The Original AVATAR

My family and I went to see the much-hyped James Cameron movie "Avatar." It was beautiful, and contained many not-so-subtle moral lessons. I am second to none in my realization that sometimes nations and men are blinded by their purpose and stomp all over anyone who gets in their way. It is tragic and un-Christian. However, to continually beat ourselves over the head with the perceived guilt of our forbears serves little purpose. That is also un-Christian. Jesus, the original Avatar, taught us to forgive others and ourselves. We cannot go forward with any real integrity unless we are able to leave the past in the past. What has been done cannot be changed with any number of belated apologies or entitlements.

Jesus came to Earth to free us from this kind of insidious manipulation by the enemy. Satan wants us to remain captive to our insecurity, greed, lust and fear. If we can look at our mistakes and sins without rationalizing, and without self-flagellation, then give them to the One Who has already cast them into the sea of forgetfulness, we can finally learn to walk free like He did.

The God Who was and is and is to come, poured Himself into His creation. He designed this beautiful world with us in mind. He could have made it any way He pleased, but He made it to please us. He gave us senses and emotions to truly enjoy the works of His hands. Like a lover who wants to give everything He is to the one He loves, God waits to see your reaction. Will you acknowledge His love and sacrifice? When it became clear that we would tend to get caught up in ourselves and wander from His beautiful plan for us, He, Himself, came down in the form of one of us. Like the avatars in the movie, He wanted to experience life the way we do. He wanted to relate to us and have us relate to Him. It's easier to understand Him as Jesus, the man, because we are human. We have never been omnipotent gods, and could not always grasp what He wanted us to know. He came in human form to get closer to us, and allow us to get closer to Him. What a great God we have.

Hope for the Hopeless

According to my therapist (and my husband before her), I tend to be really hard on myself. Other people I can forgive, live and let live, encourage...Me, I must be perfect or nothing at all. I'm not entirely sure where that came from, but I know it can be overcome. So many things in my life have been abandoned or never started because I knew I didn't have the skill or the time to "do it right (i.e.perfectly)." And as we all know, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing RIGHT!! Well, not necessarily. Many things just need to be DONE and it doesn't really matter if it's done perfectly. For your own sanity, if you struggle with this, I beg you...take the advice of the NIKE shoe company and just do it. If it turns out badly, at least it got done. At least it isn't still sitting in your inbox making you feel guilty with its incompleteness. You folks know who you are and you know the kinds of things I'm talking about. "I can't clean out the utility room because I don't have the right kind of trash bag. I can't start writing that book, because I have to regrout my tile; but I can't do that till I get to the store for more grout; but I can't go to the store because I haven't showered today..." YOU know.

Okay, so what's the one thing that's putting the biggest guilt trip on you? Get up right now and TAKE ONE SMALL STEP toward getting it done. Yep. You don't have to get it all done right now, just do something so you know that you WILL get it done. You will feel so much better. I promise.

My Hero

My husband is the MAN!! The whole flushing assembly, including the handle, needed replacing in the worst way. I think it was the same setup that was in the toilet when the house was built in 1984. Brian got in there and wrestled with the thing and got it all replaced, even though he had a raging headache. Thank you, Sweetie!
I have a hair appointment at 2:00 with Donna Kay at Precision Cuts in Barling. She is perm goddess. My last one lasted six months and never really got fuzzy. I'm going back to the neckline cut and perm like I had in the late 80's early 90's. My avatar pic shows how it was when Brian and I first got married. That pic is from October of 92. I'm 100 pounds heavier now, but I will have the same hair this afternoon. I've lost some weight, so maybe I will look like that again in a few months. LOL
I have been thinking a lot about my best friend, Laurie. I haven't talked to her in nearly a year I guess. We do this. We'll keep in touch for a while, then something happens and we get sidetracked. Time goes by so fast and I don't realize just how long it's been until all of a sudden. I need to call her and make a lunch date. Friends are so important in life, but they are one of the pleasures that I deny myself for whatever self-sabotage reason I do these things. If you have a good friend you haven't talked to in a while, I would encourage you to call, email or send a short note to let them know you're thinking of them. It will make their day, and it will lighten your guilt load a little. Just go ahead and do those things you want to do that will bring you closer to the folks you love. The dishes will still be there when you're ready to do them.