God's Wisdom

Pastor Chris preached about submitting to God's wisdom rather than human wisdom. As we worked at the Dream Center last week, we kept this at the forefront of our thoughts knowing we would all be stepping out of our comfort zones to reach people for Christ.

Society tells us too often that we're not good enough, we're not strong enough, we're too weak, we're not worthy, we're too skinny, we're too fat; the list could go on and on. While society is filling up our heads with these nagging thoughts, we tend to submit to this human wisdom, rather than the One who refutes each one of these thoughts. It's easy to collapse under the pressure and submit to what society thinks about us. For whatever personal reason there may be, we tend to ignore our wonderful Creator's opinions of us, thus pushing aside God's wisdom. 

Not only is it hard to see ourselves the way God sees us, it's hard to see others the way God sees them. God created every single human on this planet in His image with his own talents to offer. God loves the smallest and weakest all the way up to the biggest and strongest. No person "falls through the cracks" in God's eyes. He knows us. He yearns for a personal relationship with all 7 odd billion of us. 

My week at the Dream Center taught me so many lessons, I can't imagine being able to write about every single little "ah ha" moment I experienced. But. there's one thing that was made extremely clear to me through this journey: to love people

Like God loves people. Put everything else aside and give people grace. Give people the benefit of the doubt and show them sincere care and worth. Everyone, no matter how rich or poor, can surely use prayer, love, and encouragement. There's no one "too far gone" for God's grace and love. Why do humans think they get to make that decision about fellow humans??? None of us are God! 

We simply submit to God's commandment to love each other. (John 15:17) When we start seeing each other through God's vision, we gain a greater understanding and appreciation for humanity. We start to understand that God's wisdom is so much better than human wisdom! When we listen to God's  word and truly seek Him, it's so much easier for us to get out of our comfort zone and do His work! 

God's wisdom trumps human wisdom every single time. Seek His ways in all you do. 

Visit to Venice Beach

Here's our group before we go to the Dream Center! 

LA Dream Center

Today is the day! We're heading to Los Angeles to do as God asked us to; to continue His unfinished work. I'm not sure what to expect once we arrive to the Dream Center, but I do know God is going to work through us ladies in a way we could never imagine. He's totally awesome that way. Follow our journey through my blog! Thanks for all the love, prayers, and support!!! Let God's will be done!

Turning Down the Devil

There are times when my mouth gets the best of me. My tongue is sharp and my emotions high. In the midst of my anger I'll pour out every cutting remark I possibly can. In those moments I'm not worried about feelings or friendships, grace or forgiveness. I'm focused on me. My hurt. My worry. My cut. My pain. My anger. 

That's the simple problem here: me. I am not in this alone. I'm on a team. A team who should represent all that is holy, mighty, and courageous in this fallen world. I'm on a team where the members show each other grace, they forgive, they love, and they serve. This team has a head coach who led by example when he was on this earth. He never sinned. He forgave. He loved. He cared. He was absolutely perfect. He showed us how our mouths should speak and our hands should serve. He did not make cutting remarks to the thousands who cursed him. He prayed for them, he asked for God's grace to come raining down upon his enemies. 

Oh how difficult that must have been! 

I never thought of my raw emotions like this before. It's true, though! Whose team am I on? Am I on God's team? The other team is the one of fire and flames. There's two choices. When I'm ugly with my actions and words Satan is cheering and tallying up more points. But, when I'm encouraging and using my words in an empowering way, my team stays ahead. 

In the moments of raw emotions, I'm learning it's better to stay quiet then fill the room with words I'll later regret. It's best to keep my temper at bay and try to resolve problems in a more healthy way. 

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1 NIV)

I'm practicing the gentleness in which Christ handles me. He takes care of my every need all the while ensuring life lessons are being taught at every turn and corner. When we are gentle and kind with our words, we are extending grace and perhaps even forgiveness to whoever we are upset with. Shouting hurtful words or scornful name-calling gives way to the devil and only hardens our own heart. 

Next time you're upset and in the midst of your raw emotion remember to ask yourself, "whose team am I on?" If the answer is God's team, remember what we learned when we were little, "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." It sounds so cliche, but honestly, it's the best policy! 

All Things Work Together. . .

The more I jump into scripture, the more amazed I am at God's incredible work. I am left in awe each time I open my Bible. His words are always the right thing I need to hear. While we might struggle through life, there's always a beautiful method to His madness. I know my best interest is in His hands and He will guide me through each trial and tribulation.

God is the creator of all the universe and it's astounding to know He purposely created me of all the things on this planet He made. It gives me hope and confidence. God knows me and He loves me. Of all the people on the planet, he knows who I am. . . He knows who you are.

I went to visit my best friend and see her precious baby for the first time a few weeks back. She has a cute little plaque hanging on the wall next to her guest bed with Roman 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I love this verse.

The week following my visit to see her was going to be crazy hectic one with so many things to do I wasn't sure how any of it would actually get completed. As I climbed into bed one of the nights I was there, I read this verse and began to pray on it asking God to help me come up with a plan to make everything fit nicely together. . . Well here's what happened.

That Monday was an in service day and I would be off campus all day. Normally this would not be a problem but grades were due for report cards and I needed to finish grading my scantrons from the test my kids took on Friday. Not only was I worried about actually getting it done, but I was worried that I might need to retest my kids.

The next day (Tuesday) would be chaotic because I would be entering grades and I set up an interview at the church at 3:45, PLUS it was my mom's 50th birthday. When I woke up Monday morning I was nervous. But I prayed Romans 8:28.

Later that day I received an email from one of the ladies who would be interviewing me stating they had a scheduling conflict and I needed to come on Wednesday at 3:30 instead of Tuesday! Wow! Praise Jesus! I could use that time to finish up my grades and head over early to my mom's house to help my dad prepare for the dinner.

Not only was I stressing about the grades, but putting my hubby out by making him pick up the children. That scheduling conflict was God's sweet grace raining down on me that day. I originally planned to go to my school after my in-service on Monday, but I could now go home at a decent time and take care of everything Tuesday! And my kids didn't do too great on their tests, but enough passed that we didn't have to retest which would have been a nightmare!

Tuesday rolled around and I got everything done and it was a rather stress free day considering how busy I stayed for those 8 to 9 hours! We had a wonderful evening with my mom and our family. When my interview rolled around on Wednesday, I was praying for God to guide me through the interview and I was about to get out of the car when the dj on KSBJ recited Romans 8:28 as her scripture of the day! Wow! Too cool! Not only did my interview go wonderful, I got the job!

God is truly an awesome, wonderful God who loves all his children. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made and he wants us to live a long rewarding life. We've been called to be his hands and feet on this planet to transform lives, bring people to Jesus, and spread His good news; the good news that all you have to do is accept Him. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior; no good works will get you into heaven, only the blood he shed for us. It's such a beautiful life to live when you've placed all your fears at God's feet and you trust in Him. There's going to be trials and hard times, but He will be faithful and He will make all things work for those who Love Him! If you haven't accepted Jesus, don't wait another day. It is the biggest and best choice you will ever make in your life. Your eternal salvation depends upon it.

Weakness

I recently finished up my "Soul Detox" which opened my eyes to some amazing, inspiring, and empowering scriptures. It left me with clarity about situations that I really struggled with and it affirmed some of the hard decisions I've had to make.

It's so amazing how God perfectly fits together these very intricate puzzle pieces to create one super incredible portrait, also known as our life. Lately I feel like I've grown by leaps and bounds in some respects, but in others not at all. I'm still trying to figure that out because my one major weakness that I want to give the boot keeps lingering around.

At church Pastor Tim just finished "The Man Series" which was all about men and how God created them and why sometimes they fall short. It was an absolutely incredible series and I learned so much about my man through these lessons.

Speaking of my man, he joined a men's group and he came home the first night and said, "I'm getting baptized!" wow! How awesomely amazing to see things shaking and moving in him. Not only did he say he wanted to get baptized, he doesn't want to waste any time and do it ASAP!

"And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes." (Galatians 3:27 NLT)

What an amazing and beautiful commitment. I am excited to see him get baptized. I'm even debating if I want to get baptized with him. I was baptized when I was 12, but it has a whole new meaning to me, now. I'll be praying about it and seeking God for guidance to make my decision.

We live in such a sinful, broken world that to see men and women committing their lives to Christ can be an overwhelming experience for me. I will probably ball my eyes out when he gets baptized. I'll need some prayers that I don't get too emotional!

As for my weakness I'm trying to boot, I feel lead to openly admit and confess this shortfall I've been struggling with. I can be an amazing friend and I have wonderful patience with teenagers. I will keep people's deep dark secrets safe. I can give with all my heart expecting nothing in return. I can teach God's little people and move them In the right direction. I can work really hard and I can volunteer my time. But, one thing I'm really lacking in is something that is becoming a major road block in taking the next step on my walk with God. . . Anger towards my husband. How can I do all these other things and deeply care about other people, but act out in anger to the one person who will always be there for me NO MATTER WHAT?

My husband hurt his ankle back in 2005 and has suffered from chronic pain and inflammation ever since. He's had 4 or 5 surgeries to try to ease the pain and fix the problem. Unfortunately none of them have been successful which leaves me with a young, 26 year old husband who can't walk about 3 days out of the week. . . Every week. Wow. This means I'm largely left to perform the basic tasks we normally share. It's left me with so much resentment and anger that one little wrong muttered word and I snap. I totally don't take his feelings into consideration or evaluate how this negatively affects his life or his role as the provider of the family. In those angry passionate moments I become the only person who matters. I put myself ahead of his feelings and I sure the heck don't seek God for the right words to say or for ways to manage my anger towards him.

I simply speak without thinking and I don't care about anything but the inconvenience he's causing me.

Whew. So there it is. All on the table. It feels good to release that and place that weakness at God's feet. I know he will grow me in this area and I accept his guidance with open arms. If you're still reading this, please cover my husband and I in prayer. He desperately needs healing and comfort and I need to seek God and slow down with my anger and judgement.

God is amazing and I realize this on a daily basis. The past 2 weeks I've taught the kinder class, the lessons were on anger! Whew! I feel like the last person who should be teaching about anger since this is my biggest struggle!! But I know God is already assisting me with overcoming this issue.

Here are some scriptures I will be praying on for the next couple of days:

Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate,
so stop before a dispute breaks out. (Proverbs 17:14 NLT)

Sensible people control their temper;
they earn respect by overlooking wrongs. (Proverbs 19:11 NLT)

Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor;
only fools insist on quarreling. (Proverbs 20:3 NLT)

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Dear God,

Thank you for your unending love and grace. Help me to show your grace towards my husband. Let my words be kind and encouraging. Please lead me during my anger and help me to find the right words to speak.

In Your Son's name I pray, Amen.

Choices

Lately I've been doing a lot of soul searching. A lot of thinking. A lot of feeling. It seems like there are days nothing on this planet makes sense then there's days when it all makes perfect sense.

I've been "detoxing" my soul and trying to understand situations that leave me upset and confused. I am enjoying the detox and already, it's surely helping me realize it's not about understanding why people do the things they do, rather than accepting what they do.

We are all uniquely made and precious children of God. We have the best Father you could ever want. We all have hopes and dreams and values which in some cases are the only factors that keep us going.

With that sad, something has been weighing on my heart. . .
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I found this as a "draft". . . Wish I would have finished it. Not sure what I was going to say. . . I think it was about being a good parent?!? Im not sure. But, I wanted to "publish" it nonetheless.