BROKEN ON PURPOSE

"Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was,

making something on the wheel.

But the vessel that he was making of clay

was spoiled in the hand of the potter;

so he remade it into another vessel,

as it pleased the potter to make."

Jeremiah 18:3-4

The word "Broken" is defined as "having been fractured or damaged and no longer in one piece or in working order" and "having given up hope; despairing". Interestingly enough the word "damaged" means "an injury or harm that reduces value or usefulness".

These words can seem harsh when referring to something or someone close to us, especially if it refers to us. No one ever aspires to be broken or damaged. No one ever hopes to feel hopeless. I have never met a person who has begged and pleaded for someone to break them or cause harm in any way to their well being, their spirit, mind or heart. We actually run from those situations, or at least we try to. We desire to look like we are all in one piece all of the time. Our lives are perfect and there is never a single hair out of place. Our appearance has to be spot on and if it is not, we sit and stress over every second that portrays us as who we are not, or at least we pretend to not be. The story is all to real for every one of us whether we want to admit it or not. Life weighs heavy on us and we walk as though the weight can be sustained until we are alone in our room and everything falls apart. 

To be broken is the worst feeling we never want to experience and yet if we don't we can never really know the value of our life.

You see...I completely disagree with how the world defines brokenness. I was broken once, actually I found myself in this position many times in my life. Broken in so many ways, in so many pieces. But even though I was broken I had to choose to get up and continue to be in "working order". I had to gather together all the hope I could even when those surrounding me saw me as hopeless. You will only be what you allow the world to speak into your life. Or you can choose to NOT allow the world to speak to you what you know is not true. The word "broken" indicates that that which is broken must somehow be damaged or not of the same value. Funny thing though..."value" is defined as "one's judgement of what is important in life". Who's judgement? Someone. Anyone. So who determines your value? No one but you! There will always be judgement. Everyday someone will pass judgement on the small things we may do that do not meet their standards. Its just in human nature. We will never be good enough in the eyes of those around us. But should that matter?

The word of God says that "we are fearfully and wonderfully made..." Psalm 139:14

I have always wanted to learn how to throw pottery on a wheel. I remember in college watching a classmate shape some of the most beautiful pieces on the potters wheel. I was amazed at how easy the process looked and yet every time I sat down to attempt such a creation as my classmate, the clay would go sliding out of my hands until it flew off the metal plate. So embarrassing. I gave up. No matter how much encouragement I received it just wasn't going to happen. I chose to hand build my pieces from that point on and to my amazement I found out that the classmate who threw such beautiful pieces just couldn't do the same with hand building the clay. I didn't understand. We both had different skills that produced the same things, just a different technique. Each piece was unique and not every piece would make it. Sometimes the shape would get thrown off and we would smash the clay and start all over. Other times what we thought was complete, would end up exploding in the firing process because we had overlooked air pockets in the clay that were not smoothed out properly. So it was back to square one. One day I went out to the buckets where we would throw away our broken pieces. One of the buckets was filled with water. When I asked why, our teacher explained to us that all this time we had been building with recycled clay. That "broken" piece of pottery, although thrown out, still had a purpose. It was still useful and carried so much value every moment that I began a new piece. 

When we are "broken" the world will always see a damaged, useless, hopeless being. But God still sees the greater purpose that is within. We are broken so that we can be rebuilt for a greater thing. We are broken so we can be useful to someone else. We are broken so we can join to others who have been broken for the purpose of encouraging one another and reminding them that they are still valuable, useful and so full of purpose. Brokenness is not a state of hopelessness but a position of PURPOSE. It is an opportunity to see ourselves as how the potter saw us...a work in progress. We are always being shaped into a masterpiece. When you're broken, you are going through the process that will build you stronger than the time before. 

I have one more story before I go. I have a sweet student I teach art to on the weekends. First of all, I love the perspective that kids have on life. They see things that we can often times no longer see. There was one particular Saturday that we were working with pastel chalks. As he began to work on his drawing he grabbed one of the newer pieces and as he was starting to use it, it snapped in half. He looked up at me with big eyes and said "I'm sorry Miss Jennifer". It was no big deal to me. I had broken so many pieces before and even though the box of chalks contained more than half of the sticks broken, this still worried him enough to apologize. It was at that moment that God taught me something new through this sweet little guy. The words that I spoke to him would echo in my heart for the next several weeks. Thats how long I've been putting off writing this...lol. I looked at him and said, "it's ok...sometimes we have to break the chalk to get it to just the right size for the thing you are working on." He just smiled and said, "you mean I can break the chalk?" My response..."of course you can". What an amazing lesson learned. Those chalks could not fulfill their true potential and purpose until they were broken. Broken to just the right shape and size for the job. His masterpiece that day came out of broken chalk, not perfectly straight or brand new, but used. And even though that chalk was "broken", it certainly was not "damaged'.  It didn't lose it's value. In fact, it became more valuable in that moment. And let me tell you...that chalk has never become useless in any way.

So many people walk day in and day out broken by so many circumstances and struggles in their life and many on the outside walk past just kicking them down further. If only we could see the greater purpose in that broken piece of clay and approach with the intention of rebuilding and refreshing that beautiful masterpiece that is still in progress. No one is perfect but everyone of us is precious.  Looking back at the scripture at the beginning of this post it says, 

"But the vessel that he was making of clay

was spoiled in the hand of the potter;

so he remade it into another vessel,

as it pleased the potter to make."

The potter "remade" it into another vessel. The clay was not thrown out but remade. And the potter was pleased to make it. He was not frustrated or angry. He didn't complain about it or see the vessel as a burden. He was pleased to make it. This is how God sees us. He is pleased to reshape and mold us into our purpose...day after day. He loves us so much more than we know.

I hope this encourages you as it does me everyday of my life. Be blessed and encouraged and know that I love you and am praying for you all the time.

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic[b] either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:27-36

It has been quite some time since my last blog and wasn't sure when I would have the time to write again. However, this week I was pressed to make time. My heart can only hold so much when it comes to the people of God and the things of this world. I am heartbroken by the hate and negativity that has been unleashed throughout our country and possibly around this world. I can only share with you the things I hold dear to me and the personal experiences that I have had in hopes that it will encourage you. Encouragement is what we need to live day by day in hopes that things will fall into the proper alignment and it must be in line with Gods plan for our life for anything to work.

Let me begin by saying "...Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you...". Christ spoke these words to us. But interestingly enough, he began the verse by saying "But I say to you who 'hear'...". The word HEAR is defined as such: To listen to with attention, to gain knowledge, to perceive or apprehend by the ear and to listen with favor. We must first choose to listen before we can make a decision. Christ called the people to "hear" what He was going to say, placing emphasis on the word "hear". He immediately followed up with "Love your enemies" and "do good to those who hate you". What a statement to digest. But how can we do this when the person before me clearly hates me? How can I even look that person in the face, much less, even pretend to like them? We encounter this on a daily bases. Not everyone will like us. And not many with love us. What a revelation right? Not at all...this is life. We live day to day with this and that is why Christ left these instructions, so that we can be the ones to make a change. 

My daughters and I shout out in our truck on the way to school everyday, "Lord, help me to be the greatest example of YOUR love to everyone I meet today". And I believe in their little, big hearts they strive so much to do this on a daily basis. Our children can often times love more than we do because they do not see beyond the persons heart. Let me explain what I mean by this. By choosing to be an example of "Gods love" to those around us we make a concsious effort to put aside our thoughts and judgements of others and look at them with the heart of God. What may have happened in their life that caused them to hurt? Do people hate because they have been hurt? How can we show love to ease the hurt and maybe, just maybe our love will bring hope to an area of their life that they never experienced. 

My heart aches for this nation. We do not see past the media that has been thrown in our face. Both sides included. We choose to allow our emotions to run rampant rather than exercise that faith that was given to us to expect great change regardless of the negativity that surrounds us. I am hopeful that the outcome will be so much greater than anticipated. FAITH is a powerful thing! FAITH gives us a reason to rise in the morning and thank God for another day of life. FAITH is what presses us into our purpose and leads us into accomplishing great things. FAITH is what the people of this nation need right now. FAITH is believing in something that you may not be able to see on the surface, but knowing that God has an even greater plan than what you can even fathom. 

I want to share with you just a few experiences that happened in my own personal life that have brought me to this point. Over the past week I have been reminded of these life changing moments but they didn't cause me heartache, they brought a feeling of Joy that everything will work out as it should because God is ALWAYS in control. 

1. When I was in middle school I remember a particular girl that to this day I think of often. She could not stand me. To this day, I still do not know why. She would kick the back of my chair in class, she would pull my hair, she would hurl threats at me that one day she would beat me up. For what reason? I do not know. When asked why she hated me so much, she would just respond with a curse word or two. I would sit out in the car with my mom every morning while waiting for the bus to school and we would ALWAYS take a moment to pray for this girl. "Lord show her love, please help me to be loving, don't let it get to me, I want to know why she hates me so, please place it in her heart to stop"...the prayers were so repetitive. One day as she pulled my hair and kicked my chair she whispered to me "I'm gonna get you after class". The bell rang and she ran off. I figured it was just another threat and to my surprise, the moment I stepped outside that classroom door she jumped out and slapped me across the face and started running down the hall. I took off after her and when I reached her at the end of the school, Administration was already holding her and approaching me to stop me too. At that moment I remembered the prayers we had prayed for this young lady and the only words I could utter were "I forgive you". Everyone was shocked. The girl was suspended and I returned to class. A few days later when she returned she wanted to be my friend. She never said why but I knew in my heart no one had ever shown her forgiveness and love that way. I never saw her bully another person after that. I took a hit but I still chose to love. Trust me, it wasn't easy. There were days and days of hurt built up but those three little words released everything that day. My heart was so full of peace and so very relieved.

Stay with me here...please:

2. Years ago my mom was shot in a drive-by shooting in our home. Both her and my brother were injured. I am so grateful to God that they are both alive and well but at the time my mother was in ICU fighting for her life. We would not know how long of a process this was going to be or if she would even make it. Months went by with her being cared for and treated in the hospital. I was only 11 and so very angry at God. How could He allow something like this to happen to us? Why would He want to take my mom away from me? I was so hurt. I remember one day while visiting with my mom, she spoke these words to me that I have never let go of. She told me that she had forgiven the people who had done this to her. FORGIVE?!?! How??? Why??? They had caused so much pain to our family! We didn't even know if the gang members responsible had even been caught. We had to move out of our home and live with my sister. I went to bed fearful each night not knowing if these kids knew our new address. Would they find us and shoot at our family again? But something happened the day she spoke those words to me. PEACE...in knowing that if she had forgiven them then I knew she also had FAITH that God would work everything out. It was a long and tiring road to recovery for us all but she is alive today to tell her story.

There is something very special about these two stories that I pray will touch your heart and bring encouragement and peace to your life. 

I found out that every time I spoke to my heavenly Father (not sometimes, but every time), He heard my every word, concern, fear, and hurt. He saw my frustration, confusion and every tear I cried. He never failed to respond to my concerns. Even if I couldn't see Him working, I knew He was working. I knew it in my heart. He was up to good and that good was reminding me that He has it all together and I need not try to manipulate things for Him but to just hand it all over to Him. I am not worried about these next four years or the years to follow for that matter because I refuse to allow anyone to instill fear into my life. His word says in 2 Chronicles 7:14 "Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."

Humility is never thinking that we are better than anyone else. Remain low and God will begin to raise us up for such a time as this. He has a plan, we must trust and walk in love and peace so that He can accomplish what needs to be accomplished. Continue to pray for one another for strength and encouragement and we will see a great day ahead of us. 

I love you all and am praying for you everyday. This is an amazing day just for the mere fact that we are alive and well and God is in control. Remain hopeful and faithful and God will move in this nation.

SEASONS CHANGE

"And let us not grow weary of doing good,
for in due season we will reap,
if we do not give up."

Galatians 6:9

Often times we sit and ponder our life...the past, the present, the future. All seasons and all so very different. And yet we can not understand why. Why is it that the seasons have to change? Why must we endure Winter when we would much rather be in Spring? Why can't I just live out my days in the Summer waves and not have to worry about the shedding of my ways in the Fall? We live in constant questioning mode never quite sure of what it is we were created for or why our hearts desire remains just that...a desire and never a reality. Our purpose lies dormant deep down inside waiting to be awakened and we're lost, with no clue how to awaken it. We hope and pray for the season to change and when it does change we want nothing more than to return to the season we were in because we were not expecting what came along with the change. 

With every season change there is a true change of character.

In the Spring things begin to awaken. The seeds take root and vegetation begins to grow. The rain falls to water the earth and the ground is saturated with a much needed drink. Newborn life is revealed among the animals. But with much needed rain also comes never anticipated floods. An overflow that at times is often a challenge to contain and a struggle to survive.

The Summer brings increased temperatures, at times so high that a drought takes place. What was once flooded is now dried up and the ground lies thirsty once again. We long to find enjoyment in the activities that take place in this season but often times experience the stress of preparing for it too. Summer...its a season of fun but can also leave us exhausted and worn down.

And then there's Autumn. It becomes cooler and plants begin to lie dormant. Animals begin to store food and prepare for colder temperatures. Plants wither and trees begin to shed the leaves they once so proudly swayed in the wind. The tree is left naked and exposed and we can only hope for new life in due season.

Winter comes with a vengeance and all that is not prepared is left exposed only to be caught in the grasp of this determined season. Determined to overtake all the life that was so delicately birthed throughout the rest of the seasons. Its cold, wet and dreary and yet it still remains a season of purpose...even when we can not see beyond the lifeless appearance. 

You see, our life reflects the seasons. We long to be in the season of our choice and dwell there until we choose to move on. We struggle with change and we can not accept anything that is out of the norm of our life's pattern. But there is a greater plan and this plan is not of our own choosing but is the amazing plan of God for our lives individually.

God loves us so much that He allows us to endure every season with grace. We fear what is before us but we forget He's walking with us. We see the change as a threat and do not realize it is a blessing. God knows the plan for our life and sees all before we even arrive at our next destination.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  - Jeremiah 29:11

So when we walk through these seasons, we must remember that no matter what the circumstance, God has a plan for it. I have shared this in many of my posts and will never forget what a preacher once told us. He said, "Everything that happens in our life is either God sent or God used," meaning that if He didn't send it He could certainly use it. So when I look at the seasons this is what I see....

The spring of our lives is just that, a moment to spring into purpose, ready to take on the world and so ready to achieve our greatest dreams. We have planted our seeds and are anticipating the rain of Gods spirit to water our plans so we can grow and flourish, but we find ourselves unprepared for the floods. We get tossed and turned and find ourselves drowning in the waves of disappointment because it didn't quite turn out the way we expected. What we didn't realize...God was teaching us to flow with His plans for our life and we fought off the life saver that was provided for us to survive. Our way was better in our eyes and we rejected His help. Then summer came and we were not prepared for the heat of this world. The people around us, telling us we would never do or be what we knew God had already revealed to us, so we get burned and suffer from the condemnation that is scorched into our hearts. We didn't cover ourselves with the Armor of God (our own personal sunblock). We left ourselves exposed to the heat of the enemy and now we hurt. Soon Autumn comes with relief...a cooling down and a great opportunity to prepare for what lies ahead. But what happens next is something we didn't quite prepare for. Our leaves begin to wither and fall to the ground. We find ourselves naked and exposed and we feel embarrassed. What just happened and why would God allow this to happen? My dear friends, if we only understood that God is pruning and pulling away all that does not belong so that we can be fruitful with what he has given us. 

John 15:2 says, "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

Pruning and cutting away is never a pleasant experience but to know that God loves us that much to remove from us what does not belong so that we can be greater and fulfill purpose that He placed inside of us is what matters most. People may talk and others may never understand but none of that matters. God knows whats best for our lives and He will never give us more than we can handle. And then Winter emerges. Winter seems to reveal all that has died but what we don't realize is that whats beneath the snow are the hidden living things "resting" until the proper time and when that season changes, they emerge with life and purpose in mind because they are well rested and ready to move.

The seasons grow and develop us and build a strength to endure anything through Christ. Every season prepares us for something greater and as we live our lives on purpose, fulfilling purpose we must remember that change is a great opportunity to discover what next amazing thing God has planned for our lives. I am so grateful to be in the season I am in now with my family because I now understand that through the good, the not so good and the necessary, God is working through it all. Be encouraged that His plan and the dreams and desires He has placed within you are not dead, they are still being birthed, growing, developing and ready to burst with YOUR blessing and purpose in mind. You are his child and he wants nothing more than to love you. Seasons Change and WE change, growing greater in God. You are AMAZING!

This is one of my favorites and I pray it bless you just as it does me every time I hear it :) Be blessed!

SPIRITUAL REFLEXES

"As you come to him, the living Stone--

rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him--

you also, like living stones,

are being built into a spiritual house

to be a holy priesthood,

offering spiritual sacrifices

acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

1 Peter 2:4-5

It wasn't long ago that I thought I felt rejected by humans and the only one who could possible accept me was my heavenly father. We all fall into that pit at some point in our life where we feel like there is no chance of ever finding a way out, but there is always a way out. Sometimes we scratch and scrape the sides of the pit wall trying with all our strength to scale that wall to freedom. We slide back down and find ourself in the darkness once again. We try again to climb, this time adding some shout outs to the ones we thought were there for us, and yet still no one comes. It's not until we realize that God is the only one who can rescue us, then and only then can we reach the top. We must surrender and know that we can never return to that pit. Our faults, failures and bad choices that led us there in the first place must be left in the past and we have to begin to walk in full and total surrender to our Lord. The scripture says that He has chosen us to be living stones, built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, so that we may offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. I love that even when others pick up this stone in me and throw it away, God takes my stone and builds me into something great. I know I have made mistakes in life. I never want to return to the darkness I dwelt in for a season, but I will never forget what God has brought me out of. He gave me a second chance to live out my purpose just as he has you. People will choose to see us in the past, but we must never allow their opinion of us to stop the amazing construction that is taking place as God restores us to our purpose.

I was reminded the other day of an incident that happened about a year ago. If it seems like I'm trailing off on another subject, just bear with me. I know God will speak to you just as he did to me. It was about a year and a half ago that I found this new passion to run. One day in my efforts to get in shape I began to run. It was a major struggle for me because I had never been able to run. I couldn't breathe, my chest was hurting and I just wanted to quit but in that moment I remember speaking, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Immediately I was able to regain my strength and endurance. I could breathe again and from that moment on, every time I ran, I would pray or sing worship to him. So running quickly became my special personal time with him everyday.

One particular morning I was out jogging and as I approached a crosswalk at a stoplight I waited patiently for the crosswalk sign to flash for me to cross. As it changed, I began to jog across the street. Their was a car coming towards me but I continued to jog since they had a red light. As I barely made it to the other side, I literally had a split second to hop up onto the curb and slap the hood of the car with my hand. The woman driving had no idea that she was about to hit me because she was looking down at her phone. I noticed she was just as startled as I was so I didn't say anything to her but just turned and kept jogging on. The entire run home God placed one word in my spirit, "Reflex". As soon as I arrived home I shared with my husband what had happened and I immediately began writing things down. Here is what the Lord showed me that day.  


Reflex - An action that is performed with out conscious thought as a response to a stimulus.

Receptor - An organ or cell able to respond to light, heat, or other external stimulus and transmit a signal to a sensory nerve.

Effector - An organ or cell that acts in response to a stimulus.

An automatic and often "Inborn" (existing from birth) response to a stimulus (thing or event that evokes a specific reaction) that involves a nerve impulse passing inward from the receptor (an organ or cell able to respond to light, heat or other external stimulus and transmit a signal to a sensory nerve) and then outward to an effector (an organ or cell that acts in response to a stimulus) the muscle.

What is already inside of us is from birth (because we are created in His image) responds to the stimulus (which is our worship to him) our spiritual nerve is impulsed by the receptor (which responds to light) the word of God (which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path) because we respond to him in our worship, prayer, and study, all these things travel to the effector (which is the muscle) our strength in Him is greater than before.

When we find ourselves in situations of tests and trials, we are able to respond quickly because our spiritual reflexes operate properly through His spirit which lives inside of us.

The more time we spend with Him in worship and devotion, the stronger we are able to take on the enemy and defeat him and his evil plan against our life and the lives of those we love.

When a person has nerve damage in their body, their reflexes do not operate correctly. They have been desensitized. They are numb to the stimulus (or word of God), they can no longer feel His presence. The damage can be repaired. In some cases the treatment may come in the form of medication  (His word and unconditional love), others are treated with physical therapy (worship, lifting of the hands, praising Him), and in other cases surgery is the answer (a complete gutting and removal of what no longer belongs or operates correctly and a replacing of what should be inside of us)

Nerve damage can affect so many areas of the body but an adjustment made with Gods love and grace can repair all that was dead and bring it back to life.

Reflexes are not voluntary. If you try not to respond to a tap on your knee, it will still respond. You have no control over whether or not you respond. You just can't help it.

When we spend more time in Gods presence, we can't help but to respond to His taps. He has total control. As we respond more and more to His taps, we allow His presence to flood our hearts, our mind, our life, and work in us to fulfill all He has purposed for us.

Our spiritual reflexes become sensitive to His presence all around us.

God can restore anyone as long as they recognize that there is damage that needs to be repaired. No one is beyond fixing. As long as we are living and breathing, he can use this "living stone" to build his house.

I thank God everyday for what he brought me out of and for where he has me now. There are so many people who have been thrown away and rejected, but God wants to rebuild his people and return them to their purpose that he originally had planned for them. Walk in your purpose and don't doubt the things he has called you to. We are a royal priesthood...God has called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

We have recently been going through a series at church called "Blessable". The word has been amazing and I would encourage you to go and listen/watch when you can at www.gojourneychurch.com. It will bless your life, but I know that as God was reminding me of our Reflexes it all lined up with what our pastor had been preaching. Our life has to be in alignment with God. We have to align everything we do and say with the word of God. It's not always easy but when we sacrifice our stubborn ways and allow God full control of our everyday, we swing the doors open for his blessings to flood our life. I know this to be true in every way. Allow your spiritual reflexes to become sensitive to His presence and watch God move!

Be Blessed!

HIS PROMISES

"God is not human, that he should lie,

not a human being,

that he should change his mind.

Does he speak and then not act?

Does he promise and not fulfill?

I have received a command to bless;

he has blessed,

and I cannot change it."

Deuteronomy 23:19

Often times we sit and wonder if life will ever turn out the way we expected it to. Will we ever see that dream come true? Will I ever get to do the things my heart desires? Will I get to leave a legacy for my children to carry out when I'm gone? Will I ever have children? The list goes on and on and on...but what we often forget are the very promises that God has already made to us. Our doubt overshadows the life in each promise given...then we sit and wonder why that promise is no longer visable. Is it out of our reach? Is it completely gone? Gods promises are forever. They never leave us but we are the ones who slowly begin to lose sight of the very thing we dreamed about year after year. That shadow momentarily causes our vision to become blurred and we think that thing is gone but its really still there waiting for us to shine our light on it again, to bring life to something that we felt was once dead. 

If a plant loses its sunlight, it slowly sinks down and hangs for a moment in darkness, but as soon as the sunlight shines bright, it perks up and stretches out ready to wave in the winds of life and hope.

One of my daughters recently brought a package home from school that contained a small pouch of seeds, growing pellets and a sheet of instructions...that's it! I have no idea what to do with this package except to read the instructions and do my best to help her grow this plant. I immediately went to researching what would be needed for this plant to grow. How do I even get started? Now just for the record...I have killed every single plant that has ever been brought into my home. I remember my mother-in-law giving me a fern shortly after my husband and I were married. She told me it would be the easiest plant to keep alive...Lol...nope...dead. I couldn't even keep a fern alive! How was I possibly going to help her to succeed in GROWING a plant when I can't even keep the already grown ones alive...lol. When it comes to plants, I just don't have that green thumb. But nonetheless, I had to learn what would be needed to help this plant grow. It's funny though if we really think about it. What does a plant usually need to grow? Light and water. That's it. The tricky part is how much light and water. Every plant is different. Each one has its specific needs. This particular plant is Bell Peppers and what I learned is that even though it needs plenty of water, you are not to water it again until you begin to see the leaves slightly wilt. But why? Why would I want to see this poor plant begin to look like its struggling and dying? Why not keep it watered and wet at all times? Why can't I just water at the same time every day and be done? Here is what the Lord spoke to me in that moment of questioning...

"Then it will never reach its full potential."

Huh?!

Isn't it amazing how God can take the simplest of creations and teach us a lesson about ourselves? If I overwater the plant then it will drown. If I underwater it, it will dry up completely and shrink to its death. But at that very moment when it begins to wilt I can hear it sweetly whisper to me, "I am thirsty." All it needs is a drink.

In the same way, we thirst for Him on a daily basis. Our life begins to dry up and we shrivel up in the heat of our daily routine. Our struggles and obstacles keep us from stopping for a moment to get that much needed drink. We forget that we need to be watered. In the same way, we sometimes may try too hard to be in Gods presence. We plead and desperately cry for Him to change a situation. "Please Lord, just get me out of this one! Help me father to make it through this and I promise to never do it again!" Sound familiar? We begin to drown from the overwatering because we expected God to move immediately in our situation and it didn't happen as we wanted it to. We are watered in our life when we most need it. Watering doesn't come at the same time everyday, but comes at the most needed time.

I find that my watering moments are sometimes brief moments throughout the day when He touches my heart and tells me to slow down. I have to halt the rush and take a drink. My drink of water comes when I just take a moment to say "I love you Lord, and I thank you for all you have done in my life." Sometimes that moment is just a sip and other times I sit and enjoy a full watering. It doesn't matter how much to me, because God knows just how much I need. I just sit and enjoy the refreshing water being poured into my life.

"You are the light of the world..." Matthew 5:14

It goes on to say that a person would not light a lamp and hide it under a bowl. They would let the light shine for everyone to see. We are that light to the World. When we shine bright for God, we bring life to those around us. Does this mean we have to consistently preach the word to people every moment of the day? Of course not. We are to shine light where there is darkness to help those around us find their way out of that dark place in their life. If a plant has too much light, it will dry up and die. But if it does not get any light, it will wither and die. We shine our light through the way we live. Often times we may not even need to open our mouth to speak, but we shine our light through our actions and that light brings life to those around us desperately searching to see.

Going back to His promises in our life, God showed me something else about the plant. Sometimes we try to hard. Have you ever noticed the plants and trees that surround us outside? They somehow thrive on their own, right? They seem to get exactly what they need when they need it. They grow to their fullest potential and even when we forget to water and care for them, God always steps in and rains on the earth at just the right time. He shines his magnificent light on them when they need to fully bloom. Yet he brings the darkness at night to give them a moment of rest. But even in that moment of rest they are in great anticipation for the sunrise so they can stretch out their branches in the morning, wave their leaves in the sunlight and open their petals to receive from him their next blessing whatever it may be.

In the same way, God waters us, gives us light, and pours out his blessings in the proper time. But we must realize that it is Him in our life bringing life to all we do. He fills us up and leaves us in anticipation for that next refreshing. My life may feel dry at times and just as the plant opens up its petal and stretches out its branches, I raise my arms and lift my head to give thanks to the one who gives me life and blesses me with all that I have. Even through the struggles, I thank Him just for walking through it with me. The storms may come, but I still live on. The heavy rains and winding tornados in life may beat us down but they can not uproot us if God is the source of our life.

My daughters brought home their bible lesson from church last week and the topic for this month is Gratitude. It's easy to thank God for the good things, but what I loved about their lesson was that it taught them to thank God even when bad things happen. One of the examples it shared was when we receive a bad grade on a test, we can still thank God that we have the opportunity to go to school to learn. It may seem hard at the moment to thank Him in our disappointment, but we make it through and we strive to do better. I love that lesson. So simple and written for a child, but so profound for us adults who often times need a lesson like that :)

I want to share one more story before I go and I pray it encourage you in your walk with God and remind you of the promises he has for you. Years ago, in 2002, my husband and I took our first trip to DisneyWorld. We went to celebrate our anniversary and just to have fun. God had other plans! Lol. The moment we stepped into that theme park our minds and hearts started running with so much inspiration, vision, motivation, determination, excitement, creative ideas....I can go on and on! It was like a whirlwind of the vision he had for us to accomplish together in our life. We were so excited! As soon as we returned home, we started writing things down that He had spoken to us. We drew things out. We had my dad draw up plans for the building that we wanted to be in. We prayed and prayed and prayed over that dream for years. We almost saw it partially happen with a school we were working for a couple of years later. It was so exciting and then one day it was like we had just given up on the whole vision God had given to us. We became tired. The waiting was weighing heavy on us and just as I shared before, doubt began to overshadow the promise God had given to us. We began to believe that this dream was no longer going to be a legacy that we would one day pass on to our daughters, but now would be a just a dream to pass on. The girls would be the ones to labor through it all and see the fruits of our prayers and their labor. Our question was no longer when but would we ever get the chance to see this dream born?

God showed me something in the spring of this year. We were on our way to visit family in Texas and just like anything else, the memories of when we used to live there years ago flooded my heart. You see, we were in Texas when the vision and dream was so alive. This is where God filled our hearts with excitement for this thing. But in reflecting I knew God was trying to speak. He reminded me of the dream but he also spoke a new thing into my spirit. It was not about when or what or even what building...It was about how. All these years we envisioned this dream in this huge beautiful building, with classrooms and studios. We saw young people finding their purpose and discovering their God-given gifts. We could see teachers pouring their heart and soul into the very thing they had a passion for. It was all about purpose! But we had overlooked our own purpose!

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."  Mark 16:15

We were living this dream and never realized it! Everyday for the past 3 years God has placed each one of us...Chris, myself, our daughters...in situations to be an encouragement and blessing to so many people. Lives have been touched, hope has been restored, strength has been regained and relationship with the Lord has been established. What an amazing thing to be used wherever our feet take us. I will never put God in a box because if one day he places us in a building then Praise God for that too, but the focus is not on where, but on how! How will he use us for his glory? This is what our purpose was. To take the gifts he gave us and go into all the world to share what he has done in our life to bring hope into your life. We are seeing his promises everyday. They're not gone! Your promises from God are there waiting to be received. Just ask him how and he will begin to reveal the promise he has for you. I can't say enough how much I love the Lord. We may struggle through it at times but we endure, persevere, press on and finish the race. His blessings are forever!

Be Blessed!

Jennifer

TRANSITION

Going from that place, he went into their synagogue,

and a man with a shriveled hand was there.

Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, 

they asked him,

"Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

He said to them, 

"If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath,

will you not take hold of it and lift it out?

How much more valuable is a person than a sheep!

Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."

So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.

But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Matthew 12:9-14

Transition:  a change from one state or condition to another

We must open up our hands and release what we have held onto for so long in preparation for what God wants to give us now.

If our hands are shut tight, there is no room to receive what has been promised to us.

Even in time of transition, people will still disagree, misunderstand and refuse to believe that you are shifting into a new season of blessings but just as Jesus healed the mans hand on the sabbath (which was against the laws of man), and just as he was rebuked by the Pharisees for this miracle, even so will God transition us in the proper time regardless of what man thinks should happen in our life.

We must not miss this time of transition because of a lack of faith either. Sometimes we may not be able to see transition happening but we can feel it coming. Do not deny the spirit of God speaking these things to your heart.

Transition comes and if we refuse to let go of the things of the past and present, then we miss our opportunity to receive the things stored up for our future. We miss that open window of transition in our life and we sit stagnant in that place impatiently waiting for it to come again. Why do you think so many people are miserable? They may not say it but we can see it. They become stuck in a rut because they missed the opportunity to transition smoothly. A ripple of frustration is released and regret settles in.

A transition is meant to be smooth like one color blending into another. They both take on properties/qualities of the other. You can see both colors but the creation between the two is a masterpiece. You see, we often view transition as a bumpy ride, a moment of uncertainty, but God meant transition to be a releasing of ourselves from one season and a receiving of our new selves from a new season. When a tree goes through seasons it takes on some appearances that we might often view as unpleasant. We see the leaves loosen up and prepare to drop in Fall. We see the tree shed every bit of its glory in the Winter leaving an empty shell that looks dried up and deceased, but what we fail to see is the beauty of new buds waiting patiently for the proper moment to release in all their glory creating a masterpiece in full bloom for the Spring.

Transition may not be beautiful but what it yields in time will be well worth the journey through it. I actually enjoy the transition phase. Do I enjoy the shedding of my leaves? Do I look forward to the bare appearance of my life? Absolutely! Because I know God has begun to remove the things which do not belong, he is creating a new canvas for a new masterpiece. My life is not left void in this time of transition but is much lighter without the weight of the past. So I will gladly walk with my head held high as the leaves of my past fall off one by one in preparation for a fullness that I can not even comprehend. It's a fullness in the next season that will gracefully wave in the wind touching every life I meet. Why would we want to touch people with our past? We wouldn't. Oh, and by the way, the moment we walk watching each leaf fall off one at a time, it doesn't happen all at once. Each leaf must fall when it's ready and it will take time. So pray and ask God for patience and grace through this time of transition.

The transition of our own life yields fruit in the end for others to see. When we go through and come out full of grace, others will have the faith to know that it's ok to open up those hands and release what we no longer need in our life and allow God to fill those hands with greatness.

I always come back to this one point at the end of each blog because I just can't help it....

"We all have a purpose for our lives even if we can't see it right away"

I am so heartbroken at times when I hear of young people ending their lives or just desiring to do so. Why has no one spoken words into their life to uplift and reassure them that their life is on purpose no matter their current situation?

My daughters amaze me every time they open their mouth, but one thing I love to hear them say or do is remind people of the power of our tongues. At different times I've heard them say "don't say that, your words are powerful"...to adults! It can be something so simple as "oh this is going to be a bad day" and these precious girls of mine open up their mouth with no hesitation and remind these adults that what they speak will determine the outcome. How powerful is that?! We need to take a faith lesson from our children :)

Remember your purpose on this earth is to touch lives, save lives. It doesn't matter how we do it, because God has equipped us with different gifts and abilities, but we do have a great purpose and our time is not up until we have fulfilled that purpose.

Remember this one thing about the man in the synagogue with the shriveled up hand. He wasn't there looking for a miracle, he wasn't pulling on Jesus begging to be healed but Jesus stepped up and chose him. Jesus spoke to the Pharisees first and addressed their concern, then he told the man to stretch out his hand and the man was healed. The man was in that place at the appointed time of his life, he made himself available, he did not argue, fight or question why him, and he had faith enough to act on what Christ asked him to do. And he never spoke a word. Now that's faith! Walk it out, don't question or complain, just believe. Let God do the rest.

You're transition is upon you, as is ours. Do not miss the open door to say "yes Lord, I will trust and believe" and watch him move you to a place of new purpose.

Be blessed :)

Do You Know Who You Are? Part 3

"I have told you these things,

so that in me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart!

I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

It has been about a month since my last post. I intended on writing sooner but life always has a way of stealing me away from the quiet moments. I have been so eager to finish this series of posts but I am so grateful that God is always in control of our time and will allow us to complete things in His perfect timing. The subject has been "Do you know who you are", and often times this question can seem to offend others when being asked. Why do we become offended? Why is it that we struggle with feeling like we are being questioned about our own existence in this life on earth? Why? Well...because we are.

My husband has this thing about asking me a question that he knows I know the answer to. I usually get defensive and ask him why he's asking me again. Then the problem becomes this issue of me feeling like Im being tested. So I end up getting upset and asking him what he thinks the answer is (why? because we always want to throw it back on the one whos serving it up...lol). His response is to ask me again and when I finally answer, he responds with a simple, " I just wanted to here you say it."  Ugh! Really?! Lol.....Why does this rub us the wrong way? Why do we always feel like someone is trying to back us into a corner when this is not the case at all? All my hubby is trying to do is remind me of the very things that I know I am confident about in my heart but do not yet confidently speak. Sometimes we forget who we are because we forget to speak it daily over our life.

So about a month ago I began this series on "Do you know who you are?" I shared 3 of the 4 points that God placed on my heart to share with you. The first 3 were IDENTITY, PURPOSE and POSITION. To read more about these first three, I would encourage you to look back at the previous 2 posts. The 4th and final point is PEACE. The verse was John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 

Christ never promised us that our life would be perfect. He never said that if we follow him , we will never suffer or have to endure trouble. But he did promise to be with us every step of the way. His word says that he has already overcome the world. He died for our sins that we may have everlasting life. When we trust and have faith that God will see us through any trouble or hard time we may have to endure, then and only then do we find peace. Peace is not that moment in our day when our children are napping, our hubby's at work, and we find a moment to sit and relax. True peace is when we can be surrounded by total chaos and know that in that moment if we call out for Gods help, He will be there to intervene and show us the way. True peace is knowing that we are walking each day in anticipation for His next move and nothing can discourage us. True peace is knowing that wehave found our Identity in Him, we are walking in our Purpose on Purpose, and we have found our Position in life. That is when we have found peace. The world will keep moving at a fast pace, life will go on, we will encounter new challenges, trials, and people, but we will be at Peace because we know who we are and what we are here to accomplish.

I receive a daily devotional in my email everyday and I read it whenever I get a chance throughout the day. One particular morning I opened up my email and saw that days devotional had arrived so I took a moment to read it. It was very specific about why the church needed us in it. It talked mostly about serving in ministry and not sitting on the sidelines. We must use our gifts for The Lord in the church it said. And as I continued to read, it spoke of how when we sit on the sidelines as spectators, the body of christ suffers. It also spoke of how local churches are dying because of Christians who are unwilling to serve in the church.

I completely agree that serving the body of Christ is very important. We all have a part in helping the body to function, however, God has created us to serve in different ways. When we look through Gods word, not all ministry and serving took place inside the church. If we ministered within the 4 walls of the house of God all of the time, then the rest of the world would never have a chance to know Him as we do.

After many years in ministry, I believe I finally understand my Identity, Purpose and Position. My husband and I served so many years in different ministries both separate before marriage and together after we met. We both grew up in church thinking that we had to serve in every capacity possible. We used our God-given talents to minister to others. We gave and gave and gave and it was always very rewarding to see others come to know Christ because of our sacrifices but we still felt somewhat out of place. Have you ever done something and you knew it touched or blessed someone else, but you still felt like you were missing something? God still used us in great ways but we were only fitting into this tapestry of ministry by looking for an open space to fill rather than asking God where He needed us to be. You see, we can live life filling in the gaps where someone else may not yet be or we can ask God to direct us to the place in which He created for us to be. A tapestry has many beautiful colors but what happens if I am a purple thread trying to fit into the blue stitches already sewn? I may help in holding it together but if I'm just a single thread not in the proper place I will eventually unravel and leave the rest of the tapestry with an open gap needing to be filled again. We have to find our proper place and then we may operate to our fullest in what God has created us to do.

These past to 2 years have been the first time that Chris and I have not been consistently active in any ministry. We do have a home church that we attend and I have to thank God for bringing us to a house that speaks His on time word to us every time we are there, but I also believe this has been a season of rest and a time of receiving His word. But this is where I have to mention the devotional I received in my email. We can not always assume that the call on our life must be within a church. We have to search our heart and find out from God our personal Identity, Purpose and Position and walk in it. In this season of rest from ministry, God revealed and launched us into the place where we should have been and I can honestly say that God has used both Chris and I and our testimony to share with so many people outside of those 4 walls who Christ really is and how much He loves us all. Some of these people have begun to attend our church, others have a new home church of their own and others we still have the great opportunity to witness to.

Do you know who you are? When we pray each morning on the way to school, our daughters have a word they speak to themselves before they even get out of the truck. We say, "God, help us to be the greatest example of your love today to every person we meet." There is so much truth in that and to know that every day we have the opportunity to love others with the love of God. That is what makes them want to know Him more. Our example and purpose outside the church is just as powerful as the word of God received inside the church. The body operates on the inside yes, but it is the outside that the lost see. Serve God and His people the way He has called you to do so.

When we find our Identity, Purpose and Position.....We find Peace.

Ask Him to give you direction and Know Who You Are In Him! Be blessed!