"We'll Leave The Light On For You"

"THIS MUST STOP!" Those were the first words out of my mouth. What must stop? Isn't that the question you are wondering? Well, hang on because I don't think any of us are ready for this one. "The Procreation (Mating) of Roaches in MY kitchen MUST STOP!" Seriously, last night after writing the blog about "Exercise" I became so hungry from the thought of all the endorphins I would soon be releasing that I needed a bowl of cereal. (For some reason, I do not like cereal early in the morning, but late at night it is wonderful.) I walked into my dark kitchen, knowing that my precious husband had washed the dishes and tidied up after dinner. I made my way through the dark, welcomed silence and flipped on the kitchen light. SCREAM!!! (Shattered Silence) There were not 1, not 2, but 3 roach couples using my kitchen as a rendezvous point for their midnight date. And this was not just any date, this was apparently 3 years into marriage, 1 stable job, 1 savings account, 2 car titles and a nice size home celebration date. These roaches were procreating in my kitchen. Now, I will be honest, I have seen a few(?) roaches in my kitchen over the years and when someone who is not afraid to stomp them or beat them to death with a sword or toy is awake, we will do what is necessary to keep these midnight screams to a minimum. Not to mention that little boys love to beat bugs to death.  I have no problem with these creatures gleaning in my fields as long as I cannot see them and they leave me alone. I however am not as kind as Boaz and I do not leave extra behind for them, but if they are there, that is just one more excuse for using clorox in the morning. But, I draw the line at allowing these roaches to raise a family in my kitchen. They had crossed a definite boundary. They had gone too far! So I screamed, got my cereal (hey, the only time in the day I eat alone, don't judge me!) turned out the light and went to bed all the while thinking of my plan for ridding this house of the family that contributes nothing. 1.Buy roach motels 2.Bug Bomb 3.Spray outside 4.Price exterminators. 5.Call exterminator. Those were my intentions for today. Ask me how many of those things I actually did? None, nada, zilch, zero. Do you know why? Because I didn't see the roaches today and other things grabbed and screamed for my intention. That which I was so passionate about at the time suddenly fell to the bottom of my to do list when it was out of my sight. I am still disgusted at the thought and I intend on doing something about it, but I guarantee you if I walked in there tonight those same roaches would be lurking about in the darkness. Do you know what hurts my heart even more and makes me want to scream even louder? This is the way so many of us are in our walk with the Lord. We recognize a sin in our life that we want to make right or a behavior or a pattern of behavior that we want to change and we make plans to change it because it disgusts us. More importantly, we know it disgusts the heart of our Savior. So we make a "new" commitment and we make a plan to change 1.Have a quiet time 2.Memorize scripture 3.Find an accountability partner 4.Join a small group 5.Be faithful to worship with my church. We have good intentions, but when the consequences lighten up and the spot light is no longer shining on that sin it becomes free to lurk in the darkness again and we become content to leave it there. The urgency is gone. Our attention is elsewhere! Our commitment has become a distant to do list that was never accomplished.  So we throw it away, continue in the sinful behavior and hope that no one will turn the light on. After all, if it is dark the roaches don't really exist right? Pray with me that the God of Truth will bring to "light" that which is sin and it will be confessed, destroyed and there will be in its place a new clean heart of obedience. I pray these exact words for myself, my husband, my children and those I walk closely with throughout my life. (However, now that this is public, my circle of friends and family may have just diminished.) Holiness and obedience above all else. That is my heart's desire. SIN "We'll Leave The Light On For You!"

James 1:22-25 "Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does."