Ordinary

Do you ever feel like you are just ordinary? There is nothing special about you, nothing that makes you stand out. You might think you don't have any special gifts or talents or think "I'm just a wife or a mom" or " I go to work, come home, fix dinner, give kids baths, go to bed-nothing special." And then you see those people who "look" like they have it all-all the gifts, talents, the breaks, the glory etc. but you, you are just ordinary. Do you ever feel like that? Me too! Well, I've got great news for you and it comes from Acts 4:13:

"The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness

of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with

no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men

who had been with Jesus."

God uses ordinary people like you and me!!!! In fact, he prefers it, because when he uses ordinary people, they know they can't take credit of the work of an extraordinary God. Peter and John were ordinary men who were not special or trained in anything spiritual, but literally, changed the world. How? They had one thing going for them: they "had been with Jesus." That's it! They didn't have any special gifts, go to any special school, from any special family....they simply walked with Jesus. And because they walked with Jesus they understand that God could take the ordinary and do things that were extraordinary. The same power that created the earth was with them. The same power that parted the Red Sea was with them. The same power that raised Jesus was with them. "For if God is for you, who can be against you." (Romans 8:31) Nothing was going to stop them, not because of their own power (for they were just ordinary), but because they had God Almighty with them! So if you are in the valley of ordinary, keep being with Jesus and watch Him do extraordinary things in you and through you.

Ordinary? Why yes, yes I am....and I wouldn't have it any other way!

One of Those Days....

So...this morning was one of those mornings. Case, the youngest, didn't sleep last night and was super cranky all morning. I was either holding him while trying to fix my hair or brush my teeth or he was screaming bloody murder while I was trying to make the kids school lunches. Cale, my oldest, was in the "dream world" that he sometimes goes to when he needs to be putting on his shoes or getting his teeth brushed. We were running late so we hurried and had our bible time, which was very spiritual (hint:sarcasm:)), and go out to the car and can't find my keys. As I mumble under my breath, "You have got to be kidding me," I called my husband and snapped at him because I knew he had to be the one who lost them, right? We finally found the keys, locked safely in the car. My husband came and picked us up so that we could get to school 20 minutes late and reminded me that I had let Chloe look for her bracelet in my car last night. Why leave her out? I had yelled at everyone else in the family. We get everyone where they are suppose to be and then I go to work, where I get to put on the "Happy" face and tell people how much Jesus loves them when the people I love the most just saw No part of Jesus in me this morning.
You ever have those days?
And then the remorse sets in. Why did I act like that? Where was my patience? In the big picture was it all that big a deal? What lesson did I teach my family today? It makes me feel pretty darn rotten and I beat myself up. Why do I do the things I don't want to do?
Then in my quiet time today I read Romans 7:15-24

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what

I hate, I do....I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.

For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I

do is not the good I want to do;no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep

on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is not longer I who do it, but

it is sin living in me that does it....What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from

this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yes! this is me. Paul knew exactly how I was feeling. We will all go through times where our flesh will rear its ugly head. We will do things that we can't believe we did them. We will do things when we know they are wrong. We will do things that actually hurt the name of Christ. Our flesh still leans toward sin. But how do we see past this part of our life that we can't seem to get away from? Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!!! You see, we don't have to live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The same spirit that lived inside of Jesus lives inside of us, so when our flesh "acts up" the spirit takes over. We asked God for forgiveness and know that, "Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1. Can I get an Amen?

I want to encourage you when you have "those days," remember, you have all the power you need to get through bad days and still show Jesus, and if you fall short, God will always be there to pick you back up, dust you off, and give you a nice little pat on the rear and say, "lets go."

Oh and yes....I am good with the family too:)

The Little things

So...I was watching one of my favorite movies this weekend: For Love of the Game. It is a baseball/love story with Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston. I really do love this movie and as I was watching it, there was one part that just got me thinking (my mind is always thinking). It was toward the end of the movie and he was trying to pitch a "perfect" game. His shoulder was hurting, but he knew he couldn't quit, he was just too close to this amazing accomplishment. And then he began to pray (I may not get it word for word, but it is close):

"God, I know I promised I would never involve you in a baseball game.

It always seemed silly because you have bigger things to worry about, But

if you could make the pain in my shoulder go away for the next 10 minutes,

I would be grateful"

As I heard him pray that little prayer, I thought to myself, DOES God care about baseball or football, or basketball, or buying house, or my work problems etc. After all, there are a lot bigger things he should be handling like people who have lost loved ones, or have very sick children, or famines, tornadoes, earthquakes, wars etc. I know my problems seem so "little" compared to these things, but they seem "big" to me.

I think I missed the rest of the movie contemplating these thoughts, but then God reminded me of a "small" story in the Bible that I had just read to my kids. It is only 4 verses and I remember thinking, This is kind of a random story. What is it's significance?

So the prophets and Elisha arrived at the Jordan and began cutting down

trees. But as one of them was getting a tree, his ax head fell into the river.

"Oh, sir!" he cried. "It was a borrowed ax!" "Where did it fall?" the man of God

asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the

water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface. "Grab it," Elisha said

And the man reached out and grabbed it. 2 Kings 6:4-7

Oh God and His timing:) The significance? To show us that God DOES care....about everything-even some one's lost ax head. God cares about baseball, football, basketball, jobs, families, houses, bills, relationships, your dog on and on and on....Why? Because you do!! And you are His Child!

My oldest is playing t-ball and my youngest thinks he does, so t-ball is a big deal in our house. Before last year, had I ever been to a t-ball game since I played? Nope Did I keep up with the t-ball games in our area? Nope. After my kids are done playing, will I still go to t-ball games? Nope. Because t-ball doesn't really matter to me, but it matters to them;therefore, it matters to me. They think t-ball is very important, therefore I think t-ball is important. Why? Because they are my kids and I love them. If something is important to you, it's important to God because you are His kid and He loves you! Whatever we face in our everyday lives, it matters to God because He knows it's all about the Relationship-The relationship He has with His children. Go to God with the attitude that he loves it when we bring everything to him, even the "little" things.

Facing the Giants

Facing the Giants is one of my favorite movies. I love the "feel" good movies anyhow, but then you throw in God and football, it should have won the academy award. Well, at least the "Fighting Heart" award. We love the stories where the "underdog" beats the powerhouse giant. That's why one of the most beloved stories in the Bible is David and Goliath. Most of us have heard this story of the little boy who defeated the Giant, but I want to talk about the less talked about story of God's people being defeated by the giants before the battle ever began.

This story takes place in Numbers 13:

(v. 1)The Lord now said to Moses, "Send out men to explore the land I am giving you,

the Israelites...(v. 3) So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He sent out twelve

men. (v. 17). Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the

land:"Go north through the Negev into the hill country. See what the land is like, and

find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many..."

(vs. 27) This was their report to Moses: "We entered the land you sent us to explore, and

it is indeed a bountiful country-a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit

it produces. But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large. We even

saw giants there... (v. 30) But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before

Moses. "Let's go at once to take the land. We can certainly conquer it." But the other men

who had explored the land with him disagreed. "We can't go up against them! They are

stronger than we are! So they spread this bad report about the land...(Numbers 14:1)

(v. 3) "Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to die in battle?" (vs.7) Moses said to all the people, "The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us." (v 10) But the whole community began to talk about stoning them...Ad then the Lord said, "How long will these

people treat me with contempt? Will they ever believe me, even after all the miraculous signs

I have done among them....(v. 21) Surely as live, and as surely as the earth is filled with

the Lord's glory, not one of these people will ever enter that land."

God was giving them this land. He said, "send them out to explore the land I am giving them." The God of the universe promises these people this land, land flowing with milk and honey. Land like they have never known, but yet they never got to experience it because they chose to focus on the Giant and not God. It sounds crazy to us right? Wouldn't you believe the God of the universe? If God is for you who could be against you? What could giants do to you when you have God telling you, "Im giving you this land." It's sounds crazy, yet we do it ALL the time.

Jesus said, "I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full." (John 10:10) That is our promised land....and life to the fullest, more than we can ever imagine. But then there are the Giants.....

-Giants of fear

-Giants of depression

-Giants of disappointment

-Giants of regret

-Giants of discouragement

-Giants of doubt

-Giants of failure

-Giants of being overwhelmed

-Giants of thoughts of inadequacy

And Giant after Giant after Giant....all keeping us from entering the promised land of life to the full. So...how do we become a David and defeat the Giant and not an Israelite, wondering aimlessly because of the Giant? We don't tell God how big our Giants are, we tell the Giants how Big our GOD is!!!!!! God asked, will they ever believe me after all the signs? We must choose to remember time and time again that God has been faithful in the past and will be faithful again in the present and future. We remember all the little victories on this journey of life and trust God that more Victories will come. We will Believe God when he says, "I have come so that YOU may have life, and have it to the full!" We were not created to just stroll through life, but have it to the full. We were not created to just survive this life, but to have it to the full. We were not created to just "put up" with this life, but to have it to the full!

What Giants to you need to kill in order to have life to the full?

HOPE

So I was reading the book of Romans and I came across a passage that God used to speak to me and HOPEfully to you too. It is on HOPE. I have written messages on Faith and Love, but can honestly say never hope. It is a word that didn't enter in my vocabulary unless it was something like, "I hope my baby sleeps tonight" or "I hope we win" or "I hope that dress goes on sale." I don't think this is what Paul meant when he said, "So now Faith, Hope, and Love remain..." Where do I learn about Hope? Then I read Romans 4:18-21

"Even though there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping-believing

that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him,

"That's how many descendants you will have!" And Abraham's faith did not

weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as

good as dead-and so was Sarah's womb. Abraham never wavered in believing

God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.

He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises."

Have you ever felt hopeless? No matter what you say or what you do or how much you pray, your situation just seems hopeless? If you said yes, like me, then I pray you find strength and encouragement in Abraham. Abraham had "no reason to have HOPE." He was too old, Sarah was too old, but he had one thing that kept him HopeFULL: "For God had said to him."

His situation seemed hopeless, but his HOPE didn't come from his situation, but from His God's Promise to him. Whatever your situation might be, a struggling marriage, an overwhelming job, a sick child, an inability to have children etc., you CAN find HOPE in the promises He has given you. Yes! God has given you promises!

For God had said to her....."I will work ALL things to the GOOD for those who love him and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

For God had said to her...."The righteous call on the Lord and the Lord hears them, He is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in Spirit." Psalm 34:18

For God had said to her..."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."

For God had said to her..."The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." Romans 16:20

For God had said to her..."If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

For God had said to her..."Therefore, there is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1

For God had said to her..."He will remain faithful even if we are faithless. 2 Timothy 2:13

For God had said to her..."In this world you will have trouble, But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

And there are sooooo many more!!!! In God's Promises we know he is working for us, that the enemy has no place in our lives, no matter we have done-we are forgiven, we know that we are loved, and that he will be faithful. And because of these promises we have HOPE. HOPE that good things can come out of a broken marriage. HOPE that God is watching over your child. HOPE that God will give you the strength in your job. HOPE that God will lead you when you just feel like wandering.

YOU have HOPE because of the Promises God has given you in JESUS CHRIST!!

The Question

I love to ask questions to anybody about everything. I love asking serious questions, funny questions, pointless questions, and really any question that comes to my mind. Here are some of my favorite questions I like to ask and maybe you would like to answer: "If you had a dinner party, what 5 people would you invite (no friends or family and they can be dead and alive)? If you were on death row, what would be your last meal? If you could follow anyone around for one day, who would it be? What event in the Old and New Testament would you like to have been at? Why do I like questions? It's not the questions I like, but the different answers people give. It tells me about their personality, their likes, their passions, etc. Questions provoke thought and discussions and though you may be talking about nothing, you really are talking about something: you. I love questions! And even though I ask other people questions all the time, there is one question that I ask myself almost every day.... Is Grace Enough? Knowing that God saved me from what I deserve, is that enough? Knowing that because Jesus was beaten, hung on a cross and died a painful death so that I could have a relationship with His Father, is that Enough? Knowing that Jesus went through rejection from man so that we would never have to go through rejection from God, is that enough? If God never did anything else for me again while on this earth, would the Grace He gave me on the cross be enough? I ask this question to keep my emotions in check for if I focus on what He did do, it's harder to focus on what I "feel" he's not doing. I ask this question to keep my mind on the eternal perspective and not the momentarily happenings. I ask this question to thwart off any thoughts or ideas that I am entitled to more than what He has already given me. Does asking myself this question work in every single one of these areas every day? I would love to say yes, but the answer is No. There are days when I throw my child-like temper-tantrums and answer the question with...No it's not. And it's these days that I find out a lot about myself and my relationship with God. I realize that I am a sinner who still needs that Grace everyday. It is my prayer, that no matter what trial or circumstance I am facing, I can answer everyday,with complete humility.....Yes! Jesus said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." ~2 Corinthians 12:9 Today, Is Grace enough for you?

God speaks through Twitter?

God speaks through Twitter? That was the question I asked myself this weekend and my answer was....Yes! He can and he did!

I was having a rough week in the ministry. I was so burdened and overwhelmed by the hurt, struggles, and pain those I was visiting with were facing. I was meeting, this particular day, with a female athlete who was struggling with hurts and sin. My heart broke for her as she shared her background and the fact she struggled with the homosexual lifestyle. (I would like to say this was my first time with this kind of conversation, but it was far from it.) As we sat there, I could just feel the spiritual battle that was going on and man, did I have my full armor of God ready to go:) For the next two hours, I shared with her how much God loves her, how he wants to have a relationship with her, and that God had plans for her. We prayed, cried, laughed and I believed God wanted to do something in her and through her (and still do:)) Physically and Spiritually exhausted I got into my car, I listened to a voice mail message that I had received. It was from someone questioning FCA and our judgement in bringing former First Lady, Laura Bush, in to speak at our FCA All-State Event. I went back to the office and found out we had received some of the same questions at the office, some were even down right mean and hateful. Unaware of some of the things that she had been quoted, I sat there beat down because the very thing I was just battling with this young lady was the same thing FCA's integrity was being questioned for: Our stand on Homosexuality. On one hand, I was angry because maybe we shouldn't have brought her in because we could be sending mixed messages, although I knew she was coming to encourage these kids by sharing her faith in Christ. On the other hand, I was angry with these people's emails because they had no idea how much I minister to girls on this very issue. We ARE fighting this battle in the trenches. Not with hateful emails or picket signs, but with the Love of Christ. I was torn.

Then God used Twitter. I follow Rick Warren's tweets and he posted this:

"U don't have to dislike someone because u disagree with them! Love is

NOT a compromise of convictions. It's Christlikeness!

Wow!!! That says it all right there! It was so powerful for me! Maybe you dislike someone because you disagree with their politics or beliefs. Maybe you feel like you would be compromising if you became friends with someone who lives a different lifestyle. How will they ever know Jesus? We don't just tell people about Jesus, we show them Jesus. We talk like Jesus talked. We walk like Jesus walked. We loved like Jesus loved.

He ate with sinners, he talked with sinners, he walked with sinners, but He never left them the same. The tax collector paid back all his debts and followed Jesus. The prostitute gave up the industry and followed Jesus. The Samaritan woman who worshipped pagan gods and had lived with 5 different men left everything and followed Jesus Why? Because of how He loved them

John 1:17 says, "For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." We sometimes forget that we need both GRACE and TRUTH when sharing Jesus and I believe there is a reason GRACE is mentioned first because it must be given first in order to share TRUTH.

People don't here the "Good News" of Jesus Christ by picketing outside the state capitol or yelling at young girls going into abortion clinics. They hear the "Good News" of Jesus Christ when we show them the Love of Jesus Christ.

How does God want to use you to show His Son's Love today?