Cookie Cawthon

January

Hurry, Wait, and Wonder (Part I)

Every Friday I wonder how I am going to get all three of us where we need to be by 8:15. Campbell and I need to be dressed and out the door by 7:00; I drive her to school and immediately drive back home to collect Carson and head out the door again by 7:45, and somehow we make it. Every time. I think it is a special anointing of efficiency that I rarely experience in my life.

I do not hurry well.

I am slow and inefficient and I am not a multi-tasker. So when my life demands that I hurry, I turn into a freakin’ maniac. When I hurry, I spill a gallon of milk on the kitchen floor. I iron wrinkles into my clothes. I forget to shave my legs before a pedicure (gross). I lock my one year-old in the driver’s seat of my truck while it’s running (true story). I make 84 trips through my kitchen trying to get all three of us into the car. I forget to make a potty stop before we leave and then I’m uncomfortable and angry. I get hot and sweaty and feel like I am completely coming out of my skin, and I teach my girls that it’s totally normal to run around like a ravin’ lunatic, screaming at people because I didn’t plan accordingly. And, as an English teacher, I never realized that hurry has more than one meaning; but as a mama I realize that it doesn’t mean the same thing to my children that it does to me.

And it feels like I’ve been hurrying a lot lately.

I once read part of a book (only rigorous honesty here :)) entitled Breathe by Keri Wyatt Kent that speaks to the ills of hurry…

“… hurry becomes a barrier to deeper connection with God.”
“Eliminating hurry from your life will reduce your stress level and begin to open up some space for God in your life.”
We need to “ruthlessly eliminate hurry” from our lives.
“Spiritual growth comes from listening to God and responding to Him in ways we might not have planned ahead of time.”

True stuff. I am not sensitive to God when I am in a hurry. I usually don’t acknowledge His presence. I don’t listen for His voice, and I surely don’t brake for any opportunities He may try to throw in my path as I speed by. I swallow a few choice words and quiet the less-than-edifying thoughts swirling in my head and think that I was moderately successful at fronting a “righteous” response to the crazy circumstances of my life.

So, I have not finished reading this book even though I’ve had it for like years (see how ruthlessly I’m eliminating hurry from my life 🙂 ). But my big take-away was the reality that I can change my day and that of my children if I plan accordingly. If I start trying to get us in the car at least twenty minutes before we actually need to leave. Is that a lofty plan? Yes. Will it be difficult? Yes, yes, yes! But I have tried this, and the results were immediate (both physical and spiritual).

I am no guru, and I’ve got a long way to go to eliminate hurry from my life. But when I sit right here before this screen and you and acknowledge the effect hurry has on my relationship with my Father and my children, I want to do better (in a hurry 🙂 )…

What is your best tip for eliminating hurry? Help a sister out here…

January

I got people.

Truth (little t) can be found in lots of places. God can infuse truth about life and humanity into secular music, into popular novels and movies and, yes, even into advertising. A few years ago during tax season, H&R Block cleverly employed the slogan, “We’ve got people. Do you?” That’s sound marketing as they compete with software packages that enable people to do their own taxes at home. Everyone’s afraid of the IRS so they play on the fact that people want somebody to have their backs if the IRS comes callin’. But it’s also truth about humanity.

Everywhere I’ve turned today I have been confronted with the truth that people need people. We all want someone to have our backs. But we don’t all have people. And not all of us even agree that we need our own posse, but we do.

And I’m not necessarily crazy about the truth of that, honestly. People can be problematic and worrisome, and I genuinely struggle with having enough patience and energy for my children when they are particularly needy, so needy adults generally send me over the edge. And that is wrong. Jesus’ priority is people; my priority should be people.

And the rest of the story is that God showers abundant blessings on my life through those He has blessed me with. I have love from people who know what’s wrong with me and love me still. As cantankerous and moody and pointy as I can be at times – they love me still. As problematic, worrisome, and needy as I can be at times – they love me still. I’m grateful for my people, and I will continue to pray for a heart that reflects His.

I’ve been in places where I didn’t have close friends – just many acquaintances, and that is hard. More than hard. But I personally believe that God honors prayers from His children who are hungry for community. And when opportunities arise, we have to put ourselves out there.

People are strange and often hard to figure, but roll with it and see what God has in store.

Do you have people? What is your biggest obstacle to pursuing real deal community in your life?

January

In the gym just working on my fitness (Part Three)

You get out what you put in. Period.

True, don’t you agree?

Which led me to surmise that the same is true of other areas of life as well. Our relationship with Christ, in particular.

I think maybe we don’t get that a lot of times. We will use verses like Ephesians 2:8-9 (For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast) to let ourselves off the hook. Undeniably, Jesus does the work of salvation. To be saved, we just put our faith in His saving grace and confess our need for Him. Done deal.

Not what I’m talking about though…

To live in a vibrant relationship with Jesus, we have work to do. We can be slackers, or moderately serious, fakers, or highly motivated. And our individual intimacy with Christ will directly reflect our level of commitment – as outwardly and as obviously as fitness does.

I’ll put myself out there on this one. I’ve gained twenty pounds in the past year, and if you studied my workout habits and my eating habits you would conclude that I am not consistently determined to lose that weight. And you would be correct.

The same is often true of my pursuit of Christ. Sporadic. Half-hearted. Motivated. Distracted. Disinterested. On fire. Whichever the case, the same is always true –

I get out what I put in.

Always.

We are to work out our salvation (Philippians 2:12). Let us pursue Him in honest prayer. Let us praise Him, come what may… Let us spend our days in constant conversation with Him. Let’s feast on His Word, hiding it in our hearts. Let us make hard choices to do what is best. Let us obey and serve Him and others. Let us be courageous in His Name. Let us delight in His goodness.

To share with you what He is echoing to me, HE IS ENOUGH! Period.

Let’s be consistently determined to pursue Him.

Agree? Have you found this to be true of your own relationship with Jesus? How’s 2015 going so far with regards to your relationship with him?

January

In the gym just working on my fitness (Part Two)

Well, like I was saying, gym folk are funny. When I go to the gym, I go to get sweaty and stinky, and I dress accordingly. I do not shower to go to the gym. I do not shave to go to the gym. I do not wear coordinating clothes to the gym. Most of the time people who know me at the gym, do not recognize me outside of the gym. That’s just my deal; I don’t have time, money, or desire to be fashionable and fabulous at the gym. I go to the gym to work hard in hopes of looking fabulous outside of the gym.

Sometimes I workout before lunch, and during that time I mostly see other moms and retired people. We are a moderately serious crowd with a few hard core folks sprinkled in. During the afternoon, there’s a relaxed crowd until 5:30. At that point the highly motivated and very muscled people arrive along with the beautiful people, who exert more energy flirting than exercising. That time slot stresses me out a bit. The weekend is saved for the two ends of the spectrum: the slackers and the psychos.

Don’t get mad, I’m just havin’ fun with some generalizations…

I see people run at breakneck speeds wearing trashbags. I see people who never sweat. I see people jack their treadmills on such a high incline that I expect them to come rolling off the back at any minute and those whose belt is barely moving. I see people who are there every time I go and lots of unfamiliar faces too. I see people wearing jeans to workout and some who wear almost nothing. I see people who are so drenched in sweat that they look like they’ve come in from a rain storm and those whose make-up has never smeared and hair has never been displaced. It takes all kinds, I guess.

But I am struck by truth. You get out what you put in. Period. How are you seeing this play out in your own life right now – either positively or negatively? Not necessarily with regard to fitness, but in any area.

January

In the gym just working on my fitness… (Part One)

I love the gym! Not for the noble reasons that you might expect though. People at the gym are a hoot! I love studying who comes to the gym, why they come, what they do while they’re there, how often they come, what they wear, what speed and incline they run on, what time of day they come, etc… Fascinating stuff, people. If I ever write a book, it very well may be about gym folk.

During one of my favorite visits, I was putting on make-up (I love getting dressed at the gym) in a part of the locker room where some cuties were getting ready for their water aerobics class. There were five or six ladies who were sixty-five or older, and this was the convo I overheard…

Mae: Lucille, I already walked a mile on the treadmill.
Lucille: That is great, Mae!
Mae: But the scales still say the same thing.
Betty: They will change, girl. Keep working.
Alma: You might be like me and never lose weight, but they make size 20 caskets, you know.
Lucille: Don’t you say that. Don’t you say that! I’ve lost 31 pounds.
Mae: I’ll tell y’all why Lucille lost weight. I just heard that sex will make you lose weight. I did. I heard that.
Alma: Well, no wonder I’m fat.
Mae: Yeah, me too…

I am not making one bit of that up! How funny is that? More on gym folks soon…