Boring Yourself

(c) Staci Stallings, 2003

There are certain things in life that I really wanted to get right-especially those things I knew I would only have one shot at. I don't know why exactly, but I've always lived my life thinking about what I want to be proud of years from now when my grandchildren ask about my life. That may be why I was so unhappy when our senior high school class chose our motto.

To me, our motto was supposed to say something about who we were, about who we wanted to be, about where we were going. It had to be inspirational, up-lifting, and encouraging. In short, it was important to me to get it right. My own motto was the ultra-up-lifting quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared with what lies inside us." See? Exceptionally inspirational.

So I was mortified when the motto I had nominated (no, almost 15 years later I don't remember what that was) went down in flaming defeat to the motto the rest of the class wanted. The eye-raisingly dubious motto: "Is life not a thousand times too short for us to bore ourselves?"

Now I knew why the partiers in our class chose this saying. I knew what it meant to them, and I was horrified that for the next million years or so, my photo would hang just over this audacious maxim in the high school halls.

However, life has a way of pulling you up short just when you think you've got it all figured out. Nineteen months after our graduation, one of the kids who had fought the hardest for this very motto was killed in a car accident. By all accounts he was by then an upstanding member of our military-busy pursuing a life he had partied too hardy to see in high school.

When I heard the news, I had to think that yes, life was far too short for that young man to have bored himself. Far too short indeed.

Turns out, though, as hard as I fought against having this saying hang under my photo, it is the perfect saying for the way my life has gone as well. There have been very few boring moments since the 23 of us hung that plaque on that wall. Many, many of those moments I've spent frantically trying to keep up, catch up, or get ahead. Very few have been spent sitting around wondering why someone doesn't come do something for me.

Yes, I'm living, and I'm proud I am. I don't have time to be bored. Life's too short. If I forget that, all I have to do is think of my high school class who forced me to understand something about myself that I hadn't even realized was there. I also think about the young man who fought so hard to give me that gift. I will be forever grateful.

I know I will remember that lesson-even when my grandkids ask. So, I guess that's one thing I got right.

~*~
Please say a few prayers for the script I have in the contest that will announce in the next couple of weeks! Thanks. Staci

Up On the Mountain of Faith

(c) Staci Stallings, 2003

"Help! Help! No help, I'm sliding!"

"You're on skis, Ashley. That's the point."

The poor girl at the top of the line who was headed to the bunny slope lift was scared to death-paralyzed with fear to the point that any tiny move seemed destined to pitch her down the mountain out of control. Her friend seemed not to understand the direness of her situation. To her, skiing was easy. She didn't understand, but I did.

Always longer on doubt and fear than on calm and cool in the sports arena, I understood. Movement on skis seems unfamiliar, unexpected, and dangerous. What seemed like such a fun idea only moments before now seems like the dumbest thing anyone's ever talked you into.

Okay, so even now there are hundreds of people swooshing down the slopes effortlessly. They obviously know what they are doing. You obviously don't, and so fear takes over. No, not just fear but overwhelming panic that grips your gut and wrenches out small terrified shrieks. This is nuts-craziness. Much better to turn back from this unknown now and go back to the safety of what you do know-life on safe, solid, non-snow-packed ground.

And yet, what Ashley couldn't see at that moment, what she couldn't yet feel is how wonderful it feels to fly, to feel yourself swooping down the mountain with only the wind and the white powder for friends. It's exhilarating, awe-inspiring, life changing. But right there, on the fringes looking in, it just feels like something you'll never be able to do. Something that's destined to kill you if you slide one more inch.

I think that's how a lot of people live life. They see the people who have Jesus in their lives. They see the people who have peace, and it looks so wonderful. Yet they are unsure of how or if to make that decision. Unsure if they can really "do this."

The one thing these people don't need is those "skiers" of us acting like they're silly for feeling like they do. They aren't silly. Their fear is real, and if we don't help them through their fear, they're likely to click those skies right back off and go sit down. Instead of acting superior to them or worse being condescending to their fears, we need get back to the place where we were fearful of taking this giant leap of blind faith and allow them to work through their fear with us at their side.

Undoubtedly in no time at all they will be swooshing down the slopes of faith completely forgetting they were ever afraid of taking that first step. At that point because you have shown them how, maybe, just maybe they'll offer some understanding to another fearful skier along the way home. One at a time, maybe we can get everyone in this fearful world up onto that mountain of faith and skiing through it like a pro.

~*~
Check out more articles by Staci at: http://www.stacistallings.com/articles.htm You'll feel better for the experience!

The Fence

(c) Staci Stallings, 2005


We had just been talking about it. Not ten minutes before we were talking about what place God's rules should play in your life. Are they "in stone" so that God has something to point to when He throws you into the fire? "You should've known! I gave you the Ten Commandments, and you did it anyway!"

We had discussed our children and whether or not you can teach a child with "only love," or do you have to pound the rules into them? How will they know what's right and wrong if you don't set down the rules and make sure the child knows where they are? That was the question. Don't you need the rules to raise a child?

In the discussion I said what I've said in other articles, that God gave us the Ten Commandments because He loves us. He knows that there are times when we are so in the fog of "right now" that we, if left to our own experiences and understanding, might fall into mistakes that will forever alter our lives for the worse. He knows, and so He gave us a way to know "this is not done if you want to live a healthy, prosperous, successful life." So the rules are there not for punishment, but for love.

Shortly after our discussion, I walked outside to go to my vehicle, which was parked a considerable distance down the road. We were on the far outskirts of the town. There was very little ambient light from about a half-mile away. In short, it was dark out there. I was in a hurry, so I didn't wait for my eyes to adjust. I stepped off the porch and walked out to the parked cars.

Not familiar with the lay of the land, I strode passed the cars. Trying to figure out how I could get to my van without walking on the road-although there were no cars there anyway, I kept walking. I tried to see where I was going, figure out where I was even as I kept walking. Finally, my brain said, "Just find the road and then follow it to the van."

It's interesting how in the fog of "right now" my brain works. It keeps talking to me, trying to discern where I am, where I'm going, how I'm going to get there even as I keep going. Very rarely does it say, "Hey! Stop and figure it out before we go forward!" Oh, no. We're going, and we've got to get there.

Then I realized that my feet were brushing weeds. "Oh, it's the weeds. I'm in the ditch. The road should be right here..." Suddenly I found myself standing six inches from A FENCE! Not just any fence. This was a four level, barbed-wire, held together with metal stand-up fence posts. In less than a heartbeat, I stopped my headlong motion. I literally said, "A fence? What's a fence doing on this side of the road?"

Yes, I'm not always the brightest bulb in the lamp. Then I turned around and realized with some chagrin that I had gone passed the cars, through one ditch, onto and over the road, down and back up the other ditch, and I didn't figure out my mistake... until I suddenly saw that fence.

Funny, I think that's exactly the lesson we were just talking about minutes before.

~*~
Insights & Wisdom galore! http://www.stacistallings.com You'll feel better for the experience!

Lifting Your Hands

(c) Staci Stallings, 2006

It's sad how difficult we make being a Christian. We do it to ourselves and to each other-putting rules and conditions on ourselves once we're saved. Before we're saved, we're told, "You can't do it. Jesus is your salvation." After we're saved, we're told, "Okay, here's the rules. You can do this. You can't do that. Don't even think about doing that." And I'm not even talking about the big rules like killing someone or being envious of their position. I'm talking about pickiness that goes way beyond that.

For example, in my line of work-Christian romance writing, there are "rules," some call them "standards." They go like this:

You can't have anyone in your story drink alcohol because some of our readers don't believe in drinking.

You can't have anyone in your story dance. Ditto number one.

No sitting on laps. That's too intimate.

No taking off clothes-even if the character is alone and it's completely innocent.

No showers.

Do not show the character in bed even alone. And the character may never be described as being in their pajamas-even if they are alone because that is suggestive.


Now, I'm sure they have their reasons for all these rules, but for me, rules are not where it's at. We spent two thousand years in the Old Testament going around and around and around that mountain to come to the conclusion that rules don't work! We can't do it. Only God can.

Personally, I think we are far more like a baby who is trying to walk than a god who can come up with enough rules to keep us in line. Further, I think we can learn a lot about how God loves us by watching a good parent with a baby.

A child who is learning to walk first stands, and when he falls, a good parent does not huff in disgust at the child's "failure." A good parent does not condemn the child, call him worthless and give up on him. No. A good parent immediately picks the child up, praises him, loves him, and encourages him to try again.

Now does the parent pretty much know the child will fall again? Sure. If you've ever been there when a child takes his first steps, you know they are going to fall. Does that deter the good parent from praising and applauding each and every small step the child takes? No. Because they know it's their praise that will encourage the child to take another.

Just as it is with our Heavenly Father. He is ecstatic when we take a step-even a faltering one-toward Him. From my own experience with my kids, it wouldn't surprise me if God called all the angels in to watch. "Oh, look! Johnny took another step toward real understanding of Me, toward really learning to be loving!" And, I'm equally sure that the angels for love of the child's Father if nothing else get excited as well.

Does God know we will fall again? Sure. Does that deter Him from getting excited about each positive step we take? No. He, like any good parent, is right there cheering us on, encouraging, praising, smiling at the steps we are taking.

I think the most applause comes when we take not worldly accomplishment steps, but Heavenly accomplishment steps. When we learn to have a little more faith, when we learn to be a little more loving, when we learn to be compassionate and have mercy. I just know God is up there, tears in His eyes for how proud He is of us. I know because I've sat on the floor as my children took their first steps to me, and there is simply no other reaction than tears of joy.

In fact, we would all be much better off if we spent our time as little children, our arms up-reaching to let God pick us up rather than concocting rules to get ourselves "good enough" to spend eternity with Him. The truth is, we are babies in need of a Heavenly Father who loves us so much, He is willing to be patient when we fall because He knows (better than we do) that falling is part of the learning process.

It would be wise for us all to remember that about each other as well. Then we might hear the applause of Heaven because we have taken another small step toward becoming the loving child of God He meant us to be.

*~*
Hey, want a sneak peak at two great Staci Stallings' novels? Just go to: http://www.stacistallings.com/Previews.htm If you love them, tell your friends! You'll feel better for the experience!

Both

(c) Staci Stallings, 2005

Blessings. We talk about them, pray about them, give thanks for them, and sometimes we even feel very guilty about getting them. Although the Bible says God is "able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us," we worry and doubt about how serious He really was when He made that promise.

The cycle goes something like this. We hit rock bottom and remember God might be able to help, so we start praying. We ask, and as He promised, things start looking up. We keep praying because by now it has become a habit. Slowly then more quickly more blessings show up-some that we prayed for, some we never saw coming. Then the guilt slides through us. "Look at all He's given me. How could I even think of asking for more? I mean, isn't that greedy?" So we quit asking until we're in trouble again.

In truth, the paradox is we can never ask God for too much. Why? Because God is limitless, boundless, infinite. There is literally no limit to God's love or to His desire to pour that love into and through our lives onto others. Satan knows this, so he uses our best instincts against us. "Don't be greedy. You have enough. Don't ask for more." "Think about those who don't have as much as you have. Take your fair share, and be satisfied with that." "Aren't you ashamed of yourself for even asking God about something like that? He doesn't have time to listen to such petty concerns." And on and on.

Unfortunately, he's good at it. He has us convinced that there are things too small for God to worry about in our lives. He has us convinced that if things are good, asking for more is asking too much of God. Worst of all, he has us convinced that God has set some sort of invisible limit on what He will give us, and if we cross that line, God will be so angry He will take all the blessings we now have away.

Lies. It's all lies, and yet we buy into it, and we live our lives afraid to ask for the blessings God wants to give us.

Take my friend for example. She was recently lamenting because God in His goodness had provided the perfect apartment for her (after she specifically asked for it). Then He provided the perfect car for her (after she asked for it). Then she stumbled into asking for the thing she most wants-a God-centered man who would come into her life and love her the way she is now loving everyone else. That seemed just too much to ask for, especially after she'd already gotten the other blessings.

She said, "I just feel so greedy wanting it all." As if the Holy Spirit opened a lesson book, she went on, "It's like the other day. I was at the store, and there was this little girl in front of me in line. She walked up with two pieces of candy. The cashier rang it up and said, 'That'll be $1.93.' Unfortunately all this little girl had was $1.

"The cashier said, 'Look. You've got two pieces of candy, but you don't have enough money to buy both, so you're going to have to put one of them back. Which one do you want, and which one will you put back?'"

My friend said, "She was a little girl, and it was candy. Of course she wanted both of them!" The situation became more tense as the cashier began demanding that the little girl make a choice. Then my friend reached into her own purse, pulled out a dollar, slid it to the cashier, and said, "Let her have both of them." She said, "I was just so grateful for all the blessings He's given me, I wanted to share those blessings with someone else."

At the end of her story, I said, "You know what He's trying to tell you through that, right?" She just looked at me as if she hadn't realized there was a message. So, I continued.

Look at it this way: You were the little girl. You wanted both things. Satan was the cashier, looking at you with a sneer saying, "No. You don't have enough to pay for both. You can only have one, so which one will it be? Make a choice already. I've got other people waiting."

And then God who was standing at your side the whole time, without being asked, slipped the full payment to Satan and said, "Let her have both of them. It's on Me."

The truth is, He wants to do that for you. The only stipulation is you must be open to receiving His blessings in your life. By now, He and I have a standing agreement. I'm open. Whatever He wants to send my way is fine by me. In fact, I often simply pray, "All Your best in my life today, God."

Over and over, He has sent blessings I never even saw coming. Friends to support me in times of need, others who He could love through me, moments of such awe-inspiring closeness with Him I have either laughed out loud or cried. I call that exceedingly abundant beyond all that we could ask or think. Wouldn't you?

~*~
Looking for more great insights? http://www.stacistallings.com You'll feel better for the experience!

Life Value

(c) Staci Stallings, 2005

Everyone understands that if you sell something, you get a cash return. This return may be large or small depending on the quality of the product or service. The cash value of any particular item may be expressed in dollars and cents. A widget may cost $5.00 or a super-widget may cost $5,000.

What most people don't understand, however, is the concept of "life value." In other words the value in enhanced life-terms that the purchaser gains in return for trading their cash for a product or service. Recently when I read about this concept, I went, "Wow! I'd never thought of it like that." What I was particularly impressed with was how different this makes life itself feel as it is expressed through me and as I look at others.

A simple example (and the one I am most familiar with) is brought to expression in my books. My first collection of short stories "Reflections On Life" was recently published. The cash value of this book is $12.95. In order to purchase the book, that is what a reader would have to pay for it. However, the life value can vary widely depending on the purchaser.

Let's say I talked someone who never reads into purchasing "Reflections." This person would turn over $12.95, take the book home, put it on their shelf, and the life value of that book would be zero-unless by some miraculous intervention it fell into the hands of another person who was a reader.

Now, let's take that same book. The cash value is still $12.95; however, this time the purchaser is not only an avid reader but fully engaged in learning about life and putting that knowledge into action. In this instance, the life value may well be immeasurable because that person will take the concepts in the book, apply them to their lives and the lives of those around them, and life increases for everyone involved-whether they directly read the book or not.

As I thought about this concept, I realized how transferable to other circumstances it is. My brother-in-law for instance is a banker. He deals mostly in granting loans to farmers and individuals for homes and cars. If he were to talk someone into taking out a loan that they did not need, the life value of that loan could well be negative because it would drain the borrower's spirit as well as their pocketbook. However, if he lends money to a farmer for instance, and that farmer uses the loan to purchase seed and equipment to grow and harvest the crop that results, the life value of that loan is surely immeasurable. Not only does the farmer make a profit and thereby enhance his life by being able to provide for his own family, but the fruits of his labor enhance the life value of every person who then purchases and consumes or uses the products that results from this crop.

Isn't that an awesome way to think about what you do for a living?

And there are other prime examples in my own family. My mother and my sister both baby sit. The cash value of what they do pales so far in comparison to the life value of that endeavor that it's ridiculous! And another example, my brother sells tools to fix cars. Each tool he sells has the capacity to enhance the life of the mechanic who buys it because he can now do in 2 minutes what would've taken 2 hours to do with the wrong tool. Not only that, but that one tool has enhanced the life of every person whose car it is used to fix. It also enhances the lives of all those other drivers on the road who are now safer because that car is working properly. It also conceivably enhances the lives of those who drive and ride in that car-to work, to school, to Grandma's for Christmas. Think of the life value of that one, simple sale!

My brother's wife has recently begun cleaning houses. Think of the time these families now have to be together enjoying life rather than picking up and vacuuming because of her contribution to their lives. She also gives her time (not paid) to help at her children's schools and their various teams and clubs. There is literally no telling how much life value she is adding to the existence not only of her children but of all of the children who benefit from her efforts. Life value abounds from her efforts!

My husband builds things. He builds houses. He fixes doors. He builds cabinets. Each and every fix-it job and new construction that he lends his hands to increases the life value of someone and sometimes that of many someones. Innumerable people have walked through doors that work because of him. They have stored important information in cabinets he built. They have lived and raised their children in houses that he built. Life. Life. Life in the extreme-not because of cash value but because of life value.

And it gets better, my father is the janitor and the baseball coach for my hometown high school. He spends his days making sure the teachers have what they need to be able to impart knowledge to a whole passel of children. The cash value of this may not be huge, but the life value is astronomical to the point that you cannot even count it!

So the question is: When you think about the value of what you are doing, do you assess your success only in terms of cash value-thereby trying to sell whether the product will enhance or diminish the purchaser's life, or do you make a serious effort to greatly multiply the purchaser's life experience through your product or service? It's a great question, and life looks very different depending on which "value" you are focused on.

The examples are everywhere! Walk down an aisle at the grocery store. Look at a box of cereal or a bottle of medicine. You pay cash value of $3 to $10 for this purchase, but it makes you full or makes you well. Life value.

Once you understand this concept, take a moment to visualize those who have traded hours of their lives to enhance YOUR life value. There's the life value of the person who came up with the grocery cart you are pushing. Think of the time-savings and therefore the life value that represents. There is the person who built the shelves so that the products can be displayed in an orderly fashion.

There is the person who put those shelves together. There is the person who stocked those shelves so you can just walk in and buy what you need without hours of searching. There is the person who created the item that you are buying-the person who came up with the type of cereal, the person who figured out that "this combination of molecules" will cause your body to do this and thus get well.

The reality is that life value is everywhere you look. When you take life value for granted or discount it because you are focused on cash value, you're missing the point completely. Try it. I challenge you. Begin to look at life value for one day, and if it doesn't completely change how you look at life, you can always go back to measuring everything in dollars and cents.

~*~
Read more at: http://www.stacistallings.com You'll feel better for the experience!

Drowning Lessons

(c) Staci Stallings, 2006

Any lifeguard will tell you the worst thing someone that the lifeguard is trying to save can do is to "help." A drowning person in a panicked attempt to "save" themselves by thrashing about can end up taking the lifeguard down with them. It's a lesson all of us need to learn no matter how good we are at swimming in spiritual waters.

Many people ask: "What is my purpose here on earth?" They go through various exercises and workshops to find out what their purpose is. I will save you some time and money if you, too, are asking this age-old question.

You have one purpose here on earth, and it can be summed up in two words: to learn.

You were sent here to learn-to learn about yourself-your capabilities, your liabilities, your strengths, your weaknesses, your abilities, and your limitations. You were also sent here to learn about and how to deal with others-those who are easy to love and those for whom God's mercy will have to be super-abundant for their forgiveness to be obtained.

Nonetheless, you were mostly sent here to learn about God and His unending, unfathomable, unstoppable, overwhelming, unbelievable love for you.

One of the biggest lessons and one of the hardest to take and accept is what has been called a disruptive moment. These are the times in your life when you have been easily walking next to the water when suddenly something pushes you in to the deep end.

This something might be someone. It might be an event or an illness or death or a sudden change that blows gaping holes in your belief that all is right with your world.

Suddenly you are buffeted-slapped on every side with wave after wave of despair, doubt, anger, hopelessness, helplessness, grief, anxiety, and fear so strong it pulls you under like a rip tide.

I believe what we are sent here to learn is that it is precisely in these times of trial and fear that we learn the real depth of God. It is in these moments that the Almighty Lifeguard takes hold of us, rather than us holding onto Him.

The problem here is that many of us continue to struggle. We continue to try to save ourselves even as the waves wash over us time and again. What God says to us at these moments is exactly what the lifeguard would say to the drowning person. "Relax. Let Me do it. Do not rely on your strength, trust in Mine."

Your purpose here is primarily to learn that one lesson as deeply as possible. When the storms blow, quit struggling. Trust the Lifeguard.

He has the strength you need. Relax, and let Him work in your life, and you will surely see wonders come from the moments you thought you were destined to drown. By your own effort, you would have. In His strength, however, you will be brought out of the waters of chaos and confusion into a new life you can only know when you have felt both the rip tide and His marvelous, sustaining strength.

In your weakness, His strength can be made manifest. Trust it for it will save you-especially when you feel you are drowning.

~*~*~
Want more? Check out www.stacistallings.com You'll feel better for the experience!

Stage or Altar?

(c) Staci Stallings, 2005

Plastic Christians. You know the kind. They know all the words, spout all the rules, sing all the songs, join everything, and they look really good doing it, too. Their suits are pressed. Their ties are straight. Their dresses are the mint of modesty. And yet, it all seems too good, too perfect. All plastic, no feeling.

Recently I came face-to-face with the plastic Christian in me. Oh, she talked a good game. To the world, she looked good in her deeds. She was no doubt Christian, but plastic nonetheless.

You see, deeds done out of fear of being found less than the perfect Christian are dead deeds--no matter how good they look. A song I heard by Casting Crowns puts it this way:

Am I the only one that's traded an altar for a stage?

Now before you jump on the bandwagon of spirit-bashing the choir or the readers or those in other visible ministries, I suggest as Jesus said, that you look first at yourself. If you are without sin here, then you may cast a stone.

These words are not talking about the more visible ministries in the church. They are not meant to say, never sing in the choir, never volunteer for a visible ministry. They invite you to look at WHY you are joining. More than that, they are talking about you and your walk every day with Christ. Is it a performance or a sacrifice? Are you on the stage or on the altar?

If you're not sure, from experience, ministry of performance looks like this: you say all the right words, but your heart feels very few of them. You read the Bible religiously, go to church without fail, you can recite all the rules and the prayers as well--but it all feels empty as if you are going through all the motions because that's what's expected. You join the organizations, help with the youth, volunteer for every fundraiser, attend classes, teach classes. You serve and serve and serve until you've got no more to give, and then you find a way to give some more. You feel burned out and used up, and yet there are still people hurting, still more you should give. You want to live out the Christian life, but the reality for you is, it's tiring work.

That's performance. Performance is going on your own ability, choosing the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil over resting in the Tree of Life.

Things look and feel very different when you're on the altar. When you're on the altar, the comprehension of your smallness when compared with His enormity is reassuring--not judgmental, frightening, and depressing. You suddenly realize you can't, but He can. That understanding frees you to jump into situations where failure in the world's eyes is a real possibility, but even if you fail when He whispered the task on your heart, you know that somehow from His perspective, even that failure is a victory. Better, you trust that it's a victory and move forward in confidence--not because you think you can do it, but because you know you don't have to--He will.

On the altar when you read the Bible, you read it because it's fascinating, because you hear Him speaking to you through it--not because you have to or because you're supposed to. Prayers might be memorized or they might well be, "Hey, God. It's me, so glad You're here." Either way, they feel like a personal friendship rather than an empty exercise in pleasing a God you suspect will never be pleased no matter how much you do.

On the altar, you let go of the driving need to prove anything to anybody. You just are. You open your life to Him, just as a sacrificed animal on the altar is cut open, so are you. In a very real way, you die to who you were, to your own ability, to your own performance. Impressing others pales in comparison with being real and being honest about your fears, about your failures, and about who you really are. You suddenly have no desire to wear the mask of plastic Christianity, and the more it is stripped away by His loving, accepting presence, the more you begin to allow others in your presence to remove theirs.

As I thought about the concept of stage or altar, performance or sacrifice, the story of Cain and Abel slid into my consciousness. Has there ever been a more perfect example of what performance-based Christianity leads to?

There's Cain tilling his little performance heart out, thinking how pleased God is going to be with this offering and being pretty pleased with his offering before it even gets to God. How could God not be impressed? After all, Cain reserved the best of his harvest for the Lord. But when he presents the offering to God, God shrugs. Instantly Cain gets angry. How dare the Lord not fawn over his offering!

Then, in walks Abel who presents his offering to the Lord. Abel, innocent, trusting, a sacrifice personified. And the Lord is pleased with Abel's gift. This infuriates Cain who rises up, and in his jealousy and anger, kills his brother.

Are you Cain in your Christian walk? Do you look around and become envious of someone else's service, of someone else's gifts? Do you judge those who aren't as Christian as they should be? Are you completely sure that God will accept your gifts over someone else's because yours are so obviously better? Do you work for God, or does God work through you?

Take it from someone who was on that stage for far too long: It's a lonely, miserable, rotten place to be. More over, as scary as being on the altar sounds, the freedom it affords is worth every spotlight you have to give up.

So, are you on the stage or the altar?

~*~*~

Want more inspiration? Check out Staci's books at: http://www.lulu.com/spirit-light You'll feel better for the experience!

Who Has He Helped Through You Today?

(c) Staci Stallings, 2005

As I write this, it is December 5th. I mention that because with Christmas coming up, it is the season of giving. Along with the normal gifts, this is also the season when our thoughts turn to those less fortunate.

The paper angel trees go up in the malls. The kettles and bells come out. The requests from organizations that help the needy - from food banks to Toys-for-Tots - rise exponentially.

This is also the time our thoughts take in all the things we are grateful for and all the things that we wish for in the coming year. In short, this is a very special time of the year.

As January approaches, my thoughts have been on the New Years Resolution I made last year. The resolution itself was simple - to be an angel to as many people as possible. At the time I couldn't have foreseen many of the opportunities that came my way. In fact, maybe I thought of it more as a wish than a real resolution.

However, God used that desire to show me things about life I had never seen before, like how little it takes to make a difference, how a simple heartfelt note can change someone forever, how easy it is to love when you put fear out of the equation.

As the year progressed, I learned what it means to let Him help through me. I learned that I don't have to do it. All I have to do is let Him guide my heart and my hands. All I have to do is let Him do it through me.

God has helped countless people through me this year - the homeless lady who desperately needed work and who now cleans my house (praise God for her!), the homeless people three states away who are wearing something I no longer needed, the young mother struggling through a heartbreaking betrayal who received a book and a CD filled with Christ's love for her and her family and knew someone cared.

The opportunities were boundless-as they always are. The biggest problem is we find so many ways to talk ourselves out of helping. We're too busy. It takes too long. It costs too much. We have our own problems.

The real problem is that the focus of all of those excuses is in the wrong direction - on "I" instead of on "Him".

St. Theresa once said that we are the only hands that Jesus has on this earth, the only feet Jesus has on this earth now. He wants to use our lives, to work through us in the world.

As the words of a song that's just come into my life says: "Days go by. . . it's all we've been given, so we better start living right now, 'cause days go by."

I don't think I'm going to set any goals this coming year as I have in the past. I think this year my resolution will be simply to let Him work through me every single day. And my question at the end of each day will be simply, "Who has He helped through me today?"

If you are thinking of trying my "angel resolution" out in your life - even if it is April or August or October when you read this - I know for a fact that you are one more person I can say "This is someone He helped through me today."

Peace and joy in your new life as it starts today, because if you take this challenge, today really is the first day of a brand new life.

--Staci