Do We Really Believe It?

  There are a lot of thoughts that are running through my head tonight. It has been a busy day, more than that a busy last few weeks! Today was our first day of Teen Music Camp. This is an annual event in our community where teens come for a weekend and learn skits and music that they perform in a worship service at the end of the weekend. I say perform, but perform isn't the right word. They use these songs and skits to lead the community in worship at the end of the weekend. It was amazing to see 40+ teens singing together and enjoying fellowship with one another all day today.
  The whole focus of today was worship. The thought that worship is all about God and it is a lifestyle, not just something we participate in for an hour a week. This is such a foundational truth that we all need to be reminded of, almost daily! It is so easy for us to make things about ourselves, and we do it without even realizing!
  While thinking about this, God brought this thought to my mind, do we really believe God's Word? I mean more than do we know His word, but do we really believe His Word? Because this flows out into every area of our lives. What we believe about God reaches into every area of our lives. Matthew 12:34 says, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." If we say we believe in God's Word and we truly trust it, then our lives will reflect that! No question about it! What is in our hearts will come out in our lives! We can't trick people by trying to live a life that looks good like we believe a Christian's life should, when in reality our hearts are dead to Him. Unless he gives us a new heart, all that will flow out of us will be death because our heart is dead! But when He gives us a new heart, life will flow out of us! It will be evident! I love the illustration David Platt uses for this. He compares the change that Christ brings in our life to being hit by a Mack truck - there is going to be a difference! You don't get hit by a Mack truck and walk away looking the same as you did beforehand. You walk away looking drastically different!
  We cannot say that Christ has changed our lives if our lives look exactly the same as they did before! it simply isn't Biblical! What is in our hearts will come out! So if what is coming out looks nothing like Christ, the issue lies in the heart! Proverbs 4:23 says "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Another version says 'for from it flow the issues of life." Everything about our lives begins in our heart. If we have issues with anything in life, we must move past simply treating the symptoms and realize it is a heart issue!
   I am not however saying that as believers we do not sin. We absolutely sin! We struggle daily with the flesh. However, the difference is in the lifestyle. If the pattern of my life is sinful, that doesn't look like Christ! Remember, if you get hit by a Mack truck, you will look like it! As believers we do sin, but the Holy Spirit of God that dwells within us opens our eyes to the fact that we have sinned and just like Romans 2:4 says "God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance." This does not happen in the life of the non-believer. It happens in the lives of those who have been hit head on by the extravagant grace of an awesome, holy God, and they are never the same because of it! This same God, Takes away our dead heart of stone and gives us a new heart! "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 32:26.
   If this awesome, holy God has hit us head on with His extravagant grace, we can no longer live like we lived before. We cannot make excuses! If this has taken place in our lives, the result will be the life of Christ flowing out of the new heart He has given us!

Prayer Needs

As most of you already know, God has made clear to Zeke and I the calling to plant a church in his hometown in Hawaii. God has allowed us to connect with a program called Launch to help us through this process of church planting. Through this program, there are various assessments to determine where we fall in our readiness to church plant. Zeke has already competed many of these assessment online. This Sunday we will fly out to Las Vegas for 2 days of church planting training/assessment. I am writing this blog to ask you to be praying for us during this time. Zeke will be coming back from Italy Sunday afternoon and we will turn right around and fly out to Las Vegas, so there are a lot of logistics involved. So with that said, here is how you can be praying for us:
-Pray for Zeke and the team in Italy as they spend their last few days in Italy and begin their trip home.
-Pray for flight connections to be on time.
-Pray for Zeke as he deals with jet lag returning from Italy & preparing for this training.
-Pray for wisdom and understanding as we learn more about church planting.

Thank you in advance for your prayers! We truly appreciate them! We cannot wait to see all that God is going to do!

Random Lessons

This is a random blog post, but it is just some things God has been showing me. And honestly, I need to do something to occupy my time because as I write, it is another Monday under Tornado watch here in Smith County! These are definitely my least favorite days of Spring, but they make you appreciate so much more the days that come after. I am learning that for me, this is one of those times where God tests me. Do I truly believe that He holds everything in His hands? Because if I truly believe that, then why do I worry so much about storms that I cannot control when I know the one who holds not only the storm, but the world in His hands! Too many times I find myself forgetting that He is the only one deserving of my fear. I fear too many things that have absolutely no power over me, & too often find myself completely ignoring the fact that He is all-powerful, almighty, and absolutely the only one I should fear!

This weekend, our church family participated in a prayer walk throughout our community. Zeke and I chose to select our neighborhood and the areas immediately surrounding us. The first thing that hit is was how many people live in this area that I honestly considered to be one of the less populated areas of our town. We counted around 80 homes that are in this area! A reminder to us that there are so many people who still need to hear the gospel of Christ!

As we were walking, it became a little more intense of a walk than we originally expected. (I later found out that there was a special weather statement saying that it was a record heat day!) So as we were walking I looked down in the grass and saw something moving. It looked kind of like a worm, but then when I looked a little closer I saw that it was an ant carrying a piece of bark. And it reminded me of the Proverbs 6:6 where is says:

"Go to the ant, O sluggard;consider her ways, and be wise."

I thought about that as I was watching this ant. All the random facts that you learn about ants in school came to my mind and I realized how amazing a thing it was for this tiny ant to be carrying this piece of bark. I also thought about how in doing this, the ant was bringing praise to God. The ant was doing exactly what God had created it to do, and because of that God gets the praise. The same is true for us. When we do what God has created and called us to do, He gets the praise for it, not us!

As I think about these things I am overwhelmed by a God who holds everything in His hands and love us with a love that is so undeserved and absolutely unconditional. The only response to this amazing, mighty God is to fear Him and serve Him with all that I have.

Pictures of the Son

This is my first blog of the new year. I intended to post sooner than this but everytime I sat down to start, it just wasn't right. But today it the day!

This year, I am reading through the entire Bible. Many of you have probably done this before, this is the first time for me, and I am excited! There is a reason that God's Word is put together the way it is and I think there is great benefit in starting from the beginning and working our way through. If it is something you have never done, I encourage you to go for it! God has used it in my life already in awesome ways.

One of those ways is through opening my heart to realize that God uses His word to point to Jesus. From beginning to end it all points to Him. So, to help myself keep a record of it more than anything else, I am going to focus this blog on that for the next year. As I read through His Word, and God reveals these pictures of His precious Son I am going to post and share on here.

Right now, I am finishing the book of Genesis and there is picture after picture of Christ and His sacrifice for us on the pages of this book. I am going to share all that I can remember, but for today I am going to focus on Adam and Eve.

We have all heard this story at least once, if not many more times than that! God created man and saw that it wasn't good for man to be alone and created woman to be a helpmate for him. God placed them in the garden that he had made and gave them "the rules" so to speak. He told the man and the woman that they could eat of any tree of the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and EVIL. (I meant to put that in all caps, I will come back to it in a minute.)

God walked with them daily. They could literally hear Him! How many times we would love to have that now! What a blessing to not walk with God figuratively, but literally! (Now some of you may say "We do literally walk with God as believers today." But I am talking about walking with God like you walk with your family or friends, it is an event in your day, just like this was part of what they did each day!) Such an awesome picture!

But one day, the serpent tempted Eve to eat of the tree. He used half truths and manipulation, and planted seeds of doubt ultimately making it look as though God was withholding something good from Adam and Eve. And ultimately, they believed the lie and disobeyed God. (So much I could add in right here about our obedience to God, but I fear I am drifting from the point.)

Because of their disobedience, their eyes were opened to the fact that they were naked, and they made a covering for themselves of leaves. (This is the counterfeit folks! Today we call it Religion. We are sinful, and think somehow that we can do something to remove the sin from our lives. We try to get to God, a right relationship with Him - on our own terms instead of coming to Him on His terms and finding true forgiveness.) But when God came, they realized how inadequate their covering truly was. There efforts did nothing but cover sin, in their strength it couldn't be taken away. But God (don't you LOVE hearing those words in the Bible? things look hopeless But God steps in!) made a covering for them and a sacrifice for their sin. Genesis 3:21 shows us a picture of the precious lamb that would come and live a holy and blameless life and then be offered on the cross as a sacrifice to cover our sin! Praise God!

Of course there were still consequences of their sin, just like we have to face the consequences of sin today, even after coming to Christ. (Here is where I am coming back to the "EVIL" in all caps.) Before their disobedience, Adam and Eve had only known Good. Now, unfortunately, their eyes were open to see and know evil. Physical death, hard work, pain in having children all became part of their life as a result of their disobedience, and ultimately are part of our lives today as a direct result of this event.

But God (Awesome right??) made a way! Through His precious Son. Although practically we still live life in this place and deal with death and disaster, we live as those who have HOPE! We have great HOPE in Him!

Advent: Hope

I think it is so appropriate that the first candle we light for advent celebrates Hope. I was listening to a song yesterday, and I was reminded that from Malachi to Matthew, God is silent. Not just the people aren't listening close to what God is saying to them, but rather He is absolutely SILENT.

Think about that for a second, have you ever set in absolute silence? Is it just me, or can absolute silence be deafening at times? It is almost overwhelming for us. Maybe because we live in a society where it is so rare, or maybe that is just the way God created it. Think about times when something has happened and left you speechless, or left someone with you speechless. You are just hoping that they will say something, anything, but instead they sit in silence and the whole mood of the conversation is altered.

Now put that into perspective of what is happening in scripture from Malachi to Matthew. 400 years make up this space between these to books. 400 years of absolute SILENCE. 400 years! A few minutes of silence is enough to make me uncomfortable, but 400 years! Think about that. Entire generations lived and died not hearing God speak.

Finally after all those years, God speaks to His people again, but this time, through angels and the cry of an infant. And in that cry as that precious baby was born, the sound of hope was heard once again.

As we look forward to the Christmas season, I pray that we take the time to truly look at all this season means. I pray that we look beyond the gifts, and traditions. I pray that we see that HOPE entered the world at Christmas through the person of Jesus Christ.

Lessons from Tangled

Last night, Zeke and I went to the movies with some friends. We saw the movie Tangled (in 3D, cause you really wanted to know that). I was really excited because I was wanting to go see this movie, but knew it was one I would probably just have to wait for on DVD. So, we got invited to go with some friends and really enjoyed it! It was such a cute movie, but beyond being a cute movie, I saw an amazing Biblical illustration in part of this movie.

So here is the spoiler alert because to tell you about this illustration, I am going to have to tell you some info about the movie and give some things away! Sorry!

For those that don't know, the movie is about the story of Rapunzel. As the story goes when Rapunzel was a baby she was kidnapped from the castle because of the power her hair had to heal. She was raised by an evil lady who kept her trapped in a tower her whole life. However, every year on her birthday, Rapunzel would look out the window of the tower and see these beautiful lights in the sky. This was done as a memorial to the princess that was kidnapped. So one scene in the movie shows them on this day letting these lanterns go and they float up into the sky and off into the distance.

What was amazing to me about this scene was that it starts out with the one lantern the king and queen light, the rest of the kingdom is dark. But slowly, the people in the kingdom begin to light their lanterns and let them go, and suddenly the kingdom is glowing with light. The thought hit me as I was watching this..."This is how it is supposed to be with us!" As believers, we light our lantern and let it shine so that those around us can see Christ in us. As others come to know Christ, they light their lanterns, and so on. Then all of the sudden, this kingdom that was once dark, is now glowing with the light of Christ! And that glowing light from the lanterns intrigued and attracted those outside the kingdom, just like the love of Christ in us intrigues and attracts those who don't know Him.

So, as we go throughout our lives meeting people who are searching for something more, may we remember that we need to live in a way that reveals to them the light of Christ in our lives.

Desperate Prayer

So, I haven't blogged in a while because it has been a busy last few weeks and honestly I don't know where to start! :)

I guess the best place to start is with a quick update. Almost 2 weeks ago now (doesn't seem that long at all!) 12 of us from Carthage set out to Long Island, NY for a mission trip. I have to admit I was not crazy about the idea of driving from Tennessee all the way to Long Island, but it wasn't bad at all! We drove from Carthage to Harrisburg, PA the first day, and then drove in to Long Island the next morning.

I cannot even describe for you here how amazing it was that from the second we started on this trip, God was with us! He absolutely created this team (representing 4 different churches in Carthage)! Everyone that came not only was able to encourage someone as God worked through them, but was encouraged by others in the same light. It was amazing!

God really used this trip to remind me of how absolutely desperate we are for Him, and how we need to cry out to Him through prayer. When I got back our lesson in Sunday school was over John 14-17, and as I studied, I was amazed at how many times Jesus told His disciples that whatever they asked in His name he would accomplish. There are many times in scripture where we are reminded that we do not have because we do not ask. Even though I know how powerful prayer is, so many times I don't cry out to God through prayer, and then I wonder why nothing changes.

Before I go any further, I should mention that many people have taken verses like this out of context to make them say something they absolutely do not! This verse does not say that I can ask God for things like He is a magic genie. It says that when I submit to and follow after Him, the things that are on His heart are now on my heart, and as I call out to Him in prayer, He will answer those prayers as I seek for his will to be done.

I wonder how different my day would look if I took everything to Him in prayer? If I truly looked at life and said "there's nothing too big or too small for me to seek God on," my life would reflect that in every way! I really and truly believe that as we seek God He will answer us - His word says He will. It is up to us to decide whether we are going to continue on in our own strength, or desperately cry out to God to guide us and direct us in everything we do.

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." ~2Chronicles 7:14

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you." ~Jeremiah 29:12

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ~John 14:13

If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. ~John 14:14

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ~John 15:7

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ~John 15:16

In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ~John 16:23

Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. ~John 16:24

Standing On The Promises

As I type this, I am in the car because Zeke and I are headed down to Shelbyville. Tonight we are going to head down to Athens, AL with my parents to go to a revival that Vance Pitman and Teddy Johnson are leading. We are so excited to get the chance to see them! :)
So I figured I would take this time to write a blog about something God has laid on my heart this last week. (Bear with me through this because I am blogging from my phone and it is a little more difficult than my computer!)
Wednesday night at choir practice we were going over our worship songs for Sunday and one of the songs was "Standing On The Promises." It is a song I have grown up singing, but God really challenged me during this time to look at my life and see if I can honestly sing that song. Am I truly standing on God's promises?
Here is the thought that came to mind..."When I stand on something, I trust that it will hold me. I am secure on whatever it is I stand on. If it looks shaky, I am not going to be standing on it." I also thought about how many times a day I stand on things and never question the abilty of the object to hold me. When I get out of bed in the morning and stand up, I trust that the ground beneath me is sturdy and sure.
This is what that hymn is saying. God's promises are sturdy and sure! We can trust them! We can stand upon them and not have to worry whether or not the ground beneath us is going to give way! He can be trusted in everything!
So as I look at my life this week, where in my life are areas that I need to stop standing on weak ground and stand on His promises instead? Am I going to trust that He is sure and can be trusted? Or, will I continue to rely on my self?

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Eating Seeds That Are Meant to Be Planted

I don't really even know how to begin this post. I am absolutely overwhelmed by God's goodness and faithfulness, and how He uses those around me and resources around me to continuously reveal Truth!

I have been slowly but surely working through Beth Moore's "Stepping Up" study. And God continues to use it to speak Truth over various areas in my life right now. And today was no exception.

The lesson I went through today focused on God's faithfulness. The illustration she used was one I am sure most of us have heard many times, about seeds being planted. But God used that to speak to my heart in great ways this morning.

Looking at Luke 8:11-15, we see that the seed is God's Word, and there are many different places that seed falls. Some nurture these seeds and others, destroy them. This is a great truth and one that many of us have heard, but what hit me was the story that Beth shared next. She tells about a trip she and her husband took to Africa and the absolute devastation that they saw related to malnutrition. At one point in the journey, their guide told them that one of the most frustrating things is that in some of the villages the people are given seeds to plant and grow food so that they can survive, but instead of planting these seeds, they eat them. Planting the seeds would mean they could have food that they so desperately need, but instead they eat the seeds on the spot.

That is an interesting story, but here is the application she drew to our lives. Many times we hear God's Word and it satisfies us instantly, but we don't apply it to our daily lives. We hear teachers, leaders, and pastors speak amazing truth from God's Word and instead of looking at how we can apply that truth to our life, we simply take it at face value and go on about our way. Then as we go through our week, we wonder why our lives don't have the freedom that we hear comes from being a Christ follower. Why are we not having a bigger influence on our family and friends? Why are we still struggling and not experiencing the victory God promises in His word?

It is the same reason that my flowers did not grow this summer...

When we bought our house I was so excited! It is our own place! If I want to paint I can paint, if I want to plant flowers I can plant flowers - and I even have the most perfect window boxes to plant them in! It's great! I was so excited! And in my excitement, decided that I was going to plant seeds in those window boxes that would grow into beautiful flowers!! Great in theory, but unfortunately I didn't take LIFE into consideration. Seeds need nurturing, I have always been pretty good with plants and I thought this would be no big deal! But at the time I was teaching in Shelbyville still so I was only at the house on Wednesday nights when I drove up after school and over the weekends. And while I was gone, Zeke was too busy to care for flowers, so a lack of nurturing lead to the death of these seeds.

The problem really boils down to the fact that I expected growth to take place and transformation to occur with out a practical plan for how that was going to happen. I just assumed that it would happen without me really having to work at it. But, the heat of summer came, and instead of showering those plants with refreshing water daily (and really even multiple times a day at some points) there was no hope of survival.

Even more serious than flowers to decorate the outside of my house is that fact that many of us do the same thing with the Word of God. We hear great truth, but we never take the practical steps of applying it to our lives. It is great in theory to forgive those who hurt you, but what does that look like for my life today? It is great to want to know and meditate on God's word, but how does that become the reality of my life? These things don't just happen, just like flowers don't just grow in window boxes without someone taking the time and the practical steps to care for them.

We have to have faith (absolute trust that God will make it happen) and patience (understanding that He will make it happen in His timing and His way). These things won't grow in our lives overnight! And when the process does get long and we do start to grow weary we have to understand that the best option is not to simply dig the seed back up and start chewing on it or throw it out (Beth Moore), but that we continue on in faith and patience.

Lord,

Show us how to plant seeds, not simply eat them. No matter how difficult our situation, continue to help us tend the seeds You've given us to plant.

¹¹Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. ¹²The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. ¹⁴And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. ~Luke 8:11-15

⁹And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up ~Galatians 6:9

¹²so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. ~Hebrews 6:12

Beth Moore Simulcast

Here is just a small glimpse of the Beth Moore Simulcast event our church was a part of last weekend. It was an amazing time of worship! God spoke through Beth in amazing ways about the law of kindness. I cannot wait to see how God continues to use what we learned that day to impact our lives, our church, our community, and the world!

"She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness."
~Proverbs 31:26

Kindness is not weakness. (Luke 6:35-36)

Kindness is not an action. It's a disposition.

Kindness wears down when we do. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Kindness looks pain in the face. (Job 6:28)

Kindness is a Savior. (Ephesians 2:4-10)

Kindness has good memory. (Psalm 106:7)

Kindness craves an outlet. (2 Samuel 9:1)

Kindness leaves a legacy. (Acts 28:1-2)

~Beth Moore

One of the things God has really impressed on my heart since last Saturday was this thought..."When we forget how God has been good to us, we become rebellious; We need to remember the goodness of God."

"I led them with cords of kindness,
with the bands of love,"
~Hosea 11:4

Sitting Through the Rain

Friday night I went to Smith County's away game. As I was watching the game and the people there God put this thought on my heart: Are we cheering our students on like this spiritually? Better yet, as the church are we cheering one another on like this spiritually?

I love going to these games, but that doesn't mean it is always an easy feat to get there. It costs me something to be a part of this. It took time, money, and determination to sit through the off and on rain for 2 hours cheering on the team, but it was worth it. Not worth it simply because of the victory that came at the end of the night because those victories are fleeting. Ten years from now very few will remember the score of that victory. But it was worth all that it cost because as a community of people we came together to cheer on our students in something that is important to them and therefore important to us.

The question is now, as a community of believers called the church, are we willing to put that same effort into cheering one another on toward the goal of Christ being known to all people? Just like cheering the team on, it is going to cost us something. It may cost us our time (which is God's anyway) volunteering in some area. It may cost us the money that we worked so hard to earn (which is God's anyway) to put towards something God has laid on our hearts. It might cost us determination to stick with it even when the rain comes pouring down around us.

So is it worth it to us? If something has value in our lives it doesn't matter what it may cost us, we are willing to be a part of it...so does the Gospel of Christ hold value in our lives? When it comes down to it, am I willing to spend time, money, and other resources (which God has given me anyway) to cheer on/encourage my brothers and sisters in making Christ known? Will I still be obedient and ultimately through my obedience be an encouragement to the church? I may say it is worth whatever the cost now, but when it really comes down to it, do I act on that? When it requires more of me than just showing up on Sunday morning, am I still going to be obedient? When I have to sacrifice, will it still be a worthy cause?

When He calls me to go, pay, and sit through the rain, will I still be obedient?

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25

John 4

Last week we were studying John 4. I was thinking through the story of the woman at the well and a few things crossed my mind. The first thing that hit me was looking at the story from the perspective of the woman at the well. She was going about her normal routine and Jesus showed up right there in the middle of her day! How often does this happen in our lives? We are going about our daily routine and out of nowhere, God steps in and shows us something amazing! I know that it may not seem like Jesus showed this woman something amazing as He tells her he knows about all the men that have been a part of her life and that the way she is currently living is not what is best for her, but when you really look at this story, He shows her something absolutely amazing! The God of the universe is sitting with her and showing her that He has something so much better for her! He shows His great love for her through simply sitting with her and talking because as a Jew, Jesus would have been expected to completely disregard this woman, but instead he takes the time to speak to her.
Which turns my thoughts to the next thing that crossed my mind, looking Jesus' role in the story. He didn't have to travel through Samaria to get to where He was going, He had to travel through Samaria to be obedient to the Father. if He had simply ignored the Father's call, or just decided that it required too much of Him to be obedient, He would have completely missed the meeting with this woman. Obedience to the Father's call is an absolute must in the life of the believer. There are people around us daily and all around the world who don't know Christ and God is using us, the Church, to reach these people. Sometimes, we will have to go out of our way and do things that are uncomfortable for us to be obedient to the Father, but it is worth our discomfort.

"If God had not used my sister Betsie and me to bring them to Him, they would never have heard of Him. Many died, or were killed, but many died with the Name of Jesus on their lips. They were well worth our suffering." -Corrie ten Boom, Tramp For The Lord

Jesus traveled through Samaria for a purpose. It wasn't the quickest way to where He was going, and it required more of Him than just getting to His next destination, but it was worth the discomfort. He knew that this woman needed to know His love. He took something as simple as asking for a drink of water and turned it into an opportunity to share God's (His) amazing love with someone.

How many opportunities do I have daily to share God's love with those around me? When those moments come, am I willing to be uncomfortable so that others can know Christ? Am I willing to be obedient even when it requires more of me than I am used to giving?

The way the seems right...

This past week has been a busy week. We spent most every night working at the Smith County fair, where we did face painting, made balloon animals and handed out water. We also did promotion for The Power Team coming to Carthage this week. We are so excited about this event and hope that God will use it to reach many in Smith County for Him!
To get ready for this event, we went today to help tear down and clean up things left over from the fair. We got there and with our greatest effort we set out to tear down 3 rows of back to back animal pens (huge metal animal pens). So we work and work and finally get the first of the 3 rows finished in about half an hour, and we take a break. As we are resting, a man arrives and explains to us that we have stacked the gates to the pens and the sides of the pens the wrong way! Not only that but all of these sides connect together by poles and we had stacked the poles in the container the wrong way! We had done everything the absolutely opposite of how it should have been done! So, of course we start switching everything around to the way it is supposed to be stored and the man goes off and when he returns he is driving a forklift, which he uses to life the gates to then pens which were incredibly heavy and our group had been moving 2-3 people at a time, and then lift the stacks of sides that we made. Needless to say we quickly realized that it was much easier to do this job the way this man was going about it than to continue on in our own way of cleaning this up. As we got closer and closer to finishing we we constantly reminded that this way was much easier, as we talked about it this verse came up
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."
Proverbs 14:12
This whole event was a perfect picture of the fact that so many times we try to accomplish things on our own when God calls us to seek after Him and follow His plan. My plans and my best efforts can never compare with what God has in store if I will seek after Him! As I spend time with Him daily I grow to love Him more and I see that obedience to Him is vital.

There is a way that seems right and a way that is right. The way that is right is only found by seeking after Christ.

Above all else...

So my dad posted a question on facebook today and it got quite a few comments and some of them started me thinking about different scriptures and God just laid this on my heart. I did not want to post it as a response to my dad's status because it began to veer off the topic. So I figured I would just post it on here. Here goes...

Above all else our call is to know God and this occurs as we daily spend time with Him. As we spend time with Him and come to know Him more, what is on His heart will be on our hearts. And His heart is for the nations. "Go therefore and Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." Matt 28:19 This is something that we can do only as we daily lay ourselves down before Christ and surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.." Romans 12:1 As we surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit He empowers us to share the love of Christ with those around us. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth..." Acts 1:8 As witnesses to those around us we are called to share the hope that we have in Christ with gentleness and respect. Understanding that God is the one who brings about conviction and reveals Himself to those we share with. "But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame." 1Peter 3:15
I think that the problem is not necessarily ignorance of God's Word, but ignorance of the God of the word. There are many people who have a great knowledge of God's Word, but do not truly know God through and intimate personal relationship. As you grow in that relationship, through spending time with Him, you come to know Him more. The more you know Him, the more you love Him. The more you love Him the more you want to know Him. The more you want to know Him, the more you spend time with Him.

Overwhelmed

So Today has been insane! Last night it took me almost an hour to quiet my mind and stop thinking about jobs, bills, etc. so that I could go to sleep. Zeke and I have sent out so many resumes and filled out so many applications over the last few weeks that we cannot even count them all! And we have heard nothing back! So to say the least we have been overwhelmed.

But God totally threw us for a loop today - in a good way! And why am I saying just today - He has been throwing us for a loop since Spring (and honestly much further back than that! :) From the time we got ready to move to TN, God amazingly provided the exact amount of money we needed to get her safely and on time. Since then, He provided financially for every bill we have needed - we have not missed paying a bill yet! And we have not had jobs since May! When we were moving here we knew that the first two months here we would be ok because Zeke had camps lined up to lead for and had a job lined up for a few weeks, so we knew we would be able to pay our bills. But we also knew that when August hit, things would get tight! Really tight! But we knew that He would provide, somehow! However, over the last few weeks as we sent out resume after resume and application after application our situation became pretty discouraging! I still knew that God would provide, but it was still getting discouraging. It was hard to grasp that God would not provide a job more quickly so that we could have some source of income, but the other side of the situation is that this only means that He has another plan of providing for us.

So today God revealed Himself to Zeke and me in such an amazing way. Through friends and family God provided financially all that wee needed to pay bills for the rest of the month and some that we will have the first of next month. Amazing! It finally made sense. God could have easily given us any of the jobs that we had applied for, there is no doubt about that. But we would never experience His provision in this amazing way if that had been the case! How incredible! To sit at the feet of a the God of the universe who is faithful to provide - not necessarily how we think He should, but in His perfect way and perfect timing!

And not only that, but for our family and friends who were faithful to do what God laid on their hearts! A reminder that when God calls us to do something, we need to be faithful to obey because our obedience effects others. Think about it this way...because the disciples were obedient to follow Christ, we benefit from their obedience! They went into the world and told others about their relationship with Him, and through that many people have come to know Christ. Amazing!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord." Isaiah 55:8

Good

Our society has so many varying definitions for this word. It is funny though that the majority of the definitions we have for this word revolve around our benefit or our pleasure! I looked this word up on dictonary.com and there were over 40 basic definitions of this word! Holy Cow! My favorite was this one "free of distress or pain; comfortable." This made me laugh. I think back on good things in my life and they were not always comfortable! It was a good thing that my parents and I moved to Las Vegas, but it was far from comfy or free of distress! It was not what I would have considered a good thing if I had not understood that God had a plan for my family and me!

Sometimes it seems as though we expect God to do "good" things and only "good" things in our lives. the problem is that God's view of "good" and our view of "good" are two very different things! God views those things that grow us in our relationship with Him as "good." These things could be trials, difficulties, being shown grace, etc. Sometimes things that our flesh considers "good" but also sometimes things that our flesh considers "bad." God uses these things in our lives to grow us into the people He desires for us to be! He doesn't use these things to accomplish what we feel is "good." He uses these things to bring about things that He knows are "good." Our God knows "good!" Think back to creation! Each time He created something He was the one who decided whether or not it was "good." Not Adam, Not Eve, Not the animals! God!

Lord,
Help me to always remember that Your thoughts are not my thoughts, and your ways are not my ways! As high as the heavens is how far above my thoughts Your thoughts are! (Isaiah 55:8) I know that you have a plan for me! (Jeremiah 29:11) Help me to consider the trials I encounter while serving You as joys! (James 1:3) Knowing that these trials mold me into who You desire for me to be! Search my heart oh God! Help me to remember that You are GOOD! That you use everything in my life for good - not my definition of "good", but Your GOOD! Amen.

When did we stop expecting great things from a powerful God? When did we buy into the lie that God moved in amazingly powerful ways during Old Testament times, but He simply doesn’t move like that anymore? Do we even realize that this is what we believe? Because it is definitely how we live most of the time.


I am more convinced than ever that my generation sits on the verge of a mighty work of God. Something that we can feel moving within us, burning in our bones, but we do not know the time when this mighty work of a mighty God will manifest itself to the world.

As I write this let me just explain my surroundings. I am sitting on the back porch of the house of very dear family friends. They have a small farm here in Shelbyville and have gone out of town to visit family, so Zeke and I are house sitting. The backporch faces west and it is that time of the day, sunset! Today was a pretty hot day, I have the sunburn to prove it, but right now as the sun is slowly going down, the temperature is cool and the crickets are making their presence known. There are horses to my right and my left. Only four, two on each side. Simply being what God created them to be, praising a righteous and Holy God by grazing in the pasture! But the most incredible part of my surroundings id the breeze. A cool breeze. A breeze that comes strong enough to chill but then lets up at the perfect time. A perfect picture to me of the mighty work God is doing in the lives of His people right now!

I am reading the book “The Fear Killer Generation,” by Kevin Shrum (A pastor who Zeke led with @ Super Summer in Clarksville, TN) and John Pisciotta. I feel like every conversation and thought about God’s work that I have had within the last few months is being relived through the first few chapters of this book. I really and truly do believe that we are on the edge of something great from God, not that what we already have in Him is not enough, it is far more than enough! But I believe God has even more waiting for us! I really believe that we are living in some of the greatest days to be alive and a part of the kingdom of God!

Of course the world is not perfect. I am not claiming that. But for a second, look far beyond the junk and mess of this world. (Sometimes we allow ourselves to focus on the things that are wrong with the world and forget that our God is greater! He is mightier! He is bigger and stronger!) Focus on the truth of who God is! If that means you need to read through a Psalm that declares the Glory of our Great God before you finish reading this, then do it! Maybe Psalm 105, or Psalm 118.

As I was reading this book, The Fear Killer Generation,” last night, I was introduced to the greatest analogy for this mighty work of God. The author said that this work is like a huge wave, a tsunami wave. This is not a wave that you see coming from a long way off and have time to prepare for its arrival. This wave starts underwater as the result of an underwater earthquake. You cannot see it coming. There is not time to prepare for its arrival. It strikes with strength and power and as a complete surprise!

Update

Today has been an eventful day! So far from what I pictured for this day when I woke up this morning!

Zeke and I decided that we would go visit a friend's church in Nashville today. Zeke met this pastor this week at camp, they worked together in the Green School at Super Summer, and Zeke told him that we would come visit in a few weeks because we were supposed to be out of town this weekend and then have children's camp next week. But since we ended up staying in town and my dad was still in the hospital and having a rough day, we figured we would just go to church and then head straight over to see my dad. While we were in church I got a text message from my mom saying that they had run tests to see what was wrong with my dad and they found that there was a leak so they were going to have to take him back in for surgery!

My immediate thought was we have to go, NOW, but as I sat there God began to speak to my heart that this was out of my control! (Obviously!) If we left in the middle of the service it would be awkward and getting to the hospital at that point would not do any good because there is nothing I could do anyways, except pray and that I could do right where I was!

So I began to pray! Pray that God would protect my dad and heal his body. I could not sit still all during the service - it could not get finished fast enough! Finally it was done and we were on our way over to the hospital. I got there in time to see my dad before he went into surgery and we stayed the entire time he was in surgery. Everything went well with the surgery and he is now back in his room at the hospital resting. On the way home, Zeke and I were talking and I began putting two and two together.

I have been going through I study about the Israelites and how God freed them from Egypt and took hem through the wilderness, providing for their every need as they went, but yet every time they came to a place where a need arose, they forgot that God was providing for them! This is just like me in this situation with my dad. There is nothing I could do to care for my dad and heal his body! I had to trust that God would provide like He always does! For me in this situation, that meant sitting through the rest of a church service realizing that my presence was not the one that mattered in the situation, but rather that God's presence was all that mattered! Trusting that He is faithful and will always provide for His children! Applying the knowledge I have gained from the numerous times He has provided for our family already!

I am so thankful that my family and I and those around us can look at my dad's circumstances and realize that God brought this about to reveal Himself! He has shown up and revealed glimpses of His glory all throughout this process! He is a great God! The only God and so incredibly worthy of our worship!


Just so you know...
My dad ended up having to have a temporary colostomy. This is very common with the type of procedure he had done the other day - colon resection - especially after chemo and radiation! Basically, the tissue in the area they resectioned, although healthy, does not heal back properly because of the radiation treatments. So they did a temporary colostomy. He will have this for 3-6mos and then be able to go in and have the colostomy reversed. They say 3-6mos because they want it to be as "cosmetic" of a surgery as possible. The surgery itself took about 3 hours. He got back into the room from recovery about 6pm and has been resting the rest of the night! Our family is so grateful for all of your prayers! They mean more than we could ever say!
Thanks so much!

Rain!

Ok, so I have to admit that this week has been absolutely insane! It started off a normal week of VBS (which by the way I haven't helped with in two years because of work!). However, it turned into a very big week in the life of my family!

Zeke left on Sunday afternoon for Super Summer a camp that the TN Baptist Convention puts on in Clarksville, TN. He went because one of their worship leaders had to back out at the last minute and a friend of ours got him the gig! A great way to make connections here in TN! However, I was definitely not looking forward to him being gone for a week! But it was just part of the deal.

On Wednesday, My dad went to have a colonoscopy done. This test was to check and see how the chemo and radiation had effected the tumor. The surgeon did the test and found that the chemo and radiation had worked to shrink the tumor and my dad would have to have surgeryto remove it. Oh and did I mention that the surgery was scheduled for Thursday - yeah you are following along correctly: colonoscopy on Wednesday, Surgery on Thursday! A BUSY week to say the least!

So my dad went through surgery perfectly fine. The surgeon told us that he thought they would be able to repair the tissue and NOT have to do a colostomy, but he really would not know until they were in there and really saw what was going on. When the surgery was finished, the surgeon came down and spoke with me and my mom. He told us that everything had gone perfectly fine and that just like he thought, the colostomy was not necessary! He ended his description of what happened during the surgery with "God is good!" We of course completely agreed! There was great rejoicing in the waiting room when we came out and told the others waiting there with us! Relief!

At the same time, my wonderful husband was in Clarksville, TN (a couple hours away) and woke up Wednesday morning to a swollen, sore right hand! So bad that he was unable to play the guitar for the rest of the week! When he came home on Friday we went to the doctor and found out that he has tendonitis in his right hand which means that his hand is on rest for the next week or so!

So with all of this going on, God reminded me this afternoon that he knows when I need to be refreshed. Not only that but He knows exactly what will refresh me! Today was a day of cleaning and getting things ready for when my dad will come home this coming week and taking care of Zeke because he still cannot use his hand. On top of that, today was insanely hot!! But, about an hour ago, a rainstorm came through and the temperature outside was perfectly comfortable and it was just amazing to get to spend some time in the rain! God loves us! He cares for us deeply and He realizes when we need Him to show up in a special way and refresh us!
"I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land, springs of water." Isaiah 41:18 God sends these times of refreshing into our lives as a way for us to refocus and prepare for the mext part of our journey!

Camp Impact

I sent this information as an email to some ladies I did a Bible Study with this Spring, but thought I should go on and post it as a blog so the rest of you can see it too!

God has been doing some amazing things here in Shelbyville! This is just a small glimpse of it!

Last week, we went to camp with Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church. We had been planning for this trip since March and we were so excited to see what God was going to do through this trip in the lives of the students and the church as a whole! Little did we know what He had planned....

The night before Satan launched a full out attack. His goal was simply to destroy the joy that I had going into that week! My mind was confused and I was becoming angry over some things and I was literally to the point where I just did not want to go! But as I prayed for the situation my mood changed. I knew that God had given me this opportunity to go and minister to these students and I could not let it pass me by. So of course I went and God showed up in ways I never dreamed! (Just to give you some background...this is the church that my family and I were attending when I gave my life to Christ and when He called us to be a part of the work in Las Vegas.)

The messages all week were focused on the armor of God(Eph 6:10-20). The first night was an overview of the armor and then each session after that focused on a specific piece of the armor. For each piece of the armor we focused on how that piece was used for the Roman soldier in battle, what that piece means to us as Christians, and how we can apply this piece of armor in our lives each day! Each message was amazing! And we learned that non of these pieces is more important than another, because if you are missing a piece then there is a part of you that is not protected from the attacks of the enemy! There was one piece that seemed to stick out to all of us more than the others though. This piece was the shield of faith. These shields used by the Roman soldiers were 2 1/2 ft wide and 4 1/2 ft tall, they were overlayed with leather that could be soaked in water to extinguish fiery arrows shot by the enemy, and on the sides they had grooves so that they could be locked in with one another to form a wall of protection. We learned that for us as Christians, our shield is our faith in God. Faith that He is who He says He is and will do what He promises! When the enemy begins to attack us, we duck down behind this faith just as a soldier ducks down behind his shield.

The coolest part of this message was getting to watch the students play a game afterward that really helped this truth to sink in to their hearts and the hearts of those of us watching! After each night session the students had night rec. They would go out onto this HUGE soccer field and play games by the light of a single generator-powered stadium light. For these activities the students were split into their color teams (a mixture of church groups and ages). This night the rec leader had them get into their color groups at various spots on the field, so that the groups were a spread out from one another. The leader then explained to the students that they were going to have to find their church group...in the dark!! They cut the light and chaos broke out! It was so dark you could not see your hand in front of your face! The students were screaming! But finally they began to calm down and work to find their group. Once some of our students found each other they began chanting "Shelbyvile!" so that all the other students could find them. Finally all the groups were together.The rec leader then had them lock arms (our symbol of locked shields for the week) and not only lock with just their group, but lock with the two other church groups. So those of us leaders that were out their are standing on this hill and we start shining the flash lights we had on the students so we could see them and it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! 100+ students standing arms locked, the length of the entire soccer field. Of course we were unable to get the lights to come back on, totally a God thing! As we stood there in the pitch black darkness the students began to sing! God spoke to my heart at that moment that this was a picture of how we look when we as the body unite with one another and stand against the enemy! The only words I can use to describe it are terrifyingly beautiful. I cannot imagine the fear that must have run through the enemy as he heard those students sing out the the living God!

So Sunday night the students shared all of this and more with the rest of the church. And God is using it in amazing ways! These students have been texting one another every morning to remind one another to get up and put on the armor of God and sharing with one another what God has spoken into their lives through their time with Him that morning! It is so amazing that a tool, like text messaging, that Satan uses so frequently to stir up trouble and worldly behavior has been the fuel that is keeping these students on fire! This fire also spread to the church! We woke up late yesterday morning and a few mins after I got up my mom called the house and said that one of the staff guys was trying to get in touch with Zeke to lead worship because we were going to have another service that night because of all that God was doing they just felt that we needed to meet again and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's moving. So Zeke lead and the pastor spoke on revival. Revival for us as soldiers in a battle. There will be times when we are victorious, but shaken, wounded and hurting. In these times we look to God and hide in his shelter. We draw close to Him so that He can refresh us and renew our spirit!

I am sorry this is so long, but I really felt like I needed to share this with you all! Please pray for our students and the whole church that we would continue to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's movement! Also please pray for me and the older girls (11th, 12th, and college girls) we are starting a Bible study tonight! Pray that God would use this study however He desires! That He would speak to the lives of all of us in the Bible study!

If there is anything I can pray for you about please let me know!

This video is of pictures from the week at camp!