"In her eagerness to SERVE Jesus, she almost missed the opportunity to KNOW Jesus."

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am reading a book called, "Having a Mary heart in a Martha world." When I read a book like this, i cannot read without a pen or highlighter in hand to mark the lines or points that I want to remember. For me, writing helps me 'hash things out' so to speak. So I am going to be going through the points in this book that hit me and writing about them.

"In her eagerness to serve Jesus, she almost missed the opportunity to KNOW Jesus."

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm really busy ALL the time, doing a million things, trying to serve or help in some way. And when I read this quote, I read it several times, and reflected on my own life. I do want to serve Jesus. But when that is ALL we are focusing on, when we can't say no and we're running around like chickens with our heads cut off, we miss sitting at His feet and getting to better know the One who we desire to serve.

This summer has been difficult for me, because of the fact that for most of it, I wasn't home, and therefore was not the previously mentioned headless chicken. :) But, I see that it was good for me. I relaxed. I spent time reading the Word (not as much as I should) and just having quiet moments to pray and spend time with Him. Being at the stage of life that I am in, without a full time job, not knowing what's next for me, it's been good to have this time of quiet. I definitely need to be focusing my time on spending TIME with Him, not just doing "stuff" for Him.

It is great to serve. But remember that it's also ok to say no. (Something that is taking me a very long time to learn and I am still constantly learning it!) God will give us plenty of opportunity to serve Him if we ask for the chance to do so, but He also wants us. Our hearts. Our attention. Our affection. He desires for a relationship with us. We can't have a relationship with someone we are too busy to talk to. We can't have a relationship, not a good one anyway, with someone we always put off spending time with until "tomorrow."

Be reminded for a minute, how big it is to know that Jesus wants a relationship with US. That's huge! Serve Him boldly and show others the love of Jesus. But make sure that you are daily making time to just sit at His feet, and get to know Him more intimately and in a deeper way. The more we spend time with Him, the more we experience His grace and love, the more we will be able to serve others and show the same grace and love to them as well.

It's hard to give something that you haven't allowed yourself the time to receive. So receive the love of Jesus. Get to know Him more and more. And be amazed at the change He makes in your life.

Have hope...for Sunday's Comin'!

I'm reading this book called, "Having A Mary Heart In A Martha World." This book is incredibly challenging and full of lessons and reminders that someone like me, who is constantly busy, needs to hear. I read the eighth chapter of this book tonight. My phone was off, the house was all to myself, all I heard was quiet...a rare thing! This chapter really challenged me and made me see the love of God in a new way. It was about Lazerus, and how Jesus and him were close friends. Mary and Martha (Lazerus’ sisters) wanted Jesus to come when Lazerus was sick, and he ended up dying. From our human eyes, we can't see or understand, as I'm sure Mary and Martha didn't understand, why He wouldn't come. He heard the news of his friend's illness and didn't leave to see him for 2 more days. Why would he do that? His sisters knew that He could heal him. They had faith that He was able… of course for those of us who know the story, we know that Jesus ended up bringing Lazerus back to life. God had a plan in it all. The waiting… he wanted the women to trust Jesus, to know that He was able to bring him back. Sometimes the Lord wants us to wait. And wait, and wait and wait. It’s not because He’s too busy. It’s not because He doesn’t care. But it’s in the waiting that makes us cling to Him! It’s in the waiting, that time in between where we really have to choose Who or what we will trust.

God's ways are not our own! He sees the big picture that we cannot see. It grieves the Lord to see us hurt, but He KNOWS what He's doing! He is taking every aspect of our life, every broken piece, every hurt piece, and turning it into a beautiful thing... "for the good of those that love God."

"Tragedy may come. So will the darkness. But triumph is waiting just around the corner.

It may be Friday, but Sunday's comin'."

What a great way to put it! Friday, the day of Jesus’ death. Who could have possibly thought that anything good would come from that day?! No one! All anyone could do was focus on what they had lost. The pain that they felt… but soon enough, Sunday came and Jesus was alive! He was raised from the dead and they could see the good that came from Friday’s tragedy! It may be Friday or Saturday in our lives…it may be for more then 3 literal days, it may be years. But Sunday will one day come! It may not be til we see Jesus face to face, it may be moments from now. But God is going to use our hurts and confusions and pain and show us that He had a plan all along!

Take creation for example. Adam and Eve sin in the garden… a BAD thing! They were separated from Jesus and banned from Eden. But that is how the Lord’s plan of redemption was started. God used something horrible and turned it into the greatest story ever told. “What Satan intends for evil, God still turns for good.” Max Lucado says, “the moment the forbidden fruit touched the lips of Eve, the shadow of a cross appeared on the horizon.” God had a plan.

So whatever it is we are facing in our lives, whether it’s Friday, Saturday, or Sunday… God has a plan. God has an amazing story for our lives. He most likely won’t share it all at once, it may only be a page at a time. We’ll have to wait. Sometimes the waiting will be hard, and we won’t understand. But that’s because we haven’t finished reading our story yet. Be patient. He is the Author. We can trust Him and His ways. We can trust Him and His love. Rest in Christ and Christ alone. Nothing is too big or messy for God to make it into something good and beautiful.

Trust God with your story. With your life. He is good.

And Sunday’s comin’.

Home, growing up, and God's faithfulness

I haven't written in forever. I miss it. I'm not even sure what will come of this late night blog as I am feeling myself getting sleepier by the minute, but we'll see what happens.

The whole month of July pretty much, I got to spend at home, in New Jersey. I can't even begin to describe how wonderful and refreshing and encouraging it was to be home. Every time I'm there, I question why I'm deciding to stay in GA... and then I come to GA and I know that this is where I'm supposed to be, at least for now. I am a person whose friendships mean the absolute world to her. And so, every single day at home was pretty much jam packed full of fun and people, who I miss so much when I'm here in GA.

This whole college graduate thing is kinda harder than I thought it would be. Especially since so much of what I personally had "planned" isn't happening. I'm not one of the hundreds of girls graduating with a fiance. I'm not a full time teacher yet, even though I wish I was. All my plans are seeming as though they are not God's. And let's be honest... that is so frustrating. Our plans are rarely His and I'm learning that more and more. But I am so blessed that I can look back on my life and see lots of times where my plans weren't His... and yet I can see now that time has passed, why certain things have happened, why they didn't happen my way, and how faithful God has been through it all.

There are things that I wish were different. There are things that I wish God would explain or that He would just audibly come to me and say, "This is my will for your life." I don't think that will happen though. (not saying it couldn't) I think God wants us to not have the "easy way" out so to speak. He doesn't want to come shout in a loud audible voice. That would be easy. He wants us to quiet our hearts before Him, to listen for that still small voice of His. And right now, all I seem to be hearing is, 'Be still, and know that I am God.' I know that the Lord my God is faithful, and that I can rest in Him. And that even though in my head, my plans seem to be best - I know that His plans for me are far greater than I can imagine right now. So, I'm choosing to be still. I'm choosing to rest in the fact that He is God and I am not. I am thanking Him for the time at home that I did get, and not mourning over the days that I am not there. He has been so good to me, and when things get out of our comfort zone or we realize we aren't in control, it's so easy to lose sight of that. But as I sit here, in the quietness of this night, I can look back and see countless times where the Lord carried me through times I thought I'd never get through; times where I pushed Him away because of my anger and confusion as to why certain things were happening. I see the times He carried me through struggle, and joys, and I am sitting here, realizing how incredible it is that I know this God so personally. That I have a relationship with this Jesus who cares about my every need and desire... who will not leave or abandon me, who will be there with me and reveal His will to me at the exact moment I need to know. The God who cares enough about me to not let me go the "easy way."

And after realizing all of this, and remembering just how big my God is... it has yet again put a passion in my heart to share the love of this wonderful God of mine to those He chooses to put in my life. THAT is why I'm here. THAT is His ultimate will for me, and I know that He will continue to be faithful, He will continue to guide and direct my steps, and I will continue to be blessed by this amazing God that I serve.

Time Uninterupted

I'm sitting here, looking out at nothing but mountains as the sun is about to set, with my cell phone actually OFF, which is quite a rare occurance. I feel like there are so many thoughts running through my head that I'm not sure where I should even start.

Do you ever feel like things are going great and then all of a sudden, God so clearly says soemthing to you and you're awestruck that you hadn't noticed it before? Well, that happened to me this week.

I am someone who loves to be around people. I love encouraging others and I love pointing them towards God, reminding them how much their Savior loves them and longs to spend time with them. This summer however has been a hard one for me because I feel like I haven't been able to fellowship with others. The people I have spent the most time with, have been under the age of ten. It's been tough. And then this week, I was in my car by myself...and God just spoke to me, saying, "Stacy, you love to encourage others to spend time with me...to remind them how much I long to spend time with them. So why don't you listen to your own words? You've spent so much time and energy making sure everyone's relationship with me is ok...(something I can completely do without you!) yet you have forgotten about OUR relationship. You've forgotten that I don't need you... i CHOOSE to use you. So turn off your phone. Turn off your computer. Go to a quiet place and meet with me. I have missed you greatly!"

I began to realize this week how much I have missed spending time, true uninterupted time, with Jesus. To the point where it actually brought me to tears. God doesn't need me to make sure everyone is ok, or to make sure that the whole world is encouraged! He's quite capable of doing that on His own. However, if I'm to use my gifts that He has given me, in the way He wants me to use them I first have to be filled by Him. Because I can't give if I've not first allowed myself to receive. I love how God uses people. But isn't it nice to know that He doesn't NEED us? That He is perfectly capable of doing things without us... but He CHOOSES to use us... which means, whether we mess up or not, God is still in control! But I love that by His grace, he allows us to be a part of His plans, He allows us to be a light in the lives of others.

And I am so glad that He spoke to me that day in the car. I kept putting my relationship with Christ on hold. And I've realized that if I want to help and love and encourage...I first need to come to the feet of my Savior and drink deeply of Him so that an overflowing stream can pour into the lives of the friends God has placed in my own life. I thik that will be so much better...than if I try to do those things within my own ability and strength. So i'm going to make it a point to start each day, reminding myself of His love and grace by spending time alone with Him...so that I can truly show that same love and grace to others.

And tonight, I did just that. All distractions were gone. I spent time with Jesus. I read my Bible, I journaled, I read a book about the amazing love of my Savior.

And I was encouraged. I was refreshed. I was filled. And as I read tonight, "We are filled so that we can be spilled."

Allow Jesus to truly fill you... so that you can show the same love and mercy of Jesus that you have been given by Him, to the people He has put in your life. We must be filled so that we can be spilled... this world needs the good news of Jesus so badly. So let's live our lives in a way that shows we truly know His joy and peace.

The Beauty of A Promise

About a week ago or so, I was outside walking with my friend at this outdoor concert in Chattanooga. We were walking and all of a sudden it started to rain... which it seems like it has been doing EVERY day this summer! The clouds were dark and it looked pretty bad...but after about 15 mintues or so, I look up, and see this gorgeous rainbow spreading across the sky!

I have always loved seeing rainbows. And one thing that I love, probably the thing I love the most... is that they are so full of beauty...and yet they always come after the rain. God used the rainbow as a sign, as a reminder, that He is faithful and He is good. And I think it's no mistake, that He reminds us of this after a storm comes. He uses a rainbow after the storm, to remind us, that the difficult times in our lives, will not go on forever, they will eventually end and beauty will come. Some storms are rather difficult and last a long time, while others, though hard to bear, only last a little while. But no matter what the storm or trial or test we are having to go through... a rainbow will always come. God will always show up. He will bring beauty from pain and will pick up the brokenness of our lives and make us whole again. He is good.

So be encouraged my friends, that no matter what storm in life we are facing... that our Savior promises the rain will end, and the rainbow will come. We will be able to look at our lives and see that He has been faithful, that He has never left our side, and that we are actually stronger now because of the storms we have faced.

Keep searching for the "rainbow" admist the clouds... you will see it eventually. And may that promise of His faithfulness draw you ever closer to Him, and may He receive glory that He is due. For our God is a God that is beyond our understanding... and yet He is a God that wants to know each one of us so intimately. He knows what He is doing with our lives... so let's trust Him... through the rain, through the clouds, and through the beauty of His promise in the rainbow.

The sun after the rain

Today was just a typical day. I had the day off and was set to get a whole bunch of things accomplished (none of which has happened, but the night is still young, right?!) The later on it became, the darker it got outside. Big grey clouds came overhead, soon the thunder began, and then in a few minutes it was as if the heavens just opened up and started pouring right here on the mountain.

It lasted about 10 minutes. I thought it was going to last throughout the night it was so bad. But then... the rain lifted, the clouds moved, and the sun started to peek out. At one point there was rain and sun at the exact same time.

And it got me thinking.

There are storms that we have in life... they come unexpectedly sometimes. We sometimes think they'll last briefly, while others seem to never give in. The rain just keeps pouring and we don't know how much more we can take without feeling like we're drowning in it. We feel like we are outside, with nowhere to go, no shelter from this storm that has come without welcome. But today... the sun came out. The sun came out so much sooner than i thought it would. It came when I wasn't expecting it to. At one point it came while there was still some rain.

Life is like that. Sometimes we get bombarded with rain and thunder and the silly thing is... we're standing outside in it, getting drenched and in danger of the lightening that surrounds us. We have such an obvious option... we try to see how much we can take outside on our own... forgetting that we have Shelter that awaits us. A place to go to be comforted, to be shielded through the storm. Our Shelter is our Father. The sun that comes after our storm, is the lessons we learn through it. It's the falling on our knees completely broken realizing that He is the One we truly must cling to during the storm. We can't be outside trying to act as if we are ok and we can handle it on our own. You get sick staying out in the rain. You get wet and tired and hungry if you stay out too long. No, we MUST go in for Shelter. And even when those storms in life are so bad and it's even a little scary when we are in Shelter... remember, the storm can't make you come outside. We are safe in our Savior's arms. No matter how frightening or horrific the storm... we are nowhere near danger if we run to our Savior for help.

So whatever storms you may be facing... don't handle them on your own. Don't wait outside pretending you have the strength to wait it out. No... run quickly to saftey. Run quickly to shelter.

Run quickly to Jesus... watch the storm from that place of security. And know that there's no better or safer place you could be... then in the arms of the One who will make the sun come out again.

Abba

15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." -Romans 8:15

This part of Romans chapter 8 talks about us being heirs with Christ, and how we no longer live for the flesh but for the Lord. "Abba" is an intimate word for "Father." I love that there are so many names for God and that's why I've decided to try to focus on one a day, to think through what it means and how it impacts my relationship with Him. Knowing that God is also "Abba," is a very comforting thing. It shows that God is not a far away God, but a close, intimate God to whom we can cry out to in our fear and distress. When you really think about it, God could easily, if He wanted to, be a far away God that didn't lovingly care for His children who are sinful and who mess up again and again. But that's not the God we serve. That is not Abba. Abba is our Father! Sometimes it's hard to think of God as a Father because we compare Him to our earthly fathers. But Abba is a Father unlike anyone we could ever know on Earth. He loves us more than we could know. I'm so glad that God is a personal, intimate God; a God that by him I can cry, "Abba, Father!"