Daily Blogs

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Thursday Night Lights

I made a new friend today. 

Well, I made several new friends today because I had the opportunity to serve during Thursday Night Lights. 

Every Thursday a group of believers come together to serve and eat dinner with the homeless. 

A local missionary to the homeless brings a truck and trailer loaded with picnic tables and other supplies. 

Different groups volunteer each week to prepare dinner. It truly is a collaborative work within the body of Christ. 

My favorite part was hanging out with the men and women. One of my new friends is a little girl–let’s call her Joan–who is the same age as my sister Sofia. 

She was super shy at first but by the end of the night I got her to smile at me. 

Her smile was beautiful and it absolutely broke my heart…

What’s her daily life like? 

What are her dreams?

These are the questions that were burning in my heart. And if you know me at all, I will ask her these questions in due time. 

I’m reading through Matthew’s gospel and already there have been 3 times that Jesus was moved with compassion when He saw the multitudes. 

My heart was filled with compassion today. I never want to look at a man or woman and not see them as Christ sees them:

Loved. 

Accepted. 

Worth every sacrifice. 

I know that there’s a stigma about the homeless, but my goal is to take all my preconceived notions and throw them in the trash. 

It’s not my job to sit around and rank the people according to their various levels of poverty. 

Who is that helping?

My only job is to love people, to be their friend, and keep pointing them back to Jesus. 

Joan’s smile is still in my head…

All I see is the bright future that Christ has in mind for her. I look forward to getting to know my new friend and helping her see it, too. 

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Avoid overcommitting

I’m learning that showing up is a big deal. No one likes a flaky, only when it suits me kind of person. 

Jesus said, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.”

I try to only commit to what I can reasonably do. Overcommitting was a major problem in my past and it led to me not being able to do anything all that well. 

As much as I love to help people, jamming my schedule full of stuff only meant that there was no way I could actually be of much help. 

I think about the requests that come my way now. 

Keeping a calendar is the best way I’ve found to keep from overcommitting. 

Whatever you need to do to show up when you agreed to show up, do it!

Being faithful in your commitments speaks volumes. 

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Filter your words

I scrap a lot of posts…

There’s no telling how many times I get to 200 words and hit delete. (Maybe I should start a file of my “Almost got posted” words.)

Here are a few reasons I scrap posts: 

  • I’m thinking too negatively about a subject.
  • It’s just a really silly topic.
  • I’m simply spewing unprocessed emotions.

I started this blog to put into writing the everyday happenings and thoughts of my 25 year old self. 

Of course, my mind always wanders back to you, my reader, because I want these posts to be a source of encouragement to you as well.

Years ago, a friend of mine jokingly said she processes everything through her Jesus filter. 

I know she was joking, but I seriously do process everything through that filter.

What would Jesus say?

What would Jesus post on Facebook?

A lot of heartache would be avoided if we’d only think before speaking (or posting). In fact, just today I said the right thing in the wrong way.

Did you catch that?

It was the right thing to say, but I said it the wrong way, so I ended up needing to apologize to a good friend of mine for not being sensitive to her situation. 

Words are powerful.

Everything you and I say is either building someone up or tearing someone down. 

There is a time and place to share unfiltered words and thoughts–and it’s not on blogs or on Facebook or to any random stranger you meet.

For this reason, self-control is just as much about knowing when to speak as it is about watching what you say. 

 

 

 

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The Color of Grace

The Color of Grace by Bethany Haley Williams is a great book. 

Be warned: It’s intense and some of the stories are tough. 

Bethany is the founder of Exile International. 

She works with former child soldiers to overcome their grief and trauma using art therapy. 

These kids, despite their pasts, are full of hope, a hope that what’s in front of them is better than anything in their pasts. 

These kids love God and thank Him everyday–even though many are orphans living in an impoverished area. 

I walked away from the book totally wrecked…

The redemptive power of Jesus Christ is much more powerful than what we see and hear about in the West. 

There is no difference between the Jesus of the developing world and the Jesus of the West. 

Only a difference in the mindsets of the people. 

 I encourage you to check out The Color of Grace. 

Just be prepared for your perspective to shift. 

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Nacho Social

The Nacho Social was awesome! It was nacho average social. 😛

Sorry…couldn’t resist the pun…

I enjoyed floating around and talking with different groups of folks. 

You can’t make it around the whole church auditorium during fellowship times but you can easily walk around the cafe!

Besides eating some yummy nachos (and drinking a Dr. Pepper and a Coke. No judgment, okay?) I had the opportunity to help clean up. 

It takes many hands to feed a big church–and many hands to help clean up, too. 

I met a really fun group of volunteers, which made clean up time go faster. 

This Sunday was busy with morning worship, nursing home ministry, serving as a camera op, and ending with the social. 

All in all, it was a great beginning to the week. 

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Goals for May

Hard to believe May is here! 

We’re 5 months into 2016…

With a new month comes a few new goals. I’m trying something new, which is really helping me build my consistency muscle. 

I’m tackling goals in monthly chunks. 

If I want to do something, I set a goal to accomplish it within a month.

You can do anything for a month, right?

This May I am reading through the gospels and journaling daily for 10 minutes. 

When I started daily blogging, I dropped daily journaling and that’s just not okay, especially because there’s a lot of things to think about right now. 

I need some dedicated space to say whatever comes to my mind and not filter my thoughts. 

My goal in reading through the gospels is simple: I need to spend some time with Jesus and study more closely what He did and said. 

Jesus told His followers that as He is so are we in this world. I want to look at what that means more because there’s a lot of teachings out there on what Jesus said and meant. 

Why not just read the Bible and see for yourself?

Is it wise to poke and prod at what to take literally? 

If Jesus didn’t mean everything He said, we are left with a lot of scriptures to interpret by ourselves, which is dangerous. 

These are the questions I’m asking myself as I read. 

What are your goals for May?

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Many members, one body

I love when a prayer is answered in an unexpected way. 

Tonight I stumbled upon a community of Christians who are living out the principles the Lord is asking me to more closely examine. 

Their hospitality is downright refreshing. 

I look forward to further connecting with this group and the larger ministry as a whole. 

And the coolest part is that they meet on Friday nights, so it doesn’t interfere with my involvement at Rhema Bible Church. 

The body of Christ at large is doing great things. 

I enjoy connecting with different churches and parachurch ministries because it broadens my perspective. 

A narrow viewpoint, to me, is one of the biggest killers of unity. 

Just like God’s plans are bigger than us, so is His body as a whole. The idea that I’m a small, yet vital, part of the body of Christ, His hands and feet on earth, truly humbles me. 

And to think there are many members of the body and God knows us all personally?

One more reason to add to my list of why God is awesome.

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Reminders of love

I’ve received several blessings over the last few weeks.

These reminders of God’s love and faithfulness have brought me tremendous joy. 

  • Fresh fruits and veggies
  • A piece of gum (given with a big hug)
  • Chocolate
  • A pen
  • Lunch 
  • A piece of cake

I am thankful for friends who are so thoughtful!

I am thankful to my Father who knows that my heart delights in fun reminders of encouragement. 

What reminders of God’s love have you recently received?

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Time to Get Honest

 Let me be the first to say that I’m the queen of Fine-and-Okay Land. When something’s not fine and okay, the LAST thing I want to do is talk about it. 

So I won’t–if I’m not pushed.

Sharing our stories, our struggles, is not always fun or easy. 

But I honestly believe that the reason most of us never move past the past, especially Christians, is because we never allow ourselves to be fully known, we never share our struggles.

Of course, I’m not advocating running around sharing the most intimate details of our lives with complete strangers. I’m assuming (this might be a big leap) that we all are aware that healthy boundaries are vital. 

And here’s the moment I get really honest…

Most Christians destroy any opportunity to keep a conversation going. 

Let me demonstrate:

Me: How are you doing today?

Hat Lady: I’m blessed and highly favored, the head and not the tail, above and not beneath…

Me: Oh…my day stunk.

The conversation just died right there.

Yes, Christians are all of the things Hat Lady just said. I firmly and fully believe it.

Though, how are we going to encourage an atmosphere of openness in our churches when the conversation dies in less than 5 seconds? 

If the desire of our heart is to have a church overflowing with hurting and broken people, we need to be more honest and become better listeners.

Isn’t this the cry of every church? To be filled with broken hearted people who need Jesus to rock their worlds?

Here’s what I’m not saying: Stay stuck in your past. Always talk about it and never change. 

Jesus Christ can and will redeem and restore you no matter how broken you are.

This doesn’t change the fact that broken hearts take time to heal.

What better place to heal than in a loving family of fellow believers who are committed to listening and helping each other move toward the best God has for us?

 

 

 

 

 

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Summer Reading 2016

I’m working on my summer reading list and I am excited! 

3 of my favorite authors have new books out. All I want to do today is give you a snippet about each book (taken from the Amazon description).

 

unashamedUnashamed by Christine Caine

In her passionate and candid style, Christine leads you into God’s Word where you will see for yourself how to believe that God is bigger than your mistakes, your inadequacies, your past, and your limitations. He is not only more powerful than anything you’ve done but also stronger than anything ever done to you. You can deal with your yesterday today, so that you can move on to what God has in store for you tomorrow—a powerful purpose and destiny he wants you to fulfill.

me tooMe Too by Jon Weece

[This is] what Me Too is all about: A God who turned the ugliness of the cross into a spectacle of eternal beauty. An all-powerful Lord who will do the same with the pain of this world. An eternal Father who specializes in wiping away tears and putting you back together again. If you’ll allow him.

ridiculousfaithRidiculous Faith by Shelene Bryan

True faith is vital to a vibrant Christian life. Without it, it is impossible to please God. But are your moments of deepest, most essential faith doomed to dissipate as quickly as they materialize, leaving you powerless and ineffectual?

Absolutely not. The truth is, you are not doomed to a lifetime of flickering faith.

Let me know if you decide to check out any of these books.

Of course, you know that I love to read, but I equally love to discuss what I’m reading!