I Am a Gossip

SIDE NOTE: First, let me say that I am through with school until the end of August (just graduated with my Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and now I am onto my Master's WOO HOO!!!). This means, I have more time to devote to me sporadic blog.

Back to the topic at hand. I do not like to hurt people, and there are few things more hurtful to people than finding out that other people have been talking bad about you. Additionally, gossip biases the hearer about the person being talked about. Wrong assumptions are made, and attitudes towards that person are developed and are hard to overcome. Gossip is not only hurtful to the person it is about, but to the  hearer and the teller as well.  Gossip hinders relationships between the three as well because of wrong assumptions, etc.

I have a major problem with this. I get to talking to people and names get brought up and then the pressure comes. The pressure to agree, or ask further questions. Of course my curiosity is peaked as well, and being such a curious person it is hard to NOT ask questions. Then I turn around and tell others what I have heard. However, something happened the other day that stopped me in my tracks.

I was telling my husband a about a conversation I had earlier, and switched into gossiping mode. I said the famous, "And this person does..." and he stopped me right there. He said, "I do not want to hear gossip about this person, so you just need to stop."
WOW! Just...WOW!
NOT what I was expecting, but that is the beautiful thing about marriage. You can challenge each other, and encourage greatness in each other.
When this happened I was offended initially. How could Jake think I was gossiping!?!? BUT I WAS! He nailed it on the head.
So, this is my summer challenge to myself, and to you, my readers: Stop gossip in its tracks. When someone begins to gossip, STOP it! When I begin to do so, STOP MYSELF!

 So, if this happens in a conversation with anyone, do not be offended. I am just pruning my leaves so to speak ;)

You Profess to be a Christian, but do You Live Like an Agnostic?

I once was told that an agnostic believes there might be a God, but if He existed, He does not care at all about what goes on in our lives. Going further, as I understand it, He is not intricately involved in our lives, and has no desire to know anything about us.
Obviously I do not believe this way. Especially since my favorite Scripture is Psalms 139, which goes precisely against that belief. However, I find myself realizing that often I live as if I do hold an agnostic belief.

My husband and I are buying a house, and we have so much peace about it. We really feel as if we are in the center of God's will. However, we have had these moments of anxiety, each at different times, about a mortgage payment that is quite a bit bigger than our current one. My husband experienced this on Friday. During that day he was working hard, and thought to himself how much he would just love a Coke Zero or Pepsi Max. He had planned on stopping in somewhere to get one, but never got the chance. As he was delivering a package, one of the ladies offered him a Coke Zero.
Jake had not prayed about it, nothing. It was just a fleeting thought he had about how amazing it would be to get a little caffeine boost.

How often have we had something like this happen and we thought, "Wow! What a coincidence! That's awesome!" or something along those lines?

Guess what? God PROVIDED my husband with this. That Coke Zero was such an blessing from the Lord. It was not coincidence, and it was not his lucky day. My husband felt that this was God's way of saying, "See, I will take care of you". I cannot even begin to tell you how many times the Lord has done this for me.

How timely!

So many times we go throughout the day stressing about a need, or "getting lucky" when something good happens. We fail to acknowledge that God had a hand in any of the good stuff, yet often when stressful things happen we are quick to ask the Lord why He would let such and such a thing happen.

Those little blessings that we pass off as "having a good day" are not just a part of the good things in life. God is actively seeking to provide for us, provide those thing we don't even ask for. These are the ways He reveals Himself to us, and I think we short change Him and ourselves when we fail to recognize His hand in our daily lives.
My challenge:  Acknowledge God's hand, look for it even. Truly examine your life, be honest with yourself. When you start opening your eyes to God's hand in your daily life, your faith will grow as will your passion for him.