Battle Hymn of the Tiger Christian

January: 
Focus on God  - "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." Verse 2.

 Step one: Listen to better music.
 Step two: Look for Him.
 Step three: Be a Tiger Christian 

So, I haven't read this. But it's all over the news, and several articles have surfaced since it's release.  As a teacher, I think about our future a lot.  I wonder what will become of us once the kids I teach are running the place.  I watch different parenting methods and consider new education trends.  I find the Tiger Mother's philosophy fascinating, and if I'm honest, I think there's something to it.  Now, let me be clear. I'm not suggesting we all start telling children they are trash.  But, I do kind of agree with instilling a sense of work ethic in kids.  How can that not lead to success? 

January's goal is to focus on God.  How can I do that if I give excuses for everything I do?  Step three for this goal is to be a Tiger Christian.  I am seeking out a relationship with my maker, my master-- how dare I slack off? No one ever said being a Christian would be easy. It takes time, dedication, and sacrifice. It concerns me that I spend more time checking Facebook than I do thinking about God.  It's also possible that I have a better relationship with my iphone than with God. We could blame it on our generation, technology, "being normal" etc.  Why is it so easy to come up with labels and excuses for our behaviors? Sometimes I feel like we try to cancel out our behavior if we can give a reason why it happened. Then maybe we aren't all that responsible for it.

Instead, I am seeking the philosophy of a Tiger Christian: that I will seriously attend to my Lord, I will avoid excuses for my behavior, and I will actively seek him out.  Romans 12:2 calls me to not become so a part of my culture that I become distracted. I should focus on God. Surely I love God more than my iphone...

Amy Chua talks now about how not everything in her memoir is meant to be used as a manual. She made mistakes.  So, when I say step 3 is to be a Tiger Christian, I am talking about focus, no excuses, and love.  She sees this philosophy as one done to provide more for children, showing them love through expectations and boundaries.   She says in an interview with Time Magazine that she was raised by a Tiger Father who limited her choices when she was young, which led to infinite choices as an adult. 

I can't help but think of God here.  Earth is limited, but heaven is a soaring, out of the box, question mark-- which holds no boundaries.

Give Me Your Eyes

January: 
Focus on God  - "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." Verse 2.

 Step one: Listen to better music.
 Step two: Look for Him.

 After working out, I threw my things on the floor and put Hurley on his leash for a walk.  As we walked around the neighborhood, I realized just how cold I was going to be. Short sleeves, ratty pants, and soaked with sweat. Throw in January at dusk, and I needed Hurley to hurry up.

With all that going on, I guess my focus wasn't really on God, but rather on how uncomfortable I was.  Suddenly, I heard steps behind me, and a little man was walking behind me, quiet as a mouse.  I feel like I tromp around like a dinosaur, so it startled me when I turned around and found him so close.  What's sad is that my immediate reaction was defense. I was alone with a poor excuse for a guard dog, and it was getting dark. 

When I actually looked at the man's face, I saw the kindness in his eyes, and the calmness in his step-- hence the quiet walking.  He smiled and asked, "Aren't you cold?"  I had to laugh. Yes, in fact I WAS cold. And I was too blinded by it to see an opportunity to show love to a neighbor.  The little old man passed me on the sidewalk and walked into his house. 

The funny thing about listening to better music, is that you start to notice different things.  I love Brandon Heath. He sang these words on my radio this morning, and I think they are pretty fitting for my evening. 

Give me your eyes for just one second, 

Give me your eyes so I can see, 

Everything that I've been missing, 

Give me your love for humanity. 

I Aint Sayin She's A Gold Digger...

January: 
Focus on God  - "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." Verse 2.

 Step one to focusing on God: Listen to better music.

I ran away from the rain and into the gym, which was crowded with body odor and new year's resolutions.  I love to work out. It's my sweat therapy.  I have my pandora playlist set perfectly, centered around The Black Eyed Peas.  I pretend to have more rhythm while I watch all the muscles walking around, and I imagine that this would be my sound track if we were in a movie. But, in compliance with January's goal, I changed my pandora station to a more appropriate tune.  One hour with God to work my spirit, while I worked my hams.

At first I was sure I had Spiritual ADD. There were so many thoughts bouncing around in my head, I couldn't focus. I missed the beat of my old music and the urge to walk with a swagger on the treadmill. 

Somewhere around the 200th burned calorie and the fourth round of Casting Crowns, it struck me.  I couldn't seem to get a recent parent conference off of my mind.  At one point during the meeting,  the mom simply said, "I just pray."  Because she didn't know what else to do to help her child. 

Possibly the hardest thing about teaching (and I assume parenting), is that you can't do it for them.  You have to equip children with the skills they need to succeed and somehow push them out of the nest... hoping they fly.  What's crazy is that this is what God does with us.  And the crazy part? He chooses to be this way, letting us make mistakes and fall.  How frustrating must it be to give us what we need, teach us what to do, and watch us fall right out of the nest on our big flying debut? I think it makes His love for us even that more special. 

And really, maybe that mom is on to something.  

The Happiness Project

I don't consider it a coincidence that the same day a friend loans me The Happiness Project, that my daily bible reader would have me read Romans 12, my favorite chapter in the bible. 

This book is right up my alley. I love to do lists, resolutions, and schedules. I can't help it.  While serving as a self-help book, The Happiness Project  analyzes how to increase happiness in your life.  Gretchen Rubin, the author, writes about her experiences and how she dedicated a year to simply having more fun.  She listed 12 resolutions, one for each month, and came up with realistic goals that would accomplish her resolutions.  It takes 30 days to make a habit, and after thirty days with one resolution, she added on the next. The idea was that at the end of her journey, she would be more happy than she was when she started.

Here's the thing.  I'm pretty happy, and really, I do this already! I decided to get more sleep, so I made it a habit. I decided to work out, I made it a habit. I wanted to drink coffee and play angry birds before the day started, so I made it a habit. (Okay, I read my bible, catch up on facebook and challenge opponents on words with friends too).  All that to say, I am happy. 

Back to Romans 12.  Like I said, I don't think it's a coincidence that I read this chapter the same day that I started The Happiness Project.  The first verse alone spoke to me loud and clear, differently than the thousands of other times I've read it in the past:

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him."  Romans 12:1 (The Message)

Hmmm... so instead of a happiness project, it seems like I need to do a Romans 12 Project.  Who knew Paul had it figured out way back then?  I've broken down the chapter into 12 goals that I hope to add to my lifestyle.  

January: 
Focus on God  - "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." Verse 2.

February: 
Give Thanks- "I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him." Verse 3. 

March: 
Be Involved- "In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around.  The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body..." Verses 4&5

April: 
Be a Child of God- "Let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't." Verse 6

 May: 
Just Help- "If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; If you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate;" Verse 7


June: 
Keep a Smile- "If you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face." Verse 8 


July: 
Love from the Center- "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good."  Verse 9

August: 
Others First- "Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle." Verse 10

September: 
Faithful in Prayer-  "Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder." Verses 11&12

October: 
Be Hospitable- "Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality." Verse 13

November: 
Be a Friend- "Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down." Verse 15

December: 
Bless Enemies- "Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath... Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody. Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. 'I'll do the judging,' says God. 'I'll take care of it.' Our scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good." Verses 14, 16-21


The Romans 12 Project: Placing my everyday life before God as an offering. 

Sharing Secrets

It's the little things, right?

So, my downstairs toilet started running nonstop in like July. I know, it's January...but I can't afford expensive house repairs, so I ignored this problem and tried not to use that toilet. Well, after months of this, the toilet began to stain. No matter how long I left bleach to soak and scrubbed till my arms were sore, those ugly brown stains wouldn't go away. When people came over, I had to convince them that I truly do clean my bathroom.

Today has been a very productive Saturday. I was cleaning said toilet bowl when I decided enough was enough! I put down the scrubber and lifted the back lid off of the tank. I felt around, and suddenly it stopped running! I found the misbehaving part, tightened a screw, and would you know, that toilet works like new!

Although, it still looked like crap. Literally.





Here's a shot taken after soaking in bleach and lots of scrubbing. Yuck!

I told my aunt Lisa about all of this, and she recommended a product. I immediately went to find it and tried it out as soon as I hot home.

2 minutes later...




Look at that shiny clean bowl! It took hardly any scrubbing this time!

Curious about my miracle product?




Hiding our in the Dollar Store... For ONE DOLLAR.

Seriously. Works better than Lysol or clorox bowl cleaners... And way cheaper.

At the end of this adventure, my toilet flushes normally and sparkles with pride.


I apologize for those revolted by toilet pictures, but if you can't get excited over clean toilets, what's the point of dealing with daily crap? :)




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Christmas With Dad

Family Christmas Countdown

1 week before:

Lindsay and I headed to Katy Mills to wrap up our Christmas shopping. I left Lindsay in bath and body works to visit Bass Pro Shop. I felt certain I could find something for my dad there. I wandered around a forrest of camo attire, and finally decided to consult my brothers. Both proved completely worthless. Tyler, however, came up with an idea in the end. Apparently my dad had just gotten a new gun that he was pretty proud of. We decided that maybe we could go in together and get him an accessory like a scope. Tyler instructed me to go to the gun counter and give them the code for the gun. I had absolutely no idea what I was asking about, but didn't have time for a tutorial.

I walked to the counter and asked, "Can I see an accessory to a Colt AR15, please?"

The guy behind the counter gave me a funny look before saying, "ma'am, we don't sell assault rifles here.".

Oops! Pretty sure I'm on some watch list now. They're probably wondering just what in fact I wanted a scope for an assault rifle for.

At a loss, I wandered back into the camo forrest. After much debate, I settled on a pair of bibs. I felt sure he could use them working in the panhandle. It's cold and windy there! Plus, Tyler assured me Dad didn't have any. I left Katy feeling good about my purchase.

Day of Family Christmas

5 hours before:
I am hurrying to Lubbock to help my dad do his Christmas shopping. This is completely normal and expected from him. He's a fly by the seat of his pants kind of Christmas shopper.

3 hours before:
I met Dad, Tyler and Tucker at On The Border where they were having a few beers to prepare for family Christmas. While this happened, my dad began telling us of a recent trip to Oklahoma City.
"Hey y'all, I was in Oklahoma City last week and I got some really cool bibs there. They are made with the material they use for astronauts! The same stuff they went to the moon in! I got a coat too!" He raved.

At this point I had to close my mouth. I mean, really? Out of all things to buy? He stole my Christmas present idea! And if you haven't met my father, he's a bit eccentric and has a tendency to go overboard. It's his own fault he's so hard to buy for!

Tyler thinks all of this is hilarious.

"You say you got bibs, did ya?" he asked my dad. I about kicked him under the table.


1 hour before:
The four of us met at best buy for some quick, last minute Christmas shopping. We ran around picking gifts, checked out, and loaded the truck.

15 minutes before:
By the light of the moon (and Tuck's tail light), we started to wrap presents in the bed of the truck in my grandmother's driveway. Tucker was in charge of getting wrapping paper. As we unrolled the seemingly silver paper, we discovered it was clear! Thankfully, Grandmother let us borrow some.

Game time:
Dad unwrapped his regular old bibs from me and we survived another family Christmas!

Post report:
I got home to a bed with missing sheets, no hot water in the hall bath... And we were all woken up by runaway horses hangin out on the highway in the middle of the night!

Until next year...



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That One Time There Was A Warrant For My Arrest...

This is the last week of school before Christmas. I'm exhausted and there's a million things to do.  And, to top it all off, I feel like my head is a balloon about to take off. 

After taking the kids to outclass, I checked my email and saw one from my dad titled, "Warrant for your arrest".  The email said nothing, but had an attachment with it.  My father, the technological cowboy, had scanned a letter dated 11-30-10 and emailed it to me (without any sort of questions, scolding, or a lawyer's phone number). He has always warned us about getting thrown in jail-- we would be on our own, and not to make our one phone call to him! I was thankful he let me know I was wanted by the law, for it was in fact, a warrant for my arrest. 

I read the letter ten times before realizing it was real. I don't get service in my school and the letter was from Sulphur Springs, so I walked outside to the playground to call the number and hear what was going on.

The lady told me that this was about a ticket for outdated registration on a random highway October 23, 2004.  Let's just remember that in a few weeks it will be 2011.  Also, the address was my father's. So really, they could have been sending notices all these years and I would never know, because I'm pretty sure my dad hides from his mailbox.  I assured the lady on the phone that I didn't remember any of this, but that if I did, I would have definitely taken care of it!

Kindly, she gave me the number of the Judge in Bronte, TX. Population 1076.  He answered his own phone.  I went into my big spill about how I was sure I was innocent, laying on the sweet talk and "yes sirs" good and thick.  I had to pause for a minute while his computer booted up and he found my case. 

He spoke with a slow, southern drawl, "Miss Waggoner, this was so long ago, and I don't have any proof, and you don't have any proof, I think I'll just take care of this for ya." 


Annnnnd, I am no longer wanted by the State of Texas.  :)