Get In Line.

This blog goes out to my friend Teresa.  She sent me a request yesterday to write about my common phrase "Get in line."

But first: The Week in Review.

• Revamped (my young adults group) raised 7,333.8 pounds of food for St. Paul Children's Foundation this year.  That's incredible.  We're a decent size group, but we're not that big. But God is, and that's how that happened.  That's a lot of food, you guys.  That's a lot people eating this Thanksgiving and some.
• Oh my gosh, I get to go home and see my family next week!  And my dog!  I miss my dog.  I miss my family too, obviously, but my dog is a snuggly "little" thing.  She weighs like 90 pounds.  I miss my Ada Bear.
• Robert is the new "Ridiculously Photogenic Guy" but he told me I'm not allowed to make a meme out of it.  So it's not going to catch on and his Internet fame is dead.  Friends don't let friends make memes about each other.  Whatever.
• There are mannequin heads in Carrie and Alise's cars, and it's the most frightening thing I've seen.
• I'm going to see Catching Fire tomorrow night with Dara and Chase.  We are 13-year-old girls.
• Kristen's baby shower was on Sunday.  I love you, Kristen.  I love you like you are my sister, but I'm glad that's over.  I'd do it again.  I think it turned out great!  You're beautiful, and I can't wait for Tyson to get here!  But still...  One of these things is not like the other:

I'm not a mother.  This is where I'm at in life.

Granted, this was after the shower and most everyone had left and Blair was there.  She looked at me and asked if this gave me baby fever.  We laughed.  It was a moment.  One day, just not this day.

I Digress.

"Get in line" is a phrase I started using a few years ago when guys would hit on me.  It's a slightly arrogant phrase, but it's effective.  It also causes that look of confusion.

You're beautiful.

Get in line.

Can I get you drink?

Get in line.

I saw you from across the room...

Get in line.

I'd wrestle a grizzly bear to see you smile.

Get in line.  True story.  That has been said to me.

I've always had a thing for redheads.

Never heard that before.  Get in line.

I've always wanted redheaded children.

Security!  Get in line.

I really like your earrings.

What?  Get in line.

A couple of years ago, when Teresa and I were neighbors, I told her about this phrase.  I also told her 17-year-old daughter this phrase, because she would be using it someday soon.  

However, this line isn't just for those times when someone is trying to "make a move" on you.  It's also not a negative statement.  It's a positive statement of confidence when something negative approaches you.  Teresa was shopping for a new car a couple of months ago.  I gather from her message her salesman was too pushy and she told him to get in line.  So he did.  After he backed off a bit, she bought a car from him.

It's far far easier to give in and just say "OK" when someone wants something of you.  You're appeasing them.  There's no conflict.  There's no awkward moment.

Get in line.  There's nothing wrong with a little conflict. There's nothing wrong with some awkward. There's definitely nothing wrong with standing your ground and saying no.  Telling someone to get in line may confuse them, but it will cause them to reevaluate how they approached you.  Now, don't go around telling everyone to get in line just because you can.  You'll get punched in the face for that.  If used incorrectly, it is considered rude.

There are just times in every person's life when you have to say, "I'm tired.  I'm busy.  I'll get to you when I can. And if I can't, I'm sorry.  Take a number and get in line."  

But there also comes a time in every person's life when we have to say to ourselves and our plans, "Get in line."  We all have these ideas for ourselves, or even for the people in our lives, that I think we allow to overshadow the plans and dreams that God has for us.  We want to make things happen.  We want to force the action.

Do we ever just stop and tell our ideas and plans to disappear and allow God to reveal what He has?  Tell our plans to take a number and get in line?  It's Christianity 1301:  

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 

God's not just breezing by spouting off "I've got plans.  I've got this, you guys."  He has declared it.  He doesn't just have a plan - He has plans.  Sometimes we have to go through valleys, start drowning in the deep blue, hit rock bottom, and wait in line (life) before God pulls us out.  But he always does.  We won't stand in line forever.  Well, we will if we're inactive.  

Christianity 1301 doesn't really go further than Jeremiah 29:11, but I think that 2301 would tell you that if you seek Him with your heart, if you call out to Him:

"I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Just get in line.  Even if the line is outside, wrapped around the building, in the pouring rain.  He has plans.  That's a promise.  He tends to keep promises.

I don't know my future.  I don't know what new friendships I'm going to make in my future.  I don't know how many more things I'm going to bake for special occasions in my future.  God has unique plans and futures for each and every one of us.  So in the meantime, everything else can just get in line behind that.

Are redheads really feisty?

Get in line.