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Category Archives: Living the Christian Life
Living the Christian life is a journey of suffering and joy. It’s a road on the way to Damascus. These stories include what it means to live as a fisher of men in modern day times.
Only Love
Let God Have You
Chasing Stars
Experts said last night/early this morning would be an ideal time to catch the show. The weather was clear as the sun descended and the twinkling lights in the sky flickered on. He left the fluorescent moonlight turned off for better viewing of the rain.
I was eager to catch the 1 a.m. showing of the Perseid “Chasing Stars”. I imagined it to be a sneak peek of the glory that awaits.
The only alarm I set was a prayer that if God felt I should see this one, He would stir my soul awake with anticipation. Two hours after I laid down, I was leaping out again.
1:14 a.m.
Scrambling for my shoes, the hype was building in my heart for what was about to come down. I’ve seen it in 2D, but I just wonder what it’s going to look like in 3D.
It was a beautiful night to be out under the glittering heavens. And in all fairness, I saw several things streaking through the sky, but none were brilliant enough to be a shooting star.
Convinced my sleepy eyes were now seeing things, I closed my eyes and wondered what it would be like to wake my ficticous family up and encourage the kids to come outside for the show. Would they think, ‘oh Mom. Why must you drag us out of bed for this?‘ Or would they be just as eager to leap out of bed on a school night with me? I imagined my husband would be gathering up blankets to lay on the lawn, as the microwave finished cooking the last bag of popcorn.
And then we would wait in silence, with the sound of kernels being crunched between our teeth. Maybe we’d ask each other about our dreams and begin praying for one another as a family of dreamers as we waited on our God.
I smiled at the thought.
Pulling up a star finder app on my phone and pointing it toward the sky, I started to follow the planets. Gazing at the canvas of artwork, I watched Him splatter stars with intentional strokes that drew invisible lines, forming incredible frescoes on the ceiling.
With arms lifted high in awe of this Creator, my front row seat was something I didn’t expect to see.
When in doubt that your life looks like an unorganized mess of random happenings, just look to the stars and be reminded that a scattering of celestial were strewn with purpose. What looks chaotic was strewn with more control than you realize. A splattered painting isn’t perfect. It’s really impossible to mess up.
As an artist sits back from His masterpiece and squints to see lines connecting, examine the specks in your own story again.
He’s an intentional Maker.
There’s a beautiful illustration He’s drawing with these dispersed dots in your life.
It was 2 a.m.
My shoulders shifted as I started the walk back to my house.
Spinning around one last time, my head lifted just as a streak shot out of the dark from behind me. My chest inhaled from the deepest part of my stomach as the sound of my gasp rang through the air.
Wow!
Reveling in the moment of my breath being taken away, I replayed the delight over.
And then this cynical side questioned if that really could have been a shooting star or just a lightening bug lingering in the night.
My head fell and I heard, ‘oh Ye, of little faith.’
A tear formed in the corner of my eyes.
Why must we squash the very things that God uses to take our breath away?
For some it would take a meteor to catch their attention. For others, it’s as tiny as a lightening bug that will sweep a soul right off it’s feet and have it spinning through the darkness in delight.
Lifting my hands again to the One who knows me to the deepest parts, all I could whisper was, thank you Lord, for taking my breath away… with whatever it takes.
Live for the moments that take your breath away and be ready for any way He wants to do it. Don’t question the validity of your shooting stars just because they look like lightening bugs.
Whatever It Takes
That is my prayer
Everyone Needs A Friend
Someone to depend on. Someone to invest in. They help each other succeed and are worth all the struggles to stay for. That is a friend. That is someone we all need.
Today is Friendship Day. A time to reflect on those who demonstrate their kindness and loyalty to helping us rise up when we fall and reach out when fear holds us back.
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
He is Faithful
“He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24
Gathered around tables of sweets, surrounded by a sea of success, my mind was stuck swirling over a speechless performance just hours before; which sounds outstanding until I mention it was me, the deliverer, who was left on that stage speechless. At the conclusion of a 3-day conference, all I could think about was my failure to deliver what I was sure God had anointed me with.
What do you do when you know you are equipped and have more than enough to get the job done but you show up empty handed? The mercy here is that I was in front of an audience overflowing with grace when it happened.
Now sitting in a pool of tears at the reminder of my humiliation, I wondered why He hadn’t shown up.
I trusted Him with the stage and He gave me silence.
Sitting in my room now at the midnight hour, with a flight scheduled to leave late the next day, I continued to question, where are you, God?
Leaving room for an interruption (in other words, the divine appointment to make new friends), I had purposefully paid more for an afternoon ticket because I expected God to intervene with some last minute adventure.
At this point, you’re probably wondering, why in the world would you rely on the mystery of some random encounter? Welcome to my life. God has been doing it for years. So at this point, I plan on them.
It’s late. My emotions are tossing every bit of faith out the window at this hour. The control freak in me is consuming every thought.
“Hello? I changed my mind. I want to change my departure time tomorrow and leave as soon as possible. Change fee? That’s fine. Please book it.”
Tossing and turning through the night, I woke up with the same questions, Lord, I trusted you. Why didn’t you come through?
Though I was tempted to roll over in scenarios the moon lit up the darkness again, God gripped my soul with power in His Word, He who calls you is faithful. He did it before and He’ll do it again.
Stinging tears became a soothing shower of affection streaming over my face.
The healing in God’s spirit comforted mine and captivated the focus from my frustration to His faithfulness.
So by this time, I’m rolling a suitcase into the lobby in search of someone to share a lift with me. In this moment, two women walked out the doors looking to split the cab fare as well.
Juggling a terrible tasting, lukewarm cup of coffee during our trip to the airport, my attention was caught up in these writer’s experiences about being signed to agents, with book deals under their belt. My questions weren’t keeping up with the curiosity and racing excitement, as our cab driver maneuvered up to the curb and stopped his meter.
And at this point in the weekend journey, I had concluded that even when we fail, He still prevails.
He is surely… still… faithful.
But you didn’t think God was done at this juncture in the story, did you? I’m not home just yet.
Handling a better tasting cup of coffee this time as I found my seat on the plane, I began to jot down in my journal all kinds of aftermath thoughts in the wake of enlightenment from my two new writer friends. Passengers began to make their way down the aisle as my attention faded in and out of a mashup of conversations until my ears caught the voice behind me say she was heading home to Nashville from a conference.
Hey! That’s my town. This is my chance!
Turning around I introduced myself and asked if she would like to get coffee sometime to debrief over the whirlwind of workshops.
My heart was quick to skip over the beat of humiliation as she introduced herself as one of the speakers on staff with the conference ministry. She travels the country delivering messages at gatherings like this she said. My eagerness pounced at the opportunity to learn from her experience.
Walking through the threshold of home, sweet home, a smile stretched across my face at the faithfulness of God. My bags were stuffed with names of new friends, notebooks spilling out with wisdom, yet He was able to fit a few more surprises in there.
Looking back I have concluded maybe I didn’t fail at all. The story He wants us to tell is the one we’re living, with our mistakes covered in His faithfulness. Yes, that is the only one worth sharing.
He is faithful. He is faithful.
Persevere
I am strong because I’ve been weak.
Put a Ring Around Your Dreams
Commitment. Motivation. Self-discipline. Self-control. Patience.
Just like relationships, our goals take more than just a desire. The beginning will test you more in ways you never dreamed.
Mine is sharing God’s truths with others. That might be writing stories to inspire others or encouraging hearts around the table.
But there are times when I feel like calling it quits.
There are days when I’m tempted to throw my hands up in frustration and give in.
There are nights I go to bed convinced God chose the wrong person, and then wake up in the morning even more discouraged and confused.
There are obstacles that feel like dealbreakers, a circling of ideas that seem to go on forever, droughts that will seem unbearable, and resistance that easily lead to an undoing if I let them.
There are days when the devil is determined to get his way. And on those days, he is relentless in trying to rip this dream apart.
Maybe this sounds like days you’ve had too.
A couple months ago I decided to take my goals to the next level; I put a ring on it. This promise carries financial weight, responsibility, and accountability; I hired an assistant.
Making this commitment is one way that keeps me from throwing in the towel and giving up.
This helps me keep my pledge to God, grounded in faith and wholly non-negotiable.
If you don’t have a sense of commitment, your dream is very likely to fail. Make it a covenant that runs to the core of your being.
If giving up is an option in the back of your mind, you’re already there.
Step into your dream with a level of commitment that is unmistakable and undeterred.
You have to have faith that says, ‘no matter how hard it gets, I will not give in.’
No matter how great the obstacle, you can work it out.
No matter how tempted you are to quit, you can make this dream work.
You have to know in your heart that God will bring you through any hardship and trial the devil throws your way, if you just stay the course, and remain in God’s will.
Fear is the devil’s playground and he loves dragging us there with him. But no decision based on fear is ever the right choice.
A life of faith says if I step out and do the right thing, God’s blessing will follow.
Faith is believing that God is
always in control. And that he always has your best interest in mind, even when things don’t work out as you might expect.
The blessings of living out this God-given dream are immense. There is nothing more satisfying than living in the call He’s placed in your heart. There is nothing more intimately rewarding than experiencing God’s hand in and through you.
Don’t miss out on God’s greatest blessing for your future. Seal your commitment and then watch the floodgates of blessing open wide.