Get Real!

"Oh great Father who abideth in heaven. We approach thee today to appeal thee. That thee would pour out your vast riches upon thine lowly people..." Hold it, CUT! Who the heck talks like that? Nobody does. We left that kind of speech behind a looong time ago. How would you react if someone came up to you and started talking like that? "Salutations, Eden, how art thou today? How goeth your homework? Wouldst thought like to join me for supper in the evening?" You would be confused and wonder what happened to your friend, because that's not normal. Yet, sometimes, we think we need to talk to God like that. We think that in order to approach God we need to be formal about it. We act as if we don't know Him.

I was talking to God the other day and I decided to really scale it back. Instead of praying the usual, "God, lookout for family and my best friend..." And launching into my everyday formal prayer, I decided to try something different. I started with "God, do you love me?" I technically knew the answer to that question, but I wanted to hear Him say it. I had been having a hard time believing it and I wanted Him to confirm His love for me. He responded, "Of course I do, baby girl. I love you so much." I launched into conversation with Him, asking questions and just... talking to Him. Seriously, just talking to Him, exactly how I would talk with my best friend. At the end, I did pray for my family, but it sounded more like this, "You've got them, right God?" There's something special about just being real with God. Just conversing with Him and being real. Not addressing Him in this extremely complicated way of speaking that we would never use anywhere else.

He really just wants us to GET REAl!

Active Trust

A friend of mine said something today that got me thinking. She talked about active trust. She was speaking specifically about finances. Asking God for provision for money, but being willing to do something to get it. She explained how that could be something as simple as applying for a loan if that was the kind of provision God chose to give her. She said she wanted to be actively involved in His miracle. "I want Him involved and I want to be engaged with His process of provision."

What an interesting thought. Definitely not something I'm used to hearing. Sure, we talk about trusting God all the time. However, usually we think that means sitting on our hands doing nothing. We kind of get lazy and sit back going "Ok God, do something." Unfortunately, this can simply be poorly masked Laziness. I like how my friend put it "God wants us to be engaged in the processes of His provision and miracles."

This isn't to say that God asks for action every time. Sometimes He does ask us to sit down, shut up and trust. But, I think that he also delights in engaging us in the process. Definitely something to think about. Thoughts?

Dreaming of New Things

Hey all! It's been a while hasn't it? I've been busy, and I've been learning a lot. However, not all the lessons have been easy, and some have been painful. God and I have been talking a LOT lately. I've been asking Him questions and talking to Him about a bunch of different things, and something I keep coming back to is one of His promises.

In October, I went to a camp with Ignite. I remember begging God to show up. I had been having a hard time connecting with Him. I told Him, very simply you have to show up, or I don't know what I'm going to do. Being God, and being awesome He did. And when He did, He gave me a promise. "So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead...." ~1st Peter 1:6

This made me really excited. "What's ahead God? What are you bringing my way?" Over the next few days, He continued to confirm that. " For I am about to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create rivers for them in the desert!" (Isaiah 43:19) And again in Isaiah 48:6b-8a " Now I will tell you new things I have not mentioned before, secrets you have not yet heard. They are brand new, not things from the past...Yes, I will tell you of things that are entirely new."

Time went on, and I forgot about the promise. I got discouraged and sometimes caught myself wondering where He was. Then tonight, God brought me back to his promise. Mike talked about Habakkuk 1:5 "The LORD replied, Look at the nations and be amazed! Watch and be astounded at what I will do! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it."

All of a sudden my mind went back, remembering the promise God gave to me. That's right, He promised me something new. Then Mike started talking about how God had such huge plans for Habakkuk, that if He told him, Habakkuk wouldn't be able to believe it. Mike asked who had visions and dreams that God had given them. He asked "If you could do anything in the world for God and money was no object, what would you do?" He asked for the crazy, wild dreams, the ones that didn't make sense. No dream was crushed, no dream was deemed impossible because God has promised greater things than we could ever imagine.

I've got dreams. I want to go back to the Dominican Republic and change it. I want to create jobs for the people that live in the dump so they don't have to dig for trash anymore. I want to bring revival to the D.R. The Country has a bible on their flag for crying out loud.

Close up of the Crest

I'm looking forward to the new. I'm dreaming again, waiting to see what God has for me. Maybe you, like me have been having a rough time. Maybe you can't see an end to the questions and the frustration. I encourage you to hang in there. Look for the new, because God is going to do something new in and through you . And don't be afraid to dream again.

His Mercies...

"Because of the LORD's faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!" Lamentations 3:22-23 PTL (Praise The Lord) that He has new mercies every morning. Every so often, I "have problems" with God. I go to Him demanding answers for things that don't make sense. I want Him to make everything clear and lay everything out right now. I want to know where I'm going, how I'm gonna get there and how long it's gonna take me to get there... Too bad God doesn't work like that. Lately, He's been telling me, "Let go, trust me. Let me be in control." And, being the nice, mature, "Christian" girl that I am, I give God this kind of reaction:

Yup, I fold my arms, and I stomp my foot; I stick out my lip and complain. "But Goooodd, that's not the answer I want! I want you to give me answers NOW." I leave His side angry. And He whispers in my ear:

"Come talk to me."

My oh-so-grown up response? "NO." So, being the loving God that He is, He sends friends, "Hey, I noticed you're upset, maybe you should go talk to God." My response? "NO!" But, God still persists:

"Come talk to me."

I was talking to my best friend tonight and He asked me why I hadn't talked to God and told Him everything that was bothering. I told Him it was because I already knew what answer He was going to give me, and I didn't like it. My friend proceeded to tell me that I needed to be willing to take God's response, because ultimately He knows what's best. I told him, "I know... I'll talk to Him... eventually." My buddy responded quite simply, "when?" I told him that God and I tend to have a battle of wills, and of course... we know who wins. After more discussion, I went to talk to God.

"His mercies never end. They are new every morning..."

After pulling out my bible, my sharpies and my journal, I put on my music. I was just telling God how I just wanted to know that I'm not alone. I wanted to know that He was near me, that He loved me. I wanted to know that He cares" The song "Because You're Mine" by Building 429 came on, and it was totally what I needed to hear.

You would give it all to know the answers
And I know you’ve heard this all before
I’m just here to help your heart remember
That NO ONE else could ever love you more
So today I promise *forever*
Tomorrow, I’ll say it all again
You ought to know that I am here
You ought to know I’ll be here
To love you Just to love you
Through all the pain and through the years
I’ll be the one to dry your tears
I love you, I love you
Because you’re mine

Even though I had been a brat, God still cared about me and still answered my desperate heart cry "I just want to know you're here!" Somehow, it didn't bother Him that I had been intentionally ignoring Him, He was ready for me to come back with open arms. As I was writing the lyrics to this song in my journal, something stuck out to me:

So don’t you ever doubt
You are my precious child
My glory in the making
The years will bring you many trials
But I will never let you down

"Because of the LORD's faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!"

Silence

Texting, Facebook, Phone Calls, Skype, Friends, Books, Video games, Ipods, voices, noise.......

I recently had a cabin full of girls, several of which were preteens. At least two of them told me they were going absolutely crazy without their phones. I proceeded to talk to them about the value of "unplugging," silencing the many voices going on around us in order to hear the voice of God.

I have discovered this week, that I have a really hard time with silence. I have to constantly be moving, doing something, or I get bored. Sitting still and being truly silent is really hard for me. If I take time to mute the phone, turn off the ipod and close the laptop, I find my mind wandering. I'm a multitasker, so my mind can literally zoom through probably 20 different topics in the space of 60 seconds. I struggle to sit and just listen to the voice of God. However, I have found that when I do sit and listen, He loves to talk to me. He will reignite my passions, remind me of His promises and encourage me when I'm having a really bad day. The cool thing is, it doesn't take very long, in the space of 30 seconds of listening to a song, I can have new energy and new excitement. In taking 10 or 15 minutes to get into His word, I can hear from Him and be encouraged.

I'm certainly not discounting long amounts of quality time with Him, but for me, being extremely busy and extremely active, I'm discovering the beauty and the joy in the capture moments of silence

Further In

I went to the beach today. =)

Something I'm continually saying is "I LOVE the beach." Something about the sun and the water, the breeze and the waves, just absolutely enthralls me. I love jumping in the water and getting used to how cold it is. I love the feeling of triumph when I successfully swim under a wave and feel it break over me. I love feeling the awesome power of the ocean as I get knocked over by a wave.I love staring out over the water and seeing that it just keeps going and going and going. Of course, it doesn't hurt that God talks to me a LOT when I'm at the beach. I can just feel His presence and His love in a way that I don't experience anywhere else.

He's always telling me how much He loves me, calling me attention to the fact that the water is endless as is His love. The warm sunshine on my face repeats the same message,"I love you."

Today, like any other beach day, God spoke to me through the beach. When I go to the beach, I have to get in the water it's like a must. If I haven't gotten in the water, I haven't been to the beach. I always start out at the edge, trying to get used to the crazy coldness of the water. But, as my feet get used to it, and I see the waves crashing, I start heading towards them, getting excited. As I play in the little waves, I want to go further out, deeper into the water, into the bigger waves where it's more fun. Slowly, slowly, little by little, I found myself going further in, getting deeeper and deeper in the water. I absolutely love it.

Today, as I ventured further out to encounter bigger waves and bigger adventures, God was whispering in my ear. Just like I want to go further into the water because I am enthralled by it, so I should want to go further in my relationship with Him. I want to be passionate about the things of Him, and passionate of going deeper and farther. I want to follow His call and encounter the big adventures He has for me. As I encounter His greatness, the more I want to experience it and submerge myself in it. Chasing after Him is the adventure of a lifetime, and I absolutely love it :)

Because He longs to Bless/Thankful Hearts

About a week ago, I was on the verge of a meltdown, I was stressed about a lot of things, and feeling kind of down on myself for being stressed. I felt like I was just being silly and needed to get over it, so I kind of drew into myself, not really letting people know how I felt. Dropping hints here and there, but overall, keeping it quiet. Until, one day it all came out in a rush. I was in a bad mood and my poor friend got caught in the verbal downpour. He handled it well though, told me to look at the good things I had and be thankful. He also told me to remember that God loves me and He knows exactly what's going on. I guess what he was basically saying was stop feeling sorry for yourself, look at the good, and trust God.(only, he was a bit more tactful) and you know what? It snapped me right out of my crazy mood.

I decided to stop looking at the waves and to start trusting God. To be thankful for all the good things I have, and it worked. Today in my devoes, I found the perfect verse to go along with this. Psalm 50:14-15 "Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” It says to start with thankfulness and then call upon Him for help. I think starting with thanking Him is huge. Because, as you start thanking Him for who He is, you start remembering what He has done. You realize that just maybe God is bigger than the problem you're facing. And He loves to bless. So, I finally surrendered and decided to just let Him handle things. Nothing's really been resolved, but I'm not worried anymore, I'm enjoying the fact that He knows what He's doing.

And, I've been asking Him to give me reminders that He loves me. Today, was one such day. A group of us went to the beach and it was absolutely perfect. The sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot, the breeze was blowing, but it wasn't too cold. The water was beautifully blue, there was wave upon wave upon wave upon wave of awesomness to play in, and my Ignite buddies were there. We had so much fun just hanging out and talking and enjoying God's creation. And the whole time we were there, God was whispering in my ear "I love you, I love you, I love you." Come back to campus, and my friend approaches me and out of the blue gives me a compliment that totally made me smile. And, my phone charger broke yesterday and was slightly upset about how much money it would take to get a replacement. Crazy awesome thing is my friend "just happened" to have the charger that would fit my phone, he wasn't using it and gave it to me.

So, I dare you, be thankful for what God has given you. Remember that He loves you. Trust Him, and then, ask Him to show you His love. I can guarantee you He will, beyond your wildest dreams, because He is a God who longs to bless :)