And Now for Something COMPLETEly Different...

Yeah... The title of my post today is a little "shout out" to all of my fellow Monty Python fans.

It's not "just" that, though, because I have got to share something REALLY different... At least for me!

Last night, I had some spicy mustard.

Now... Let me give you some perspective: I LOVE (like, love-ity love!) spicy foods! I like to eat spoonfuls of Tobasco sauce. Does that help you to understand what I mean when I say, "I love spicy"?

So, as I  was saying.... I had some spicy mustard. And I mean, it was HOT!

Each bite was almost tear-provoking.

And I was LOVING it!

But...

This morning when I woke up, I had the weirdest sensation in my mouth!

My entire mouth--lips, gums, tongue--were numb!

When I drink anything carbonated, it stings!

When I eat anything even remotely spicy, it stings!

When I eat something (temperature) hot, it stings!

Sooooooooo...........

I'm just curious: is that normal?!

I don't remember this EVER happening to me before!

If it's ever happened to you, I'd LOVE to know what you did to make it better!

It's REALLY weird!

A BIG "What If"

Yesterday was Mother's Day.

Most of us took time to honor (or at least acknowledge) the women we call "Mom" in our lives.

I've noticed something--and I'm sure you've noticed this, too: Moms really appreciate being honored.

Here's something else I've (we've) noticed: everyone appreciates being honored!

I wonder what would would happen if we lived our lives honoring others every day.

Like, what if we honored Mom like it was Mother's Day EVERY day?

What if we honored Dad like it was Father's Day EVERY day?

What if we honored our bosses... EVERY day?

Our co-workers?

Our employees?

Neighbors?

Friends?

Kids?

The people that check us out at the grocery store?

Other drivers? (Doh! I went there!)

Our servers? (Even if he/she doesn't get everything perfect on our order.)

The people that don't necessarily deserve it?

Idunno... Call me crazy, but it just seems to me like our world would be significantly different if we lived this way.

I'm not so foolish as to think that it's easy to start doing. Nor am I so naive as to think that there won't be times when I don't want to honor someone, but to tell them off instead.

But I do know this: it's up to ME to make this change in my life. And it's nothing I can't learn to do if I make it a priority in my life.

And I also know THIS: everyone around me will be glad if I do!

All for One...

I am SO thankful that every single Sunday at Inspire, SOMEONE has responded to God's tug at their heart! In total, 42 people have responded in 11 weeks!

So, first of all... "Thank You, Father, for calling & drawing people to Yourself at Inspire!"

We believe that only God can draw someone to Jesus, and that the best thing we can do is partner with Him by getting rid of anything that might hinder that experience.

Obviously, there are tons of things we can't do anything about, but we're learning that there are lots of things we CAN do something about!

In fact, we're learning that there are more things we can have an impact on than we realized!

We haven't figured it all out--NO WAY! But we have worked really hard & every week, we are seeing the results!

We do it all for our guests, but it'd be worth it even if it was just...

All for One!