Saturday, January 31, 2009

Living in a Fairy Tale

I attended a breakout session at the convention the other day that was so wonderful. The title was "Leadership Principles of Sleeping Beauty."

One of the things it brought out was the pattern of a fairy tale.

The first thing would be age of innocence where everything is relatively good, normal, quiet, kind of a lull in life.

Then you would get the call to adventure where you would leave safety and security to strike out in search of something better, bigger, more exciting, etc. It is during this time that you would actually start out on your journey to find whatever you feel is waiting out there.

After the call to adventure you would go through the initiation period. During this time you would enter into the big dip. This is the critical moment where you either sink or swim, pass or fail, live or die. A lot quit at this point.

During the journey you develop allies who help you to get through. They may offer advice or give you tools you need to make it through.

Then there is the breakthrough, when you overcome the dip, survive that critical moment. This leads to the last stage, the celebration.

If you think of any fairy tale you have ever read, you can see this pattern. You can also see it in everyday life.

As I sat and listened to them explain the way this all relates to the work force, I could not stop seeing how this relates to our walk with God, especially as a young person.

I know so many that have been in a beautiful, contented place, truly living in the age of innocence, only to hear some distant call to adventure and begin a journey going nowhere fast.

During that journey they are initiated into the things of the world, things they may have never even been aware existed before. And, as usually happens, they hit bottom, they reach that critical moment where all can be lost. It is wise to be careful who you ally yourself to, because they could be an incredible negative influence during this time.

As you travel further from the comfort and security of the church you find yourself in critical situations that can shape your entire future. You will literally find yourself standing at the proverbial crossroads.

The choice you made with determine the battle. Do you fight to retain all that you have ever believed in, or do you fight to let go?

And if you have let go, who celebrates?

I implore you tonight to make your choice based on forever, not based on the moment. Use your Sword when the battle comes, for the Word of the Lord is "sharper than a two-edged sword." Make your journey a Hero's Journey, a journey to new height and higher places. Fight for something that truly matters, not the *Fairy Tale* of an exciting life beyond the security of God. Then and only then will you achieve Happily Ever After.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I Know...

I have been slack. We have had some busy times lately with work and church and getting Ethan well. I have some stuff that the Lord has given me that I'm going to get on here soon and very soon.

DON'T GIVE UP ON ME...hehehe.

I am heading to Atlanta in the morning for the GCHA Convention, I am excited about that. I know I will come home with even more stories!

Stay Tuned!!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Love Notes

Yesterday I met with a Physician in his office. I have known him for quite some time and was discussing a contract with him.

He was very busy, as you can well imagine. He had come out of patient room with his laptop and told me to follow him as he hurried ahead to his office.

I sat across from him and he spoke to me while typing in notes on his last patient.

He apologized because his desk was a mess stating, "I just haven't had time to tidy it up."

He then proceeded to straighten it up while I reassured him that I understood.

It was then that I saw it, while looking at this man's desk.

Written in his bold hand across the top of his desktop calendar were the words "I love *my wife*."

Although the rest of his desk was covered in clutter, this little note was entirely visible, as if he left it open for his view.

I was moved almost to tears.

During his running from room to room, as he cared for those that had put their trust in him, there written in plain view was a declaration of love for the woman he had married all those years ago.

This little love note was private, personal, yet so visible to me, as if he wrote it as a reminder "this is why I'm here, this is why I work so hard. It is this love that drives me."

What I loved the most about it was it was probably written while he was in the midst of doing something else, perhaps on the phone, yet it was his love he was thinking of, his love that was drawing him.

And she probably has no idea that little declaration of devotion even exists.

Yet it does.

Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

Brother Martyn Ballestero preached a message one time "He's In My heart, I'm In His Hands" using this verse as an illustration. That message came back to me sitting across from this man. Obviously he is loved by his wife with a great love to inspire this devotion from him.

What an image that carried me through the rest of the day. I could imagine my God with MY name in His hands, looking at it and thinking "I love her."

Verse 15 says: "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee."

He is saying as He looks upon my name, "This is why I did it, this is the reason for it all."

I can hear Him as I stumble through my busy day, as I face disappointments and as I face sorrows, during my triumphs and my times of great joy, I can hear Him in a soft sweet voice, "I remember you, for your name is ever before Me, written in a love note here on the palms of My hands."

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

It's A Dirty Job....

There you sit, in front of your computer, a real flesh and blood person.

You have a heart, you have a soul.

More than likely your life means something to someone else, and hopefully you are not alone in the world.

But, if you can imagine just for a minute. Look beyond where you sit, look beyond your person to the bigger picture.

If you could, right now, rise above yourself and go beyond, straight into the heavens, your physical body would not even be visible. You would be smaller than a speck of sand.

Now, what if when you get up from the computer and look down, you see a piece of dirt in the chair where you once were. You may have to get right down on it to be able to see it. But that little speck of dirt, just sitting there in the seat of your vacated chair will have little meaning, and will make little difference.

Have you ever thought about how, in the whole picture, your existence is really small. There is not much to you if you compare yourself to the billions upon billions of others wandering this place we call earth.

What makes you significant?

Everyday you wander this planet with people all around, from all walks of life, will all manner of circumstances. You are just one more person. One more speck of dirt.

Alone, a grain of sand cannot really do much, but when there are MANY grains of sand they can fulfill a purpose.

You need each other.

You want to see growth in the church, join together to reach the lost.

You want to see revival, join together to pray and fast for a breakthrough.

Bind with each other to make your church a fertile field, ready for the planting of something new.

When you work together you become more than a solitary, useless speck of dirt, together you can become a road that leads others to salvation, you can become a foundation that can be built upon.

Together you can bring forth a bountiful harvest!

SOMEBODY'S Got to do it!! Let it start with ME!!!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Did You See......

My OTHER blog??

Check it out at sheriboulet.com

This is where I post my pictures...And you HAVE to see Angela and Devin...

Feel free to comment!!!

Love you guys!
Sheri

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Winner Of The Hog Callin' Contest

Have you ever been to a Hog Calling Contest? Honestly I cannot say that I have, but I have heard Hog Calling on more than one occasion.

Hog Calling is a very interesting *sport* and rather fun to watch. If you have never seen it, might I suggest a visit to You Tube to check it out. In order to be a successful "Hog Caller" you have to be willing to step over the line. One article I read described it like this about a recent female winner:

" Participating in a hog-calling contest requires rejecting just about everything that women are told they're supposed to be. You've got to be loud and zany and willing to contort your face and body into positions that might fairly be described as unattractive; you've got to be completely uninhibited, shameless, and out of control."

In other words, you have to be willing to *attract* hogs. OK, I guess you get the picture. Please, don't misunderstand me, I am definitely not downing Hog Callers. I actually think it is quite fun. But, instead I would like to use that as an illustration to make a point to you.

In the New Testament swine are mentioned in a few places, never in a good light. There is the story of the demons cast out by Jesus who asked Him to send them to the herd of swine grazing nearby. His answer in Matthew 8:32 was simply "Go." What has always struck me about that particular event is that the people that had been tormented by the demon possessed for years were more upset about the swine. It was as if they accepted the torment, probably became desensitized to it, but they wanted Jesus to leave because of the swine.

Then there is the story of the Prodigal Son. He comes to himself and realizes he is feeding with the swine in the fields. Hogs can be rather mean, and obviously they had accepted him. Which says to me he had become like the swine himself.

But the statement that brings me to my knees today is in Matthew 7:6:

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

This statement got me to thinking about Hog Calling.

How does one become a good Hog Caller? One would have to watch the Hogs, study their actions, see what they respond to, what attracts them, and then use that to emulate them. The sounds and actions that would draw them would be the ones that incorporated their own sounds and actions, drawing them as if the one calling may be one of them.

Here in South Georgia we have Wild Hogs, or Boars as some call them. These Hogs are vicious with long tusks, and they will not think twice about using those tusks.

My Grandfather was a man of very small stature. He came up on a Wild Hog once. I don't remember the whole story, but I do know he had the tusk from that Hog on a key chain to serve as a reminder of his victory over it.

I have seen Saint that have looked at the world with longing, watching, observing, learning the ends and the outs of those in the world. In their longing to fit in they take everything that was holy and cast it to the Hogs, thinking that this *sacrifice* will surely impress.

That is never the case. NEVER.

The world is not your friend. Oh, if you speak their language they may come running, but when you have thrown away all that was once valuable, all that you once held dear to fit in with the swine of the world, don't expect them to accept you.

The world will never accept you.

If you have been filled with the Holy Ghost, if your vessel has been swept clean, you will always be different. You were bought with a high price, you are the pearl of great value. When you wallow with the Hogs, you get just as filthy as they are. And when you realize all you have thrown at their feet for acceptance, they won't care.

It would be fun to learn the sport of Hog Calling, but my faith is too costly to cast away for the filth of the world.

God, please, never let me find myself wallowing in the hog pen of the world. It is You I long to call to be in Your presence. Nothing is worth more.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Talk To The Hand

Well, as usual, we ended the year with a bang, and obviously have started the new one with a sonic boom. Such is life in the Boulet home.

I have known people that always seem to have some terrible calamity going on in their lives and I have thought, "Man, what is the deal?"

Then one day I was looking over all of the happenings in my own life and realized some where someone was thinking of me and wondering what in the world was going on!

We seem to have our share of adventures, not always fun ones. We seem to be hitting some turbulence again on our flight into 2009.

I have tried to be upbeat, because I know that God is in control and He is working ALL things for our good. He truly is.

But once in a while, only once in a while, I think, "OK, I'm ready for the GOOD!"

I have recently found myself in a situation that is uncomfortable, and heartbreaking, and I would that it would just disappear, but that does not seem to be happening.

I have never been a fan of conflict and with the recent goings on I know for sure that I hate it. I just want a little peace in my corner of the world...

I'm tired of the devil. Just plain sick to death of him. He is rotten and he is dirty and he is out to destroy everything good in our lives. I'd like to punch him in the nose until it bleeds.

When he comes around again I'm totally disrespecting him. I'm not going to listen to his garbage, not falling for his tricks.

And just to spite him I'm going to worship like never before, praise like never before, pray like never before, and delve into the Word like never before...That'll show that no account what I think of him!