Humility....

So I have gotten into a pretty regular habit of listening to podcasts on Fridays while I clean. The other day I was listening to a message about humility. The pastor referenced a guy he had recently heard talking about humility. He said he had been
guilty of wanting to be humble in order to be "lifted up". However God had shown him that this is not the point. He then reference the verse that says "God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble"(Prvb.3:34. He said the point of humility is intimacy!
God can not be close and intimate with those who are proud. He draws near to the humble! You know this is so true. Earlier this year I was listening to another great teacher, Beth Moore, who was also talking about humility (I really have no original thoughts, they are all borrowed). She was saying sometimes God takes us through circumstances for no other reason than to be humbled! When I first thought about that I thought...gosh that is kind of mean of God. But when you consider the reward...intimacy with Jesus...it makes me want to even pray for these circumstances.
These teachings encouraged me because recently I feel as I have been going through some mighty humbling circumstances! From small things such as crying in awkward, humiliating times...to my ministry taking an unexpected turn. I must say this is one of the oddest places I have with the Lord! Yet it has brought me to a place of honesty and humility before the Lord. It feels so good to be open and honest with Him! I tell Him I am confused. I tell Him it hurts! I even tell Him I am mad! I feel frustratingly humbled! (is that a word?) But I will echo what that pastor said, there is intimacy in humility!
I know the footprints story is cheezy but isn't it true?! In the good times, you feel as if you are dancing down the beach with God, hand in hand. You can hear the ocean and feel the breeze. But in the heard times you don't feel the sand on your feet or the breeze. But if you listen closely you can hear His heart beat close to your ear...because it is then that He is holding you! Although I feel I have been fighting for awhile, I can feel Him holding me close and whispering in my ear. He is saying, "Dear Child, don't fight it,I know your heart, relax in My arms and enjoy the intimacy!
May you be encouraged that our God is an intimate God!

Grace...

Today was a crazy day! I walked outside to my car this morning to a flat tire and a dead battery! No fun! Today is Mark's day off so luckily so he was able to fix everything! I went off to school and Mark's day didn't get much better! I lost my phone and he was going back and forth between the insurance people and it ended up finding out it would still be another week before we would get another phone. Meanwhile, I am carrying his phone around while he doesn't have one! He then had to mess with more crazy home issues..that you probably don't want to hear...
Point being...most of this craziness today was my fault. I am bad about self imposed guilt! I had felt bad about "ruining" Mark's day off all day. However, tonight when I got home, dinner was cooked and on the table, the house was straight and there was a rose on the table! (I know he is amazing!) He could have easily said "Hey this is my day off and I had to spend it fixing your mistakes! You cook dinner!". I was just amazed that although my carelessness and forgetfulness had kept him busy all day, he offered grace to me.
That is such a glimpse of Christ! It was our sins that caused Him to come to this Earth and die for our sins. He could have stopped at forgiving us of our sins. But Jesus offered us life when He rose from the grave! He gave us what we didn't deserve...GRACE!
Praise God for a husband who shows me glimpses of Jesus!

Another Small thing....

Last night I cooked the easiest meal I have ever made! This dinner was so great! I am not a fancy cook...I manage the meals in our household and Mark mostly carries them out : ) So last night I made a Bertoli pasta meals. It was great! All I did was open the packet, pour the contents in a saucepan and let it cook for 10 minutes while I played fetch with my cat (yes, my cat can fetch...she's awesome!). After 10 minutes, Mark and I had yummy chicken parmesan!
Anyway, it just another "small thing" and I thought I would spread the news about an easy home cooked meal!

Cleaning....

So I have kind of been medaling with the cleaning house thing this summer. I think I have finally decided to take the plunge! So, I was curious about cleaning supplies. What I have works well but I am my NO means an expert! Any suggestions? Any products you swear by or that work well?
With that said I must put out a shameless plug...if you need any house cleaning I am available on Fridays. I charge $20 an hour. I have Fridays open right now!

The small stuff....

I have not had a lot of time to blog this week. I started back to school last Wednesday which was actually a pretty big surprise to me...but that is a blog for another day. Anyway I am starting back on year 5 and I think I might see the light at the end of this never ending tunnel!
I don't know if you have ever felt this way, but right now I am confused about more things in my life than I am sure or confident of. You have probably never been like that : ) I don't know...I just really don't understand what God is doing right now. He is changing a lot of plans...that I thought at one time were His plans... and many things are not turning out like I thought. I love the Lord...really He is my everything...but lately I have been tempted to doubt a lot! Not really doubt Him but doubt my role in everything "Am I really hearing Him right?" "Is this really what I am supposed to be doing?" "Have I totally missed something?". I don't know just kind of confused. I am kind of coming around. Last week I was stressed and highly analytical (I don't think Mark could have taken anymore outburst of emotions!). This week God has given me a peace in the middle of my storm. I am learning to praise Him in the small things. All though I really don't understand the big things that well. I can praise Him in the little things! Here is my list...posted to glorify God and praise Him in the small things I have found Him in lately.

If you may be feeling a little like I am, I encourage you to make your own list of the "small things".

I praise God for:
1. ...the way my neighborhood smells like laundry detergent at night when everyone is doing their laundry...(we live in a townhouse...we are all close)
2. the mountain top (literally) Mark and I found on Monday night
3. the fact my cat has not had an "accident" in over a month
4. new school supplies
5. playing cards and games with Mark at nights
6. the clouds and the sunlight peaking through them this morning
7. tonight's sunset
8. the rainstorm the other day! I love rain!
9. My new IKEA shelf
10. my freshly painted living room
11. Diet Dr. Pepper...what can I say...great taste no calories!
12. the Easy Glider treadmill at Kennesaw
13. my iPod
14. driving 5 speed car...it is fun!
15. teaching my sister how to drive one...praise that she didn't kill us! (jk she's doing great!)
16. my backyard from around 5 until sunset
17. kisses from Layla
18. detours
19. my camera
20. early Saturday mornings
21. Noah

Just gotta Brag...

I don't do this often enough but I just have to brag about my husband, Mark, he is amazing....
When we were dating I was never one to talk hours on end about Mark or write "I love Mark" on everything I own, but the longer we are together the more I find myself becoming that person. I feel that I fall in love with him more and more each day becoming that annoying middle schooler who loves to talk about her "boyfriend".
I am usually very private in this area but sometimes you can't help but shout it from the mountain tops you know?!
These are a few reasons I think he is amazing!
- There is no one who more transparently shows me the love of God...he is God's vessel of love in my life!
- He is the most genuine person is know!
- He goes grocery shopping with me ... he knows I can't handle it alone!
- He works hard!
- He brings logic to my crazy ideas!
- He allows me to follow God's calling in every way.
- He is a great cook!
- He brings me a fountain Sprite from Krystal's after band practice : )
- He puts up with my tears!
- He will take the long way just so we will drive through downtown Atlanta...because he knows I love the city!
- He puts up with my love for 80's music!
- He loves people and always has time for others!
- He is not afraid to radically follow God!
- He always finds a reason to celebrate!

I could go on but I will stop so not to nauseate you ; ) But I just can't help it!

TV

For my birthday Mark let me have a "mini home make-over". If you know me, I like change! Every once in a while I just have to move things around. So I have painted and moved rooms around...which is not easy to do in a two bedroom townhouse : ) One thing we did very differently was move the TV out of our living room. We brought some bookshelves downstairs and moved the TV to our loft creating a "movie room". One of the main reasons we wanted to move this summer, was to be able to do this and I guess we never really thought about moving things around in our house here. I must say this has been the biggest blessing! It has been a little over a week now and we have watched significantley less TV and haven't really missed it. We didn't really have spiritual reasons for moving the TV or anything...we just wanted to cut down on turning it on just because or just out of habbit. We found many nights we would just turn it on after dinner and mindlessly watch for a couple of hours and then go to bed never really spending time together.
Anyway it has been a huge blessing for us! I would highly recommend it!

What if....

This Christmas I received an iPod. It has been one of my favorite gifts I have ever gotten! One of my favorite things to do is subscribe to various podcasts and listen to them through out the week while I am cleaning or driving or whatever. There is one guy, Francis Chan (I have mentioned before) that just stands out above the rest right now. I love to hear what God is doing in their church and I love to hear his genuine heart for the Lord.
There is a continual phrase that he says in almost all his messages. He will teach on a certain passage or truth and then say "What if our church actually did what the word says...What if we actually do this?!" He will then tell the church about how they are actually going to implement this truth starting that day from...meeting for prayer during the week to stooping a particular activity or whatever. I know that may sound almost shallow or obvious but the question of "what if" always lingers on after I finish listening to his messages.
"What if..." The funny thing is that I don't think I ask that question enough! It sounds so obvious... "what if we actually did what the Word says?" ...like I should debate God's Word or something?...How many times, however, do we hear or read the Word of God and get up and go about our lives the same way? ...it is far to often for me! This question calls you to a state of action now! I love it!
Mark and I have been going through a weird time with our relationship with God. We have had more questions than answers but I really think we have felt closer to Him all together...kind of the footprints in the sand thing. But God has been challenging us to the "What if!". What if we really did trust God with our finances? What if we actually did love people that live in the same neighborhood as us? What if we did just follow God and obey Him regardless if it fits the mold or not? What if... I think we have finally stopped wrestling God and we are just going to do those "what if things". I will tell you, even though some of the things don't quite make sense, we are pretty excited!

For more about Francis Chan, he is the teaching pastor at Cornerstone Church in Semi Valley, CA http://www.cornerstonesimi.com/ you can get his podcast by putting his name in the iTunes search bar.

Answered prayer....

We sold the Envoy!!! God answered our prayers in His time! It actually worked out great... we sold it Tuesday night and Mark had today off anyway so we were able to look at cars all day..in the sweldering heat! The timing really was perfect! We ended up buying another Hyundia...we got a great car with semi-low mileage for a "beater" price.
The "get out of debt plan" is finally moving!

Pray

God has been on me about prayer! I heard a great message by Francis Chan about prayer. God used it to humble me! I am really bad about letting my request be known to God and then still stressing about them. If any of you are podcasters the message is great it is called "I'm in love pt 1" is was recorded some time in Feburary. Actually anything from Francis Chan is really good. He is a pastor of a church 10 year old in California, called Cornerstone Chruch.

Anyway....please pray for Mark and I tomorrow! We have received a call from a potential buyer for our Envoy! This is the first one who actually seems like he wants to buy it! We are meeting him 7:00pm. please lift us up in prayer! To really make any ground on our Dave Ramsey plan we need to sell this car!

Religion and tradition....

Tonight I was asking God about something that has been on my heart... where is the line between religion and tradition? When are we too much in the world or not at all of it?

I used to be very religious. I had rules for everything! There were more things I didn't do because of God than things I did do for Him. I was very proud of my rules and stuck to them relentlessly. Once I even told Mark, while we were dating, that I thought it would be best if we no longer hugged! That would keep us more "pure". But, all these things were mere rules so sin abounded...because empty, self imposed, rules and traditions do not give you power over sin... Jesus does.

Over the last four years God has been graciously delivering me from my religion. So I often struggle with finding the line between going back there. It is hard finding a balance between mere tradition and necessary discipline!

Tonight I was reading in Matthew 15.A couple of Pharisees come up to him and ask why His disciples are breaking tradition and not washing their hands when they eat. Jesus replies with this, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition" (emphasis added). Jesus then points these religious men back to the commandment about honoring your father and mother. He then says that they have invalidated the Word of God by not helping their parents when they are in need but saying, "sorry I already gave my gift to God". I think here He is connecting the body and the spirit or "religion" to "real life".

How can we say that we love God and give to God without loving others? It is a contradiction.

He then goes on to talk about food how what goes in the mouth does not defile but yet what comes out...rooting from the heart! This is what He highlighted in my brain.... Jesus is always looking at the heart when it comes to tradition v. discipline matters.

Do I wake up every morning and read my Bible to spend time with Him or is it a tradition?

Do I listen to only Christian music so I can brag to my friends or does bring my heart closer to Him?

These comparisons can be asked in nearly every area of our life.

What God is teaching me is that He is concerned with my heart and if I truly want to become like Him it is not my following a set number of "Christian" rules but it by loving Him and loving others!