Lauren Sparks

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Beware: Manure Happens

October 10, 2019 by Lauren 24 Comments

I think it’s possible that my high school single handedly kept white shoe polish on store shelves in Waco, Texas in the early 90’s.  How often the windows of our cars were covered in messages and crudely drawn pics was directly correlated to our level of popularity.  One Friday afternoon I got in on the fun by decorating the trucks of the boy I was “dating” (the quotes denote loosely used terminology) and his best friend.  The next day I parked my car in the high school parking lot and rode a yellow dog to a track meet.  Upon returning to the school late that night, I saw what appeared to be mud all over my car.  As I climbed off the bus with my friends, one of them said, “I don’t think that’s mud.”

 

The boy I was “dating” (yes, still with the quotes) and his best friend recruited a little brother and searched pastures until they found an adequate supply of manure to fill a kitchen trash bag.  They brought it up to the school and used I’m-not-sure-what to smear it all over the outside of my car.  It was disgusting, it reeked and I couldn’t even see through the windshield to drive it somewhere to wash.  A few friends – really good ones, I might add – helped me scrape enough off the windshield to see to drive a few blocks to a house much closer than mine to hose off the mess.  The boys’ moms, who both adored me, were horrified to learn what they had done and demanded they apologize to me.  I’m not so sure that punishment fit the crime.

 

I hope you haven’t lost your last meal because I do have a point in reliving this prank:  Spiritual blindness.  God’s word gives us many reasons we are to be in community with other believers.  The older (and hopefully wiser) I get, the more I think we need one another desperately to combat spiritual blindness.  What is spiritual blindness?  Compellingtruth.org defines it as a condition of being “unable to see God or understand His message.”  Although this definitely applies to non-believers, it also applies to believers in certain situations.  Paul Tripp in his book Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands:  People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change, says it “is the condition of every sinner…Yet few will realize its impact on the way they view themselves, God, others, and their situations.  They are like those described in Romans 1, who think they are wise when really they are fools.  They assume they think well when the thinking of their heart is actually foolish and futile.”

 

Spiritual blindness can be deceptive.  When blinded to the inappropriateness of our thoughts or reactions to a situation, we are also usually blinded to our blindness.  Was that clear as mud?  Or manure?  As John wrote to the church in Laodicea, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’  But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, BLIND [emphasis mine] and naked”  Revelation 3:17  We need to do life with others who are following hard after Jesus.  And not “yes men”.  Friends who will gently nudge us when we are heading in the wrong direction.

 

On that long ago evening when I looked at my car after a long and tiring day under the cover of night, I saw mud.  But a friend who didn’t have as much to loose warned me of a much darker and smellier situation. 

We all need friends who will tell us when we stink!

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I am so grateful for the times when a loved one has spoken a little truth or told me a story from her life that turned on a light bulb for me.  My human nature can override the righteousness of God before it even registers with me.

 

If you don’t have trusted Christ-followers in your life, I would plead with you to find ways to get involved in your local Bible-believing church and meet people.  And if the friendships already exist, get real.  Openly share your heart with one or two who have proven reliable.  Ask them to keep you accountable to “walk in a manner worthy…” Colossians 1:10 NASB  It’s risky to be vulnerable, but obedience to God demands it.  And it’s worth it.  A friend who can spot your poo and then stick around to help clean it up is a priceless treasure.

 

Sharing is caring! If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of sharing it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to make sure you don’t miss anything, subscribe!

 

And look up these great writers I link up with every week:

InstaEncouragements, Literacy Musing Mondays, Hello…Monday,

Dream Team link up, The Good. The Random. The Fun.

BloggerClubUK, Tea and Word Tuesday, Purposeful Faith,

GraceFull Tuesday Link-Up, Different Dream,

Let’s Have Coffee, Welcome Wednesday, Recharge Wednesday,

Worth Beyond Rubies, #TellHisStory Link Up, Porch Stories,

Encouraging Word Wednesday, Tune In Thursday,

Stories of Hope, Moments of Hope, IHeart Verse Link Party,

A Blogging Good Time, Fresh Market Friday, Feature Friday Time,

Friendship Friday Blog Hop, Faith on Fire, Traffic Jam Weekend,

Faith ‘n Friends, Dancing with Jesus, Grace & Truth, Booknificent

 

Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links. If you purchase anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

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A Monthly Muster for February

March 1, 2019 by Lauren 40 Comments

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

February is one of my favorite months.  And not because it’s national potato lovers month, but you do you.  It’s short, it’s usually a little dreary (well, in Texas it looks like freezing drizzle one day and spring the next – which makes me a tad cuckoo), but God brought two of my very favorite people into the world in the 2nd month of the year.  Chuck on the 22nd and Allie on the 23rd.

 

Because only 1 day separates their birthdays, Chuck usually gets forgotten amidst the hoopla and histrionics that surround my youngest daughter’s extravaganza.  But not this year!  My man turned 50 and his brothers did not disappoint.  With the help of my deceptive mind and secret suitcase packing skills, his bros rang our doorbell at 7am in grim reaper costumes and exclaimed, ‘You must come with us now.”  They then swept him away to New York City for an all expense paid weekend of fast paced fun, sight-seeing and culinary adventures.  He was utterly surprised and completely delighted to spend 3 days with no responsibilities in the company of his best life-long friends.

 

Not to be completely outdone, Allie hosted 14 of her closest 14 year old friends for a fancy dinner, movies and hang time in a pillow fort and a sleepover.  This involved moving and rearranging the furniture in 3 rooms, fine china and crystal, and stringing Christmas lights from the ceiling.  14 year old girls are loud, but they are also sweet and fun to host.  My girl is fortunate to have so many precious friends who wanted to help celebrate her.

 

To quote the old program Wild World of Sports, the month started with “the thrill of victory” and ended with “the agony of defeat”.  Such is common with youth sports.  My daughter’s select club volleyball team won the North Texas Region Nike Bid Tournament for their division and secured their regional tournament bid one weekend, and 2 weeks later looked like they had never played together before.  Sigh.  But there are still several tournaments left for them to (hopefully) get their groove back.

 

I’ve been studying Priscilla Shirer’s Awaken:  90 Days with the God who Speaks with my new Life Group.  As a writer, I luxuriate in her use of language and research of scripture.  And I’m privileged to be participating in two book launch teams right now.  Mended:  Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters by Blythe McIntosh Daniel and Helen McIntosh drops April 9.  This subject captured my attention because parenting a teenage daughter is only slightly less challenging than swimming the English Channel with one arm tied behind your back.  I want her to survive to adulthood with some love still between us,  and I haven’t got the slightest idea how to accomplish that.  Wild Hope is my friend Meg Weyerbacher’s second small-town romance novel.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first, but this one is even better!  I have been training my brain with so much non-fiction lately that this sweet fictional story is breathing fresh air and restful calm into my soul.  And I’m being thoroughly entertained!  Wild Hope releases on March 7, but both books are in pre-orders now!  Just click on the names of the books above for more info or to order.  And don’t forget to check out the pre-sale for Perseverance:  30 Devotions for Faith that Moves Mountains.  Read here for more details.

 

When I wasn’t reading, my best friend and I watched the TV show “Playing House” on Amazon together.  And by “together” I mean I watched it in Texas and she watched it in Alabama and then we called or texted each other and laughed!  It is a stupid kind of humor, that for some reason really appeals to me.  It’s an escape from everything hard and serious, but I was particularly drawn to the central characters – two best friends deeply devoted to one another.  I have all kinds of romantic notions about best friendship – including the dream of one day living with Patsy again.  Since we both have husbands and children it’s not looking likely.  We did both marry slightly older men, though.  So maybe we can Golden Girl it some day (but honey, if you are reading this, I want you to live a long, long time).

 

I’ve also been imbibing in some self-help resources.  I need all the help, from self or otherwise, I can get.  I’m working through a free Blogging Made Simple course from Elite Blog Academy and watching videos from firstfriday.com/influence about the book Influence.  I want to continually grow and improve my writing so I am ready for any mission God chooses to bring my way.  I am also loving resources from axis.org.  If you have a teen or love one, go immediately to their website.  I’m currently watching a free Parenting Relationships Summit (interviews with experts in the field).  I’m learning a lot that will help me preserve my daughter’s life in days to come.  I also subscribe to their Culture Translator.  In their own words, it is “weekly insight into how pop culture, technology and media are influencing your students while equipping you to start biblically based conversations.  It’s so hard to keep on top of what are kids are exposed to since they have a computer in their hands at all times, but this has been so helpful for me.

 

Back to friends, the highlight of my month was probably time with a couple of particularly sweet ones. 

I know girlfriend time is not an official love language, but I’m still pretty sure it’s mine.

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Coffee with one dear lady and dinner plus movie with another filled my love tank and brought me joy.  I’d love to know what has brought you joy lately.  Drop a comment here and join the conversation!

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About Me

I love Jesus, my husband and caffeine. The order of these can change depending on how tired I am. When my two daughters, stepson, and 4 grandchildren get to be too much, I practice yoga. God graciously allows me to share our adventures, victories and flub-ups from my laptop. May He be glorified here.
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