Month: February 2023

She Said What?

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Picture it . . . Shandon . . . 2007.

A dashing, blue-eyed guy is making plans to take his favorite girl out to dinner. He feels confident because he knows he’s chosen her favorite restaurant, but he’s nervous at the same time. You see, dear reader, he’s decided tonight is the night. Tonight is the night he’s going to do it. Tonight, he’s going to go all the way.

Tonight . . . he’s going to tell his girlfriend he loves her.

(Seriously, get your head out of the gutter! Where’d you think I was going with that? This is not that type of blog.)

And so, after a wonderful evening of delicious food and delightful conversation, he prepares to say good night. He wraps his girl in his arms, he leans down, nuzzles into her curls and whispers those three special words:

“I love you.”

There is a pause . . .

The girl’s breath catches . . . she gazes up at him with those sparkling green eyes of hers . . . and she says, with all sincerity,

“Thank you.”

Doh!

Talk about awkward.

Obviously, that was not the response Alex was hoping for that night. And it wasn’t really the one I meant to give him, it’s just he caught me a little off guard, and those were the first words that came out of my mouth. I think we can all agree he should just feel lucky I didn’t laugh in his face, as is my natural tendency in emotional situations.

Thankfully, Alex was able to shake off the utter devastation of my reply and give me a second chance, but I still maintain I wasn’t totally off base in my response.

Because here’s the thing, I was thankful for Alex’s love for me then, and I’m even more thankful for it now.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not the easiest person to live with. I can be stubborn and sassy and even a little bit salty when the mood strikes. To be honest, I like things my way, I have high expectations, and I may “breathe heavily” and steal the covers on occasion. There are plenty of days when I can’t figure out why in the world Alex loves this hot mess express. On those days especially, I don’t feel like I deserve his love, so I am genuinely thankful he continues to tell me he loves me day after day.

I feel the same way about my relationship with God sometimes too. I don’t understand why He loves me so much. I’m flawed in so many ways, and I know I must frustrate Him to no end, and yet, His love never fails.

The problem is while I had no problem telling Alex thanks that night long ago, I don’t do a very good job of stopping to thank God for His love, which is a shame, considering it’s the greatest gift ever given.

God’s love is free of charge to every single one of us. There’s nothing we have to do to earn it, and there’s nothing we can do to erase it. As Paul writes in Romans 8:39, nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

When life gets rough, it’s easy to forget that truth. I get all wrapped up in my feelings of guilt or shame. But the good news is this: Stubborn, sassy, or a little bit salty, God loves me no matter what, and friend, He loves you too.

So today, let’s “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 107:1). God’s love is something we don’t deserve; it’s unconditional, given to us through nothing but God’s own grace and mercy.

And because of that, all we need to do, all we really can do, is open our hearts and say, “Thank you.”

I Got Your Mat

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One of the top items on my bucket list has always been to ride a mechanical bull. I have absolutely no idea why or how that made it to the top of my list other than I’ve always loved the soundtrack to Urban Cowboy, which features a picture of John Travolta riding a mechanical bull on the album cover.

Regardless, whatever the reason, it’s been a dream for as long as I can remember.

So, imagine my delight last April when my high school friends and I took a girls’ trip to Nashville. I knew this was my chance to make my dream come true, and I . . . was . . . pumped!

Oddly enough, there aren’t as many mechanical bulls in Nashville as you might think. Hot chicken on every corner—you bet! Mechanical bulls—not so much.

But my girls were bound and determined to find me a bull, and after a lot of time on the Google, they came up with two options.

The first bull was located at an establishment with a name that would make you blush, and we decided no self-respecting ladies from Rock Hill would dare cross that threshold. Our mamas raised us better than that, after all.

But my crew wasn’t about to call of the search so quickly. We kept looking and finally found a bull at an upstanding establishment, Nashville Underground, so we pulled on our boots and headed down Broadway to check an item off my bucket list.

When we arrived, there was a bit of a crowd, but that wasn’t going to slow us down. Ashley headed straight for the front of the line and sweet talked the bouncer into helping us out. (Bless him, he probably realized we were up way past our bedtime and felt sorry for us!)

We were in, and I was ready!

Long story short, riding that mechanical bull was as thrilling and memorable as I ever imagined.

When it was my turn, I hiked up my dress*, hopped into the saddle, and hung on for dear life as that bull bucked me around and around. And even though I got thrown off multiple times and could barely walk the next day, it was totally worth it, thanks in large part to the laughter and encouragement of dear friends.

Looking back, the whole experience reminds me of the story in Luke 5 of the friends who outsmart the crowd and lower their paralyzed friend’s mat through the roof so Jesus can heal him.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Katherine, you can’t possibly be comparing your friends’ dedication to finding you a mechanical bull to the paralyzed man’s friends’ loyalty in taking him to Jesus for a miracle.”

Well, technically, this is my blog, and I can write whatever my little heart desires, but no, I agree, that does seem like a bit of a stretch. However, this comparison isn’t so much about the mechanical bull.

It’s more about the fact that four months later, when my mom died, this same group of friends showed up again to truly carry me through. They, along with so many others, picked me up at my lowest point and demonstrated the power of Jesus’ healing love.

I would imagine the paralyzed man was thankful for Jesus the day he was healed, but I would also wager he was even more grateful for his friends, for without them, he never would have seen Jesus. It was their faith that led to his miracle.

I know how he felt.

My friends’ love, support, memories, and laughter carried me through then and continue to lift me up even now. Their faith and their actions are tangible reminders that even when life gets heavy, Jesus is right here with us, and he uses others to lighten our load.

So, let’s all strive to be more like the paralyzed man’s friends. Let’s do what we can to lift each other up. Let’s carry each other through the hard times and celebrate together in the good ones.

After all, one thing is for certain: There will be times in life when we get bucked right off the proverbial bull, but with the love and support of faithful friends, we can dust ourselves off and get back in the saddle, ready to ride a full eight seconds and make our dreams come true.

*A word to future Nashville travelers: If you think there’s any chance your evening will end up with you on the back of a bull, DO NOT wear a dress! Sure, I looked really cute, but it made for a seriously awkward dismount. #thankgoodnessforspanx.

Let’s Get to Work!

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In the past 22 years of teaching, things have really changed. Power School is in, paper gradebooks are out. Passing notes has been replaced by posting on social media. And AirPods . . . well, AirPods are everywhere.

Even with all the changes, one key component of school life has stayed the same: The daily struggle to get some students to work up to their potential.

The battle usually goes a little something like this:

“Hey, Chris, what’s going on here, bud?”

“Mrs. Bryant, maaaan, I’m not even doing anything.”

“Mmm, yes, yes, I’m aware . . . that’s actually kinda the problem.”

“But, I . . . “

“No, no, look, it get it. You’re not doing anything like hiding somebody’s lunchbox or smacking your buddy in the back of the head today, and for that, I am genuinely thankful. Truly. But you’re also not doing any work, and that is a problem. You need to do some work because that’s what you’re here for.”

This conversation is often followed by some sighing or some eye rolling or some paper shuffling, but usually . . . eventually . . . the student will start to work . . . at least a little.

It’s frustrating, to say the least, especially when it involves a student who I know can do more but is choosing to neglect his or her work.

This week, I started wondering, does God have the same frustration with me? While I might not be out there breaking laws and causing trouble, I’m not sure I’m always doing all that I’m here to do.

The Bible provides us with some pretty straightforward directions for living. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

I’m not saying we all need to drop what we’re doing to take in three foster children, fund two overseas missionaries, and build a Habitat house.

Honestly, we all have different gifts, and I learned a long time ago at Salkehatchie, the Methodist version of Habitat, that using a circular saw might not be the best—or safest—use of my time at a building site. Let’s just say our leaders quickly redirected my energy when I kept running over the nails in the floorboard, causing them to shoot around the room at innocent bystanders and costing us a fortune in saw blades.

But I do wonder if I’m giving my best. Am I following in John Wesley’s footsteps? Am I doing all that I can, by all the means that I can, in all the ways I can, in all the places I can, at all the times I can, to all the people I can, as long as I ever can?

Here’s the thing—just because I’m not doing anything wrong doesn’t mean that I’m necessarily doing anything right.

It’s easy to sit back and rest, to get comfortable with the status quo. But if I get too comfortable, I could forget to use my gifts and talents to care for the lost and the least. Some days I accidentally overlook opportunities to serve, but there have been times, more than I care to admit, when I have turned the other way and ignored the work right in front of me.

We get one chance in this life; there is no dress rehearsal. We need to take advantage of opportunities to reach out and to lift up. We need to share our gifts and love others in order to maximize our potential and live out our true purpose.

So, let’s do it.

Let’s reach out to who we can, whenever we can, however we can.

That way, when we meet our Teacher face to face, we just might be lucky enough to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).