Dearest Readers~

I will be vacationing in Europe over the next couple of weeks. Chad and I are seizing the day, and look forward to spending time away together to recharge our weary batteries. {Prayers are welcome for the amazing grandparents who will be watching our wee ones while we are away!}

I will resume the blog once we return with a story or two (or ten?) to share with you, so stay tuned

Until then, continue to seek God with your whole heart. He is always with us, changing us one degree at a time…

Praise Him!

*image courtesy of “Phaitoon”/freedigitalphotos.net

Mother’s Day 2012. We got them to hold still for 5 seconds

This mother’s day is going to be bittersweet. While I look forward to hugging Jackson and Katie, I will miss telling my own mother how much she means to me. So in honor of her memory, I would like to tell you about the greatest gift my “Foxy” Roxie gave to me. I wasn’t the easiest child to raise, but my mother hung in there. I know it was hard for her to let me move away to pursue my dreams.

But in doing so, my mother ceased finding security in proximity to me, and found security in God’s sovereignty over me.

Please click here and join me over at Whatever Girls to read more, and let us know how your own mother (or spiritual mother/mentor) has impacted you~

It’s been awhile since I have connected with you via video. I want to welcome you back into my home to talk about agendas. Do we have one when we come before the Lord? What do I mean by agenda?

Or perhaps you are hesitant to spend time with the Lord because you don’t know how to pray or feel that you have anything to say~ is this a bad thing ? Let me know your thoughts below, and may your heart be encouraged!

(and why are video thumbnails on Youtube ALWAYS unflattering? Sigh…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqYTEw_pJsc

I prayed, polished, and practiced. I assumed the lesson would go one way. God willed it to go another.

Sometimes tears are going to fall. A moment of silence and a few tears prove that God’s forgiveness extends to everyone.

Another joke or anecdote was not needed. God used a trail of tears instead.

In that moment I couldn’t pretend or parade around as someone I was not.

So I didn’t.

And God moved in the hearts of the listeners…

image courtesy of “moggara12″/freedigitalphotos.net

I had the honor of attending and speaking at a retreat for fellow military wives and service members over the weekend. I prayed and prepared a special message for these dear women. I felt ready to share it until I drove into the city where the event was being held.

I lived in this city before. I wasn’t walking with the Lord the last time I was here.

As the memories of the faces and places flooded my mind, my heart sunk, and my stomach churned.

I hurt deeply.

“Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe,

sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow…

Oh praise the One who paid my debt,

and raised this life up from the dead…”

~Lyrics from “Jesus Paid It All”, Kristian Stanfill

These were the precious words that we sang over and over at the end of our Friday night session. I have sung these words many times, but this time, the song lyrics hit my heart like a freight train. No, make that like 50 freight trains!

The last time I was in this town, I was as crimson as crimson could be. The lyrics to the songs I sung back then were much different. Tragically, I thought I was alive. No, I was dead. I was busy chasing after that which is fleeting.

It is almost 15 years later. And now…

God sees the reflection of His Son in this imperfect and beautiful mess of a woman. What happened between then and now happened only because God is God. Before I cried out for Him to save me, He planned for me to return to this painful situation from my past, and to testify about His power and grace in my life. (Ephesians 2:10) As I thought about everything that God did that ensured this would happen, my mind and heart nearly exploded in an awestruck/whoa God kind of way!

By the time it was my turn to speak on Saturday night, I decided to change a portion of my lesson. I knew that some tears might escape as I spoke. But I gave the hour over to the Lord and asked Him to move as He saw fit.

As I shared about how God saved me, my season in Youth Ministry and Seminary, the writing and formation of Images of His Beauty, and about the amazing husband and children that God has given me, a small trail of tears fell down my cheeks. I did not stop them, nor am I ashamed of my tears. They are evidence of my gratefulness towards God.

The glory is His alone.

I am humbled by how far He has brought me.

“Who am I, Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”

~ King David in 2 Samuel 7:18b NIV

These words from King David are some of my favorites in all of Scripture. Believe me, God and I still have a long way to go in many areas of my life, but He has brought me ”this far.” God also brought every woman at that retreat ”this far” to. Their stories also prove that God saves and transforms those who place their faith in Him.

He isn’t through with us yet.

“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

~Philippians 1:6 NIV

Catchy anecdotes and quotes are powerful, but your tears are personal. Sometimes they need to fall so that others can see that God forgives and uses imperfect vessels. Sometimes they need to fall so that we, ourselves, can learn that our pasts cannot thwart our future in Jesus Christ.

So friends, I am glad I came face to face with my past over the weekend. My tears were seen by all and are cherished by the One who died for me.

May God give us discernment as to when to share our tears with others… and when they fall, may we offer them up with a heart of gratefulness. Jesus has raised our lives up from the dead.

Today I am over at the Whatever Girls with a special message for teens who feel alone in their faith. There are some that are the only Christian in their family. Would you join me in praying for them today?

Though you may be tempted to skip over today’s post, I encourage you to read it. You may meet someone in this situation someday…

image courtesy of “marin”/freedigitalphotos.net

Here’s an excerpt~

Dear daughter:

I know that you love Jesus. There came a time when you realized you needed His forgiveness. So you received it and decided to follow Him.

But then you told your family about your decision. They didn’t understand. Maybe they laughed at you or called you names. Things are different now between you and your family.

They still don’t understand.

Yet you continue to pray for your family because you love them. You wish your family would love Jesus too, but feel it will never happen…

You continue to read the Bible, and its words light up the inner places of your heart. You experience moments of unexplainable peace. You feel alive. You are excited to share what you are learning, but when you do so around the dinner table, your words fall on deaf ears.

You are dismissed.

You feel alone in your faith.

You are the only one in your family who loves Jesus.

And it hurts.

You wonder if things will ever change… (click here to read more)