Desire for Simplicity

Warning: rambling thoughts to come...lots of rambling thoughts swimming around in my head. Sometimes it's just good to get them out. So, July 3rd I awoke to the news that Andy Griffith had passed way. It made me sad. I just love Andy Griffith...especially Andy Taylor and all that Mayberry represents. A calm, simpler, life.....wholesomeness and goodness.  Life today can seem so very overwhelming at times. So very worldly and unwholesome. I sometimes feel so overwhelmed by it that I have found myself saying out loud that I was born in the wrong time. I should have been born back when life was simpler. I know that is not true. I know God has me here when I was meant to be here. But, I have felt this....and do feel this at times. Thoughts like this are swimming through my head as I learned of the passing of Andy Griffith.....the passing of Mayberry and much simpler times.  Then I opened up my facebook to this....

YES!!! Exactly as I was feeling. The world needs more Mayberry. I have never watched Jersey Shore, but I am assuming that it is lacking goodness and wholesomeness. I am assuming that it is, like so many other things out there today, the total opposite of Mayberry. It's filled with the trash that I am constantly fighting to filter out for my children. I am so so weary of filtering out the world. My longing for a simpler life is more for my children than it is for myself. I know how to filter out the bad stuff. I am experienced at doing it. They do not know how to filter it. And, there just seems to be so much more to filter than back in the times of Mayberry.

On July 4th we went to our town's parade. LOVE our 4th of July Parade. We saw this car that morning.....

As the car drove past us in the parade Tom explained to the kids that this is the kind of car Granny used to ride in when she was a girl. She was born in 1919. After the parade ended we walked back to our car and the car was parked behind us. How cool! Tom peered inside through the open windows and said, "Look how simple it is. Wouldn't it be nice if life were still that simple." He was feeling it too!! Feeling the struggle...the overwhelming feeling that things are just coming at you at rapid speed ALL OF THE TIME. The overwhelming feeling that life is out of control. A longing for a simpler time. A longing for Mayberry. A longing for our kids to just be kids and not have to face the realities that kids have to deal with today.

This week I came across this photo.......

......another reminder of the changing times. This is not Mayberry. lol.  Change is not bad. Life does change. That is a fact. Some change is good. This photo is not necessarily sad. Just a reminder of our changing world. What I do find sad though is the moral decline of the world in which we live. It's a sad, sad thing! Life is so different for my teenage children than it was for me as a teenager! Arrrrrrrrgh!

Our Bible lesson on Sunday evening was on meekness. . The usual definition of meekness in the Bible is "strength under control." The "world" defines strong people as those who are assertive, take charge, proud, self-sufficient, self-reliant, and independent. A meek person is the opposite of these things, therefore, many people associate meekness with weakness. A meek person is willing to be submissive, is humble and gentle, relies on God and is dependent on Him to provide strength.   Which of these is REALLY the weaker? If you think it is meekness, try following these attributes for a while, and you will see it is HARD! It is much more difficult to humble yourself and rely on God, than to do everything in your own strength.

It really hit me that the key to being meek is total and complete reliance on God. The realization that he is in control NO MATTER WHAT! None of what is going on in this world is surprising to Him. I'm sure it saddens Him, but he is not surprised by it. And with Him I can live in this world and not be of this world. My children can live in this world and not be a part of this world. In John 17:15 Jesus' prayer for his disciples was

"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one." 

I follow my Lord's example and pray for my children....please please protect them from the evil one!! Protect them! Protect them! Protect them! 

I need to be meek....I need to humbly remember that God is God. He is the great I am. He is in charge here. God is not overwhelmed by all of this, therefore I do not have to be overwhelmed by all of this. He is quite capable of maneuvering through all the complexities of this world in which we live. He tells us in John 16:3....

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

He has overcome the world! He has overcome the world! That's pretty simple. If I am looking for simplicity all I have to do is keep my eyes on Him....keep my eyes on Him and life will be simple. I don't have to long for Mayberry. With God Mayberry is the here and now. He's got it under control. He has overcome the world. I think that what the world needs is not more Mayberry, but more God!

Love,
Wendy