her some tears,
So I’d share with her the wisdom upon my sixteen years.
If I had a little sister that’s what I’d do. 

I’d say go easy on the makeup,
And easy on yourself
Yeah, don’t believe the grape vines,
Got nothing good to sell
Fast forward past the drama, smile and walk on through
And you’ll always measure up, if you compare yourself to you.

Chorus:
If I had a little sister that’s what I’d do
Love with all that you have,
Cause all that you have is right here, right now.
And dream as big as the sky, then bring it to life,
Cause the one thing I’ve found
Is time is all you can’t take back,
Don’t grow up too fast

Well this next part is my favorite,
Cause it’s about the boys.
Yeah, half of what they say is really just a bunch of noise

You got your whole life waiting,
So don’t get all caught up in talking about forever,
It will happen soon enough

Chorus:
If I had a little sister that’s what I’d do
Love with all that you have,
Cause all that you have is right here, right now.
And dream as big as the sky, then bring it to life,
Cause the one thing I’ve found
Is time is all you can’t take back,
Don’t grow up too fast

Don’t eat spaghetti on your first date,
Keep all your secrets in a safe place
And don’t forget you’re special
In your own way

Chorus:
Love with all that you have,
Cause all that you have is right here, right now.
And dream as big as the sky, then bring it to life,
Cause the one thing I’ve found
Is time is all you can't take back,
Don’t grow up too fast

I really like this song.  I know that while I was growing up, I didn't really have an "older sister" type role model to give me this kind of advice, and I wonder if I would have made different choices if I had.  But that's the past, and no one can change it, so I would like to take a few of my blogs and dedicate them to sharing this kind of sisterly advice with the girls out there who may or may not have an "older sister" type role model to talk to.  I realize that I am not going to have all the answers, and my experiences will differ from others' experiences, but what I'm hoping to accomplish in doing this is to help just one girl make a better choice because of my mistakes. If I happen to help more, then so be it, but it would be worth it if I helped just one.

So, for tonight, I leave you with this:
Take time to be a kid - no matter how old you are.

Time Flies

It just occurred to me this past week that my first baby, Micah, will be starting Kindergarten in August!  It is so hard to believe that he is already going to be in elementary school!  I remember the day he has born like it was yesterday...I know people always tell you that it goes faster than you think, but I don't think I realized exactly how fast it would go until I lived it.  I remember his first birthday, his first steps, his first Christmas and everything since then.  It's so hard for me to believe that he will be in school in around 6 months - he will be making new friends, and learning new things and I won't get to spend all day with him anymore... I will no longer be spending the majority of his awake hours with him.  My heart aches at the thought of that.  Up until now, I have been able to call him my baby, but when he starts school, that will be the end of that. 

While I'm desperate to get Elijah potty trained, I realize that that marks the end of his toddler years.  Once he is able to go potty and wipe his own butt, he's officially a "pre-schooler" instead of a "toddler".  I am thankful that he is still in that stage where he doesn't mind giving mommy "loves".  Micah will still give me loves every now and then, but for the most part, he wants to be on the go.  Elijah, however, will still give me big hugs and kisses just about every time I ask him for them.  I can still "bribe" the kisses and hugs out of him, too, so that's nice for me. 

But while I don't look forward to it, I realize that my kids are not going to be kids forever.  I know that I am going to go to bed one night and wake up and they will be in high school breaking all the girls' hearts, and then I will take a nap and when I wake up they will be getting married, then I'll blink and they will be having kids (at which point I will be a grandma!), and I know I can't stop it, but I am going to do my best to enjoy the time I have with them while they're little.