Cupcake Mafia

She is cute. She is sweet. She is dressed in crinolines with a tiara. But beware those lacy bobbie socks... She is the Don of the Cupcake Mafia.

There is a certain six year-old that I know who is one of the sweetest, brightest and kindest littles that I have ever met. It makes my Sunday morning to see her and her sister come running to tell me Good Morning. I have been blessed to have several littles at my church decide that they were going to adopt me as their honorary aunt. I love them to pieces, especially the Don. Because in her sweet, kind six year-old way, she taught me a very valuable lesson, a lesson I couldn't refuse. One straight from the God-Father. I could go on all day but I will stop now.

Never, ever, ever, EVER promise cupcakes and then do not deliver. E!V!E!R! You will see a side of a little one that you did not know existed. Not a nasty, mean spirited side but an industrious, get the job done by whatever means possible, call in the big dogs side. I never stood a chance.

I made a bargain. Cupcakes for one missing tooth. Pull that tooth and cupcakes you may have. And cupcakes she did get but not the first Sunday. It had been a crazy week and I forgot. So, I had to sit down, tell her and disappoint my little. I did not like that feeling and I can promise it will never happen again, not if I can help it. She was so sweet and I was forgiven. However, there would only be one get out of jail free card. Hey, anyone who wears a tiara on a regular basis means business. I should know, I may or may not have my own somewhere.

The next Sunday, bright and early, cupcakes in hand I head to church. Well, they were in the car but you get the idea. Now, I attend a pretty big church. The church I grew up in had 150 members, my church now can have 10 times that at our 9:15 services. You would think finding her would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Normally, it is not but of course this particular Sunday, we missed one another. Finally, I had to leave with no sight of her. Now here is where the "Don" of the Cupcake Mafia emerges...

The church wide search began. The edict was passed down, FIND JODY! I am what some people call petite- kind words for little/short. The search included under chairs, in the corners, behind columns. When that did not work, she started asking people. No one had seen Jody. Did that stop her, no way Jose! She would find someone who knew where I was. And boy did she ever. She went straight to the top... The Worship Pastor's Wife! WPW may not have known where I was but she had the means to find me.

Picture it- Flowered dress with crinolines, lace bobbie socks, tiara, beautiful smile and all the sweetness of the world. If she skipped up to you looking for Jody, you would help her find me, wouldn't you? Uh, Yeah! You would get in your car and take to the streets to find the promised cupcakes and the missing Jody.  You would hunt me down like I stole your puppy! And find them/me she did. I was eating lunch and missed her but a brand new batch was delivered to her house the very next day. Yes, I made new cupcakes! I am staying on the good side of anyone wielding that kind of power.

She pursued the promise and she found it. She not only pursued the promise, her determination created the desire in others to find the cupcakes!

I feel like there are times that God feels it necessary to smack me upside the head with a baseball bat. (I am a touch stubborn.) And boy did he ever when I started thinking about this situation.

The question is simple... What if we pursued the promises of God with the fervor of the Cupcake Mafia? Determined? Fearless? Joyfully?

Can you imagine the impact we, as Christians, would have if we made this our focus?

She made this happen over cupcakes! As she asked if anyone had seen me, people had to think "Those must be some mighty fine cupcakes to go through all this trouble. I should help her." They were looking for cupcakes they were not even going eat.

The promises of God are not only for us, we get to share them. Let's go out into the world- determined, fearless and joyful- and make others thirsty.

Isaiah 40:29-31

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary.They will walk and not faint.

love-j

Lost and Found

Oh the places we could go with a post called Lost and Found. I sat down to start this blog thinking it would be about one thing but other thoughts keep interrupting so here goes.

The title came from a literal Lost and Found. I walked past the shelves of my church that hold the lost items gathered on any given Sunday. It is a rag tag collection. Jackets, bibles, sippy cups, binkies, coffee cups... name any easily misplaced item and you will probably find it on those shelves. Stand a few feet from the shelves and it is a hot mess of "stuff". Walk closer and you will see something completely different:

A dog-eared bible fat with notes and cards.
A binkie that looks as if it has been sucked to within an inch of its life.
Stuffed animals that have survived many a trip to the play ground.
A coffee cup with pictures of smiling faces picked so they could be seen every morning.

Items that look like junk at least to those of us who didn't lose it. Stuff that should be thrown away. Well, isn't it obvious that if these items meant something they would never have been lost in the first place?

Raise your hand if you thought "What an obnoxious thing to say!" I did and I typed the sentence. After reading it, the question just hung there for minute, simply because those items were treasures to someone else.

I had been married for about two years and right after Christmas took my engagement and wedding rings off to wash dishes. Somehow in the chaos of Christmas, they disappeared. I was devastated. My husband picked out my ring on his own and it was gorgeous. He had saved and saved and saved (needless to say he is one of the most financially responsible people I have ever met) to buy the ring he wanted me to have. Did I mention it was gorgeous? And I LOST it. He planned for months to ask me to marry him, went to several jewelry stores and bought a ring that he said "Made me think of you" and I LOST it. I searched everywhere. I took apart plumbing, looked under cushions, in clothes, boxes, everywhere.

One evening when he came home, it was freezing and dark. I was on the front porch sobbing surrounded by the contents of 4 trash bags. I was so upset that I could not say a word. I had LOST it, the ring he put so much thought into, the one he tried to put on the wrong ring finger the day we got married and joked it didn't fit, the ring that I carelessly laid down. I finally was able to squeak out "It's gone!" My wonderful sweet husband picked me up, brushed off the trash and put his arms around me and said "It's okay, wifey! I know you and we have insurance. I love you!" Now you may not think that was a sweet and beautiful thing to say but it was. It was not only beautiful, it was perfect. You see at that time, I did not do well with little things. If I could lose it in the black hole of nothingness, I did. Hubby knew that and still loved me. He loved me so much that he prepared for the inevitable me being me. He loved me and accepted me for who I was. There was no anger, no "How could you?", it was a simple "It is okay."

I never thought about losing my ring in the way that God just showed it to me. That 13 years later, I would look back on that experience and see God so clearly in the exact words my husband said to me. "It's okay, I know you and we have insurance. I love you"

At times in our lives, we have all looked like items on that Lost and Found shelf. Tired, worn-out, sad and completely lost. Matthew 18:11 says it best "For the Son of man came to save that which was lost." That would be God saying "It's okay, I know you and we have insurance. And I love you so much that your insurance is my Son."

No one is ever lost, maybe a little off course or hanging out on a shelf. Been there myself! And if you are feeling a little on the shelf, I say "It's okay, we have insurance."

love-j

I am thirsty!

With a cup of coffee in front of me and Dt. Dr. Pepper waiting in the wings, I am thirsty.

Wait, let me back track. You can probably tell by the name of the blog that there will be a lot of posts about Christianity, well less about Christianity and more about being a Christian. I have been a Christian all of my life.

I spent my early to mid 20's lost. My faith was there but it took a back seat to pretty much everything. Now what I am getting ready to say will shock you. I made some of the absolutely best decisions of my life while I was lost. Yep- it's out there I said it. And if I were still in my 20's I would tell you "Shoo girl, I have got it going on! I know what I am doing and I have it under control." Me in my 30's is laughing my ass off at the me in my 20's.

Oh! We just got to the reason my blog is named "Confessions of a Sass Mouth Christian". I have what my very proper Southern mother calls a sass mouth. I will on occasion say what is on my mind the way I am thinking it. This blog will be that way. There will be an occasional curse word or 50. It is not meant to offend anyone, it's just me... the still imperfect, broken Christian who strives everyday to be more like Jesus and screws it up more that I ever dream of getting it right. And buddy, you better believe when I do get it right I am as shocked as you are. And I then proceed to thank Jesus because he is the only way some of my hair brained ideas have EVER worked.

Back to laughing 30's... I am now what they call more mature and wise. Bahahaha! Not really, try more humble. Maybe a little more wise but not because I was smart enough to ask God to guide me. More along the lines of jumping off the 12 foot diving board into the deep end of the pool with toddler floaties and not being able to swim. Get the picture? There I was struggling with the problems in my life, trying to stay afloat and swatting the hand of the lifeguard away. Uh, what? How crazy is that? The perfectly capable lifeguard has his hand reached out to save you and you say "Nope- I'm good." with basically your last breath. Who in there right mind would do that? Me, in my twenties, when I knew EVERYTHING and did not need help from ANYONE. By the way, the 30's me is having a hard time typing this because I am on the floor lmao. Finally God had to jump in the pool, pull me back to the surface and revive me. It was only after he intervened did the best decisions of my life happen, when once again he was in control. He had his hand on me the entire time, guiding me and taking my mistakes and turning them into his good.

I know what you are thinking, "Why did he let you jump in the first place?" I don't know the answer to that question. I do know that there have been times I have heard his voice as clearly as if he were beside me guiding me with a "Now is not the time" or "Go ahead, I have my hand on this." Other times, it is more muddled and sometimes I choose to not hear him at all. But I know this for certain, God loves and he knows me. He has to let me make the mistakes so he can teach me. And let's add humble me to that as well, because contrary to my popular belief I do not know everything. :)

Why am I thirsty after gulping my coffee and now half way through the Dr. Pepper? I am thirsty for Jesus. I want to see more of him in our Christian community. I want to see more of him- EVERYWHERE. I want people to look at me and want what I have; peace, love, joy despite what is being thrown at me. I want to meet other Christians that make me thirsty for even more than I have been blessed with and I do not mean material blessings. I feel like we have become so divided. I am so sick of hearing that I am not a Christian if I believe this or don't believe that, or I agree with this and don't agree with that. It is all a bunch of crap and judgment at it's best. We are portrayed as "Holier Than Thou", hell condemning people who hate- NONE of the things that Christians should be. We are suppose to be an example of Jesus and his love for us.

Understand, it ain't all juice boxes and candy canes, sometimes we have to stand up for our beliefs but as my grandma said "You attract more flies with honey than vinegar." I can only pray this blog will make someone thirsty as well. I understand people are not going to agree with me all the time and it's fine. My own Mama doesn't agree with me half the time and she raised me. But we always agree on what's important, trying to be like Jesus. And with that, let's agree to disagree and still be respectful.

Heavenly Father, Please guide us through this day. Let your love, grace and mercy be evident in our actions, even the ones we completely mess up. Help us to be the salt and light of the world. Amen!

love- j

Be afraid, Be very afraid

Dear Lord,
Please do not ever, Ever, EVER let my Mama read this blog. And if she does, please do not let her recognize the photo. Because if she does, to quote Fred Sanford "Jesus, I'm coming to join you honey!"