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Community

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This week I was reminded that we are to live as a community, supporting one another.

This week I got the opportunity to love on a friend of mine as she mourned the loss of her father. I understand her grief as I continue to mourn the recent loss of my mother. Grief is a journey you can get lost on if you are not careful. I believe that is why God has us in communities of people, so that we can support each other as we go through this process.

I have a high priest who understands this type of pain. Although the story is not in the Bible, it is implied that He understands the loss of a parent because his earthly father, Joseph was not around during the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth. Jesus gets this journey on earth and knows that we are better together.  It is the second greatest commandment: love your neighbor as yourself.

God blessed me with the opportunity to know not only the daughter, but the mother as well. Over the last couple of years, I got to know her mother while serving in leadership with her working for God’s kingdom. It took me a while to make the connection that I was serving with my friend’s mother. But I was not surprised because awesome women create more awesome women.

I went to bless them, and they were the blessing to me. When times are hard, the Lord will send a community of believers to hold you up. Let them.  We mourn together. We laugh together. We pray together. Each day He give us what we need. Each other. We are much stronger than we think we are.

Still Celebrating Fifty

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For February, I was going to do a 10K, but snow deleted that. (not mad)

This month’s celebration of 50 years of life was with good friends in Selma, Alabama.  I have the craziest group of friends.  Someone will come up with a stupid idea and four other grown people will “Amen” it. But it does make for the best adventures.

The Bridge

It was a once in a lifetime experience. But getting there, not so much.  And that is life. Our everyday experiences may leave something to be desired, but we should not sacrifice the incredible moments we have the chance to be a part of.  God puts all of these people in our lives and creates beautiful moments.  Don’t miss them because you are focused on the wrong thing. Be where you are and love it.

I know April is going to be off the chain.  God is making 50 the best year yet.

Historic Moment

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Last Saturday, I had the privilege to revisit a moment in our nation’s history.I stood in the middle of the street in Selma, Alabama and listened to one of the people involved in Bloody Sunday retell his story. It was a surreal moment.

In an age where everything is designed to overstimulate, a man telling the story of his oppression gives me hope. As he spoke about one of the darkest days of his life, last Saturday he stood in that same place as a member of the US Congress, beside an African American President with a crowd that reflected the dream of Dr. King. His message was one of hope.

I appreciate that John Lewis did the hard thing that Sunday fifty years ago. Many times we don’t want to do the hard thing, because it is hard.

But what really gets me is I serve a God that is just. Even though things look unfair. He levels the playing field.

A young man who stood up for the right to vote, now represents all of the people to protect their rights. He didn’t grow bitter or discouraged, He knew this was in the hands of a God who sees our sufferings and vindicates.

Rasicm, hatred and oppression are not dead, but neither is the Lord who conquers them all. He can take something like the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a relic of the KKK and use it to turn a corner in the Civil Rights Movement. This bridge will always be associated with giving all people the right to vote. Got to love God’s sense of humor.

Good Soil

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This morning when I was waiting in the long Starbucks drive thru line, I had a moment of clarity, or a revelation or an “ahha” moment. Whatever you want to call it.

All of the struggles we are currently going through right now is God cultivating our heart. He is taking hard dry ground and enabling it to grow something.

Just like I am waiting on spring so that I can start gardening and lawn care, God is putting all of these things in my path to tear up the ground of my heart. To make me vulnerable to His Word.  He is preparing it for the seeds He plans to drop.

This came to me as I thought of the book I am reading and how the words almost overwhelm me at times. God has used all of the issues of the past months to turn up my heart so that when I read what He has to say to me, it will take hold.  He wants to plant it in good soil so that it bears fruit.

Stop resisting your troubles. Don’t grow bitter. You are not alone.

Allow God to turn up your heart like hard ground after a cold dry winter.  Look for the seeds He is planting along with the care of the soil. He is all you need.

Storms

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Some days you are running along with life. It is not going the way you want it, but you have learned to make applesauce out of bad apples and lemonade out of not enough lemons.

You have learned to walk with the Lord and pray.

Lord, should I go this way?

Lord, should I do this?

You are walking and working in His will. You are helping the poor, reaching the lost and representing Jesus well.

All of a sudden, the winds pick up and start to blow harshly. It begins pouring rain before you can find shelter. Your car is wrecked, your job is lost, your loved one is ill.

If you like me, you like, I need to check my connection cause He didn’t say anything about this in our morning quiet time. You feel blindsided by God. He didn’t mention this catastrophe when you were chatting.

Laura Story reminds us that sometimes our blessings are in the storms. If you have been praying for something and trouble has taken up residence in your life, look for the blessing.  This week in bible study, Moses is surrounded by people who complain and grumble about everything. Can you imagine spending your latter years with a bunch of complainers? They were on their way to the promise land and did not like how God was driving.  Eventually all of the complainers died in the dessert and never got to go into the promise land.

Just because you don’t see a way out of your problem, doesn’t mean God hasn’t got it all figured out.  Look for the blessings in your storm it will make the journey to the promise land so much better.  One of the greatest gifts God gives us is a choice.

Changing

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I left the house in a rush this morning, and there is not a lot of light in my room. I was at my fourth stop of running errands. I was walking across a parking lot to a public building when something didn’t feel right. I looked down and saw that I had on 2 left flip flops. (my toes were cute and freshly painted) But I had on a brown flip flop for the left foot and a navy flip flop for the left. I knew I could not walk into the building like that.

Fortunately for me, I keep a pair of sneakers in my car. It was back to the car for a quick change. This cracked me up. I can’t believe I had not felt anything before that. You know sometimes that was my prayer life.

This week things have changed.

I watched the video I am sharing with you. Francis Chan blows my mind. He makes me think about things I have never thought about before. God gives us all these great examples of how to love Him and what faith looks like. Francis Chan says things that draw me closer to God.

One of my walk aways from this video is Revelation 4.  He challenged me to think about who I am praying to. When I pray now this image is before me on the throne.  He is no longer a better me in human form, but He is the image described in Revelation.  Let me tell you, that changes your approach completely as you imagine Him in the appearance of jasper and flashing lightning and pearls of thunder sitting above you on a throne.

Since I have changed my praying habits, things have changed in my life. My prayers have been very effective this week, as have been my study time. I love the idea of asking God to create new experiences in my life. If you ask, He really does it. (remember, I walked around in two left flip flops) He has a great sense of humor.

He can defend Himself and me

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This morning in my bible study, the story of Aaron and Miriam talking against Moses was the focus. Moses did not defend himself, God took care of the situation.  I laughed to myself because I seldom give God the opportunity to defend me because I am always ready for a fight. I miss out on the blessing of hearing what God really thinks of me.

God says of Moses, “he is faithful in my house,

with him I speak face to face,

clearly and not in riddles,

he sees the form of the Lord” (Numbers 12: 7-8)

It is statements like that that make me leery of talking about God’s chosen ones. We spend too much time criticizing other Christians when we need to be building one another up. Another thing I love about this story is that God defends Himself. He doesn’t need any human being to defend Him.

God shut Aaron and Miriam down so fast they didn’t know what hit them. They left us an amazing example of repentance and Moses showed us what grace looked like.

I love people who have been somewhere with God. They show me that there are new heights to climb. The song “Glory to God” has been in my head all week. I can’t help but hold my arms up high when I listen to Tye Tribbett’s version. I pray that God’s glory will cause you to seek new adventures with Him and love Him forever.

Peace

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Mourning is a process. Some days are good, some days are not. Today I got to comfort a friend who joined the mourning process, and help another as she works through grieving. Yesterday, I spent time with an older relative who shared with me stories of her youth. I heard the sadness in her voice as she talked about people who were all gone. I was inspired by her spirit cause she keeps on living. She is involved in life.

Through all of this, I find peace. It puts me to sleep every night. It guides my day. It reminds me of its origin. I am blessed.

 

Reflection

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Some people observed, while others celebrated the memory and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr this week in the United States.  I decided to listen to his speech “I Have Been to the Mountain Top.”  This was the last speech he gave.

This speech reminded me of what a great preacher he was.  He talked about how there was trouble in the land and the world was messed up. Funny how we think the same thing about today. He reminded his crowd that “only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”  This is a good reminder for us city dwellers who seldom see the stars at night.

But it is only in those times of trouble do we appreciate those moments of peace. The Lord has promised to never forsake us, even though we go through challenges. As long as He is with us, there will be stars in a dark night. Look for the stars.

This is a great speech. I hope you find many treasures there.

Amazing

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How you answer questions determines where you are in life. I got a good picture of where I am in life.

I got a text this week that I needed to change my emergency contact from my mom. You know it is in those moments that I realize what I lost. It made me sad. No one on earth will care about me the way my mom did. She cared about where I went, what I did, was I getting enough rest, did I eat.  If someone had ever called with an emergency she would have said “Where is she?”  She would not have cared what was wrong, but would have broken barriers to be with me.

But isn’t it a good God who gives you this kind of care for a portion of your life? I know some people never get that kind of love. I am blessed that He gave her to me.

Another question I ran across this week was “What would you do if you knew you wouldn’t fail?” I didn’t have to think about it long. My answer was all of the stuff I have been doing, the writing, the photography, the filmmaking. Crazy thing is, I never thought about it that way. I have just been doing what God planted inside of me. He has been so gracious in leading me. I feel blessed to be able to look back and see that I am doing what He made me to do. I can’t think of anything else I would want to do.

My life is in a good place and so can yours. So if you take those daily steps of spending time with the Lord, one by one; you will look around one day and see what an incredible place He leads you too. I live my life saying “I am going to do what God wants me to do” and He leads me to a path that fulfills all my desires. People will ask you questions and you will think: Wow!Some days I am overwhelmed by His love and thoughtfulness. He is so amazing. But Israel and Yolanda Adams sing it better.