God

Share Night

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I used to kick “Share Night” to the curb. I had made it through another year of bible study, so I was gonna sit at home and relax. Skip listening to other folks talk about what God had done during their year. I had collected all my points all year by going to class, doing my lesson and even sharing on the personal questions. That was good enough. I was in my 30s and didn’t get it.

Share night is the last night of the study. The whole group meets to hear what others have learned and experienced during the study. There are questions designed to prompt this sharing.

Needless to say, I did not do the last lesson which caused you to reflect on all that you had been through that year. I was so stupid, but God didn’t tell me that. He just continued to nudge me forward. I did not stay stuck on stupid. I did start to attend “share nights” and discovered the Living God working in the lives around me. When you are wrapped up in the media, you can miss what God is doing right in front of your face.

Share night puts God in your face.

One of my favorite share night memories comes from the South Fort Worth class. A majority of the women who got up to tell what God had done in their lives, first thanked Judy Brewington who invited them to join the BSF class. Judy takes the study of God’s word serious an shares it will all who comes into contact with her. She is an incredible woman of God.

Through the years of Share Nights, I have laughed and cried with many woman. Through this journey God prepared me.

What I have learned this year in Bible Study Fellowship through the study of Moses’ life is that taking time to reflect on your journey is a good thing. Whether you know it or not, you are on a journey. And all of the people who are travelling with you are not experiencing the same things as you, but you can still journey together. God will entrust you with a vision that not everyone will understand or comply with. Moses had to bury all but Joshua and Caleb in the desert because they did not understand God’s plan.

During the study of Moses I experienced the most loss I have experience in my life at one time: my mom, my job, some good friends and more. As God revealed the mortality of things on earth, he revealed the immortality of heaven.  The joy is that God does not get old and frail. He does not become forgetful or weak. He can be all of the things we have lost. He has taught me He is the one thing I cannot do without.

My overall principle was He was with me. The Third Day song Spirit hit the nail on the head. When all else failed, His presence was always with me. He would always be my guide.

This year I prayed show me what He wants me to know and protect me from what He doesn’t. I choose to know Jesus Christ and him crucified. That is enough for me.

Serving Others

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TAB 2 Tarrant Area Food Bank

My pastor is preaching a series on serving others. His theology is God knows you are serious about putting Him first if you are serving others. He defines serving others by doing things for people who can’t reciprocate. Dr. Tony Evans said that others’ special needs are designed for divine intercession, it allows God to teach us about Himself.

I have had an amazing walk with God this week sitting in hospital rooms. Sometimes I got to sit quietly, while other times the rooms were filled with conversation and laughter. I have the best family. These people will show up and stay when you are in need. I got to see a compassionate God who cares for us in our weakest moments. We are all heading for that moment. Oh but for grace that will meet us there.

Last night I worked at the Tarrant Area Food Bank with a group of good friends. It was a blessing to be with folks who gave their time unselfishly. We had a good time doing something for someone who could not pay us for the work. God revealed what unconditional love looked like through these people.

That is what I love about God’s word. He gives us examples to live by. We know that if we serve others, we are in His will. If we are selfish, we are not in His will.

I know who I am in Christ. I know my strengths and my limitations. This week I got to be His hands and feet to the point of exhaustion. When I scheduled the Food Bank, I had no idea the other events of this week would take place. I am confident that I am in this season of life for this purpose.  My confidence is from Christ and His power at work in me.

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.

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.

Revelation

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There are those who would steal your dreams and hope. There are those who want nothing more than to see you fail. Sunday, I had a revelation that I shared with my Facebook Friends.

“I have to share this because I know some of you are waiting on the Lord to act in your life.
This morning I was on my way to church and I was singing with the radio. I don’t remember what song it was. But the Lord and I were having a conversation. He told me that sometimes we are waiting because He has to take the teeth out of the serpent that is waiting to bite you. He didn’t say He was gonna stop it, but He said it wasn’t going to harm you. You see He has to show you and the serpent who is in charge.
So whatever you are waiting on, know that God is de-fanging something that was trying to hurt you. Be still and know.”

I am in a time of waiting. It is hard, but God sends hope. You just have to look for it.

You have to learn to appreciate the times of waiting. It reminds me of the last full day of my mom’s life.  She was having a surgical procedure and we were waiting with her for her turn. My mom, my sister and I had some of the best laughter we have ever had together.  This procedure was just one of the tasks of the day. We were in a hurry to get home and get ready for Christmas. We had started talking about Christmas and ended up talking about her childhood. She had us rolling in laughter.

We were a little irritated that the procedure had not started. They originally gave us a 10am start time. Well, 10 am came and went. We were still having a good laugh, but by 12 we were looking for explanations. Closer to 1 they came and got her.

By 5 or 6 we were up in her room, laughing and talking again. We had been joined by my youngest sister and my Mom’s youngest brother and his wife.  For hours we talked and laughter. Sometimes my Mom laughed so hard, it hurt her incision. The final story of the evening was how my little sister tried to run away. We hollered. It was so funny. I could not wait for Mom to get home and hear more.

She never came home. That day of fun was all the fun I would have with her. Sometimes we are so anticipating the coming thing, we miss the moments we are living in. But I serve an awesome God. He knew what was coming. He gave us precious hours I will always remember, but they came in the form of a delay.

If things are not happening the way you want, if there is a delay in your plans, ask God for a revelation. He is taking the sting out of the bite.

Merry Christmas

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This journey toward Christmas has been very different than past journeys. I had the opportunity to reflect on this year and some really fun times with my family and friends. I got to revisit doing some things I had never done before. I got to celebrate life with the people I love.

The Lord has used my 49th year of life to stretch me in ways I have never been stretched before. I made a feature length motion picture. I have led an awesome small group of women in bible study. I got to take care of my mom and spoil her before she went to meet Jesus.

I have a lot to be thankful for.  The Lord really helped me put things in perspective.  If I could take all of the love the Lord has showered on me and turn it into coins I would be a billionaire. I am loved. And that is a successful life.

3/2 Days Til Christmas

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Forgiveness. It is one of the greatest gifts God has given to me. When I am stressed, I need an overdose of it. As I push on to accomplish the tasks on my list, sometimes things get run over or fall off.

Over the last couple of days I have tried to juggle planning family Christmas, a funeral and finishing a movie.  Some things have fallen through the cracks, but I know it will all work out.

God teaches us even through our grief what a marvelous God He is.  As we reflect over the past few days we are allowed to remember His goodness, His faithfulness and His sovereignty.

On these last couple of days before Christmas I am reminded of a Savior who loved us so much He came down here to be with us, and take us home when we are ready.  I don’t think we can comprehend the depth of this love. I know I can’t.

But in my grief, I like to think that this feeling I am experiencing is what my Savior feels for me.  That His heart aches for a time for us to be together again.  An amazing love came down from heaven and I don’t think we will ever grasp it.

 

 

10 Days Till Christmas

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One of the presents I received this year was four days in the dark.

light bulb

What looked like a light storm came through our city one evening, lasted about 30 minutes. Ripped up the place.

The power went out on my street and it didn’t come back on for four days. We had a tree land on our roof.

Those four days in the dark gave me time to think about the God I serve. I mean why on earth was He leaving me, His faithful servant in the dark and no electricity in the middle of a Texas summer? What purpose could this serve?

It was a chance to get to know HIm better without the distraction of daily routines.

I am currently reading Knowing God by J.I. Packer. One of the principles I have gleaned from this reading is “those who know God have great contentment in God.” This contentment happens no matter what. This year, He allowed me to see if I had that type of contentment no matter what. Some moments I was cool. Some moments I was “Okay, Lord, fix this now!”

Packer’s argument was once you truly knew God nothing could disrupt your peace. He said people who truly knew God lived differently. They have something that the world can’t explain.

I want to live out that kind of faith.

I