What You See is What You Get

Surprise, Surprise,  it is Wednesday night and I found myself at Applebee’s…again. Because of my (almost) weekly appearance there on Wednesday nights I am very familiar with the menu, the karaoke crowd, and the waiters. (Ester knows to keep the diet cokes coming) Although I am familiar with everything about Applebee’s; the other people trying to enjoy their dinner and the karaoke selection aren’t familiar with me. So tonight when I busted out my maracas (thank you Bonnie for an amazing gift), my air guitar, and my steak knife drum set, I quickly became the center of attention. I couldn’t help it that they played songs (The Summer of 69, Love Shack, and Pour some Sugar on Me) that instantly required me to turn our corner table into my personal rock band stage. My other band members found humor in my singing and percussion skills and even joined in on a few songs. At some point during our jam session/half off appetizers, one of my friends said lifetime couldn’t even depict an accurate movie about you. For the record, Lifetime couldn’t make a movie about me because NO ONE could accurately represent my complete randomness. Somehow our movie conversation turned into a conversation about my life depiction in heaven when I finally meet God. (I said, He will pass out tickets to this event and I would stroll out to pyrotechnics) As we were laughing at my ability to have more fun than most can dream of; I said, “I can’t help it. What you see is what you get.”  And to the fortunate folks at Applebee’s tonight; you are more than welcome for the free entertainment.

Hopefully by now, you have realized that every single day of my life could be a lifetime movie in itself because I don’t believe in ordinary days. And God most definitely doesn’t fill my life with ordinary daily events. (or ordinary friends) Whatever the situation; I remain me. I remain me even when everyone else around me is pretending they don’t know me or are checking out the scene to make sure no one recognizes them. I remain me because I just can’t help myself. And friends, God remains God because He can’t help Himself either. He can’t help but to forgive us when we ask Him to forgive us for going back to the very sin He delivered us from time and time again. And despite the times when we are so undeserving of His blessings and His love; He doesn’t know how to give any less of Himself.  Whatever the situation, tell yourself, “He alone is God.” He alone can do anything He wants. He can release loved ones from a life of sin. He can provide in ways we can’t even begin to imagine, He can heal our bodies, He can (and will) honor the desires of our hearts. He can change any situation because He never changes. He never stops loving us. Are you thankful that God never changes? Or do you constantly forget who God is when you find yourself in the valley? Does the God who sent His son to die for us get replaced with a God who allows terrible things to happen? Or do you allow the power of your pride to replace the power of God who reigns over everything.  I don’t exchange my love for life and my passion for laughter for substitutes because when I do I deny myself (and everyone around me) the chance to be me. And I don’t exchange the God I love so much for substitutes because when I do I give Satan an opportunity to try and convince me that God doesn’t remain the same in ALL situations.

Although I aim to be polite, compassionate, and most importantly Christ like; I have no reservations or misconceptions about who I am. What you see is most definitely what you get. And yes that means I will continue to have concerts in the corner booth at Applebees, I will continue to sing in High/Low, and I will continue to add the suffix “izes” to the end of words when I order. (Imagine the fun I have outside of restaurants) Although we sometimes fail, there are no misconceptions about who God is. What you see is most definitely what you get. He will continue to perform miracles, He will continue to love us, He will continue to forgive us, and He will continue to be God in every situation. He will continue to be God because He doesn’t know how to be anything but perfect. And in His perfectness; He gave me some awesome one man rock band skills.

Verse to remember: Isaiah 37:16 O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the Cherubim, you alone are God over all the Kingdoms of the earth.