Change.....

Wow....when you see that word what does it do to you? Well lately due to it being a year of politics the word can mean a lot for people, it can bring hope or despair. Some of us think of the word "Change" as a negative word, we like the status quo and don't want to rock the boat. For me, the word "Change" means opportunity, excitement, growth and something different. Now you might think that's a little odd but I don't necessarily always enjoy the routine, so change brings something new to my life. Now with that being said, I don't enjoy being taken out of my comfort zone and unfortunately with change that can happen. Over the past several months I had been asking God for a change in my life, something not only for my own spiritual growth but for me to advance His kingdom, I didn't think to ask for him to keep me in my comfort zone while these changes occurred, I've learned my lesson for the next time. So the change that's happened has brought me to a place of contentment and joy, being blessed by things that I would have not thought could be possible. With the Lord's help, prompting, and much prayer I left my church of the last 4 years, don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with my old church, but we were no longer a good fit. Sometimes, stepping outside of the box we build for ourselves in our mind takes us to places we would have never imagined. Through that one move God has opened up doors that I never would have thought possible. I've met a group of people who love the Lord and their focus is on growing his Kingdom and living for him. There are wonderful ministry opportunities and learning opportunities that have come with this change. So no longer am I content to be a pew warmer, but I'm craving learning more of God's word and sharing it in the ways He has planned.....The Bible tells us that we're all to go out and preach the gospel, it's not just the job of a select few, it's the command for all Christians. So my thought for the day, don't be afraid of change, welcome it, ask God to make it happen so that He can get the glory. You'll be blessed for your efforts and grow through the process. And speaking of change, Blogger has changed the way I post now....so who knows if this is going to work correctly ;-)

Is it a relationship or just religion

So it's two in the morning on Good Friday and after a half an hour of back in forth with the Lord of whether He really wants me to get up and write a blog post at this hour, I finally decided He did. So if you notice really poor grammar you'll know why, I'm half asleep and my eyes are struggling to focus on the computer, but with His help I'll get the thoughts out that I'm suppose to.
Lately with the Easter season approaching I've been thinking about what my relationship with Christ is and what it needs to be? It's so easy for us in America to know Christ and about the Bible, we have the freedom to own as many of them as we want and to go to church and worship how we wish. I'm not sure how much longer those freedoms will last, but for now the freedom is there. (We'll save that topic for another day.) So are we taking advantage of those freedoms like we should? The Pharisee's were the most religious men of Jesus' time, they knew all the laws and kept them to a tee...however, when Christ was standing right in front of them and pointing out to them the problem with their knowledge they did not recognize him as the Messiah. How can this be! This can be because even though they knew the laws they did not know Him for who He was, the Son of God sent to die for them and save them from their sin. Knowing all about Him did them no good because they had no relationship with Him.
Think of the relationships within your life, your friends, family, co-workers, and all those in between. Do you have acquaintances, those people you may pass in the hall at work and say hello to, but you don't really know anything about? What about church are there people at your church who you know but know nothing about? I can even venture to guess there are even people within your own family that you know but know nothing about their lives. Why is this? It's because you have not built a relationship with them. Relationships take work and sometimes a lot of it. They don't always come easy, but you have to make a conscious effort to be involved in another person's life. The same goes for Christ!!!
He wants to have a relationship with us! He wants us to pick up the phone, so to say, when we need to chat and guess what He doesn't sleep! So how great is it that even at two in the morning you can have a conversation with Him. However, a relationship with Christ is like the others in your life, it takes work!! You need to communicate with him through prayer. He communicates to us as well. His Word is like an extremely long love letter. If we aren't putting forth the effort the relationship fades. He says he will never leave or forsake us, however that doesn't mean we have a relationship with him, it means he's an acquaintance. It's always a two way street. I saw a little picture not to long ago that said, "A relationship is not something you can log in and out of". Think about your own with those family and friends. How do you feel when you don't hear from someone you love for a while? I can imagine that Christ feels the same.
When going through the next few days up to Easter think about your relationship with Christ. Are you following the rules, but not following Him? Do you know him as an acquaintance or do you know him as a true friend? He wants us to make Him number one above all relationships, are you doing that? If not, wouldn't today Good Friday be a great day to start!

Happy Easter!!

Fear no more!

If God has not given us a spirit of fear how is it that fear dominates our lives? I joined a book club/Bible study this year with some friends and we have been discussing Max Lucado's book Fearless. I really didn't have any expectations about what I was going to learn from this book because really I didn't feel like there is much I was afraid of, boy was I wrong!! Aside from the occasional mouse what more was I truly afraid of! This has been a great learning experience for me. Aside from the little rodent that shows up every once in a while I found that I'm more fearful than I thought.

When we dig deep within ourselves we find that our fears go beyond the normal phobias but within each of us we have the ability to allow fear keep us from doing God's will or pursue our dreams. This is why God tells us to put all of our trust in him and have faith that He will take care of us. If we would allow him to remove our fear of success, failure, putting ourselves out their, stepping out of comfort zone and even the little world that we are in He could use us in amazing ways. He doesn't give us anything that he doesn't qualify us to do.

Moses almost passed up on the opportunity to lead the people of Israel because he was fearful that his speech was not eloquent enough to articulate what God wanted done. Can you imagine that story being told without Mose in it! The burning bush, ten commandments, the speaking directly to God........He would have lost out on an amazing opportunity because of his fear.

If there's something you have been putting off because of being afraid, pray about it and ask God to remove the fear. If he doesn't give us the spirit of fear we are putting it on ourselves, He can remove it. Don't let your fears keep you from pursuing God's will for your life. Remember He uses the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary!!

Friends are God's blessings

I'm amazed at how many people don't have those true friends they can turn to in a time of need. Those friends who in a moments notice, no matter what is on their schedule will drop everything and come to your rescue. Over the years I've realized that God has blessed me with not just one but multiple friends in my life whom I can fully rely on to stop what they're doing to listen to me. Sometimes I need to vent and others I just need a little wisdom that outside perspective looking in with no bias what so ever. Their only concern is my best interest.

They say the average person only has 2.7 (How they get the .7 who knows)true friends. If you're not married you rely on your friends and family, God places people in your life to be their for you during good times and bad. Over the past few weeks I've realized the blessing God has given me by putting multiple people in my life whom I know to be "true" friends and I'm grateful beyond words!! I can only hope they feel they also have a "true" friend in me :)

Are you being a true friend.....if you got a call in the middle of the night from a friend, would you go to their rescue? Do you offer encouraging words or words that tear down? If you have a friend you haven't spoken to in a while, pick up the phone, send a card or an email. Just let them know you're thinking about them and are there for them if they need you!

Blessings!!

New Year.....New Beginnings

As I reflect on this past year I am amazed at the road I have traveled and how God has walked with me every step of the way. I ended my 3 year teaching job with ACA in order to go to school full-time to finish my master's degree. I in turn received a job teaching at the college a couple days a week and more hours at my other job. I gave my daughter away to a wonderful man and gained him as a son-in-law. I spent a month in Ukraine where I met some fantastic people and saw the Lord work in miraculous ways!!
Upon returning I was blessed to find the perfect apartment and spent my 40th birthday surrounded by all those I love and adore!!
School started and the stress came, but each step of the way I would just stop and pray if it got to be overwhelming and He was always there to give me peace. I found out I'm going to be a grandma this coming new year and am looking forward to meeting my grandson Brayden and have enjoyed in sharing the experience with Montessa and Shawn. I started having family nights every Thursday, which included me having my family be guinea pigs with all my new recipes.....only 1 has been a bust as of yet. I learned to play my new favorite card game (Dutch Blitz) and have now passed the addiction on to the family. I started a Bible Study in my home for my girlfriends which I enjoy immensely. In the midst of it all a random encounter at Firestone has brought an amazing man in my life!! YAY!!! All in all it's been a fabulous year, I'm looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for me in 2012!!

All that to say this, if you 2011 wasn't what you expected or even what you wanted....know that 2012 is a new beginning a chance to start over. If you have a relationship with the Lord ask Him for help, if you don't what better time to start one. Not as a resolution but as a commitment to follow Christ for the rest of your days in the way that he wants you to!

Praying you and your families all have Happy and Blessed New Year for 2012!!

Cause and effect

I hadn't realized it had been so long since I have posted on my blog. Life has been busy, I made it home from Ukraine safely and with wonderful new friends. I moved into my new apartment closer to my family and friends. This has allowed me to start a Bible study in my home for my friends, which has been a wonderful experience so far! I started attending school full-time in hopes of finishing my degree before I turn 50......oh and yes, I turned the big 40!! Life's been busy but God has been good and provided along the way! Things have started to slow down a little so I thought I'd sit down and blog for a moment.

The other day I was making my 45 minute drive down 74 on my way home from school and noticed how beautiful the trees were. The colors were slowly changing from bright green to orange, yellow, brown and red. It struck me right then how every year at the same time (give or take) the leaves begin to change color and start falling off the trees preparing themselves for the cold winter to come. Through the shedding of this year's foliage new leaves will bloom in the spring! I started to realize how God wants us to shed our foliage (or sin) in order for new foliage (or life) to bloom.

Do we really think about the effect our sin has on our lives and on others. If you haven't, consider the broken home and the child who has to separate their time between parents. The home where alcohol or drugs plays a major factor in someones life, how is that behavior effecting those around them. Consider the parent who gambles away their pay check and the family that is left without money to pay for food, clothes or shelter. Lastly, think in your own life at what point did the sin of someone else effect you. If it hasn't consider yourself a lucky one, because I can imagine for the majority of us, the sin of others has been an effect on each of our lives even if only indirectly.

When we start to think about how our life effects others, either good or bad we may consider changing how we live. It's the selfish person who only considers their own happiness and not the happiness of those around them and whom they love. God gives us the ability to be forgiven and start over, we need to just believe that He's forgiven us and want to start over. It's time to shed our old selves in order to make room for the new.

Not by accident

You ever wonder if an event was a coincidence or if it all came together because God made it happen, I mean are there really moments in our lives which have been divinely put together by God? I've been thinking about that lately and how God knows even the smallest details of our lives and what we need each day. We came to Ukraine do work in a few ministries and it seems that our youth camp would have been an amazing ministry opportunity and it was cancelled due to the weather.

If God sent us here, then is a day sitting in a house waiting for the power to come on and water to be delivered a day truly planned by God? I have to believe it is, if coming on this trip was what each of us feel was His will for us, then a day of not doing a whole lot for Him has to be a day planned by Him as well. I wonder how often I think of work that I can do for Him without asking Him what it is He wants me to do?

If we are to show Christ's love then sometimes sitting with a friend and just listening to their problems is all God requires of us. Maybe we don't feel like we did much, but to God it was, because we showed love. I truly believe God places good and bad events in our lives, as well as change our plans so that we can do what is His plan for the day.

It's not for me to figure out what God's reasons are for why things change, it's only for me to accept the change and go about showing Christ's love in hope of winning another soul to His Kingdom. Sometimes we make it more difficult than we need too, sometimes we need to sit back, grab a cup of tea and just have an open ear and an open heart!