The Holder of You Heart (Marriage)

When we are looking for "the one," which is a whole other blog for a whole other time, we often look for someone whom we can trust with our lives.  This is a good thing in marriage but I am seeing another spin on it now.

We want to find someone whom we can trust.  We see it as someone whom I feel comfortable enough and vulnerable enough to give my heart to because he/she is literally holding it through our walk together.  As Christians, however, we are offered another picture.  We are to find someone with trusting character.  We are to look for Godly attributes in a mate.  But when we enter into a covenant with that person, instead of trusting him/her enough to give them our hearts, what we really need to do is trust God enough to give it to Him.  He is the holder of your heart in marriage.  And as long as both of you are looking to Him, you can make it through any hurts that may come your way. 

So, if you are already married and felt like you have given your heart to your spouse, take it back and give it to the One who is Trustworthy.  If you are not married, look for a mate who exhibits a love and desire for the Lord and things will work a lot better for you!

Learning the Hard Way

This last year has been like a roller-coaster ride for me.  I don't like roller coasters.  The praise in it is that I have learned so much about God, myself and those around me. 

Even today, I was talking out loud to John (I say to people that I can't even think unless I am speaking!) and something transversed during our conversation that I later realized is yet another lesson I am learning.  Throughout my journey as a follower of Christ, I have done (or not done) many things such as reading my Bible every day, not getting drunk, taking my thoughts captive, not listening to secular music, etc. 

All these things are good things to do or not to do respectively, however, I noticed in not doing some of them, a new issue was being created.

To fully explain it, let me take a step back.  About a month ago, I got a job as a barista at our local Starbucks.  It has been life-saving in so many ways that I might have to write a blog about that!  I have met many new people, all of whom I enjoy working with very much.  One thing I have noticed however, is that beyond work, there is not a whole lot to relate about.  You might be thinking that this is hardly a problem since I am not there to make a new bff, but hear me out.  I am also a Pastor.  Along with some of the other duties, one expectation is that I am meeting new people and being able to relate to them on a level that allows for relationship.  Besides this being my first expeience outside of the home for the last nine years, I realized that maybe even more than "being a Christian," I have been secluding or sheltering myself from the "world."  And, all this sheltering, has actually caused me to be un-relatable. 
So, I am now re-evaluating what it means to be in the world but not of the world.  And I think I am better for it.  You know, you cant be an influence to the unbeliever if you cant even begin to relate....

Need to Breathe...

So my youngest son has croup...

So I am sitting there, with my arms wrapped all the way around his little chest, listening to my baby boy gasping for air.  He was upset.  He was sobbing....and deeply heaving his chest in and out with each labored breath.  I am trying to convince myself that the doc said he was getting enough oxygen last night so surely he still is now.....and praying that the Healer would come and do the miraculous.  And this attack just keeps going...

My other children look at me with bewilderment in their eyes.  "He is fine, we just need him to calm down and this will get better.  He sounds worse than he is."

I don't believe me.

30 excruciating minutes later, my baby boy hears the voice of his daddy on the phone and within one minute, he is relaxed in my lap with only squeaks of the attack still lingering...within another hour, he was smiling at me as I lay him down for the night.

What just happened, I ask myself?  Why is he still sick when I believed?  What is it that his body is doing to make it be this way?

Then the Lord spoke:
There are times in your life that you feel like you can't breathe.  You're sick with a swollen throat and you sound horrible.  You start to get upset.  You panic then because it feels as if  you can't breathe.  All you want is to be able to suck in that massive amount of fresh air you so desperately need but the harder you try, the worse it is.
Stop trying so hard.  Hear my voice.  I am what you need.  And when you feel like you can't breathe on your own, let me be your breath because just as much as you don't want to be this way, it almost breaks me to see it too.

Need You Now
Well, everybody's got a story to tell
And everybody's got a wound to be healed
I want to believe there's beauty here
'Cause oh, I get so tired of holding on
I can't let go, I can't move on
I want to believe there's meaning here

How many times have you heard me cry out
"God please take this?"
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now

Standing on a road I didn't plan
Wondering how I go to where I am
I'm trying to hear that still small voice
I'm trying to hear above the noise

How many times have you heard me cry out
"God please take this?"
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now

Though I walk,
Though I Walk through the shadows
And I, I am so afraid
Please stay, Please stay right beside me
With every single step I take

How many times have you heard me cry out?
And how many times have you given me strenth?

How many times have you heard me cry out
"God please take this?"
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.

I need you now
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.
I need you now
I need you now

Sometimes we  will get the complete healing.  Sometimes we won't.  Either way does not change how much He cares...

The purpose of The Book

We can get so distracted in life. 

We are kids and all we get focused on is becoming "grown ups", we get to be an adult and all we think about is getting married, we get married and have children and get sucked into the daily routines and demands and forget what the real point is.....what is the real point of all that anyway? 

I was thinking about this and read something that really took life back a step for me.  As a Christian, I get focused on being like Jesus.  We are supposed to be continually sanctified after all (which basically means changed to be more like Him).  This is a good and Biblical principal.  However, we can become focused on being more like Jesus and I am not convinced that is the point of the Book.

In John 20:30-31, the subtitle in the NKJV is: The Purpose of this Book.  Then, it goes on to explain that
(after telling the gospel story of Jesus' life and death and resurrection), there were many other things Jesus did that weren't written down in the Book.  The purpose (or the MAIN POINT) was so that through what was written down, you would a) know that Jesus was the Christ, b) believe in Him, and c) have eternal life in His name!

So, the whole point of the Book can be summed up in those three points.  However, the one that really stuck out to me this time is that there is nothing in there about us becoming more like Jesus....  I don't think He is up in heaven gauging as to how far we have come along in life...
I see from this that he is only concerned with three things.  Do we know Him?  Do we believe Him?  Are we enjoying the eternal life he offers, which starts now?  Being like Him will follow these three things but if we get our focus on trying so hard to be good (like Him), the enjoyment of eternal life gets lost...

Enjoy Him, know Him, and believe Him today!

The Golden Rule Revealed

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. - Matthew 7:12

 

A short post today about a continuing revelation I am having (over the period of four years now)...

 

I was in a funk.  You know, that kind of mood where all you want is for somebody to see you.  I mean really see you for your heart, your intentions, all the positive things you are trying to do and be...

I was getting ready in the bathroom alone (which rarely happens with four children), and was conversing with the Lord, and myself, about the situation.  I was lamenting about the fact that I feel, to be blatantly honest, that I am an encourager and initiator with most people in my life and while I enjoy the beauty of being a tiny part of "wooing" them into the future that God has for them, I also feel very lonely and "forgotten" most of the time.  Let's face it, people like to be encouraged but for many reasons, some of which I know and I am sure some of which I don't, they are pretty bad at encouraging.

As I continued, a new friend came to my mind but I barely paid attention because I wished someone would call me...(even writing that makes me realize how selfish I am!)

Then a tiny little glimmer of a thought floated through my brain..."pray for her or call her."

I almost didn't entertain it as it was me who needed the encouraging today, right?  HA!  But, I did what I wanted someone to do for me in that moment.  I prayed a simple and short prayer for her.  I prayed peace in her life and that she would be uplifted in His arms today.  Then, I texted her that I was thinking about her and that she was loved and thought about. 

About five minutes later, I got the text.  Now, it does not always happen this way but the Lord must have known I needed it today. 

She thanked me for sending the text and said it was just what she needed that day!  Wow!  My seemingly insignificant prayer for this woman was what she needed...all of the sudden, this was bigger than my need or her need.  It was a God moment.  I wanted someone to tell me how awesome I was.  Just anyone didn't do that; HE did that!  I blessed someone, and in return, He blessed me through confirming that 1) I hear His voice, 2) When I follow it, I get what I need (maybe not exactly what I want).

So, her text said that what I wrote blessed her and gave her what she needed to hear that day and she cried and then, when the Lord confirmed His love for me by reading her reply, so did I...

 

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. - Matthew 7:12



Un-doing....or not?

I have been un-doing for around two months now.  It has been going pretty well, especially at first.  But then again, when do things not go well at first?  I was not saying yes to everything, I was trying to figure out a Sabbath rest day each week and keep it, I was eating well (yes, this does have a large impact on our ability to do...everything), and I was resting better...BUT

I heard a podcast that Joyce Meyer did the other day on Thinking Like God Thinks, and she told a story that hit me right between the eyes.  She said she was in the passenger's seat of a car riding home.  She had entered her subdivision already but wasn't quite home yet.  She was thinking about what she was going to do as soon as she got home and apparently, she got so consumed with the thought of what she was going to do, she started to open the door of the car to get out!  Woah!

The point is this:  are you present where you are?  Ironically, this is a Biblical concept, however I first learned of it in a Tai Chi class I took in college.  To break it down for ya, I am saying that we have a problem being somewhere physically, but not mentally.  What that really means is that when we engage in daydreaming, or even planning out what we are going or should do, we aren't really there at all, even if our physical bodies are present!

So, why is this important?  I have an example for you:  my husband and I both share the love language of quality time.  This means we both feel loved when we get to spend time with the other. So, we try hard to spend a lot of time together.  I feel  "cheated" and un-loved though when we are sitting in the same room but doing something like watching a movie.  Why?  because we are both focused on the movie and not fully present with each other.

What does this mean in regards to my relationship with un-doing?  Well, this is a very important concept when we look at being a New Testament believer.  The Old Testament would have us stop and take a 24 hour period where we are not doing things like working in the field, washing clothes, cleaning, or fixing meals.  That is all good stuff but the NT would have us take it a step further.  It is now a heart/mind issue.  Not only am I asked to not do some of the physical things that tend to wear me down during the week, but am asked to lay down my mind for a 24 hour period every week so I can avoid the mental things that drain me and be fully present with the One who fills me up!  And take this a step beyond that and it translates into our lives in all areas.  Why?  Because when we are fully engaged an present (mind, body and spirit), we can be the most effective servants for the King! 

Not only will this help us to be more effective, it will also, like Joyce Meyer's story, prevent us from making mistakes in whatever we get into each day!  It actually makes us more productive.

Clean eating revolution

We have been off and on (mostly on) this clean eating regime now for 2 1/2 weeks.  It is not being viewed as a diet, rather as a lifestyle which is why I think it has worked so well for us!

My husband had hit a plateau in his weight loss for almost a year now.  In the last two weeks however, he has blown it out of the water, loosing another 6 lbs.!  He weighs the lowest he has been since college!

 I laugh though because he came in today and asked me if we could go out and buy him some new shorts since he can take his off now without unbuttoning them!  :D  Yay!  And now he is putting on a belt to suffice until we can get to the store :)  Oh, the life.....