What's Really Important?

After lunch today at work I decided I needed some caffeine. So I went to the machine to buy a can of Mountain Dew. When I retrieved the can I was most irritated to find it was hot. Apparently the machine is broken as some in the office had noticed the problem the previous day (and failed to put a note on it). No big deal... I got a cup, put some ice in it and poured in the Dew. I'm not one to dilute my Dew with ice but this was a special situation.

Once I poured the Dew I realized I also needed a chocolate fix. So I made a trip to the ground floor to buy a candy bar (no I don't count calories... instead, I exercise). Even as I made my way from the elevator to the vending machine I was dwelling on the hot Dew and what I was going to do to help remedy the situation.

Just then I rounded a corner and noticed three EMTs tending to our building custodian as he sat there in a corner of his little storage room. There were others in the room watching as they checked his blood pressure. Immediately I was confronted with the fact that I had spent the last ten minutes fuming over a hot Mountain Dew while this man just could be fighting for his life.

On my way back upstairs I said a prayer for him and began to contemplate why I had let myself get so worked up over nothing.

We live in a world that compels us to be self-absorbed. Televisions shows, television and magazine ads, movies and even many Christian televangelists tell us how wecan be this and we can be that. At some point we begin to feel we are really important!! And so we begin again, just as we did when we were toddlers, to look at life through our "me" glasses. How does this affect me? What is that going to do for me? What's in it for me? Finally, we end up feeling so self-important that the nothing events in our lives become world-ending disasters. "Why should I have to deal with a hot Mountain Dew"??

In the last half of Matthew 6, Jesus points out to the disciples they don't need to be concerned over the little things... things like "what will I wear" and "what will I eat". What's funny is we think those are big things. But Jesus didn't. What Jesus ends up saying is, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (what will I eat, what will I wear) will be added to you".

So what is important? Well, apparently the kingdom of God is important. But where is the kingdom of God? Some say it's exists now as a spiritual kingdom. I can't disagree with that. But how do I seek it? Three things... prayer, Bible study and meditation.

If I focus more on that kingdom what will it do to me? Well, first I would be spending less time on other things, right? if I'm normally spending my time dwelling on a lot of useless things, this would be a plus!

Second, my mindset will begin to change. I begin to perceive things in a different light. I will begin to see things around me from a Godly perspective and from not from a worldly (television/movies/politicians/Oprah) perspective.

It's always good when I'm reminded of my own self-absorption. It definitely made me feel guilty finding myself in this state and being shocked out of it by a sight like the one I saw today. Please pray for this nice old man, our custodian!

Boysenberries!!

My coworkers have been saying I'm a bit obsessed with my berry-picking.  So I decided to add this to my blog.  If you look at the picture to the right you'll see boysenberries.  I found these today while picking.  For perspective I put a quarter in the middle of the boysenberries.  Yes, they're HUGE! 

So what is a boysenberry (Tre, help me out here)?  I found from wisegeek.com that they're a cross between a blackberry, a loganberry (a what?) and a raspberry.  We had boysenberries next to our house in Murfreesboro, AR when I was growing up.  Each spring I'd spend a few days picking them so as to have a mess of preserves through the winter.  Mom would always oblige!! 

So, the blackberries I've been picking aren't nearly this big.  However they're huge for blackberries.  I've determined these are hybrids.  Cabot has always been known for the farmland around it and I'm convinced these might have been left over from those days. 

I went again today and picked about a gallon before getting rained out.  I was aiming for two gallons! 

Which brings me to the point here.  Why do I love to pick berries?  I hadn't really thought about it until this year.  Since I was a child I loved berry-picking... but why?  I guess for a lot of reasons.  I love the taste of ripe berries.  I love the preserves and cobblers that are made.  I also just love getting outside away from everything and everyone and being alone with nature. 

However, I think the primary reason I love picking berries is I just can't bear the thought of those berries going to waste!  There is something inside me that just drives me to do it.  I'm sure it's much more complicated though... maybe I love the feeling that I've harvested something that cost me nothing (other than a few chiggers and scratches all over my hands).  And that will then become something (preserves) that I will be able to enjoy for months to come.  In essence I've gained something at little or no cost.  Maybe this was instilled in my by my parents when I was young.

So, this is a great opportunity to teach my girls about being enterprising... about making the best of opportunities given.  Lauren helped pick (a little... before it got too hot and she got tired of the briars) and Lindsey jumped in and helped with making the preservers... she even made a cobbler! 

"Who can find a virtuous wife?  For her worth is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10