The Wrong Alice

I recently read a tweet by Disneywords, and my emotions were stirred at the thought. What began as mere intrigue grew into an awareness of how profound the statement truly is.

At some point in the story of Alice in Wonderland, Alice asks,
"How can I be the wrong Alice when this is my dream?"

Does this question sound familiar?

Being the “Wrong Alice” is a predicament that often times goes unrealized in the hectic, humanistic world we live in. Our dreams and ambitions drive us onward, and we rarely notice the subtle changes within us.

Until someone or something rattles us, awakening us to the truth.

We are not who we used to be.

Not only have we changed, but we don’t like who we’ve become, either. Once blinded by repression and denial, our pride was protected from the reality of our evolution. But we are now faced with the ugly truth in the mirror.

We are somehow the “wrong Alice” in our own dreams.

We wanted to be prayer warriors. We thought we could resist sin. We intended on fasting. We didn’t mean to “take pleasure in them that sin.”; after all, they’re just movies.

We really dreamed we’d be so much more. The expectations we designed portrayed such a beautiful ministry, mapped out and shining. Our futures seemed bright.

But who have we become? How could we be the wrong Alice when this is our dream?



Somehow, I feel that we allow small things to slip under the “rug of reason.” We say, “A little bit of conformation isn’t really that big of a deal,” or “No one will notice one inch.” But a little bit of conformation goes a long way when we conform on a regular basis. Come on. We all know the saying..."it’s a slow fade." That’s how we get caught off guard when we suddenly discover how far away from our calling we’ve strayed.

The good news is, despite the miles that separate us, we can still reach our calling.

Maybe you’ve taken a detour.



Maybe you feel like you’ve wasted thirty dollars in gas because you’ve lost your way, (like I did a couple weeks ago trying to get home.) Don’t sweat it! God will be your GPS and get you back on track. His grace is enough to cover the cost of our sins, no matter how small or mountainous they may be.

Don’t allow your detour to distract you from God’s grace. Maybe you feel you’ve gone too far to get back to what was once your dream. But I promise, God has been with you through the entire journey. Let Him lead you back.

Summer Reading Raves and Hates

After hearing all the buzz this book was causing, I had to pick it up and figure out how I felt about it.

Well. Good gracious. Lol.

If I wasn't crying, I was tossing the book in frustration onto the couch. Reading "The Shack" was like a roller coaster that lasted an entire week! "The Shack" would take my emotions high, and then shoot them right back down. And often times, Young's theology took me for a major loop. I found myself writing in the margins of the book continually, scribbling down verse references to combat his contradictory statements.

There were some wonderful points that Young made, as well. When it comes to grief and tragedy, I feel that "The Shack" offers hope from a very pointed character. Never before have I felt so comforted with answers like I was when he explained the Fractal Theory. For this point alone, I would recommend the book.

Though if I may suggest, keep a hankie and a stress ball handy; for both may be needed!

Sin Traps

Every so often, this horrible thought pops into my conscious... but I quickly dismiss it.

And the thought has now returned.

Am I sinning when I speed?

The Only Way

Whether you're in the mood for a Whopper Jr. with extra ketchup, or a coney dog without the dog, (like my mom), you can truly Have it Your Way.™ But it's not just fast food that ensures our satisfaction. Auto dealerships tell us to name our price. We can choose between white fillings or silver. Credit or Debit? Paper or Plastic? Even our beds can simultaneously have two different levels of firmness. Everywhere we go, the choice is ours for the making;

...Including the Church, it seems.

Shockingly, many pastors are retreating from the standard that names them Shepherd of the Church, and are falling into the trend that prevents them from "offending a brother." There are churches everywhere giving choices that are affecting the eternity of the saints. Congregations such as the United Church of Christ are encouraged to Have it Their Way, regardless of how it stands next to Scripture. Resembling a fast-food drive-thru, people walk under steeples and order their religion. "I'd like a Number 4 with extra grace, hold the "unto good works."

Churches are creating a custom-made generation, in fear they will hurt someone's feelings.

The Bible gives us choices, too.

"Choose you this day whom ye will serve." Joshua 24:15
"I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both
thou and thy seed may live." Deuteronomy 30:19

From the very beginning of time God gave His children a choice! But they chose disobedience.

Like Adam and Eve, we too will reap the consequences of our decisions. We can have it our way on earth. But eternity may not be as generous toward us.

Just keep Swimming.

The worst critic we face in life is, undoubtedly, ourselves. Scornfully, we look down at our scale, wince at our GPA, and pinch our pale skin in effort to look a little rosier... only later to suck our lip in exasperation at the sight of our flushed cheeks from exerting ourselves too greatly. Does the cycle ever stop? Oh, it continues, of course, on a peddling course downhill until we crash diet, crash study...and ultimately, crash and burn.

One of our favorite places to examine and scrutinize our life is in the realm of our "yesterday." We are quite good at recapturing, minute by minute, the details of our past, conducting a list-full of "If only"s and "what if"s. We pick at our scabs from the falls life has dealt us, and we never allow the healing process to do its job. We do it all the time. "If only I would have never opened that extra line of credit..." "I should have just listened to my mother." "I wish I would have..." What if..."

I've heard it said a million times that "hind-sight is better than foresight." It wasn't until I was older that I realized it wasn't "Hines sight is better than four sight," which to my young mind had something to do with ketchup and four eyes." (Something I couldn't figure out for the life of me!)

Now that I am a little older, this saying holds far more meaning than it once held. "If only" I would have understood it better as a child! Maybe I would have chosen paths a little more wisely...

And here again goes the cycle...

It seems inevitable, what we do to ourselves; the constant nagging at our souls for the choices we've made. Recently, however, a child's movie has placed a thought in my heart, that will not soon be forsaken.

"Just keep swimming..." We need to just...keep...swimming...

Dory, a little, spunky, "natural blue" fish teaches a worrisome daddy a lesson in letting your child spread its wings, (or puff its gills) and swim away from the reef, in Disney's Finding Nemo. However, this is not the lesson I needed to learn. I am not a parent suffering from the empty-nest syndrome. Rather, I am the journeying daughter, wishing her story could be told a little differently than it has been written.

My lesson is one that teaches me to be like Dory.

Dory has short-term memory loss. She easily forgets the most common things...except this song:

"you know what you do when life gets you down?" She says. "You Just keep swimming, just keep swimming....just keep swimming, swimming swimming..."


Isn't that what God does? He forgets about our past, throwing it in a sea he never swims in...

Darlin, I believe it's about our turn to do the same. Forget about the "what if"s and start swimming in an ocean of God's grace.

Cozy

This is not my typical blog. Generally, a thought sparks, and I flow with it. Today, however, I am but a vessel of words, exhausted by the task of holding them all in. I must deplete myself of their presence... Eventually they will come together to form one idea. But the process in creating harmony between them may indeed be a journey!

Wow, I really should be writing my paper for english right now. That, along with putting a binder together for women of the Bible since it's due next week... actually, I really shouldn't be online at all right now. This is me being a poor student.

It is true. I am dramatic. I tend to exaggerate my voice, laugh too melodically, and whisper too loudly. Sometimes I assume everyone understands what each one of my looks mean, and I feel honestly saddened when I realize someone does not know how to read lips. Especially in church. Cory McCool taught me this valuable trait of lip-reading. As he led worship, he would to talk to the sound men in the balcony, sometimes telling them to turn such and such up, fix this microphone, or perhaps to mute sister so-in-so who sings off key.

I'm not really sure what's wrong with my car, but it's sincerely infected with a disease most unpropitious at this time. There is but a mere hope of it recovering, and I am deeply grieved. My precious 1992 Oldsmobile... dear Aunt Jemimah–the car whose timing chain runs about as slow as a cold bottle of maple syrup–she may soon go on to be with the next victim of her hypocrisy. I'm telling you, she is a pathological liar. Everything the check engine board warns me to check is in reality perfectly fine, while everything else is falling apart, leaking, and sending me haywire in search of a mechanic who won't take advantage of my femininity. I know nothing of cars... and it's painfully obvious. The guys at Ray's Fender-Mender see me walking in to their greasy oil shop with my skirt and clicky high heels and they begin to count the ways they can sucker me into buying headlight fluid. I'd rather be in a coffee shop across town with blueberry tea and a fantastic book, and they know it.

But..a cup of tea can change my entire day. Coffee may normally induce a more calming atmosphere for me as well; but tea, specifically, is the ultimate form of peace in liquid form I have yet to discover. A simple cup of cozy is all it takes to bring me back. Back to my senses. Back to my thoughts. Back to myself. I am forever indebted to its familiarity and comfort. I firmly believe that a lady ought never be without one good box of teas, and a cup into which she can pour this delightful diamond of a treasure. I prefer the vanillas: rooibos, chai, french. But you decide what brings you back. A cup of cozy may be the beginning
of a new day for you. mmmmmm.......enjoy.

Cold Water

John Chapter 4 tells a story of Jesus speaking with a woman that no one of his kind would dare associate himself with. She was a half breed– a dirty Jew, if you will. Yet Jesus, the Messiah, the HOLY one sat himself next to her, and started up a conversation. Not only did they talk, but he shared with her something that would change her life forever... He offered her eternal life.

The illustration he gave was simple. He tapped into her everyday life, and used the scenario they were living in– A well. Jesus told her that choosing Him would be like choosing water from a well that never went dry.

Now, the question isn't, "Did this woman understand the parable," but rather we should ask ourselves, "Do I understand the parable Jesus gave to me?" Jesus said that we are to be "salt and light" in the world. Salt to flavor and preserve the world around us. Light to show the way. But the funny thing about salt... is it's not just used to add flavor... it makes people thirsty, too.

Do our actions cause people to want Jesus, or turn away from Him...?


Dennis An Original Masterpiece « Videos « The Skit Guys

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind. But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away, but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart, and as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first year. If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?"

Beautiful Belle was this such fair maiden who would learn to love this unkind, growling beast of a man. A princess in the truest form, if you will, Belle had become my role model. In the midst of such a materialistic, beauty-driven society, fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast, stories my aunt told me, and morals my mamma taught were shaping my heart, and I was being shown how to love from the inside out... rather than base opinions from the outer shell of a person.

Tonight, however, it is not of Belle's character that I wish to expound upon. No, there is something else to be pondered, which has nothing to do with Belle at all... but rather The Enchanted Rose...

You see, there was always something special about the enchanted rose in this story. Never had I seen one, though I knew they existed. And though I didn't know where to find one, I always wanted one. I had it all planned. When such flower would appear into my imaginative life, I would then proceed to place a beautiful glass covering to around it, protecting it from the outside elements of this cruel world. Forget a dozen roses from "Tall, Dark, and Handsome,"..... I wanted this One ENCHANTED Rose!

Before the Beast was given true love, he was given a rose... A rose to protect and to cherish, above all other things in the castle. This is evident because of the way he lost his temper so badly, his yelling causing Belle to ran away in fear! Clearly, this rose must have been extremely important...

Though this particular magical flower is entirely fictitious, I've come to the realization that in reality, I have been given an enchanted rose as well. In fact, many of us hold within us a single rose for us to protect...

Could it be True Love? "Twuu Wuve..." (I am now imagining an old, wiry-bearded man with an infamous lisp, and nasally voice performing a wedding ceremony for Princess Buttercup and Prince humperdink...though this is not the point I was trying to make. Sigh... ADD never fails to remind me of it's existence in my life...)

The point I do intend on making, is this:

For years, perhaps, we have watched as love passes us by. Our rose begins to wilt, and slowly, petal after petal fall from it's blossom. And we may wonder, "When will I fall in love?" But we must protect our rose. If we are so focused on our soul mate that we lose track of our soul's fate, what good is falling in love anyhow?

Like the beast, we have been given an enchanted rose. A rose of sharon, if you will. A relationship with the only perfect man we will ever encounter... revealing to us the truest love of all.

I Have a Secret...

Day one

Dear “Secret Valentine,”

Upon waking, I knew it would be a wonderful day. I enjoyed a peaceful morning, and ensured that I left enough time before class so that I could go downstairs and fill my cup with tea. I even took sincere care in picking just the right herbal combination from my tea box. As I began to walk through the double doors, something caught my eye. What once was a starch-white wall was now occupied by a most unusual thing. Hanging on the wall adjacent to my room was a picture frame filled with smiles and a beautiful lyric, Hanging from it’s spine was a most gorgeous letter. Twine tied around the delicate paper, holding it in place, and a seal of deep red beckoned me to open it. “For your eyes only...” It was a secret! Feeling quite like a little princess, I looked around the hall (as if I would find a clue as to who this was from.) Perhaps this was an incredible birthday present from an incredible friend...?
I let out a squeal of excitement, and set my books and tea cup down, exchanging them for the antiqued letter on the wall. Oh, how the words melted my heart! And yes... I did smile. The signature, however, was foreign to me. My Secret Valentine? We hadn’t even begun the festivities... What could this be? Needless to say, I spent my “tea time” being dazzled by your poetic genius. And I must say, it was a fair trade...
So, my dear Secret Valentine, I write this letter on behalf of my gratitude, excitement, and even my thrill. I am sure these act of sweetness cannot compare to the grandure of the bestower.

Leah Gerth