Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

I Jumped Over June and Now July…and Grace and Truth Link Up

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The world has gone crazier the last two months.  At least that’s my perspective.  So much happened in June, in fact, that I completely forgot to do a roundup post.  After the death of George Floyd, racial unrest and protests filled my thoughts and my keyboard.  My heart couldn’t write about anything else.

 

In these month end reviews, I usually tell you about what I’ve been reading, watching and listening to.  I recounted much of that in Resources on Race in America.  To add to that list, I read Sunday Punday:  Celebrate the Little Everyday Joys that Make Us Smile  by Thomas Kincade’s daughter Winsor.  Simple, sweet and only took a few minutes.  I’m also working on an advance reader copy of a book I will review on a later date.

 

Since we spend most of our time at home now, our TV and movie time is through the roof.  I coerced my husband into watching Rebel Without a Cause starring the late James Dean – a classic I’ve always been curious about.  I had no idea it was so tragic.  And Chuck hated it.  We also watched Chappaquiddick.  I’m not sure why, but the Kennedy’s fascinate me.  Shazam disappointed me.  The Farewell with Akwafina surprised me.  We caught up to Queen Victoria.  We love those royal dramas.  Oprah’s OWN Spotlight:  Where Do We Go From Here? rounded out the adults’ viewingThe Farewell

 

As a Family we enjoyed Breakthrough, Remember the Titans and Just Mercy – all true stories.  The last two were rewatches for Chuck and me.  We’ve also kept a fire burning under YouTube for breaks from all the seriousness around us.  James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke and Crosswalk Musicals fit the bill nicely.  Disney+ reignited our obsession with Hamilton 3 years after seeing it on Broadway.  We are catching so much more the 2nd, 3rd and 4th times.

 

I took the recommendation of a bloggy friend and added Pass the Mic to my podcast subscriptions.  And though I don’t listen regularly to Brene Brown’s Unlocking Us, I downloaded the episode with Austin Channing Brown.

 

In real life, we took our kids to downtown Dallas for a Potluck Protest.  The event involved food from black owned restaurants.  The month of July has been all about racial justice at our church as well with the sermon series Lead with Love: a Biblical Perspective on Race and a Prayer Night for racial unity.

 

Shelby and I added zoom karaoke, bingo and a brain booster class to give her back a little socialization and meaningful activity.  We enjoy them together, even if we must participate online.  In the brief period we tried to lift some quarantine restrictions, we took Allie and two friends to a sunflower field an hour’s drive away to take pictures.  And Allie is still in an orthopedic boot – for four months.  Bless.  But after one last surgery (which had to be postponed a week due to a close call with the Rona), she sees the finish line.  Hallelujer. 

 

I saved the retelling of our 4th of July celebration for last because it’s too mortifying not to tell.  Chuck and I invited a neighbor couple over for snacks and games while the fireworks played in the background on TV.  That’s how we roll in a pandemic with the Texas heat.  Mid-game (Awkward Family Photos), my girlfriend asked me what I was drinking.  I showed her the diet root beer and asked if I could get her one.  She declined and then her husband regaled us with tales of how much she hates root beer.  Can’t even stand the smell.  He and the kids breath on her after drinking it or eating root beer barrel candies to get her goat.  Not five minutes later, I took a swig while simultaneously feeling a tickle in my throat.  Unable to control myself, I spit my drink across the table and all over my root beer hating friend.

 

I ran to the sink to spit the rest of my mouthful in a more appropriate location, where I coughed and laughed so hard that I cried down my face and down my leg.  And then the horror set in.  I not only spit on her, but during a viral pandemic!   I could not stop apologizing and she could not stop laughing as we cleaned her up along with the table and the soggy game contents.  I’m so thankful that our friendship is stronger than her gag reflex!

 

The moral of this muster?  In times like these, it’s good to educate ourselves, it’s nice to be entertained, and it’s great to have a friend with a stout sense of humor.

 

What have you done so far this summer?  Drop me a comment below.

 

And now for this week’s featured post!

 

I don’t usually select my fellow Grace and Truth hostesses for the feature, but this week I felt so in touch with Lisa Burgess of lisanotes.com since we both wrote about humility.  Lean into Repeat After Me:  “I don’t know!” for some humble wisdom 😉

 

Thanks for sharing, Lisa!

 

 

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Got the 2020 Blues? Here’s the 1 Thing We Need

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If I had to choose one word to describe this year thus far, I would probably select “Challenging”.  I can think of other words, but I try not to cuss.  It’s not an exaggeration to say that 2020 reeks of pestilence, death and destruction.  And if you didn’t already have the blues, now you do.  You’re welcome.

 

As I spent time in God’s Holy Word this morning, I had a revelation.  While there are MANY ways this year could improve, there is one thing (besides the love and mercy of Jesus Christ) that can make it more palatable for all of us.  Are you ready?  Wait for it…

 

Humility

 

It feels strange to bolden that word, but it’s so meek I thought it needed a little flair.  The point?  We would all (myself included) float (or stumble) through the rest of this year with a lot more grace and quite probably less stress if we would approach each moment with more humility.

 

Don’t close the page.  Hear me out.  Humility is all about becoming “unselved”, if you will.  It’s liberating ourselves from constant navel gazing and focusing on ourselves.  Our wants.  Our needs.  Our rights.  But enough of my opinion.  Let’s look at it from a biblical perspective.

 

Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes before honor.  Proverbs 15:33 NIV

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.  9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.  Psalms 25:8-9 NIV

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly[a] with your God.  Micah 6:8 NIV

Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.  Proverbs 22:4 NIV

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Ephesians 4:2 NIV

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,  Philippians 2:3 NIV

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.  James 4:10 NIV

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  1 Peter 5:6 NIV

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.  1 Peter 3:8 NIV

 

Let’s apply some of this scripture to the big doozy issues we face this year:

 

Coronavirus

If we bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2), our first concern becomes how to protect those around us from this disease.  We cease to worry about what we are missing, how hot and uncomfortable masks feel, and the ways we are inconvenienced.  We think less about our “rights” and more about keeping our friends, neighbors and even strangers well.  We may not know what others are dealing with.  Better to keep them safe than sorry.  I won’t pretend that this is easy.  Some days I feel I may lose my mind if I stay in this house with these precious children another minute.  But better I temporarily lose my mind than someone else lose his or her life.

 

Racism

 

Philippians 2:3 tells us to “value others above ourselves”.  I see no qualifiers here.  It doesn’t specify that the “others” have to look like you.  Or talk like you.  Or dress like you.  Or even believe like you (this one can apply to the next point as well).  If we display humility by valuing ALL others above ourselves, the issue of racism goes away entirely.  Our country’s history of sin still remains, but true humility will at least fix the present so people of color can begin to heal from the past.

 

Political Bashing

 

Every presidential election year I want to quit social media.  If I didn’t have this blog to promote, I would already be gone.  1 Peter 3:8 says to be “like-minded”.  Are we being commanded to see eye-to-eye?  No.  God created us unique.  It’s one of the most interesting things about relationships.  The rest of the verse gives context.  We are to be sympathetic (agreeable, congenial), compassionate (tenderhearted), humble (some translations say “courteous”) and loving.  I rarely see these characteristics present in political discourse.  To be humble in this arena is to allow others to have their own opinions without bullying, grandstanding or vitriol.

 

I could say so much more about humility, but I will practice it instead.  I plan to go back and study these verses again, and ask God to show me where my pride gets in His way.  Will you?

 

Prayer:

Father, examine my heart in the these areas and any others I fail to show the proper respect and deference for others.  Transform me and make me a servant in the order of your Son Jesus.  Thank You for the gift of Your Word to guide us and forgive me for the times I promote myself and my agenda over others.  

 

And now for this week’s featured post!

 

I had already cried twice and thrown myself quite a pity party on the day I found Confessions of a Caregiver Episode 8 – Fighting for Your Smile with a Fresh Perspective by Suzette of myconcretedove.com.  As almost every support system I had in place shut down or became unsafe for my daughter with special needs, Covid-19 felt less like a vacation from work and more like a prison.  I have complained entirely too much, but Suzette’s gentle reminder that I can change my perspective and “choose not to be miserable”, was much needed encouragement for me this week.  Maybe you need a perspective change too.

 

And thanks for sharing!  Here’s a button for your blog:

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You Know What They Say About Making Assumptions…and Grace and Truth Link Up

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A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,

Photo by Pedro da Silva on Unsplash

but only in expressing his opinion.  Proverbs 18:2 ESV

When you see someone’s teeth chattering, do you draw the conclusion that he is cold?  That’s what the nurses thought as they wheeled me into surgery for the first time at twelve years of age.  They piled warm blankets on me – one after another – until my mama astutely said, “she’s scared.”  Leave it to a mother to know.

 

Many moons ago, heavy with our first child; (I do mean heavy.  I gained enough weight to give birth to a fifth grader.) I shivered uncontrollably whenever my husband argued over the phone with our first wife about their son.  No, I never married her.  I say “our” first wife because we have always been in this thing together.  Those heated discussions caused me so much anxiety that I shook like I had a fever.

 

The first several days after my daughter broke her leg this spring, when she changed positions her molars knocked together at an alarming rate.  The cause – pain.  Fear, anxiety, pain.  Add cold temperatures and fevers, and we have at least five completely different causes for the same action.  Yet we tend to make assumptions about chattering teeth – among other things.

 

My teenage daughter and I are pretty different.  I think I mentioned this before.  Like here and here and here and…you get the idea.  We butt heads occasionally (ok, that’s a mild understatement) as I try to “get” her.  For example,  I possess an inability to procrastinate.  If I know I need to get something done, I must tackle it immediately and put it to rest.  Anything else causes me anxiety.  My girl is a major procrastinator – even with regards to things she supposedly enjoys.  She scrolls on her phone and listens to music or plays her ukulele until she is sitting on top of a deadline.  Practicing a sport, finishing homework, perfecting her choir music – it all gets pushed down the road until she can’t push it any longer.  This drives me bonkers!

 

Through the years I have complained and moaned to my husband about our lazy, unmotivated child.  Mind you, this kid makes straight A’s and aces advanced classes, excels in choir and takes leadership roles in both church and extracurriculars.  But because she procrastinates, I think she’s lazy!  Until the coronavirus lockdown.

 

Self-isolation allowed me to spend a lot more time with my girls.  Some good times.  Some challenging times.  And its taught me something about the youngest.  The earlier she tackles a project, the more time she has to think about it, second guess it and doubt herself.  Anxiety, not sloth drives her to wait.  The more I push her to work on something, the higher her anxiety climbs.  As I watched her begrudgingly handle online schooling, I see that she gets to things in her own timing.  And typically does a good job.

 

Being johnny-on-the-spot keeps my anxiety in check.  Moving too quickly on something causes hers.  So I am learning to keep my timelines to myself – even if I have to bite my nails to do it.  And it is making a big the difference in our relationship and my frustration.  All because I understand her a little better.

 

You know what they say about making assumptions!  Do you have any  you need to challenge today?

 

And now for this week’s featured post!

 

With a bored 15 year old daughter at home this summer, I took personal interest in 10 Books Every Christian Teen Girl Should Read in Summer 2020 by Joyce Cortes Mackenrath of unshakeablejoy.com.  Saying a prayer that one of these will help tear my girl away from her phone!

 

Now for this week’s link-up! Let’s bless and encourage one another in our walk with the Lord.

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