Being Enough

Commercials are the worst, yes? I think we can all agree...guy, girl, old, young...we all hate them. They're long, annoying, always trying to sell us something, and always much louder than the programming that we are impatiently waiting for to come back on as we shove our raspberry truffle gelato into our faces.
They hold promises of youthfulness, and skinniness, and looking like Jennifer Aniston-ness...Enough-ness.
I call lies. Lies from pit, I tell you.
My Facebook feed for the past week or so has been full of women writing about how they don't feel like they are enough.
Y'all, I struggle with this.
I really do.

Let's get down to the honest to goodness truth and talk about the daily walks of our lives for a minute;

Society (or let's be real here, Satan puts this in my mind each and every day) tells me that if I don't wake up an hour before I need to, make my bed and do an hour of Bible study (don't you dare leave out the journaling), eat a well balanced meal, be dressed to the nines (how dare you leave out the eyeliner on a MONDAY), and be out the door all in that hour and a half time span...my day is a failure. Let's not forget that the house needs to be spotless, a 3 course dinner made, and some DIY projects done by the end of the day.

Guys, if I can just get up ON TIME, down a cup of coffee while struggling to find a pair of pants and a shirt that actually goes together, put on a pair of flip flops that match, and remember my water bottle for the day, IT IS A GOOD MORNING. If I get a few minutes during my day to send my Love a text telling him that he is appreciated, or a few seconds of blissful silence to talk to Jesus while the pot of veggies quietly (or not so quietly) boils over on the stove, and I actually eat dinner at all, IT HAS BEEN A GOOD DAY.
Disclaimer: Bible reading happens, just so late at night/past the time I should be sleeping (oh wait, sleep?) that let's not even talk about it.

You're enough. I promise, There is no one on this planet Earth who can do everything she needs to in a day. If there is such a person, please oh please let me find her. And clone her...or at least follow her around for a few weeks so I can learn how she manages this.

The dishes aren't going anywhere ladies, they'll wait for you to do them...
Another disclaimer: There is a difference in making priorities and letting things get so bad that practicing hospitality is a struggle.
The laundry will also wait... (wear that maxi skirt for the 3rd day in a row, crotchless yoga pants,,,am I right?!)
If you're a night owl, or just struggle sleeping, do your Bible study then instead of the terrible hours before 7am. I promise that the people waking up early to do it aren't learning anything different/better/more godly just because it's early in the morning.

Don't pull your self worth from commercials, or society, or from the lies that Satan would love, love, LOVE for you to believe.

Are you doing what you are doing for Jesus? Is it good, is it helpful, is it loving, does it make people feel appreciated? You're doing something right, keep it up.

Blessings and curses

At 20 years old a girl lays in bed thinking....it seems as if it is the only thing she ever does. THINK about what needs to be done tomorrow.
THINK about the bills that need to be payed.
THINK...and dream...about her future.
None of these things are on her mind tonight.
Tonight she thinks about the words said to her...or not said to her: in the past and in the present.

A distant memory of a parent telling her that she isn't going to find a man that will want a girlfriend or a wife that isn't thin.
A not so distant memory of a parent saying that she should really lose some weight before any pictures are taken, because those memories are forever.
An even closer memory of someone dear to her heart shattering those hurtful words with words of encouragement. "I love you, exactly the way you are. Got it?"

No recollection of anyone who was supposed to say it many years ago, saying the word "proud" at any point in time when talking to her. And when someone says that word twice in one week, she actually has no idea how to respond..because what are you supposed to do when someone is proud of you? "BE CAREFUL NOT TO MESS IT UP." is what quickly runs through her head.

I have a dear friend who often talks about the fact that we speak blessings and curses...about many things; our children, our friends, our homes, our futures...and the list goes on.

Sometimes the most damage can happen when people think that they are being helpful.
Sometimes, you actually don't mean it "that" way at all.

Speak blessings.
Challenge people to grow closer to Jesus.
Have coffee with loved ones, and make them laugh until their sides hurt...
But don't ever make them feel like they somehow need to live up to your expectations of them, when the only real goal in life should be to live a life full of serving God and serving others.

Bold lives

In all honesty, this post has taken me about 5 months to write. I've sat down and written it many times only to erase the entire thing and move on to something easier...why? Because talking about being bold is scary business...the irony is not lost on me.

Being bold is something that I am so passionate about, which is again ironic considering my personality.
The boldness that I am talking about does not come easy to me at all...in fact it is the scariest, most gut wrenching thing ever for me.

I have instilled in you a spirit of boldness, and of leadership.
 You will proclaim My Name everywhere you go.
You will build lasting relationships in My Name.
You will pray boldly, and people will see the difference it makes in your life.
You will be frightened, and that will show people that I am the one that makes all of this possible.

I have never shared these words with another living soul. They were given to me in a prayer session I had almost two years ago in a little yellow room filled with couches, and artwork, and the most comfortable chairs in the world....a room that is used only for prayer and meditating on the Word. A room that became a place of true worship for the next 3 months of my life.

These words are scary.

Being bold means speaking truth.
Being bold means attributing everything lovely in your life to Jesus.
Being bold is crazy.
Being bold is one of the largest ways people see a difference.

Be bold, and crazy, and honest....and do it in genuine LOVE.
Do it because Jesus was bold, and because He has called us to follow in His footsteps.
Do it because it's fun, and exciting, and so scary, and so fulfilling.

I choose to play the game.

Tomorrow, I will choose to pray for my country and our leaders.

I have and I am sure I will continue to see so many things on face book and other social media that quite frankly disturb me,
Before you go and assume that I am talking about a signing of a law, or the fact that "Oh, she's a Christian, she must hate Obama.." lets just get real here for a minute.
The thing that I find most disturbing is the fact that so many that I love dearly carry so much hatred. Posts about how our country is going down the drain and that the cause of it is our President litter my news feed.
Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't agree with most of the decisions that have been made lately, including the most recent signing by the Supreme Court, and that's all good and dandy because...Hey, we live in a free country were it is my right to disagree with it.
But the posts of hatred have to stop if we as Christians are ever going to get anywhere. I mean my word, Jesus Himself walked with sinners and ate with tax collectors. If we are showing hatred we are gaining nothing. If we are speaking the truth in love we just might gain a few more. If we are posting our condemnation on the world on social media more than we are praying about it something is seriously backwards.
Don't be a bench warmer, sitting on the sidelines yelling that "they" are doing it wrong, stand up and play the game, in love showing them the way to play.

The pests aren't welcome here...

I love spring. The sounds of birds waking me up each morning, the sunshine and the warmth it brings with it, the flowers..though not so much the pollen they bring.... and then there are the bugs. 

I'm sure that it is somewhat of a compliment, right? The sticky sweetness of just perfect coffee left over from breakfast...just too good to pass up! But it's when I found that a few or maybe more than a few ants had decided to take a dip in my coconut oil that I could take no more...coconut oil is where I draw the line! 
I had heard that ants really dislike the smell of cloves and cinnamon..which is perfect because I spray those scents everywhere! ...no such luck. I think it might have even made it worse. And then on a hunch I decided to try peppermint. I put a few drops on a square of tissue and put it on the window sill....and in front of my eyes I could see the ants making a run for the crack in the sill that they had been coming in through. Within 5 minutes every single ant had left the premises. 

So there you go folks, the excitement of my morning has ended...all with a few drops of peppermint oil...and hey, my house smells lovely as well!

What if we as the Church just changed?

What if we stopped trying to do everything the way it has always been? 

What if we stopped being so caught up in what we selfishly think is the only way to do things and knelt down on our knees and asked the only One who's opinion really matters?
If we actually got down on our faces and didn't stop pleading for answers until we really got them? 
Communed with God. 
Asked him for HIS vision.
After all, the Creator of the universe surely has a say in how we go about His business.

What if we just quit the fuss, and the bickering, and the gossip, and the backbiting... and just focused on what we were put on this planet to do and started winning people over for the Lord?

What if we stopped being so focused on events, and started focusing on relationships? Stopped worrying about numbers of decisions and started discipling  people who have already made those decisions so that they might "..go into all the nations..."


If we stopped worrying about the color of the carpet and the fact that we don't like the brand of tissues that we are supplied with... and chose JOY. 

If we just welcomed people in with open arms and no questions. Showing them Christ in the best way we can, through our love and through the fact that we are different in such a wonderful way.

If all of these things happened, we still wouldn't have a perfect Church. Not everyone who visits would stay. Everyone still wouldn't be best friends. 

But it would be a whole lot closer to a church that I would be comfortable in if Jesus walked through the front doors.

Why Mom's should stop having New Year's resolutions.

With the start of 2015 I can't help but notice the amount of women on social media that post about their resolutions for this new year. The majority of these women post about "getting fit" but let's just be honest here....getting fit and getting skinny mean the same thing in this situation, it's just a way to say it and feel better about saying it. But we all know what is actually happening here. Measuring waists, hips, and thighs. Buying ridiculous amounts of low calorie foods, protein drinks, and supplements.
All without putting thought into how this effects the younger girls of this generation.

A young girl sees her Mom measuring her waist, and thinking that this must be a normal thing for women to do, asks to be measured as well. This self-conscious  Mama decides it is indeed time for a change in diet and exercise.

And now this thought is planted in this young girl's head.

A few years pass by and this is once again a scenario. Only this time this young girl is very fast turning into a young woman. Perhaps in junior high. And this time it means a little bit more to this young woman because besides boys...weight is one of the most talked about subjects with her friends, and maybe life would be better if she was skinnier or maybe those talked about boys would like her more, or perhaps her Mom would be oh so proud of her if she lost this extra weight in her mid section!
It all begins very innocently.
Watching calories, not eating sweets, a healthy amount of exercise.

It quickly turns into an obsession.
Finding the perfect time of day to weigh on the scale, the time when you have the least amount of anything in your body just so it shows you the number you are hoping for.
Quickly learning that those numbers go down a lot faster if you just don't eat much. Or at all, really.

Ladies where are you teaching the young women in your lives to find their self worth?
In a number on a scale, or in the only One that can truly give us self worth?