You

O Lord, I will honor and praise your name,
    for you are my God.
You do such wonderful things!
    You planned them long ago,
    and now you have accomplished them. Isaiah 25:1 (NLT)

Father God —
You are to be adored. Why?
Because You are mighty.
More captivating than a lion’s roar.

Father God —
I stand in awe
I want to see Your power
I want to feel Your strength
Yet, I want to know that I am safe.

Father God —
In You is more might
than all the world’s armies
In You is more force
than a massive explosion

But also in You is gentleness
patience and compassion
Your purpose is always
to teach us how to love You
Your intent has always been
for our good…for our salvation

You, Father God, are bigger
than I can get my arms around.
You are more than I can fathom

Honestly, You can be a little scary
but You are always a safe place.
You are always good.

I lift my arms in praise
while at the same time I bow low
before You.

Father God —
Take this child
I am not sure what to do with You
Hold me tight while You set me free.
Free, to be what I want to be
Wholly Yours

The Unexpected

I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. Romans 7:19 (NLT)

Mary and Martha just lost their brother. He got sick. Really sick. They knew the situation looked bleak so they sent a message to Jesus telling him that his friend was gravely ill. Jesus lingered. He didn’t rush to them. He hung out where he was and Lazarus died. By the time Jesus got to the little village, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Four days of decomposing in a cave. Not a pretty thing to imagine. 

As he entered into Bethany, Martha came to him and said “Jesus, if only you had been here, Lazarus would not have died. But I believe in you. I know you can do anything.” Jesus said “He’ll rise again.” Almost like, don’t worry. He’ll be OK. Martha told him she knew she would see Lazarus again at the resurrection. She’d been around dead people before. She knew how this worked.

During this conversation, Martha told Jesus “I believe in who you are. I believe in what you can do.” Jesus had a similar conversation with Mary and then asked to go to the tomb. When they got there, Jesus said “Roll the stone away.” Martha responded with a response that was similar to “You can’t do that! He’s been dead four days. There will be a terrible smell.” 

Martha, who minutes before said “I believe in you. I believe you are the Messiah.” is now saying “What are you doing? You can’t do that!” And as I ponder this, I realize I act just like Martha.

I will pray and tell God I know he can do anything. I will pray big prayers expecting to see Him move and then when he starts to do something, I say “That is too big. I can’t do that.”

Notice the switch there? “I can’t do that.” As I talked to God about this he very firmly showed me that when I am afraid of the big, out of the box, things he is doing, it’s because I am looking at me. I am not looking at Him. I believe in his power….until it’s time to step into His plan. Then it becomes about me. But God doesn’t need me to do anything. He doesn’t need my list of accomplishments or competencies. What He does require is 100% faith. 

Jesus said in Matthew 19:26 “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Did you see that? EVERYTHING! There is only one thing to do when I am trying to limit God because of my fear. Refocus my gaze from me to Him. Step out in faith even if I am afraid and then watch what He does. 

I am sure no one in Bethany expected Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead. He never does the expected. And, he never does the same thing twice. So, focus on Him, hold on tight and be amazed by the God that does His best work in the “unexpected.” 

Always Working

Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” John 5:17 (NIV)

As I walked into the room, he looked up. He asked me to come talk to him. When he started talking he said “I know God is part of your life. I need advice and I would like you to pray and ask God what I am supposed to do.” I responded with “That’s not how it works. You are supposed to pray and ask God what He wants you to do“. My friend went on to tell me that he walked away from God many years ago. He was sure God wouldn’t want to talk to him. 

We talked. I shared that I knew God wanted to talk to him....that God wanted to have a relationship with him and if he was interested in getting to know God, I would be happy to meet with him and share. 

A few weeks later he called. He wanted to start his journey. We started meeting and my friend has fallen in love with Jesus and is seeking to grow closer to Him. PRAISE!

I share this story because I think, pray and talk a lot about waiting on God. It almost gives the impression that while I am waiting, God isn’t doing anything. Which is so far from the truth. God is always working. He is always talking and moving in people’s hearts. Sure, I am waiting on specific things but all around my waiting are these amazing miracles. Any time someone is convinced that God is there and He is involved, it is a miracle.

Like the woman who was doing something at work that she felt was wrong. One day she decided she had to stand for what she believed in. She committed to going to work that week and talking to her boss. Before she even got to that point, she lost her job. But guess what? She had a job the very next day working for someone who prays over her business decisions. God was at work.

A young man was looking for a job. He commented that God is not involved in our everyday lives. We prayed together. The next week he went on three interviews and got a job offer at all three. During one of the interviews the owner of the business talked about God and something God said during prayer. This young man took that job. Later he said “I guess God is interested in what is happening in my life.”

Another woman had an addiction. She knew she wasn’t happy and she wanted more. She started on the journey to know Jesus. She’s been free of her addiction for 11 months! God is working in her life and she is beginning the process of helping others who have addictions. 

God is always working. He is moving in hearts and lives to call as many of His children into a relationship with Him. He wants them all to respond to His invitation. Won’t you come? Come and know the boundless love of your Father. Do you already know? If so, come join with Him to point people to Jesus. There is work to do in the waiting.

Can we get there already?

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him. Lamentations 3:25 (ESV)

We were standing in the kitchen. I was explaining the weekend schedule to my two teenage children and my son said “We always have something planned. Can’t we ever be spontaneous?” I said “Sure!” I walked over to the calendar hanging on the wall and as I was pointing at it I said “We can be spontaneous on this weekend.” My son looked at me and said “Obviously, you don’t know what the word spontaneous means. You don’t schedule it.”

This is a true story. We look back now and laugh but in truth, this is who I am. I like to plan. I like to know what is happening, when it’s happening and if I can know how it will happen, I am even happier.

Lately, God has been teaching me that my plans mean nothing and his “spontaneity” in my life is the actual plan. What do I mean by this? As a Jesus Girl I have come to learn there is a lot of waiting involved. I can plan all I want to but the majority of my time is now spent waiting on Him. There doesn’t seem to be a defined schedule, a plan of action or any sort of rhyme or reason to when something happens. As you can imagine, this is a little frustrating for me. 

I have thoughts like ‘Can we please just do something?’ or ‘Can we please move this along a little faster?’ And then like a child I repeat “What are we doing?” Kind of like “Are we there yet?” Except it probably sounds more like “Can we get there already?” I thank God for His patience with me.

I was sharing these thoughts with my son the other day and I said “There is no plan.” He said “Oh there is a plan. You just don’t know what it is. It’s kind of like when you were a child. You follow along with what your parents are doing not knowing the plan and all of a sudden you end up at the beach.” 

Not only did this make me smile but I realized he’s right. When we follow along and go with God’s plan, even when we have no idea where we are going, suddenly we catch a glimpse of Him. Suddenly, we get to see His hand at work and we are exceedingly blessed. I don’t have the waiting thing down yet. I’m not sure I ever will but I am getting better at knowing. I am getting better at knowing if I wait and keep looking, all of a sudden I will get to experience Jesus. It is always worth the wait. Always.

Dear Jesus

Lord, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power. Jeremiah 10:6 (NLT)

Dear Jesus. Those words have the most comforting sound. When I was away last week, things were really hectic. It was a good kind of hectic. Lots of family. There was always something going on. Always someone to talk to. Listening and trying to be present in the middle of little children running everywhere. Constant motion. 

In the back of my mind were the things that I wanted to think about and pray about. That little tickle that reminds you that even when you are on vacation, things need to be dealt with. You can’t ignore them...but here I was too busy to address them. My regular quiet time with God was interrupted by little ones yelling my name.

And then there were the people that I wanted to pray for. The problems you hear about that you know only can be addressed through prayer. The questions to God asking how He wants you to be involved…if He wants you to be involved at all. The heart stories that made you know there was no way you could heal that hurt and you could only pray. The folks who need jobs, healing, answers. Even though I knew I needed to pray more, I couldn’t seem to get enough quiet time to do it as much as I wanted (needed).

As I climbed into the car to head home, the grand kids sleeping in the back seat and my daughter sleeping in the front, I whispered the words “Dear Jesus.” Those were all I could get out. So many thoughts crowding my mind. So many concerns on my heart. It was overwhelming. All I could say was Dear Jesus.

And then there was peace. I didn’t have to utter a ton of words. I didn’t have to come up with fancy requests. I just had to call out His name and I knew He heard me. I knew He was there.

I am sure I will get back into my normal quiet time routine now that I am home. But it sure is good to know that His presence isn’t dependent on my performance. All I need to do is whisper His name.

Believe

“You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” Luke 1:45 (NLT)

Can I tell you a God Story? As I’ve posted in the past, we are planting a church. We’ve picked a name. We are “Called2Be”. We’ve been meeting since April 1st (virtually). Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor! During our meetings we pray and study the Bible. In July, we felt God say it’s time for an in person. We had a picnic. It was great!

During this time, we’ve been praying about where God wants us to “Be” community. Where can we serve? Where can we go and love on people. When I was praying about this, I kept seeing a building. It had a sloping roof in the front, and a porch. I also saw the back door and when you looked through it, there was a hallway with doors on both sides, and a bright light coming through the other end. I sensed that the front was a restaurant.

It took me a while to figure out that I kept seeing this same building. And I wondered “God, is this you showing me this?” I wondered that out loud to my husband and we started praying. We asked God if it was him sending this to please show us where the building was located.

In the meantime, I ask God what we should do for our next gathering. I heard prayer walk. Now, I probably shouldn’t say this out loud, being a Church Plant Pastor and all, but I’ve never gotten into the Prayer Walk thing. I’ve done it. And there are times when I felt God telling me to prayer walk someone’s house and I did that but overall, not my first choice of activities. But I said “OK. Where?” Nothing.

I kept praying for where and praying that God would show me the building. Eventually God said Called2Be was supposed to prayer walk Purcellville, VA. And like an obedient child I said “God, that’s kind of far away.” Don’t judge me. And then I said “OK. Purcellville it is.” In the meantime, I kept praying about the building.

One Monday, I felt impressed to drive to Purcellville on Wednesday. I had meetings for work strategically placed throughout the day so if I drove to Purcellville I would be rushed. I explained this to God. Late Tuesday evening, the Wednesday morning meeting cancelled.

I got in my car and I drove to Purcellville. I drove all over asking God to show me the building. Asking him which way and trying very hard to listen. Finally, I was getting tired of going all around the little town, up and down the main street and I asked if I could go home. He said yes. I turned my car around to head out of town on Main Street and as I was leaving I passed a building that caught my eye. I didn’t noticed it the 100 times (okay, maybe 4 or 5 times) I drove up and down that street because of the trees in front of it. I turned around and went in the parking lot.

It had a sloping roof and a front porch. “Oh God! It’s your building!” I parked the car and looked in the front door. The building was empty. There is a big For Sale or Lease sign in the front. It used to be a brewery/pub. I walked around to the back door on the side of the building. I looked through the door and I saw a hallway with doors on both sides and a bright light coming through the other end. Turns out it has two back doors. One on each side of the building.

I can’t begin to explain the feelings I had as I realized that God took me to His building. And guess what?! I prayer walked it! I prayed all around that building. That Saturday, Called2Be prayer walked it again and the main street of Purcellville.

I’ve been back to prayer walk it again. I want to hear what God wants and ask him to move. We are all praying! What’s next, God? What’s next?

This weekend I was on a Leadership Meeting for our Mother Church and the Pastor told us that her husband plays in a praise band at another church. The Pastor told her husband that there is a building in Purcellville that is vacant. It used to be a brewery and he feels like God is telling him he needs to do something for the community in that church! These are the same thoughts I’ve been having.

God is doing something. Not sure what yet but I can’t wait to find out! Will you pray with us? Pray for this little down of Purcellville, VA. Pray that people there will know God’s love. Pray that we will share that love in service to the community. Pray for all of our courage. When God moves, it usually takes you out of your comfort zone.

And where did today’s text come from? As all this was happening, I kept thinking “This is crazy. Is this you God or is this my crazy mind thinking things up? And why are you doing this? And what do you want? And this is just crazy. People are going to think I’m crazy when I tell them I saw a building and then found it but I don’t know what to do with it.” And God sent the text above and a few others about believing. Believe. He is alive. He is moving. Believe. I do. With all of my heart.

The Village

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. Galatians 6:1-2 (NLT)

I have two grand kids. I adore them. They live with their two loving parents who both have very demanding careers. They love their children and do everything they can to spend as much time with them as they possibly can but in reality, they can’t be there 24x7.

So, they have a Village. The village consists of Nannies, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, God Parents, and Friends. The Village is very active. First, it is always there to spend time together, eat meals, play, tell stories, share hugs and kisses, kiss boo boos and in general lend a hand raising up these blessings. The Village is active in everyday life. Some members are around a lot, some come and go but they are still part of the Village. They are trusted.

Sometimes, the Village is called on to do extra service. For example, if an emergency at work pops up, a call is made to the Village to see if someone can help. If something happens around the house that needs care, the Village is contacted.

This system works really well for a couple of reasons. One, everyone involved is there because they love each other. No one sees it as work or a sacrifice. It is a gift to be able to be involved and it is a blessing to be able to help. Two, everyone has one goal when they are present in the Village. The goal is to grow people in the Village to be responsible, productive, Jesus loving adults. Notice, it’s not only the kids who get care. Everyone in the Village needs love. Everyone understands this role. And while we each do that job a little differently, we all do it with the same motive. Love.

That’s how I see today’s verse. We as the Body of Christ (Jesus’ Village) each have a job to do. We are to love each other the way Jesus loves us. It’s not work; it’s not “ministry”; it’s not something we have to do because we have the name Christian. It’s something we do because we are in love with Jesus. It’s something we do because we love each other.

And just like when one of the grand kids starts to veer off track, we should gently and humbly love each other back on track. Humbly because we ourselves easily veer of track and gently because we are called to love each other the Jesus way. Helping each other back on track is not about pointing out each other’s faults. It’s about sharing the burden, lifting together and making sure we each become productive, responsible, Jesus loving Spiritual Adults.

That is the law of Christ. It is the law of Love.

More Heart

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; Proverbs 3:5 (NKJV)

When I started my journey with God....actually, that’s not accurate. I have been on a journey with God for a long time. How about this? When God decided it was time I went “All In”, Proverbs 3:5 became my life verse.

Life as I knew it was changing. It was falling apart all around me. My business lost our largest contract due to unscrupulous actions of others. I had to lay most of the staff off. I was not going to be able to pay myself. From where I stood, I was about to lose everything. And this is where I, in a panic stricken state, was numbly sitting. And trust me, numbly is the correct word. I think I was in shock. All I could do was pray “Help me.” I was sure everything was going to collapse around me. I imagined losing my home and all sorts of other things.

For three days I just walked around and prayed “God, please help me.” I didn’t tell anyone what was happening. Not even my husband because I felt like if I spoke it, it would become more real.

After about 3 days, I woke up and Proverbs 3:5 was the first thing I heard. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. I’m going to be honest. I knew it was a Bible verse but I didn’t know where it was in the Bible. I got up, went downstairs and looked it up. I knew it was God talking to me. The rest of my “All In” journey is a series of awesome miracles with God showing up and teaching me to be “All In.”

Fast forward a few years. It’s been a roller coaster ride with God. We are definitely “All In” (Well, we think we are. I am sure God has more “In” in mind.) As we travel this journey, I pray. I pray that God leads us into a deeper surrender and a deeper walk. I pray that for us and our families.

Recently, my son came and told me God had been speaking to him. He said he needed to start his “All In” journey with God. Those are not his words. They are mine. And I said OK.

There are a lot of scary things in this that I am not going to share because it is not my story to tell but this Mama’s heart was in a knot. What if this? And what if that? How is this going to happen, etc.? And God gently says “Let it go Mama. I am his God. I love him and am calling him.” Trust me when I say “letting it go” is a constant process. 

Isn’t this what I have always wanted? Isn’t this what I have always prayed for? Here’s the really funny thing. When God walked me through the “All In” process, it was scary because depending on God and God alone is well....terrifying. But when it’s your son or daughter, well, it takes scary to a new level. We are always used to helping. And we can’t. Not this time. This is something I can’t do. This belongs solely to God.

And then my life verse shows up and I realize that in this case, when God says “Trust me with all of your heart”, I am. All of my heart includes my kids and my family. Suddenly, trust me is about truly trusting him with the most precious things in my life. And I do. With all of my heart and all of the people in my heart. I know that whatever God has planned for them is WAY better than what I can ask or imagine. 

So here we are.....going “All In” with “All of our heart.”