I am overwhelmed with blessings.  I am overwhelmed with a God who loves me more than I can understand.  I am overwhelmed by the beauty He gives and shows us. 

We serve a God SO big and so mighty.  He shows us such grace and compassion.  He is the ultimate picture of love.  My hubby has been blogging about a song called “How He Loves”, and I too cannot get this song out of my head and can’t stop praising a God that is the giver of all things beautiful and perfect!

He knows us. He loves us.  He makes us perfectly in His image.

Psalm 139: 13-18

14 I thank you, High God — You’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration — what a creation!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoC1ec-lYps]

Lord, thank you for your GRACE.

Nope, I didn’t stutter.  I don’t.  I did for years.  Many many years. But as I get older and grow in my relationship with Christ, so changes my daily routine with Him. 

I read my bible this way:

Ok Ok…I know, I tricked you.  I DO still read my bible, just not in the conventional way.  I’ve read my bible A LOT.  I’ve read many different versions, in many different ways.  I’ve studied, I’ve bled (paper cuts), I’ve highlighted. Been there, done that. 

I think Christians get into the mindset that they have to spend a certain amount of time sitting in the quiet reading Leviticus everyday.  If that’s the place you are in, and the relationship you have with Him…more power to you.  It’s just not me. 

I’m in a stage of learning to really depend on God.  I’m learning to pray in a whole new way.  I’m walking into a whole new level in my relationship with Him.  It’s exciting, it’s difficult, but it’s the best place I’ve ever been in. 

Where are you in your relationship with Him? What can you do to freshen it up and make it deeper and more relational?

Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining and arguing.

Ouch.

I’ve found myself complaining a lot lately. We’re a complaining people.  It’s just never good enough, and we are never happy enough.  But if you keep reading…

Philippians 2:18 Yes, you should rejoice.

You should REJOICE. Even when everything is not going your way.  There is always a reason to rejoice no matter the circumstance.

I want to complain less, and rejoice more.  Our Savior deserves that much from us at least!

What can you rejoice in today and complain less about?

I love Jesus.  I love showing Jesus to others.  But sometimes Christians annoy the heck out of me.

Yeah yeah yeah.  Go ahead…judge me.  But it’s true. 

We live a couple blocks from the beach in the coolest little downtown area.  When we walk to the beach, there are lots of “entertainers” at the pier doing their thing.  There’s this group of break dancers, they’re actually pretty good.  There are some really good artists, my favorite is a guy that paints a beautiful picture using cans of spray paint.  Very impressive. 

Then there’s always that guy.

The guy standing up on his soapbox (literally), telling everyone they’re going to hell.  He stands there,  condemns and tells everyone what they’re doing is wrong.  Part of it is true, we are all sinners.  We all fall short. 

But is this really the way to let people know it? Are lost people really drawn to this fanatic lifestyle?

What always gets me, is that people stop and listen.  The crowds really gather.  As I read the stories of Jesus’ ministry, the crowds gathered for Him too.   What hurts my heart, is that typically these soapbox preachers aren’t showing the true love of Jesus.

Jesus was real.  He met people where they were, and showed them love no matter what.  He spoke of hope and forgiveness. He didn’t rub it in their faces, he was simply there and almighty.

Why can’t we be more like Jesus? I know I want to be.

I encourage you to be REAL and reflect Christ for who He is.  Your thoughts?

Ever have those days where everything around you tests your patience? People won’t get out of the way on YOUR freeway, nothing seems to go right at work, the dog forgets how to use the bathroom outside and you get a lovely treat when you wake up. 

It can take one tiny thing to ruin your day, and then nothing goes right. 

Today is one of those days for me.  Maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or maybe I messed up in my “morning routine”  to throw me off…but it was just one of those days. 

A Monday. 

On days like today, I pray for patience.  Mostly for others who have to put up with me… but a lot for myself.  I wonder if Jesus ever had a case of the Mondays.  I wonder if his disciples ever annoyed him to where he just needed to get away and roam around Target for a while to calm his nerves.  Hmm…I doubt it.

Thank you Jesus for giving me your patience on the rough days where I can’t do anything right.  Through Him, I’m made perfect. And that makes any bad day turn out to be a good one. 

How do you handle a ‘case of the Mondays’?

Do you do what you love? I mean really LOVE? Like you couldn’t NOT do it because it’s what you were made to do?

What are you passionate about? Truly passionate? The thing that keeps you up at night, that you get incredibly frustrated when other people do wrong or don’t care enough about? Are you pouring your life into that thing?

I have a heart for Africa.  I know…that’s what every Christian is supposed to say.  But it’s true.  I remember when I was very young praying for this country and how I could someday make an impact on the people that are hurting and don’t know Jesus.  In 2001, I had the opportunity to go there and physically do everything I could.  I had the honor of leading people to Jesus.  I played with children.  I held the hands of hurting women.  It was life changing.  I also got a really bad reaction from the malaria medicine and hallucinated that I saw pink monkeys and stuff.  Good stuff. 

In 2004, I began sponsoring a child through World Vision from that same country I visited.  I always hope she was one of those children who sat in my lap as I read them stories about Jesus, or one of the little girls that braided my hair.  One day I hope to go meet her, hug her and be able to show her how much I love her.

I love great causes.  TOMS is an awesome organization that gives a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair you buy.  I wish I could buy a thousand pair…but my husband is mean and won’t let me. Plus they’re cute and comfy.  Can’t beat that. 

I’m passionate about helping people.  I love to help women in difficult relationships and help them see their potential and how Jesus sees them. 

What are you passionate about? What gets you excited? What more can you do? How can you bless someones day without them knowing it was you?

My brain is going crazy with all the things I want to do. 

My husband teaches me a LOT.  He likes to act like he’s not grown up or mature, but I see through that facade. 

I have wounds (other than the mega sunburn I’m suffering from at the moment).  I have deep wounds.  I’ve been hurt by relationships, friends, the church, and people I really love.  I have a big heart, and it’s a sensitive one.  I don’t take things lightly, and I hang onto those hurts.  It’s difficult for me to let them go, because I think I can heal my own wounds. 

But I can’t heal my own wounds.  Last night as I was laying in bed cringing in pain, my husband went to the store for me at 11:30 to get anything and everything he could find to help the pain.  He sprayed me down with Aloe Vera,  he waiting on me hand and foot and sat with me until I fell asleep. 

All because I finally sucked it up and told him I needed help, and he didn’t hesitate to jump to my rescue. 

Sometimes I have to ask for help.  Not only from the people I love and trust, but from the One who can heal all of my wounds.  When I realize I can no longer mend my wounds, all I have to do is ask for help from my Healer.  He jumps to my rescue and does everything to heal my wounds. 

My hubby not only teaches me everyday about how to be more Christlike to others, but how to lean on Christ for my everything as well.  I can’t do it on my own,  no matter how hard I try.  He is the healer of all things.

What are you holding onto that you need to let go of and allow the Healer to mend?

How can you show Christ to someone today?

This year Easter was overwhelming for me.  Not in a stressful, I can’t handle it sort of way.  In an overwhelmed with what Christ did for us sort of way. 

This year was just different.  We are in a different place in our lives. I no longer take for granted what I have.  I’m very much in a place of brokenness, of seeking God in the small things AND the big things. In a place of excitement. In a place of yearning for what HE has for me.  All of these things brought to the surface a joy I haven’t felt in a while, and a deep sorrow for my sins.  It made me so very thankful for the cross and for the blood he shed for me and those sins. 

Brook sang the words to this song Sunday and they hit hard:

the same power that conquered the grave lives in me

I hope I can pour these meanings of Easter into our children someday and don’t get caught up in the easter baskets and egg hunts (even  though I love those things!!!) I hope the true meaning of this special day stays in my heart all year and is always on the forefront of my mind.

How was your Easter?

Isn’t it funny how we would cry for days because our 6th grade boyfriend broke our heart for the girl with the training bra?

Isn’t it funny how we would stress out about that test in college that was going to make or break our future?

Isn’t it funny how we would have that HUGE fight with our parents in high school? And declared we would never speak to them again. ever.

…Only to look back years later and realize how silly it all was. 

RIGHT?

Wrong I say.  Although those things seem so silly now, and we look back and think how funny it is that it was such a HUGE ordeal at the time.  But it was a huge ordeal.  It’s those little things that made you the person you are today. 

It’s that brokenheart that made you learn and grow and become the person you want to be in your marriage today.  Ok, maybe not the 6th Grade “heartbreak” so much, but you get the point.  It’s that huge test that made you learn and stretch.  It’s that fight with your parents that made you thankful for them now and will help you be the best parent you can be. 

So, no matter how funny it is, God really does use everything for His good.  Nothing is insignifigant to Him.  Be thankful for the trials, tests, brokenhearts and lessons you learn along the way.  They make you the person you are today. 

I find myself being very impatient sometimes.  Well, a lot of the time.  We live in a world of instant gratification.  We can pause our TVs and record shows so we don’t have to wait 3 minutes for the commercials to end.  We can pick up our cell phones and call, text, e-mail, facebook, etc.  When I don’t get an e-mail back from someone in  matter of minutes I start either worrying something is wrong with them, or getting frustrated that they are taking so long to get back with me.  I expect it NOW. 

I reached over to my radio this morning to rewind it because there was something I wanted to hear again.  Seriously? How selfish am I that I think I should get everything I want when I want it?

We were created by a God with great patience.  He has to be.  Have you met the human race?? We’re nuts! If he wasn’t the most insanely patient being, he would have zapped us all LONG ago.  ZAP!

All that to say, I’m thankful I was created in the image of HIM.  Who is way more patient than me. 

However, I bet he got a good laugh out of me trying to rewind my radio.  Give it a few years, we’ll be there.