Would You Like a Slice of My Humble Pie?

So, if you follow my posts, you probably saw me dressed up in an elf’s costume for the recent ginormous “Happy Birthday, Jesus” Party for the homeless and impoverished at the Dallas Convention Center. That costume was once a Peter Pan costume that I made for my University of Manitoba Halloween office party 25-years ago. It’s been a keepsake for sure and I’ve worn it a couple more times for Fall Harvest parties. I added the red fabric this year to make it appear elf-ish and to add a little length to the shorter version!

Rewind to that early morning at 4:45 am when I arrived at my children's home to ride with them to the Convention Center. Their VIP parking passes meant they could park right outside the door of the arena, so it was worth it to take the early morning ride! Arriving at their home, Denise had her famous, yummy breakfast burritos made. But, alas, when I took the first bite, the juices of the burrito made their way to the front of my costume – three splotches! YIKES! I proceeded to remove them with a damp cloth then used their blazing hot hair dryer to dry the spots. Little did I realize I was holding the hair dryer on the polyester fabric and burned three holes into my beloved Peter Pan aka elf costume. Immediately James 4:10 resounded in my ears:
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” Staci's red sweater went great with the costume, and I continued to hear God’s voice loud and clear.

You know what – not one time did I think about those holes while I was with the homeless people. I only got smiles and compliments from them, especially as I was loving on them and keeping them patient as they made their way through crazy long lines. I was humbled and I was lifted up by God’s children.

So, I'm getting the message, and I think I'm eating some "Humble Pie" because I never want what I do, and why I do it, to bring praise to myself, but to THE ONE who deserves ALL PRAISE. Seriously, when I think about how unlikely that I would be so blessed to be passionate and relentless about spreading the Good News, I MUST raise my hand and point to THE ONE Who is worthy of ALL PRAISE!

I know that when I purposely live in an attitude of humility, it will be HIS bright Light shining through me, and NOT my own. And, oh, that's what I want. I don't ever want to get in His way.
1 Peter 5:5-7 says "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

The simple discovery of humility and servitude is where some of my greatest joys have been found. Applause isn't the reward. The reward is being able to serve, and seeing others have "aha" moments when they see HIM instead of me. It's HIS LIGHT I want them to see in me.

Okay, I've confessed, and now I've finished my "Humble Pie". I think I'll avoid that dessert from now on, and I'll keep my eyes and heart open, in case it looks like God needs to offer me another slice!

When Humbling Myself is the Last Thing I Want to Do

I was dealing with a complicated situation that led to my feelings being very hurt. It didn’t seem so trivial that I could just forgive and forget and it didn't make sense to let them off when they knew what they did was wrong and they didn’t even apologize. I know that it’s up to me to forgive them anyway because I know the saying well “Unforgiveness is like drinking poison yourself and waiting for the other person to die.”

I get amused at how God shows up and speaks to me. My son and I were talking and I was bemoaning my “relationship situation”. I was hoping he would take pity on me and agree that the other person was callous with their actions. But, do you know what that man (my son) said to me – that man that I raised to be a kind, forgiving and loving man said to me? “Mom, read the Prayer of Humility and St. Francis' prayer “Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.” How dare he? How dare my children put into action what I taught them?

I knew God was speaking to me through those words and I tackled praying about how to make the wrong right and I soon received the answer I needed. I typed a long email to this person. With elaborate detail and CAPITAL letters, I punctuated all their wrongs. I signed it, "With love".....AND never sent it. It felt good to get it all off my chest. In a matter of days, simple and casual text messaging between the two of us ensued and a sweet apology came with asking for forgiveness.

I had been given words from my son, straight from Heaven Central, and those words, taken to heart, altered the course of what could have been an extended time of estrangement. I took a step back from all the emotion and frustration to sit quietly with Jesus and He untangled the mess for me. Here are some things that happen while sitting quietly with Jesus: We humble ourselves because of He Who is perfect and is perfectly in love with us, despite how many times we have failed Him. In the heat of a mess, the last thing I want to do is get humble. But, I’ve learned I have to step out of the battle and humbly ask God to speak truth to my heart for things to start to make sense. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand that He may lift you up in due time." 1 Peter 5:6

We can pour our anxious hearts out to Jesus who loves us right where we are, how we are. And because His love comes without judgment, we can feel safe enough to humbly admit we need Jesus to work on us and then truth is revealed. The truth is: We have an enemy, and it’s not each other. Satan’s influence on us and the person offending us is the real culprit. I can’t realize this in the heat of the moment. But in the quiet, I become alert and can gain a strategy for acting in a more self-controlled manner. I can rest assured God will use my conflicts for good. God has a way of making us stronger and more tolerant in our relationships when we humble ourselves enough to receive from Him in the quiet what He wants to teach us through it all.

You Are the Potter. I am the Clay.

Last week I spoke about the brilliant and God-inspired artwork of Michelangelo. When I visited St. Peter’s Basilica for the second time in June, I was taken with the “Pieta” the magnificent sculpture of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, holding His body after His death on the cross. What was it or rather, Who was it, that inspired Michelangelo to envision this breathtaking scene and carve it from a single slab of marble? No doubt, God was orchestrating his talents and abilities to “declare the glory of God in all of his artwork.

The Pietà is the only work Michelangelo ever signed. If you look closely, his signature can be found across Mary's chest. Sixteenth century art historian Giorgi Vasari told the tale of how Michelangelo made his mark: “One day Michelangelo, entering the place where it was set up, found a great number of strangers from Lombardy, who were praising it highly, and one of them asked one of the others who had done it, and he answered, 'Our Gobbo from Milan.' Michelangelo stood silent, but thought it something strange that his labors should be attributed to another; and one night he shut himself in there, and, having brought a little light and his chisels, carved his name upon it. Michelangelo later regretted the vanity of this act, and resolved never to sign another piece of his work. And, he didn’t, but thanks in part to putting his name in plain sight on the Pietà, his reputation grew as the public's love of the statue did. Surely God was BIG in this man’s life. I think of the scripture in James 4:10 “ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” Most certainly Michelangelo regretted signing his name on the statute, but, obviously, learned his lesson well. Never putting his name on any of his artwork after that, God still lifted him up in fame for his artistic genius. Michelangelo was God’s handiwork.

In our own America, how in the world did Sculptor Gutzon Borglum foresee the sculpted faces of U.S. presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt by just looking at a cliff in the Black Hills of South Dakota? But he did by envisioning what those Black Hills could become, and after 14 years, he finally completed his project — Mount Rushmore.

Just think about it -- the Master Sculptor/Designer/Creator -- Father God -- has already envisioned who we are to become. But in order for Him to make a beautiful monument of us....that others are inspired and drawn to Him by -- we must be pliable and moldable in His hands -- yielded to His will and way. And when we give way to thoughts like "It hurts too much" or "I can't take it anymore" or "I'm just fine the way things are", then we are refusing His desires to chip away and smooth out the rough edges in our lives, and make us into a fine work of art.

Why would He want us to be a masterpiece? He wants others to be awed by His handiwork -- so much so, that they are drawn to Him through us! As the Great Potter, God’s desire is to make us into a beautiful creation that is useful to Him. The key we must remember is that the Lord can only shape us if we submit to His loving hands and allow Him to do so.
Have Your way, Lord! Have Your way!
You are the Potter. I am the clay.
Mold me and make me, after your will.
While I am waiting -- yielded and still.

Eating Humble Pie a Slice at a Time

Yesterday was a big day for Lexi and I as we were flying to Orlando to meet up with her Mom, Dad and Payton who had been in Charlotte, NC for the weekend. On the way to the airport, we were boasting about being such seasoned travelers – that to fly in an airplane was as common to us as riding in a car. Me, being a private pilot, as well as both Lexi and I having flown commercial so many times that we’ve lost count, we talked about how some of our friends are so nervous about flying that they work themselves into a frenzy just at the notion of flying. So, of course, we knew the ropes….right? Wrong!

We were delighted that we were approved for the TSA Pre-Check line so we knew that we didn’t have to take our shoes off, jackets off or even my computer out of my bag. When we sent our bags through security to be scanned, Lexi realized she had left her boarding pass in the bin. The TSA agent said, “Sorry, then I’m going to have to get you to take your shoes off and put them through the scanner, and you’ll have to go through the x-ray scanner. At the other end, the TSA agent stopped her because her purse was held for inspection. She had left her water bottle in her purse, and when they swabbed her purse out, the scanner read out “explosives detected”! Oh me! And if that weren’t enough, she had a large size sun screen bottle in her carry-on bag that had to be thrown away, which meant her suitcase had to then be swabbed. At this point, the female agent did a full pat-down on her from head to toe.

And, even with TSA Pre-Check, they held up my bag because I left the computer in the bag. Oh, indeed, we were highly sophisticated, experienced travelers. Apparently, NOT! Twenty minutes later, we were finally through the security check. Oh, but it doesn’t end there. We boarded a 767 that was full to overflowing and we walked through in the middle of the crowd only to walk too far to the back. Of course, seats 13 A & B were toward the front of the aircraft, not after row 20, so then we had to swim upstream to get back to our seats. And to make matters worse, our bags were too large for the bins, but alas, a sweet flight attendant saved the day for these two “seasoned” travelers.

Both Lexi and I agreed, God was giving us a gentle lesson in humility that tasted just like Humble Pie. We got the message, loud and clear, because we never want why or what we do, to bring praise to ourselves, but to THE ONE who deserves ALL PRAISE.

To be humble is to recognize gratefully our dependence on the Lord -- to understand that we have constant need for His support. Humility is an acknowledgment that our talents and abilities are gifts from God. It is not a sign of weakness, timidity, or fear; it is an indication that we know where our true strength lies. We can be both humble and fearless. We can be both humble and courageous. Jesus is our greatest example of humility. While on this earth, He always acknowledged that His strength came because of His dependence on His Father. He said: “I can of mine own self do nothing. … I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father Who has sent me” John 5:30. James taught: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up” James 4:6,10.

The reminder is to keep a watch out for those times when pride sneaks up on us and we get full of ourselves. How awesome is God in the ways He brings us back to the reality of the taste of Humble Pie. "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” 1 Peter 5:5-7.

Okay, I've confessed, and now I've finished my "Humble Pie". I think I'll avoid that dessert from now on, and I'll keep my eyes and heart open, in case it looks like God needs to offer me another slice!