Why are the Angry Birds so Angry?

In case you were wondering, here's why: The birds are angry because the green psycho pigs came to their Island and destroyed their house. The red bird tried to warn the other birds that the pigs were up to no good and stole the birds' eggs and were about to eat them. Sounds like some evil pigs but really they aren't evil. They're stuck on a small island and are hungry and those birds' eggs seemed like a sure way to satisfy their hunger. But, of course the Angry Birds are .....well, angry!

I can't say I blame them. Life and stuff often gets on our last nerve and we do our best to hold it in, but sometimes we just can't help otherselves. But, it's okay! In Ephesians 4:26, St. Paul said: "Be angry. but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil." He is actually telling us that we can get angry. He knows that anger is a natural human emotion which, of itself, isn't bad. What does matter is what we do with the anger. I think we've all seen on social media and TV what unharnessed anger looks like. I think the key to anger is "No peace; no God. Know peace; know God."

It's a true matter of the heart. I'll admit I have triggers that if the right buttons are pushed, I can act like an "angry bird". I have come to recognize an acceptable anger. Even Jesus had anger – remember how he was flipping tables when he was disgusted with the money changers denigrating God’s house of prayer?

I’m a work in progress -- consistently managing my behavior and dealing with the areas that need ongoing self-improvement. I want to be that gal that uses anger the right way – a healthy anger that leads to praying for others and finding ways to help others realize their need for a loving God.

Anger can be destructive if it isn't laced with love and respect. It can destroy families, relationships, and even lives. It, often, goes too far. That's where this scripture comes in: Proverbs 6:16-19 “These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.” And, we've sure witnessed those seven things, haven't we? Looting, stealing, killing, lying, wicked actions, liars and creators of strife. Those are the things God hates. I sure don't want to be counted in that number so I am constantly giving myself a heart check-up.

Maybe you're like those angry birds today. Injustice, someone stealing from you and mistreating you. I encourage you to ask God to help you work through it. Spend time in prayer asking Him to show you the reasons behind the anger and how to begin to let the anger go to become the best version of yourself that you can be. Be intentional about your words and your thoughts before they spill out and you can't take them back. Ask God to give you peace, calm your heart, and let you speak the truth in love. For those of us who answer to our Father, we can't talk about anger without talking about forgiveness, and that just may be a good place to start.

A Spilled Cup of Coffee Brings Hope for the Holidays

This blog and photo comes from the analogy of a cup spilling because someone bumped into the holder of the cup. I've heard it twice in the last month. Maybe you have, too! Frankly, I was getting ready to roll my eyes if I saw another social media post on it. And, here I am blogging about it today. Hold on! I have a great encouragement for you for the holidays!

"You are holding a cup of coffee and someone bumps into you, making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee? "Because someone bumped into me!!!" Wrong answer. You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea. Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.

The same thing goes with life. When life comes along and bumps you (which it will), whatever is inside you will come out. *So we have to ask ourselves... “What's in my cup?"* When life gets tough, what spills over? Anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions? Or, joy, gratefulness, peace and humility? Life provides the cup, YOU choose how to fill it.

Great teaching story, and then last Monday night happened. My car was side-swiped. And, the way it happened, neither of us knew who was at fault. It was a "he says; she says". I had the right-of-way because he had the stop sign, but he pulled out as I made my turn. Now, we are both dealing with crazy $$ repair bills.

But, what came out of me? Not the normal caffeinated version of anxiety, stress, and worry. Peace flowed. Lips worshipped. Eyes stayed fixed on the promise-keeping Savior who was sovereign over my little storm. I want to savor this lesson and remember it. Let it live inside me for the rest of my life. Here's what I know about having a heart filled with Jesus. Make no mistake. I take no credit. It is all God. Nothing but the Spirit. Only Jesus. Here’s the truth worth savoring: a heart full of Jesus doesn’t get broken when it gets bumped.

My dear friends -- I don’t know what’s in your cup right now but if you’re any version of normal, there’s a lot of "stuff" -- you've been shaken with the winds and the waves caused by the storm in your life and if that's not the case, then quite possibly during the start of the holiday season -- there's the usual holiday stress. That’s the nature of the season.

Not only are the demands overwhelming, the ending of a year brings on reflection that points out all the ways this year didn’t measure up to our expectations. We’re going to be in close spaces with family members who maybe don’t agree and there still may be some unresolved issues lurking. For others, you might be missing loved ones who are no longer here.

It’s a recipe for a big ‘ole batch of hot-tempered, stressed-heart, cold-soul eggnog. And if we get bumped, what is going to come out? Can I invite you to fill your cup with Jesus? His words, His promises, His nature. Focus your eyes on the Savior Who loved you enough to leave heaven and endure earth so that you could one day leave earth and enjoy heaven. No doubt, you'll get bumped this holiday season. Count on it. Let what overflows reflect a heart full of Jesus. Not only will it steady your peace and keep you from sinking, it will testify to a Jesus who is STILL the answer to every storm and the reason for any season.

Got Anger? Name it to Tame it

Road rage. Anger Management. Livid. In your face. Hot-blooded. Had a meltdown. Lost their cool. Flipped out. Threw a fit. Blew a gasket. All we have to do is open up our newsfeed and see that anger -- live and in color! But anger isn't exclusive to politicians and high profile leaders. Even professing followers of Christ are subject to anger. I was amused when I went with a friend to buy a new door for her bathroom. Why? Because anger got the best of her when the door was locked from the inside again. The logical thing to do in that instant? Kick a big hole in the door! NOT!

I read this scripture -- the words of Jesus when He was speaking about murder and anger. “Under the laws of Moses the rule was, ‘If you murder, you must die.’ But I have added to that rule and tell you that if you are ONLY angry, even in your own home, you are in danger of judgment! If you call your friend an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse him, you are in danger of the fires of hell." (Matthew 5:21-22) Lord, have mercy on us!

But, let's be real -- our generation isn't the first to be in need of anger management classes. The truth is that many saints struggled with controlling their anger. Historians think Jesus nicknamed the apostles James and John the “Sons of Thunder” because of their anger. St. Paul was known for his angry outbursts whenever he felt that the gospel he preached was being misunderstood.

In the scripture above, Jesus said uncontrolled anger will reap the same consequences as killing someone. Yikes!! So how can we get our anger under control? The only lasting way is to strive for being "fruit bearers" with the fruit of the Spirit active in our lives. That beautiful fruit is listed in Galatians 5:22-23: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Rather than paying for high dollar psychiatric sessions in anger management, the Holy Spirit gave us FREE fruit to keep us at peace and free of anger!

Who wants to be in the same category of those red-faced, ranting and raving folks who are aligning themselves with the spoiled and bad fruit? I want to be aligned with fully devoted followers of Christ -- striving to be very God-aware and self-aware of those things that trigger anger. Personal confession here. I was blaring my horn yesterday when I nearly ran into a guy who cut in front of me too close in traffic. Honestly, road rage is so easy to come by and I certainly am aware of my need to hone in on the fruit of patience and kindness.

St. Francis recommends saying something as simple as “Have mercy upon me, O Lord.” Prayer and drawing upon the fruit of the Holy Spirit are our number one weapons against anger.
If St. John can go from being a Son of Thunder to an apostle of love by walking with Jesus, so can we. With prayer, and patient perseverance—and the help of the Holy Spirit—we can begin to set aside our anger and become a disciple of love.

“Have mercy on me, O Lord! Help me to turn to you whenever anger rears its head.”

How Does How Does YOUR Garden Grow -- With Pretty Flowers or Pesky Weeds?

After a week away from home, I was overwhelmed when I saw the weeds that had popped up in my flower beds in such a short period of time. Whew! Dear God, why did you create weeds to grow so well and oftentimes grow so much healthier and stronger than the beautiful flowers and plants that have difficulty growing?

I remember reading a friend’s post when she asked for advice for getting rid of weeds in her garden. Some of the comments and recommendations from others were: “Put newspaper around the plant – it will suffocate the weeds”; “Put grass clippings around the plant”; and I loved this one “Don’t plant a garden!” LOL!

Those garden weeds caused me to think about the weeds that may have grown in our heart’s garden – weeds of selfishness, pride, self-centeredness, laziness, bitterness, anger, envy, doubt, unbelief, sadness, fear, etc. I don’t know about you, but I recognize those weeds that creep into my heart’s garden when I haven’t watered my heart with prayer enough or focused enough on God’s “Light” (His Word).

As soon as I sense THOSE heart weeds, I get out my “weed eater/annihilator” out and I:
1) First, cultivate the soil and add a good mixture of fertilizer (prayer).
2) Plant the seeds of God’s Word (Bible reading, meditating and speaking the words) into my heart.
3) Give the plants (my heart) plenty of sunshine (speaking the light of God’s Word over the situations that may be troubling or concerning me)
4) Give the plants plenty of water (thanking, praising, trusting in God’s goodness and mercy to complete what He started).

It was a beautiful, cooler and rainy morning here in Frisco yesterday. I made up my mind that as soon as the rain would stop, I’d go out, while the soil was wet, to easily pull the weeds out of my flower beds and herb garden. I did. No doubt, those little weeds will show up again one day soon, but, no problem – I’ll be the weed eradicator once again. And in the same way, I’ll keep monitoring my “heart” garden and I’ll make sure it is “weed” free so that an abundant harvest of sweet and beautiful fruit shows up daily. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.......” Galatians 5:22,23

St. Paul said it so well. Once we plant the seed…..God will make it grow! "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." I Corinthians 3:6,7. God is the Master Gardener, and what He plants, always yields a great harvest!

Lord, Please Give Me Patience....NOW!

Our generation seems to have little patience for waiting. Road rage is seen when there's someone moving way too slow in traffic. And there's those times when we're put on hold on a telephone call, or when we're placed in yet another queue trying to get to the right customer representative. We talk about slow Internet connections -- waiting for a page to load often feels like an eternity. And, I don't think I've ever encountered the long time wait there is at the traffic lights here in Washington. It seems the demand for instant results has seeped into every corner of our lives. We sacrifice eating healthy food by eating at "FAST" food restaurants -- all too often.

And, the fact is -- we do need MORE patience....and we need it NOW! No question about it, patience isn't easy. It takes practice. And, really takes a lot of inner strength to trust that this delay or situation is a needed hold-up so that I will keep us on pace with God's perfect timing on all that concerns me.

If we allow impatience to cause stress and anger and anxiety, then we're not hearing the "music" or the "symphony" -- the beauty of life going on around us. The music that is in our lives can only be fully recognized, experienced, and played out when we breathe, enjoy, let go and stop rushing around -- then patience and enjoyment of the moment will pervade our lives.

"But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:4 -- Oh Lord, I desire that patience has its perfect work in me. I want to enjoy YOUR symphony that is all around me!

What "Seasoning" Are You?

If you or I were a "seasoning" -- how would we "flavor" our relationships with others. Are we cranky and grumpy, and have a tendency of bringing a sour pucker to the atmosphere? Are we capable of outbursts of anger or blowing our tops off with a "flavor" of "hot peppery alarm"? Or does our flavor bring a gentle "ahhh", with a refreshing burst of flavor? Are we joyful, full of life and vitality, or are we bland -- boring, life-less, pitiful, ho-hum in our "flavor" -- you know, the story of Jesus sharing about the salt that lost its flavor....is good for nothing? Wow -- that's makes me want to get saltier and spicier so that I'm a "seasoning" for God to pour out -- to bring thirst and desire for Him and His love that comes from me! Do we represent a sweet, delectable taste, that causes others to want for more of who we are because of Him?

May we be the "seasoning" that is so tasty that it creates a desire for the joy, peace, and love that emanates from our attitude, character, and actions