Be Bold. Be Intentional. Be Obedient.

Rosetta Stone has made a goal for the new year; to teach 3 million people a new language.  "New Year. New Language. New You." is their slogan.  Every time I am running and listening to Pandora, I hear that commercial about 7 times (maybe it's time for an ad free upgrade?)  Really, Rosetta Stone?  Three million?  Seems kind of far fetched to me...


Last week a good friend mine, Holly, lost her husband unexpectedly.  I got an email from my friend Maya that said he had collapsed earlier that week, but that he had gotten much better and would be able to go home soon.  Holly got a call at school in the middle of the day with news that he was gone.  My first thought was of deep sadness and grief for Holly and her three kids.  But my thoughts were quickly redirected to thoughts of complete peace and happiness for Holly's husband, Bill.


Bill was happy.  I mean, like one of the happiest people I have ever met.  He would to talk to anyone, anytime, about anything.  He was smart, too.  He always treated me like he had known me for years.  Any friend of Holly's was a friend of his.  Holly and I taught together for three years at Blythewood High School.  Holly is very dedicated and organized when it comes to her job.  I always admired the way she held everything together.  

My last year at Blythewood was probably the hardest year of my life.  I was at rock bottom and felt like there was no one that could possibly pull me out of the mess I was in.  I remember one day feeling completely ready to give up.  Holly stopped by my room and we started to chat...about God.  I told her I was begging, crying, pleading with Him and He wasn't talking back.  He wasn't showing me the way.  He wasn't comforting me.  He wasn't telling me if divorce was the right thing or the wrong thing.  I could not hear Him AT ALL.  Holly told me, during that conversation, that she and Bill had only recently accepted Christ...I was floored.  I just assumed that everyone knew the gospel and some just chose not to listen.  I assumed that everyone knows who God is and what he has to offer us.  I assumed...and you know what they say about those who assume.  I realized at that moment, that there are people in the world that have never heard the good news.  People that aren't just far from God and can't hear His voice, but people that don't even know His voice exists.  Holly and Bill had raised three smart (extremely smart) kids and battled Bill's health problems for years, knowing nothing about Jesus.  I was being mentored and lead by a brand new Christ follower. 


At Bill's memorial service, his pastor was able to stand and share a letter that Bill had written only a few years ago that laid out his acceptance of Christ.  He recognized that he was a sinner and that the only way to God was through Jesus Christ who died on a cross to cover all of our sins.  How is that for grace?  No one in that room had to wonder if Bill was in heaven.  No one had any questions about what he put his faith in.  We all knew that Bill had received God's forgiveness and that Bill loved God with all of his heart, all of his soul, all of his mind, and all of his strength (Mark 12:30).  Then, we all stood and sang: 

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.


God's presence and grace overwhelmed me.


NewSpring Church recently began a new series called "All In".  As a church, we are all reading and studying a chapter of Acts each day.  God has really started to challenge me to go all in and let go of the attachments I have to my reputation or my friend's opinions.  I had hundreds of opportunities to tell Holly and Bill about Christ the first day, month, week, year that I met them...but I didn't.  Thank God someone was bolder than me and stepped out in faith to do what God has called us all as followers to do.  

Well, just like Rosetta Stone has a goal to teach 3 million, NewSpring has a goal to reach 100,000 for Christ.  If they believe they can reach 3 million for language, we should have absolutely no problem believing that we can reach 100,000 for the creator of language! I pray that each and every opportunity I get, from this point on, will be met with boldness and courage to tell people what I will never again assume they already know.  Will you join me?  Be bold. Be intentional. Be obedient. 

"Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness...After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.  And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." ~ Acts 4: 29-31

It's Funny How Things Change

I'm sure we've all watched a movie the second time and caught something we didn't see the first time.  Or listened to a song we didn't care for the first time we heard it, then couldn't take it off of repeat after we learned the words.  Read a book all the way through, then months or even years later read it again and got something totally different out of it.  It's funny how things change...

I have always wondered what I would do once I finished reading through the entire bible.  Do you just continue to read the same stories over and over again?  Doesn't it ever get old and monotonous?  Once you've learned the "lesson", what more is there to learn?

It's funny how things change...now that I actually spend time reading, I understand what people mean by 'the living Word of God'.  As circumstances change, as people move in and out of your life and as you grow and mature in your faith, your perspective changes.  I speak from personal experience.

Through some really hard times over the last two years, I clung to scripture related to hope and comfort, getting rid of anxiety and finding strength.  Now, I can read those verses and take a whole new meaning from them.  I listen to songs and hear a totally different message through the lyrics.  For example, the Elevation Worship song, Give Me Faith, used to speak to my heart in reference to the need for confession and repentance of sexual sin.  "I may be weak, but Your spirit's strong in me.  My flesh may fail, but my God you never will"...hit me in the gut and heart every time.  Even though I was in the Word, going to church and getting involved, it was still something I couldn't surrender.  

Hearing that song today, sends my mind to a totally different place.  I think of it when I feel completely exhausted and have no motivation to get out and run.  I may be weak, but His spirit's strong in me.  And my flesh (particularly my legs!) may fail, but my God never will.  All I am, I surrender...
  
 It's funny how things change...because of Him.


"It's okay to not be okay when you get here, it's just not okay for you stay not okay.  Growing people change." ~Pastor Perry Noble, NewSpring Church

Push Through The Pain

My new best friend's name is Alan.  He will be extremely excited to know that he is getting a shout out in another blog...but he deserves the attention.  I talk to Alan every other week or so and I usually leave him feeling like I've been run over by a mack truck (in a good way).  I would probably choose seeing Alan over a double chocolate chunk cookie-wich at Insomnia (which, by the way, will change your life).

Ok, Alan really isn't my friend.  Actually, I have to make an appointment and pay to see him.  He is a masseuse at Massage Envy on Forest Drive that is extremely knowledgeable about anything that has to do with running and injury prevention.  He has told me all about why certain injuries happen with runners and how to prevent/fix them.  He explained about the build up of lactic acid and metabolic waste in your muscles and how to flush all of that goop out to allow your muscles to breathe while you run.  Very interesting stuff.  The last massage I had with Alan was definitely not a feel good massage.  It was PAINFUL.  I knew I was in for it when he said, "ok, you might want to take a deeeeep breathe for a sec."  OUCH!  

So why all the pain when I haven't even been able to run? Well, because after suffering through an hour and a half of pain, I was able to run for 4 miles yesterday without any! Success on the other side of pain.

Life is full of "metabolic waste" that will try to choke and smother you so that you can't move.  Try to convince you that you can't accomplish what you have set out to do.  After my little success of 4 miles, I would sit through 12 more hours of pain if it would help me reach my goal to run the marathon in February.  

When life challenges you with pain, push back.  Push through the pain....physical, spiritual, emotional.  Push through-with the understanding that God promises His best on the other side.  Push through-relying on His strength and not your own.  Push through-confident in His ability to make all things new.  But most importantly, after He delivers you, go tell the world for His glory.

"God you lifted me out, God you lifted me out...and I'll tell all the world." ~ Elevation Worship Album: Awaken

Suffering and Setbacks

"Do you want the good news, or the bad news?" the doctor asked me.  Personally, I would like for no news to ever start out with, "Do you want the good news, or the bad news?"  As he laughs at the irony of the new tattoo on my foot (which says, "keep running"), he goes on to tell me the good news first.  The x-rays show no sign of a stress fracture in either leg.  Fantastic!  I love the good news:)  

Then comes the 'but'.... "but, contrary to what your foot now tells you, you have some nasty shin splints and you should actually STOP running and give your legs time to heal completely."  I tried, to no avail,  to convince him that I had already taken enough time off and given my legs plenty of opportunity to heal.  Apparently, "my body is trying to tell me something...blah blah blah". 

Setbacks suck.  You can make a plan, prepare and work your butt off just to hit a wall, a road block, a detour.  I have 6 weeks to finish training for the Myrtle Beach Marathon (that in my stubbornness I still registered for Monday after returning from the doctor).  What now?

Does God put roadblocks up to turn us away- allow us to give up?  Does He allow us to experience setbacks so that we question if what we are following is His will and plan for our lives?  Are the detours there because we aren't listening and God wants to send us in a different direction?

To be honest, I think the answers to each of those questions could be different from person to person and circumstance to circumstance.  I believe that sometimes God does ask us to give up on a plan we have made for ourselves...because we've made that plan for ourselves and not for His kingdom and glory.  I also think that God sets up detours to remind us that we should always be looking to Him for guidance, for our next step and direction.  I believe that God allows us to suffer and struggle through setbacks (although He is with us through every step) so that when we overcome them, He is the only one worthy of the credit.

I am still praying through this minor roadblock.  Whatever direction He shows me, I will obey.  Even if if means I don't run on February 18th.  Yes, I will be disappointed if that is His answer.  Yes, I will be embarrassed that I failed.  Yes, I will feel like a quitter.  'BUT', I will have peace knowing that often times God changes our direction to prepare us for something bigger than we could've planned on our own. 

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are." ~Bernice Johnson Reagon

Wow..started this post a few days ago, but wasn't feeling it until tonight.  After I finished writing, I went to my bible and devotional to find a verse to share.  Opened my devotional to today's passage....

No matter which way it goes, God is still God and God is still good.

It's Not About Me (Or You)

Honestly, I have never considered myself to be selfish, self-centered, egotistical, etc.  If anything, I have been a doormat for that type of person to wipe their feet on as they made their way through life on THEIR terms.  The dumb part was...I was completely ok with that.  I thought it made me a good person because I put other people's needs, wants and desires ahead of my own.  I would "sacrifice" my happiness because seeing someone else happy was more important.  I was afraid to stand up for myself.  I was afraid to give my opinion (because who would actually listen to it anyway, right?).  I didn't like giving people advice because I feared that if it was wrong, I would be responsible for the outcome!  So if you are nodding your head in agreement thinking, "I totally get where you are coming from.  I feel the same way"...um..you're a doormat. And if you are sitting there thinking that you can't understand how someone could think or feel that way...well then I hope you fall somewhere in between the two extremes and not in the "selfish" category (which you probably would never admit to anyway).

Recently, I watched a series done by Andy Stanley from NorthPoint Community Church in Atlanta, Georgia that referenced the story of John the Baptist.  I had a vague idea of the story, but really started to relate to him a lot more after watching this series and reading a little more on my own in the gospels.  John could have made himself comfortable in Jerusalem enjoying a portion of the offerings being brought by the people to God.  Instead, he chose to head out into the wilderness, dress himself in coarse camel's hair and live off of the land, eating only locusts and wild honey.  Every time he was questioned about who he was, he always answered by telling people about Jesus.  He was totally and completely sold out for Christ. On a side note, check out Luke 1:39-41.  John the Baptist was excited about Jesus before either of them were even born.  Jesus himself said, "I tell you the truth:  Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist".  So Jesus was pretty impressed with John as well.  

John was all about Jesus...until his circumstances changed and he was put in prison.  The disciples would come visit John and tell him all of the great things that Jesus was doing, and John started to wonder, "but what about me?".  He actually sent the disciples to ask Jesus, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"  In other words, "Yeah I know I was praising you before, but now I'm in jail and you aren't doing anything to help ME out...soooo you must not be who you say you are."  Wow, John was definitely not a doormat.

Like John the Baptist, we all get stuck in our struggles, set backs and disappointments.  We surround ourselves with an attitude of, "what's in it for me?".  On the flip side, as doormats, we focus our attention on making everyone else around us happy and forget our place in the world altogether.  Jesus had a simple answer for John, "go back and report what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor".  Focus your eyes on Christ and the things He is doing in the world around you instead of wasting time pouting about what He is not doing for you.  It wasn't about John the Baptist and if you don't know the story, well, things didn't end well for him (see Matthew 14).  It's not about me and it's not about you.  Ditch the doormat status.  You will never be able to make some people happy.  And get over yourself, you are the way you are because HE made you, not because of anything you've done on your own.  After reading this story, you might look at John's life and ask, why did Jesus let him just die in prison?  And my answer to that question is, so that thousands of years later I could read his story and understand that no matter what circumstances I face...God is doing amazing things...and it's about Him, not me.

Live generously, justly, and honestly today, as a mere stagehand to the main character in this drama: Jesus.  ~The Message//Remix:Solo