Do you ever feel like people automatically assume you did something when someone else (cough cough Debbi) leaves the room in the middle of a prayer at Thanksgiving dinner, cackling like a hen?

No…? Well, I have! People in the room that know me will look at me to see what I am doing! I am innocent, I tell ya, innocent! You know, it is hard being the good sister! That older sister constantly shifting the blame to her younger sister. Shame on her! Who is buying that? lol

Since Thanksgiving is over, I will share a Thanksgiving Dinner from about 10 years ago.

SO MY CHURCH (BRAT) STORY begins:

On Thanksgiving, we all gather at my mom’s house. We all bring something to the table. My sister, Debbi, will come over the night before and help my mom cook. I am responsible for the turkey, dressing, gravy, broccoli casserole (sometimes homemade yeast rolls), and a peach cheesecake. Now that we have a teen that has to be gluten-free, I want to make sure she has something good to eat. Then there are the vegetarians that have to have a special dish or two. My sister-in-law usually brings homemade cranberry salad (George’s favorite), chocolate pecan pie (George’s favorite), quinoa, and other random dishes, including some for those that have specialty diets.

We all gather around the table and wait to pray. Right before the prayer starts, for whatever reason – I still do not know – we all hold hands and sing Kumbaya. Ok, that part is not true, lol. But we do hold hands to pray!

This particular Thanksgiving Day, we all gathered around the table. The seating is tricky with so many people, even with my mom’s table extensions. There are the regular dining chairs, and then we start hunting to find other seating. One option is a piano bench. Now, if you are on the piano bench, you are super close to the family member who is on there with you. This time, I was seated next to Debbi! Let the fun begin!

You all know how much trouble Debbi gets into with me. She is a bad influence, to say the least (who believes that)! Deb is the oldest, so she should do better! She does really good until she is with me – go figure. Bless her heart. She is way more “prim and proper” than I am. She is super careful with how she presents herself and what it will look like to others. But, when she is with me, she comes unglued for whatever reason.

Well, the time had begun for us to take our seats and for the prayer to be said. Jay (my brother AND pastor) was the one that would be praying.

I sat down next to Deb. She looked at me and told me to “behave myself.” Well, that hurt – lol! I looked at her with an innocent expression of “how dare you say that to me.” Ok, have you met me? I was NOT going to behave myself. But in reality, I did not expect what transpired. It unfolded quickly!

To understand the story, you need to have some background. You see, growing up, I would watch the “older church women” that were “starting to feel the Spirit” do a little “Pentecostal Shake” with their hands. The shake was a slight jerking motion. Then, their bottom lip would chatter and a whisper of “Thank the Lord.” “Praise You, Jesus!” “Have Your way, Lord.” It would get louder and louder until they were shouting it loudly from their seat. I always thought this was so funny. I would scan the room to find me a “Pentecostal Shaker.” I knew the night would be interesting. 

We sat down, and we all clasped hands and to make the human chain around the table. Jay starts to pray. I had Deb’s hand and did a little “Pentecostal Shake” and a little lip chatter to complete it. I thought it would be subtle enough where no one else would see or hear it, but Debbi would “feel and hear” it. Through clenched teeth, she told me to “stop it.” What I heard was, “This is fun. Let’s do it again!.” She tried to stop my hand from shaking. She tried to get out of my firm grasp on her hand. She got another shot of the “shake and quake,” as I so affectionally called it.

What happened next I totally did not expect. You have to remember, Jay was still praying. I was listening, I really was! Suddenly, Deb let out a hysterical laugh and couldn’t contain herself and had to leave the room. I was between shocked and in hysterics myself!

Then I heard Jay say something like this, “And God forgive Wendy for interrupting our prayers today.” and he kept right on praying over the food.

HE TOLD GOD ON ME! Without hesitation, he told God on me – like he tattled! I was waiting for him to tell on Debbi, too, but that didn’t happen! 

After the prayer was over, I just sat there, trying to get myself pulled together. Tears were streaming down my face from laughing so hard. Jason, my oldest nephew that loves me dearly, was about 10 or 11. He looked at me and said, “Don’t ever disrespect my dad praying again, ok, Wendy?”

You know me, I could not make that promise!

WHAT’S ON MY MIND?  GLAD YOU ASKED

At the end of our lives, we are not going to reflect on how many things that “we got by with.” I believe we will be reaching for all those things that we did for God and did them to the best of our ability. That we did what He asked us to do for Him. That we listened to His voice. That we soaked in His presence. That He knows who we are because He hears from us every day! He knows us better than we know ourselves. He searches our heart, He knows our every thought! We cannot hide them from God.

Psalm 139:1-6

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down;
 you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

We cannot do things underhanded, thinking no one sees or hears us. God does! We cannot do things that we believe no one else sees and not get a reaction of some kind. We have to be aware. When we profess Jesus as our King, our Redeemer, Our Savior, people will be watching. Are we treating each other kindly, with respect and dignity? They are going to watch how we act in situations.

Luke 12:3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

I have heard people say that they do not care what people think about them. Let’s examine that for a second:

Should we live our lives for the opinion of others? Should we be scrutinized for every little thing we do? Do we live our lives for others approval? The answer to all of those questions is NO!

Should people be able to look at our lives and see Jesus? Should people be able to “judge” our actions as those being the actions of Christ? Should we live for God’s approval and His opinions, even if others do not like it? Should we show kindness and love even when it is not being shown to us? The answer to all of these questions is YES!

Just like I was trying to get Debbi to laugh, and no one else knew, it blew wide open. That was a reaction to my action. We cannot be responsible for others’ actions or reactions, but we ARE responsible for OUR actions and reactions. We cannot say things such as, “The devil made me do it.” or “They made me so mad I threw something at them,” or “I have my mother’s temper (blaming your mom for your actions).” I will say this about that one particular statement; you do not have your mother’s temper, your mother has her temper, you have your own!

We do things that make people walk away and then we sit and act innocent! We have to take responsibility for who we are!

Squirrel: If you do not like who you are, you are the only one who can change that!

I have been the person that reacts too quickly. I have been the person who says the wrong things at the wrong time. I have been that person who gossips (knowing that it is wrong) when I have been wronged – meaning I talked to the wrong people when I should have been talking to the person that hurt me. I have been that person that will say words that cut like a knife, and that is what I intended. Jesus forgives our past. He forgives our shortcomings, but we have to make a change!

Christ helps me to not be that the person. I am striving to be more like Christ. I am striving to be the best I can be, so it will be a smooth transition when I pass from this life to the next. I want to be at home in Heaven because I have worshipped and loved here on earth.

Just because we are Christ-followers does not mean we are perfect. It means we are striving to be perfect as God is perfect. We are trying daily to run away from sin and run into the arms of the Father. The farther away from sin we are, the closer to God we are!

Matthew 5:48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

I WANT JESUS TO SMILE AND SAY, “YEAH, THAT’S MY KID!”

As we take time to calm our hearts and minds. Focus on Jesus. Nothing else, just Jesus. We are no longer bound to sin. We are free! We are no longer slaves to the cares of this world!

PRAY THIS WITH ME TODAY (in your own words)

Jesus, I want to thank you for being my Redeemer, My Savior, the Words of life. You are everything I need. I do not need to look outside of You to find my answers.

I pray, Lord, that you would purify my heart. Make my heart beat with the same heartbeat as Yours. Make my steps be the steps You take. I do not want to walk alone in this cold, dark, world. You are the light of the world – YOU are what I need.

Jesus, search my heart, pull out anything that is not like YOU. Make me clean. Give me a clean slate to start again with the new day.

I love You Lord and I lift my voice, to worship You!

Amen