Do You Have This Trait?

Flexibility.

Now I'm not talking about the type of "flexibleness"

that my friend Sandy Clark has.

She is a grandmother (albeit a young one)

who can still do the splits!

I'm extremely jealous, but

I really think I was born unable to do that.

I'm speaking of realizing that others

 just might have a differing opinion from yours.

Of not saying,

"This is the way I've always done such and such,

and I'm not changing."

Of not being so rigid about a routine that it

can't be interrupted.

And perhaps most importantly...

Of not thinking that one's own opinion

 on a subject is infallible.

There is only one area of my life in which I will

never be flexible.

That is the area of my faith. 

(Many of you would call it my religion--

but that's for another blog!)

If the Bible says it, I believe it.  Period.

Infallible.  Irrefutable.  Inflexible.

The rules by which I live are chiseled in stone--

or at least they were.

Now they are chiseled on my heart.

Inflexible people lack a couple of phrases in

their vocabularies.

Those are:

"I think... and

"In my opinion..."

(much less "IMHO"--which is "in my humble opinion"

for my un-techie friends!)

They, instead, state everything they think

as indisputable fact.

Inflexible people would rarely, if ever,

"go with the flow."

They would not make lemonade out of lemons.

("What lemons?")

They would never say, (in faith)

"que sera sera."

Inflexible people would say,

"It's my way or the highway."

I hate to say it, but Baptist church members

 have not been known, historically, for their flexibility.

Now, again, I'm not speaking of our doctrines.

We should be inflexible there.

I'm speaking of some of our practices and man

 created traditions.

Mike Satterfield, one of our pastors, told a

joke Sunday morning which reflects exactly that!

"How many Baptists does it take to change

a lightbulb?"

Response..."CHANGE?!?!"

No...we don't do change well.

I'm very timid to say, but I think I am relatively 

flexible.

I probably run "I think" and "in my opinion"

into the ground.

Most days I don't have all that much of a

schedule that it can't be interrupted

if someone needs a hand or has a plan!

  I coddle and cherish a memory from

Madeline's and Susannah's growing up.

One day Susan and Rob were discussing

wanting to do something which would not have

included the girls.

They were debating how they could handle them.

Madeline said,

"Call Mimi and Gaga.  They'll say,

'We'll be there in 15 minutes!!!'"

Of course, being a grandparent makes

flexibility much more appealing

and rewarding!

I truly believe being flexible, even though it is

not named as part of the fruit of the Spirit,

(Galatians 5:22-23)

is a Godly trait.

 

It seems to me that flexibility would be required

 in order to be "Third."  (As blogged here.) 

Placing God and others before oneself and

being dogmatic are incompatible.

(IMHO!)
 

P.S.  Oh, one more thing.  I realize I'm pretty inflexible

 about my hair, too.

 

The Names By Which I Am Known

My official name is Linda Jane Lynn Stovall.

My son calls me "Mom."

My daughter calls me "Mom" or "Mother"

(the latter most often when I've done something crazy!)

My daughter in love and son in love

call me "Linda."

Jack called me "Linda Bird."  

Maybe "Linda" or "Honey" sometimes.

But I only really remember "Linda Bird"
or "L.B." for short. 

Now...please don't be jealous, but:

This includes not only Madeline and Susannah,

but many of their friends, I'm 

thrilled to say!
And...many of their friends' parents.

Also, Charleigh-Girl.

She calls me Mimi.  Well, she knows me as "Mimi."

Some people, in an attempt to be respectful, call me

"Mrs. Stovall" or "Miss Linda" in some form.

I appreciate efforts to be respectful, but those names

make me feel old.

I prefer being a disrespected young-feeling person!

 My cousin Sarah and her friends call me

"Linda Jane" or "LJ"

because there was already a "Linda" in their

circle of friends when Sarah and I "found" each other!

Now this would have bothered me in years past.

Why?

I did not really like my middle name.

Then...guess what?

Madeline Jane Metzger, my namesake, was born.

How could I ever have disliked "Jane?"

I lost a very dear friend in 1994.

Her name was Alta Dollar.

She was the only one who has ever called me "Lin."

And, of course, it follows that
I called her "Al."

As awesomely amazing as it is, 
Someone else...Someone more important than all these...
 knows my name!
God Himself, the Creator and Sustainer of this universe,
 calls me by name!!! 


But now the Lord who created you, O Israel, says,
Don't be afraid, for I have ransomed you;
I have called you by name;
you are mine.
Isaiah 43:1 

What Happened Last Night!

It all began when I volunteered to do a five minute

devotional for the choir based on THIS BLOG. 

Afterward, my friend Sharon Harvey asked me if I

would come to her "small group" and present

the same to them.  I was flattered.  I had another "gig."

Funny, I felt that way until it became time to

fulfill my commitment.  Same way with the choir.

I end up saying to myself,

"What was I thinking?"

Especially when Sharon told me I had 25 minutes

as my part of the program.

(As you will see later, I am really just 'keeding!')

So last night I showed up at the "small group."

Sharon had not given me any idea how many were involved.

Sadly, there was a death in Sharon's family yesterday,

so she was unable to be there.

But...

My long time, dear friend, Gail Calder was waiting

for me outside to help me park.

First hint:  there were A LOT of cars there.

Gail was wonderful.  She took me under her wing

for the entire evening.  I heart Gail!

Well...I've never seen so many ladies!  

It is a huge small group!

Gail said they were missing at least a couple, but

there were 16 there!

Second nerve-inducing hint:

I was told that Sandy Smith, our marvelous

pastor's wife...

(Wait...he is marvelous but she is, too...)

speaks for the group once a year.

Ohhhh, noooo.

This is my second speaking gig.  

Don't be expecting Sandy here, please girls!

After having the best pizza and the most 

beautiful salads, everyone sat down

to listen to meeee!  Yikes!

I told them how it came about that I was there,

did the five minute "choir thing,"

then shared some of my other favorite blogs.

They were so receptive and encouraging.

I felt God's presence and was totally at ease.

There was one question when I concluded.

One of my favorite ladies there asked,

"What is a blog?"

Various of the others attempted to explain to her!

It was a truly wonderful, blessed evening.

I made some new friends, although I am going

to have a hard time remembering all their names!

I passed out as many of my calling cards as I

had brought--not enough--

so maybe I will get some new readers!

My prayer as always is...

Let others see Jesus in me.

 

 

Sorry, Channel 4...

You are now officially in the American Airlines column

(and that is NOT a good thing.)

I have griped reported before that one of

life's tremendous frustrations to me
(not really)
  is the pre-empting of Judge Judy 
for every gusty wind or raindrop that occurs 
between 4:00 and 5:00 weekdays.

Or, for every high speed car chase (which all seem to

 happen during that time period.)

Well, just get ready for this.

On Sunday night, or really Monday morning,

at 2:00 A.M. and 2:30 A.M.

Judge Judy is shown on Channel 4.
I record, of course, and

I was enjoying these reruns this morning while

sipping my coffee.

When things got all tense, with JJ getting to the 

crux of the case, guess what happened?

Yes...

At 2:00 in the morning!  Right at the crucial moment!
And this is what was being reported:
That weather alerts were ENDING--had EXPIRED.


Now may I offer my sincere apologies to you for
trivializing this weather report if:
you were sitting by your TV at 2:00 AM trying to
decide whether to jump in your car and
go driving.
I realize it would have been important for you to
have the information that it would be okay.


Just watched the second alert (at the 2:30 hour),
and it would NOT have been okay to go
driving if you live in Navarro County.


You're welcome.