Love – Live the Crazy Life

Christmas, Friendship, Jesus, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized

Getting to the feet of Jesus

November 26, 2022 No Comments

It has been a whirlwind of a week for me. Starting last Saturday. It was the wedding rehearsal day for my second oldest son. Which was fun, confusing (lots of discussing who walks in before who, and what word in the song do we start to walk out to kind of stuff.) All in all a good day, a little surreal but good.

Then Sunday morning (church day not the wedding day because both parents on each side are pastors and well, pastors have church services we do weekly) my daughter and oldest son alert me to a shooting in a town 20-30 minutes away. Five lives have been taken and 18 more are injured. My heart breaks. This shooting is yet another hate crime. Thoughts are swirling, Why God?, How God? And then to happy nervous thoughts. Yikes, tomorrow is the big day…

Then Monday, wedding day. Great day. Lots of emotions – all happy. Then Tuesday, back to work for Christmas decorating day. Then Wednesday, finally a lull in the week. Followed by Thanksgiving which has its own set of emotions. What I am grateful for and who do I want to smack for getting in the way while food is being put in the oven and taken out of the oven in crazy amounts. And now finally Friday. Black Friday. Why do we celebrate a day of being grateful and then call the next day Black Friday? Weird. Anyway, no Black Friday shopping here. Just a quiet house for the first time in a week – ’cause there are extra friends and family around because it was Thanksgiving and a wedding in one week.

I am sitting back in my office – which was turned into a spare room for said friends and family. Life is slowly making its way back to normal or as normal of the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas can get.

I’m working my way through a study on Jesus via the book of Luke. The author, Erica Wiggenhorn, does a great job of leaving you daily with deep thoughts to ponder. Today’s is based on Luke 5:17-26. For those of you who don’t immediately know Luke 5:17-26 (if you already knew what this section of Scripture is about, you ROCK, because I would not have known without having read it this morning), it’s about the paralyzed man with the amazing friends who go to great lengths to get the paralyzed man to Jesus.

When I say great lengths I mean like physically carrying the man on a mat to the house that Jesus was in, only to find one way, through the crowds, to get to Jesus. Determined, they carry the man up the stairs (outside) to the roof, cut a hole in the roof, create some sort of pully system so they can lower the man through the hole to the feet of Jesus. That all took thought, skill, muscle and teamwork. Once the man is in front of Jesus he is both healed and declared forgiven for his sins. He leaves carrying the mat his friends had been carrying him on all night.

The author of the study (Erica Wiggenhorn) poses the questions “Are you that kind of friend? Do you have friends like that?” My answer is I hope so to both. Then she takes it further, “Are you that kind of neighbor?” If your neighbors are some of your really close friends NEVER move, because that is not so common in today’s world.

Then she says “When we become people who readily admit our own desperation for Jesus, the door opens – or the roof is dismantled – for us to become people who will do anything to bring our friends to the feet of Jesus as well as to have their sins forgiven.” She goes on to say “Are you and I ready to become mat-carrying, roof- raising, believing-the-best-for-others kind of people. Will we allow Jesus to make us people with such faith and audacity that the world is left in wonder?” (Unexplainable Jesus, pg 72-73)

As I sit here this morning, once more in my office, in my quiet home, Jesus I want to be that kind of person to my friends, to my neighbors and to those I don’t know. I want to clear a path for people to come to the feet of Jesus because He can handle any situation we lay at His feet. He can make right any wrong. He can heal, and He can forgive sins. He alone can make whole what is broken in our bodies, in our hearts and in our world.

Friends, will you join me in being people who take others to Jesus? Someone who carries those who can’t walk to the feet of Jesus? Someone who won’t stop until the hurting, the broken, or the lost are at the feet of Jesus?

Over the next month as holiday madness ensues, let us remember our job isn’t to be the best host, give the best gift, or have the prettiest decorated house… but to help take those around us, friends, family, neighbors, and strangers to the feet of Jesus.

Bible, Jesus, love, Parenting, Prayer, Raising Teens, Uncategorized, wisdom

Real change is possible

June 10, 2020 1 Comment

Have you ever had God drop something in your heart that you weren’t sure what to do with? Then you start getting bombarded with others saying the same thing, only in their voice or through their walk with God. Well that’s where I am right now. So I say it is with much thought, prayer and confirmation that I write this blog.

We have been having great, sometimes intense, conversations in our house relating to recent events. We have discussed topics from social justice, to the danger of generalizations and totalitarian statements, to voicing your opinion on how to bring about social change. Parenting teenagers is harder than I ever imagined. It’s hard to parent through these issues because all my children have their own view point and a unique calling from God that brings with it a unique filter in which they view life events. Not to mention I want them to think for themselves, develop their own conviction with the Holy Spirit, and be who God created them to be – no mini-me’s!

All of those discussions, conversations, have me thinking and praying for wisdom, guidance, and how to respond (not to my kids, specifically, but to life events). Then, unbeknownst to them, people around me have been adding to these thoughts and prayers with God. And here is where I land.

Every person is God’s creation. Ephesians 2:10 applies to everyone. And because the creator is so great, everything He creates bears His greatness. Think, the Mona Lisa is famous and has great value because of the one who painted her. That is my base line of truth. If you are a believer I am sure you can agree with me here. Building from that, how can we make that truth not only known but lived out in our homes, communities, cities and nation? This is where I got stuck until I heard from God.

In my Bible study we were asked to read Exodus 2:24-25. “God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”

I am not saying I have a solution but I do have an action to take. God began to stir prayer in me. Specifically this prayer: “God hear the cry of those oppressed and suffering unfairly. God remember you sent your son into the world to reconcile the world back to you, to set the captive free. So God would you please look at my family, my community, my city, my nation, God; and would you become concerned with them?”

I know that prayer alone may seem like a weak stance; however, one of the pastors I work with had an amazing revelation from God on this. She said God told her “There is a Spirit of activation in the air right now. Activation in prayer. Wickedness twists the discernment of activation to activism. We want to see change, want to help, to do something. Activism looks like a lot but accomplishes little; while activation in prayer looks like little but accomplishes much! Do not forsake prayer!” Thank you Amy Martinez for sharing that powerful word.

Slow down read that again. As Christian we are called to act, but wisdom in how we act will be the difference between real change and surface level accommodations.

Prayer is powerful. Pray. Ask God the Almighty to move on behalf of someone or something. Only God can change hearts. So while it is a quiet action, it has a powerful punch. Let’s face it. People are not our enemy here. It is the one who comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. (John 10:10)

I read another blog this morning on this topic and he said:

“I believe God is asking us to look to Him right now, more than anything. It doesn’t mean we ignore issues. No. But unless we drink right now, we will only regurgitate the fear and hysteria of the media that sounds wise but is the twisting tongue of Leviathan which places a veil over those who aren’t discerning it. It’s a call to intimacy and seeking the heart of God when most are wanting to raise their hands to fight.

Nate Johnston Everyday Revivalists
Email: everydayrevivalists@gmail.com
Website: nateandchristy.co
Taken from the Elijah List email distribution.

I want to see things change. I want to live in a place where people are treated with kindness and care. I want to end senseless deaths in America. But I understand I can’t do that in my own strength and power. God is calling us to fight along side Him to bring about a change of hearts and mindsets and bring real justice. Will you join us?

Bible, family activities, family fun, Holiday, Parenting, Raising Teens, Valentine's Day

Remind them how much Jesus loves them this Valentine’s Day

January 29, 2018 No Comments

I have three teenagers and more than anything I want them to have a great relationship with Jesus; filled with the knowledge of His great love for them. With that in mind, I am always looking for ways to remind them of just how much Jesus really does love them. And with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I decided to use this holiday of love to focus on God’s love for us.

In the past leading up to Valentine’s Day, I have given them hearts where I have written why I love them. But this year I wanted them to know God’s love for them. I start on February 1st and every day for the next 14 days I hang one random heart in their room with a personalized Bible verse about God’s love. For example, I might write “For God so loved Aaron that He gave His only Son so that Aaron should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

A few days ahead of time, I started cutting out my hearts. I used scrapbooking paper that I already had, but you can buy heart themed paper, or red or pink whatever you want. I cut out various size hearts using different sized cookie cutters and tracing them on the paper – one for each kid for 14 days. For me, this was a total of 42 hearts. I also looked up all my verses ahead of time. I have a list of several scriptures you can use Valentine’s Day Activity –God’s love Bible verses. Just remember to personalize them! Then every morning for the first 14 days in February I would hang a heart with a verse on it somewhere in their room. If my children hadn’t mentioned anything about the hearts to me by dinner I would ask them if they found the one for that day.

Last year I even added my husband in this. I wrote why I loved him on 14 different hearts and hung them around our room. Most of which are still hanging in the same place a year later.

It’s a small thing but I pray the impact of these hearts will be huge. That they will remind my kids, on days when they feel like no one loves them, that even then God loves them like crazy.

If you have ways you have tried to help your kids recognize God’s love for them I’d love to hear about it. Leave your ideas in the comment section below!

Happy Valentine’s Day, and remember God loves you more than you can even comprehend.