Scooby-Dooby-Doo, Where Are You?

Have you ever had a Scooby Doo/Shaggy moment? You know, those moments where you are constantly afraid something bad is going to happen, so you relish in your worry, but ultimately it all works out in the end; therefore, the worry and freak out session was completely unnecessary…I know I have had my fair share of Scooby moments where instead of just asking and praying for God to help me in the situation, I will worry and overanalyze EVERYTHING. Worry really is a waste of time. It’s like lying on the couch all day trying to figure out what you are going to do and never deciding; it gets you nowhere.

Every morning, I try to start my day by reading my Bible; additionally, I have gotten into the habit of praying prior to opening His Word and asking God to please direct me to what he wants me to read in order to let that Scripture speak to me. This past Sunday morning I opened up to Matthew 8:28-27 where Jesus calms the storm. The synopsis is that Jesus gets in a boat and heads out on the Sea of Galilee with the disciples, goes below deck to catch some Zs, a “Perfect Storm”-esqu monstrosity starts swirling and whirling the boat, and the disciples start to f-r-e-a-k out! They are running around screaming and yelling, “Save us!! We’re going to drown!” Jesus hears his disciples, wakes up from his slumber, and says (excuse my paraphrase), “Yo fellas, why are you wigging out? Where’s the faith? You know this storm is nothing compared to the power of God…come on now, calm yourselves.” Then, bada bing, bada boom, Jesus told the storm to stop, and stop it did.  

                After I read through this passage, I read through the footnotes in my study Bible and this part particularly stood out to me: “We often encounter storms in our life, where we feel God can’t or won’t work. When we truly understand who God is, however, we will realize that he controls both the storms of nature and the storms of the troubled heart. Jesus’ power that calmed this storm can also help us deal with the problems we face. Jesus is willing to help if we only ask him. We should never discount his power even in terrible trials.” As the words tumbled gracefully off the page and took ground within my mind and heart, I began to think of the metaphorical storms that happen in life. In fact, I began to think about how I have not only been hearing and feeling the wind, but the crash of the thunder, pelts of the hail, and flashes of lightning these past couple of months. I began to think of how I can often be like those disciples and as soon as the storms began to take root, I flail about with worry and get completely stressed out. While these thoughts swirled through my mind, I also began to think of how faithful God truly is, was, and will be. While, yes, these past few months have indeed been the most trying times in my life, I feel they have been some of the most revealing as well. For instance, I have seen the power of prayer come forth, I have seen God’s love in human form be not only placed next to me, but envelop me into feeling and knowing what it truly means to come alongside someone and be a comfort, a strength, and a provider. Furthermore, I have seen how relying on God and trusting in Him is the difference between moving forward or giving up; how it is the difference between calm and worry. I know that the storms of life will come, it is just so comforting and such a wake-up call to really understand that when we trust in the power of God to take control and let His will be done, life just seems to get a little more “simple.” I pray that whenever those torrents of worry begin to waterfall into my being, I rebuke them as Jesus did the storm, and pray for God to take the worry, take the storm, and let His will be done in my life. After all, I know he truly works all things out for my good (Romans 8:28).

Cue Sappy Boyz II Men 90s Love Song

                Have you ever been in a relationship (friendship, family, love or otherwise) and you just feel completely frustrated with the other person because they just “don’t get it?” Let’s take for example, Annie and Joey. Annie is always leaving Joey sweet notes and telling him how much she appreciates him and Joey is always doing things around the house to help Annie, however, the two of them both feel like they do SO MUCH MORE for the other person. In their views, they are totally expressing their appreciation and gratitude for the other person, but it is not being reciprocated…or so they think. The whole problem is this couple is not speaking each other’s love language. Imagine two people who speak completely different languages get married and are expected to have a successful marriage; that has disaster written all over it. This couple must make the effort to learn their significant other’s native language and speak that tongue in order to make the other person feel loved. The same is said for love languages; we must be aware of our own and aware of others’ love languages in order to have successful relationships.

Watch this clip to get a bit of a synopsis on The Five Love Languages:

                I read the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman a couple of years ago and it was a total eye opener for how I view myself and other people. I was able to understand why in past and current relationships there would be those “bumps” that just would not seem to go away. I understand now why I am attracted to certain people (not just in the romantic sense) that speak my top love languages. Furthermore, I have learned how to become aware of the ways in which those around me feel appreciated and loved and I have to make the conscious effort to show those love signals (i.e. giving a hug to express the love language of physical touch or just doing the dishes for someone to express their love language of acts of service). In addition, it’s funny because I have noticed since I have put forth more effort in “speaking” and showing these different language (words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, acts of service, and gift giving) my love languages have changed over time. For instance, I was never big into physical touch (i.e. a simple pat on the back, hug, etc.) and I have totally adapted that as one of the ways in which I feel loved.  While love language can indeed change, it is encouraging to go through the experience of becoming more fluent in speaking other love languages than just our own. Also, we often speak OUR own personal love languages the best, which is why when that love language isn’t the other person’s manner in which they feel loved, we begin to feel like we are doing all we can and they just don’t appreciate US.

                One more major aspect with understanding and enacting these love languages into my life is the fact that I am able to see how my family members, co-workers, friends, etc. feel valued in order that I may make honest attempts to show my gratitude toward them. I am a total advocate for this book because it teaches us how to better ourselves and our relationships with other people. The best book of all, the Bible, talks all about love…isn’t that what life is really about? After all, what did Jesus say were the two most important commandments: Love God. Love Others (“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22: 37-39).

Here is a link to take the online quiz to see what your love language is: The Five Love Languages

Romeo, Juliet, some guy named Jake, and the Bears.

I haven’t updated in a while, so I thought I would take a moment and summarize a huge lesson God has been reiterating to me ever so gently and patiently over the last year or so: Live day by day. (With that lesson come the connotational lessons as follows: Be patient. Be still. Trust him). Now, that may seem simplistic, but it is indeed one of the most sophisticated and enlightening messages spoken to my heart. What does it mean to live day by day? I think God wants us to relinquish control of every area of our lives, which I have a tendency to feel helpless when I am not doing something. It’s not a bad thing to know what we want in our lives; it just means we are open to the plans that God has for us because oftentimes He will lead us down a different path than we had planned. It’s interesting because in a previous post, I alluded to how it can be so hard to see the bigger picture in life when we are going through a certain “season” and, as of late, those bigger picture moments have really been revealed to me. For instance, I can see how certain situations have prepared me for future situations; how certain people and relationships have prepared me for current and future relationships. It really is awe-inspiring to see how He will use those around us to bless us when we let Him.

The Story of Jane and Romeo?

                This brings me to a bit of an anecdotal moment in the post. I am going to share the story of “Jane.” Jane was out one night and met this tall, handsome, charming fella; he had her smitten from the moment they met. What turned from a chance meeting turned into a spiral dating scene; however, the emotions overtook the reality of the situation…they overtook what God truly wanted for Jane. Jane could see what this certain Romeo COULD be; the potential he had, but not what he truly was. Mr. Romeo knew what Jane needed and could see the light of hope that cascaded off of her, so as best as he could, he attempted to say and in a sense “do” what he thought the man should do. Jane was put in a situation where words outweighed the actions and took upon the burden of trying to lift Romeo-esque charmer out of the pit he seemed to be stuck in. However, one can not solely bring someone out of the pits if that someone is not willing to look to the One and only source of hope: Jesus Christ. After a month or so of trying to get him to walk into God’s house and many MANY circular conversations about God’s grace; it was becoming clear that although this Romeo seemed like the “perfect fit” in every other way; he was in all other senses…in the most essential sense….wrong for Jane. Without a shared love for God and God’s people and will; the relationship was and would be doomed.

The Story of Jane and Jake.

                Let us fast forward a bit past the Romeo and Jane scene; while Jane could indeed finally see that Romeo did not truly treat her as the treasure God wanted her to be treated as, she had regrets and confusion about the relationship as whole. Why did they even meet? Why didn’t she stay steadfast from the beginning? What was the point of even having those emotions for a man whom she would never get to experience the blossoming of a truly Christ centered and healthy relationship? Why couldn’t he be that spiritual leader Jane so desired? During this time, Jane decided, as she should have days and weeks earlier, that God was truly going to be in control. So what exactly did she do? She prayed. She prayed for Romeo. She prayed for peace. She prayed for God’s blessings on not only her life, but those around her. A day after she had completely said “God, take this from me,” she decided to go to church. While at church she was approached by an elderly man, but not just any man, it was the same man who approached her on April 1, 2012. On the previous date, he said, “Bless you sweetheart…I need to tell you something. The Lord’s revealing is coming soon.” Jane recalled that moment as the sweet man held out his hand, then gently touched her shoulder and said, “You need to know this: The Lord’s coming is near.” Once again, in awe, Jane stood there with thoughts firing through her mind. “Does this mean a blessing is heading my way?”

                Let’s fast forward again, but not too far…only a few days from this fateful Sunday. Although, confusion over past hurt was still on the remnants of her heart, she felt the Lord was moving in her and was putting things in motion that she was patiently waiting for. As she walked into a room one day, an almost gentle voice and a push lead her to “Jake.” As soon as this meeting with Jake occurred, Jane knew God was up to something. She felt blessed by Jake’s friendship and could see it beginning to blossom into something more. Jake was being a good man with a good heart who was meeting her on an intellectual and emotional level; he was able to be the one to pace the relationship. What a contrast this seemed to Romeo; how she could appreciate even the slightest kind word Jake had to offer her. Over the course of several weeks, Jane and Jake had the opportunity to discuss God’s will, his existence, his role in their lives, etc. What a blessing it seemed to be able to even have these conversations; the way they made her want to delve into the Word and find the answers…to grow closer to God. As Jane recollected one day not too long ago, she felt this friendship and relationship with Jake was going too fast without fully being Christ-centered. (Oh, how she had sensed in every way that all those moments of strength and weakness with Romeo seemed to prepare her for Jake…funny how God will use everything for His will when we fully surrender those moments to Him…)So, what did Jane do? Jane prayed. She prayed for God to redeem that relationship. Over the course of a week of continuously praying that prayer, Jake and Jane had a “talk.” A talk that somehow had pain and peace all molded into one. This discussion centered on slowing things down to fully figure out who they were and seeing what the future held for them both independently and collectively. This was a time for Jane to figure out she was in Christ; a time for her to pray for Jake to do the same.

While this may, in a sense, seem like a sad ending, Jane in fact has said that it is in no way an ending. In dire contrast, it is a brand new beginning. Remember those prayers of redemption she had prayed would occur with her relationship with Jake? That peace of knowing that God was hearing her prayers was in this discussion because as she put it, “These next couple of months will be filled with God’s glory, lessons, and blessings as we focus on getting right with him and turning toward him to let him lead.” Isn’t that what life is truly about? Live day by day. How do we do that? Pray. Trust. Easy. Stay tuned for updates on Jane as God is sure to move and mold during this time of redemption. After all, life is all about repenting, turning away from sin, forgetting what is behind, moving toward what is ahead, and trusting God to reveal His will in His timing.

Psalm 37: 7 “Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him”

We wait for You
We wait for You
We wait for You
To walk in the room

Here we are standing in Your presence
Here we are standing in Your presence
Shekinah glory come down
Shekinah glory come down

Release the fullness of Your spirit
Shekinah glory come
Shekinah glory come

You move, and we want more
You speak, and we want more
You move, and we want more
We want the fullness

Release the fullness of Your spirit
Shekinah glory come
Shekinah glory come

From a Sneeze to a Blessing

Blessings. We often hear people say “God Bless (you)” in many facets of our daily lives. We read it at the end of a heartfelt card, hear it in a pastor’s prayer to the congregation, and more often than not say it and receive it when those tingling sneezes overcome us with a vicious ahh choo! When it comes to blessings, there are a few questions that seem to linger around the subject. Do we actually know what it means to be blessed by God? Do we know what a blessing is? Better yet, do we know how or why God chooses to bless people?

Imagine it is your tenth birthday and you have been asking for that brand new mountain bike; you know, the one with the shimmery silver speckles woven throughout the metallic paint job. You have been asking your parents for this treasure of childhood imaginings for months. It is now the special day, the day you have been waiting for; the day you enter the realm of double digits. Good-bye single stroke age writing, now comes real life, adding that precious one to the forefront of the zero. You walk into your living room fancily clad with streamers and balloons echoing birthday wishes as you pass by their vibrant enthusiasm. All of a sudden, smack dab in the middle of the room is a box..a HUGE box. A box so big, it could only contain one thing: that beautiful desire you have been asking your parents for incessantly for the last six months three days 20 hours and 13 minutes. You are keeping your eye on the prize as your heart begins to beat double time and your arms get that eager tingling full of that inexplicable urgency to run over, tear that festive balloon paper piece to piece and unveil the gift you know your parents lovingly bought for you. As you are floating over to your long awaited present, you dad steps in front of you, places a hand on your shoulder, bends down and looks you in the eye as he states, “Now, my child, if you want this present, first you must clean the garage top to bottom, paint the bathroom, rearrange all of the closets, do the laundry, mop and wax the kitchen floor, vacuum and scrub the carpets, rake the leaves, mow the lawn, clean the oven do the dishes…and then, maybe, if your work is up to par, you can have your present.” Soon, the huge, beautifully wrapped mountain bike in the blue and yellow birthday paper begins to zoom out of your vision as a dizzying array of discouragement envelops your entire being.

I don’t know about you, but I do not know of any parent who is going to make their child perform chore upon chore, task upon task, and feat upon feat to receive his or her birthday present. It is quite the contrary in fact…once the parents have bought the gift for their child, they are filled with just as much or more anticipation to see the joy wash over their sweet child’s face as their son or daughter embraces the long awaited gift.

The same is said for God…He wants to bless us. We do not need to perform works; that will get us nowhere. We need to love God, praise God, thank God, obey God, and love people the way He loves us. Just like the child who asked the parents for the birthday present, we need to ask for his blessings in our lives. There are lists upon lists of the blessings God wants to pour out, if only we would just ask Him for them.

How are you going to receive His blessings if you do not ask him? How will you know His will if you do not ask Him?

 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:7-11

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Sister, Sister

I once heard a pastor tell a story of how when he was nineteen, he had been out drinking all night and to his adolescent judgment decided it would be wise for him to drive home. During his drive home, he just barely avoided an accident (it was about three in the morning at this time). The next day, which just happened to be a Sunday, his mom called him and the first thing she asked him was what he had been doing the night before. He told his mom that he had been in bed of course (“after a hard day of working with the orphans”…cue sarcastic tone). A few years later, after he had given his life to Christ he told his mom the story of what had happened and she told him that during that evening, she had been woken up at exactly three in the morning because she had a dream or a feeling that her son was not going to make it through the night, so right at that instance, she began praying for her boy. I believe that Holy Spirit had woken her up to intercede for her son…to pray for her son. As James 5:16 puts it “…pray for each other…the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

On August 19, 2010 I got a phone call from my sister. I answered, “Hello” and there was no “Hey sister “or “Hiiiiii” that would have been the norm from Hillary. Instead, I got a panicky voice on the other end, rushing through hurried tones, exclaim “Amanda. I need to pray for you RIGHT now,” and that is what she did. Not only that, but she prayed for precisely what I needed prayer for in that moment, in that day, in that week, in that month, in that year. I can recall where I was, what I was wearing, and the feel of the warm, summer Michigan air blowing in through both of my bedroom windows as I was routinely going through folding laundry and picking up my bedroom. I can recollect the way the lamps in my room used their light to echo off the warm yellow tones of my walls. I can feel the past reverberation of the way my heart was beating so quickly and with such power as I felt convicted and encouraged all in the same beautiful moment. The details…I remember the details so significantly because this was a significant moment in etching me into the woman I am still on my way to becoming. Hillary lived a few states away and had no idea the particulars of my life that had taken place and the outcry for help that I had breathed toward Heaven in the early mornings the day before.

God has used many people to speak to me; more so over the past few months, but none as strongly as he seems to use my sister. This past Sunday, I spent the majority of the day just conversing and spilling the outpour of my heart out to God. I spent my entire workout just praying and throughout the day I kept praying the verse 1 Samuel 3:10 “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” After dinner, I went into my room, sat on bed, and just prayed that God would speak to me, whether through his Word or a person. I opened my Bible and turned to the Psalms…each and every passage felt like God was just building me up and encouraging me. One particular passage reiterated deep into my heart and mind, sending that fragrance of encouragement throughout my entire being.  It was Psalm 62:5-12 that triggered the sense of the Lord sitting by my bedside, just letting me know that all I need to do is trust him:

 Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him.
⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will not be shaken.
⁷ My victory and honor come from God alone.
He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
⁸ O my people, trust in him at all times.
Pour out your heart to him,
for God is our refuge.

While I was reading through the scriptures, I stopped, and just began to pray…wholeheartedly pray. My specific prayer was this: “Jesus, please use someone to speak to me right now. I need someone to calm me down and build me up with the words you want me to hear.” All of the sudden my text message notification rang and I picked up my phone to see that I had a new message from Hillary. I opened the message and almost fell off my bed for it stated exactly what I had been praying for all day…she had been praying the identical prayer that had been my heartcry throughout the day. I responded to her message and told her that I had just asked God to use someone to speak to me and she said that she had actually prayed that prayer over an hour ago, but there was something stirring inside of her at that moment to let me know.

I believe God will use people to speak to us and will use us to speak to other people. Prayer is such a powerful tool; I believe that we all need to use it more often. During those moments in the day when someone comes to your mind, when you can’t stop thinking about a certain person, or that moment you are walking down the street and catch someone’s eye…these are all examples of the boundless opportunities that God will use to have us intercede for other people. I want to thank God for using different people to speak His words to me and I pray that he continues to speak to me. Furthermore, I pray that He will use me to intercede on the behalf of others so that they may be encouraged and built up. I pray for you, that God blesses you, strengthens you, and fills you with more hope and joy than you could ever possibly imagine.

Romans 8:26 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us.”

The Monet of Hollywood...As If

Who remembers that 90s cinematic genius of a comedy (or not so much…) “Clueless” with all the knee high socks, miniskirts, Beverly Hills stereotypes, and more “As ifs” than one could count? There is one particular scene that always seems to grab my attention; it is when the main character, Cher, and her new friend, Tai, are at a party and Cher is trying to give some encouragement when it comes to a guy Tai is semi-infatuated with. Tai sees her potential love interest dancing with another girl and asks Cher what she thinks of the situation:

Tai: Do you think she's pretty?
Cher: No, she's a full-on Monet.
Tai: What's a Monet?
Cher: It's like a painting, see? From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big old mess.

For those of you who are not familiar with Claude Monet, he was an impressionist painter from the 1800s. Part of the beauty and intrigue of this artist is that it is so difficult to see what his works are when one is up close; the brushstrokes cause an overwhelming “What is going on?!” feeling in the eye of the viewer. As soon as that person were to move further back and look at it from a different angle, however, all the brushstrokes, colors, dabs, and dots come together to create a beautiful masterpiece that can only be seen when we have taken the time and effort to move far enough away to see the beauty of how each artistic stroke works together to create the captivating painting.

Over the course of the last few months there have been a series of incidences that have all been related and seem to be drawing me closer and closer to some exciting new plan that God has for me. One particular day I felt an overwhelming, inaudible voice telling me to step out of my comfort zone and just follow his leading…so I did. I had an “oh my gosh” what just happened moment and later sat down with my roommate to tell her all about everything that has been happening. I had been praying for God to just give me some sort of confirmation or clarity on the situation. The next morning I woke up to find a beautiful card written by my loving roommate:

“Good Morning Roomatey! I pray that your day is filled with joy and clarification while I was praying. I could not stop thinking about your situation. After giving it some more thought I think that this situation among the others is a part of a much bigger picture. It’s as if we’re standing super close to one of Monet’s masterpieces. We can see the colors and the lines and we know that it is a painting, but the real image of it all takes a different perspective. In due time, the Lord will have your hand as you trust in Him and step back to see the work of art come together. I do not think He is trying to tease you or test your weaknesses. I think He is drawing you closer to trust in Him. For when we trust in Him with the little things, we become capable for trusting Him with the big things; and vice versa. I think it is best not to try to figure out every stroke. Instead, keep your eyes fixed on the artist, for He is good.”

I thanked God after I read this card. I thanked Him for giving me a discerning, God-driven roommate. I thanked Him for using her to speak to me. It was such an encouragement; He was just letting me know that He has total control, so I just need to keep being faithful and trusting because He makes all things work together for our good. It made me think of what The Message Bible says in Matthew 6:

^30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

³⁴Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

So for now, I am going to relish in the blessings God is pouring out during these present moments and confidently anticipate His faithfulness that has been, is, and will come. Thank you God for using each and every big and small moment to increase my faith and encourage me.