Choose the Right

I hadn’t lived in my new studio an hour yet and the Mormons came knocking.  Maybe it was rude of me, but when I opened the door and saw who was standing on my new front stoop, I said simply, “No thanks!” and closed the door in their faces.  Then I hit the deck and listened for them to go away while Malachi licked my ear hole.

Mormonism is debatable in the Christian community.  Most of us question their salvation.  But one thing that I have always liked, is the “CTR” rings you can find many of them wearing.  CTR, Choose the Right.  It’s a nice reminder that I wish wasn’t necessarily a universal symbol of Mormonism.  Because really, that’s what we all should do, daily.  Choose the right.

I woke up this morning feeling frazzled and rushed. I left home ten minutes late and was calculating how many minutes late I would be if I went X many miles over the speed limit.  Wait – do I have my iPod?  Did I forget my phone??  I could feel another bad morning (if not day) starting.  Did I remember my socks, so that I can walk with Joanne at lunch?  I haven’t remembered those stupid socks for a week and here I am starting another one on the wrong foot…and I didn’t pack my gym clothes either did I?  I didn’t even bother to do the laundry so they’d be clean…how do I think I’m ever going to run a stupid half-marathon if I can’t even manage clean clothes?  I can’t get a work-out in regularly…wait, did I pack my badge?!  Oh forget it!  Why do I think I can change?  What am I thinking, that I can improve or that this coming year, with just me and God will be so great and so changing??   I’m not even keeping up on my reading for Community Bible Study! I’m just the same old screw up I’ve always been…

I really didn’t want to have another day feeling like a screw up loser.  So, in that moment, I just chose not to.  I told the enemy, the liar, to get behind me and I said, “God, help me.”  My badge was in my bag…and so were my socks, and my iPod and my cell phone.  I ate the breakfast I threw in my bag and after I walked with Joanne at lunch, I ate the leftovers I’d grabbed as well.  When I came home after work, I put a load of clothes in to wash and when Malachi goes in his crate for “bedtime”, I’ll head back to the base and hit the gym.

The enemy likes to get to me – he likes to remind me of my insecurities – he sits on my shoulder, whispering in my ear all of my shortcomings and failures. It’s hard to resist him all the time, sometimes I don’t recognize his voice at first…and then other times, I just get weak and listen to him.  Sometimes when I listen, I start to agree.  And maybe, some of what he says is true.  I mean, I am a filthy sinner at heart...

But accepting Christ’s salvation, makes me a child of God – a child of light. And there is no room for that dark discouraged place in the light.  The Holy Spirit is in me, standing by to tell me when to recognize that voice as the enemy.  The Holy Spirit will tell me when I need to do my laundry and pack my bag for the next day – and when I need to hit the gym.  And Christ is ready to give me the strength to do these things and more.  All I have to do, is make the right choice.  I can choose to do the same things I’ve always done and live an “ok” life…or I can choose to listen and choose take action and see where my life will go.  All I have to do, is choose the right.

Love y'all,
~M~