Shedding The Skin I'm In

Much as I do not like things with exoskeletons or snakes and other critters that shed their skins, today, I had an “aha” moment when I realized what an amazing analogy these creatures provide for me in my spiritual walk.  It seems to me that in this growing process,  things go along just fine, when all of a sudden, I don’t feel right in the skin that I am in.  I feel as though I need to burst open and grow a new boundary – a new outer shell for myself.  Much as a snake sheds its skin and emerges fresh and new (ewwww, did I just use a snake in my writing???), I can see how God is working in me to want to shed my current shell so he can create something new in me that is bigger and better.  The crayfish is another great example (or anything else with its skeleton on the outside).  In order to grow, they HAVE to get rid of their old exterior.  They break out of it and emerge new.

My prayer for today is to shed my current skin, and for God’s Holy Spirit to create something new that is too big for me to stay the way I am right now.  Breaking open and breaking free – we need to embrace this process if we want to grow.

New Year's Fun

So I had a real adult, grown-up New Year's Eve last night. Fun times with fun friends at grown-up places with no children in sight. Doesn't happen often. We had a great meal at the Dublin Pub with an awesome Irish band, and then to Wiley's Comedy Club. It was fun and a good time, but here are my take aways:

* The owner of the Comedy Club has been at this for 30 years. But why does there have to be 15 "f" words in a three-minute segment? Does this make you funnier? No.

* One does not have to make belittling Christian jokes to be funny either -- they weren't really horrid, but subtly disrespectful enough to stab my heart a few times. Made me feel sorry for everyone in the room laughing because it meant they don't have a real relationship with Abba Father.

* At one point, I felt disconnected from the entire place and just looked around as though I were not part of the group. I saw such empty hollow laughter, and people working hard to find happiness. I felt immediately blessed that I could come and have a fun change of pace but I don't NEED to fill my life with these events to be happy.

I really did have a good time, and I was blessed to be with Jon and friends, but I think the blessings came more from knowing that this lifestyle is not needed to know the joy of being a servant in Christ. My friend Julie Loudenback shared a blog on FB about her family's fun New Years Eve -- enjoying games and junk food and laughter together. Frankly, this is what it should be about. New Year's is actually more fun with children around. I am starting to miss the little ones. Must almost be time to go back to school again!