Trying to out-give Mandy is like trying to out leap Lebron, or outrun Carl Lewis, or out-throw Drew Brees, or, well, you get it. It’s not possible.
I’ve known Mandy for 21 years, loved her for 14 (that’s right, do the math—it took seven years for me to fall in love with her, ha!) and I’ve yet to meet someone who can out-give her. She is so humble about it, that she’ll probably kill me for writing this actually. So yeah, this will be my last blog ever. Hope you enjoy!
For example, she gives away gift cards! I mean, gift cards! Who gives those away? The whole premise of a gift card is that it is a GIFT TO YOU. It is not intended for other people’s consumption! I try to make rules. Really I do. I mean, when I buy her a gift card to finally go out and go shopping for herself!!! I will emphatically try to “tell her” (good luck with that since she’s equally as stubborn as she is generous) that she isn’t allowed to spend any of it on anyone else. Invariably she will come home with new clothes for each kid…in the entire Wendell family! That’s like clothing a small country!
Me and my kids have a running joke at meal time that daddy can barely ever get a kid something they want before mommy can. I have actually worked on the art of out-giving Mandy. It’s a small obsession of mine. At dinner time I will sprint, box out, cheat…do whatever it takes, to beat her to the fridge for that extra ketchup that Elliot wants.
But seriously, not only is she quick to give, she is thoughtful in giving. You know the difference? Some people are generous, and it’s nice but not meaningful—not touching. When Mandy gives, you know she’s thought about it. She actually gets more excited when she thinks of a great blessing idea for someone else, than she does when someone blesses her. In fact if you’ve ever tried to give her something you know it’s like trying to get a kid to eat liver (or me for that matter – ew!), it just won’t happen!
We had Jonathan and his kids and Jessica over for the snow storm this weekend, and we had so much fun together. And whenever you have so many people in one house, there is always a lot going on. But as the weekend passed I was just hit all over again by the giving nature of Mandy. Stuff I would never think of (like sending me out thursday night to buy ingredients for homemade cookies, homemade brownies, homemade soft pretzels, ham and homemade mac and cheese, ice cream for the kids, soda for the adults, and on and on) she was already on top of the day before because she wanted to make sure she was prepared to have special things to give! If I even have the urge to be generous, I count that as a victory. This girl actually plans ahead so she can be prepared—just in case!!
She cracks me up. So yeah, dare I say more? She’s totally going to hate me for this.
But I guess this is my last ditch effort to out-bless her. Certainly she can’t figure out a way around this, right?
So that’s my little Ode to Mandy. Maybe I’ll put it to music or something. But people like her who work tirelessly behind the scenes of life to make sure the rest of us feel loved and special should have a special day of honor. Of course, if we had one, they’d probably end up planning the whole thing anyway, to make sure we had fun at that day, so you know, it would defeat the purpose. But anyway, I digress….I am thankful. So thankful. For a girl like her in my life who reminds of what’s really important in life, day in and day out.
So I’ve had the same discussion with two different people recently about worship. I think it’s an interesting debate/dialogue, so I want to record it here. Maybe you’ll find it interesting too.
The basic question is this—is worship just about God, or is it about us too? As I’ve talked to some people I am realizing that there are many people who feel it is dangerous to talk about worship being anything other than solely about God. Worship is for God alone, and any by products we may receive from it are a great bonus, but not the true essence and meaning of worship.
I raised this as a discussion question at youth group and one person asked the poignant question, “If you stopped getting good feelings (etc) during worship for the rest of your life, would you still worship?” The assumed answer being, “Of course!” because God is completely and utterly worthy of worship. I think that’s a great point. Clearly you can’t take anything away from God and his being deserving of worship.
However, as I’ve thought about this and discussed it, I am finding myself seeing worship differently. I see it as not just something we do for or to God, but something we do with God. I know that sounds kind of strange, but I really think that a full worship experience needs to not only include the praise and honoring of God, but also the receiving of His grace, love, forgiveness, and communication. It’s a two way street.
I think this stems from my picture of God. I really relate to God as a Father, a Savior, and a Friend. I probably relate more to those “images” of God than say, the King. Thinking of God as the King makes me feel like worship is probably more uni-directional. But, as a father here on earth, I know that all my interactions with my kids are two way.
Just tonight, after a meeting at church, Elliot ran up to me, and without saying anything, reached up and grabbed my face and planted a big one right on my lips! That’s worship baby! He was solely focused on loving and adoring me. But what did I do? Bask in his love unresponsively? No way. His overwhelming act of love elicited a greater response on my part. I grabbed him, lifted him in the air, and squeezed him and kissed him all over his face.
That’s my image of God! I really am convinced that our whole-hearted expressions of worship (whether they be through music, or action, or words, or prayer, or whatever) elicit greater responses of love from our Heavenly Father to us. The One who is Love is moved by the sheer force of His own nature to respond. In fact, I don’t think he can not respond!
It is like the prodigal son, or the adulterous woman, or David repenting, or Daniel in the lion’s den, or Peter in prison, or you and me . . . in worship. This is who God is. He is more than a figure to be exalted. More than an ideal to be praised. More than an all powerful force to be extolled.
He is a person. A personal God. A God whose image we represent. And He loves with greater tenacity, greater force, greater extravagance than we can ever muster. The sheer power of his love has blinded him to our grotesque sin, moved him to lay down his life for us, and broken him free from the power of death like no other. Just because of love.
So worship to me is more. It’s always more. I don’t want to settle for just telling Him that He’s awesome. Of course He deserves that, and of course I’ll do that for eternity. But I want to experience the fullness of relationship—a two way exchange between two personal beings who love each other deeply.