Days of Thanks (6)

I am thankful for Friends. The ones I get to see often, the ones I don't get to see often, the ones that live far away, the one that I have known forever and the ones Im just meetings.
Friends make life all the more interesting!


Dad, Thank you for friends!

Everyone can jump, Now try landing

The thrill of jumping is just that a thrill.  I'm in the air and on my way down, all of sudden where am I landing how should I put my feet, where is the softest place to land. What looks the least damaging if failure.
I know a little random of an opening, but catch this with me, It takes  a whole lot of practice to make something right. It takes a whole lot of making mistakes to figure out the best end result. It takes time to build a relationship, it takes time to create a past. 
Every moment we take a jump with the Lord, we are creating new ground of faith with him. Every time we jump with the Lord, we are creating new steps of relationship, new steps of profound testimony to the truth and character of Jesus Christ. 
I am a jumper, now, it takes me a while before Ill jump, making sure is these really safe, have I worked out all the possible equations, figured out all that could wrong, and counting the cost of the jump. But ya know, no matter how much I plan ahead, I still find that the wind is off by 5 degrees so it messes up my landing. And when I realize that the wind is different my faith kicks in and my trust increases, because the History of my relationship with the creator is that He sees the things I dont.

Praise God!

Days of Thanks (5)

Im Thankful for the gift of breath.

The breath of life that lives inside me that I take for granted. It keeps me alive and sustains my every moment.
Dad thank you for breath!

Days of Thanks (4)

I am Thankful for a place to be.

    -This morning I woke up early and decided to take a drive, in my car is where I get the most space to just be. I was pulling away from the YWAM base, and outside where a group of homeless people like a little tribe of them. It isnt a warm morning here at Jax Beach, and I just found myself thankful. I may be crammed into a small room with 3 others, and without a bunch of things, but atleast I can go inside and lay my head. 

Days of Thanks (3)

Im thankful for the ability to love.
Im thankful for the redemption that was poured out for me to be able to love and to how to be loved.

Thanks Dad for your Love.

Days of thanks (2)

I am thankful for my family.
Everyday, somewhere in my day I think about them and a smile comes to my face. My siblings are some the greatest gifts in my life. Two years ago I was blessed to marry John and Ashley on their wedding day, blessed that They would ask me to be part of something so important in their lives. This summer Jeanna and Ryan, open their house to let me stay, help me organize fundraisers, and just let me share their lives with them. Matthew is always sharing the ups and down with me, what's going on in life, reminds me of so much truth, and he doesn't even know he is doing it.  Kevin is a giver, he has lots of things and upgrades, but he gives. He's aware of everything before it happens and in the strangest way is looking to make sure everything and everyone is ok. Michelle I am blessed with her wanting to be part of everything. She wants to be part of whats going on, she wants to spend time with me and her family.
My Dad I am thankful that He has always had a job to provide that, I have never had to worry about food on the table growing up. That He always provided for us kids and my mom.
My Mom, I am thankful for her because she is the definition of unconditional love. The women I can count  on when things seems to be failing she is telling me truth, she is praying she is love and fighting for me!

I am so thankful for this family, and as we continue to grow I am blessed by the people that want to be part of chaos and fun! I am thankful because God brought all of us together, he hand picked this crazy family and I couldn't ask for different!

Dad, Thank you for my family, thank you for all the trials and joy we have been through. Thank you for being the center of our lives, thank you for providing, thank you for all that you have done on behalf of this family from the prayers of others.
I love you Dad. Amen

Days of Thanks

Recently, more then ever, I found myself thankful for the word of God...aka the Bible. I have found myself recently just figuring a lot of things out with the Lord, and everyday the Lord brings me back to HIS word, HIS truth, if its been written only for me, durning this season its been worth it. The bible speaks truth in all circumstances, its encouragement, its instruction, its a reminder, its love.


Dad, thank you for your word, thank you that you know all circumstances, that you have been through each and you have overcome. Thank you that you promise that the same Spirit that Rose you from the grave lives in me, and I can live in that! Thank you that even when there is noise around me and its harder to hear your voice your word will be that voice! Dad, I trust you, with all that I have, despite my feelings and circumstances. I am blessed to be you say I am, and I blessed to be called yours! Dad, I ask that my eyes would be open wider to what your doing around me, my ears would be open to hear your voice, and my life would be ready for whatever you have.
Amen

Love in Community...

Ever heard the saying I would die for you?!

The only person, who did this for everyone was Jesus. He died, that was his last physical act of love on this earth.

But if we take a look back, it didn't start with dying for us, it started with him, joining family. He came joined a family as an act of love for me, for you, for all of us.
If we want to be like Christ it's not just about saying I would die for you, but it's saying I love you to be in community with you, I love you, I want to spend time with you, I want you to know me. I want to know you, I want relationship with you.
Christ, clearly cares about community, he had 12 people who followed him, slept and ate with him. It is important to him!
So for you to be a Christ follower, being in community is something he did when he came to this earth.


Before he even came to earth he was in community with himself. But for those of us who are still trying to understand that, here he did it in a physical understandable way for me and for you!

God calls us to be in community.


(this is a thought in process, I want to know more, but this came across my mind durning something I was in this morning.) Give me your thoughts your biblical refrences, I would love to hear what others have to say!

Praise the one who Saves My Soul!

So, Im sitting at Starbucks, with head phones in my ears, yet no music playing and at the same time listening to all the random conversations that are being covered by the sound of Jack Johnson on the radio, o to be amongst people again. I think I randomly went through this phase of reminding myself why I was even here in New Jersey. I had this awful thought that I couldn't afford to go outside. I know I know crazy! But I had a conversation with the Lord one night, and put all these feelings of what it means to raise support, why I was in Jersey, why this was happening and I asked him to change my perspective on my situations that are ever so present in my life. The next day I ran to Shoprite to get something and ended up only getting to the redbox and getting the Move Soul Surfer!
I have heard a lot of opinions on this movie, but honestly I loved it! But with in the first like 10 mins its talking about changing perspectives! How we often get to close to something to be able to tell really what is under our noses.
Man, to step away from all the things that grab my attention and bring my day down, and just to put them in the real line up life. How so many of them are about the a test of faith, a test of love, a test of being a Godly women in a worldly world.
So I writing all this to Praise Him in the storm, to thank him for changing perspectives, and thanking him that he is the bridge out of everything.
Praise be to the one who saved my soul, who pursues me passionately day by day, and when I want to give up, he holds on tighter!
Night

Task VS Person

I started reading this book tonight, which a really good friend of mine has been telling me to read for quite some time now, called Having a Mary heart in a Martha world. I have heard all kinds of teaching on this, and I remember one time when I was so frustrated with the Lord for creating me to be a "Martha." What do I mean by this? I'm a do'er you want it done, let's get it done, you want a partner in crime, and I have 5 seconds I'll be your partner in crime. I know the Lord created me to be a getter doner type of person.

What I fail to see so often is that in my doing doing doing, I leave so many characteristics of the Lord behind. Its easier for me to be a one man show, then to get more people involved, teach them, and let us do it together. I often leave out the process and just want to get to the end result.

In the story of Mary and Martha, (ps. Ill be chewing on this for a while) but one of the many things I feel like for me the Lord is saying in all this, was Martha was focused on the task, and not the person. Jesus, God, Father, will always be focused on the person. When Jesus died, he wasn't focused on the Cross, he was focused on the People (us) he was doing it for. He wasn't just accomplishing some task.

Thats the goodness of God, I'm so much more blessed when I am thought about as a person, when I'm treated like a person. If the students that came through my life, thought they were task how much less would what I have to say impact their lives?

I think that's something I'm learning, to enjoy the people, to enjoy the presence of being around people. I don't just love people because the Lord says to in the bible, I love people, because I really love people, no one has to tell me do that, I want to! And how much more will it effect my life when I stop looking at scheduling people as task, then stopping and really enjoying the time in which I get to spend with the people?

Its a walk, not just a talk, Walk it out.

This is a subject I am always learning. Currently, Im learning it mostly from this move the Lord and I are on. Trust is a fun ride, it has those moments of thrill and the moments of complete craziness, where you look to see if your seat belt is still fasten!
Jesus went through this when he walked on this earth. He never questioned the Father, He kept walked with his head looking to the Father.
Truth is we are no different because he came as mere man, we are mere man, I am mere man, and we all need to looking to the father in the times we need to trust him.
We can't trust someone we don't know, we can't believe that someone wants the best for us, when we don't know the one who wants to give us the best.
I pretty sure I learn everyday, how everything I do comes out of my relationship with the Lord. The closer I walk with him, the easier, in trials in this area, how much more hope I have. The further I am the more hopeless the situation seems.

What am I trusting the Lord with right now? Provision, open doors, and closer walk with him!
What are you trusting the Lord with? Are you looking toward or away with him?