wyhr.orgWendy’s World

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
~Eleanor Roosevelt

I work in a manufacturing environment that sits next to our national office. As a result you wind up with people in uniforms from the manufacturing environment and people from the national office who wear business casual. It’s easy to perceive this as a class distinction. Folks in the manufacturing environment allow themselves to feel this class distinction, to feel inferior. The same could go for people who work in cubicles versus having an office. It’s a perceived class distinction. You can choose to believe it or choose not to. It all comes down to fear and self-confidence. Are you going to allow a uniform or a cubicle to define your worth?

Recently, we attended my husband’s eleven year high school reunion. It made me recall this quote from Hope Floats:

“Childhood is what you spend the rest of your life trying to overcome.”
~Birdee Pruitt

Perfection is the enemy!
~ Lyrics from the song “Free to Be Me” by Francesca Battistelli

Over the past month, over 1,100 people at Liquid church took part in a partial fast. The intent of the fast was to give up something physical for the sake of something spiritual, looking to focus our appetite on God. The fast was modeled after Daniel, specifically when Daniel was resisting being transformed in to a Babylonian (i.e. brainwashing).

“Please test your servants…Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.” ~Daniel 1:12

So for the past 21 days I ate nothing but fruits & vegetables in an attempt to grow closer to God. I must say it worked…but not in the way that I would have intended. I expected this fast to be a spiritual rejuvenation, a refreshing experience but the majority of the time it was a struggle. I struggled to feel connected to God. I desperately sought him through prayer, Bible study and edifying music. I felt like David when he called out in Psalm35:22

“LORD, you have seen this; do not be silent.
Do not be far from me, Lord.”

Here’s the thing – He was always there. I was looking for God to work in one way and He was working in another. I was blind to how He was connecting with me.

Through my Daniel Fast, I learned how selfish I really I am. I learned how many times I choose Wendy’s way over God’s will. It seems like a little thing to eat two Oreo’s with a glass of milk at night but, in reality, I was seeking comfort and/or happiness from food. I was looking for those Oreo’s to fill me up, to make me happy. Oreo’s are temporary. They will never satisfy. I had twisted a natural & healthy desire (food) in to an unhealthy one. I had made food my idol.

It may seem a bit harsh – “It’s just two Oreo’s. You’re not overweight. It’s not illegal. You’re not hurting anyone.” but when I examined my intent, why I was doing what I was doing, it was sin. It wasn’t until Day 20/21 that God finally broke through, opened my eyes and ears to see that I was feeling separated because I was separate from God. It wasn’t His doing, it was my own.

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden his face from you…” ~Isaiah 59:2

But here’s the great thing about my God – He have me a way to be reunited with Him, to not just feel closer to Him but to be closer. All I had to do was to admit I was being selfish (i.e. choosing food over Him) and humbly ask for His forgiveness. Jesus’ death on the cross made that possible.

So thank you Liquid church for giving me this idea and thank you God for opening my eyes and drawing me closer to You.

For more information on the fast, check out this link.

Love takes risk.
~Dr J. Long

History is a maiden, and you can dress her however you wish.

Recently I saw this quote in my weekly calendar.
“A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.”
It was misattributed to Malcom X. Peter Marshall really said it. It’s unfortunate that a calendar publisher would print false information. Aren’t they supposed to check this stuff out?

I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, then you grow wings.
~William Sloan Coffin

From Bones episode Back in the Saddle:

Booth: It’s got to be (crappy sex).
Bones: Why?
Booth: Why? I’ll tell you why. Here we are, all of us, basically alone, separate creatures circling each other, all searching for the slightest hint of a real connection. Some look in the wrong places, some just give up hope because in their mind they’re thinking there’s nobody out there for me…but all of us, we keep trying, over and over again. Why? Because every once in a while, every once in a while, two people meet and there’s that spark and, yes bones, he’s handsome and she’s beautiful and maybe that’s all they see at first, but making love, making love that’s when two people become one.
Bones: It is scientifically impossible for two objects to occupy the same space.
Booth: Yea, but what’s important is we try…and when we do it right we get close.
Bones: To what? Breaking the laws of physics
Booth: Yea Bones, a miracle. Those people role-playing, fetishes and their little sex games – it’s crappy sex; well, at least compared to the real thing.
Bones: You’re right.

“You’re talking about the American dream. You find something that you love and then you twist and you torture it, try to find a way to make money at it. You spend a lifetime doing that and at the end you can’t find a trace of what you started out loving.”
~Justin Matisse