She Speaks 2011

I need to take a few minutes and tell you about a conference that is taking place in North Carolina this July. It's called She Speaks and it's specifically designed to equip women to effectively communicate God's Word. Whether your passion is speaking, writing, or leading women's ministry, this conference has something for you! You can find out more about the She Speaks conference here: She Speaks 2011

I had hoped to attend the conference last year, as I wrote in an earlier post, but we just couldn't afford it financially. This year, I am hoping to try again to be able to attend. Over the last year, God has opened doors for me to share my writing through a monthly column in a local Christian magazine and by writing a book and sending it to a local publisher. God is absolutely the giver of dreams and the One who turns dreams into reality! I would love to be able to attend She Speaks this year to gain wisdom about how to continue this writing process and how to effectively market my writing.

Look for opportunities to win a scholarship to attend the She Speaks conference here!

My Perfect Weakness

"I will believe You are strong enough
in my weakness God be lifted up
and I will sing lift Your praises high
Lord be magnified You make all things new
I will believe"

These are the lyrics to a song we sang in church last night. After a week of being very frustrated by the different areas of my life where I struggle, this song came as a huge encouragement to me! I'm tired of being weak. I get frustrated when my actions don't line up with the way Scripture tells me to act. There are some things I wonder if I will struggle with until I die. I just can't seem to get them right. They are my weaknesses.

Can anything good come from me having weaknesses? Surely God can't use me unless I'm perfect! All through Scripture, our gracious God gives us examples of how He was glorified through the weaknesses of His children. Take Moses for example, when God called Moses to go command the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go from Egypt, Moses immediately focused on His weakness.

Then Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." (Exodus 4:10)

We know how the story turned out. God glorified Himself through Moses by speaking through someone who couldn't do it by himself. No one could have said that Pharaoh let the people go because Moses was a good persuader. He wasn't. It was his weakness.

What about Gideon? When God told Gideon to take his army and defeat the Midianites, Gideon's response was similar to Moses' response to God.

Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” (Judges 6:15)

The story of what God did through Gideon and the Israelite army here is so amazing. God took the Israelite army that was already the weakest and lowest in number, and decreased the number of men even more! With just 300 men, God worked in them to defeat the Midianites by simply blowing horns and smashing jars! Because of all the noise, the Midianite army was startled and ended up being so disoriented that they killed all of their own people! God took their weakness and turned it into a way for Him to get all the glory! He let them know through their weakness that they could boast only in Him! The stories are all throughout history and Scripture where God works through the weaknesses of His children so that He can get all the glory!

But what do we do? We try to hide our weaknesses. We don't want anyone to know that we aren't perfect. We wouldn't dare let on to others that we don't have it all together. They might discredit us if they knew what we struggle with! But did you know that in Scripture we are commanded to boast about our weaknesses?!

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

We aren't suppose to hide our weaknesses, Scripture says we are supposed to boast about them and boast about them gladly! I don't know about you, but in the culture we live in where perfection seems to be the standard, it's not an easy thing to brag about the areas in my life where I struggle. But as I look at the examples God has given me of the amazing things He can do through someone who is willing to admit where they are weak, and as my eyes are opened to see that me having weaknesses is one way God can be glorified, I realize that there is so much freedom in boasting about my weaknesses gladly so that the power of God can dwell in me! It's incredibly encouraging!

So the next time I get a bad attitude that I can't seem to shake, I'm going to realize it's a weakness and instead of beating myself up about it, I'm going to ask God to glorify Himself through it. Once we overcome our fears of letting people know what our weaknesses are, God will be able to exalt Himself in our lives even more, and we will be less tempted in boast in ourselves!

The Everlasting God

"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him." Colossians 1:16

I've seen a lot of changes in my lifetime. I can remember the day I bought my first ever CD or compact disc. My parents even remember when they bought their first ever cassette tape. (If you are reading this and you're under 15, google it!) In history class, I remember studying the dates that different things were invented. Such as, the light bulb in 1879; the phonograph in 1877; the telephone in 1876; the first car in 1769. New things are created everyday that help make life easier. As some new things are created, other old things are put to an end. I can think back and give you a definite or at least an approximate date that certain things were created and certain things ended in my lifetime. We have birth dates that let us and others know when our life on earth began, and tombstones are placed on top of our graves when we die to let people know when our life on the earth ended.
All things that exist had a beginning and they will have an end. Perhaps that's what makes Abraham's name for God in Genesis 21 so difficult to wrap our minds around. Abraham was known for worshiping God throughout his entire life and journey that God had him on. In this particular instance in Genesis 21, Abraham is praising God for providing a well for them in the wilderness.

Genesis 21:33 says, "Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God."

Why did Abraham use this name for God, the Everlasting God? God had made a covenant with Abraham and also to the descendants and generations that would come from him. Abraham knew that this covenant from God wasn't just for the expanse of his life, but he knew this promise of God would go on even after his life was over. This is why he praised the Everlasting God. He praised the God who existed before him, and would continue to exist after him for generations to come.

I think sometimes it's hard for us to think about the fact that God had no beginning and no ending. We like things that are concrete. We like things that we can wrap our minds around. Personally, I get great excitement out of worshiping God as the Everlasting God because after all, who wants to worship a god they can understand and wrap their minds around? What God is doing in us and through us goes far beyond us. What God is doing isn't just about our few short years on this life, He is an Everlasting God and He is working throughout generations to accomplish His purposes. Remember, it's about more than just your life. God wants to work through you to do things that will far outlive your life here on earth. He is working in us and through us to do things that will last for eternity!

What's the Hammer For?!

Have you ever prayed a prayer similar to this? "God please just show me what You want me to do and I'll do it!" I know in my life I have prayed this prayer sometimes until I'm exhausted! I always find though, that God never seems to reveal His plans to me in great detail. If I get direction from God, it's usually a one-step plan.
I'm the type of person who wants to know all the details as soon as possible so I can get things done as quickly as possible. When I get home from the grocery store, I must get all of the bags inside in one trip as quickly as possible. My husband says I'm a "one-trip" kinda girl! If I walk up in the middle of someone telling a story, I need to be caught up on the details I missed as soon as possible! I'm always looking for a quicker way to do a task, even if that means taking a short cut. I like to know what's going on, I like to be informed, and I like to move quickly!
You can imagine the frustration of someone like me when God only reveals one step of His plan at a time. Sometimes I think, "You know God, if you would just go ahead and tell me where this all ends up, I could probably come up with a shorter way to get there!" Now of course I don't say that to God, but He knows that's what I'm thinking! "God, just go ahead and lay it all out for me so I can know what's going on!" He never does. It's always just one, small, SLOW step at a time! And even then it's not very detailed! So as I read this morning about a conversation God had with Noah, I was blown away and even filled with a little bit of envy at what I saw!

Genesis 6:12-22

And God said to Noah,"I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them." Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

"Excuse me! God are you kidding?! You told Noah everything he was supposed to do and all that would happen to him and his family!" Now wait a minute, this just doesn't seem very fair. But just as I was starting to let this ruffle my feathers a little bit, I realized how overwhelmed I would've been had God told me I was going to build an ark, and that he was sending a flood to kill everyone on the earth except for me and my family! I also thought about how impatient I would have become when I built the ark and then had to wait on the right time for God to send the rain. You see, I'm quite sure God didn't choose me to build the ark for good reason. I'm pretty sure if I had been the one God wanted to build the ark, the scripture would've read quite differently. This is more like the story of Heather and the Ark:

And God said to Heather, "Get up." So God waited for Heather to get up and then said to her, "Look for a hammer." So Heather asked God, "What do I need a hammer for?" But God said nothing. Heather asked God again, "Why do you want me to find a hammer? What am I going to do with a hammer?" And God said, "Heather, go get a hammer." So Heather went and got a hammer. Then God said, "Go get some wood." And Heather replied, "But wood is heavy, if you would just tell me what you're going to do with the wood, I might can figure out something else to use that isn't so heavy and won't give me splinters!" But God replied, "Go get some wood..." ...You get the idea...

You see, I realized something else in Genesis 6. Verse 9 says that Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation, and Noah walked with God. Could that also be said of me? As righteous as I would sometimes like to think that I am, I hardly think arguing with God and refusing to trust Him when He tells me part of His plan is what you call righteous. I'm realizing my attitude needs to be less of "God, why do you want me to go get a hammer?" and more of "God, I will walk with you and trust you completely as I go to the store and buy a hammer."

So if you're frustrated with God right now because you wish He would just show you what you're supposed to do with your life, I would encourage you to stop, think back to the last thing you know He told you to do, and do it without questioning while you walk with Him in righteousness. Trust that He knows what's best for you. The truth is, most of us couldn't handle the stress of knowing that God wants to use us to build an ark! If we knew the extent of what God wanted to do through us in this moment, it might blow us away because we aren't ready yet. Let's begin 2011 by walking with God in obedience, a step at a time, so we will be prepared for whatever He's got right around the corner for us! I think it's huge!

The Christian Prom

Do you remember your high school prom? If a girl, you were purchasing your dress months in advance. You cleared your schedule for the entire day, just so you would have time to have your make-up and hair exactly perfect. If a guy, you rented a tuxedo in advance and made sure to take a shower on the day of the prom. You put your best foot forward. You knew, or at least your mom told you, that you needed to look your best. You took the best car your family owned, or you rented a limo to take you and your date to the prom. It mattered what you drove up in to the prom. You were careful to mind your manners and you were all smiles that night, especially for picture-taking time. Everyone looked picture-perfect. Flawless. Everyone seemed to be having the time of their life!

These days, prom isn't just for junior and seniors in high school. In NYC, there is a theatrical play called "The Awesome 80's Prom" set in a real dance hall that includes audience participation, and people flock to the theatre in NYC to relive their prom experience. There are many events all over the U.S. that closely resemble high school proms, usually as fundraisers for charities or even for-profit events. And every Sunday, churches across the country host their own version of the prom called "The Christian Prom."

Think about it, we treat going to church like going to the prom. Before church, we shower and get all cleaned up. We put on our best "church" clothes, and we make sure our spouses and kids are dressed in their best "church" clothes too. Then we load up in our nicest cars or SUVs for the ride to church, preparing ourselves and our families to be on their best behavior. Once, at church, we parade through the church hallways hoping that people notice how "put together" we look. We are careful to mind our manners, but most importantly it's all smiles! It doesn't matter that you and your spouse or kids fought all the way to church, once at church, it's time to turn on the charm. Once we get to church, we slip into our seat and watch those on stage singing in their best "church" clothes with smiles from ear to ear. Clapping and smiling, these people have gone through the same routine to get to church. So we sit and listen to the preacher, leave in time to grab some lunch and make it home to see the football game, and check another Sunday Christian prom off the list. We've done our duty. We've gone to church. We've let everyone see how perfect we are. Now we can get back on with our real lives...

Imagine this. The same Sunday, a girl walks into church for the first time. She's at the end of her rope, and while she doesn't want to be going to church, she feels it's her last resort. She thinks maybe there's hope for me there. Lonely and insecure, she approaches the church building. She sees nothing but perfect happiness on the faces of those walking in. Then she sees her co-worker dropping her kids off in the nursery. The same co-worker that is so rude to everyone in the office each week, is now all smiles and minding perfect manners. So this girl continues in to the church service. She's brokenhearted and looking for hope, but no one notices. She watches those on stage all smiles and dressed to impress, including her co-worker. She knows that this co-worker is going through a lot at home. She knows how rude this co-worker is to everyone at the office during the weekday, and so she's confused as to how she is standing in the choir acting as though everything is perfect and as if she's completely happy. Then she looks and recognizes her next door neighbor. She's only met him once when her dog ran away and she asked him if he had seen it. He stumbled to the door, completely wasted from all the alcohol he had been drinking, and managed to tell her he hadn't seen a dog anywhere. Now he's at church, sitting all dressed up and happy? She was looking for something real. She was looking for someone to notice her and help her. Instead, all she saw were happy, plastic people that didn't take time to notice her or offer her help. She figures she was right all along, the church is just a place where people go so they can dress up and be seen. A place for them to pretend like they live perfect lives. Flawless. Everyone seemed like they were having the time of their life! The Christian Prom.

Church is not supposed to be a prom. Church isn't even supposed to be about us at all. It's meeting together to encourage and disciple each other in the Word. It's finding out what's going on in the lives of others and teaching them what God's Word says about it. It's about discipling, and being discipled. This is how we fulfill God's command to us, the church. Matthew 28:19-20, "Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you and I will be with you." This is how we glorify God. This is how we expand the kingdom of God across the world. Church is NOT about us. It's about God. It's about loving people. It's about being real! Prom is so high school.

The Miner's Rescue

Late last night and into the early morning hours, I, along with many others around the world watched in amazement as one by one, miners that have been trapped underground for the last 69 days were pulled one by one out of the mine to safety. I fell asleep last night after they had rescued 4 miners, and as I sit and watch right now they have already rescued 14 of the 33 miners. It's truly amazing to sit and watch. Relief overwhelms the faces of these miners as they are pulled to safety. Joy is on their faces as they are reunited with their family members that they thought they would never see again! And the world is inspired! The news media can't get enough! Facebook and Twitter is filled with messages from people saying they just can't stop watching the rescue mission...and I think, this is how Jesus rescued you too!

We were dead and buried in all our sin because of our sin, destined to remain there for eternity until God stepped in. He sent us a capsule, His son, Jesus Christ, to pull us up out of the pit we got ourselves trapped in! He didn't just pull us up out, but He gave us freedom forever! The assurance we would NEVER be trapped again! It is amazing how stories of rescue capture the heart of people all over the world, yet when it comes to their own rescue, people turn a deaf ear. I think it's because they fail to see their need to be rescued. Can you just imagine one of these Chilean miners trapped for 69 days already, yet when they sent the capsule down to him and said, "It's your turn to be rescued" he said, "Aah, no thanks, I don't need to be rescued. I'm just fine right here where I am." It would NEVER happen. That's because they realize that staying trapped there will lead to a slow death. Yet, when it comes to our need to be rescued from eternal death, most people will be content to sit tight in their mine, ignoring the capsule that's been sent for them that would lead them to eternal life in Christ.

I read newspaper headlines this morning that said "Joy as Capsule Raises Trapped Men to the Surface!" and "Chile Miners Rescued!" Can you imagine if there were headlines like this everytime another person in the world decided not to stay trapped in their sin anymore and decided to receive the free gift of the capsule and be rescued! I only pray today that people would realize that they, like the miners, are trapped in their sin which leads to death, and only through the capsule, Jesus, can they be saved from death for eternity. It's as urgent as rescuing coal miners in Chile, except that there's more hope for them than for some who continue to ignore God's gift of salvation.

"...today is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2

Monday Morning Commentary

Well, when I started Monday Morning Commentary, I didn't realize that it would be another whole week before I blogged again! Oh well, such is the busyness of life.

What a wonderful weekend though! My husband surprised me with a trip to Dallas, Texas! Now, there's nothing special about Dallas except for my favorite mall is there, they have a Cheesecake Factory (my FAV restaurant!), oh yeah, and HILLSONG was going to be at Fellowship Church! My sweet husband got us tickets and so we hit the road...

We left Wednesday night and drove halfway to my grandparents house in Jonesboro, LA. I LOVED getting to spend some time with them, even though it was short! My grandmother cooked us breakfast the next morning before we hit the road again headed to Dallas.

While approaching Shreveport, we got the crazy idea that we should stop by and check out the site of one of our favorite tv shows at the moment: Billy the Exterminator. We knew he was sorta close to Shreveport so we looked it up and punched it in the GPS. (Oh yeah, we made a pit stop at McAlisters for free sweet tea day!). So we found the site of Vexcon in Benton, LA! This may not be very exciting to most of you guys, but we think Billy is pretty awesome, and we DVR his show every Wednesday night! So here's the pic of Vexcon.



While we were enjoying taking pictures of the outside like total idiots, all of a sudden Billy himself walks out, gets in his truck, and drives passed us! So what else were we to do...but follow??



We followed Billy for about 10-15 minutes like complete stalkers hoping he was going to a job and we would get to watch. We were very excited! Instead he parked here...



It was a gas station...and of course we went inside.



Unfortunately, we were so close but didn't get a picture with Billy. He went into the gas station restaurant and I guess my husband was afraid we would get in trouble for stalking if we asked him for a picture! So...our adventure ended...and we continued to Dallas.

Thursday night, we celebrated my early birthday at Cheesecake Factory...my favorite restaurant of all! Friday was full of LOTS of shopping and Forever 21! Then Friday night we went to Fellowship Church for Hillsong! It was an amazing night of worship!



Saturday was full of even more shopping...my poor husband didn't understand at all! But I'm so thankful to my sweet husband for giving me a wonderful birthday trip!

PS - no idea why the photos in this post are so jacked up! Please forgive me!