By Many, many moons ago when I was in high school, I played saxophone in Jazz Band. It was an after-school activity that was not only fun but I learned so much. I discovered a whole genre of music that I had never really paid attention to and I fell in love with it. It was a completely different style of music to learn to play. We learned about syncopated beats, swing notes, scooping notes, and much more. I remember the director teaching us how to improvise when playing a solo. Which basically means that you make up the music as you go and he did this by simply stating, “If it feels good, do it.”
It was great advice for improvising a solo, but horrible advice for how to live life.
Raising kids in today’s culture has its challenges. There are school systems that will tell you if you feel like a (insert opposite gender) then it must be true. I even watched a video of a mother who was outraged at a school board meeting because the teachers and school psychologist were allowing her child to “transition” behind her back.
Kids are not mature enough to make life altering decisions. Getting them to do household chores at times seems as if you’re asking them to donate an organ. I’m not sure if I’m the only parent who has heard, “none of my friends have to do chores,” but every single one of my kids has said that to me.
My oldest who is twenty-five and teaching at a cosmetology school called me and asked me how 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old kids do not know how to wash a load of towels or clean up after themselves. A smile grew across my face, and I asked her, “Remember when I made you do your own laundry? Remember when I made you help with household chores, and cook a meal? Those are the kids that never had any chores.”
It may sound like I am picking on kids, but in all honesty, society has lost its ever-loving mind. I’m not sure who thought it was a great idea to have drag queens read to small children at story hour at the local libraries, but can you imagine how confusing that would be to a preschooler? I have seen people wear buttons on their shirts, so you know what pronoun to use. As a writer it hurts me deep inside when someone wants to be referred to as they/them. Those are plural pronouns, so unless you have a mouse in your pocket it is not grammatically correct.
If you go to Tik Tok you will find tons of skits/parodies of a “Karen.” Someone who feels that their feelings are more important than anyone else’s feelings. They feel like they always need to speak to the manager, and I unfortunately have been teased by my kids for having a “Karen Haircut” many times.
I have said in blogs before that your feelings and emotions will lie to you all the time. What an easy way for the enemy to get ahold of us and push us away from God. If it feels good, then you have the right to do it. Nobody should tell you what to do or how you should feel! I should say what I want, dress like I want, act like I want, and no one should say anything to me.
The world is a crazy and scary place sometimes.
In Matthew 16:24-26:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
There have been so many times I would want to say something out of anger, that if I could just let my feelings out and unleash my thoughts on that person, that I would feel so much better. But the Holy Spirit clamps his hand on my mouth and tells me that Jesus would turn the other cheek and walk away (the opposite of what society tells us).
John 15:19:
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
God has a different standard for Christians. If people can’t see that you are a Christian and not any different than those living in the world, then maybe you need to ask yourself what may need to change. Check your demeanor, your language, the music you listen to, the substances that you put in your body, or what TV shows and movies you watch. No one can make you a Christian, you must want to walk with the Lord. It may not always be easy, but it is worth it.
Every. Single. Day.
If you have any questions or comments about this blog or would like to know more about Jesus you can contact Tammy at moppinguptheblessings@gmail.com or on her Facebook group: Mopping up the Blessings.
Tammy Bassett is a speaker and the author of the Mopping Up Your Blessings blog. She was born and raised a country girl who’s roots run deep in the mountains of Appalachia. She has worked a wide variety of jobs ranging from radio to insurance agent. She is now a stay-at-home mom, who along with her husband, are raising five daughters (ages 10 to 25), seven cats and one dog. She uses her accounting and business administration degree to help run her busy household.
She loves spending time with her family and homeschooling her two youngest children. She spends a lot of her day trying to conquer the obstacles in her home. With four of her children still living at home the laundry pile (nicknamed Mt. Wash-more) is her nemesis. Some days she wins and some days she doesn’t, but she always gets up the next day and tries again.
She also loves camping with her family as long as there is a camper with air conditioning, a comfy bed, and indoor plumbing. Her downfall is her obsession with iced coffee. Thankfully the closest Starbucks is an hour from her home, or she would be broke. She also loves reading and learning new skills such as homesteading, being more self-sustainable, gardening and foraging.
She relates the most to her favorite animal, the alpaca. They are both kind of weird and look like they are two months past due on a haircut. Much like alpacas she makes a gentle humming noise when happy and if irritated she often stamps the ground with her feet. Her husband has refused to buy her an alpaca much to her disappointment.
But more than anything, she loves the Lord and is growing more in her faith each day and hopes to inspire others to do the same. She wants everyone to understand that God’s grace is truly amazing and has changed her from the inside out and he can do the same for you.
by leaps and bounds 