in the word wednesday

“Katy girl…as you continue to release, trusting in Him completely, you will be utterly amazed at what He will do with and through you.  You remind me of Esther. She waited, studied, questioned as she allowed herself to be prepared. When/As she walked into her destiny she gave all, trusting completely in God fully aware that even her life was at stake.  She allowed herself to be completely vulnerable and exposed…for such a time as this.  God will lead you to the very place He is even now preparing you for.”

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16

Words stay with me.  Long after they have been spoken or written I carry them along.  Sometimes I really need to learn how to hit the delete button faster, but other times the words carry God-weighted goodness. The words above I’ve held in my heart for well over a year and still have the cute card.  God whispered words encouraging me along the way to trust, let go of the masks, and embrace the adventure even with the risks.  Whereas, the verse above is one that I am carrying, mulling it over, pondering it, holding it in my heart just since last week.  When it was spoken, I didn’t recognize the context and didn’t fully see the implication.

After reading Matthew 10, I held my breath.  Jesus called them each by name. Gave them a charge to go to the lost sheep.  Sent them among the wolves.  Gave them power to heal, cleanse, raise the dead, and cast out demons.  To freely give because they had freely received.  To love much because they had been forgiven much.  To endure to the end even while others hate them because of His name’s sake.  To remember how valuable they are and that God will take care of them.  To take up their cross.  To give to the little ones.  To teach and preach and be like the Teacher. To speak what is given to them by the Spirit of the Father.

With the verse came the charge and the  confidence that the armor (Ephesians 6) has been given for me to wear into this battle.  To be like Esther knowing full well that lives are at stake–not just mine–but to trust and walk forward in obedience confidently with Him.  While knowing that He has a purpose for such a time as this as well a time for preparation and becoming…wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.

 

 

a glimpse of god

I didn’t expect to find tears running down my face.  I didn’t expect to find such a clear glimpse of who God is and His love for me.  To see how faithful God is to walk with us and never leave.  That’s the thing about encouraging other people.  Oftentimes, you’re the one so blessed and can’t help but smile through the tears.

Within a free pack of cards from (in)courage for National Day of Encouragement, I pulled this one out to find my fingers covered in gold sparkles.  A card that I would not pick myself.  Oh, but, the words softened my heart toward it:

“Thank you for sharing God’s love, not only with your words but also with your life.  In today’s world, that’s not always easy to do–but you do it with kindness and consistency.  That’s what makes you different, and it’s the reason you make a difference.  Thanks for being who you are and doing what you do–you’re appreciated more than you know.”

Right away, I knew who God wanted to receive this card.  Words came easily across the paper as if we were sitting chatting together instead of miles apart.  Until I got caught on the word consistency…so I wrote:

“And you keep walking this road with me from afar even when you could have easily stopped when an ocean got in the way.”

Somewhere along the way I picked up this notion that even if people say they will walk with me through a storm…that they’ll end up leaving me alone.  Close to a year ago, I entered a big storm and made some life changing decisions.  One of my questions as I entered this storm was if a few people would walk with me…and here today, I find them still walking with me. The storm has changed, but the one who I’m giving this card to…well, she’s still here…walking through the rain with me and teaching me to jump in the puddles with a smile on my face even while the tears flow. All the while….encouraging. waiting. trusting. praying. with me.

My Ways or His Ways?

Sometimes I find that my perception of God needs a bit of alteration.  I find that I am not consistent in my thinking or that I bought into something that shouts that I’m stuck on my ways instead of seeing them as His ways.

Example One: I found a prayer in one of my journals that asked God to protect me from deception.  And at first, I was like, uh….what!? where were you God–why didn’t you step in and intervene and save the day? Except, the kicker here is that I wanted Him to intervene so that things would turn out how I wanted them.  He DID protect me by allowing others to step in and walk with me. Things just looked different.

Example Two: I keep wanting to put lists, rules, and lines in areas of my life.  But, then, I’m reminded…He wants me to fall in love with Him in such a way that life no longer feels like a list of do’s and don’ts but a crazy madly love that permeates all that I do to where each and every moment translates into an all relying on Him adventure both with Him and others!

Example Three: I found myself verbalizing frustration over waiting on God’s timing…yeah, sometimes I get frustrated.  But, see, I kept thinking of Him as almost teasing or just not wanting to give me want I want.  Though, really, no! That’s not it at all. He wants to wait to give me that amazing delicious tasting satisfying falafel instead of letting me settle for some not so tasty cheeseburger…

How about you? Do you need to adjust or alter some areas you translate your ways as God’s ways?

Running Around

“Authenticity has less to do with what I look like and more to do with what I say and do.” –Sarah

A while back there was thing called “Real Me” running around the “blogosphere.”  I kept intending to participate, but never ended up having a camera after those real me moments. Until tonight…

See, the real me loves to run.  I haven’t always. Back when I played tennis like it was my job, I loathed running.  But then, tennis season ended and I love the feeling of a good workout…

So, on a whim, I picked up running. I hit the pavement searching for cute little neighborhoods and found myself loving the mixture of music, God time, and the feelings afterward (from i hurt to okay I did that!).   Give or take about three years, here I am still running.

Now, as for the picture…I took this little gem right after my 16.1k (or 10 mile) run–sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself…  My legs hurt. I did not smell pretty. I’m pretty sure I had salt on my face. I had just listened to Battlefield on repeat 22 times to remind me to get my armor on (yes…I counted while I ran and I wanted to get my $1.29 worth out of the song I bought in part just for this ridiculously long run and check out Ephesians 6).

I’ve got my cross and heart necklace around my neck (I’ve worn the cross since high school and June gave me the heart last year–yeah…I never take it off…literally).  I have a watch on my right hand (and no, I’m not left handed, I just like that hand better for watches).  I’m wearing flip flops because that’s how I roll even in negative temperatures.

I’m missing my big earrings and sunglasses, but  just imagine they’re there because they normally are.  Oh, and yes, I’m taking a cheesy self-portrait hand out smiling style picture because I like documenting things like this and yes I smile in them…iPhoto has plenty of these stored away.

So, there’s a little glimpse into the real me. I’ll try to share more as these moments pop up, but I’ve written more than enough me…tell me something about the “real you” because I so would love hearing from you!!! (and yes, I use multiple exclamation points or question marks to emphasize that I really do want to know..I do) 🙂

What a Hug!

“Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.” Genesis 33:4

After reading this, I sat back and thought…wow, what a hug that must have been! Such emotion and love all wrapped into two sentences.

I’m not usually a touchy-feely kind of girl, but really. Give me a big hug and I’m soaring. Like the hug captured here with this amazing woman who so walked with me (and still is even if it’s across the ocean for now!) and gave me so many “what a hug!” moments…

We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives –Robert Kennedy

p.s. I love you, June…and now you’ve got me all teary-eyed.

*Photo taken after I was baptized on November 5th 2009

New Creation

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, she is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”

2 Corinthians 5:17

Baptism.  A public celebration, a declaration of faith in Christ, a new creation.

And I’m madly in love with You.

“I’m searching for a life that hasn’t been there before.  Speak life into the darkness. Speak life into my lungs.  Fill my soul as deep as the ocean.  Reaching for your love.  All that I can do is give it back to you. You take my old skin and made it new again.You have made me new.  A new creation. Bring out the colors my heart’s yet to see.  The night’s on fire for the warmth of your love. Speak life into the darkness.” –“New Creation”

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:3-4

“I will betroth you to Me forever.” Hosea 2:19

“I am the Lord’s.”Isaiah 44:5

“Beloved.” Romans 9:25

“Belonging to the Lord.” Isaiah 44:5

“My delight is in her.”Isaiah 62:4

“So, let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.” Hosea 6:3

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you: I have called you by name: you are Mine… Do not call to mind the former things or ponder things of the past.  Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth…I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:1,18-19,25

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12

“I am enough because He is enough.” –Alece

Ragamuffintop Challenge Week 1

With the official start of June 2 minutes ago, I’m completely up for a new challenge.  I’ve been reading Ragamuffin Soul for a while now and decided this could be a fun little thing to participate in.  Here are the rules:

1. You must have a measurable goal.

2. You must place a photo or video on your blog each weekend and give us the scoop on how you did.
3. You must link back here so that the readers of your blog get to see how the rest of us are failing or succeeding.
4. You fill out the linky thing below and then people can get to your blog from my front page and we can cheer each other on.

 

 

I don’t own a scale nor do I necessarily want to…(I’m a bit obsessive sometimes–not good).  So I won’t be going that route.  Instead, I’ve got a few measurable things that I’m going to work on.  

 

Now in the pictures these pants look fine, but let me tell you…they are a bit tight–too tight to wear for 8 hours at work.  I’m a BIG fan of comfy clothes so simply put I don’t wear uncomfortable things pretty much ever.  So the main goal will be to be able to fit comfortably in these again 🙂  Along with this goal I want to be able to participate in a triathlon if I decided to do so toward the end of summer.  I haven’t figured out a way to train for the swimming part yet.  The rest is measurable.  13 miles of biking and 3.1 miles of running.  Lastly, another subset goal is to complete the Biggest Loser 6 week program.  I have gone through 4 weeks of cardio and just gave in and bought the power sculpt dvd as well.  So I want to do the cardio 4 times a week and the power sculpt 3 times a week.  Yikes, who knew there could be so many things to do!  Here we go!  

p.s. I’m planning on posting a “why am I doing this” blog soon 🙂