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    Confessions of a Lukewarm Christian
    Confessions of a Lukewarm Christian
    Confessions of a Lukewarm Christian
    Ebook95 pages1 hour

    Confessions of a Lukewarm Christian

    By Michele Ziemke

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    About this ebook

    Delightfully written! Prepare to laugh and cry before the end, as the author opens her heartYou will feel as though you are entering a comfort zone, revealing Gods truth that he loves us all. ?Marilyn Windau, Retired School Teacher

    With funny yet humble truths, Michele Ziemke reveals her path from mediocrity to a life of passion. Be prepared to grow closer to God and answer for yourself why we exist!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateMar 13, 2014
    ISBN9781490826691
    Confessions of a Lukewarm Christian
    Author

    Michele Ziemke

    My collection of stories has grown from experiencing God’s grace the hard way—several times. My mission to be an author was evident when I read Proverbs 29:20: “There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking” (NLT). Writing offers me the opportunity to think and edit first! I’m married to an amazing man who somehow tolerates me. Together we have four wonderful grown children, six grandchildren, and a Labradoodle (who sheds). I currently reside in Huron, Ohio, a picturesque small town along Lake Erie, but spend my summers on the tranquil island of Manitoulin in Ontario, Canada. I’m extremely blessed to be an art teacher for Sandusky City Schools, and I hold a master’s degree in educational administration from Bowling Green State University. When I’m not teaching, I enjoy interior design, crocheting, and landscape painting. Painting is merely my humble attempt to communicate God’s beauty in this world. If you would like to see more of my artwork, you can visit: http://micheleziemke.fineartstudioonline.com/

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      Book preview

      Confessions of a Lukewarm Christian - Michele Ziemke

      Copyright © 2014 Michele Ziemke.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1 (866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

      and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-2669-1 (e)

      WestBow Press rev. date: 03/12/2014

      Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1 I’m My Own Worst Enemy

      Poison Ivy

      Sit-N-Spin

      Missy Is Outside!

      The Polka-Dot Cake

      Chapter 2 Idols

      Butt Crack

      The Ferry Ride

      Chapter 3 Illness

      Mom-of-the-Year

      Star Struck

      Chapter 4 Idleness

      Breakfast

      Martha

      The Fast Food Meal

      Chapter 5 True Love

      Good Neighbor

      The Holy Spirit and Me…I

      The Rug

      Stealing Baby Jesus

      Chapter 6 Michele’s Seven Steps to Growing Closer to Jesus

      Michele’s Seven Steps to Growing Closer to Jesus

      Scripture Index

      About the Author

      This book is dedicated to my wonderful and amazing Grandmother, Doris.

      A special thank you to Sara Elliot, Marilyn Windau, and Jill Gibson!

      Introduction

      It was almost noon on an ambitious Saturday morning. The holidays were looming around the corner and I had checked off almost everything on my ‘to-do list’. Coffee in one hand and my favorite magazine in the other, I nestled into my preferred chair enjoying the aroma of a freshly brewed pot of java. The peace was suddenly interrupted when my teenage son, David, began his frantic unrelenting cries, Mom! Mom what are you doing? Why are you just sitting there? It’s only fair to mention that David was waiting for me to finish cutting his hair. He sat on the kitchen stool with a towel draped across his shoulders, the left side expertly cut and groomed while the right side remained a shaggy mess.

      David had approached his list of chores to finish that day with a sloppy work ethic and this was my cruel attempt to teach him a lesson about finishing his work.

      David, did I ask you to unload the dishwasher?

      Of course, the whining and panicked tone in is voice continued, Yes, now finish my hair, I have a game tonight!

      What about the dishes you left on the counter?

      His sigh revealed disdain at my ignorance for semantics; the dishwasher was empty just as I had asked. The dishes on the counter showed his oblivion as to where they belonged. While remaining in my comfy chair and slowly turning the next page of House Beautiful, I calmly explained that once he discovered where the dishes belonged, finished cleaning his room by putting away his clean clothes, the bathroom was free from mold in the bottom corner of his shower, and the garbage found its way to the garage, I would finish cutting his hair. Technically, he did unload the dishwasher, he had made his bed and vacuumed the floor, wiped the toothpaste from his sink, and he did bag up the garbage from around the house. According to teenage law, I was supposed to be thrilled that he at least attempted to do his chores and was willing to be seen with me in public! My little experiment was meant to exaggerate my expectations for a higher standard of behavior. I wanted him to realize that mediocre compliance was not enough.

      Several years later I have come to realize that my own mediocrities and lukewarm approach to life has robbed me of much joy and happiness.

      I know everything you have done, and you are not cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other. But since you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. You claim to be rich and successful and to have everything you need. But you don’t know how bad off you really are. You are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. Revelation 3:15-17. (CEVD)¹

      I confess I’ve been a Lukewarm Christian for way too long. I never fit the mainstream Christian theme in the United States. I rarely go to church and I embrace a factual vs. emotional view about the bible. I compare the book of Revelations to my science courses, knowing that eventually the sun will implode and the earth will be no more. Despite my many talents and independent façade, I’m fiercely dependent on Christ. I believe in angels, and sometimes I’m still afraid of the dark. I also have crazy illusions of grandeur: If I could come up with an invention that a million people would buy, and only profit a dollar, I could be a millionaire. Sadly, I have not been truly successful at anything. Innately, I know there is something more important planned for my life.

      In a recent attempt to ignore the lack of true worldly success in my life, I abandoned the phrase Jack of all trades and master of none, and prefer to say I’m diversified! I’ve been a seamstress, clothing designer, artist, teacher, interior designer, and most recently, my childhood dream of becoming a writer; but I haven’t abandoned any of the prior. I recently read an article aimed toward inspiring fulltime artists. The jest of the article was about being passionate and dedicated enough to produce a lot of inventory and then then having enough faith in yourself to effectively self-promote. That was an ‘aha’ moment! Only the most passionate artists become famous, not the most talented ones. I have talent and interest in too many things, giving nothing enough passion or dedication to be amazing. My Christian walk is no exception.

      I’ve determined that it’s not the lack of self-control that keeps me from a daily walk with Christ, but the lack of passion. For example, when troubled about my decision to eat chocolate ice cream, it’s not an issue of self-control, but deciding if my grand illusions of a slimmer more healthy body is more important than chocolate. Obviously my passion for chocolate is greater. This spills into the fact that I

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