“I Pledge Allegiance…”

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and justice for all.”

When I was a kid in school we recited the pledge every single day. It was such a fun day when it was my turn to say it over the intercom for the whole school. I’d walk down to the office before the morning bell rang and would stand by the special phone, the office lady would start the general announcements and then hand it over to me and a classmate who would say the pledge while the whole school stood with a hand over their heart and recited it. 

Skip forward 20 years, I’m now a teacher in a school and I’m lucky if I can get one student in my class to stand with me as we say the pledge. It’s surprising to me how little students seem to respect our country’s pledge. But then again as I really read through it, maybe it’s not so surprising. 

To me, our pledge meant something. I truly believed (and still believe in some ways) that America was the greatest country. July 4 is my favorite holiday and during the Olympics and World Cup I’m Team USA all the way! I believed our country was one nation, that our leaders and people were guided under God, that we were indivisible and that we did give liberty and justice for all.

In the last few years though, our pledge has lost its meaning and seemingly just become words that we repeat out of habit and not belief. When September 11 happened, our country banded together. We may not all have had the same opinions on whether President Bush’s action were what we would have done, but it didn’t keep us from helping our neighbor. People from all over fled to New York to help. Churches held prayer vigils and Americans rallied around our troops and first responders. We really were ONE Nation who bonded together making us seem indivisible.

Today, we are far from that. This isn’t a political blog so I won’t go into any specific topic but seriously pick any one and you’ll find the same patterns. There are two completely different sides, each having no reasoning ability to hear anyone out. 

Our country is so full of extremely passionate individuals, which is a wonderful thing when used for good, but when we’re passionate without the ability to listen, digest, and make sensible arguments or debates then there truly will never be any progress forward. We end up talking in circles causing more and more division. We no longer are ONE nation, we’re a bunch of individuals wanting things done their own way. And let’s face it, we’re never going to get Billons of people to see things the same way, but we can get them to learn how to have healthy conflict again. How to have a disagreement with their neighbor and still be friends. How to vote differently than their coworkers and still stay at that job. I truly believe that one day we can become ONE nation that is indivisible again, here’s how…

In between those two phrases, “one Nation” and “indivisible” is a guidance map for how to keep us connected together, to bring liberty and justice for all. We do so by being “Under God”. I’m not talking about being under the religious umbrella of Christianity, but truly being under God. This means living our lives under the guidance of his teaching and commands, the greatest of these being Love God & Love Others. 

Loving God can look a lot of ways. It can look like helping those in need, attending church on Sundays or singing worship music in the car. One of the best ways I’ve found though is through rest. I’m not talking about taking a nap, but rather taking a day to enjoy what has been done instead of craving to do more. When I take time to walk through a park and enjoy the sunshine or sit at a coffee shop and read a good book, I find I’m so much closer to God. I’m reminded that the world can turn for a day without me trying to accomplish anything. I’m reminded of all God has created and marvel at the wonder of what he’s made. And at the end of the day I’m reminded that a loving God gave us so much purpose and beauty in life and that he has everything under control. I as an individual don’t need to try and control life or people or politics. We have an almighty God who has it handled. Yes he uses us in wonderful ways to help fulfill those purposes but he also wants us to rest and reflect and find time to pause to enjoy what he’s made and already done. 

The second thing we can do is love others. Sadly I feel this has become a lost art in America. If someone doesn’t believe the same as you or if they messed up (and let’s be real we’re all human so we’re going to mess up) we cancel them. Where has the ability to love those with difference gone? We can never grow as individuals or as a society if we don’t hear people out. If we truly want to be one nation that is indivisible we must get back to loving our neighbor. Let’s invite people who are different than us, who have different political viewpoints or different cultural beliefs to have dinner around our table. Let’s invite healthy discussion and disagreements into our homes. Let’s have real conversations not social media comments and start to find what we have in common as a society. 

Can we head into this July 4th weekend looking for ways to celebrate the good in the world? Let’s put our differences aside and enjoy the fireworks and cookouts and baseball games with our neighbors. Let’s learn to love those who are different from us and let’s watch our country bond together again. I believe we are a great nation and I believe God has blessed us as a country, but if we want to be able to stand up and say the pledge every morning with belief that it is true, then America, we’ve got some work to do. 

Jesus, Politics & How Christians Get it Wrong.

Jesus was weird. The more time I spend in the Gospels reading about his time here on Earth, the more I realize just how weird he was. Yet, he was effective. He went against the grain, flipped tables, hung out with sinners, but was respected by many. He gained a following, not because he was indifferent and haphazard with his beliefs, but because he was strong and firm. Jesus stood for love, for justice, for grace. He stood for people.

Every. Single. Person.

Today, we stand for many things. We stand for sports teams, players, Political groups, religious affiliations, and even which tv show is the best. As Christians, we claim to stand for Christ, yet I have a hard time truly believing we do.

You see, when Jesus walked the earth He made a difference. Not because he was so into being right, but because he loved people so well. People of all ages, racial groups, political affiliations, genders, they flocked to Jesus. Why? Because he cared. Because they mattered. Because He saw their worth.

Today, we stand in a world much like the first century Jews did. A world where groups of people are oppressed, where political tensions are high, and where drastic sides are taken on almost every issue. Jesus came to bridge the gap, to bring people together, yet today, people are tearing each other apart and saying it’s in Jesus name. How have we fallen so far?

Luckily, Jesus gave us a handbook. A guide to how to get along with those we disagree with. I’m sure you’ve heard it all before, but just for memory sake, I’ll walk you through a couple stories to bring the point home.

Let’s start with looking at Jesus’ inner group of disciples. In the Gospels, there is a list of all 12 of them. I want to highlight two. Levi called Matthew, the tax collector and Simon the Zealot. Many times, I’ve read over this list and just skimmed by the fact that those two disciples had their jobs mentioned. I mean, everyone knew James, John and Peter were fisherman, so why did it matter that Levi/Matthew was a tax collector? And what in the world is a Zealot?

As I started listening to some podcasts and researching more about it, I realized, like everything in the Bible, there was intentionality in their descriptions. You see, a tax collector was a worker for the Roman government. The prestigious government of the time. They had friends in high places and made their money dishonestly, yet were pretty protected by the Roman government. Then you have the Zealots. They were the other political party of the day. But instead of peacefully rising up to have their voice heard, they were known for sneak attacks and violent killings of Roman government. (Information gathered from Matt Smallbone on the Anything’s Possible Podcast: Episode 059).

Let me say that again. Matthew cheated people of money for the sake of politics. Simon sneak attack killed people for the sake of government. And BOTH were in Jesus’ inner group of twelve disciples. Talk about political differences.

I’m sure Matthew didn’t like Simon, and Simon didn’t like Matthew, but you know what the amazing thing is, the Bible never mentions arguments between the two. And honestly, I wouldn’t put it past Jesus to have sent them out on escapades together when He sent them in groups of two. Seeing two people on such radically different ends of the political spectrum coming together to share the Good News, you know how great of a testimony that would have been to towns? To see them walking in grace and love towards one another, probably still not seeing eye to eye politically but realizing there was a much bigger purpose in life.

Simon seems to be a guy who had to be passionate about what He did. To be a Zealot was no small feat, but can you imagine what he must have accomplished when he shifted that passion towards Jesus? What if we did that? What if we took the political passion we have today, the riots we start in the name of justice, the arguments we have to be right in, and just turn the passion to loving others like Jesus loved? What could you accomplish?

Jesus didn’t just stop with His twelve disciples though, he took it a step further. In Luke 8, we see that Jesus had some prominent women in his followers and disciple group. Now these women weren’t prominent because they mattered to the community. In fact, in those days, women had little place in society. If their husband died, they couldn’t get a job or earn an income, they were completely dependent on others for their care. Yet, these women mattered to Jesus.

Countless times in the Bible, Jesus had women play a part in his ministry. He didn’t care that women were considered unimportant or invaluable. To him, they were important and they had great value. So much so that when he rose from the dead, the first people he saw were women! He was countercultural yet completely Heavenly focused.

Today, women have found their place in society. They have jobs and hold prestigious positions, including one as our new Vice President. But there are still some groups of people who are devalued in a way. Whether it’s refugees, African-Americans, the poor, the unborn or any other debated group, they are still fighting a battle Jesus came to eliminate.

As Christians, it’s our job to carry on the work of Christ. To bring those who society devalues into our circles. To love them, value them, and show them they matter. Regardless of their background or current circumstance, our position is to be one of grace and love.

This past Sunday, Pastor Kevin Queen gave a wonderful sermon reminding us of some of these points. (I highly encourage you listen to the whole thing here). In this sermon he also reminded us that “A mark of an unbelieving generation is that they argue more than they pray.” I’ll say it again for the people in the back, “A mark of an unbelieving generation is that they argue more than they pray.” Did Jesus argue? In a way yes. Did Jesus pray? Absolutely.

What if as a generation, we took more time to pray than we did to argue? What if we prayed for those in the Oval Office? For our school leaders and community administrators. What if we stopped complaining and arguing about the things around us and started doing something about them in a way that is proven to actually make a difference? Take some time to pray, I mean really pray for those you oppose. See them as a person that God sees, pray that they would lead with wisdom and grace and find a way to bring our communities and our country back together again.

I want to make one more point about Jesus’ disciples before I wrap up. You know Judas Iscariot? The well known betrayer of Jesus. Well Jesus loved him too. So much so, that in Matthew 26 verse 50, Judas comes to betray Jesus. There is a whole army of people there to surround him and arrest him and you know what Jesus does? He calls Judas friend. Can you believe that? The man who was literally handing Jesus over to be lead like a lamb to the slaughter house, Jesus could look at and call friend.

I’m no biblical scholar, but I did take some time to really dive into the original meaning of the word friend that was used here. I wanted to know if it was just some greeting we misinterpreted or if he really meant it. In the original Greek it is known to be used for someone who is a “comrade, a friend (a good friend) or a partner.” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon Definition in the Blue Letter Bible App). So Jesus really meant it. Even though he was being betrayed and he knew the suffering ahead, He still looked at Judas like a friend, a good friend.

What a powerful thought. Jesus loved his enemies as his friends, and he didn’t just say it, he put it into practice. Jesus knew Judas would betray him, but he let him be in his circle anyway. Jesus brought unusual people together and gave them a common goal to strive for. He brought value to those society so easily threw away.

Jesus wasn’t an ordinary guy, he was countercultural and handed out grace and love to those he met. Christians today are so far from who Jesus was and is. We argue, waving our political agendas in the name of Jesus. We crush others to get to the top while thinking of all the people we can impact once we’re there. We love those who can love us back and hate those who differ in opinion. Honestly, we’re no better than the religious leaders of Jesus’ day.

But that can change.

I challenge you today to go love like Jesus did. To reach out to the broken expecting nothing in return. To make peace with those on the opposite side of the table. To value your neighbor in the city and to value your neighbor in the country. To love the janitor as well as you love the CEO. I challenge you to read the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. To spend time with Jesus and to learn how to really walk like him.

Wearing the badge of Christianity isn’t something to be taken lightly. It’s not easy, it’s countercultural. If you’re doing it right, people will dislike you, think you’re weird, and maybe even cast you aside. Heck, they threw Jesus on a cross and killed all but one of his disciples, and the one that lived was banished to a deserted island. Yet, each of them entered the kingdom with great welcome because they loved God and others well.

Don’t be a lukewarm Christian, ever changing with the political tides of the day. Don’t lose sight of what God says because it doesn’t seem politically correct to say today. Love others well, but hold your ground, gracefully and respectfully, and then if necessary, flip a few tables.

Leave this post today and go take your faith seriously, because God does. Love God, love others. That’s it.

Peace

Christmas is right around the corner. Gifts. Cookies. Decorations. Everything is in full swing. This year though, Christmas looks a little different. Holiday parties are over zoom, Christmas dinners are socially distanced, and gifts are being shipped all over to friends and family members we can’t gather with.

As the year starts to wrap up, it’s hard to look back on 2020 with an eye of gratitude. Covid has been rampant causing fear and anxiety to be an ever present companion. Racial injustice has gained a spotlight and produced riots and unrest. Countless deaths of favorite actors, athletes, and tv announcers have brought an air of sadness. And that’s all on top of the normal stressors and worries that fill our days.

This holiday season, there’s nothing more important than finding true peace. Not peace for a day or peace for a moment, but true, life changing peace. With 2021 being about as uncertain as the majority of 2020, anxiety and fear are already knocking at the door. But do you want to live another year in fear? Have another year full of worry-filled days and sleepless nights? Personally, I never want another year where the main theme strung throughout is fear. I don’t want any more conversations in which people are so worried about breathing they forget about living.

(Now, please, don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not saying Covid isn’t real or something we should be cautious of, because it is. What I’m saying is, it doesn’t own us. Covid should not have the power over individuals minds and souls as it has.)

In the gospel of John, Jesus gives us an amazing gift. He gives us the gift of peace. True peace. John 14:27 (NLT) says, “I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” True peace comes from resting our minds and hearts on Christ. He can give us a peace that stays with us.

You might be wondering, “That’s great and all, but that’s a lot easier said than done.” Well yes, I agree, but it’s also not as hard as we make it. Later in the scriptures, Paul gives us an instruction manual on how to get this kind of peace in our lives. Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT), “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

1. Pray, tell God what you need.
2. THANK HIM for all he has done.
3. Receive Peace

It’s as easy as that. Live a life in conjunction with God. Talk with Him. Tell Him your worries and fears. Tell Him what is on your heart and your mind. Then thank Him. Although it’s hard sometimes, have eyes of gratitude. Think of what God has already done in your life. Be thankful for those you have around you, for the roof over your head, for the ability to even read this blog post. There is so much to be thankful for.

God gave me the idea of this post while in the shower (where all great ideas are born). I had my worship playlist going and a new song popped on, Peace by Hillsong Young and Free. In the song there’s a part that goes like this, “

“There’s a peace far beyond all understanding
May it ever set my heart at ease
What anxiety fails to remember is peace is a promise You keep
Peace is a promise You keep”

Peace is a promise you keep. Let that sink in for a moment. No matter what happens in life, no matter how crazy life gets, or how high our anxiety can be, peace is promised by God. And God keeps His promises.

People often think God promises protection, safety, or an easy life. Unfortunately, from what I know and read, He doesn’t. He actually promises the opposite. John 16:33 (NLT) says, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” In the same verse God is letting us know we will have trials and sorrows and life will be hard YET He will supply us with peace.

As we approach this Christmas season and the end of 2020, how will you enter 2021? Will it be with a heart full of anxiety and fear? Or will it be a heart full of a Peace which transcends all understanding? Will you encourage those around you to have eyes of gratitude or will you be the pessimist who only has eyes for fear? God wants us to live life. He wants us to be joyful and grateful. He wants to give us the gift of peace.

Today, take one step. Start a prayer/gratitude journal. Bring your requests to God and thank Him for all he’s done, then freely accept His gift of peace. Turn on some worship music (Peace is a great song to start with) and let God’s peace flow over you. Remind your anxiety that peace is a promise God keeps.

Christmas time is full of gift giving and receiving, so take time to receive this gift from God, and receive it every day as you head into a more restful and peace filled life.

Corona Virus and Rest

Do you ever have something keep showing up in your life? Like a theme or idea you think God wants you to grasp but it takes a while for you to fully understand? 

This past year has been a bit abnormal to say the least. Quite challenging and frustrating as well. Yet, I have a feeling of curiosity. What exactly is God trying to teach us (or me specifically) in this time? 

As I kept looking, trying to train my mind to see the patterns God was laying in front of me I noticed one word kept coming up. In podcasts I listen to, in books I read, and in so many of the Bible stories I was spending time in. A word I had heard, but never fully understood.

Sabbath. 

This one word has been around for centuries, it used to be a trademark of God’s people, yet I’ve come to understand how miniscule of a priority it has become in today’s society. I don’t Sabbath.Christian’s don’t Sabbath. America doesn’t Sabbath. The world is a constant ball of energy, never taking a break to rest. Truly rest. 

Did you know, “Keep the Sabbath” is the 4th commandment. Exodus 20:8-11 NIV says, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

I’m not a theologian by any means, but I believe God has a reason for the order He gave the Commandments in. 

1. Do not have any other Gods before me.
2. Do not make an idols
3. Do not take the name of the LORD your God in vain
4. Remember the Sabbath day
5. Honor your Father and Mother
6. Do not murder
7. Do not commit adultery
8. Do not steal
9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor
10. Do not covet (envy others)

Notice with me, the first 3 commandments have something to do with how we interact with God directly, how we worship Him and how we honor Him in our lives. The last 6 are how we interact with those God has surrounded us with. It’s how we treat them and value them, being a direct reflection of God himself. When looking at the 4th commandment, Keep the Sabbath, it is in between the two groups. As I was reading through Exodus, I couldn’t help but wonder if God intentionally put the Sabbath as the pivot in the groups. 

What if resting, true Sabbath rest, both directly impacted our relationship and worship of God while also impacting how we reflected God to those around us? 

Think about it, if God can make the world in 6 days (and yes I personally believe it was 6 literal days, but that’s a topic for another time) and He, the Creator of the World, decided He needed rest on the 7th day, who are we to think we can keep going? 

The American culture has told us rest is for the weak and unmotivated, if you want to get ahead you have to work til you’re dead. If you want the promotion, put in the extra hours. You want the scholarship, spend every weekend on the field. But God’s word consistently tells us to rest, to Sabbath. 

How have we lost sight of God’s desires while being so focused on the “American Dream”? 

Yes, Corona Virus is a horrible virus that has taken lives, but it has also caused the World to stop. Part of me believes God is pleading with us to rest. To stop filling our time with things that don’t matter. To get back to being a family, to cooking homemade meals, and take time to get to know your neighbor. I don’t claim to know the plans of God or the reason for why things happen. I’m simply trying to find the good and compare it to what I know is Biblically correct. And to me, corona has given us a chance to reconnect with our need for a Sabbath. 

Don’t be mistaken though, Sabbath does not mean sitting and watching Netflix for 8 hours a day. To truly Sabbath is setting aside a Holy Day for the Lord. This is up to interpretation of the user, but after reading some books and listening to podcasts, and using some Bible study tools a similar shape takes place. 

Sabbath means a day of worship and rest. This might include going to Church, taking a walk, journaling, praying, reading your Bible, drawing/coloring, etc. For everyone, this could look differently. To one person, running is a form of worship, a time to connect with God, to someone else, running is work and is frustrating and is not to be done on a day of rest. For some people, Sabbath is always on a Sunday, for some it’s Sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday, for others it’s a Wednesday or whenever they have off work. It’s what fits in your schedule, with your family, at this time. For most people, this includes no technology, turn off Netflix, stay off social media, and enjoy the beauty God has placed around you. 

This season of abnormal life has been hard. I’ve lost events I was really looking forward to, I’ve missed out on relationships I wanted to build, and I’ve had challenges in my job I’ve had to overcome. But I’ve also spent more dinners at home than originally planned, I’ve had time to really journal and dig into God’s Word, and I’ve taken more walks with my Husband than my pre-covid schedule would have allowed. 

I have not perfected Sabbath, in fact, I’m nowhere near close, but I will try. Every week I will attempt my best to honor God and Keep the Sabbath. 

As Annie F. Downs once said, “If you have a bad Christmas, you don’t cancel Christmas, you try again the next year. Do the same with Sabbath.”

I challenge you, during this time of slow-down, find time to Sabbath. Work it into your routine as a priority this week. If you’re worried you can’t take a whole day, try for a block of hours. As you see the benefits of resting in God, I promise you, you’ll want to continue to add hours to the Sabbath. Give yourself grace in practicing and maybe take some time to dig into the resources below or find some of your own. 

If you would like more information about Sabbath I’ve found the following resources very helpful. 

• Garden City by John Mark Comer
• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry  by John Mark Comer
• Soul Rest by Curtis Zachery
• That Sounds Fun with Annie F. Downs (Podcast), episodes January 2018 Rhythms: Sabbath & John Mark Comer, John Eldredge Talks Nature and Sabbath, Episode 183: Jefferson Bethke
• BibleStudyTools.com article on Sabbath

Sabbath Practice Suggestions

• Download a sermon from another church (Elevation Church, Crosspoint Church in Nashville are two of my favorites) and enjoy listening to it
• Go for a walk and thank God for the beauty you notice, or pray for the people you pass. 
• Tap into your artistic side and paint/draw/color while listening to a worship album (Elevation Church, Bethel Music, Hillsong are some amazing places to get started)
• Grab your Bible and read a story in a new version with the YouVersion Bible App
• Find a book and enjoy some coffee while reading
• Write encouraging notes to those you know around you who could use a little pick me up

Do what you feel will draw you near to God while also providing rest for your soul. Sabbath is a day to connect with God, not catch up on laundry or work or binge watch your favorite shows. Leave a comment with your favorite Sabbath Activities!

Disclaimer: I’m an independent writer who just loves to share what I love with others. I don’t get any proceeds from any of the books, podcasts, or apps listed above.

Falling Behind

If I’m being brutally honest with myself, I feel like I’m behind. I’m 23, have yet to be in a relationship lasting longer than seven months, I don’t have a full time job, and I am living in the spare bedroom of my parents house. To some, you may agree, I am behind. To others, I might be right where you were or are. But as I look at myself, feeling as if I’m failing, feeling as if I’m behind, and working so hard to catch up with everyone else my age, I realize, I’m not behind at all.

You may think I’m contradicting myself since I just told you I feel behind, but feeling behind and being behind are two completely different things. In college, I was always at the front of life. I felt I had a handle on my classes, my work, my friends, etc. I was a leader, a go-getter, on the fast track to a successful career. At the time, I felt life was pretty well figured out. I got the internship I wanted after college and started the independent lifestyle by moving out on my own to a new state with nothing but God, my belongings and a whole lot of hope. Yet fast forward a year and a half and here I am, back with my parents working part time in a job that has nothing to do with my degree.

I often ask myself how this happened. How did I go from being so driven and so set on goals to now feeling like I’ve lost it all. One word I’ve come to find sums it up pretty well. Fear. I wanted the next thing but I was afraid of doing the wrong thing. I was in an internship and wanted a full-time job so I jumped ship at the first full-time job offered to me, knowing the market was competitive and fearing no other jobs would be offered my way. I wanted a relationship so I dove deep and allowed a guy to become my identity, fearing this was the best I could get, yet knowing full well he wasn’t the best guy for me. I wanted acceptance and titles, so I gave every free minute I had to every organization I could. I continually strove for the next best thing, never relishing in the moments I had, always fearful I would let someone down if I simply told them no or did what was best for myself.

This realization was partly why I wrote last weeks blog which you can find here. But I also believe it’s why I’m floundering so hard right now trying to figure my life out. The reality of it is, I loved the internship I was doing. It was in my career field, in the exact department I wanted to work in. I knew the consequences of leaving included not being able to use those people as references, yet; I let the fear of failure and the fear of the future get the best of me.

Now, I wake up every day and go to a job that although has its perks, is not my full-time career goal. As much as I would like to go back to what I love doing, there’s a part of me that stays where I’m at because I’m fearful of the failure again. The failure of a broken heart. The failure of a wrong career choice. The failure of letting people down. But as I think of these failures I’m reminded of one of my favorite Francis Chan quotes:

The reality of it is, what matters in this life, what really truly matters, is not at what age I get married, or what career I have, but what impact I make for Christ in the lives of those around me. Micah 6:8 states, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

If I never get married, work a mundane job or never reach true financial wealth, but live every day acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God then I will NEVER be behind. By the world’s standards, maybe I will be, but the world’s standards stopped defining me the second I became a Child of God.

As always, this is easier said than done. It’s the reason I have to write it down and remind myself, and it’s the reason the Bible has many repeated phrases throughout. But the more we remind ourselves, the more we start to apply it and the more we start to believe it.

In conclusion, let me ask you a question — Who’s standards are you living by? Are you measuring yourself up to other people and their successes in life, or are you engaging with God’s word and fulfilling what it’s asking you to do? At the end of the day, there is no correct measure of success but rather individual stories taking unique routes to wherever God has designed them to be.

Stop judging yourself. Stop comparing yourself. And start living the life God has uniquely designated for you.

Do you really deserve it?

Have you ever given a gift to someone and instead of them saying “thank you” or showing appreciation for the gift, they take it as if it was something they always deserved and you were just finally getting around to giving it to them? If you have, you understand how frustrating this is, if you haven’t, I assure you, live long enough and you will.

Blame participation trophies, government handouts, or whatever you wish, but our culture and generation has started to believe everything is entitled to them. They don’t need to work or earn anything. It’s the “I got a degree, so now I deserve a bosses paycheck” mentality and it’s ripping apart the work ethic and the gratitude of our society.

Unfortunately, the issue of entitlement and lack of gratitude isn’t a new issue. It may have been classified as something different back in Biblical times, but in Luke 17:11-19, Jesus faces the same issue:

¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy^[a] met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

In this story, Jesus saw the men with leprosy and had pity on them — they weren’t entitled to healing, they didn’t work for healing, they simply were blessed with Jesus’ pity and love. Yet, only one of the ten returned to say thank you for the gift of healing he had been given. Jesus saved these ten men from being outcasts in their society, they were able to rejoin their families and friends. They could be a part of the working class again and no longer have to beg for a livelihood. Not only did Jesus give them healing, he restored their status and their families, yet they still did not say thank you.

What I find interesting is the one that did come back and say thank you was a foreigner. Back in the times of Jesus, the Samaritans were despised by the Jews, so as Jesus healed the men, I wonder how many were Jews and how many were Samaritans. Did this man come back and say thank you because he knew Jesus was a Jew and therefore it was even more of a statement and miracle that Jesus chose to have grace on him? No one would have questioned Jesus’ choice to heal the Jews, but a Samaritan was a whole other story. Maybe the others felt they were entitled to Jesus’ healing powers, after all, if they’re of same cultural backgrounds they were supposed to have an upper hand in society. But does that make it right to ignore the gift given and go on without gratitude?

Do we as American’s tend to feel entitled to all that is given to us? As Christians do we just figure since we prayed the prayer once we are entitled to the grace given and forget to say thank you to Christ for his sacrifice and his daily grace? Or do we truly appreciate every gift that is given to us? Do we have an attitude of gratitude, never letting an act of service or a gift be given without a thank you?

Honestly, it’s easy to get into a rhythm of entitlement. Our society surrounds us with images and messages that we deserve everything and it’s our right to have what we want. But God’s society teaches us to live life knowing we deserve nothing, yet are given everything because of God’s grace, mercy, and love for us.

Jonah 4 is another perfect example of our entitled mindset. In this chapter of the book, Jonah is sitting in the hot desert sun, God provides a source of shade for him to sit under, but then some bugs come along and eat the leaves causing the plant to no longer provide shade. Jonah becomes furious with God because he no longer has shade and once again is out in the blistering sun. Yet what did Jonah do to deserve the shade? Instead of seeing the shade as a gift from God that was graciously given and can be taken away at any time, Jonah felt he was entitled to the shade and it was God’s duty to provide it to him.

If you don’t believe you’re living an entitled life, think through these few examples:

Your janitor takes out your trash every day, they miss a day because they were busy doing something else…do you help them out and take out your own trash or do you get frustrated because they didn’t find the time to take it out? When was the last time you thanked the janitor for keeping the office clean?

You’re on a team and your team goes out for dinner or for an activity, do you gratefully appreciate wherever they chose to go, or do you complain because it’s not the exact place you wanted to go? Do you complain about the driving of the coaches or do you appreciate the money spent on getting a car so the team gets to go out on fun adventures and isn’t stuck in the hotel all weekend?

When you continue to pray a prayer, but God choses to respond in a different way than you asked, are you appreciative for the response and thankful for a God who cares enough to listen, or do you get upset and abandon your faith because you felt entitled to the result you didn’t get?

Whatever it is you feel you are entitled to, realize everything in this life is a gift. We aren’t entitled to God’s grace, His grace is a gift given to us. If He choses to extend judgement instead of grace, we shouldn’t be upset because we don’t deserve anything but judgement.

So please stop living an entitled life. Live a life full of gratitude. If someone does something for you, say thank you. Say thank you a hundred times a day, to the cashier, the waitress, the janitor, to whomever it is you tend to take for granted. Don’t be like Jonah or the nine ungrateful lepers. Be thankful for the shade and the healing God has given you, and if it’s taken away, say thank you for the time it was given. Be grateful and see everything as a gift. I promise you, your life will become a million times brighter when you do.

Freedom isn’t Free

Freedom isn’t free — a common known phrase often used around Memorial, Veterans and Independence Day. Why? Because we never want to downplay the sacrifice our soldiers and their families gave in order for us to obtain the freedom we have today.

This past Memorial Day I was preparing the devotional for the volleyball team I help coach and stumbled upon that phrase. We so often think of freedom only being in a political sense. Our Bill of Rights gives us the freedom to do a lot of things — speak, petition, vote, etc. We’re the “Land of the Free,” a place so many run to to find refuge from their oppression. But how true is that phrase when looking at our spiritual freedom?

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As a Christian, our spiritual freedom allows us to talk with our Creator, to be free from our past and the mistakes we’ve made. It allows us to be washed in an ocean of grace so we have the full assurance of our salvation. This freedom guides our future, allowing the best path to open for us if we fully follow what the Word says.

Freedom isn’t free. The freedom we’ve obtained through Christ came at a cost.  For America, men go off to war all the time, hoping to come home to their families again, but know there is a cost to keep our country free. For Christ followers, God sent His one and only Son, knowing full well Christ would be ridiculed, tortured, and crucified, so that we could obtain this freedom (John 3:16). He wanted us to live a life free from our sin stained flesh, much like our government wants us to live a life free from the restrictions of the lands they left.

If you’re new to the Christian faith or haven’t really explored it much you may think I’m crazy in saying Christians have “freedom” — since let’s be honest, many people feel Christianity can be restricting. Honestly, yes it can, but when you realize the restrictions are for your own good they soon become less restrictions and more guardrails, keeping you from going where you could hurt yourself.

Think of it this way — if our government didn’t have the laws in place and we just let anyone and everyone do what they wanted to do, our nation would be a disaster. People would be stealing when they saw fit, no taxes would ever be paid so our roads would be worse, we would start to live in a world of fear — is this freedom? No not really. Our freedom lies inside the guidelines our government gives. Through these guidelines we are able to achieve great things. Our homes are safe. Our highways are paved. Our lives are lived without real fear.

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Christ’s sacrifice gives us THE SAME sort of freedom. Let’s look at a hot topic: abstaining from sex until marriage (Eph. 5:5; Heb. 13:4). God puts this as a rule to protect us — nothing good ever comes from extramarital sex. Think about it, you’re connecting yourself with someone in the most intimate way possible — no one can know you more physically than someone who has sex with you (Gen. 2:24) — yet there is no promise they will stay with you, no matter what they say there is no guarantee of forever (because the Bible also says a marriage covenant is forever — but that’s a whole other topic). Has anyone really woken up from a one night stand and not had any guilt about it? Or gone through a breakup and regretted giving their all to the person? Is that freedom? Or are you becoming a slave to your sexual desires — only fulfilling the need because it’s there and it feels good, not because it really benefits your life? Maybe that’s just my mindset but I’ve seen too many friends deal with this to really think you can shake it all off as easily as people try to play if off like they can. Let me clear something up — I have nothing against sex at all, our God-given desire is to be known fully by another — but that doesn’t mean we need to be fully known by the entire high school baseball team. Understand? Look at this on the flip side — talk to any couple who waited until marriage to have sex and you’ll notice there is absolutely no regret in waiting. Their sex life means something because it’s just between them and doesn’t have their past in the bed with them causing them to compare. In both scenarios we have the freedom to choose. One choice leads to freedom from guilt and shame the other choice leads to momentary fulfillment but weight on our conscience.

I know it’s just one example and y’all might not agree, but when looking at freedom you will always have discrepancies as to what being “free” really looks like. A free spirit is usually someone who just goes with the flow, does whatever they feel, and doesn’t have a care in the world. Their perception of freedom might look way different than someone who needs a lot of structure in their life to feel fully themselves. God’s freedom allows us to be completely who we were made to be. Hebrews 12:1 says, “let us throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us and let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us.” Being set free in Christ is releasing the weight of life from your shoulders. He’s got everything under control. You’re free from worry. Free from guilt. Free from shame. You’re given grace and forgiveness. Your life is a whole new blank slate every day — nothing — and I mean nothing — can separate you from His freedom once you’ve fully accepted it.

A part of the freedom Christ gave us was the freedom to choose. You may not believe in the whole Jesus thing — you might think you’re better on your own and making your own decisions — and that’s your choice. God isn’t forcing you to choose Him, He’s giving you the option, but when you fully understand the freedom you have in Christ, the gift of Heaven, the salvation from Hell, and the love you will receive, the choice becomes a whole lot easier.

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As I wrap this up, let me be clear on one thing — God’s freedom does not include freedom from hardship or suffering on earth. Our freedom to choose comes with consequences and unfortunately we don’t get to choose those consequences. Sometimes we have hardships that have nothing to do with our specific actions but rather are tied to the fact that evil is in the world. God doesn’t enjoy suffering, so please don’t ever think that God is wishing suffering upon you. Yes, Hell is a place full of suffering people are condemned to, but if you choose to reject God and all that He has offered to you there’s consequences for your choice, just like if you choose to commit a crime, there are consequences for your actions. I don’t wish that upon anyone — if it were up to me, everyone would come to love the Lord and experience the freedom I have found in Him. But unfortunately that isn’t everyone’s choice.

Freedom isn’t free but a life in Christ is, and it provides you a freedom you won’t ever regret. A freedom you never knew you wanted and a freedom you’ll want everyone to have.

Choosing Joy. Everyday.

I’ve had a hard time recently thinking of what my next blog post should be about. My last two were so open and vulnerable, so to follow I felt I had to have something drastic to say. I’ve come to the realization though, that everyday lessons are just as important as those drastic AH-HA type moments.

Each day we are faced with millions of choices.

Can I hit the snooze one more time?

What outfit should I wear? 

Starbucks for the flavor, or WaWa for the price….

These choices may seem simple or mundane; choices we make without giving more than a couple seconds thought to it. But what about our attitude choice, do we consciously choose our attitude day by day, moment by moment? It may sound weird to think about, but humor me. When was the last time you consciously chose to be happy, even if the situation didn’t necessarily warrant it? If it’s been a while, then today’s post might be just for you.

One of my favorite new found quotes is by Henri J.M. Nouwen,

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.

 

 

Joy is a choice we make EVERY DAY. There is ALWAYS something to be joyful about.

If you’re a real debby downer or are going through a difficult time in life you may disagree with me, but bear with me for a couple more minutes and I’ll prove to you why I think this is true.

John 15:9-14 states ⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Christ has filled us with His joy if we follow his command to love one another. Our choice is to love others and as we go about our day loving others, Christ’s joy will be full in us. It’s why at Christmas we sing “Joy to the world, the Lord has come” Because Jesus is our joy.

Now let me make a quick disclaimer, joy and happiness are NOT the same thing. Happiness is a feeling, joy is a state of being. Happiness is dictated by what happens to you. Joy is dictated by how you view yourself.

If you view yourself as a beautiful creation, made in the image of God, loved by God, saved by God, and given the ability to spend eternity with God, you will no doubt have the joy of the Lord in you. When you come to a full understanding of how precious God views you and how valuable you are in His sight, then there is reason for joy day after day. The Creator of the universe loves you unconditionally, despite our failure, despite our attitudes, despite anything and everything we do, God love us. That in and of itself is reason to have joy. Every. Single. Day.

Now let me be clear, this doesn’t mean we won’t have troubles or that days are going to be easy. It just means that in the midst of hardship, confusion, or desperation, we have a joy to cling to. When everything seems to be going wrong, we have the joy of the Lord to remind us in the end, everything will be right. And when everything is going right and life seems to be all rainbows and butterflies, we don’t have to worry about the rollercoaster of potential happenings, we can be secure in God’s joy, knowing whatever may happen our joy is complete in Him.

So how do we go about achieving this joy — by making a conscious choice EVERYDAY. By reading the Word of God and meditating on it, by filling our minds with the truth God has promised us. By loving others. When we’re selflessly loving and generously giving a joyful heart becomes natural. Seriously, have you ever seen a truly generous person with a bitter heart? Or witnessed someone who continually loved others have an ungrateful mentality? I sure haven’t. Because when you continually love and continually are authentically generous, you start to see yourself in a different light and start to see the materials you own and the time you have as mere tools instead of possessions you can’t let go.

If you’re failing to find joy everyday, try for one week to consciously change your mindset. If it’s a rainy day, thank God for the invention of umbrellas or the rain for the crops. If you don’t like the meal your mom made, find joy in the fact you have food on your table and a mom who prepared it for you. If you hate your job, be joyful you have one, find joy in the education you’ve earned to be able to apply for one, or consider it joy that we live in a country where you have the freedom to change jobs. Whatever it is you let steal your joy, try counteracting it. Try opening your mind to find the joy every day. And if all else fails, use this as a motivation to start memorizing God’s word, because I promise you, that will not disappoint.

Joy is a choice. So make it yours today.

True Vulnerability

“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it, it just blooms.”

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about finding our identity in Christ. Yesterday I came to the full realization that although I wholeheartedly believe it’s true, I haven’t wholeheartedly accepted it.

As I write this weeks blog I realize sometimes you have to be completely vulnerable with yourself and others in order to bring about the change that is desperately needed. So please know as I write every word, I’m not asking for sympathy or pity likes, but rather hope that my complete vulnerability will not only start a change for me, but allow others to start the change they need as well.

For those of you that know me well, you might know where this all began. About 10 months ago I got into a relationship with a guy that I thought in so many ways was the perfect guy for me. I was excited about the relationship and felt I finally fit in with all my coupled friends. As the time went on, I started to ignore the red flags, making excuses on his behalf, why? because I was so excited to finally “fit in”, to finally have someone to talk about when all my girl friends were talking about their dates or weekend plans. When he and I were having a good day, I was on cloud nine, but when things weren’t going so well, I felt extremely low. To give him the grace and respect everyone deserves, I’ll spare the details, but after an extreme rollercoaster ride of emotions, things came to a complete abrupt halt in February. He had moved on and was happy with someone else, so why in April was I still struggling with the fact that things had ended? Why was I so desperately vying for the attention I knew he wasn’t going to give? And that’s when I realized where my identity fell.

So often I find myself striving to fit in or be accepted by others. Yes, I’m always myself and I truly believe I am, but where I seem to find my value has not been in what our Creator thinks of me, but rather what the created think. I busy my schedule to the point of exhaustion because I never want anyone to think I’m not willing to help them out. I cling to an unhealthy relationship because I find confidence in the skewed acceptance I felt. I build my identity on the things I can see and the perception I feel everyone expects me to be. But that’s so wrong.

The scriptures call us to surround ourselves with godly people and as I talked with my best friend last night, I was reminded just how important that is. As she dug down deep into my confidence issues, from when I got kicked out of my friend group in middle school because I wasn’t “cool” enough, to when a close friend replaced me with a new girl in town, to my weight struggles and acne flares, I realized my confidence issues stem from something so much greater than being rejected by a guy.

I so often find myself striving and striving to be accepted by others that I forget I’m already accepted by God. My senior year in college I worked 4 jobs, took 18 credit hours, was the President of an organization, and constantly created events for my friend group so we could have some great memories before we parted ways. I was EXHAUSTED to say the least, but in my eyes I was accepted. I was loved for all I did and I found confidence in knowing I could handle everything that was thrown on my plate, even if it came at expense to my well-being. How ironic that in my senior year at a Christian college I so easily walked straight into the trap and temptation of mistaken confidence.

Unfortunately, this carried over into my internship, relationships, career, and everything afterwards. I was confident in who I was until something went wrong. I was unable to see it as a circumstance that changed or a healthy failure I could learn from; instead I saw it as something wrong with me, something I was unable to be successful at, something that I strived to own and completely failed. I would look around at all my friends and their successful careers and relationships and soon I would be piling more stuff on my plate so I could “measure up” or have a valid excuse for why some things I so desperately wanted weren’t working out.

As I walked through the streets of Richmond, crying and noticing just how far off track I’d let myself get, I came face-to-face with the full acceptance of God’s grace. Our Creator does not make mistakes, He knew our struggles before we had them. He’s been working on this issue in my life for years and sometimes the things that tear us apart and completely break us (like a failed relationship) are our saving grace. They allow us to hit the bottom of OUR confidence and OUR efforts so we can recognize how desperately we NEED CHRIST.

This weekend is Easter weekend, and what better time to be reminded of how great our God is. To Him I am perfectly accepted just the way I am. No extra activities or boyfriend could make me more valuable to Him. No work accomplishments or smaller pant size could make me a better asset to His kingdom. In His eyes, I am everything I need to be because He created me with everything I needed. There is nothing I can do or say to change that. To Him I am worth sending His Son to die for me so that I may live eternally with Him.

So how do I wholeheartedly accept that fact? It’s easy for me to believe but hard for me to accept. I can read in the Bible everything God has called me and made me, but it’s so challenging to remember that when the world is telling you something completely different. But that’s just it. Why do I need to worry about what the world says? Why do I need to carry the weight of their approval? I don’t.

So starting today I’m taking back my life. I’m putting the word “no” back in my vocabulary and understanding that taking time for myself is extremely important. I’m cutting out the things and the people that cause anxiety and make me feel I’m not worth the value God has already given me. It’s a process and will take time, but as I grow in an understanding of God’s grace and acceptance, the confidence I need to get through the day will soon come from Him alone. God has equipped me with everything I need to accomplish the purpose He has set out for me. I am enough because God says I am and that’s the reality I chose to live in.

Lifes Expectations & Realities

Expectations. They can motivate us. They can break us. They can define us. They can haunt us.

Realities. They can change us. They can push us. They can defeat us. They can scar us.

My life expectation was to be engaged or married, with a job in baseball, living on a farm in the midwest while having the whole adult life figured out.

My life realities, I’m as single as they come, working in a non-profit, coaching volleyball (a sport I came in knowing nothing about), living on a city street in Richmond, realizing daily how much I have to learn about being an “adult”.

Our life expectations can throw a loop in how we view ourselves. Am I a failure because everything I expected to happen after college didn’t? Has God forgotten about me because I’m still single? Did I waste all my money on a degree that is producing a job I never thought I’d be in?

To be honest it can, and it has. This last year has been a real struggle for me because my life realities are so far from my life expectations. Are they bad, not necessarily, just different. But for someone like me who’s had a life plan figured out since our middle school career fair, it can really shake a life dynamic.

Life hasn’t been easy, maybe it hasn’t been an outward suffering, but inwardly I’ve suffered. Wondering if I measure up. Wondering why relationships fail when all I want is to be married. Wondering why God’s curved my path in the way that He has. Then I remember this quote:

How often in the midst of our failing realities do we forget that GOD DOES NOT FAIL. We may see our current circumstances as uncertainties and failures, but we have God and that is enough of a reality for me. Each and every day we live in the reality that God sent HIS SON to die for us so that we could spend eternity with Him. Wow.

If I truly believe and live in that truth, then I should never feel my shortcomings or failed expectations define who I am. I am not less of a person because I’m single. I am not less of a value because my job is different than what I thought. I am a whole person, living in the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ.

If we look at the story of Joseph for a minute I think we can see how real this is. Joseph probably didn’t go into life expecting to be sold by his brothers into Egypt, to build his life back up only to be wrongly accused of a crime, then to reconcile his reputation only to be forgotten about by the very people he just helped, but that’s exactly what happened (Genesis 37-44). One failure after another. One escalated place, one low-life place. A rollercoaster life, most likely full of confusion, joy, suffering, excitement. The one common theme through the entire story — God was there.

If Joseph had not been sold to Egypt, he wouldn’t have entered Potiphar’s house. If he didn’t enter Potiphar’s house, he would have never been thrown into prison. If he had never been thrown in prison, he would have never met Pharaoh’s cup bearer. If he had never met Pharaoh’s cup bearer, he would have never been recommended to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. And if he had never interpreted Pharaoh’s dream (through God), he would have never been in command to lead Egypt during the famine.

So what’s your Egypt? What’s your hard place of failed expectations and haunting realities? The place you feel is doing more harm than good? Could it be God is just preparing you to save a nation? Preparing you for the job He has called you to do.

Romans 8:28, “And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.”

HIS purpose, not ours. HIS glory, not ours. HIS plan, not ours. He works all things for OUR good. GOD DOES NOT FAIL. So stop thinking that He does.

Go live in the realities God has set before you, fully glorifying His name and understanding that His purpose is leading us to something greater than we could ever imagine. There will be suffering, there will be hard times, but there will also be eternal glory for those who never lose sight of the realities of the cross.