2018 Update and 2019 Word

So every year I look back on the goals I set around New Years or the word I picked to study on, or any resolutions I set and try to give you an update about how I did. Last year I knew that there would probably be a lot going on in 2018 so I tried to keep my goals reasonable but still challenge myself. And for the first time, probably ever, I'm happy to say that I accomplished all of those goals!

When I sat down this time last year and tried to imagine what the next year would bring me I could never imagine everything that happened. In the last twelve months my brother had to have surgery and my mom and I spent almost 3 months taking turns staying at his house to help take care of him and his kids so his wife could go back to work. (I'm happy to say he's made a full recovery and is doing very well now.) Just after that my parents shut down our business we've run for half my life. That led to me starting a new job and moving to a new house with two of the coolest girls I know. My roommates and I love our place and are having a great time making it our own.

One of my other goals I set last year was for the youth group. Well the youth group has seen a lot of changes this year as some kids have moved on, some graduated last year and some younger ones have come up into middle school, leading us to look for how best to accommodate the needs for such a wide age span. I feel so blessed for the time that God has given me to be able to teach, encourage and lead trips with these awesome young people. Watching Him work in their lives is truly one of the best parts of my life and I'm excited to see what changes He'll have for them, me and our group in the year to come.

And of course the last goal that I set last year that I'm going to talk about was the goal that I wanted to connect with people more. Although I'm almost 50/50 on the introvert/extrovert scale I have a bad habit of internalizing my problems and not reaching out to people when I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed. I forget that God created us to be in community with each other and that means helping each other out. But people can't help me if they don't know anything's wrong. To that end and to the end that I wanted to be intentional about my time I made the goal to connect with people more. Whether it's the youth group or my roommates, my family, my nieces and nephews or just friends I've made a conscious effort to truly listen when people speak, ask for help when I need it and not take these special relationships God's gifted me with for granted. And it has been such a blessing!

So moving on because 2018 is almost up I spent a long time praying about what to do next year. As I've done in years past I decided to pick a word that I could carry through the year with me, which led to more prayer because in case you haven't noticed there's a LOT of words out there!
Anyways eventually I picked the word 'home'. Sounds a little funny but the fact is that home is not just a physical place. God is our refuge and, in the coming year, I want to really dwell on the fact that my home, my security and my identity is not wrapped up in things or places or even other people, it's all centered on God. He is my strength, my refuge, the one that supplies my every need. He is my home.

So that's the update on 2018 and what I'll be working on in 2019. What about you? Goals, plans, adventures or words? I'd love to hear about them in the comments section below!

Angels Unaware

"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2

There are angels all throughout the Christmas story. An angel appeared to Mary, to Joseph, to Zechariah. The heavenly host appeared to the shepherds in the fields. There's so many angels that they've even become a huge part of our Christmas traditions today. We put angels on our Christmas trees, half of our Christmas songs are about angels and no nativity set is truly complete without an angel perched above watching over those gathered at the manger.

But it's more then that. Around Christmas time we often see 'human angels'. Those people who invest in other's lives in a way that somehow stands out to us a lot more during this time of the year. There's the obvious but adorable children who dress up as angels and shepherds in church Christmas plays worldwide. They may be obvious but they still play an important role in spreading the good news of the meaning of the season. There's also the bell ringers from Salvation Army, standing out in the cold to raise money for the poor, always with a smile on their faces. And the random people who do something kind for someone else. Things like taking that cart for the mom in the parking lot, it may seem simple to them but to that stressed out mom with the tired kids who need a nap, not having to drag them over to the cart return and back means a lot.

There's more angels out there though. The Bible doesn't tell us 'this is when you'll meet an angel, this is what they'll look like and here's how you should respond'. It does say that you might meet one and not even realize. So what does that look like? Well, I honestly don't know. Have I ever met a real heavenly angel before? Probably. Can I say when, no.

What I can say is that the word 'angel' in the Bible just means 'messenger' and I've met lots of wonderful people who have become angels by being a messenger that God is still in control, that He loves me and that He's still active in the world through every day people like you and me.

I don't know if you'll meet an angel this Christmas weekend but I do know you can be one. As you go throughout this weekend/Christmas week remember to smile, share God's love and reach out to those around you. Be a messenger of the good news of the real reason we celebrate Christmas so you can be angel to someone today.

Merry Christmas friends!

Christmas Lists and God

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about podcasts I listen to. I mentioned that Jamie Grace's "Wait It Out" is a podcast I love. When I was listening to it the other day I heard her make a really great analogy that I knew immediately I wanted to share with all of you.

I can't remember the exact quote but the concept wasn't something like this.

God doesn't own a flea market that we can just walk through, grab what we want, take it to the front counter and say this is what I want and here's what I'm willing to pay for it.

Her point was that you can't barter with God. He's not Santa Claus. You don't write him a letter and say something like this.
"Dear God,
     This Christmas I want a new car, my bills paid and no family drama. I'd also like a scholarship for my son's college. I've been very good this year and limited my sins to just breaking four of the ten commandments routinely instead of six like last year.
Love, a grown up child."

Because seriously, if you're still treating God like Santa Claus then you're still acting like a child. You can't barter with God friends! He's God! Not the owner of a flea market who wants to try to get as much money out of you as possible. No, God isn't a slimy salesman trying to take you to the cleaners, He wants what's best for you.

Let's put it this way. Every kid goes through that time when all they want is to eat cookies. Every good parent knows that they need to eat something besides just sugar or they'll get sick. So they tell their kid no. And then the child gets mad and doesn't like them for a while because they won't give them what they want. In a child's mind Santa will give them everything they want if they're just good enough. God is a lot more like that parent then Santa.

Does God reward us when we love and obey Him? Yes. Does that reward always come by Him fulfilling our Christmas list? No. We live in a fallen world, and disappointments in what we want are part of that fallen condition. God allows difficult times for our long term growth. He says in Jeremiah that He has a plan for you that is for good and not for evil. This is God's promise to His children.

What's that purpose or plan you might ask. I don't know, I'm not Santa Claus. Or God. I am not blessed/cursed enough to have all the answers.

But hopefully you understand my point. When we pray we need to do it with a sincere heart and trust God that whatever His answer is it's for our best, not act like a disappointed child because 'we did everything right and He didn't bring us the new Barbie Dream house we wanted'. That's just not how God works.

Faith and Love

Galatians 5:6 "For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love."

In the New Testament bible called "The Voice" that I sometimes read and have talked about on here before it says something very interesting. It's says 'faith energized by love'. That really stood out to me.

I love that concept. Faith-energized by love.

Isn't that what church is all about? Being a part of a church family is about more then just learning and growing in your faith. It's about learning and growing in love. Faith and love are not separate concepts my friends they go hand in hand. James says that faith without works is dead, the reason for that is simple. When we have faith, motivated or energized by love it overflows from our hearts and comes out in good works.

Faith isn't stagnant. It's constantly growing, changing and being expressed by our actions and deeds. And what powers this great force in our lives? The greatest attribute of all- love. Love energizes our faith to make it change and grow and have an impact, not just on ourselves but others.

The Bible talks about being a light in this world. What better way to be a light then to show the love of Jesus? And how do we do that? We do that by acting out our faith. Faith energized by love.

This concept is something, especially as we go into the holidays, that is really on my heart.

Faith. Love. Faith energized by love.

What does that look like for you this week?

For me it's simple, saying Merry Christmas, smiling more, and finding small ways to do good deeds like dropping change into the buckets of the Salvation Army bell ringers. It's about finding ways to pray for people and listening more then I talk. All of these are ways that I'm letting my faith be energized by love. The love of Christ for me. His love for others. The love that He gives me for this lost and broken world at the time of the season when we celebrate His amazing love for us that urged Him to come and be born as a baby to save us from our sins.

Merry Christmas friends!!!

And yes, I will end up saying that every week probably until Christmas. After all, you can never hear it too many times!

Holidays and Heaven

Yesterday morning I woke really early and decided to spend some extra time in my Bible. I opened to the book of Zechariah and this verse stood out to me.
"Many nations will joining themselves to the Lord on that day, and they, too, will be my people. I will live among you, and you will know that the Lord of Heaven's Armies sent me to you." Zechariah 2:11

Not long after that I learned that a good friend of my family had passed away suddenly the previous week. It came out of nowhere and I can't imagine the pain his family is in. Many of his friends are reeling from this sudden loss but we can all take comfort in knowing that He's with his Heavenly Father, safe in the arms of Jesus and dancing with his daughter on streets of gold.

As we're in the holiday season it always starts me thinking of the gatherings that happen this time of year. Thanksgiving, Christmas and even New Year's Eve bring together family and friends. You get groups from different careers, towns, backgrounds and lifestyles coming together because they're connected by family, friends or proximity to the gathering.

As the years go on the faces change, some new ones but sadly a lot of them can no longer be there. Sickness and death overtake us all and take away the ones we love. It's often hard to look around the room and see all those people that are missing.

But this verse reminds me that these are not the gatherings that matter the most. There will be a very different gathering one day. When the Lord returns and those who belong to Him are in heaven and under His reign (or in the new Jerusalem under His reign as this verse talks about) we'll all be together because of the fact that the Lord is our Savior. We'll still be from different backgrounds and regions and languages and people but we'll all be connected by the most important reason of all, Christ. People from every nation, including Israel- God's chosen people- will be gathered together. They will live in harmony and worship Him. And not just for a holiday but for eternity. And eternity of no more sickness or tears or sin or death.

That's the gathering I most look forward to.
And that's the one that my friend has joined. He, along with so many others, will be waiting when it's my turn. We all have those people, the ones who are gathered together just waiting for us to join the greatest gathering of all time. The one we'll find in heaven. As you gather with loved ones for the holiday and remember those you've lost remember to celebrate those who are in heaven and are already safe in the arms of their Savior. And cherish the ones that are still here because loved ones and holidays are given to us to make our lives just a little bit better and that's something we should all celebrate this season.

Thanksgiving Traditions

Did you know that there's actually articles out there for Thanksgiving traditions? Coming up on Thanksgiving I started wondering what traditions were out there and discovered a lot of information. So here it is. The top, or at least some of the most interesting, Thanksgiving traditions that I could find.

1. Parades- Okay seriously guys maybe it's some sort of deficiency on my part but I really don't understand the purpose of parades. And yet for some people it's a huge part of Thanksgiving day. The Macy's day parade for instance is a huge deal! And apparently it's not just a thing in New York City. There's actually parades in a lot of cities all across the country. Huh, who knew?

2. Football- Yep this is a huge thing in a lot of homes, probably less of a thing then it was a few years ago before the NFL took just a nose dive in ratings but... that's another subject. All over there are families gathering together in front of the T.V. to take in the pregame, the game and the post game breakdown.
But it's not just the professionals who get to play. Many families have the fun tradition of playing their own backyard football game. Which, when you think about it, is a pretty good way to burn off some of those calories and enjoy the weather without freezing to death in the winter temperatures.

3. Black Friday shopping- Now who doesn't love a good sale? I mean come on, getting things you need and want for less money then you'd normally have to pay? Yeah, that's pretty great. But as the years go on and companies are constantly trying to one up each other they start opening earlier and earlier and now in some places it seems like as soon as the feast is cleared it's time to head out to the mall to stand in line in order to be there early enough to snag what you want. Unless you're me, because I hate shopping, no matter what day of the year it is. But that's why Cyber Monday was invented.

4. Post-Thanksgiving walk- After all that food sometimes it's nice to take a walk. And bonus, you can do this with the family and make it part of your tradition this holiday.

5. Splitting the wishbone- This is a fun one. Two people hold the wishbone, make a wish and then pull until it splits. Whoever ends up with the bigger half is supposed to have their wish come true. Silly? Sure. But still fun.

6. Saying what we're thankful for- It's not often that we take the time to really be thankful for what we have but Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity to take a moment and be thankful. In my family, like a lot of families, we all go around and say one thing that we're thankful for. Maybe we should be more focused on what we're thankful for throughout the whole year but at the very least it's great that there's one day out of the year that we can set aside to remember to be thankful.

7. Setting up the Christmas tree. In the United States Thanksgiving is at the end of November so with just about a month to go until Christmas many families take it as their opportunity to kick off the Christmas season. They set up their tree, start playing the music and (if I have my way) finish the night off with a Christmas movie!

8. The feast- Of course a huge part of Thanksgiving is the Thanksgiving feast. Traditionally it's centerpiece is the turkey with all the side dishes of stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, and more. And typically there's a lot of pie for dessert. With of course pumpkin pie being the crowning dish of the meal!

9. Serving others- Many people take Thanksgiving as the perfect time to share what they have. Whether it's volunteering at a soup kitchen, passing out coats or socks or finding another way to share what you have with those less fortunate is a great way to remember all that we've been given and to teach our children about giving back and showing the love of God to others.

10. Family- Whether's it's family you were born with or family you chose, big or small this day is a great time to spend with those you love. That's definitely my favorite part about any and every holiday. Including Thanksgiving.

So there it is 10 Thanksgiving traditions that you may know, may do or may want to adopt. What Thanksgiving traditions do you and your family have? I'd love it if you'd share it in the comments!

Lies We Believe

Last week I got a call from a close friend of mine. She was talking about how a woman from her church was encouraging her to start a new ministry but she wasn't going to do it because in her words 'what do I know about running a ministry' and ' no one listens to me anyways'.

She regretted saying those words to me by the end of the conversation because that brought me to a sharp stop. See what had happened was that my friend went through some really rough times at different churches. She was hurt and because of it she was very afraid to put herself out there and try again.

Out of that conversation came a few key points that got me thinking about the lies we believe. See there's things we all believe about ourselves that just aren't true. Maybe it's something that someone told us as a kid. Maybe it's something that we've told ourselves. Maybe it's something we've come to believe because of our culture. Wherever the lie came from we've accepted it as truth instead of recognizing that this lie, like all lies come from the same place, the devil. This is not what we need to believe. Not even close

And yet we do.

Someone tells a fourteen year old who loves cooking that they're not any good at cooking and so they give up. Flash forward ten years and that person who said that doesn't remember the conversation but the now 24 year old still relies on microwave meals. They've come to believe something about themselves that isn't true because of words spoken years ago. They've let a lie define who they are and shape their decisions.

A teacher who's having a bad year at home speaks harshly to a student in junior high. Speed up until their senior year and that kid is afraid to apply for college because they don't believe their smart enough to go. That teacher probably doesn't remember that kid much less know the negative impact they had on them.

A church split happens and bitter words are spoken. For many years an adult will not darken the doors of a church again because all they hear are those words.

Words have power. Absolutely, but they have the power that we give them. Those people who spoke those words are likely not sitting around going 'well I always knew that Janie wouldn't be a good cook or Ronnie wouldn't make it to college or Brian and Alice weren't really Christians who would continue to be involved in a church'. No! They've moved on with their lives and it's time that we stopped giving them power and moved on with ours too. The only reason that we're still living by those words is because we've believed the lie.

So let's make a deal. This year as we go into the holidays let's identify the lies we've been telling ourselves and make the decision to stop believing them. Let's accept who we are, what we can do or more importantly who God created us to be and what He created us to do. It's not about what others say it's about what He says so let's stop believing the lies of others and accepting the truth of what He says.

Open Hands

We've all heard the saying 'count your blessings' but sometimes, maybe more often then we want to admit, we take these things for granted. We begin to believe that we earned them bought them and are entitled to them. We stop recognizing them as gifts given to us out of His abundant love and care for us. Then, when and if, we lose them we are angry at God because He took them away. We blame Him instead of recognizing that He provided them in the first place and that all things truly belong to Him, even things He allows us to 'borrow' for a while.

I'm not sure this makes sense so let me back up. There's a song that I grew up singing in church. I'm not sure how popular it is these days but I remember, as a teenager, often singing "Blessed be Your Name" by Matt Redman. The song has these words.

"You give and take away,

You give and take away.

My heart will choose to say,

Lord, blessed be your name."

I think the most important part in these words is my heart will choose to say. See it is our choice whether or not we will praise the Lord. It's our choice to say 'thank you for these gifts' or 'why haven't you given me more?' It's our choice to find joy in every moment or always be so focused on the future that we miss the blessings right in front of us.

James 1:17 says "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

God gives us gifts. Good and perfect gifts. Gifts of love, of family, of friends, of a roof over our heads, a car to drive and food to eat. It's easy to take these things for granted. It's also easy to cling to these things. To cling to them so tightly that we find our security in them. 

Matthew 16:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also."

See here's the thing. There's is nothing wrong with being delighted by the gifts God gives us. The Bible says that He, as our Father, delights in giving us good things and He's glad that we're delighted by those things. The danger comes when we start putting those things as more important in our lives then the One who gives them to us.

Let me get really personal here for a moment. If you're married or in a serious relationship that other person is likely the most important person or at least close to the most important person in your life. There is nothing wrong with that. God has given you that love and it should be celebrated and delighted in. But if your entire identity and security is so wrapped up in that person that you can't function without them then there's a big sign in front of you flashing 'Danger Will Robinson, Danger!' and you need to heed it.

God should always be the most important part of our lives. Without exception. Life is short and fleeting. Don't cling too tightly to the things and people that He's blessed you with. You'll risk strangling the life and joy right out of them for fear of losing them. Instead, hold everything with an open hand so if God does it away you're hand doesn't get broken in the process.

Will it hurt if you lose something or someone? Of course. But will He also give you something else to hold, possibly something different or something you never expected? Yes. And more importantly He will be holding your hand through the whole process. But you'll never feel Him holding your hand if your hand is still clenched wishing you could get that first gift back.

Podcasts

At my work I'm able to use earbuds throughout my day. Working 10 hours means that listening to any one thing like music gets boring so I discovered podcasts thanks to the help of my brother and some friends. Today I want to talk about some of the podcasts I love.

No Dumb Questions- hosted by Destin Sandlin who also has a YouTube channel "Smarter Every Day" and Matt Whitman, a pastor in Wyoming. These two friends are hysterical as they have conversations about anything and everything that comes to their minds. It often has me trying not to look like a crazy person by breaking out into hysterical laughter while I work.

Wait It Out by Jamie Grace is one of my new favorites. On her podcast Jamie talks all about being single and waiting for the right person God has for you. She's hilarious and fun. Her podcast encourages and challenges me while also causing me to think.

The Dave Ramsey Show is also a frequent one I listen to. Actually I listen to several shows from Ramsey Solutions. Ken Coleman, Christy Wright, Chris Brown and others all have shows on different topics that I listen to at various times. Finances to careers, starting your own business, retirement and stewardship are some of their subjects. It's thought-provoking, encouraging, and just plain amusing to listen to them. And it has the added benefit of helping me think through very relevant issues and learn from some experts.

This is Your Life from Michael Hyatt is no long a current podcast that he's producing shows for as far as I know but it's still one of my favorites. He talks about all sort of life issues, from time management to relationships and everything in between. He presents things in a very down-to-earth, realistic way that I really appreciate.

I also have some great writing ones that I enjoy including one called Caraphrased by my friend, Cara Grandle. Another is Write From the Deep by Karen Ball and Erin Taylor Young.

And just one more I've listened to lately is The Same Page podcast. I think it's a homeschooling resource type podcast but they read stories on there a chapter at a time and I love listening in. They read Wizard of Oz which was delightful and are now on to Peter Pan.

So there it is, a few of my favorite podcasts. I've listened to podcasts on fun facts, weird stories, theology and all sorts of others. It's amazing what's out there and I love discovering new ones. What podcasts do you listen to or what would you recommend? I'd love some suggestions. Leave me a note in the comments!

You Are More

Back in high school I had a friend who would ask the simple question "Who are you?" It seemed simple, right? I'm Kattarin Kirk. But then he would press further, "No that's your name, but who are you?"

Sometimes we get stuck in this mode of feeling one dimensional. Maybe you feel like you're the manager and you are at work but your life doesn't stop there. Maybe you're in school and you're a student, true, but you're still more then that. None of us have just one category we fit in. We are lots of roles to lots of different people.

I am a believer in Christ, a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a niece, a friend, a youth director, a volunteer assistant secretary, a church member, a writer, a blogger, an employee, maybe my favorite role is I am an aunt and godmother. I also hope that I'm a encouragement, a good listener and a wise adviser when need be. I'm not just one of any of these things. I'm all of these roles and more.

You are not just an employee, just a boss, just a daughter or son, just a stay-at-home mom or a working dad. You are more then that. God has created with a purpose and for a purpose. For you stay at home parents out there that purpose right now might be taking care of those kids and showering them with love while you have them home. For those working parents, work hard to provide for your family but focus on your family when you get home.

For those taking care of elderly parents, remember that you're not just their caretaker. You're their daughter or son and they love you and need you in a way they haven't before but you're also their caretaker and have to make decisions that are best for them. For those who are frustrated with their job or ministry, remember that this isn't the only part of your life and don't let it consume you.

To all of you remember that you are more then one dimensional and don't let any one part of your life take over the rest. At the end of the day you are still a loved child of the Most High King and that is the most important role that any of us have. So go out and do His work, however that may look for you today.

Amnesia

A few weeks ago will listening to a podcast when I heard a quote that definitely hit me in the heart. From Christine Cane of Hillsong Church. She said "The blood of Christ doesn't give you amnesia."

Sometimes I think that we want to start our story at the point we became a believer. Or if you grew up in the church like I did we want to start our story at the point when we started really following Christ with our whole hearts. If someone asks us to share our testimony a lot of us get defensive, or maybe we try to just gloss over the difficult, heartbreaking, shame inducing things that lurk in our past. Ever felt that way?

Last weekend while on a women's retreat with my church I was asked to share my testimony. When someone first asked me if I'd be willing to share I hesitantly agreed. It wasn't sharing my story that bothered me, I've done that lots of times, it was sharing my story with women who have known me for years. Women who knew me when I was a teenager living in rebellion of God but playing the role of perfect Christian girl every Sunday, Monday and Wednesday at church. (Yeah I was there a lot.)

I was never an outright party kid or at risk of becoming a juvenile delinquent but I did have my issues and I was afraid how these women would react when they found out. I really want to gloss over the bad stuff and just talk about how much I love working with the youth group now and how I'm growing in my walk with Christ. Then I heard that quote.

"The blood of Christ doesn't give you amnesia."

I've made mistakes. Lots of them. I've done things I'm ashamed of, I've done things I regret, I've done things that I teach every teenager who will listen not to do. I can't change any of it and I have to live with that knowledge and the memory of those decisions. The blood of Christ forgives me of those sins, it doesn't take away the memory, the pain or the consequences of them. 

After I gave my testimony I was surprised but oh so grateful when many of the women thanked me for sharing. They cried with me, embraced me but most importantly they rejoiced with me. Because the one thing that I've learned through sharing my story is that even though I don't get to have amnesia from those actions I do get to see how God has redeemed my past.

God takes ashes and transforms it into beauty. He took my rebellion, taught me lessons and then put me in the position to go teach and encourage teenagers about what I've learned. And because I've been there I can relate to many of them in a way that others can't.

After I shared my story I told someone that even though some of the things I went through because of my poor decisions were hard to deal with I was glad I had because now I could sit down next to a teen going through something similar and say "I get it. I've been there." and they'll believe me because I'm telling the truth. I really have been there and God's brought me through to the other side. Sometimes hearing that is all you need to find hope for yourself and see that God hasn't given up on you.

So no, the blood of Christ doesn't give you amnesia because it goes a step further and redeems your past to bring beauty from ashes.

Live in Harmony

Philippians 4:1-3 NIV
"Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life."

In a day and age where the words 'divided' and 'separated' get thrown around so much and we're so busy talking about how different we are it seemed like it might be a good idea to post about unity.

I think that at times it's too easy to skip over Scriptures like this that talk about specific people. It doesn't seem to apply to us, after all we never knew Euodia or Syntyche or even what their issue with each other was. But we all know someone, another believer, that we've had an issue with. We all know two believers who once worked together but now there's always tension between them. Far too many of us have seen churches torn apart because of believers refusing to set aside difference and work together. And what's the outcome? People are hurt, many will go to new churches, others won't go to any church but will cling to their faith and still others will abandon their faith completely. And there's the outsiders, the non-believers, who see this all happen and think "well if that's how Christians treat each other then why would I want to be one?" and that's what I believe Paul was trying to keep from happening in his letter to the church in Phillipi.

So let's break this down. Paul writes to this church, he expresses his love and pride in them. He calls them 'my joy and my crown' and encourages them to 'stand firm in the Lord'. He obviously wants what's best for them but then he immediately addresses a problem that's reached his ears. Somehow, someway these two women who both worked alongside Paul in his ministry, are now fighting with each other. They're bringing division into the church. Maybe it started out as just a bit of a spat between friends but left unresolved that discontentment always starts to affect the others around us. Paul begs the women to be reconciled and then he goes a step further.

He asks others to help them to 'be of one mind'. See as believers we're not only called to unity, we're also called to help others on this journey of discipleship that leads us to becoming more and more like Christ. So when we see two believers who are fighting or have a division between them we should do what we can, with much prayer and an abundance of love, to speak the truth into their lives and help them to be reconciled.

Sometimes this will mean helping a couple repair their marriage or helping a family learn to communicate better, maybe it's helping two friends repair the friendship after a fight or just two congregation members learn to serve on a committee together. Not everybody is going to be best friends and we're certainly not all going to agree on everything but throughout Scripture we're called to love one another. Isn't it more important to focus on the Lord we worship, to set aside our differences, not abandoning our beliefs, but focusing on being able to work together then it is to spend our time fighting?

Isn't about time that the church starts showing the world what Christ meant when He said to love our neighbor? And where better to start with the one who sits in the pew across from us? Or even the pew across town from us?

Jesus and Spaceships

Today I started out my morning and it was pretty normal. I was running a bit late but still made it to Bible study on time. I had a great study and then decided to run some errands. I walked out of a store and couldn't remember where on earth I parked. I paused on the sidewalk and looked around, trying to locate my car so I didn't have to just wander up and down the aisles looking for it. From behind me I heard a woman call out to me.

When I turned she asked for a ride to another store, the one that I was actually going to next. Normally I don't give rides to people I don't know but for some reason I felt like the Lord was leading me to say yes, so I did. When we got in the car, she immediately noticed that I had a Christian station playing on the radio. She was so excited and asked me if I was a believer, when I confirmed that I was she was thrilled and told me she was also a sister in Christ. As we drove she asked me to tell her my testimony.

As we got to the store she asked if I'd be able to take her home afterwards. Since it wasn't far away I agreed. She finished at the store and went out ahead of me, when I finished I walked out to find her talking to another woman. She introduced us and explained that this woman was also a Christian. She was so excited that there were three of us and commented how wonderful it was. The new woman, we'll call her Grace, said that was what heaven would be like, spending time worshiping the Lord with other believers for all eternity.

Then the conversation took a turn for the weird. Val, the woman I gave the ride to started talking about how Jesus was coming back soon on a space ship. She said that her husband told her that the prophecies describe a space ship, or more accurately, a space station, that has four quadrants. It's called Zion and it's supposed to enter the world between a couple of stars where a black hole recently appeared, supposedly.

As she talked I mentally rolled my eyes and looked over at Grace to see her reaction. Grace didn't even notice I looked at her because she was giving 100% of her attention to Val. When she was finished Grace smiled and sweetly but firmly said, "Well I don't believe a word of that."

Val was shocked and said, "But it says He's going to be seen everywhere, how do you explain that if it's not a space ship."

The conversation continued for a few minutes as Grace explained that in the Psalms it talks about how God holds the universe in his hand. Val was confused and she didn't agree by the time we walked away but through the whole thing I found that Grace's response inspired and challenged me.

See when I was uncomfortable I just kind of rolled my eyes but didn't respond. Grace on the other hand wasn't going to stand for it. She was incredibly patient, she never laughed or talked down about what she obviously thought was a very out there idea. She was kind and she gave her full attention to Val without ever shying away.

It made me think about how I react when I come across someone who has different beliefs then I do or doesn't hold to the same social niceties I'm used to. Next time I hope that instead of rolling my eyes when someone's ideas seem strange or silly to me I'll listen and treat them with kindness but still stand up for my beliefs like Grace did with Val.

Favorite Prophet

I like having favorites when it comes to the Bible. I don't know if you're supposed to but I like to anyways. I have a favorite book, the book of Acts, a favorite gospel, Mark, several favorite verses, way too many to count, and a favorite prophet.

Well sort of. I have different passages where I like different prophets at different times in their different ministries. (Is that enough difference for you?) But overall I think Samuel might be my favorite prophet. For a couple of reasons that I want to talk about here today.

The first is the family that he came from. Hannah, Samuel's mom, was a godly woman. She longed for a child and she prayed fervently that God would grant her this dream that was so close to her heart. She even promised that if God would give her a child she would dedicate that child back to Him. 1 Samuel 1:1-20 That's quite a statement. To finally be given the thing you desire most then turn right around and give it back to God. That's a woman of great faith.

Well if you know the story then you know that the Lord did grant Hanna her dream, He gave her a son, Samuel. After she weaned him Hannah took Samuel back to the temple and put him the care of the priest. She dedicated her little boy, that she had prayed for so fervently to the Lord, vowing that Samuel would live his life for the Lord all the days of his life.

Now I'm the youngest of my family, not the oldest like Samuel, but in this story I still find some commonalities that I love. My parents prayed for children for several years before God first gave them my oldest brother. And, just like Hannah, the Lord gave my parents several more children. There's something far more significant then that in these two stories though. Hannah dedicated her son to the Lord and she prayed for him. My parents gave us kids one of the best gifts that can ever be given, they prayed for us, continue to pray for us and taught us about the Lord. No, they didn't send us to live in a temple, thankfully, but they did dedicate themselves to teaching us about the Lord and helping us to learn to walk in His ways. That's the gift of a godly family and I'm very glad to have that as part of my story as Samuel did.

Second reason I love Samuel so much is how he was called. In 1 Samuel 3 the chapter starts by saying that "the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions." And yet in verse 4 the Lord called to Samuel. Immediately the boy ran to Eli, who he ministered under and said "Here I am!"

I love how quick Samuel was to respond, he went right to Eli but Eli hadn't called him so he sent him back to bed. Then it happened again and Samuel went back, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said he hadn't and sent him back to bed. When it happened a third time Eli realized what was happening and told Samuel that it was the Lord calling him. He told the boy that if the Lord called him again to say "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."

That's the part I love. Samuel was give the perfect response to the Lord's calling and it's the one we should still use. Every time the Lord calls me I want my response to be that of Samuel's, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."

The third reason I want to talk about today that I love Samuel so much is his loyalty. See when the Lord spoke to Samuel he gave him a prophesy on how He had condemned Eli's sons for the wickedness. The next morning Eli asked Samuel what the Lord had spoken to him but He didn't want to share it. The Bible says he was afraid, I would imagine he was also sad. He had to have known how much Eli loved his sons. He didn't want to hurt the man who was raising him but Eli persisted and Samuel told him the words of the Lord.

I love what's revealed here about Samuel's heart and I think there's a lot to learn from him. He didn't want to share because he didn't want to hurt a man he loved and respected but he did share because it was the Lord's words and he knew he needed to. That's the combination of love and truth that we should all be striving for in all our conversations.

So there it is, the 3 reasons from Samuel's childhood that I love him as a prophet and a few things we can learn from him.

Command, Choice or Chore?

Rejoice. We see it again and again and again throughout the Bible. Sometimes it's a command, like in 1 Chronicles 16:10 "Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice." or in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice."

Other times it's more like a choice. "I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High." Psalm 9:4 or "I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul." Psalm 31:7

What about when it's more like a chore? When you're having a bad day, when you're sick in bed, when something bad has just happened to someone you love. How do you rejoice then? Is it still a command. Yeah, the command to rejoice doesn't come with the condition of rejoice when you feel like it. Or only rejoice when things are going well. It's a one word command- rejoice. There's no out with this one.

But what about when things are are hard and you don't want to make that choice. It still is a choice, a much harder choice but still yours to choose. You can choose to rejoice or choose to complain. So which do you do?

James 1:2-3 says "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."

This is when rejoicing goes beyond just being a command. It becomes a hard choice and definitely falls under the category of chore. It's something you need to do, that you don't want to do but if you don't do it there's always consequences.

James says to rejoice not just sometimes but whenever you face trials. And not just the easy trials like being sick with cold, but trials of many kinds. But he doesn't leave it at that. There's a purpose in those trials, they develop perseverance and they test your faith. As your faith is tested it becomes stronger and so do you.

So whether it's the easy choice or a chore today I want to remind you that it's still a command. Rejoice.

"This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118: 24

Jellybeans!

Confession, I love jellybeans! Like really, really, really love jellybeans. But not Jelly Bellys. The other kind of jellybeans. Those are the good ones. I mean really good. They are so delicious! And this is not the point of today's post. So... moving on.

I have this really amazing friend who has a ministry of encouraging moms. She has two little ones and knows that sometimes the hardest part of being a mom is remembering to take care of herself. If you're not taking care of yourself then you're not going to be able to take care of anyone else. She also knows that when her kids are misbehaving she tends to blame herself. She realizes that moms tend to be way too hard on themselves so she does her best to encourage them, partially by reminding them that they are only human.

Some times when I hear her encouragement ti moms I remember that the rest of us need that reminder too. For me this week it took a friend pointing out that I was trying to do everything on the weekend. I was getting too tired during the week because I was stressing, then trying to dk wverything at once and not getting the rest I needed. So she suggested that I do small things throughout the week so that I could rest more on the weekend instead of stressing so much. So I followed her advice and wrote out my list of things that needed done. Then I broke it down by day.

Just having the to-do list helped me a lot. It actually gave me a great sense of accomplishment. Then when I came home I was all prepared to just do my two or three tasks that I had. Instead I ended up so happy I was getting things done that I actually got more tasks done! It was great! I ended up getting more done then I normally would on a work night and even got extra stuff on top of that finished!

So to celebrate I found some jellybeans I had stashed in my room and indulged a bit. What a wonderful end to the day!

To recap there was a point to all this and it's not to tell you how much I like jellybeans. (But I really, really do. And now I'm out so I need to out call my jellybean supplier on my to-do list. For the record, my supplier is my dad. He buys them for me in bulk then just gives them to me at random intervals. Yeah, he's pretty cool. Oh right, I'm off point again.) The point is that when you're feeling overwhelmed there's a few things you can do.

1. Take a breath and remember that you're human. Don't get mad at yourself or talk badly about yourself. Don't get discouraged, just come up with a plan.

2. Make a list. Write down everything you need to do then break it down into manageable amounts, whether it's days, weeks or hours in the day- whatever works for you.

3. Celebrate your small accomplishments, like when I did more then I expected of myself for the day so I had jellybeans. Find your own way to celebrate but make sure you do. It's important to have those moments, it's what give you the encouragement to keep going.

4. Keep going. Even if you lose your way for a bit you can get back on track.

So there it is. The ways to deal with stress and accomplish things. Or at least my way. Hopefully it'll work for you too. And seriously, you should consider the jellybean method. They're awesome.

Service to the Lord

Do you ever get tired and overwhelmed? Especially when you're working on serving? Maybe when you're volunteering or even being paid to work in ministry? It can feel like you're not appreciated, like you're spending all your time serving and never get anywhere. People can be cruel and accusatory and you start to wonder why you're bothering. It's exhausting and frustrating and you really just want to give up. You begin to wonder why you're putting so much effort into something that no one appreciates.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."
Colossians 3:23

Did you get that last part? It is the Lord Christ you are serving. How often do we forget that? Yes, we're working with people, yes people write our paychecks, make our rules and give us our tasks but the Lord is the one we are serving.

The other day I was feeling overwhelmed and looking at my list of things I needed to do for both ministry and practical. I was exhausted and stressed so my amazing friend suggested I go out to the porch with my Bible and a notebook. Sit down, dwell on God's word and write down everything worrying me. That way I could check it off the list or just forget about it or pray over it to give it to the Lord. Whatever needed done.

So I did. I opened my Bible first to Isaiah and read a bit in there then I flipped over to Proverbs. The page that fell open had some amazing words that God knew I needed right then. Words I had written at some time in the past.

The first is some of the most amazing advice that I forget all too often. "No time serving God is a waste of time." I honestly have no idea where I heard this or when I wrote it but it's so true. Serving God is never, ever a waste of time and if we are always working unto the Lord as we're told to be in Colossians then sweeping up the cereal the kids spilled, wiping down always sticky counters or walking our parents or elderly neighbors dog or pulling weeds in their garden, or our own, is not a waste of time. It's service unto the Lord.

Along the same lines is a quote from my Great-Grandma. "The hands of God have human fingers." While you're not wasting time serving God you're also touching lives and hearts of those God has put in your path.

Keep that in mind when ministry and life has you discouraged.

Let's Talk Jericho!

Let's talk about Jericho. This is one of my favorite Bible stories and I've probably talked about it on here a few times before. The story is found in Joshua 6. In the first few verses the stage is set for this awesome drama of God's power to play out.

Joshua 6:1-5
"Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
The the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with it's king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in."

There's so much in just these first few verses that I'm going to break it down and make some comparisons to our every day lives. So just hang in there with me for a bit.

Verse 1- The gates of Jericho were securely barred- Have you ever had a problem that you've looked at from every possible angle and you're going "Uh... Hey God? Isn't there supposed to be a window? 'Cause it doesn't seem like there is and I really need this problem to go away. How am I supposed to make that happen?"
I'm guessing the Israelites felt the same way. They're staring at this impenetrable city going, "Oh sure Joshua. You're totally going to conquer that place. Right... We'll just wait here and see how that goes."
I know that feeling- "Okay God, I'll just stand back and wait for you to fix this." But in my heart I'm not so sure how He's going to do that.

Verse 2- So then God says to Joshua- "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands", now I don't know about you but if I'm Joshua in this situation I'm going- "Um, you have? When was that? Did I miss something God?"
I've had those times too, I mean God has shown me a tiny little crack (Rahab in this situation) but I'm still wondering how all the details are going to work out.

Verse 3- "March around the city once with all the armed me."
Seriously, have you ever had God ask you to do something extreme? Trust Him with your finances, reach out to that difficult person or walk away from the security of the known because you know He's calling you to something else. Somehow as scary as those are this seems more extreme.

Skipping verse 4 and going straight to 5- "Then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in."
Seriously there are not enough laughing emoji's in the world to tell you my reaction to imaging myself in Joshua's shoes. "Are you serious God? You want me to walk around the city, do these things, the walls are going to fall in and then my army is just going to march straight in? Sure! Why not?!"
I mean to be fair Joshua had already seen God do some amazing things but I'm still guessing that he was a little concerned about having to give the Israelites these orders. I would be!
But doesn't God ask us to do crazy things all the time? Raise your children in a way that they'll be criticized and ridiculed for their beliefs. Watch your actions, language and clothing so that you are always a testament to how God has changed your life. Take time out of your day to study His word and pray and show up and be involved in your church instead of just spending some extra time on Netflix. That goes against our me-centered culture. So it as extreme as Jericho? No, thankfully, it's normally not but we all have walls and we're all waiting to see how God's going to make them fall. I'm guessing Day 5 felt more like Year 100 to them. But it wasn't until Day 7 (that would be Year 140 for those of you following along) that God came through. Because it was His timing and His plan not ours.

This is Me

Have you ever seen The Greatest Showman? When my amazing friend, Brandi, first told me about going to see it I just kind of smiled and listened. She was so excited about it but it didn't sound that interesting to me. I mean 'based on a true story of the guy that basically began what we now know as a circus'. Cool. But do I really want to spend the money to go watch it in theaters? Not really.

But I kept hearing about it and people kept exclaiming about how wonderful it was. So when my friends suggested renting it I agreed. I really wasn't expecting to find it to be such an amazing story.
I was laughing, yelling and tearing up. I was completely caught up in the story. And the soundtrack! Oh my! I knew right away that I would want to hear these songs again.

There was one song in particular that stood out to me more then any other. During this incredible scene when all of the circus people band together they sing 'This is Me' by Keala Settle, written just for this movie.

It starts out with words that really make you think.

"I am not a stranger to the dark
Hide away, they say
'Cause we don't want your broken parts
I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars
Run away, they say
No one'll love you as you are"

Haven't we all felt that way at times? I mean seriously, who hasn't been ashamed or felt unwanted, unloved. But we are wanted, we are loved, and we have a Friend who is not ashamed of us. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, He is proud to claim us and rejoices when we come to Him.

The second verse is also pretty amazing and calls us to hold our heads high.

"I am not a stranger to the dark
Hide away, they say
'Cause we don't want your broken parts
I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars
Run away, they say
No one'll love you as you are"

Pretty incredible that because we are children of the Lord we don't have to be ashamed.

The song is amazing but it's the chorus is that I really want to share with you today.

"I won't let them break me down to dust
I know that there's a place for us
For we are glorious

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me"

I may not know you but I know the One who does. Whatever you're going through today remember that you don't have to hide from Him. He will help you. He made you who are and even when you have bumps and bruises you can still offer yourself to Him and say- This is me. He will never reject you.

"My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise."
Psalm 51:17

What to Post?

It's Friday night. My weekly blog post goes online at 5 a.m. Saturday morning. Every Saturday morning so the post has to be written, edited and scheduled before I can go to sleep on Friday. I've forgotten before and there's always this awful panic moment when I realize. Then it's the hassle of having to figure out how to log in from my phone and try to navigate the screen that I'm used to looking at from my ginormous laptop screen. I swear, nothing looks the same on my phone. Some tech person would probably explain to me that's because there's different formats for the websites depending on if I'm looking at it on a laptop or a smartphone. At which point I'm trying to keep myself from screaming 'Deceptecon!' and running, screaming, the other direction. I may not know much about technology but I've seen 'Transformers' enough times to be concerned when the devices start getting too smart. It's probably some alien robot in disguise. Or am I getting my alien races confused with the ones from Men in Black? Hmm....

Well whatever nefarious aliens there may be, I still have to write a post. So what to write? I've been thinking about this all week. Discarding one idea after the other, scrolling through my 'draft' file that has all those ideas that started out so great then didn't get finished or just didn't turn out the way I thought they would. Occasionally I find one in there that I actually did finish but didn't get around to posting for some reason. Those come in handy every now and then but alas today is not one of those lucky days so I need to write something. But what?

I flip through the pages in my Bible and find some great notes but nothing that seems to need to be shared this week. I leaf thru my planner but haven't actually written any notes about what to post in there that I randomly forgot. So I check my phone, see if I left a note on there... no. Hmmm... what to post?

It shouldn't be this hard. I mean I've had this blog for four years now. I've been posting weekly for about two years now so why do I still go through this struggle? I mean really, shouldn't there be something interesting enough to share in my life? Well... yeah, no, there's not.

And letting my mind wander about why or why not I have nothing interesting to write about will not get the post written any quicker. So focus Kattarin! What are you going to write about?

Hmm... I have no idea.

That's okay, I'll call Mom and Dad. Maybe they'll be able to give me a suggestion. Mom? Dad? What should I blog about?
Well, what do you mean you don't know?
Well I don't know or I wouldn't have been calling you!
Ugh! Parents! They're so unhelpful sometimes.
Yes, I'm still talking to you and yes I am being sarcastic. I wonder where I got that from?
What do you mean write a post about what to post Dad? That's weird. Who would want to read that anyways?




Oh wait, you just did!

Hope it put a smile on your face too!

You Are ______

Have you ever been having a conversation with someone and you're just fed up? You want to scream at them. "You're just lazy!" Or "You're such a coward!" Sometimes you're so tempted to say, "You just keep screwing up. When are you going to grow up?" Maybe you want to really hurt them and tell them that the bad things in their lives are what they deserve.

It sounds awful but haven't we all had those moments? Those moments when as your temper rises and your mouth opens to spew the awful words that little voice in the back of your head warns you not to say it. It reminds you that once the words are out there you can't take them back. But the little devil on your shoulder is cheering you on, fanning the flames of your temper and you ignore that voice and say it anyways. And immediately the guilt begins to set in. But you don't take it back, you ignore it. You justify your words to yourself, reminding yourself of every bad thing they've done or hurtful thing they've said. You're in the right, you tell yourself, and this is what they need to hear.

When I was a kid we had a stupid little saying 'Stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me'. The other one was just as bad, 'I am rubber, you are glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you'. There's absolutely no truth to those sayings. In fact I'd even go so far as to say that it's almost the opposite.

Words do hurt. We all know that. But words also make a difference. Every time you tell someone that they're a failure, that they're lazy, that they're not good enough, that they're unlovable or that they can never be forgiven you build up that image or characteristic in their minds. Before I go any further I want to point out that yes, people can overcome those constant refrains that are thrown at them. They can prove all of those assumptions wrong but most of the time they don't.

We all know we shouldn't say those things. Sometimes our temper gets the best of us. Sometimes the disappointment of cleaning up one more mess, or cleaning up this first mistake that's such a surprise because this is 'the good kid' is so shocking that those things just slip out. Either way, we know better; but I don't want to talk about what we shouldn't say. I want to talk about what we should.

Maybe you have a daughter that is just selfish. No other way to put it. She's just a spoiled little girl that thinks the whole word revolves around her. Instead of telling her that she's selfish tell her she's beautiful. Teach her that beauty comes from the inside and projects out. When you see her being kind don't say, "Why can't you be that way all the time?" Praise her for that moment. "You are so kind." Not "You are so kind today, what's up with that?" Reinforce that good quality and do that each and every time. That way your perspective will start to change and you'll see more of her good qualities and her behavior will start to change as she works to live up to those standards of praise you're already giving her.

Maybe you have a son who is lazy. Don't scream at him for never do anything, thank him for the things he does. "Oh I so appreciate your hard work," when he takes out the garbage or feeds the dog. "Thank you so much for your work ethic, that will really serve you well all your life," when he cleans up his room. Then stand back and see what changes begin to occur.

And yes, I know that children have to be corrected and disciplined, but that doesn't mean that you have to berate them or talk down to them. You can still be encouraging and use those moments to teach them and encourage them. It may just change the whole relationship you have with them. Don't worry though, you'll still mess up and when that happens go back to last week's post. You're not a failure. Recognize you made the mistake, learn from it and move on.

Say it's your spouse who drives you crazy. Focus on the good things you like about them. Talk those things up. Listen to them and spend time with them. Learn to care about the things they care about and see how your marriage is transformed.

Thank your coworkers, thank your boss, thank your pastor or your friends. Focus on the good qualities of those around you and speak into their lives. Be an encourager and see how you are encouraged through the process.

A Note to Parents

I'm not a parent. However because of my position as a youth director I talk to parents who are often at their wits ends with their teenagers. I get the opportunity to talk to them about what's going on in their lives and their kids lives and offer them encouragement during those difficult times. There's one thing that I hear consistently from parents.

"I'm a terrible parent. I feel like I've failed them."

Over and over and over again I hear parents from all walks of life say this to me. And for the record I have parents of kids who aren't teenagers say this to me too. Parents of little ones say this all the time and just so you know I've even had parents of adults say this to me.


The thing that I tell parents is what I want to share with any parent reading this today. If you love your child, if you teach them what the Lord calls them to do, if you're doing the best you can and consistently trying to do what's right for your child then you haven't failed them. Have you made mistakes? Sure. Everyone does! Whether or not they're a parent. There's no way around that.

The fact is that there's no way to be a perfect parent. There's just not. What you can do is be the best parent that you can. Here's a few things I've heard parents suggest over the years.

When you make a mistake, admit it and even apologize.

Make your kids a priority. Consistently be there for them and go above just providing their basic needs, provide them the love and support that they also need.

Encourage them. A simple word of encouragement will go miles with your kid. I promise.

Teach your kids about the Lord. This is the most important thing you can do, teaching your kids about the God who created them and loves them. Teaching them to follow Him is the most important lesson you can ever teach them.

Loving them. Seriously, it's hard to express how far just a simple hug will go. Your kids need to know you love them. Say the words, give them hugs, show affection. That's so, so, so important!!!!

So let's recap. Love your kids, teach them what's right, teach them a relationship with the Lord, make them a priority, encourage them and accept the fact that you won't be perfect and neither are they. No parents are perfect. It doesn't mean you're a failure. As your kids become adults they'll make their own decisions, some of them will be wrong. Just be there for them. Just because they're growing up doesn't mean they don't still need you. They're kids and they're frustrating but they're your kids. There will be times you think you failed but chances are you haven't, you just need to hang in there and teach them do the same.

Her Legacy

In Matthew 26, Mark 14 and John 12 there's an amazing story recounted about a woman named Mary. As Jesus was eating dinner Mary came in with a bottle of expensive perfume. We're told that it was worth a year's wages. When Mary came in she poured the bottle of perfume on Jesus' head.

The disciples grumbled that she was selfish. They thought she should've sold it and given the money to the poor. Jesus rebuked them though. He said that Mary had done a beautiful thing.

See she took what she had and she made a sacrifice in order to give Jesus a gift.

What the disciples didn't understand was that her gift was a prophesy of sorts of Jesus being crucified in just a couple of days.

But here's the part that I really like. In Matthew 26:13 Jesus said "Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

Can you imagine that? Every country where the government has tried to stop the Bible from being taught this story has been taught. Every culture where women are considered second calls citizens this story, that demonstrates Christ's love for women, has been taught. Every language, every nation and every people group has had this story taught in memory of Mary.

This woman, who made such a sacrifice, was just doing what she believed was the right thing to do. She was showing her love for her Savior. In return He made sure she left a legacy that will never be forgotten.

Sacrifice for the kingdom of God is never a waste. The Lord promises us that He will repay us 100 fold in heaven. Just something to think about this week.

60 Years of Ministry

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending a retirement party for my grandparents. I think it’s the fourth retirement party I’ve attended for them now—but that’s another story. The point is that my grandparents have faithfully been serving in ministry for over 60 years now. Grandpa has served as a pastor, chaplain and missionary over the last 60 years. As his granddaughter I’ve had the pleasure of him passing me on many of the lessons he learned from his experiences. Although it would take me a lifetime to tell them all, today I want to share a few with you.

Grandpa taught me to meet people where they’re at. Grandpa served for many years as a pastor in rural communities. The churches he was pastoring at weren’t full of seminary students or Bible college graduates. They were full of farmers, log truck drivers, and people from all walks of life. They were everyday people trying to make ends meet, often these were people that were used to relying on themselves not God. Grandpa had to teach them that it wasn’t about fitting God into your life but about building your life around God. He learned though that you can’t teach people this by just coming in and preaching at them Sunday morning- “You’re doing it all wrong! You have to repent!” Those messages may have a place but Grandpa learned how to go about things a bit differently. He discovered that preaching at people wasn’t effective but following Jesus’ example of loving people got him a lot further.

Grandpa learned to become friends with people, to become invested in their lives. He truly loved the people he was serving and it showed. He would pray for them, talk to them, and find practical ways to help them when they were struggling. He became a part of their everyday world and because he met them where they were, they invited him further and further into their lives where he could finally begin to teach them what God has to say and how they needed to respond.

One of the biggest things Grandpa taught me about is unity. Particularly unity in the church. Grandpa explained that one of Satan’s most used tactics is to tear people apart but God brings unity.

So many times over the years Grandpa saw people who had a certain opinion about one point of theology. These people would share that opinion with others and if someone disagreed with them they would lash out. Instead of saying ‘okay, I disagree with you but we’re still brothers and sisters in Christ’ these people would throw accusations and insults around. They hurt their fellow believers because they weren’t willing to accept that someone else slightly disagreed.

Now please understand what I’m talking about here—these weren’t issues of theology that centered around what it takes to be saved or the deity of Christ (although those certainly happened too but should be handled in a slightly different matter) these were issues that arose from obscure verses or some silly little thing like what instruments to use at Sunday morning service.

People would split the church over issues like this when the fact is that it doesn’t matter. Jesus called us to be one body. He taught us that we should be more concerned with living a righteous life before God then arguing amongst ourselves. Grandpa didn’t disagree with every person who was so dogmatic about a piece of theology but he did disagree with how they presented their point. There are constructive ways to explain what you believe. Arguing, shouting insults or shunning people who disagree are not constructive methods. It hurts the church and it presents a terrible image to nonbelievers. Why would someone who doesn’t know Christ have any interest in coming to church if the people of the congregation act worse towards each other than nonbelievers do? This is not what Jesus meant when He commanded us to love our neighbor.

A third thing Grandpa taught me was to never underestimate God. We serve an amazing God. Over the years Grandma and Grandpa saw God provide for them and their five daughters in completely unexpected ways. More than once there were times when there wasn’t enough food to put on the table of the small parsonage they were living in and someone would “just stop by” because they  had too many potatoes or a little bit too much milk or their chickens had laid more eggs then they needed. So they would give the food to their pastor and his family—probably never knowing what a blessing they were.

God provided cars so Grandpa could visit people in the community. He even provided a washing machine through the generosity of a Christian Women’s Club meeting when my mom was young so Grandma would no longer have to hand wash and wring out laundry for their family of six. (Their youngest daughter had not been born at the time.)

The Lord took care of them and sustained them in hard times and He didn’t stop blessing them in the good times. In return my grandparents passed on those blessings to others and they taught their children to do the same. Those children, five girls, are my mother and aunts. And each of them, along with their husbands, has taught their children, my siblings and cousins and myself, these same lessons and so many others.

So after more than 60 years of ministry Grandma and Grandpa—now in their late 80’s—are stepping down from the church where they have been serving. But they won’t stop ministry. They will continue to be a blessing to those they’re around because they’ve learned the discipline of serving God every day of their lives, no matter where they are, what circumstances they’re in. They will take the lessons He has taught them and faithfully continue sharing those lessons with others like me.

Sailors

"Red at night, sailors delight. Red in the morning sailors take warning."

I like to joke that I should've been born at sea. For as long as I can remember the idea of sailing has fascinated me. Maybe it's because my dad was in the Navy. From the time I was young Dad would give me directions using 'port' and 'starboard' instead of 'left' and 'right' because the nautical terms made way more sense to me. Left and right tended to confuse me. Yeah, I was a weird kid.

Anyways at some point I learned the adage above and I was so excited when I found this same sign talked about in the Bible. It's in Matthew 16:1-4.
"The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
He replied, 'When evening comes, you say, "It will be fair weather, for the sky is red" and in the morning, "Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast." You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.' Jesus then left them and went away."

Now the sign of Jonah that Jesus was talking about was a prophesy of His death and resurrection. But it got me thinking about the signs that we look for.

I already told you that left and right used to confuse me horribly. Fact is I'm so directonally (I think I made that word up) challenged it's ridiculous. I kid you not, I can get lost in parking lots. So I'm constantly using a GPS or looking for street signs to help me find where I'm going. Signs can be very helpful whether it's to tell the weather, help you find your way around or other signs we look for like people's body language or tone of voice to tell us what mood they're in.

But what kind of spiritual signs do we miss? I'd say that most of the time we aren't asking God for a miraculous sign like the Pharisees and Sadducees were (and hopefully we're not doing it to test God out of spite or because we doubt that He's the Messiah like they were) but we ask for other kinds of signs. Maybe we look at our bills and can't see why God isn't providing a sudden influx of cash to pay them, but we forget about the fact that there's been food on our table every night, even if it sometimes comes through the kindness of others. Isn't that a sign of His provision? Or maybe you've skipped meals but you're still eating enough to be alive to read this. That's a sign too.

We ask for intervention in the life of a loved one but when that person begins to turn a corner we simply sigh and wonder how long it will last before they turn back to the addiction. Maybe what we should do is thank God for the work He is doing in that person's life, and thank Him for this sign of change. If it lasts, praise God! If it doesn't, praise God for the hope it gives us of what could happen again, of who that person can become.

Perhaps it's a prayer for a spouse or a child because of the loneliness that haunts our heart. Loneliness is a hard enemy to fight against. But instead of focusing on the loneliness perhaps we should be grateful for the people He has put in our lives already- friends, family, nieces and nephews to spoil or children at church we can work with through ministries like nursery or Sunday School. And we can
focus on learning to be complete in Christ. Friends, I urge you to remember that no human, not the spouse of your dreams or the child you've longed for, will ever be capable of filling all the holes in your heart. They are human and as much as you may love them, part of being human means they'll disappoint you at times. They will not make you complete or whole- only God can do that.

I don't know what you're praying for today. I don't know what sign you're looking for but today I encourage you to focus less on the signs that you're used to seeing and more on the miracles God puts in front of you every day.

Still There

A seventeen year old girl sitting on the back stairs of a conference center where a Christian youth conference was being held. She was about to graduate high school, had been accepted into Bible school and had her whole life ahead of her. She was in tears and a youth leader from a different group came and sat down next to her. After a brief conversation the leader asked the girl, "Are you a believer?" For the first time in her life the girl gave a heartbreaking answer, "I don't know."

As they talked more the girl confided that she didn’t understand how God could love her, or forgive her after the decisions she’d made. They weren’t just mistakes. The teenage girl knew that what she had been doing was wrong but she’d chosen to walk away from God anyways. She’d been living her life away from the Lord and didn’t know the way back. The leader pointed to her young child and explained that no matter what he did in his life she would always love him. She challenged the teenager with these words. “If I as an imperfect human can love my son that much then how much more can God, who is perfect, love you, His child.”

From there she was able to counsel the teenage girl until the teenager got to the point of rededicating her life to Christ. That was nine years ago and today I’m still so grateful for that woman who God sent to intervene in my life because I was that teenage girl.

The details of my story may be unique but the theme, sadly, isn’t. So many people struggle with feeling like God doesn’t love them or can’t forgive them. They get lost and they don’t know how to find their way back to Him. Today I want to remind you of some of God’s words on this very subject.

You’re right, people screw up and you’re no exception.

Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

Romans 3:10 “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one…”

There are consequences of that sin.

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned-“

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

There’s more to the story though, you need to understand the bigger picture.

Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

So here’s the solution-

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

And here’s the response, this part’s your decision and no one can make it for you.

Romans 10:9-10 “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

But here’s the assurance that God promises.

Romans 10:13 “…Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

And this is the result.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…”

Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”

Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

My friends if you feel today that God has forgotten you or abandoned you the verses above, straight from the NIV translation of God’s word make in abundantly clear that He has not. He loves you. It doesn’t matter what sin you’ve committed or how long you’ve been away. God, your loving Father, has been waiting for you to come back to Him. He’s still waiting. He loves you that much. Just turn around and you’ll find Him, reach out your hand and grasp His, it’s there, He’s reaching out to you and He has been all this time. 

I also want to leave you with the words of the chorus from Matthew West's song "More". 
"I love you more then the sun 
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine and you shine for me too
I love you
Yesterday 
And today
And tomorrow 
I'll say it again and again
I love you more"

God loves you friends, more then you will ever know.

Great-Grandpa and the Bible

A few weeks ago I was visiting my parents when my mom found an old Bible. After a few minutes of searching through the well worn pages that were full of notes she discovered the name on the front cover. Lawrence. My great-grandpa.

I never got to meet him but I've heard about great-grandpa my whole life. Mom let me borrow his Bible so I could look through it. Getting to read the notes that he wrote in his Bible, notes about his faith and the lessons he learned, notes from classes he taught and sermons he gave. Notes about God's faithfulness and the hard times that the Lord carried him through, including the death of his third son.

It's an amazing treasure to read all these notes and learn from his legacy of faith so many years after he's gone home to heaven. And that's really what it is. A legacy. Great-Grandpa was a carpenter and although some would look at the houses he built and point to those as his legacy I would argue that his faith was his real legacy.

Of course sometimes it takes me a little while to try read what Grandpa wrote. He had a tendency to misspell things (Mom I come by it naturally!) and he wrote in all caps, funny thing is, my grandpa, Great-Grandpa's son, writes like that too. Plus all of the typed notes stuck in the Bible were written on a typewriter so there's random spaces in the wrong place and things couldn't be corrected if they were typed wrong. (I've never been so grateful for my backspace button!)

Anyways today I just want to give you a peek into the legacy of my great-grandpa and share a couple of stories about this amazing man and the legacy he's passed on, through his children and grandchildren and through this Bible he faithfully read and notated.

Great-Grandpa Lawrence always said that he wasn't a preacher. He insisted on it. But in his Bible I've found notes from classes he's taught, there's probably notes from sermons he gave too. Because here's the thing- this man who 'wasn't a preacher' preached at a church for over twenty years every Sunday because they couldn't afford to hire a pastor.
I don't know the details of how it all happened but I guess there was this little church around 25 miles from where Grandpa lived. They didn't have enough money so they asked Grandpa to 'fill in'. They gave him enough money to drive back and forth each Sunday. He worked his regular job Monday- Friday, was raising a whole houseful of little ones and drove all that way every week to preach at this church.
But don't mistake him for a pastor.
I'd have loved to see the look on his face when Jesus gave him his heavenly reward for that service and explained that he had indeed been a preacher.

One of my other all time favorite stories about Great-Grandpa is from the Great Depression. My great-grandparents had four little ones at this time I believe. They ended up on the welfare list, a list everyone wanted on because the government would give you some money in a time when there wasn't any. One day they welfare lady came to give them their money and Grandpa said to her something along the lines of, "Well, Helen and I have prayed about it and we've decided we want you to take us off this list. You can put someone else on it who needs it. God's going to take care of us."
Let me put this in perspective. They had four kids at home! It was the Great Depression! And someone was offering them money but they turned it down! Can you imagine? That's a lot of faith to trust that the Lord will provide not just for you, not for your spouse but also for your children. During a time when the whole country was out of work, out of food and couldn't even pay the most basic bills.

As a side note of the six kids that my great-grandparents had one died young, two sons became pastors and their two daughters married pastors. The other one has faithfully served the church and helped others for many, many years.

You set a great example Great-Grandpa. You definitely raised up your children in the way they should go and now that they're old they haven't departed from it.

Somehow it seems fitting that my last story wouldn't be one that was told to me but one that I found in Grandpa's Bible. Stuck in the pages of Exodus there's some notes from what looks to be a Sunday School class Grandpa was teaching. At least I'm assuming it was a Sunday School class but it may have been a sermon, I'm not sure.

The verse is Exodus 33:14 "And he said, 'My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.'" Somehow in the class that led them to talk about clinging to the past. Be it a past memory, or experience or tradition. The notes point out that history is to be taken seriously, we all feel the need to have roots and we can all be 'helped by precedents and patterns that are headed down to us from the yesterdays'. And after all those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

But then the notes go on to explain that although the answer is yes it's only to a point. 'To observe the past is wisdom. To be obsessed by it is folly.'

So there it is, my Great-Grandpa, the legacy he left that we can learn from, but not be obsessed by and the Bible that I'm getting to study from someone else's perspective. Thank you for your faith Grandpa, thank you for the example you left, thank you for showing me how to keep living for the Lord when things get difficult.