He is holy. So we must be too.

Tonight marks the end of Fall break for my kids.

It has been a sweet couple of days for us at home.  Slower.  Intentionally so...

For whatever reason tonight I am a bundle of BLAH.

Nothing really good.  Nothing really bad.

I type those words as if they are true.  But, deep down, I know they aren't. 

Yes I am tired.
Yes I don't feel so great.

But it cuts deeper than that.

Weakness worms its way into my thinking and somehow I just let it all go to heck.

Where is the strength available to me through Christ?

I'll tell you where it is.

Pushed away for the moment.  Right where I left it.

Blah feels easier than burdened.  Know what I mean?

Tonight I just want to stay blah.

I don't want to put forth the effort for bold, burdened,  or even blessed.

But Peter's words haunt me.  Yes.  The apostle Peter in the New Testament.

Last Thursday the presence of God invaded my bedroom as I read 1 Peter chapter one and two.  I was preparing for a speaking engagement and the Holy Spirit led me to these chapters and just kept me there.  I read them out loud over and over again.  Obviously God had something to say to me.  Tears rolled down my face as the sacred written Word of God was spoken from my mouth.

Phrases that had been read repeatedly in my lifetime came alive in new ways. 

One of them that jumped off of the page was this simple verse. 

For he himself has said, You must be holy because I am holy. 1 Peter 1:16

Wouldn't a list of pending/conditional situations be nice here?

There aren't any.

Holiness isn't an option.

He is.  So we must be.

At this moment my blah-ness is sinful.  Why?  Because at its root lies pride, arrogance, discontentment, and self-pity.

His words hit me with tenderness.

My blah mood must bow to His holiness.  I must bow too.  More than that...I must choose holiness.

Truthfully sitting here and typing this all out helps me think it through and call it what it really is.  Sin.

Father~
I am such a feeler.  I hate it about myself.  Not on the mountain top of course.  Those moments are elation and joy.  Feeling is a gift and being a feeler seems fitting and right.  But, here in the blah moments, my feelings take me down a dangerous path.  I ignore Your goodness in this place and focus on my dislikes and relish in the discouragement.  Please forgive me Lord.  I choose to be holy just as You have called me to be.  I don't have a magic wand.  The feelings don't immediately go away.  But surrendering to the truth immediately feels better too.  Help me with holiness.  I need the mind of Christ to distinguish what is helpful and what isn't.  Give me self-control so I won't look for ways to just make myself feel better.  The joy of holiness this night is that I am choosing You over me.  It is that simple.  God I may need to do it again tomorrow.  Thank you for loving me and not letting me stay the same.  I trust Your hand in my life.  Don't let me be ok with sin in my life...especially self-pity sin.  It may just be the worst kind.  I love you Jesus. Amen 

To Like or To LIVE

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have made it awfully easy for us to "like" things.

We see sweet or funny pictures of children.  We "like" it.
We read something inspiring, motivational, or good.  We "like" it.
We celebrate with a birth, baptism, or wedding.  We "like" it.
Then there are the moments of sadness.  A death or a sudden tragedy.  Pictures bring tears and words express a sorrow unspeakable.  I cannot bring myself to "like" it. 

God spoke to me the other day when I was scrolling down the screen and looking at Twitter.  A bible study teacher that I respect immensely had posted a word picture as she often does.  The word picture read something like this:

If no one is laughing at your dreams....you aren't dreaming big enough.

Another one of my favorites from her recent tweets is this gem:

Just because He hasn't doesn't mean that He won't.  Keep believing!

Let me just say this to be clear.  I believe that this awesome woman of God believes, teaches, and lives exactly what she posts on Twitter.  She uses her platform to honor God and uplift her sisters in Christ.

As someone who sits at her feet via dvd teaching I soak these tweets into my marrow and allow them to fuel my focus in Jesus Christ.  They speak hope to my heart.  I can't "like" them fast enough.  Honestly I wish I could "like" them about a million times.

It is easy to "like" something inspiring that lifts the soul and spur us on in our faith.

But what about actually "living" it out.

~How BIG are the dreams that God has placed in your life?  Can you accomplish them yourself?  Is your own strength enough or must you rely upon the supernatural power of God's Holy Spirit?

~Do people laugh or ridicule God's calling on your life?

~Do God's dreams for your life make you uncomfortable?

~Do you lose heart some days because the dream honestly seems....unthinkable?

These are questions that we don't "like" at all.
We don't like the weight of them. 
We don't like the uncertainty of them. 
We really don't like the idea of God daring to ask it of us....

Yet....we "like" the inspiring words.

I know the deal and so do you.

Liking is easy. 
Liking is non-committal. Liking requires no faith, or perseverance, or waiting, or potential heartache.

Living is a different thing.
Living is daily, minute by minute commitment.  Living depends upon faith, is strengthened and refined by waiting and relying on God alone. 



But don't just listen to God's word.  You must do what it says.  Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don't obey it, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.  ~James 1:22-25

Don't just like it.  Live it.  Blessings, fullness, and the deep things of God aren't given in easy shallow waters.  Dive into the deep. 

Liking it lets us walk away and forget.

Living it brings us to a place of utter dependence and desperation unto God Almighty.

Momentary Miracles

What you are seeing are miracles that happened in mere moments last week.

 Caroline sat up.  Yes.  Our 11 year old girl sat up using her own arms for strength instead of ours.

This happened in moments of time. 

She cannot sit for long minutes or hours....but these little moments...are HUGE to us! 

We cannot help but praise our great God and give every bit of glory to His Great Name!

Surely you can see the evident joy and exhilaration on our faces as we hold our hands high in the air for all to see this amazing turn in our girl!

I have no idea when God plans to heal Caroline.  I just know that He will.

He continues to encourage us through events just like this, affirmation from His Word, and dreams where He allows friends and family to see what is to come.  Four people close to me have dreamed of her in the past week alone.  How glorious is that!?!

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;"  1 Corinthians 1:27
 

Bent Knees. Burdened Hearts. Blessed hope. A BIG GOD!!!

One of my dear ones snapped this picture this morning at bible study.

Ordinarily I would totally tease her about ruining the sincerity and sacredness of the moment by pulling out her phone and capturing it.  But, honestly, I am so glad she did.

I know how this morning will live in my heart and mind.  But seeing it again makes it real and floods my soul anew.

It was church.

Our Thursday morning ladies bible study group came to hear a video of Priscilla teaching on Gideon and God stole the show.

The Lord had directed me to do things a bit differently this morning.  You know...shake it up a bit. 

The ladies were game for it.

They listened as I relayed all that God had done this week in my life. (I feel like I could write a mini-novel from Monday to this morning)  I could tell by the looks on their faces and the nods of their heads that they too had run a hard race for this week.

As I shared my hits and misses of the week they cried openly in understanding. 

These gals go for real.  As their leader I don't have to hold back the raw-ness of all that is going on....and neither do they.  We share it all.  Burdens are halved.  Joys are doubled again and again.

Some days are grand with God!  These are days to celebrate!

Then there are those other days...the days that we wish we didn't have to admit were real.  The days when the best we can give God are the broken pieces of ourselves and ask Him to be the balm that can bind us back up again.

We shared.  We related.  We understood. We prayed for ourselves.  We prayed for others. 

Then we worshipped.

A friend of mine went to the piano and began playing a song that God had told me were to sing.

Sing we did.

Some sang with hands held high.
Some sang with heads bowed low to the floor.
Some were singing words that they can't bring themselves to even say...
Some were tending to others hurting and in need.

What is it about worship that does this?

All focus was on Jesus and His goodness and grace toward us.

The world, hardships, diseases, problems, evil, brokenness, anger, doubt, and anything else competing for attention had to flee.

Jesus Christ alone was lifted up.

The atmosphere in the room was sweet with His presence.  The heavenly hush was felt and heard.

 An hour in the bible study video hadn't been watched yet....and no one cared. 

Bigger things were going on here and we all knew it without anyone uttering a word except in song.

I sit here 12 hours later and I am not over it yet. 

We ended our time of worship and this group of godly women encircled me.  This is the picture above.  They surrounded me and spoke to God on my behalf. 

It was the moment when the teacher gets taught.

The prayers and faith of these women are such that I could easily sit at their feet any day of the week.  The fact that God allows me to lead them is so backward to me. 

We did finally get to the video of Priscilla teaching us about Gideon. 

It was like the delicious icing that topped an already glorious cake.

We walked out of that room differently than when we entered.

Loads were lighter.  Faith was heavier.  Eyes were lifted to God in expectation....thankful for what we had received.

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.  James 5:16

His Love Considers Our Lack

Our Thursday morning ladies bible study is now 4 weeks into studying "Gideon" by Priscilla Shirer.

It is nourishing to my soul and just really good on so many levels.

This week I found something in scripture that I did not know was there.

The verses are found in Judges chapter seven.  These few verses scream God's love, tenderness and patience toward Gideon in an unexpected way.

I love it when God surprises us with His nature.

"During the night, the Lord said, "Get up! Go down into the Midianite camp,for I have given you victory over them!  But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the the camp with your servant Purah.  Listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged.  Then you will be eager to attack." (the Lord speaking to Gideon in Judges 7:9-11)

Did you see it?

God considered Gideon's weakness:  fear.

I can't help but think of God as the role of a Dad here in this passage.  He looked at his boy and knew victory was certain, even ordained.  But his boy was outnumbered 450 to 1.  Those odds were all he could see.  So God stepped in with patience and spoke directly to the fear raging in Gideon's heart.

It would kind of be like me saying to my kids,  "There is no reason to be afraid of the dark.  But because I know you are still afraid, I will plug in a night light."

God stepped in and offered Gideon a "night light" to greatly encourage him before battle.

I hope this speaks to your heart as it did my own.

God knows your weakness.  He is ever patient toward you and me. 

Sometimes I look at the things that God has laid in my path and I want to just place a banner across my head that reads, "I am weak and afraid and timid.  I have little faith"  just to be sure He remembers who He is dealing with here.

But He already knows. 

My weakness is safe in His almighty hands.  His heart toward me is love.  He patiently builds and grows the character and depth needed in my life that will sustain and strengthen my shaking knees. 

I fall into the mindset and even start to believe that God stays frustrated with me.  When I mess up or give in to doubt and fear I assume that He is angered.

He is long suffering toward His children....and those He is pursuing.

He gives us chance after chance after chance. He lives outside of time and can't be disappointed because He already knows everything we will ever do.  He isn't let down or surprised by our weaknesses because He knew them before we were even born.

This kind of love, this grace that has no end, is mind-blowing to us.

When he first came to Gideon He called him a mighty warrior even though Gideon was obviously hiding in fear from his enemies. 

Who would look at someone hiding out and call them a mighty warrior?

Our God would.

The God who see what we will be before we are.

The God whose love toward us fills the lack within us.

Rise up mighty warrior.  His strength is made perfect in your weakness.

"He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."   2 Corinthians 12:9

Circumstancial Evidence

Everyone has heard the saying, "When life gives you lemons; make lemonade".

We say it to friends.
We hear it from friends.

But doing it is an entirely different story.

This saying is very cliche and even annoying when you are the one getting pounded by lemons.  But I do think it is wise.

God tells us in His holy Word to"give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

God talked to me plainly as a friend this past week. 

He did not mince words.  He simply said, "Andrea, you are a woman of your circumstances."

It wasn't condemning.  Just very matter of fact.

His voice brought conviction and revelation.  His words were truth.

This truth came on the morning after a little fit I'd had.

I am tempted to write out all that had been going on that led up to the fit.  But those words would simply be an attempt to justify my fit.  Basically I was angry at God for allowing my circumstances to be very difficult, painful even.

But bottom line is this:  when things are rolling along good, then I am good.  When things turn sour, I do too.

So we are back to lemonade.

We can take the lemons and squeeze the juice out of them figuratively speaking.  How?  By taking our current set of circumstances and being present and real in the moment of them.  God has allowed the upset, the heartbreak, the loss, the let down, the sharp curve, the accident, the betrayal, or the problem to persist because there is something in it for you.  And Him. And others.

As we come to God in complete transparency, even admitting that we don't like the circumstances, believing He is at work then our focus shifts from us to Him.

At this point we have only squeezed the lemons.  Lemon juice does not equal lemonade.

It is missing the sweetness.

Take that situations and thank God for it.  Even if you don't really mean to but are trying....it still counts.

That is sweet in God's eyes.

It means surrender.
It means humility.
It means He can work and do His thing in Your life.

Remember...the saying says, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade".

There is action required.  Lemonade doesn't just happen.  It is made.

Press in and squeeze closer to God.  Glorify and thank Him for each hardship and circumstance.

A sweetness will pour forth from your pain.  Blessing will come from your obedience.  God will be honored.  Others will be refreshed.

Quick Trip

We got the chance to get away for a quick long weekend trip.  (I think that may be an oxymoron?!?)

We jumped at the chance.

 This is Anna Maria Island...a little slice of heaven.  It is south of Tampa, FL.  Shep and I had the opportunity to vacation here when we were newlyweds.  It holds some specials memories for us!

 We were excited to take our kids to a place that they have never been.  Needless to say...they loved it. 

 Playing at the beach beats school any day of the week.

 Caroline can pull off the ultimate "chilled out" look.  We all did some of this...

 Shep loved fishing in the surf.  Of course he couldn't escape little ones who just wanted to be beside him.

 Zeke loved using his goggles to explore.  I saw this view of him more than anything else...

 I enjoyed the little things.  Quiet.  God's gorgeous creation screaming His praise.  Little treasures.  Time and memories with my family.

 Caroline enjoying the arms that always hold her close...

 Ava's sweet silliness....

 I wanted to show just how crystal clear this water was.  You could look down and always see your feet.  Oh!  If only life and faith and parenting and everything else could be seen with this kind of clarity!

And, of course, a selfie of me.  This is the only way that there is proof of my presence on this trip. I take all the pictures....so there very few of me actually being in them.

This was a change in our norm.  It was much-needed and so appreciated.  God refreshed our spirits and helped us grow closer as a family.  Exhausting but well worth it!!!