(I've been mulling over this idea that we're all nobodies - we are all people who don't really mean anything to anyone - until we realize we are made a "somebody" when we acknowledge that Someone put us on this earth to do much more than we could ever imagine...)
It all started when I read this book in one afternoon at the beach. There's something about the stories my friend Bob writes about in his book (I can call him friend - I texted him once and he replied #truestory) that are both absolutely insane and insanely beautiful at the same time. The whole time I read his book my brain was exploding - "who is this guy?!"/"people have lives like that?!?!"/"he's not a fictional character?!?!?!"/"is this real life?!?!?!?!"
Then I was reading along with my community of women a couple of days ago (and men too, I guess, if they're into the truths I've been rediscovering daily through their devotionals) and read about this awesome man named Shallun who lived a long time ago during the 'boring parts of the Old Testament' that was a nobody-turned-somebody when his commitment to the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem put him in a bigger story with Jesus of the New Testament when he didn't even know it. (Spark notes: Nehemiah writes of Shallun repairing the wall of the Pool of Siloam, which is the same place Jesus sends a blind man to wash off mud from his eyes to receive sight in John 9 #thatjusthappened)
And then this thought occurred to me: what if I lived my life like I was a nobody?
It's so easy to be a "somebody" in this day-and-age. We have Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and Vine to make us look like we're the biggest 'somebody' anyone could ever meet/have in their life/call bestie. Do we really think we're that important? If we pulled up your Vine videos 20 years from now, would we look back on your short 6-second documentary life and say, "Oh yeah, that's really somebody! Look at all the a-m-a-z-i-n-g things they did with their life in these 6-second clips!"
Would we? Really?
We are so consumed by what people think of us*, because if people don't think good things of us (or worse - if people don't think anything about us), that must mean we're missing something...missing something that makes us special or that we're missing that indescribable 'thing' that we need to make us important in people's lives so that they'll talk about us (in a good way) when we're not with them. We want people to know and feel and believe that we're worth their time, worth their friendship, worth their love, worth their acceptance.
But then there's this thing that I always seem to forget about, and it's kind of a big deal when I start remembering it: there's this story (although after being confronted by Andy Stanley over the word 'story', I don't really mean 'story', more like "there's this historical fact"...) about a God who created every one of us uniquely (uniquely! we have forgotten how awesome this word is...) and a God who loves us so much that He sent his perfect Son to come to our mess and save us from ourselves. Because He thought we were special - back in the garden - and He STILL thinks we're special now (even with our self-absorbed 140 characters and our perfectly-chosen filters of nothing/everything).
If I really think about it, I've already been made a somebody by the only One who is worthy of calling me "somebody". Y'all, I don't know about you but that's reallyreallyreallyreallyREALLY freeing.
The moment I think I'm a somebody, the fear of fitting in or the fear of disappointing sinners will overwhelm me to the point of inaction. When I know that I'm a nobody, the world is literally my oyster (ok not literally, as we all know the Earth is not an oyster...and if this is a new fact for you, you're welcome). I'll do whatever it takes to show others that I love and care for them, because I'm not bound by the shackles of expectations or my reputation to act on my morals and beliefs. It means that if I see something wrong, I will speak up, even if it makes me unpopular (you can't be a 'somebody' and unpopular at the same time...unless you're the popular unpopular nobody that everyone knows about...). It means that I might quit my job and say goodbye to my kingdom plan because I have felt and heard God's call to serve Him and His kingdom plan. It means that being a nobody frees me to be the somebody God has called me to be, because I trust in His plan for me, I accept His love for me, and I cling to His thoughts of me.
The world is filled with nobodies. We know about them now because they followed their nobody calling and their nobody calling resulted in an extraordinary thing - but if we had known them then, well, we wouldn't have know about them then. Nobodies like Katie Davis who followed God's call to serve the least of these in Uganda when she was 18 years old and now finds herself the mother to 13 girls. Nobodies like the missionaries I grew up with who serve the people of Northern Thailand, helping them translate the Bible into their native tongue word-for-word. Nobodies like Jim Elliot who did some insane things without fear, whose short life ushered in the amazing power of compassion and forgiveness for a tribe of people and has since impacted Christians to be fearless with their faith. My church is filled with nobodies too. The nobodies who show up to drop off filled backpacks for kids who need school supplies. The nobodies who sew pillowcase dresses to send to foreign countries. The nobodies who serve our church community by reading to elementary school students and helping them with school work.
I hope you're not offended that I've chosen to call these amazing people nobodies. What I'm really trying to say is what Miss Davis said so eloquently when she she said this: "People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me good job. Well here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave, I am not really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing what God called me to do as a follower of Him. Feed His sheep, do unto the least of His people."
Somebodies don't say stuff like that. Somebodies say stuff like this: "It’s what I came here to do. I’m now a legend. I’m also the greatest athlete to live."- Usain Bolt. And stuff like this: ""My best and worst 'Idol' moments? I don't have a worst 'Idol' moment. I've been spectacular. Yes, I am going to toot my own horn. And then my best moment is every single moment. I'll toot it again." - Nicki Minaj. Or stuff like this: "I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me... but I can't help it that I'm so popular." - Gretchen Weiners (ok so she's a fictional character, but I have definitely heard people say this in real life, so I think you get my point).
(Did any of this make any sense? Probably not.) All I have to say is this: The world is filled with too many somebodies. We don't need any more somebodies. We need more nobodies. Nobodies who are fearless and unencumbered by what others think of them or what others know of them. That's when crazy, insane, spectacular things start happening.
I want crazy, insane, and spectacular, don't you?
*I hope you know that whenever I say "we" and "us" I really mean "I" and "me". Because, let's be honest, I am very guilty of everything I expressed in this post.
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
May 20, 2013
March 25, 2013
Spoiler Alert
He lives. Jesus wins. He conquers death.
Yesterday was Palm Sunday, and for the first time in a long time, I was confronted with the truth about the Gospel and how great this Good News actually is. How triumphant his entry, riding on a donkey with palm branches and tunics lining his path. Crowds shouting "Hosanna!", praising him for who he was and what they heard and saw him do. I can only imagine the crowds that gathered - the who's who of Jerusalem mixed with lepers, beggars, and the healed following the One who breathed in new life in their dead and dying bodies.
But then things changed, and soon Jesus was a man people hated and wanted dead. How did people forget? How did the masses un-see the miracles He performed just days before? How could they not remember what He had already done for them?
It's like that time I watched "The Avengers" for the second time today. I have seen The Avengers once before - in the theater, when it was just released; I know how it ends. I stayed past the credits (twice!) to watch the hidden easter egg at the end (the very end). But, when I was watching it a second time earlier this evening, I was f-r-e-a-k-i-n-g out when Loki descended upon earth with his alien friends (disclaimer to all Marvel comic-enthusiasts out there: I am not one of you so I might get beloved alien names/races or plot lines or Avenger names wrong, so...lo siento). I watched as Loki opened that portal thing on top of Stark towers and watched in horror as (what looks like) the worst swarm of biting gnats to ever descend on the earth started flooding the skies of New York City. And then all the Avengers are trying to fight Loki and these alien dudes and the whole time I'm thinking to myself "where is the Hulk" and then I'm clutching the couch pillow tighter and then I'm shouting "WATCH OUT!" to that archer dude on the top of the building (told you I'm not good at names)...
...and then I realized two things: 1. They get shawarma at the end, and they're definitely all there, and all still alive, and 2. Iron Man 3 is supposed to be released later this summer, which means he's also not dead and most definitely alive. So...all the freaking out I did earlier? Unwarranted.
Do you know what else is unwarranted? Freaking out when life hands you lemons because you forget that Jesus rose from the dead already. Y'all - rose. from. the. dead. Think that's not that big of a deal? Let's take a moment to think about the people you know personally who have died but then came back to life...
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Sometimes there are periods of time in my life where things start going down the crapper, and I start freaking out and start thinking and believing that I am my only saving hope. That only I can do what needs to be done to get me out of the mess I got myself into. It is in those times that I have forgotten that Jesus came, He lived/breathed/walked/talked/slept/ate/loved like I do...but with perfection. And not only did He come and live/breathe/walk/talk/sleep/eat/love, but He also died. For me, wayyyyyyy before I was even a thought in the history books. Because He loves me. And thought of me. And knew my sinfulness. And still chose to save me, by dying on a cross. To forgive me. For my sins...past, present, and future.
And
then
He
ROSE
v i c t o r i o u s l y
from the grave.
Christ rose from the dead, trampling over death by death. To give us life. To give us mercy. To give us hope.
When I think about Holy Week - Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday - this is what I think about. I think about how I already KNOW the ending to this beautiful, Good News story, and how I easily forget it all the time. When we celebrate the risen Christ on Sunday, I will be reminded that I know how this story ends, and I know where I am in that story. So the next time life attempts to throw me down the deepest, darkest sinkhole, I will know how the story ends and I will know that I have already been redeemed. And out of my lips I shall adorn Him with praise.
Hosanna in the highest to the One who came to die for us so that we could be saved!
Yesterday was Palm Sunday, and for the first time in a long time, I was confronted with the truth about the Gospel and how great this Good News actually is. How triumphant his entry, riding on a donkey with palm branches and tunics lining his path. Crowds shouting "Hosanna!", praising him for who he was and what they heard and saw him do. I can only imagine the crowds that gathered - the who's who of Jerusalem mixed with lepers, beggars, and the healed following the One who breathed in new life in their dead and dying bodies.
But then things changed, and soon Jesus was a man people hated and wanted dead. How did people forget? How did the masses un-see the miracles He performed just days before? How could they not remember what He had already done for them?
It's like that time I watched "The Avengers" for the second time today. I have seen The Avengers once before - in the theater, when it was just released; I know how it ends. I stayed past the credits (twice!) to watch the hidden easter egg at the end (the very end). But, when I was watching it a second time earlier this evening, I was f-r-e-a-k-i-n-g out when Loki descended upon earth with his alien friends (disclaimer to all Marvel comic-enthusiasts out there: I am not one of you so I might get beloved alien names/races or plot lines or Avenger names wrong, so...lo siento). I watched as Loki opened that portal thing on top of Stark towers and watched in horror as (what looks like) the worst swarm of biting gnats to ever descend on the earth started flooding the skies of New York City. And then all the Avengers are trying to fight Loki and these alien dudes and the whole time I'm thinking to myself "where is the Hulk" and then I'm clutching the couch pillow tighter and then I'm shouting "WATCH OUT!" to that archer dude on the top of the building (told you I'm not good at names)...
...and then I realized two things: 1. They get shawarma at the end, and they're definitely all there, and all still alive, and 2. Iron Man 3 is supposed to be released later this summer, which means he's also not dead and most definitely alive. So...all the freaking out I did earlier? Unwarranted.
Do you know what else is unwarranted? Freaking out when life hands you lemons because you forget that Jesus rose from the dead already. Y'all - rose. from. the. dead. Think that's not that big of a deal? Let's take a moment to think about the people you know personally who have died but then came back to life...
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Sometimes there are periods of time in my life where things start going down the crapper, and I start freaking out and start thinking and believing that I am my only saving hope. That only I can do what needs to be done to get me out of the mess I got myself into. It is in those times that I have forgotten that Jesus came, He lived/breathed/walked/talked/slept/ate/loved like I do...but with perfection. And not only did He come and live/breathe/walk/talk/sleep/eat/love, but He also died. For me, wayyyyyyy before I was even a thought in the history books. Because He loves me. And thought of me. And knew my sinfulness. And still chose to save me, by dying on a cross. To forgive me. For my sins...past, present, and future.
And
then
He
ROSE
v i c t o r i o u s l y
from the grave.
Christ rose from the dead, trampling over death by death. To give us life. To give us mercy. To give us hope.
When I think about Holy Week - Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday - this is what I think about. I think about how I already KNOW the ending to this beautiful, Good News story, and how I easily forget it all the time. When we celebrate the risen Christ on Sunday, I will be reminded that I know how this story ends, and I know where I am in that story. So the next time life attempts to throw me down the deepest, darkest sinkhole, I will know how the story ends and I will know that I have already been redeemed. And out of my lips I shall adorn Him with praise.
Hosanna in the highest to the One who came to die for us so that we could be saved!
February 20, 2013
Love...and stuff.
It was nice to love on my man this year, now that we're finally in the same place and getting to "celebrate" every day of being together since we've gotten married (ok not every day, but pretty close to it!). We're stayed home and ate delicious barbecue from our favorite local BBQ joint. Mmm, ribs.
But you know, love (and being in love) isn't about loving your main squeeze on one 'super special day' one day of the year. At least, that's not enough for me. This is probably something you've heard already but I think it's worth saying again -- we should try to love people every day. I try to do that...secret: I usually fail at loving people every day, but at least I start every day determined to try!
I read in a commentary somewhere that when Paul wrote about love in 1st Corinthians 13, he described love as it being an action, not an emotion; "love is seen, experienced, and demonstrated". When the oh-so-familiar verses start listing what love is ("Love is patient, love is kind...") there is a sense that 'love' is used in terms of "action, attitude and behavior" (Keith Krell). So, then, it should be assumed that love reveals itself in many beautiful, defying and God-glorifying forms.
On valentines day, love reveals itself as a husband picking up dinner and flowers for his wife.
On a random Sunday, love reveals itself as a bunch of young people sacrificing time and money for their brothers and sisters around the world. A couple of weeks ago, our 8th graders participated in a Love Walk over the weekend and raised close to $1500 for a local community center...then some returned to church the next day and participated in our "Shine A Light on Slavery" event as our entire youth ministry learned about human trafficking and raised $1,013 (in change - pennies, nickles, dimes, quarters) for the End It Movement to see an end to human trafficking in their lifetime.
Every day, in ordinary (but really not so ordinary) people's lives, love reveals itself as a tireless commitment to someone - through thick and thin - because they know and cling to the fact that they are loved by One who loves them. Ian & Larissa's story tore my heart apart, and challenged me with the question: would I be willing to love my husband this way too? And if I had to care for my husband like Bill cares for his wife Glad, would I have the strength and the joy to do so?
Love is about thinking others more highly than we think of ourselves - through our acts of service. Love is not to be confined between you and the man-candy (or woman-candy) you have in your fleeting life. I am thankful for that reminder this post 'valentines day season', because sometimes the candy hearts and the sweet tarts make love an emotion too easy to get caught up in.
If I speak in the tongues of men or angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poora nd give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13: 1-3, NIV)
Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. (Romans 12:9-13, NLT)
#boom
But you know, love (and being in love) isn't about loving your main squeeze on one 'super special day' one day of the year. At least, that's not enough for me. This is probably something you've heard already but I think it's worth saying again -- we should try to love people every day. I try to do that...secret: I usually fail at loving people every day, but at least I start every day determined to try!
I read in a commentary somewhere that when Paul wrote about love in 1st Corinthians 13, he described love as it being an action, not an emotion; "love is seen, experienced, and demonstrated". When the oh-so-familiar verses start listing what love is ("Love is patient, love is kind...") there is a sense that 'love' is used in terms of "action, attitude and behavior" (Keith Krell). So, then, it should be assumed that love reveals itself in many beautiful, defying and God-glorifying forms.
On valentines day, love reveals itself as a husband picking up dinner and flowers for his wife.
On a random Sunday, love reveals itself as a bunch of young people sacrificing time and money for their brothers and sisters around the world. A couple of weeks ago, our 8th graders participated in a Love Walk over the weekend and raised close to $1500 for a local community center...then some returned to church the next day and participated in our "Shine A Light on Slavery" event as our entire youth ministry learned about human trafficking and raised $1,013 (in change - pennies, nickles, dimes, quarters) for the End It Movement to see an end to human trafficking in their lifetime.
Every day, in ordinary (but really not so ordinary) people's lives, love reveals itself as a tireless commitment to someone - through thick and thin - because they know and cling to the fact that they are loved by One who loves them. Ian & Larissa's story tore my heart apart, and challenged me with the question: would I be willing to love my husband this way too? And if I had to care for my husband like Bill cares for his wife Glad, would I have the strength and the joy to do so?
Love is about thinking others more highly than we think of ourselves - through our acts of service. Love is not to be confined between you and the man-candy (or woman-candy) you have in your fleeting life. I am thankful for that reminder this post 'valentines day season', because sometimes the candy hearts and the sweet tarts make love an emotion too easy to get caught up in.
If I speak in the tongues of men or angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poora nd give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13: 1-3, NIV)
Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. (Romans 12:9-13, NLT)
#boom
January 22, 2013
I breathe You in
This past weekend the hubs and I got a chance to escape for a quick trip to the family cabin. Little did we know, it would be a refreshing two days where we got to sit and be in the presence of our Creator and our wonderful family. It was also a great reminder that our God is sovereign, and that when we don't understand the world around us, we can choose to put our hope in the One who is and ever shall be.
The presence of the living God
Satisfies the depths of my heart
All of me changed when you came,
I'm made free by Your glory and grace
I breathe You in God, cause You are thick all around me
You are Good God, for You are good to me
The brightness of Your loves pure light
Pierces through the darkest of nights
Everything is possible now
for God is here and God is good
When I don't understand I'll choose you
When I don't understand I will choose You God
When I don't understand I will choose to Love You God
{I Breathe You In, God - Bryan & Katie Torwalt}
{I Breathe You In, God - Bryan & Katie Torwalt}
January 7, 2013
New Year, New Me
You guys.
It's 2013.
Like...what?!
For some reason I've not been impressed/taken aback by a 2000's year until this year. Something about the 13 staring back at me made me realize 1. how old I'm getting, 2. how young I'm not getting, 3. how fast time flies, and 4. how great God moves + blesses + saves + redeems.
I remember 2000. Y2K. Everyone thought the world was going to end (everyone still thinks the world is going to end - #notmuchhaschanged). My family had just made the move from serving in a third-world country to the United States of crazily blessed Americans. I was my awkward self, but heightened to the nth degree because it was smack-dab in the middle of my middle school years.
I remember 2005. Graduated from high school. Got destroyed by God at our annual Senior Send-Off sermon by my beloved youth pastor. You know those memories you have where you don't really remember content but you remember all the raw emotions? I don't remember much about the sermon, specifically the part about me, but I remember weeping. This was probably the year I realized that I am a unnecessary weeper (kind of like how Kristen Bell describes her emotional reaction to having a baby sloth surprise her on her birthday). If you catch me watching a cheesy Nicholas Sparks movie, or hearing about how someone's friend's uncle's co-worker's grandmother experienced some awful, heart-wrenching trauma of some kind, or if I spend time alone thinking about all the awful things that are happening in the world...I'm probably weeping in the corner.
I remember 2009. Graduated from college. Got rocked by God. Put off grad school for a year. Worked as a youth director. Realized I have been called out of death to live a life of giving Him glory, honor, and praise. Messed up a lot of times. Made myself my own idol - worshipped my own talents, strengths, abilities. Got rocked by God again.
and
then
came
2013.
It is only the 7th day of the year, but there's something different about this new year air. It's both heavy and overwhelmingly refreshing. In the months leading up to the end of 2012 (and I'm talking since June), I've heard and/or read an absurd number of sermons/talks/interviews/blog posts about having joy during trials and suffering. At the same time, I've heard and/or read an absurd number of sermons/talks/interviews/blog posts about how the Lord is sovereign, and how He reigns supremely and justly especially during the hard, dark, lonely feels-like-I've-been-deserted times. All of this came together in a resounding crash! when I watched Passion 2013 from the comforts of my couch and computer screen and heard once more that if I'm eager to accept God's blessings, I will have to be eager to accept God's everythings - pain, suffering and sadness included.
And I'm ok with that. Because if there's anything I'm learning about my God, it's that He is good. All the time. No matter what. And if things aren't 'good', who am I to say otherwise? God is God, He does what He wants, when He wants, how He wants...in the most loving, we-wont-understand-because-He's-God-and-we're-not kind of way. I find comfort in knowing that at the end of the day, the world does not revolve around my ability to cross things off my own list of to-dos for life (or the fact that a list of to-do's exists, for that matter). I am loved by a God who beckons me daily to seek after Him, to seek after what He loves, who He loves. Yes, this is good news, good news indeed.
Y'all. This is going to be a big year. I can feel it in my dead-but-now-alive bones.
!
It's 2013.
Like...what?!
For some reason I've not been impressed/taken aback by a 2000's year until this year. Something about the 13 staring back at me made me realize 1. how old I'm getting, 2. how young I'm not getting, 3. how fast time flies, and 4. how great God moves + blesses + saves + redeems.
I remember 2000. Y2K. Everyone thought the world was going to end (everyone still thinks the world is going to end - #notmuchhaschanged). My family had just made the move from serving in a third-world country to the United States of crazily blessed Americans. I was my awkward self, but heightened to the nth degree because it was smack-dab in the middle of my middle school years.
I remember 2005. Graduated from high school. Got destroyed by God at our annual Senior Send-Off sermon by my beloved youth pastor. You know those memories you have where you don't really remember content but you remember all the raw emotions? I don't remember much about the sermon, specifically the part about me, but I remember weeping. This was probably the year I realized that I am a unnecessary weeper (kind of like how Kristen Bell describes her emotional reaction to having a baby sloth surprise her on her birthday). If you catch me watching a cheesy Nicholas Sparks movie, or hearing about how someone's friend's uncle's co-worker's grandmother experienced some awful, heart-wrenching trauma of some kind, or if I spend time alone thinking about all the awful things that are happening in the world...I'm probably weeping in the corner.
I remember 2009. Graduated from college. Got rocked by God. Put off grad school for a year. Worked as a youth director. Realized I have been called out of death to live a life of giving Him glory, honor, and praise. Messed up a lot of times. Made myself my own idol - worshipped my own talents, strengths, abilities. Got rocked by God again.
and
then
came
2013.
It is only the 7th day of the year, but there's something different about this new year air. It's both heavy and overwhelmingly refreshing. In the months leading up to the end of 2012 (and I'm talking since June), I've heard and/or read an absurd number of sermons/talks/interviews/blog posts about having joy during trials and suffering. At the same time, I've heard and/or read an absurd number of sermons/talks/interviews/blog posts about how the Lord is sovereign, and how He reigns supremely and justly especially during the hard, dark, lonely feels-like-I've-been-deserted times. All of this came together in a resounding crash! when I watched Passion 2013 from the comforts of my couch and computer screen and heard once more that if I'm eager to accept God's blessings, I will have to be eager to accept God's everythings - pain, suffering and sadness included.
And I'm ok with that. Because if there's anything I'm learning about my God, it's that He is good. All the time. No matter what. And if things aren't 'good', who am I to say otherwise? God is God, He does what He wants, when He wants, how He wants...in the most loving, we-wont-understand-because-He's-God-and-we're-not kind of way. I find comfort in knowing that at the end of the day, the world does not revolve around my ability to cross things off my own list of to-dos for life (or the fact that a list of to-do's exists, for that matter). I am loved by a God who beckons me daily to seek after Him, to seek after what He loves, who He loves. Yes, this is good news, good news indeed.
Y'all. This is going to be a big year. I can feel it in my dead-but-now-alive bones.
!
June 21, 2012
#SheReadsTruth
A couple of days ago, my dear friend tweeted: "@jnc should follow #shereadstruth through @Mama_Pea and @eatliverun on twitter and instagram"
...I love Twitter, and I also equally (that's a lie, probably more) love Instagram - girlfriend's tweet got me hooked. I quickly got on the internets and used the Google machine to do some research.
#SheReadsTruth is, as they put it simply, "women reading His truth together." It started with two friends who wanted to pursue the Lord together through His word. They started tweeting about it, people started asking...and then #SheReadsTruth was born.
Fast forward to today. They are starting a new plan called "Living The Surrendered Life" through YouVersion (accessible through app for your smartphone or online). Women all over are reading through the same passages of scripture and reading through the same devotional for the next 21 days and, as my friend put it in her email, "going to go for it and see where it takes me". Then, they are using social media to tweet and/or Instagram their journey, using the hashtag #shereadstruth to share what they're learning/what they believe the Lord is showing them.
I joined the adventure with their new plan today, and just in the first two lines of the devotional I was already convicted. I can't wait to see how the Lord continues to challenge me in the next couple of weeks.
Are you looking for a different way to be challenged in your growth this summer? Are you seeking fellowship with other women but don't know where to start? Join me and #shereadstruth and leave me a comment so I know you're doing it too!
May 3, 2012
Proverbs 19:21
The day I realized I needed to start acting my age
I remember not too long ago being anxious about my future, consumed with questions like "what am I supposed to do next?", "where am I supposed to go next?" and "how am I supposed to know how to navigate my life as a 'young adult'?"
And now here I am, 3 years after those questions controlled my life, done with both undergrad and graduate school, and about to move and get married to the one I love. Sure, these questions still bother me at times, times when I feel unsure or when I feel like there doesn't seem to be anything waiting for me on the other side. But then I am reminded of how great my life has been, how blessed my life has been, and how He has continued to provide for me and lead me in ways that speak directly to how much He loves and saves me everyday.
The fiance and I have been showered by so much love from our friends and family in anticipation for our wedding that we are sure that all of these blessings are not from our own doing (I mean we got a gas grill gifted to us for heaven's sake!) We prayed for and were provided a house that fits our needs perfectly. I managed to survive 2 years of graduate school learning how to be a compassionate and effective helper to others as a social worker. And, as if those weren't enough blessings, the fiance got word yesterday that he got into a masters program at Duke University that will bless him in his ministry with young people for years to come.
When I look back at the decisions I had to make and the many times I had to walk in faith, I see clearly how He has lead me (and the fiance) in a path that always leads us back to Him and his purposes for us. The experiences we have had, the people we have met, the places we have gone - have all helped us see that it is not my desires or my wants that have been accomplished, but His. (If my desires and wants were accomplished, I would have been one of the lucky people who won that ridiculously large lottery last month!)
Goes to show ya -- the Lord really knows our heart and wants the best for us. As long as we seek after Him, He really does make our lives meaningful, full, purposeful, and enjoyable.
"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."
April 18, 2012
Bstud
When I moved back home in 2010, the first thing I was excited about was school picking up friendships that had been "left" years before. And not only could I 'pick' them back up, but we all had a shared desire to spend once a week together, pouring over the Bible and going through guided studies together to strengthen our walk. (Shout out to Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer & Beth Moore; we loved your Faithful, Abundant, True workbook!)
We prayed for our future husbands together, we did weekly challenges to
push us (my personal faves: week without listening to the radio in the car and praying instead, photo every day of something we're thankful for). When we weren'tsnacking having bible study, we frequently got together on the weekends and spent time with each other. We celebrated birthdays, grabbed breakfast lunch dinner food, cheered each other on, and supported each other outside of our weekly meetings.
As my weeks wind down here, I am increasingly sad that I will be leaving these lovely girls behind. They have been there for me during the good times, the tough times, the confusing times, the challenging times. They have supported me by praying for me, encouraging me, supporting me. I am forever changed (for the better) by their friendships and look forward to continue our friendships even when I'm in another state! Maybe we could skype-group-date once a week? Too much to ask?
(What about you? Who are the important women in your life that have spurred you on?)
Meals, birthdays, FCA banquet, basketball tournaments
We prayed for our future husbands together, we did weekly challenges to
push us (my personal faves: week without listening to the radio in the car and praying instead, photo every day of something we're thankful for). When we weren't
As my weeks wind down here, I am increasingly sad that I will be leaving these lovely girls behind. They have been there for me during the good times, the tough times, the confusing times, the challenging times. They have supported me by praying for me, encouraging me, supporting me. I am forever changed (for the better) by their friendships and look forward to continue our friendships even when I'm in another state! Maybe we could skype-group-date once a week? Too much to ask?
(What about you? Who are the important women in your life that have spurred you on?)
April 8, 2012
Easter
Every spring, I am reminded of God's love for us and his faithfulness in renewing us every day. This reminder is made especially clear every Easter Sunday, when we gather together to remember that One greater than us became death and defeated death for us - for me - so that we could live.
You have been raised
The tomb has been opened
Nothing can take away our hope in You
You have been raised!
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