Morning.

I had to share this. One of my dear and newly married friends shared this with me and a few other gals this morning. Very powerful..

Morning
"Get thee up into the high mountain."
- Isa_40:9
Our knowledge of Christ is somewhat like climbing one of our Welsh mountains. When you are at the base you see but little: the mountain itself appears to be but one-half as high as it really is. Confined in a little valley, you discover scarcely anything but the rippling brooks as they descend into the stream at the foot of the mountain. Climb the first rising knoll, and the valley lengthens and widens beneath your feet. Go higher, and you see the country for four or five miles round, and you are delighted with the widening prospect. Mount still, and the scene enlarges; till at last, when you are on the summit, and look east, west, north, and south, you see almost all England lying before you. Yonder is a forest in some distant county, perhaps two hundred miles away, and here the sea, and there a shining river and the smoking chimneys of a manufacturing town, or the masts of the ships in a busy port. All these things please and delight you, and you say, "I could not have imagined that so much could be seen at this elevation." Now, the Christian life is of the same order. When we first believe in Christ we see but little of him. The higher we climb the more we discover of his beauties. But who has ever gained the summit? Who has known all the heights and depths of the love of Christ which passes knowledge? Paul, when grown old, sitting grey-haired, shivering in a dungeon in Rome, could say with greater emphasis than we can, "I know whom I have believed," for each experience had been like the climbing of a hill, each trial had been like ascending another summit, and his death seemed like gaining the top of the mountain, from which he could see the whole of the faithfulness and the love of him to whom he had committed his soul. Get thee up, dear friend, into the high mountain.

Thank you, Nicky, for sharing. :)

Life happens.

Who says we're supposed to have it all together? Christians are far from perfect. Christians don’t wear smiles on their faces 24/7. We feel pain, we feel rejection and neglect, we hurt, and we’re not robots who, just because we love Jesus, believe life is supposed to be handed to us on a silver platter. It’s the opposite, really. On days when we have much to be thankful for and we’re on top of the world, it only takes one minuscule event to bring our countenance down again and make us aware of the realities of life. It’s impossible and unrealistic to believe that we, as followers of Christ, will never experience anything apart from joy and peace on this side of heaven.

There are times when my emotions are on a roller coaster ride. One minute I'm in a great mood. The next minute, I can become worried, confused, scared, and moody very quickly. Does that mean that I'm not really a Christian?

Up, down, up again for a few days…then down again. It’s true that I’m a person who is more optimistic than pessimistic. I’d rather be happy for no particular reason than ticked off because of something out of my control. But, sometimes I just don’t feel like being in a good mood. I feel more like screaming. And it can stem from many different reasons at any given moment. Usually, though, I struggle with feelings of unworthiness from myself or others. I find no difficulty in being hard on myself. I fail on a daily basis to live up to my expectations of what a Christian woman ‘should’ be. It’s easy to be judgmental, and it’s even more damaging when we’re that way towards ourselves. Whether it’s imagined or not, we tend to look inward and wonder, “What’s wrong with me?”

Yesterday I was lying out by the pool with a girlfriend of mine. We were discussing what we see in our Christian walk and how that differentiates between what the world thinks it’s supposed to look like. Wearing masks seems to be the ‘safe route’. Telling someone we're "fine" when we're actually miserable is only keeping us from healing and finding freedom much quicker. It's not being real. A genuine relationship is what is real. We cannot hide from God about our struggles. So, why do we hide from one another, or from ourselves?

Aren't we a people who struggle with some of the exact same things that the world does? Isn't it true that the only difference between 'us' and 'them' is that we've accepted Christ and have allowed Him to change us into His image..albeit slowly and painfully at times?

I'd rather be an open book...even if that means I will be rejected...and be real with people in hopes that I'm not labeled a hypocrite or a fake. Christians have missed the mark. We've taken our eyes off of the Saviour and have placed it on standards as to what we feel someone should look, be, or act like. Who am I? Who is anyone, apart from Christ, to judge or look down on another? That's the thing. He knows our hearts. I can be as ugly to the world as ever...but I'm not rejected by my Father. Can't we be real and love the way He does? When I'm hurting or struggling with sin, I can't hold back from asking for prayer or sharing with a listening ear. My hopes is that being genuine will help the world see that we're still sinners saved by grace. Nothing more, nothing less.

Over and Over Again.

I can't believe I've waited this long (a week to be exact) to write about what's been happening...

God hears and answers us when we pray.

Let's back up a little. I was f-r-e-a-k-i-n-g out last weekend. In a matter of a week, I knew I needed a new couch ASAP (roomie took hers), my dryer stopped drying (what do you call it now? A 'not dryer'?), and my dishwasher decided it didn't want to work any longer either. Soo, needless to say, I had barely a dime in my pocket that wasn't already going towards my mortgage and bills and I was mentally preparing to buy two new major appliances and a place to sit while I watch HGTV & episodes of "The Dog Whisperer". I sent out a little e-mail to a group of prayer warriors that I knew would plead for the Lord to hear and answer in His perfect way.

God answered almost immediately in one area...that Friday night, I went to pick up a dryer from a friend for $50.00 that he no longer needed! That was only the beginning to what God would do that weekend. That same night, some girlfriends and I went to a prayer meeting/cookout at a dear friend's house. The Spirit of God was so beautifully sweet during our prayer/praise time that when it began to storm pretty badly, it startled many of us. I, stupidly, asked Dre & Cari if we could head home so I could get home to my pup, who is terrified of loud thunderstorms. Little did we know, we'd be praying all the way home as well. The streets were already flooded in the area we were leaving. 'Jack' the Jetta had flood water coming up over his hood and the streetlights were all out as we were trying to get home. God answered. Dre's car didn't stall or get stuck in the floodwaters. Indy had tornado watches and warnings so when we got to Dre's, we headed to her basement to wait it out. There was no way they were letting me leave to drive 20 minutes to my house in that stuff. So, we prayed when we sat down with egg-carton mattresses over our heads and candles lit beside us. He answered us. It quieted down shortly after and I made it home safely to Spikers (who was shaking like a leaf and wouldn't leave my side the whole night).

The next night, we were at a friend's house for a get-together. Sometime late in the evening, we got a call from another friend who was at a separate party hosted by our Associate Pastor. Our Pastor's four year-old daughter was missing. She had been playing and had disappeared. The cops, along with 20 or so guests from the party, looked all over the house and neighborhood for almost two hours, to no avail. We, at the party I was at, began to pray earnestly. We got a call ten minutes later and was told the girl literally appeared in the middle of the hallway right behind her father. When asked later on where she'd been, her only response was that she didn't remember..and then she said she'd been behind a living room curtain the whole time. When our Pastor was tearfully describing the incident the following Sunday morning, he said that one of his guests had just fallen on his knees and pleaded with the Lord to, "Just allow her to appear." God answered.

Sunday rolls around. I came home from church feeling refreshed with my faith in the Lord strengthened tremendously just from seeing His hand move in remarkable ways that weekend. I literally went to my dishwasher, put some soap in it and turned it on. It worked perfectly. I just started laughing! I mean, of course I was thanking God, but I was just completely amazed! I need to stop putting God in a box. If I pray for something and it's in accordance with His will, why am I shocked when He answers?? Ugh. I'm still growing. :)

God's good. Over, and over, and over again...