Friday, December 05, 2008

Quick Takes Questions

(1) How awesome is God?! We are enjoying the run of our Christmas production and seeing Him work. Who are we that He would invite us to participate? Wow. Really. Wow. No, I mean it. Wow.

(2) Why do we give our teenagers such a bad rap? Last night our fifteen-year-old did a very sweet thing. She left her drumline rehearsal (to understand the significance of this, you have to know she LOVES drumline), purchased candy for me and my husband and brought it out to the church twenty minutes before the show started, just to tell us, "Good Luck. I hope it goes well." How thoughtful is that?! Who says adolescents are self-absorbed?

(3) Does anyone else find it ironic, as my husband did, that a movie titled Role Model is rated R?

(4) Why do women consistently find fault with their bodies? Men don't do this. What kind of missing chip do we have that causes us to notice only our flaws? My daughter, WHO IS A SIZE 3!, thinks she's huge, which makes no sense to me whatsoever. She considers most girls smaller than her which couldn't be further from the truth. When I get on her case about it, she points out my own warped thinking. Poor girl. Guess where she got it from?

(5) What is your favorite Christmas tradition? I'm pretty sure my kids would say it is our tradition of eating by candlelight in December. We shut off everything but the Christmas lights and enjoy the ambiance of a bunch of candles on the table. It's very calming--with the exception of the "discussions" regarding who is lighting or blowing out the candles!

(6) What circumstances in our lives are Satan taunting us and what are God testing us? When my younger son got sick last week, causing us to miss seeing our older son for Thanksgiving, was that Satan taunting us or God testing us? Does it matter? I used to dwell on this whenever a trial would come our way, but now I think no matter what the answer is, my response is the same--do what you need to do. Press on. Or in the words of Dory from Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...."

(7) If we don't expect God to work, will He? Should He? If we don't have the faith to believe His help is possible, why should He intervene? Is trusting in Him above all odds what "child-like faith" means?

I don't have any answers to those questions, but I sure wonder about them. I, like you no doubt, have believed God would do the impossible when He didn't. Quite frankly, He's disappointed me, more than once. But if I give up on Him and quit putting my eggs in His basket, am I saying I only love Him for what He can do for me? Hmm...sounds pretty shallow.


Okay, okay, I'm done philosophizing. I've sure enjoyed these Friday Quick Takes. Click over to Jennifer F. at Conversion Diary to see what she and other people are thinking about today.

6 comments:

Susan said...

As always, I sure enjoy this Friday post.

I love getting to know more about you and your family Tami.

Oh, what a great idea, eating by candle light/Christmas lights!!

Your daughter sounds like a real sweetie.

Blessings my friend♥

Betsy Markman said...

1. Too awesome for words! :)
2. That is so SWEET!
3. Ugh
4. Maybe the question isn't "Why do women," but rather "Why don't men?" The Bible even mentions it (In James, talking about a man looking at his natural face in a mirror and walking away and forgetting what he saw...The word used there for "man" isn't the generic "mankind," but rather the specific term for the male of the species. That Bible sure does know it's stuff! ;) )
5. We're bad about tradition around here. One of these years I'll start one. Actually, your candlelight idea sounds really great! Can we borrow it?
6. I agree that it doesn't matter which is which. Because if Satan is taunting, it's only because God allowed him to and plans to turn it for our good! Cool!
7. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. (Don't you love definitive answers?)

This was fun! Thanks for posting.

Linda said...

Shallow you are NOT! I love reading your quick takes. They are full of fun, insight and wisdom.

Rachelle said...

WOW!! In the midst of all your busyness, you still found time to share with us some wisdom. Loved it!!

Becky said...

I only want to comment on #6: Tests are tests regardless of their source, but they have one quality--they can perfect our faith--if we let them. The other thing is they allow us to check our own reactions--are we reacting with joy?

Monkey-Farmer-38 said...

Tami,
It never matters what you write...you always touch me and make me smile. You have a sweet family and I cannot believe that Kelsey is 15! When did she grow up? =0).