Some of you know the hardship that my oldest brother has had to face and how hard it has been for him to have to go through that. Recently, my family and I realized that we needed to do more for him because he needed it desperately.
I know that I've been praying for him hardcore to get to know Christ and the hope He brings. I started to realize that all of this that my brother was going through was for God to simply bring him to his knees and help him realize that he can't rely on himself...only God has control and only God can bring him through this. Unfortunately, as these tragedies kept coming his way, he only seemed to be driving farther from God--I even thought for good reason. It was hard to sit by and watch all of this inflicted on my big brother who has always protected me.
Well, after our family realized that more needed to be done Wednesday morning, we all gathered at his side. My other brother, mom, dad, and me went to his house Wednesday evening just to be with him, comfort him, and love him.
Sitting down across from me in an empty room he told me that he felt like Job in the Bible. This made me laugh a little, on the inside, because when I was on my way home from Bloomington I knew that I wanted to talk to him about Job and his life. Shortly after that thought, my sister told me that I should read him Job 5 and she never even read the book! Okay God, you're working here, I see it.
Well, he went on to tell me that he didn't finish Job...I smiled and I told him that the end is where we find hope. God revealed to Job that He was testing him and that he was trying to get Job to realize that God alone is who he should depend on--not himself. After a conversation with Job, God gave Job EVERYTHING that He had taken from him and even doubled it. In the second part of Job's life, God blessed him so much greater than the first part.
My brother had tears in his eyes and I continued to share with why God is likely doing this same thing with him. He wanted him to come to God with 100% of his life. I went over and I cried with my brother...yeah, we cried a lot. My other brother came in, who is the reason why I'm even a Christian today, and told him, "She's telling you the truth man." The three of us sat there and we cried hard, my mom walked in from the other room and cried too.
My other brother and I continued to share our experiences and why we knew God was the answer. Becoming a Christian won't take these situations away, but man oh man does God give you hope like never before in those situations! To be honest, I can't remember much of what even came out of my mouth that night...they had to of been God's words, not mine (thankfully).
At one point, my brother even grabbed me in a huge bear hug where we just wept in each others arms.
He told us that he wanted to change, that he didn't want to do it on his own anymore. He wanted God to be the center of his life. WOW!!!
We prayed with him, for him, and helped him to accept Christ into his life and to take his burdens on His shoulders. My brother told us that he felt like a huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders already. Ha, oh yes!
It was probably the best night of my life to witness that, be a part of that, and to finally have the six of us in our family back together again--just each other (once my sister came after she got off work). We ate a very late dinner together, reminisced, and laughed like we were a true family. It will be forever ingrained in my memory, THANK GOD!
I couldn't stop smiling, laughing, thanking, and praising God ever since and I hope I never do. My God is a God of miracles, love, grace, and power.
Don't give up, don't quit, and never EVER think God can't move an entire mountain range...or even that pebble. God is love, AMEN!
July 23, 2009
The Low Down on Women
Women, this is exactly who you are...read it with that mindset. Men, this is exactly who we as women are...please help us to remember that ;)
"You are a woman. An image bearer of God. The Crown of Creation. You were chosen before time and space, and you are the passionate desire of your Fiance, Jesus. You are dangerous in your beauty and your life-giving power. And you are needed.
As a woman who has been ransomed and redeemed, you can be strong and tender. You speak to the world of God's mercy, mystery, beauty, and his desire for intimate relationship. You are inviting; you can risk being vulnerable, offering the weight of your life as well as your need for more because you are safe in God's love. You labor with God to bring forth life--in creativity, in work, in others. Your aching, awakened heart leads you to the feet of Jesus, where you wait on him and wait for him. The eyes of his heart are ever upon you. The King is captivated by your beauty.
We need you. We need you to awaken to God more fully and to awaken to the desires of the heart that he placed within you so that you will come alive to him and to the role that is yours to play. Perhaps you are meant to be a concert musician or a teacher. Perhaps you are meant to be a neruologist or a horse trainer. Perhaps you are to be an activist for ecology or the poor or the aged or the ill. You are certainly called to be a woman, wherever else he leads you.
And that is crucial, dear heart. Whatever your particular calling, you are meant to grace the world with your dance, to follow the lead of Jesus wherever he leads you. He will lead you first into himself; and then, with him, he will lead you into the world that he loves and needs you to love. It is by invitation...
Jesus is extending his hand to you. He is inviting you to dance with him. He asks, 'May I have this dance...every day of your life?' His gaze fixed on you. He is captivated by your beauty. He is smiling. He cares nothing of the opinion of others. He is standing. He will lead. He waits for your response."
--An excerpt from Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge
Ps. A must-read for all women and men who want to understand women :)
"You are a woman. An image bearer of God. The Crown of Creation. You were chosen before time and space, and you are the passionate desire of your Fiance, Jesus. You are dangerous in your beauty and your life-giving power. And you are needed.
As a woman who has been ransomed and redeemed, you can be strong and tender. You speak to the world of God's mercy, mystery, beauty, and his desire for intimate relationship. You are inviting; you can risk being vulnerable, offering the weight of your life as well as your need for more because you are safe in God's love. You labor with God to bring forth life--in creativity, in work, in others. Your aching, awakened heart leads you to the feet of Jesus, where you wait on him and wait for him. The eyes of his heart are ever upon you. The King is captivated by your beauty.
We need you. We need you to awaken to God more fully and to awaken to the desires of the heart that he placed within you so that you will come alive to him and to the role that is yours to play. Perhaps you are meant to be a concert musician or a teacher. Perhaps you are meant to be a neruologist or a horse trainer. Perhaps you are to be an activist for ecology or the poor or the aged or the ill. You are certainly called to be a woman, wherever else he leads you.
And that is crucial, dear heart. Whatever your particular calling, you are meant to grace the world with your dance, to follow the lead of Jesus wherever he leads you. He will lead you first into himself; and then, with him, he will lead you into the world that he loves and needs you to love. It is by invitation...
Jesus is extending his hand to you. He is inviting you to dance with him. He asks, 'May I have this dance...every day of your life?' His gaze fixed on you. He is captivated by your beauty. He is smiling. He cares nothing of the opinion of others. He is standing. He will lead. He waits for your response."
--An excerpt from Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge
Ps. A must-read for all women and men who want to understand women :)
July 10, 2009
Keep Bleeding in Love
I haven't blogged in a little while, obviously, and this is the first since the break up...ironically enough, I really wanted to address the idea of love...not romantic love, but love between people as people.
My BIGGEST pet peeve is when people just don't care about another person--especially Christians. I think I hold Christians to a much higher standard, which maybe isn't a good thing, but in all respect, we are representing our most holy and perfect God.
I witness, and even experience, all too much a person who does not genuinely care when talking to or is with another person and it breaks my heart. We are called to love God first and foremost but next we are called to love our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors. Of course we're going to come across those certain few that annoy, anger, whatever us...that does not give us the right to ditch or ignore that person. That only gives us the opportunity to show genuine love and genuine Christianity.
Christ does not call us into comfort, He calls us into what is right--sometimes that just happens to be uncomfortable. I can't tell you enough how rewarding and awesome an experience it was when I fought myself, bit my tongue, and reached out to understand a person who drove me nuts. This person turned out to be an amazing human being and I found that they felt such pain from people who never took the initiative to actually get to know them and who they are. Taking the time to call, text, eat dinner with this person spoke volumes that I could've never done any other way.
Joy is found in loving Christ, then other people (everyone), and then yourself. It doesn't take much out of your life to call someone you know looks up to you. It doesn't take much out of your life to invite someone to come with you to do anything, really. It means the world to that person though. I say this out of experience of someone doing this for me. When a person genuinely wants to know you for you and wants to spend any amount of his or her precious time on you, it means so much, does it not? Why not return the favor? Why not love others like Christ loved others since we claim to want to be like Him?
Matthew 5:43-48 reminds us of Jesus' words when He says:
You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. (NLT)
We all yearn for someone to reach out to us, someone to care, someone to genuinely and truly love us. There is no other greater thing we can do as Christians than to love. It is one of the best evangelism methods out there, to show that we represent a God who truly does love and desires a relationship. Please, let us just love without apology and love without fear.
We as a family are failing in this area. We tell a person that they can call at anytime for anything at all but then we don't deliver. We value our sleep too much or, we're too wrapped up in conversation, or...you know your excuse. I'm guilty of it all too much and it kills me. I want to listen and empathize, I want to speak truth when needed, I want to sit and weep with a wounded soul. Christ was never too busy to sit down and talk to even a peasant...that's huge! This man of honor, of amazing poise takes time out of His life for everyone who desires it...everyone who needs it. He loved like whoa. We should too. I do love you and I'd love to hear from you ;)
My BIGGEST pet peeve is when people just don't care about another person--especially Christians. I think I hold Christians to a much higher standard, which maybe isn't a good thing, but in all respect, we are representing our most holy and perfect God.
I witness, and even experience, all too much a person who does not genuinely care when talking to or is with another person and it breaks my heart. We are called to love God first and foremost but next we are called to love our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors. Of course we're going to come across those certain few that annoy, anger, whatever us...that does not give us the right to ditch or ignore that person. That only gives us the opportunity to show genuine love and genuine Christianity.
Christ does not call us into comfort, He calls us into what is right--sometimes that just happens to be uncomfortable. I can't tell you enough how rewarding and awesome an experience it was when I fought myself, bit my tongue, and reached out to understand a person who drove me nuts. This person turned out to be an amazing human being and I found that they felt such pain from people who never took the initiative to actually get to know them and who they are. Taking the time to call, text, eat dinner with this person spoke volumes that I could've never done any other way.
Joy is found in loving Christ, then other people (everyone), and then yourself. It doesn't take much out of your life to call someone you know looks up to you. It doesn't take much out of your life to invite someone to come with you to do anything, really. It means the world to that person though. I say this out of experience of someone doing this for me. When a person genuinely wants to know you for you and wants to spend any amount of his or her precious time on you, it means so much, does it not? Why not return the favor? Why not love others like Christ loved others since we claim to want to be like Him?
Matthew 5:43-48 reminds us of Jesus' words when He says:
You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. (NLT)
We all yearn for someone to reach out to us, someone to care, someone to genuinely and truly love us. There is no other greater thing we can do as Christians than to love. It is one of the best evangelism methods out there, to show that we represent a God who truly does love and desires a relationship. Please, let us just love without apology and love without fear.
We as a family are failing in this area. We tell a person that they can call at anytime for anything at all but then we don't deliver. We value our sleep too much or, we're too wrapped up in conversation, or...you know your excuse. I'm guilty of it all too much and it kills me. I want to listen and empathize, I want to speak truth when needed, I want to sit and weep with a wounded soul. Christ was never too busy to sit down and talk to even a peasant...that's huge! This man of honor, of amazing poise takes time out of His life for everyone who desires it...everyone who needs it. He loved like whoa. We should too. I do love you and I'd love to hear from you ;)
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