Be Still

I am on vacation now and my niece is with me. She is only six, but she says she's 19. We have been staying with my grandparents at their house. The first night there we shared the guest bed and she sleeps like a fish! She cannot lay still at all. It doesn't help that I am an extremely light sleeper either. I woke up and her little feet were in my face. I woke up again and she thought I was her pillow. Then she woke me up when she completely just fell off of the bed. I couldn't help but laugh, because she didn't realize what she was doing. So, I threw some pillows on the floor just in case she fell off again. She also talks in her sleep. It's that "disoriented, doesn't make a bit of sense" talk. So, the next night I made her a bed on the floor thinking that would be safer for her. Guess what? All night she kept banging into the bed and the dresser. I thought she was going to knock herself out! She doesn't seem to realize that she is doing it, but it scares me every time. So, I haven't slept a whole night through, because I am worried that she is going to hurt herself. I asked her this morning if she was sore and she just giggled and said "NOOO". I told her she was probably going to have bruises all over her and she asked why. I laughed and told her "because you, little fish, don't know how to sleep."
That's how it is a lot of times with Christians. Unawares we flip and flop through life. Sometimes we end up falling flat on our face. God has to be watching us thinking "why can't they be still?" "Be still and know that I am God." It is extremely hard for us to do nothing but be still. God puts us in a place that is safer for us and we still fight being still. We come to Him in prayer and struggle with all the "right words to say" and He has to be looking at us thinking "what are they doing?" Stop worrying, stop trying to do everything, just stop and be still. You are going to wear yourself out. Spend some time resting with God today, He will take care of you and your needs.

Ask God

Have you ever wanted something so bad that you were willing to do almost anything to get it? Well, that is how I am feeling right now. I want a puppy for my birthday. I told my family that they didn't have to get me anything else. All I want is a puppy. One of my friends was making fun of me for it, because I said I wanted a puppy to keep me company...yeah, I didn't forget!!
If I had never asked for the puppy, do you think anyone would have known that is what I wanted? NO! When I told my parents what I wanted, they looked at me shocked and said "We had no idea that is what you wanted!" See! I never told them before so they didn't know. When we pray we need to pray specificaly. Tell God what is on your heart. Yes, it's ok to pray to get something! Shocked? You shouldn't be. The Bible says to ask and you will receive. So, what is on your heart to ask of God?

Trust

I believe that sometimes God does certain things in our lives in order to direct us and show us His will. It is not always very enjoyable when you are going through those times. I have spent the past year of my life praying for God's direction. Before now nothing made sense. Where I thought God was leading me He wasn't leading me at all. How do I know that? Well, let me explain. There is a burden for the lost upon my heart in the East Coast. The people there really need a fresh touch from God. When I truly found this touch of God in Indiana, MY desire was to share it with the people on the East Coast. I spent hours interceding for the lost. God showed me visions of His hand moving upon the land. I thought that I was to be a part of it. I wanted to be a part of it. But, God has said no. This weekend God spoke to me and told me the East Coast is not where I am called to. My heart broke, but a weight was lifted. I have had no peace about this until now. Not everything makes sense, but I know that I have started in the right direction. My greatest fear had been not being in God's will. God has not called me to live in fear. Something I have learned is that most of the time when God says something it is going to test your trust in Him. He has said things to me this past year and my first thought has been "God, are you sure?" Of course He is sure!!! He's God. In our human minds things don't always make sense, but we are not called to trust in our own wisdom but God's secret wisdom. I know this is a lesson I have to learn. I have spent my whole life "independent" and ready to do it myself. God is teaching me to rely on Him. I love God and because I love Him, I trust Him and I will do what He asks. What people don't all know is that it is sometimes painful to be corrected by God. He had to break MY vision and dream in order to fulfill HIS plan. The whole time I thought I was doing what He wanted me to do...I feel so ashamed to know that I wasn't. I can hear Him asking "Will you listen to me now?" Dad, you know that is what I want! The thing that really gets me is how because I had thought I was being called to the East Coast, I have been pushing everything else aside. I have been pushing things aside that are really important, but I wasn't going to let anything distract me. Now, I know how wrong that was.

Trust God. He knows what the future holds. He is God. If you feel Him speaking to you, don't shut Him out. Listen to His voice. Even if what He says goes against everything you think makes sense, you have to trust Him. Believe me, I know it can be scary taking that first step into the direction you are called, but after that first step is made you will feel the prescence of God so strong on your life that the following steps will be small victories already promised. Don't be afraid to trust. Trust is putting your life into someone else's hands. Trust is believing without seeing like faith. Trust God's voice.

Spending Time With God

I am looking forward to the next week...vacation! Rhode Island, Maine, the accent, clam cakes and chowder, gagers, camping out, smores, the smell of the ocean, screaming seagulls, hiking through the mountains, beautiful sunsets looking down from the Acadian Mountains, sail boats, fishing, getting eaten alive by mosquitos :-) ....I wish everyone could come too!!! My niece is coming. I am really excited about that, because she has never been to the East Coast. We are going to take her to see everything. My uncle's graduation party is next Saturday!! He has worked really hard. He's an designer. He designs things for companies like furniture and sculptures. Pretty cool stuff! One day while we are there we are going to downtown Providence to see the fires on the river. There is this river that runs through the city and there are these huge round grates in it that hold burning wood through the night. There are going to be tons of people there. There is always a show going on down at the "stage". You never know what you will see there. Dancers, clowns on stilts, singers...it's a lot of fun!

I am looking forward to taking a long nap at the beach. I love to listen to the waves. They remind me of God. They are so beautiful and powerful. Whenever a huge wave crashes I always jump and fall back to sleep as others calm me. I used to think that Rhode Island was my home, but I realized that isn't true. My home is with God. Take away everything else and I won't care. When I was a little girl I was very quiet and shy. I can remember being in the third grade sitting on the school bus talking to God. I didn't have any friends at the time because I had just started at a new school which I was used to doing. I can remember not feeling lonely because God told me He wanted to be my friend. Because I couldn't see Him, I would look out the window of the bus and at the sky and the trees knowing that He made those things and I felt Him near me. I can remember how He would make me laugh. One time some kids sitting next to me asked me what I was laughing at and I said "God's funny". They looked at me shocked and I just smiled. It feels good to spend real time with God. So, while I am on vacation I am going to be seeking Him a lot. I am really looking forward to it. There is nothing I love more than my heavenly dad.

Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; and let those who love Your salvation say without ending, Let God be magnified.
Psa 70:4

Pray

Every other Tuesday night my mom has her G12 (leadership study) at our house. So, last night my dad and I went to Barnes and Noble to escape the madness. ;-) We got our caramel frappachinos and grabbed an armload of magazines. I usually don't watch tv, because I don't care to see all of the stuff on it. But, I do have a couple of shows that I watch on Wednesday nights (season finale tonight!). But, my boss, D, and I try to keep up with what is going on in the U.S.A., so we read magazines like the Rolling Stones, People, Times, and so on and so forth. I picked up all of the star harassing and fashion crazed magazines last night. It is insane to read the same stories from different angles in every magazine. One article really stuck out to me about Lindsey Lohan. The media is saying that she is getting too skinny and are saying that she has an eating problem. I sat looking at Lindsey's face and my heart broke for her. These stars are constantly in the lime-light. They never have a moment of peace. The media tells them "You aren't good enough,""You're fat, so lose weight,""You're too skinny, you can't handle the pressure." People are seriously deluded if they think that the people they see on tv are really any different than them. Even the stars have bad days!! What a shock! I get sick of seeing young girls trying to look like what tv and magazines tell them they should. Then, when they can't/don't, they are tore down by their peers. No wonder why America has such a huge suicide rate! In the United States, suicide is the 9th leading cause of death. It accounted for 31,284 deaths, or 1.3 percent of all U.S. deaths in 1995 (nami.org). That is ridiculous! What is suicide? Suicide is WILLFULLY killing oneself. What is going on that the numbers are so high? Open up your eyes! It's everywhere; the tv, magazines, high school lunch roooms.... It's sick! We need to seriously pray.

2CH 7:15

Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent, unto the prayer that is made in this place.

D+S does not =B

Depressed and Stressed are NOT signs of being Blessed!!! That's all I have to say! I'm runnin' with it!

Good vs. Bad Day

Sorry, today, no new words of wisdom. I know you are all shocked, but you will get over it. JUST KIDDING! I always have something to say, are you kidding me?! The day I run out of things to say is the day I will be in heaven with my heavenly father:). Which could very well be today! Speaking of today...it is beautiful outside! Why I am sitting here writing....well, I don't know why. Why are you sitting here reading this? Well, there you go! Today is the day that the Lord has made! (Yes, if you really want to sing the song, go right ahead, I am not stopping you.) I woke up this morning smiling. Why? Because I am crazy....not really, although there are days when I feel like I am. Do you ever have those days? Fun, aren't they? Well, fortunately for you, today is not one of those days. I am just in a really good mood. Even though when I got up this morning to start my car and realized I had left my lights on all night and my battery was dead....I laughed!!! Then I told one of my friends about it and she laughed with me. What is the point of this blog? Stop being so serious and have a good laugh. You can choose to either look at life today and say, "This sucks," or you can say, "Hey, I am NOT going to let this ruin my day, I laugh at the injustice of it all!" You do what you want, but, I chose to have a GREAT day no matter what!

Be Patient

"But if we hope for that which we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for it." (Romans 8:25) When I was little I loved to make things. My favorite class was always Art. When I was in third grade we made little round cups or bowls (we got to choose which one). I made a bowl. I remember when I was making it, being really excited. I couldn't wait to see what it was going to look like. But, the teacher informed me that the bowl would have to be baked in the oven before I could paint it. I was disappointed, but also willing to wait. So, the next Art class came and my bowl had finished baking. I was so excited, because I wanted to give the bowl to my mom for her birthday. I sat at the table and waited for my little bowl to be brought to me. The teacher came over to me and apologized saying that somehow my bowl had been broken. I was close to tears. She looked and me and said that she had something to give me. She brought me a beautiful bowl that she had made herself. She said that I could have hers. I smiled and thanked her. Sometimes when we wait for something it doesn't end up the way we plan. Even better, we get rewarded with something else. Patience...a big word, but with big rewards.

God's Lesson of Love

The greatest command we are given is that we love one another. Strange how that can be one of the most difficult things to do. There are times when I don't feel like loving certain people. It is easy to love people who love you back, but it's not so easy to love someone who doesn't want your love. The word 'love' is thrown out so much that it has lost its meaning. People say they love their car, their house, or their dog and then they say they love their family and friends all in the same sentence. Love has become just an expression to most people. "It's mine, therefore I love it" should be what people really say. When something isn't yours, you usually do not love it. God, didn't create love for this. When the Bible speaks of God's love, it always talks about God loving man. I have never read where God says He loves the stars or the moon. He owns them all, but that doesn't mean that He necessarily loves them. God's love is expressed for man, not angels. God's love is not given only when He feels like giving it. He doesn't just give His love to the people who are easily loved. The world searches for love in all the wrong places. Teenagers want to be loved, so they think that by giving themselves away to someone else, that will buy them love. It's all over TV. Desperate House Wives...women who don't understand what true love is. Love is not something you always receive. Love is something that must be given. It grieves me to hear young people say that they are in love with their girlfriend or boyfriend, when in all honesty, they really don't know what that kind of love is. Love is not just about the feelings, emotions, and desires. Love means sacrafice. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.... Jesus died not because of emotions or feelings. He died because He knew the only way for His love to be real to man was that He would have to pay the sacrafice. I teach a Jr. High Sunday School class and every week I sit and listen about how their lives are going. It never fails, one will start talking about liking someone else. That's normal, don't get me wrong. But, I will say something I usually don't share too often. I have never had a 'boyfriend' or dated. Why? Believe me, I am as normal as everyone else, but I made a huge decision when I was very young. God said that if I could wait and make that sacrafice, that He would send me the one I am to spend the rest of my life with. So, that is what I am doing, waiting. You know what? It's not always easy. Sometimes I get very lonely. But, I made a promise with God that I will not break, nor do I have any desire to break it. I always wear a ring on my right hand to remind me of my promise. Why my right and not my left? To also remind me that some day I will wear another ring on my left hand. I won't stop wearing my promise ring after I get married. I want it to always stand as a reminder of my trust and love for God, not only for myself but also to for the one I marry. A promise ring? Actually, I started wearing this ring before I knew about promise rings. This is something God told me to do. Whenever I begin to have any sort of feelings for someone, I always ask God, "Is that the one?" He always answers in some way or another. He always tells me that I will know when the time comes and I won't have to ask. My point is...and yes I have a point! :) What are you willing to sacrafice for? What are you willing to lay down all you dreams for? What are you willing to give up everything for? Then those are the things you love. If the first things that came to your mind were just objects...you are missing out on true love. God wants us to love one another, not objects. When you love people, you will receive a reward of love back. But, don't always expect to receive, because, remember, it's about sacraficing. Love is the greatest gift. Don't let it go to waste, but don't abuse it either. God is Love. Think about that and you are on the road to understanding. :)

Stepping Forward

I was reading a book this morning and one of the short stories in it really struck me. In a good way!! It was talking about how when we get to a point in our life that we know we cannot do it alone, we call on God. He is there watching us, but He will only come and help if we ask Him. Those times we try to do it alone and we don't call out to Him are the times we will fall because there is no possible way to go any farther without God's help. The little boy in the story was trying to climb up a huge slide. When he got half way up the ladder he knew that he couldn't go any farther without his dad. Dad, Father, God, we cannot take another step without you. Come, take us forward in your arms!

A Word for Tehillah

I had this really strange dream last night. I was at church right before a service, standing beside some of the people on the worship team in the back of the santuary. Suddenly, they disappeared and were standing up front on stage. I was confused on how they got there until I was suddenly there as well. So, when I woke up from the dream my first thought was, "That was really weird." But, then God spoke to me and gave me this word. He said that He is strategically picking people up and putting them where He wants them. But, He isn't just placing them there, He is sending them out like missels. Once they reach the place He has for them there will be an explosion of His glory. He said that He is picking up Tehillah and sending it on to the campus. I asked how and He said not to worry about that. He said that He would take care of it. Wind Check!!! His Holy Spirit is going to take us there. Just enjoy the ride!!

The White Rock

When I was a kid I took swimming lessons for three summers at the local lake in Hope, Rhode Island. Those were some of the best summers I have ever had. Every day all of the kids/teens in the county would run down to the snake infested, snapping turtle growing, tadpole gathering, cold lake and meet up with their swimming instructors. Every age was a different group. All the younger kids looked up to the teens. To be in the teen group meant you had arrived. But, I wasn't quite there yet. So, I had to settle for one of the younger groups. Everyone would find a spot on the beach or in the grass to lay out their towels and claim their territory. All of my friends and I would make sure we were together and making sure everyone else knew it. There was a snack hut where every day at around 12 o'clock everyone would stand in line and buy some of the greatest candy ever invented. Foot long bubble gum sticks, pixy sticks by the dozens, sweedish fish....oh, yeah, those were the days. Then after everyone had finished their snacks we would all play a game. My favorite was capture the flag. Only we didn't use a flag, we used towels. Everyone would roll up their towels and make a huge line across the field. Then on each far end of the field would be the bases. Towels would be piled up in a half circle to protect the "flag" or towel. Imagine, three hundred screaming teens/kids running around.... Total chaos! Stinking awesome! Then throughout the day everyone would have lessons. That first plung in the water was horrible. It was always dreaded by everyone. But, every morning your group would be lined up at one of the two docks and one at a time you would be forced to jump in. The shock of that cold water was like a thousand needles hitting you all at once. But, once that was over, you were fine. My favorite part was finaly learning how to canoe. We would all put on these huge orange life jackets and canoe around part of the lake. Snapping turtles sat watching us from fallen trees and logs on the shores. Then when we got far out into the lake our instructor made us get out of the canoe and flip it over. We were all terrified. There was a story about a giant croc that lived in the lake and ate people who went too far out in it. Now I know that it wasn't true, but at the time, it was like facing death. Shivering, we would all swim as quickly as we could, pushing the canoe, glancing at one another, and flinching every time a long weed would grab our legs under the water. No one would say a word. When we reached the shore we would all lay down on the dock and stare out at the lake. No one dared saying what they knew was out there. But, after a couple of years we got older and realized that the croc was just a bunch of croc the teens came up with to scare the wits out of us. Then came the final test. When you had reached the final year of instruction, you would have to swim across the lake to the white rock. You were not given a life jacket and you were forced to do it all alone. It was to test what you had learned about survival. The one's who passed would take a stone and write their name on the rock. Unfortunately, my name is not written on that rock. We had to move away before I was able to complete what I had started. But, years later at my uncle's birthday party, my dad and I took a canoe out on to the lake. When he was a kid/teen he finished all of the swimming instructions at the lake. He loved that lake so much, he knew where everything was. He took me all over that lake to places I never knew existed. We talked about the white rock and how that was the most important spot on that lake. You know what? All the disappointment I had felt before about not making it to that rock had faded away. A lot of times that is how life is. We try so hard to reach this goal and then it doesn't happen. You feel cheated and upset. Then later on you realize that there is much more out there than that goal you set for yourself. God knows what is best. Sometimes we don't get what we want because He has something better out there for us. It isn't about what we want, it's about what God wants. Believe me, his will is so much greater than ours.

Be Fisher's of ALL Men

I have two betta fish. One's name is Wilbur and the other Charlie. Wilbur is layed back and friendly. Charlie is high strung and wacky. Wilbur is blue and green. Charlie is silver and pink. Two of the same kind of fish and yet so completely different. People are a lot like that. Some are very quiet and shy. Others are very loud and outgoing. Some have blond hair and blue eyes. Others have red hair and green eyes. All people, yet completely different. Jesus said to be fisher's of men, right? In the time of Jesus what did the fishermen use to catch the fish? Nets. Ok, so say, you decided to fish out in the pacific ocean with a huge net, how many different kinds of fish do you think you would catch? A lot, depending on where exactly you fished. Now, we have churches that are trying to reach a certain type of people. We have the biker churches, the older generation churches, the younger generation churches, the next generation churches....and so on and so forth. The message we use in which to bring people in is 'suppossed' to be the same. Now, so if we throw out our nets into the crowds of people walking the streets, how many different kinds of people do you expect we will catch? A lot. So, be ready. When you throw out your net you are bound to catch what you never expected. The question is, will you throw some fish back in the water because they weren't the ones that you wanted? Be fisher's of ALL men, not just some. Don't be so quick to throw back in the one's that don't look so healthy either. A fish is still a fish, no matter what kind or color. A person is still a person no matter how they look or act.

What Are We Afraid Of?

A few years ago I bought the movie Joan of Arc about the Maid of Loraine. Every time I watch it I cry! But, just this week I saw it in a new light. I know it is because of the message I am preparing for Tehillah. While I was watching the movie I began to realize that if Joan of Arc didn't do what she did, I may not be alive today. I am French. Every time before when I had watched the movie, that thought never came into my mind. But, it hit me this week. In Hebrews 11, which is known as the faith chapter, there is a list of men and women who lived by faith. They did what God told them to do and yet verses 39-40 say "All of them pleased God because of their faith! But still they died without being given what had been promised. This was because God had something better in store for us. And he did not want them to reach the goal of their faith without us." WOW!!! "Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see. It was their faith that made our ancestors pleasing to God." (Heb. 11:1-2) Joan of Arc was just a peasant girl who was given specific instructions. She obeyed God and in the end was burned at the stake for being a HERETIC!!! It wasn't until 700 yrs. later that her verdict was recanted and she became known as a saint. She was just a young girl!!! Yet, she changed the course of history by being obedient. Even as she was being burned at the stake, eye witnesses said that she repeatedly called out the name of Jesus. She never got to see what she died for. It was years later before all of France was united. She had true faith. In the face of all the odds, she could have stayed home and never fought for her country. But, she believed in the words of an angel of the Lord and obeyed. And we are afraid of telling our coworkers about Christ?! Hebrews 39-40 says that all those people died without ever seeing what they had been promised. Yet our slogan still stands "We Have To See It To Believe It!!!" We are not left out of history!! Why do we continue to think that we cannot make an affect on history!! Yesterday is history. What did you do yesterday? COME ON!!! Get real! God is the same God in the Old Testament. He can still part seas, send plagues and fire down from heaven, raise the dead, and heal the sick! We have to have faith. Unless we believe without seeing, we will never be the true history makers God has called us to be. History Makers, cheesy word? NO! The day we get up out of the pews and take a step in the direction we have been called is the day "Think Outside The Box" will become a dim comparison to "Anything Is Possible." Anything IS possible for those who believe! But, this is not a 'one man show'. This is going to take all of us! We have to start believing in God and stop getting caught up in the ability of man. The ability of man is limited, but God is NOT limited. God is moving and shaking, are you going to be a part of it or hide away and pretend it isn't happening?