Can I Tell You a Story?

Can I tell you a story? It's a story about how my life has been transformed over the last year by two incredible women.

It starts with an amazing homeschooling mama of four from Alabama. With an awesome accent, a great laugh and tons of fantastic quotes ranging from "If God wanted me to fly He would've given me wings!" to more everyday quotes that automatically put a smile on our faces like, "You guys!" Brandi is an inspiring, encouraging and hilarious woman who makes me smile and laugh on a daily basis.

She hangs out in the Alabama heat, tending her garden, does an amazing job of homeschooling her four adorable youngsters, and chases around some super cute puppies. She cooks and cleans and takes care of her family while somehow still finding time to create amazing Christian, inspirational fiction at her old fashioned scroll top desk. I have no idea how she does it all. But those are just a few of the reasons that she's so amazing.

Then there's the brave Eastern Washington girl who ended up transplanted in Colorado. With a coat of armor of snark and sarcasm, a super fast wit and one of the best senses of humor I've ever had the pleasure to encounter she also has one of the deepest hearts I've ever found. Coffee is the lifeblood that flows through her veins and she makes sure she keep us educated on all the adventure movies and superheros that are out there. This amazing lady could easily take on the world and she's proved it again and again in the last year that I've had the pleasure of knowing her.

Instead of taking on the whole world she just tackles her corner of it by juggling homeschooling, teaching, taking care of her family and coming up with fantastic stories that twist and turn and climb and dive in ways you'd never expect. She keeps Brandi and I laughing, makes us cry with her sweet encouragement and cheers us on through the hard times.

And then there's me. The Oregon girl who forgets her words, laughs so hard I can't breathe and is so incredibly grateful that God orchestrated events to bring these two amazing women into my life.

Friendship is a blessing. An incredible blessing. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

When you find those friends, the ones who make you laugh, make you cry, encourage you, cheer you on and support you no matter what is going on in your life, hold on to them. If God brings people into your life who will pray you though a cross-country move in just a few weeks, friends who will make you laugh when you're ready to cry because you're renovating a house and roadblocks keep coming up, don't let go. Those people who will make you laugh so hard on a train ride that the other passengers look at you like your crazy, who will send you encouraging messages and tons of prayers because they know your terrified of an upcoming interview, the ones that you can share some of your deepest fears and the stories held most closely to your heart with, hang on to those people. They will light up your life in ways you never imagined.

Last April God took three women from different parts of the country and put them together in a unexpected ways. He did it because He knew that they needed each other, even though we didn't realize it at the time. We thought that we were joining a writing group a mutual friend of ours had set up so we could encourage each other, teach each other and help each other grow in our writing. And we have, all of that has happened but so much more has happened too.

So let me tell you a story- God can take people from anywhere and put them together to become friends. He doesn't do anything without a purpose and His purpose with friendship is to bring blessings to our lives. Blessing of laughter, encouragement, prayer and love. That's what friendship is. So when you find those friendships, hang on. Even in a year they can change your life.

So here's to two of my wonderful friends. I can't wait to see what times of laughter, excitement, adventure and of course, stories, the next year brings.

Love Authenically

Love authentically. That's how The Voice translation words Romans 12:9 "Love others well, and don't hide behind a mask; love authentically. Despise evil; pursue what is good as if your life depends on it."

So what does it mean? Love authentically? Part of it is in the verse right there- don't hide behind a mask. When you say "I love you" let it be sincere. Don't say "I love you" so that you can get someone to do what you want. Don't say "I love you" but in your head say, "I wish I never had to deal with you again", that's not love. So what is? And how can you love authentically?

Let's start with love. What is love? 1 John 4:7-8 (ESV) says "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on it's own way; it is it not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

We're not talking about a shallow kind of love here. This isn't infatuation with a crush or an 'I love you' because we have a lot in common. This is real love. Agape love. God's love. Perfect love. This type of love cannot be hidden behind a mask. It's real and authentic.

Authentic. That's our second word. The definition is "not false or copied; genuine; real".

So we're told to love authentically. Give real love in a real way. Don't just pretend to love someone, or do things for selfish reasons, really love them! Show them your love. Genuine love given unselfishly and freely.

This verse seems to apply in so many areas of life. How we love our family, our friends, the people we minister to and the ones God put in our path. It's not enough just to be nice to them or even just to take care of them. We're told to love them without hiding behind a mask, give them authentic love. And pursue what is good as if our lives depend on it.

Dreams

I remember as a little girl I had all sorts of dreams of what I was going to be when I grew up. It was always changing. At one time it was a ballerina, or a gymnast which I practiced for by hanging upside down from anything that would support me or doing cartwheels off the church stage. At another point I had an obsession with ice skating, not that I'd ever been ice skating in my life but I wasn't going to let that stop me! Unfortunately a lack of natural grace and an inherent klutz gene created a bit of a roadblock to those plans.

One of my favorite dreams that I had was when I decided I was going to be a missionary and I was going to travel to villages on horseback. I feel like that plan needed a little bit of work but most of my dreams did. Especially the ones where I dreamed of being a princess, taming a dragon and riding a unicorn.

My dreams have obviously changed a lot since I was a little girl. I realized I'm a terrible dancer so now I just dance when no one else is around. I learned that I don't have the discipline, much less the talent or balance to be a gymnast or an ice skater. I realized that God wasn't calling me to be a full time missionary overseas but instead calling me to youth ministry right here. And although I enjoy riding horseback I wouldn't want it to be my only source of transportation. And even thought every little girl wants to be a princess and probably ride a unicorn, reality looks a little different.

Everyone has dreams. They'll look different for different people. Someone who's in the hospital may have a dream of getting out to spend more time with their family. A person who is lonely dreams of finding connection. That little girl sitting at her window staring out at the yard may be dreaming of her prince charming coming someday, or she may be dreaming of what career she'll tackle when she's old enough or what country God might send her to as a missionary.

Dreams are always different. For every person, even for the different situations in your life. The age you're in or the stage of life you're in make a difference of what your dream is. There's short term dreams and long term dreams. Funny, silly dreams like my dream of being a princess or a ballerina and more serious dreams like buying a house or having children. There's forgotten dreams and dreams that you've never let get too far from your heart. Dreams you're actively seeking and dreams that you've never told anyone.

Proverbs 16:9 says "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."

This verse got me thinking about the dreams that we have. We have a dream and so we begin planning for it. Maybe we stop to pray, "Lord, please let this thing happen." or "God, please clear this roadblock so my dream can happen." But do we ask the Lord His opinion on our dreams?

He directs our steps. If we want to follow His leading and if our desire is to go where He directs us then first we need to talk to Him about it. When that dream comes to life in your heart don't just blindly follow it and ask for God's help along the way. Hold it up to God and ask if it's the direction He wants to direct you. Let Him direct your steps and your dreams.

When you share your dream with God ask His opinion before you go off to chase it. Ask Him to give you His dream for you. Sometimes letting go of your dream is heartbreaking but the dream that He'll give you to replace it will be far better then anything you can imagine.

Jeremiah 29:11 says "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

God won't just take away your dreams but sometimes He replaces them. Let Him decide what dream you chase.

Even For Just One

I'm a youth leader. I've talked about that on here before. I love being a youth leader. The teenagers I work with are worth every moment of blood, sweat and tears (lots of tears) that my fellow leaders and I pour into them. God overflows us with joy, love and encouragement and we try to pour those things back into the kids. As rewarding as it is, it's not always easy.

In my time of working with teenagers I've seen lots of different situations with lots of different outcomes. I've seen kids who have wholeheartedly dedicated their lives to the Lord. Those who have gone on to live their adult lives as productive members of society. Some of them have married, had children, gotten good jobs. Some have even turned around and poured their own time, energy and money back into the ministries that drew them closer to the Lord in the first place. Those kids are such a blessing. Youth leaders can look at them and thank God for the encouragement that they get by seeing how those kids have turned out.

Then there's the other side of the spectrum. The kids who have completely walked away from the Lord, from their family and from everyone who ever tried to help them. These are the kids that routinely break your heart. You keep holding out a hand, wanting to help them back onto the right road and they keep slapping it away. So you pray and pray and pray because all you can do is leave them in the Lord's hands.

There are in between situations. The kids who start out strong and then slowly drift away, leaving you shaking your head and wondering if there was something you could've said or done differently to change their trajectory. Or the ones who are such a mess all through those years you were in their life and you spent that time shaking your head wondering where on earth they were going to end up and sometimes they end up on the right path, other times it's years later and you still don't know what's going to happen.

Our human perspective is so short sighted. When a kid seems to be doing well we rejoice, but we have no idea what's happening under the surface, in their hearts. We see a kid going the wrong way and we cry out to God, 'Lord, why aren't you stopping them? Why aren't you intervening?' but what we don't realize is that kid is going to be a youth pastor some day and reach hundreds, maybe thousands of kids.

Thinking about the different kids makes me think of Jesus going to the cross and looking out over the crowd. People were jeering at Him, mocking Him as He was taking on, not just their sins, but the sins of the world. Your sins. My sins. He was taking on the sins of each of those kids I talked about. He went to the cross knowing who would walk away, knowing who would eventually accept Him and knowing all the pain that He would survive because of each of our decisions.

The pain that we experience with the decisions of our youth kids is nothing compared to what Christ experienced when He took on our sins on the cross. He endured it all knowing there were many who would never accept His sacrifice. Even if it was just one person who accepted His free gift of salvation He would've still gone to the cross to be crucified and rise again three days later. He would still have gone through that pain for just one person!

That’s the example we need to remember every time someone hurts us. Every time one kid walks away and breaks our hearts again, every time you're tempted to give up remember that even if you only reach one person it's worth it. God doesn't tell us who's life we're going to touch or who's life we'll make a difference in. He hasn't told me which kids to pour into, He just tells me to be there for the teens He puts in my life and leave everything else, including my heartache, to Him.