Lay Aside My Coffee: Cake Too?

Can you love Jesus and love this world, too? For the most part, in recent days I have heard the message from the Bible that I am to love nothing in this world. For some reason, I feel like if I enjoy my own family or find happiness in a cup of coffee, I am doing something wrong. My pastor preached on contentment and that deprivation is not a way to find contentment; it is just swinging the pendulum from over-indulgence (lack of self-control) to destitution (self-inflicted punishment). So how do you have your cake and eat it too? He suggested that you commune with Jesus while you eat your cake. That’s a thought. I am not sure where the idea came from but I think I sometimes feel like I need to detach myself from God when I am having fun as though Jesus has nothing to do with enjoying life on earth. Frankly, I have a hard time turning this idea over in my mind, but I’d like to. An important distinction must be made, Jesus said, “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine” (Matthew 10:37). He did not say if you simply love your father or mother you are not worthy of me; he said if you love them more than you love me, then you are not worthy of me. So to me, it sounds like it’s okay to love the beautiful and pleasant joys of earth, but we must NEVER love them more than Jesus! Something recently occurred to me, the more I read the Word and believe what it says, the more I understand and accept the vastness of the love of God and therefore, the by product in me is loving Him more and more, even more than my family and even more than my coffee.

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March 23, 2011 - Posted by Rebecca Jill | Loving Jesus, Processing, Sunny~Side~Up

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The Little Girl Who Lost Her Curl

Beccabee SunnyMe. My name is Rebecca. When I was a little girl, I was called Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farms on countless occasions. I always returned it with a great big cheesy grin, teeth, gums, and all. So it is no surprise to put Sunny beside my name Rebecca. That nickname truly reveals a great deal about who I am.

As the oldest and only daughter, I was nestled into my strong traditional Christian family which included my two younger brothers. At the age of twelve, my family settled in Birmingham, Alabama where I met my best friend and future husband, Stephen Figert. Through many obstacles along life’s fascinating highway, Stephen and I were eventually married and we moved to Indiana in 2004 for Stephen to pursue his PhD in Spanish Literature. Eighteen months later we unexpectantly began our family and welcomed our first son, Easton, who is now five years old, into the Figert home. Since then, we have also welcomed our daughter Anya, who is now three, and our youngest son, Fisher, who is now one. Unless another unexpected blessing enters our life, we have reconciled ourselves to being a happy family of five.

For six solid years, I feel like “life has come fast”! As the fog settles and the whirlwind subsides, I am trying to find my barrings again. So, here I am; I’m no longer a little girl, I’ve lost my curls, and I’m becoming something. I just hope I’m becoming a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend who, above all, loves Jesus.

Curly Days
[My hair] represents the spinning of our planet, the curling of ocean waves, the spiral movement of sea shells, the spiral movement of climbing vines, and everybody knows the tornado moves like my hair grows.

*excerpt from I am African American I am Black by Victor A. Brady
Straightening Out
I thought that I had wavy hair
Until I shaved. Instead,
I find that I have straight hair
And a very wavy head.

Wavy by Shel Silverstein

Becoming

For those of you who have naturally curly hair, you know what it's like to work for long periods of time to straighten your hair. Once you complete your work, you look into the mirror expecting perfection and beauty, but the product can be summed up as a puffy, frizz mess. This was my story, but as I quickly approach the big 3-0 and have acquired three finely crafted arrows in my quiver, I peer at my reflection in disbelief, because I have lost my curls. I used to work for hours to get rid of them, but in time, my body has changed and my curls are no longer apart of my defining characteristics. People from my past ask "Where are your curls?" I tell them that "I gave them to my kids." I hope that's not all I give to my kids, I hope that's not all that I lose and I hope that I continue to change in a way that Jesus will say, "That's very becoming!" I invite you to come, change, and grow with me, becoming a sure and surrendered child of the King.

I've Lost My Curls

it's becoming