Jesus is the Light of the World

I started an Advent reading plan last week.  I honestly didn't even think about it until my pastor asked in a meeting if anybody had started one and then we talked about advent at prayer meeting as well.  When I started my devotional time on Friday, I really felt like that's where God wanted me to go, so I chose one from YouVersion.  There are a ton of options available, so it was easy to find one that fit with what I was looking for.

This morning, the reading was on Jesus being the light of the world.  It said to think about some of the scientific knowledge you have about light and see how that fits with Jesus being the Light of the World.  Well, for those that know me, you know that science is not my strong point, so I googled some facts.  I came across these at Factmonster.com.  It's amazing to think of them not only from the standpoint of Jesus being the light of the world but that he calls us to be a light in our part of the world as well.

• Light carries energy from a source -  Jesus was able to do all that He did because He was "sourced" by God.  He was in perfect relationship with God.  As for me, I could not get through a day without Jesus.  He is my source.  

• Light never bends - Jesus never strayed from His mission on earth.  He was all about bringing glory to the Father.  He could not veer off of that path.  I have to keep my eyes on Jesus.  I have to strive to do what He has called me to do and I cannot let anything or others distract me.

• Some objects transmit light better than others, like a transparent object - Jesus was not about Himself, He was all about doing His Father's business.  I have to be all about Jesus.  The less of me there is, the more Jesus others will see.

• Some objects do not make light themselves, but appear bright because they reflect the light from the source - Jesus was all about reflecting God.  Showing God's love and mercy to others.  I cannot be about making myself appear "important."  I have to be all about reflecting Jesus so others see Him in me and because of me.

• Light travels in a straight line, if anything gets in its way, it casts a shadow - Jesus did not let anything come between Him and His Father.  I have to make Jesus my number one priority in my life.  I cannot let anything come between me and him, no matter what it may be, or it will cast a shadow in my life.  A dark space where the enemy will try to take root.

I'm no scientist, but I loved these pictures.  I never really thought about why we hang up Christmas lights.  I'm sure for some, it's just a way to decorate for the holiday.  However, from now on, for me, it will be a reminder that Jesus was born a baby at Christmastime so that He may be the Light of the World.  It will also be a reminder that I am called to the same thing.  May I be a light.  Right here.  Right now.

Taking my hand

For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you.  ~  Isaiah 41:13

The first time I read this verse, it didn't strike me nearly as much as when I read it the second time.  It was as if God had me pause and think about what a beautiful picture this is.

How often do we do this with our own children?  If the path is uneven, we reach and take their hand.  If it's dark and they're unsure, we reach and take their hand.  If we're crossing a busy street where there is a possibility of danger, we reach and take their hand.

This is so different from  the times when they reach out to us.  It's us, wanting to comfort, to protect, to offer assurance to them when we see things in their path that perhaps they don't see coming.

Oh how many times God has done this for us!  Oh how many times He has done this for us and we don't even realize it.  God is in control.  He knows what is coming long before we do.  There is nothing we have to face alone.  He is there, ready to reach out to us, to take our hands and help us along.  To offer His peace, His assurance, His strength along the way.

Facing the Fiery Furnace

Trials and struggles.  We all face them.  We all go through them.  It can seem that sometimes we go through them more than others or ours are somehow harder then others.  In any case, they are never fun.  They are never easy.  Doug and I are in that season now.  It's been a rough several months.  Mostly it's due to finances.  It's amazing how one simple thing, money, can get you down so fast and for so long.  It's also amazing how it can affect so many other areas in your life.  But, it doesn't have to be money.  There are all kinds of different struggles and trials that people go through.  It's different for everybody, and yet somehow the same.  It's still a struggle.  It's still something that can be scary, hard, seemingly impossible to get through.

I was reading in Daniel today about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  King Nebuchadnezzar built a huge statue and wanted his entire kingdom to bow down and worship it.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused.  In fact, here are their exact words to King Nebuchadnezzar:

  "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." 
(Daniel 3:17-18 NIV)

"The God we serve is able to deliver us."  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew God was able to deliver them.  Do I have that much faith when I face struggles, whatever they may be?  Do I have complete and utter faith in my God's ability to handle any and every situation that I face?

I love the next line "But even if he does not."  Even if he doesn't, they will stand firm.  They will still follow. They will still trust.  How hard that can be.  God always provides during our struggles, it's just that sometimes His ways are not our ways!  He might not help us avoid them.  He might not make them any easier.  He might just want us to get thrown into them.  But here's the next part of the story:

  and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.  Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?"  They replied, "Certainly, Your Majesty."  He said, "Look!  I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."   (Daniel 3:23-25 NIV)

As soon as they were thrown into the fire, King Nebuchadnezzar saw four men.  You see, Jesus was already in the fire waiting for them.  It sometimes can seem like God has abandoned me when I start walking into struggles.  I oftentimes want God to shield me from pain.  Keep me from hardships. I want our life to be smooth and easy.  But that's just not how life works.  But, God has already gone before me.  He knows my struggles even before I face them.  He's already in them, ready to embrace me, love me, guide me through.  He might not shield me from trials and struggles, but he never abandons me in them.  He's right in the middle of them!

I think this next line is my favorite of the whole story:

  Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most   High God, come out!  Come here!"  So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them.  They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their ropes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.  (Daniel 3:26-27 NIV)

There wasn't even the smell of fire on them!  God is so amazing!  He can bring us through, whatever we are going through, so fully, so completely.  He stands with us.  He stands for us.  In fact, He brings us through so completely, that all people can see is that God was with us.  Is that how I face my struggles?  That when I come out on the other side people will know that God got me through.  Am I able to give him praise and glory for all He has done and have people believe me because of how I handled a difficult time?

It can be so easy to get discouraged, to give up.  It's not wrong to get discouraged.  What's important is to get my focus back on God.  Back to the God who is with me and will never leave me; so that when I come out on the other side, I'll be able to point to God, give Him all the glory.  The result, not only am I stronger, closer to God, but others will be inspired, encouraged, maybe even changed because of what I went through.

That's the beauty in a struggle.  God glorified.  Lives changed.  First mine.  Then, quite possibly, other's.

20 Years!

20 years ago today I married the most amazing man on the planet.

Wow!  I can't believe I even get to type that right now.  First, I don't know how I'm old enough to have been married 20 years :)  Second, is that unfortunately, so many marriages don't make it to this point.

At this point in my life, I've lived with Doug more than I've lived without him.  I honestly cannot even remember life without him and really don't want to.  Now, I would love to sit here and say that the last 20 years have been all fairy tales and roses, but that's just not the case.  We've had our tough times, like everybody does.  But, I can sit here today and say that the word Divorce has never came up.  We chose in the beginning to make this work.  Sometimes it's been easy, sometimes it's been a fight.  But if there's something worth fighting for, than it has to be your spouse.  Your family.

To be honest, I married Doug because I knew he was going to be an amazing father.  I was right.  Now, though, I realize how much more there is to being an amazing spouse than just being good to our kids.  It's like he completes me.  Now, I know that's one of the most cheezy things to say, but it's true.  Doug is everything I'm not.  He balances me in a way that makes me a better person.  Now, sometimes it drives me crazy, but I know it's what I need in my life.

He's my support. My rock.  I know he will steadfastly be there for me no matter what.  He loves me unconditionaly.  It has taken me a long time and a lot of work to realize that he's with me for good.  He loves me that much.

I am so amazed at the man he is.  I am so proud of the growth I've seen in him.  He's allowing God to work in him in mighty ways.  With the work he's done to make himself better, along with the work I've done to make myself better, it's no wonder how much our marriage is thriving right now.  I love him more today than ever.  There's no one I would rather spend my day with.  No one I would rather share my thoughts with.  I'm so blessed that I get to call him husband.

We've been blessed with three of the most amazing kids on the planet.  I know that a huge part of that is Doug.  Having a dad that loves you.  That wants to spend time with you.  That's so huge!  I could not ask for a better dad for my children.

So, I just want to say that I love you babe.  More today than ever before.  Thanks for putting up with me.  I know I was not always the easiest person to live with, but you have stayed by me through thick and through thin.  I can't believe the life we get to live.  I'm so excited for the next 20 years.  I know that with God so firmly in the center, they're going to be unmatchable.  God has placed us here, together.  There's is no one I would rather be on this journey we call life with than you.  I love you so much.  More than I can ever put into words.

God Delights to Show Mercy

I've been reading the bible through in a year.  It's a plan through You Version and I really like it.  It's sad to say that I have never read the bible through and so I figured it was about time.  I've been working on it for almost two years now, mostly because I read a lot of commentary, so it usually takes me two days to complete one plan day of chapters.  I only have 14 days left.  I am honestly ready to be done.  It feels like I have been at it forever!  So, I confessed to Doug just yesterday that I was kinda getting in the habbit of reading the chapters just to check it off that I did because I'm so ready to be done.  Well, this morning, God spoke to me and I had to just stop and meditate on what He had to say to me.  I'm so glad I did!

Micah 7:18-19
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.  You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

The phrase that I just had to stop on was delight to show mercy.  God delights in showing me mercy!  He enjoys showing me His goodness and His forgiveness.  When I think of someone forgiving me, I think of a sigh and an I guess attitude, knowing that they're just waiting until they can bring it back up and throw it in my face.  Not so with God.  He delights in offering me forgiveness.  Did you notice the next verse?  You will again have compassion on us.    He not only delights in showing us mercy, He never tires of it.  He will forgive us and let us start anew over and over and over again.  His mercy never fails, it is new every morning.  

As I was thinking about just how huge of a promis this is, I thought "Wow!  God must really love me!"  I was up for awhile last night.  I just couldn't sleep.  David Crowder's Song You are My Joy just kept playing over and over in my head.  Well, as soon as I had the thought about how much God loves me, that song popped in my head and it wasn't me singing it to God.  It was like He was singing it to me!

I am His joy.
He delights in me!
Wow!  What an amazing thing to just meditate on.

A Look Back

I've been in a little bit of a rut lately.  Nothing huge, but still a rut.  I've been sick.  Ugh!  I hate being sick!  It messes up my schedule and I am a person that functions best with a schedule.  I also have just been sleeping, a ton!  Because of this, I haven't really been spending time with God like I want to.  I knew that if I read my bible, I would just be going through the motions.  I wouldn't really being getting anything out of it.  I just felt that bad!

It's so easy during a short phase like this to lose sight of where you're at.  It gives Satan the opportunity to tell lies that can be easy to believe.  Lies like "you never hear from God" "God doesn't speak to you like He does to others" and so many more.  I was feeding into these lies.  Kinda getting really down at where I am in my walk.

This morning I am finally feeling better.  Not great, but definitely where I know I can read my bible, pray and actually be able to focus on what God has to say to me.  After I was done praying, I just felt the urge to read back through some of my journal.  Wow!  I was in such awe of all God has done over the past six months.  Prayers that I had started praying in December & January are being answered right now!  I can see where God has changed me in answer to other prayers I had prayed.  And I was reminded of work God is still doing in other areas.

What an amazing morning.  For God to say I am speaking to you, see, here's proof.  You don't have to believe the lies of the enemy.

You're not going to "feel" God all the time.  That doesn't mean He's not there.  It doesn't mean that He's not still working.  So, take a look back.  See what God has done.  Call Satan out on his lies.  I am so thankful for this blog and my personal journal where I can record what God is saying and doing in me.  Written proof of His love for me and His work in me.

An Amazing Couple of Months and an Amazing Life

I haven't posted in forever and now so much has happened and I don't even know where to start.  I'll get my excuse out of the way up front for why I haven't posted and it's not even a good one.  If it was a good one I would have said reason, but I don't have a reason for not posting, all I have is an excuse.  I've been busy.  See, told you it was just an excuse.  But, I honestly have been busy and since this blogging is more like journaling for me, it takes me awhile to write all my thoughts down and have them come across like I want them to.  And I honestly just haven't had the time to take over an hour in the mornings to do that.  So here I am on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the kids outside playing, so I have a quiet house and am going to try to do some justice to the last couple of months in my life.

I flew for the very first time!  Yep!  That's right!  Something I didn't think I'd ever do. Yet, I always say you should never say never because sometimes, ok for me a lot of times, God pushes you to that never.  There was a church planting conference in Georgia.  I really, really wanted to go but I really, really didn't want to fly.  I finally came to the conclusion that I know God has BIG plans for SCC and since a huge group of us was going, including most of the leadership team and our pastor, the plane probably wouldn't crash.  I know that sounds terrible, but it's honestly what finally convinced me to take the plunge and just do it.  I am so glad I did.  So much good came from the conference.  Not only did I learn a ton, but God showed me what SCC is going to be like.  I saw the people worshipping.  I saw flashes of the faces of people's lives that are going to be transformed.  It was unlike anything I've ever experienced.  The other thing that happened, and probably even bigger than the vision God gave me, was that Doug & I had almost a break through in our relationship.  We have a good marriage, a very good marriage.  You might even say we have a great marriage, but now we are on the road to a fantastic marriage.  It's just so amazing how God is working in us and as we are getting closer to Him, we are getting closer to each other.  I am so, so thankful the man of God my husband is.  I am beyond blessed to be on this journey with him.

The next thing Doug and I did was go to Leadership Advance.  Basically, it was our leadership team getting together over a few days and talking about our church.  Where we've been, where we're going, what's been good, what needs to change.  It was just such a privilege to be there.  I've never been a part of something like that before and it was basically awesome.  We had some amazing prayer times, some amazing conversations, God was there.  Like I said, it was awesome!

I was driving the other day and literally asked myself if I was dreaming.  That's what I feel like, like this is one big dream.  I'm living the dream.  Now, it might not seem like that from worldly standards, but from my view, it's definitely what it feels like.  I guess living the dream when you're a Christ follower is being in the center of His will.  I have no doubt that is exactly where Doug and I are.  Things aren't always easy.  Things are not perfect.  But we're right where God wants us to be and there is no where else I want to be.

The last big thing that has happened is God has really changed my attitude with Jazzy Girl.  About a  month ago, Pastor Dan preached on rest.  I prayed that if God wanted me to quit Jazzy Girl so I would have more time for other things I would.  You see, I don't want to work.  I want to be a mom.  I want to be a wife.  I want to cook, clean, help my kids with school and then have nothing else to do.  But, God's answer was no and then the very next week I had the biggest week I've ever had.  I did more in one week than I did the whole month of February last year.  God really showed me just how blessed I am to be able to work from home.  I get to spend every day with my kids.  Even though I may not be able to just sit with them, they are in with me while I'm working most of the day.  How many other working moms get to say that.  I am so very, very blessed.  I've also hired a helper, shout out Brooke Robinson, and just the 2 hours she helps me each week are huge!  I've also changed some of the ways I do some things and it helps me be more efficient.  I started  listening to preaching, leadership podcasts & Christian nonfiction books while I sew in the morning.  I feel like I'm learning so much while I'm working and it makes the time go faster. I also have an extremely flexible schedule so I can pretty much do what I want when I want.  When I start listing it all out again, I'm reminded of just how blessed I am to do what I do.  I know it's God that has blessed my business and I know that He is going to continue to do so.

So, that's pretty much the highlights of the last few months:
Church is amazing
My marriage is amazing
My job is amazing

So, pretty much I have an amazing life.  I read in Esther 4:14 the other day:
"For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

God could have chosen anybody to do what Doug and I are doing.  If we would have said no, it really wouldn't have been that big of deal for Him.  But, we were brought here for such a time as this.  A time to help start a church that will change lives and in the process, change our lives.  Amazing?  I don't even think that's the right word, but it's the best I've got.