Tweaking

When I went to get Sally up from her nap on Saturday, she told me she had a great idea.

"Mom, I think I should use the rest of my Halloween money to buy a rose.  Then you and Daddy and Libby and me can dress up and have a party.  Do you think we can do that?"

Sunday, we did just that.

The rose

The Princess

 

Her sidekicks

 

She dictated the outfits and the events.  First we went to the basement to set up the chairs and take pictures. Then we danced.  Then we went upstairs and danced.  It is one of those memories I know I'll look back on and remember and be thankful that we put down the laundry and the homework to just be.  We are blessed.

Here's the last of our reflections.  You can find the first here and the second here.

 

There’s a statistic that says eighty something percent believe they are a good driver, eighty something percent!  We all think we’re pretty good Christians too (I pray when I can, I try to do the right thing, I’m usually nice to people, etc.).  We find people to compare ourselves against to make us feel like “I’m not perfect, but I’m a better Christian than he/she is.”  We think we’re pretty good Christians, based on what our culture allows as an acceptable amount of religion, but not compared to the Gospel. We need to challenge ourselves and each other to live the Gospel.

Do we really want our lives to be transformed by God? We pray for tweaking, we don’t pray for transformation (we each need to reflect on what we’ve prayed for, and we’ll see that this is true).  As Matthew Kelly says, “God doesn’t tweak, He transforms,” but only if we invite Him in. How big is the gap between our lives and the Gospel?  Go to church next Sunday and really listen to the Gospel.  We then need to make every effort to go out and live our lives 100% according to that Gospel message.  We will change radically, not just have our selves tweaked a bit.

We are responsible; response able. We have the ability to respond to God’s gift of free will. We have the ability to spread His good news and make a real difference in our lives and in the lives of others. All it takes is a few people to have the courage to truly live out the Gospel, and to be willing to be transformed.