Watch What You Pick Up!

Before Christmas, I got a new pair of shoes - Zeeboks. I didn't know they were called "Zeeboks" until after I had already had them a while. And I'm not even sure if I'm spelling that correctly. Not long after I had them, I realized they had an amazing unadvertised feature - picking up acorns, rocks, etc. Suddenly, you become a collector! At the end of the day, you never know what you are going to find in your "shoe pickers"! Could be good ... could be bad!!

Isn't that just how life is? Being surrounded by so much bad stuff ... how do we pick up the good and leave the bad? I think about this often. Mainly because I have two young girls. Example: there are words ... not bad words, but just slang words that just don't sound right coming out of their precious mouths. But, they are words I've heard all my life and words that I said when I was young, like "shut-up" or "stupid" (better known as the "s" words in our family!) We are inundated by them (and much worse) on TV all the time. I have to be cautious not to pass those things on to my kids. And if we aren't careful, we'll find we are instant collectors of a lot of bad stuff.

Sticking close to God ... He transforms us little by little; no doubt. And that is key. How do you keep the good and leave the bad? I've decided it's by running smack dab into God. (and please don't misunderstand and think I have this mastered ... my dearest friends know better ... but God continues to transform me little by little!)

When I was young, I could not roller skate. I was a hazard, and that is putting it gracefully. I'd go to the skating rink in Tyler, Texas, (before moving to Terrell) because my sister wanted to go. I could put the skates on, and I even managed to skate around the rink without falling. But I had a big problem - I could not stop. The only way I could stop was to run smack dab into the wall. I'd hold my hands out, as not to hit my face, and run right into the wall. Stopped! Real graceful! (actually, I got fairly graceful at it!)

Well, that is how you manage to keep the good and leave the bad. We have to run smack dab into God. How do you do that? Watch what you pick up! Make a conscious effort to pick up: a relationship with Jesus, God's Word (by memorization & meditation), church, Christian radio (oh, I love that!), Christian magazines and books, clean movies, clean TV shows ... and make a choice to leave the rest on the ground where it belongs!

We have to be examples and pass it on to our children. I have to admit something. My girls were watching "Parent Trap" 1988 version this week. I've always loved that movie. Loved the original, love the newer one. I adored both little girls in both movies. As my daughter revealed the list of characters, I saw "Lindsey Lohan." I was shocked that the little girl in the 1988 version was Lindsey Lohan, the actress who has been on the news so much in recent years for drug and alcohol abuse and imprisonment. My heart just broke. She became more real to me ... and I began praying for her. I googled her name; found one childhood picture of her, amidst many photos I wish I had never seen. Wikipedia revealed she had a very turbulent upbringing. Sadly, she is an example of what can happen to us when we don't make a conscious effort to watch what we pick up.

And that's just "Shelli's Scribblings" on the topic!!