You Want Me To Do What? No, Really, Tell Me

Over the past few weeks I have been going through, let's call it 'identity confusion'.  I'm working on a novel that I thought God was calling me to write for teens but one of the major issues is more of a young adult issue.  What to do, what to do...pray!  Okay patience, let's take a little test right now.  Just one question, do I continue to write WHILE I'm waiting to hear from Him or do I put that part on hold?  I guess I'd better pray about that.

Sharing Time

I'm sitting here in the lobby of my hotel (well, I don't own it but I'm staying at it so I figure it's just easier to call it mine).  As in most hotel lobbies there is the front desk with the employees standing safely behind it, being constantly interrupted from they're relatively slow flow of people checking in and out by a constantly ringing phone.  They really should have it so that you can get cool ringtones for that phone because the blasé one they have is proving to be quite annoying.


Anyway, I'm sitting here working on a short story I hope to turn into a novel for teenagers and young adults.  Occasionally I glance up to see who's coming in the sliding doors or to watch the excited, energetic  tyke that is running around the lobby in a wobbly, off balance sort of way.


Before I noticed her I was thinking about the adults milling about.  How many know Jesus?  How many of them will I see at the right entrance gates when I make my way into heaven?  


Then I saw the little curly-haired, irresistibly adorable imp slapping her shoes on the tiled floor as she ran nowhere in particular.  God's child.  He loves her.  He created her.  Is she being told that?  Do her parents tell her how much Jesus loves her and how much he wants her to love him?  Is she told how special she is - a child of God.  Does she know that he wants to make her his very own special little Princess?  I wonder and sadly think of how low the odds are that this is a reality.  


One day, when she's a little older and has made a few (or many) mistakes, will someone come up beside her and lead her to her ever-loving, all-mighty, completely-forgiving God?  What a party would go on in heaven if this happened!  Little girl lost, little girl found.


We were all once like this little girl.  But now, there are so many grown-up little girls that are crushed and broken because no one has let them in on the only way to find true peace, joy, love, and forgiveness - the gift that Jesus Christ blessed us with when he died on the cross, carrying our every sin upon his heaving shoulders.


Will you be that one to share the not-so-secret secret?  It will make all the difference in the world to that one-time, long-ago little girl.

Choose To

Psalm 139:14a says 'I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.'  Think about that for a second. I doesn't say 'I do praise you', it says 'I will'; we must make the choice to praise Him.  I love that!  Don't you?  Even when you're feeling down concerning something about your self just think 'I WILL praise you'.  Pray this entire verse over and over, meditate on it and pray that God will help you to see and feel the verse as a reality because the truth is you 'are fearfully and wonderfully made'!  It's right there in the Bible and if the Bible is Truth, then this simple sentence is true.  So praise Him for it whether you feel 'fearfully and wonderfully' made right now or not - cause guess what, no matter how you feel, you 'are fearfully and wonderfully made'.

If God asked me:

what one thing I want most (like he asked Solomon), I would say:
that I want the determination and courage to follow His will in every situation.
What would you ask for?

Attaining God's Peace In A "How is this possible" Situation

Have you ever had something 'bad' or annoying or frustrating happen to you that has made you just want to just scream?  I bettcha I know the answer to that.  Sometimes it seems as though everything is going wrong!  Like Michael from 'the Office' once said, "I'm having a bad day...I accidentally cross-dressed..."  Well here are a few things that might help you find God's peace in that 'I can't believe this just happened to me" moment.


Instead of ruminating on the negative, say a little prayer about the way you would, in a perfect world, like to react.  A simple "Jesus, please help me to stay calm and remember to put my trust in you.  You are in complete charge here -Absolutely everything is under your power and control.  Help me to rest in that." often works wonders.  This is because you are focussing on:

1. The way God designed you to respond - asking God to help you to react as the Holy Spirit would want you to.
2. Where all of your trust should ideally be placed.
3. God's omnipotence.
4. The fact that God will only allow what is ultimately good for you, as one of His children.
5. Asking for God's help to let you trust in Him to deal with what is not within your control.

These five things are key to a peaceful spirit in spite of your circumstances.  There is peace in laying it all down before the Lord and leaving it there.

⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  (Phillipians 4:6-7 NIV, italics mine)

The Forbidden One

Okay, I know you're only supposed to do one blog a day, tops, but I'm throwing this one out there, too...does it count if I wait until midnight to post it? I don't know about this blogging thing. I have a pretty good handle on the topics I would like to share with you (God, His intimate love, the blessings, comfort, and joy despite circumstances that only He can provide - I realize that's a pretty broad range of topics but these things are so important). I don't know if I'll go on with this or not yet. I have two "problems":

1. I'm not super Bible savvy and I don't want to lead anyone astray.
2. I don't know how deep to go.

This season I'm trudging through is highly unpredictable and extremely difficult. I want to help others but I don't want to share things that I will later regret having shared. I hope you'll stick with me while I try to get my sea legs solid and I pray that my blogs will serve to encourage you and increase your joy. I, also, hope to learn a thing or two along this tentative venture.

First go

Hey all,

Well, this is my first stab at blogging. I have no idea what I'm going to blog about or who I'm blogging to, but hopefully (please God) stuff will show up ready and just waiting to be written about. I'm off to church to sing and praise like crazy!