I think I'm being "Interrupted"...

Webster defines interrupted as the following: to cause a break in the continuity or uniformity of or to stop in the midst of doing or saying something.

Tonight is the 2nd "Oxygen" young adult ministry meeting where we are going through the study Interrupted. The more I dive into this study...the more interrupted my life feels. I know this is a good thing or should I say a God thing:) Jen Hatmaker talks about how sweet it is when you get to the bottom. She says it is really nice down there. I know this to be true as I have visited there. I think I am trying to get used to this idea that just maybe...God wants me to live there and NOT just be a visitor!

For a few years now, God has often reminded me of the excess that I have in my life. It is just such a chore to get the stuff together and then actually know what to do with it to help someone in need. I know my desires for more stuff has certainly changed. I don't really want to do excessive shopping for pointless items anymore. I'm not an unreasonable clothes shopper. I guess I would honestly have to say that most of my money in excess is spent on books and eating out. God has certainly done some work in me, but as I have shared before...I have been holding out in the back of my mind for the next house. I have been anxiously awaiting that sale of our home in Greensburg so we can make plans for where we will live next. God has provided us a home in the meantime and I promise I am trying to be content, but I think it is more about having a place that is mine rather than someone elses. On the flip side...I know God is not going to sell our home until my heart lines up according to His will.

God is passing people through my life that has afforded me the great opportunity to make friends and just listen and support others that are going through tough things in life. Giving of our time is a big interruption when you race through most days to see how many things you can check off your "To Do" list and keep moving.

I was thinking the other day, if I gave all the trivial stuff away in my life, I wouldn't need a very large place to live and there would be a lot less to take care of. The money we would save in a house payment and utilities would help me to help more people that are facing really challenging times. What an amazing opportunity it would be to point people to Jesus through those relatioships.

I wonder how many other people around me feel like their lives are being interrupted for the cause of Christ?

My Anchored Heart~

I thought I had things figured out enough that I was at least going in the right direction with my heart, but I’m coming to realize that I have this anchor attached deep inside that restrains me from drifting freely to the movement of God’s Holy Spirit unhindered.



If I get really honest with myself and God I am really ashamed and embarrassed that I am finding myself in this place. I desire to please God, but when it starts to cut a little too deep into what I am comfortable with I tend to pull back and find a place that allows me to be okay with it all. Here lately, the “American Dream” is being tossed in front of me. The Interrupted study we recently started talks about how we are too busy ministering to saved people and dreaming about our next big home. Then, today I find “Radical” and on the cover it says taking back your faith from the American Dream. I visited the website of “Radical” and listened to the video clip available online. It talked about how God might just call you to sell everything you own and follow Him. Could I do it? My stomach did a flip and I sat there with this feeling of not knowing what to do next. The truth of the matter is this...I honestly have tried to get a visual in my minds eye about what it would be like to sell all things that were not absolutely necessary. We are not debt free, but we have been striving toward that goal for a few years now and there is a freedom that comes with paying off debt! We are closer than we have ever been and sometimes I think how cool it would be to just sell off all things that are not needed and pay the remainder of our debt so that all of our income could be directed toward the Kingdom of God. Then...the reality of it all hits me square in the face and takes my breath. Lately, my idea of the American Dream is being flipped upside down.



There is one thing that Jen Hatmaker stated during the Interrupted study...(and I paraphrase)"This isn't fun, but when you get down there in this part of your heart it is where true fulfillment lies." Do you want it? Do I want it?

Accepting the things you cannot change~

Tonight I am sharing my testimony with women at the jail. I know I will be facing a group from all walks of life that are in a place they never really planned for their lives. I will be speaking to someone's mom, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, etc... I have never been in jail myself, but I know that my drug addiction could have very easily led me there if my situation had not come to a stop when it did. I still experienced many of the feelings personally that I know these women in jail are dealing with. I remember thinking my life was over on some level and I feared that I would never be respected as a nurse again. I was worried that I would forever carry with me a stereotype that screamed drug addict! I was truly at the end of "myself" as I like to call it. In looking back now...this was such a sweet place to be. When I am weak, He is strong! Without doubt, God had to allow this in my life so He could get me still and humble enough to listen and realize that I for once didn't have all the answers. Today, I can honestly say I am thankful for my drug addiction because it was through this valley that I was able to have the eyes of my heart fully opened to see Jesus for who He really is to me.

Are you seriously "for real"?

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Matthew 7:15 NKJV

As time marches on and this old world continues to turn on it's axis, surely as it is written in Matthew 24:24...For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

It's happening all around me. There is just enough Jesus sprinkled on so many people's faith to give it the flavor of truth mentioned in the Bible, but at the same time leaving the doorway open for negotiation when those uncomfortable with the "truth" are called to task in putting legs on their faith. Walking with Jesus is not about unicorns and rainbows in a world of utopia where all things turn out to have a nice and sweet little ending. The truth is about a Holy God, our creator, desiring worship from His children in spite of our nasty selves so much so that He made a way for us through the blood of Jesus Christ!

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

That being said and true, this means that we have to come to the realization that we have nothing within our own strength to save ourself. There is absolutely nothing we can do and therefore we are weak and powerless in our own skin. We must have the power of the Holy Spirit to come in and provide what we need to be saved. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is making that provision for ALL who believe on the name of Jesus and profess Him as Lord and Savior!!!

Hebrew 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever~

I visited Multnomah Falls in Portland, OR on Sunday afternoon and this picture was just one of many taken. This natural beauty is so majestic you cannot restrain from just wanting to take picture after picture in hopes of capturing that perfect angle of the falls thundering down. The soothing sound of water falling continuously with no end suddenly reminded me of God's unending love for each of His children. His love is never changing...Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

And...the neat thing about God...as you take the journey with Jesus, you never know what the path will look like. As I was making my way to Multnomah Falls I took a wrong turn with the use of my GPS...go figure...



Anyway, I turned around when I realized I was headed in the wrong direction. Sometimes when we make wrong turns things might not always look this amazing, but they certainly can once we turn around and give all the broken peices of our lives to Him. Which reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses...Romans 8:28

All we have is today~

These words have never rang more true to me than this week while I have been vacationing with my family in Key West. Monday afternoon, Memorial Day, we received news that my dear friend and his wife, Bill and Peggy Stephenson, were murdered in their Florence, KY home. I met Bill a few years ago at the KBC Evangelism Conference in Bowling Green, KY. He and I became friends over the last few years and he literally invested his time, prayers, and life into my personal journey with Jesus. In fact, Bill had just called me on May 6th to check in with me and find out how things were going with me and Greg. I still have his voicemail and can't help but giggle out loud when I listen to his message. Bill was certainly a character and such a joy and blessing to talk with. I have often counted it such a blessing for me to have someone that I can call when I am struggling and just need an ear to listen and then give me that nudge of encouragement. Oh how I will miss this from Bill.

I pray that God is glorified in every way possible through this horrible tragedy. I know Satan is out to steal, kill, and destroy, but greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. That's what Bill would tell me.

Lord, please help the authorities find the killer and bring justice in this case. Comfort the family as only you can. Help me remember that all we have is today. I don't want to live in fear because of that, but to live in action because tomorrow may be too late for someone.

The Narrow Path

Walking the straight and narrow is NOT required for that would be law (works based salvation), but...once the eyes of your heart are opened... your life starts to take on this desire to follow the narrow path because its just right and your heart knows it:)

Matthew 7:14
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Are you one of the few that has found the way or are you still searching?