I am feeling very nostalgic of late and I wanted to share some memories with you. My parents bought me a Geo Metro back in 1993 for my first "real car". It was burgandy and it had shiny plastic Geo rims. No AC, a dinky little radio that we replaced, and the tiniest engine known to man. I used to drive it down to Laurel to buy $10 worth of gas that would last all week. Dad and I put in a new radio and hung stereo speakers in the backseat with drywall screws. They used to fall off all the time, my friends knew to just stick them back up.
I loved that car. I would blast my cheesy music that only I liked and hang my elbow out the window like I was something. John Lennon sunglasses, wind blowing through my hair, singing Crash Test Dummies or Phantom of the Opera at the top of my lungs. My Junior year of HS I had a group of friends that I hung out with (ya'll know who you are) and we went all over in that car. We drove down to Savage Mills to hang out with a buddy, drove to school games, and down to the movies where my boyfriend worked. I took that same boyfriend down to SC for spring break one year. We drove down to my hometown, Greenwood, SC to visit all my friends. I remember his shock when we drove into town and passed a police car. It was one of those old Dukes of Hazzard cars with the single blue light on top. MD had upgraded to the Taurus at the time and he laughed his head off. He also thought all the pick up trucks were a little much but it was home to me : )
One summer, my sister, my cousin, and I drove to MI to visit family. We got out at one rest stop and one of my shiny plastic Geo rims was missing. I was sad but what could I do? It was gone. We stopped at another rest stop later and 2 more were missing. We laughed til we cried, driving my little ghetto Metro up to MI with one plastic rim. That rim stayed put til my senior year when my dad bought me a brand new set of shiny plastic rims.
I drove all over in that car. I drove to SC several times, to MI to visit family, to school, the movies, to visit friends, and to work. I used to put the little 2 year old that I watched in the back seat in his car seat and take him to the mall. My mom and I drove it to SC once and one of my contacts flew out of my eye at a gas station and she had to drive the rest of the way. She was so mad! I was just as mad, those contacts cost money and I had to have just one in the rest of the way home.
I got a speeding ticket once on the way home from SC, cop told me I was doing 85 in that little tiny car. I laughed in his face and told him No Way! It doesn't even do 80, it shakes so hard you can't steer it. He didn't see things my way and gave me a ticket. Meanie.
I got another ticket before that and wasn't all that suck upish then either. I got a ticket and had to go to DIP (driver improvement program). I was sitting there with all these grown men who had gotten DUI's and I decided no more speeding. (except that one from SC but that was a couple years later and I wasn't speeding)
I used to drive it to work in Columbia where I would call people during dinner and ask them who they were voting for in the upcoming election. I would walk over to Wawa and buy Mountain Dew and Reeses Pieces to eat while I called people and made them mad. Guess who I met at the Wawa? Yup, my Spouse! He was all smiley and cute and trying to hit on me. I thought he was a teenager so I let him. Little did I know he was old (jk spouse). Anyway, we hit it off well and things blossomed from there. I would drive the Metro to hang out at his house or go to the park and walk around. We would drive to Rock N Bowl til 3 am listening to Clarence Carter and bowling like we knew how.
We got pulled over once when I was humongous pregnant. I didn't hang my front license plate because there was no place to hang it. I would keep it in the backseat in case I ever got pulled over so I could show the cop I had it. The cop was really nice and told me that when we were done running our errands to find some way to hang it. No problem Officer! After our last stop, we were heading back to my house (to hang the license plate of course) when we got pulled over again. Miss Officer was not buying our story, attempted to pull a gun on us, thought my Tums case was a cocaine holder, and bullied her way through the entire stop. I had never been so harassed. But guess what? We hung that license plate!
All in all, my Geo Metro was a little egg shaped gift from heaven. If I ever have the opportunity, I will buy another one and drive it around, even if just to embarass my teenagers. I wish I had some pics of it but I don't think I do. What was your first car? Did you name it? What's your favorite memory?
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
All for the Glory of God, right?
I had a very interesting conversation this week with a friend and thought I'd let ya'll in on it. We were discussing performing at church and she had a totally different viewpoint on it than I did. We were enlightening each other on our viewpoints. She felt that only talented people should get on stage and I disagreed. Here's how it went down:
She wanted to know if I was singing a special song for Easter and I told her no. She said she wanted to see me up on stage more often. I was flattered but it wasn't my decision. We began discussing talent and humility versus performance attitudes. When people perform at church, talent is certainly a factor, but the main reason is to give glory to God. Can we give glory even if we know we're good? Can we enjoy worship if we are musically trained? Should people who can't really sing perform a solo?
When I get up on stage at church to sing, whether it's a solo or in a group, I struggle each time to put my perspective on God. I am singing for His glory, He gave me the talent, I am not doing it to receive praise for myself. I have to tell myself that each time, over and over. I know I can sing and I know I'm pretty good. Is that pride? No, it's self awareness and confidence in my ability. When a pastor gives a wonderful sermon that stays in your memory, it is both the gifting of the Lord and their training to deliver it well. When the Lord gives us a talent, we should certainly train ourselves in it and do our best at it. I have an ability to sing, so I train to sing. I have a horrible attention span, I certainly wouldn't train to be a referee. Who has the ball? Where did it go? I have no idea, I was watching a butterfly fly around the field. My husband has the uncanny ability to focus all his attention on a game and he makes an excellent referee. Although he has a desire to sing, he's really not that good at it. He gives it all at karaoke or church, but it is not his gifting. Should he sing a solo at church? Probably not. But if he did get on stage and sang, giving glory to God who loves to hear him sing, why should we care? Can we enjoy hearing him perform knowing that his heart is in the right place? Sure! There are always going to be people who want to perform at church who aren't what we consider "good". But guess what? God does. God considers all of our praise music to His ears.
Church is not a concert. We aren't going to be entertained, we are going to be taught the Lord's word and find each and every way to give praise to Him. Each and every person who is on stage at church is a volunteer. They weren't sought out for their gifts, they asked to be up there. Most of them are musically trained and alot of them are music teachers. They show up at the crack of dawn (ok, 8:30, but still, it's early) to set up and practice. Sure we are not perfect, no performer is. But we are not there to be perfect, Jesus is the only one who can do that. We are there to lead the congregation in praise and worship, to bring ourselves as close to Him as we can.
Each church is full of volunteers and not all of them are working in their gifted area. I know nursery workers who aren't good with babies, Sunday school teachers who can't teach, parking attendants that can't even drive yet, and ushers who aren't always smiley. But guess what? They are there with a positive attitude and a willingness to serve. They are there with a heart full of love for their Lord. I also know people who are gifted in several areas and move around the church volunteering in different positions from year to year. I am a pretty good Sunday school teacher but I am not currently teaching. I wanted to hold babies, and guess what, I am pretty good at that too. I would also like to be a greeter someday because I am pretty smiley and I like to meet new people. I do NOT want to be a pastor, a sound tech, or a parking attendant. If the Lord put me in those positions, I would do them happily, but probably not very well. The Bible says, Whatever we do, do it for the glory of God. It doesn't say, whatever we do WELL, do it for the glory of God.
What do you think? Should only "good" singers sing on stage? Should people try out different things even if they aren't good at it? Can we serve the Lord with humility even if we know we are good at something? Tell me your thoughts.
*edit*
I just wanted to be clear that I think each church has the responsibility to put people where they are the most talented in the church and to be doing their utmost to make the service peaceful and beautiful. Singers should be singing, teachers teaching, guardians guarding, etc. I do think if you can or have the opportunity, to try serving in new ways at your church. I don't think any Joe Blow should be singing solos, I just don't feel that you have to have a degree in something to do it at church. I hope that's more clear : ) I do agree with my first 2 commenters and that's what prompted the "edit".
She wanted to know if I was singing a special song for Easter and I told her no. She said she wanted to see me up on stage more often. I was flattered but it wasn't my decision. We began discussing talent and humility versus performance attitudes. When people perform at church, talent is certainly a factor, but the main reason is to give glory to God. Can we give glory even if we know we're good? Can we enjoy worship if we are musically trained? Should people who can't really sing perform a solo?
When I get up on stage at church to sing, whether it's a solo or in a group, I struggle each time to put my perspective on God. I am singing for His glory, He gave me the talent, I am not doing it to receive praise for myself. I have to tell myself that each time, over and over. I know I can sing and I know I'm pretty good. Is that pride? No, it's self awareness and confidence in my ability. When a pastor gives a wonderful sermon that stays in your memory, it is both the gifting of the Lord and their training to deliver it well. When the Lord gives us a talent, we should certainly train ourselves in it and do our best at it. I have an ability to sing, so I train to sing. I have a horrible attention span, I certainly wouldn't train to be a referee. Who has the ball? Where did it go? I have no idea, I was watching a butterfly fly around the field. My husband has the uncanny ability to focus all his attention on a game and he makes an excellent referee. Although he has a desire to sing, he's really not that good at it. He gives it all at karaoke or church, but it is not his gifting. Should he sing a solo at church? Probably not. But if he did get on stage and sang, giving glory to God who loves to hear him sing, why should we care? Can we enjoy hearing him perform knowing that his heart is in the right place? Sure! There are always going to be people who want to perform at church who aren't what we consider "good". But guess what? God does. God considers all of our praise music to His ears.
Church is not a concert. We aren't going to be entertained, we are going to be taught the Lord's word and find each and every way to give praise to Him. Each and every person who is on stage at church is a volunteer. They weren't sought out for their gifts, they asked to be up there. Most of them are musically trained and alot of them are music teachers. They show up at the crack of dawn (ok, 8:30, but still, it's early) to set up and practice. Sure we are not perfect, no performer is. But we are not there to be perfect, Jesus is the only one who can do that. We are there to lead the congregation in praise and worship, to bring ourselves as close to Him as we can.
Each church is full of volunteers and not all of them are working in their gifted area. I know nursery workers who aren't good with babies, Sunday school teachers who can't teach, parking attendants that can't even drive yet, and ushers who aren't always smiley. But guess what? They are there with a positive attitude and a willingness to serve. They are there with a heart full of love for their Lord. I also know people who are gifted in several areas and move around the church volunteering in different positions from year to year. I am a pretty good Sunday school teacher but I am not currently teaching. I wanted to hold babies, and guess what, I am pretty good at that too. I would also like to be a greeter someday because I am pretty smiley and I like to meet new people. I do NOT want to be a pastor, a sound tech, or a parking attendant. If the Lord put me in those positions, I would do them happily, but probably not very well. The Bible says, Whatever we do, do it for the glory of God. It doesn't say, whatever we do WELL, do it for the glory of God.
What do you think? Should only "good" singers sing on stage? Should people try out different things even if they aren't good at it? Can we serve the Lord with humility even if we know we are good at something? Tell me your thoughts.
*edit*
I just wanted to be clear that I think each church has the responsibility to put people where they are the most talented in the church and to be doing their utmost to make the service peaceful and beautiful. Singers should be singing, teachers teaching, guardians guarding, etc. I do think if you can or have the opportunity, to try serving in new ways at your church. I don't think any Joe Blow should be singing solos, I just don't feel that you have to have a degree in something to do it at church. I hope that's more clear : ) I do agree with my first 2 commenters and that's what prompted the "edit".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)