Popcorn Philosophy

My name is Melody Kraus, and I am a popcorn-aholic; More specifically, the kettle corn flavor, because a girl needs a little sugar in with her afternoon snack! Some days I just push the 'popcorn' button on my microwave and trust in the power of GE to produce my bag of yummy. Other days, when my controlling nature gets the best of me, I stand in front of the microwave counting pops, and trying to manually decide the best time to extract my bag of popcorn hoping to achieve maximum poppage - the goal being no kernels left. The struggle with this plan is that there is a very fine line between maximum poppage, and burned up nasty popcorn. The moral of my story is that my control issues = a smelly house/office and a hungry tummy. Just as I know that GE's plan is better than my own, I also know that God's plan for my life is better than my own. But unfortunately, I often choose not to trust in God's timing, and rather trust in my own - with the same general success that I see from my popcorn debacles. And so, as I sit in front of my computer with the distinctive aroma of burned pop-secret floating thru the air, I once again commit to trust in God's plan for me. Surely God is better at this timing thing than I am!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can

Doubt - I don't know if it is Satan or sin, but doubt is certainly senseless! It's just not logical (or time efficient) to spend time doubting our abilities. The only rewards we get from doubting are sleepless nights and indigestion. Today I choose to think that I can do something (rather than doubting if I can anything!). It might not be perfect - but I can try. I think that's what God asks of us - to try. God can turn our meager offerings into food for the multitudes. So here you go God - it's not much, but I give you me.

Choo! Choo!

Totally Inconvenient!

My 'me' time is comprised of listening to books on tape during my commute to and from work. (I know this is rather pathetic, but with 3 kids age 5 and under - you take what you can get!) Currently, I am listening to One Fifth Avenue, by Candace Bushnell. Bushnell is also the author of Sex and the City, of which you might be more familiar. One Fifth Avenue is a story about a historic building in the midst of NYC, and the sordid details of the residents. This morning, I heard a bit that made me pull over and rewind - then rewind and play over and over again while I furiously tried to write it down. This conversation is between Annalisa Rice, a newly rich socialite in training and her famous stylist, Noreen. Here is a snippet of the dialogue:
Noreen, "You're rich. You can do anything you want. There's no boogey man around the corner who's going to punish you!"
"I thought God punished us." Annalisa said under her breath
"God?" Noreen said, "I've never heard of such a thing! Spirituality is only for show! Astrology - yes. Tarot cards - yes. Wuiji boards, scientology, Kendallah, even 'born agains' - yes. But a real God - that would be inconvenient!"

When I heard this my mouth fell open - I don't know if the author was going for shock value with this statement, but she got it from me! But as I have continued to mull this little exchange over, I have to say that I agree with the statement. God isn't terribly convenient. Loving God, and living for God can be even less convenient - down right messy at times. But, it probably wasn't terribly convenient for God to create me - or watch his only son die to save me - or to have to watch me fall short of his plan every day. How lucky we are that God is willing to overlook the inconveniences of humanity!

Easter People

A wise man once told me that if you could be happy in life doing anything other than being a pastor, you probably should. Pastoring is not for the faint of heart (or the thin skinned)! But then there are the days that make everything so worth it! The days that I learn new ways of understanding God from my Confirmands. The day that my congregation pastors me. The days that I can feel the love for God and neighbor emanating so strongly from the gathered body of Christ that is is overwhelming! There is nothing more beautiful than the body of Christ uniting together in Worship. Praise be to God for the honor of being a part of the amazing congregation of Deer Park United Methodist Church!

Today will be =

This morning on the way to school I asked Claire (my 5 1/2 year old) what kind of day she was going to have at school. "I don't know mom, she answered, "I haven't had my day yet."
"But what kind of day will you have?", I asked, "Good, great, awesome? Let's not wait and see, but rather decide now and help it happen!"
Today I pick an awesome day - filled with living life and loving God. If I choose awesome, I'm pretty sure I'll find some awesome. What kind of day will you have?

Because God's plan is so much better than mine!

Every day I wake up and intentionally give the day to God. And most days - often before my feet have even hit the floor - I take the day right back. Not intentionally mind you, but I grab that control back just the same. Rationally I know this is beyond counter productive - but the control freak in me rages on. God's plans might not look like mine, but only because they are so much better than anything I could ever begin to imagine! So - I give this day to God. And when I inevitably find myself grabbing it back, I will again give this day to God. Lord, let there be less off me, and more of you!

Gotta love the Random

Today as I was driving in to the church I had a latent old memory jump up into my conscious mind. I don't remember what I had for dinner yesterday, I don't even remember going to bed last night, but for a moment this morning I clearly remembered being 16 years old, and sitting in my high school gym for a school assembly. The school had brought in a team of motivational speakers called the "Power Team". Each member of this team was bigger than the last - huge muscle laden men in tight red and blue spandex outfits. Their message was that each of us has within us the strength we need to succeed in this world (the underlying message that was vaguely mentioned was that we get this strength from God - remember, we were in a public school, so they had to be on the down low). The Power Team emphasized this message by performing amazing feats of human strength - lifting huge amounts of weights, tearing phone books in two, blowing up a hot water bottle, lifting teenagers over their heads.
This morning my prayer is for strength. I don't need or want to be able to tear a phone book in two (though it would make for an awesome children's sermon illustration!), but what I do want and desperately need is enough strength to get through each day. On my own I am clumsy and weak, but "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Philippians 4:13