The Fate of John and Kate

I was just online and I'll have to confess this to you in order to make my point ...

I Googled myself.

I know, I felt like a silly goose ... but I did. In my defense, however, there was a reason why I was up after midnight typing my own name into the search bar. I mean, come on, what sane person would just Google their own name without a good reason?
::nervouslaughter::

I had a friend email me tonight to tell me she had someone who wanted a sample of my writing for some potential work and I wondered if any of my devotions would be easy to find if the person Googled me. So, I did a test run.


One of the entries immediately caught my eye because it contained the first line of my devotion entitled, "Crow Anyone?" I clicked on it and apparently in January of this year, a church in Kentucky used it in their women's newsletter. Funny how I wasn't aware they used it ... but I digress ...
As I scrolled down further in the newsletter, there was a huge picture of Kate Gosselin with John's arms around her and he was kissing the side of her head. Next to the picture it said that Kate was going to be their featured speaker in March and the title of her talk was going to be,

"Jesus - the Center of Successful Families"

Given the prime-time events of tonight, I sighed heavily and felt a lump come up in my throat when I read those words. That was in March, people. This is June. Do the math.

Now, I must also confess that I have not been on the Gosselin band-wagon, like apparently most Americans have been. Had my friend, Debbie King, not told me about them over spring break, I would still be in the dark. My heavens, I'm just now settling down from Jack Bauer being left on death's door in the season finale of 24 ... who are the Gosselins??? I mean, really? But, I have since then - quickly - caught up on the John and Kate situation and apparently things are not looking so rosey for them tonight.

So what has happened? I can't imagine that Kate stood in front of that church full of women in Kentucky a few months ago and didn't know that the words coming out of her mouth contained a pretty high percentage of crap. I know that is a bit harsh ... but what I mean by that is Kate was doing what the culture demanded of her. Rally a group of Christian women and throw in a celebrity mom and that is a recipe for revival.
I've been wrestling a bit in my pilgrimage these days with a statement made by my minister in a recent Community Group meeting we held at our house. He quoted:

"The Gospel came to the Greeks and the Greeks turned it into a philosophy.
The Gospel came to the Romans and the Romans turned it into a system.
The Gospel came to the Europeans and the Europeans turned it into a culture.
The Gospel came to America and the Americans turned it into a business."

As Tyler Perry's, "Madea" says, "That thing set down in my spirit ..." and it has been churning around ever since. That is such a powerfully profound statement. We have turned it into a business. Would John and Kate have dared show up at that church and said, "Ladies, we need your help. Our marriage is barely hanging on by a thread." Or did Kate put on her happy face and talk about how Jesus is at the center of successful families? Well, the truth is, Jesus is at the center of successful families ... but obviously no matter what the truth was in the reality of their lives ... they were paid to come and talk about how great everything was and how they owed it all to Jesus. And that would be awesome ... if it had been true for them. But somewhere along the way, the truth and integrity of it all got traded for the "business" of it all. What are we doing?

I don't even know how to end this blog ... or where I'm trying to land this plane ... I'm just frustrated. Some of what it stirs up in me, I can't even go into right now. It's too late and there's too much. I just had to journal how incredibly weird it made me feel to see that in the newsletter knowing that tonight the Gosselin's pretty much called it quits on national television. That is quite a leap from the March pep-rally for John, Kate, and Jesus.

I can't help but wonder if they'd be just fine ... John, Kate, and Jesus ... if they'd just stayed away from the cameras and concentrated on what "reality" really means.

What a sad irony.

Life is messy for everyone. None of us are exempt from the ups and downs of life on planet earth. But, I will say that something like this often helps me look at my own life and relationships and it usually makes me very thankful for what I have and who is in my life. This is a prime example.

Tomorrow, Steve will get home from what will most likely be a painful commute from JFK - only because it always is - and he will weather it because he wants to keep us living near family. He weathers a lot for our happiness. I will squeeze him extra tight when he gets here and I will be thankful for what we have together and the authenticity of what we are working towards.

This all began tonight by me feeling like a silly goose for Googling my own name.

But as I draw this blog to a close, I realize after finding what I did ... then thinking about this poor family and how our culture has somewhat "fed" their demise and done so with some nice, tidy sprinklings of Jesus here and there ...
and how it has made me reflect upon my own life and priorities and how we must all guard and nurture our individual relationships with authenticity and truth ...

It leads me to the conclusion that I'd much rather be a goose ...

than a Gosselin.