My Sunglasses

I know this might sound strange, but I love my sunglsses. They go with me everywhere, just in case I need them. I don't just use them when the sun is out either, I need them always. On my face, on my head, or just nearby...I love to have them close by. I'm the girl driving down the road in the rain on a cloudy day wearing my sunglasses. Yes, I am aware that the sun is not out, but it does not matter.

Where I currently stand in my journey of life, I feel like I am having to keep my FAITH glasses on constantly. I feel like the girl driving through life in the rain on a cloudy day wearing my sunglasses, except I am wearing my FAITH glasses. People give me looks. They don't understand. I don't really understand completely why I keep these glasses on, other than I'm convinced that I have heard from God. I look through the glasses because when I have them on, the things God has called me to do make a little more sense. When I don't have the glasses on, I completely don't understand the things God is calling me to. It's easy to want to take the glasses off too, especially when people tell me there's no way these dreams I am chasing will ever happen. I hear all the reasons why these things will never happen. I get the weird looks, the looks of disappointment. I hear the voices in my head telling me that nothing I'm chasing after makes sense, and I already knew that. There are days when I want to throw the glasses in the garbage and just do what everyone wants me to do. I think of how much easier it would be to follow God if He would just tell me to do things that made sense; things that I knew I could do on my own.

But in the middle of all these thoughts, these people, these voices is another voice. This voice calls to me and somehow quiets all the other voices in the moment it's speaking. The voice tells me to put the FAITH glasses back on and look through them. When I do, my heart flutters and I can't help but smile. Through these glasses I can see these dreams become reality. Through the glasses I can see great things. Through the glasses I can see great provision. With the glasses on I feel great peace. With the glasses on I feel an immense amount of joy. Then the voice whispers to me, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God." I'm then reminded that it is my goal in life to please God, and if wearing these glasses is pleasing to Him then give me a hundred pairs in a hundred different colors! Despite what people think, despite what people say, and despite the voices in my head. If you're walking through life and see a girl wearing her glasses in the rain on a cloudy day, just let her be. Know she isn't trying to be crazy, she is just trying to be pleasing to the One who has called her, and consider putting your glasses on too. Imagine what God could do through a hundred people wearing their FAITH glasses, after all, it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed right?

The Dance

Have you ever thought about what popular dance song would best describe your life? Would it be “The Cha-Cha Slide” by DJ Casper or perhaps “Stayin Alive” by the BeeGees? Or maybe it would be “It Don’t Mean a Thing” by Duke Ellington or “Who Let the Dogs Out” by Baha Men? Or maybe your life is more like the Theme Song from Mission: Impossible.” If you’re like me, you could probably have a different dance song everyday of the week. One day I could be dancing to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper and the next day “I will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. The day after that it might be “Thriller” by Michael Jackson and then the next day “Oops, I Did It Again” by Britney Spears. I’m nosy and like to be in charge of everything so on those days my dance song would be “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith or “Taking Care of Business” by B.T.O. Some days I wake up dancing to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Diana Ross, but by the end of the same day I will be dancing to “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus. And of course there are many, many days when my dance song would be “Livin On A Prayer” by Bon Jovi or “Turbo Hustle” by DJ Maestro.

Life is our dance. And the truth is, this dance has so many ups and downs, twists and turns! Sometimes we are dancing to a slow waltz before the music abruptly changes and we’re dancing to “Boot Scootin Boogie.” One minute we could be dancing to “Forever Young” by Rod Stewart and then the next day “Walk Like an Egyptian” by the Bangles. We never know what a day will bring. We never know what obstacle or challenge is right around the corner waiting for us. We can wake up one morning feeling like the happiest person alive and have everything going our way, and suddenly something can happen in that same day to turn everything around.

More than likely at some point in your dance the music you were dancing to drastically changed its pace in one single moment in time, without warning. That’s how life is. Tragedy. Death. Earthquakes. Tsunamis. Fires. We don’t get to control this dance called life, but we all have to live in it. We all have to experience changes in music, tempo, rhythm, and rhyme. Maybe you have been through seasons of your life where you felt like the music was going so fast you couldn't keep up! Or maybe you have been through seasons where the music seemed to slow down when you wanted it to speed up.

The reality is we will all face good days and bad days. We will all experience things in life that we have no control over. In John 16:33 Jesus said, "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."©(NASB) For those who are walking with Christ, the Bible says that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes. (Romans 8:28 ©NASB)

We see examples of this all throughout Scripture. We read the account of the Israelites, God's chosen people, as they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Some of you may be thinking, "That's me! I've been wandering around in the wilderness and I'm wondering when something is going to go my way! I'm ready to enter the Promised Land!" In Deuteronomy, as the Israelites are finally getting ready to conquer the land of Canaan after many years of waiting, God makes a covenant with them. In this covenant, God reminds them of how He has provided for them even while they were in the wilderness. "I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot." (Deuteronomy 29:5 ©NASB) Although the Israelites had to live through circumstances they didn’t plan, God was still leading them and taking care of them. The same thing can be said about you and me.

The music in your life may have drastically changed without warning. You may feel like it's been a long time since you were dancing to "O Happy Day" or "Walking on Sunshine," but in the midst of your situation, God is still good. He has provided for your needs. If you are still alive, it's because He has kept you alive and He has a purpose for your life-to dance this dance called life with Him, on His shoes, letting Him lead you in the midst of the ever-changing music.

*This post was submitted to Ann Voskamp's blog as an entry to win a scholarship to the She Speaks Conference. The She Speaks Conference is about women connecting the hearts of women to the heart of our Daddy. God has given me a message to share with women who are living their lives dancing with their Daddy as He leads them and women who have long left dancing on their Daddy's shoes in pursuit of something else. If you or someone you know is interested in learning how to connect the hearts of women with the heart of God through this conference, you can find out more info here!

The Pearl

I recently received a beautiful pearl ring as a gift from my husband. This ring was something I had wanted for a long time and we spent a long time searching for the "perfect" one. I'm talking about, I was on a relentless search for this perfect pearl. Anywhere my husband and I went on a trip, we searched the jewelry stores but always came up empty. It was one of those times where I had in my mind exactly what I wanted, and I didn't really want to settle for just any ol' pearl ring. After months of searching stores and websites, we finally found it! We walked up to a jewelry counter, looked in the glass case to find the exact ring I had had in my mind! Not only was it the exact ring I was looking for, but they only had one and it was exactly my size - a 6 1/2! I instantly knew this ring was meant for me, I mean, what are the odds it was exactly what I had been searching for for so long and in my exact ring size?! It was a perfect fit! I was ecstatic! I had some other things I had picked out to buy at this particular store, but as soon as I knew I had found my ring, I put the other merchandise back so I would make sure I could purchase this ring! That's how excited I was that I had found this beautiful ring.

After a couple of days of wearing the ring, I noticed that because I was not used to wearing a ring on that finger everyday, it was starting to annoy me. I was tempted to take it off multiple times to keep from being annoyed, but everytime I thought about how it was rubbing on my finger, I looked at the ring and was reminded of it's perfect beauty to me! The thought of not wearing this ring that I had searched so long for was out of the question. When I looked at how beautiful it was, I knew without a doubt that it was going to stay on my finger and my finger would just have to get used to it.

As I was having these thoughts in my head, the Lord spoke to me. He reminded me of His words in Matthew 13:45-46

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

I was reminded that I have found the pearl of great value, one of far greater value than the pearl on my hand - the kingdom of heaven. It's worth any price, any discomfort, any inconvenience. It's worth me giving everything. When I look at it's beauty, it overwhelms me to the point that it doesn't matter what it takes, I'm holding on to it! It's the treasure that my heart searched for for so long, and I take great delight in my treasure!

God Almighty will be your treasure,
more wealth than you can imagine.
You'll take delight in God, the Mighty One,
and look to him joyfully, boldly. Job 22:25-26

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!