Saaaaaturday

Can we just bring back Pig? He’s such a happy guy!!!  Watching those Geico commercials that starred Pig just put some happy in us, did it not? He’s so fun!! Weeeeeeeeeee

So many stresses vie for our attention and our minds these days and this can make it so hard to find time for laughter and rest.

What if we started thinking about our future as much as we sometimes think about our past? Today we’re talkin’ about baggage. Not sure why, but Billy Graham came to mind this morning.

I remember Joyce Meyer once saying that if we all took our bags (as in, pack up our “stuff” and put it in a suitcase) and threw them all in a pile, that if we looked in the other bags, we would be scrambling to get our bag back!! My stuff’s not that bad!

We get used to our stuff. If it was lost in transit somewhere, I am not sure how we may actually respond. Relief? Would we miss some of our old “stuff” we’ve been dragging around? I will bet that the enemy is sitting on a lot of lost baggage and is very eager to return it to its rightful owner. He loves nothing more than to remind us of our old “stuff.”

Maybe we become too comfortable with certain things we have tucked away in our bags – things that we should really just let TSA confiscate.

Here’s a funny story… I am pretty sure that I am on the TSA baggage watch list when I travel now – my checked bags are searched every time I fly. Seriously. Would you like to know what I think prompted this security measure? I have to give full details though, so, read on…

One time when I flew to my aunt’s house, I decided to take a few wigs (picture Wayne’s World), I still have them from my chemo days – I never wore them – now they are just used for “Awkward Family Photos”. While I was visiting with my aunt, she gifted me with two vintage Furbies (I thought it would be fun to freak my cats out with them, don’t ask). I also decided to get some supplies  – large copper wire – while I was there, to make a perch for my parrot (again, don’t ask). Last thing I had tucked away was some hair dye (for our eyebrows). Sounds like a great vacation so far… 🙂 Okay, we have wigs, Furbies, copper wire and hair dye. Random stuff, right? It all made sense to me…

My bag was delayed when I arrived home and I ended up having to go back to the airport the next day to retrieve it. That was the beginning of finding a note inside my bag stating that it has been searched – every time I travel. Seriously. Now I just stick some snacks in there for the TSA workers… and a big thank you for searching us and keeping us all safe during travel. 🙂 Let’s move on….

Billy Graham once said “the ground is level at the foot of the cross”.  To me, this means that my big bag, your small bag, my small bag, your big bag, they’re the same. The contents may not be the same, but what our bag represents is. Forgiveness. Jesus sees everything we have packed and He wants to confiscate our bags. We can stand shoulder to shoulder at the foot of the cross, release them to Him and find forgiveness and rest. That’s what level ground is.

When we open our bag now, we see a note inside that says…

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.    – Matthew 11:28, 29   NIV

EnJOY your Saturday.

A bit of random knowledge for ya:

I just read that back in 1999 the NSA put a ban on Furbies from entering their property (what spy goes to work with a Furby??) due to security concerns that the Furby could record and repeat classified conversations…

If you simply must know more about Furbies, here ya go:

What not to pack in your luggage