Encouraging encouragement

Well, that's all folks. The title gave me away.

Every Tuesday morning, I have the extreme pleasure of waking up before dawn (thanks winter) to see six wonderful, mostly smiling faces! There's always Jesus and usually some coffee involved. I love these ladies so so so much! And today, our fearless leader charged us with writing out ways we've seen God working in one another's lives.

"But encourage one another daily as long as it is called 'Today,' so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:13 NIV 

Aside from hearing things other people see in me (which is always welcome,) I loved sharing ways that God works in others! Reflecting on all that God is doing allows you to broaden your outward look. I don't know about you, but I love to see how God is moving around me! And He's moving in really big ways!

Also, make sure to tell that person verbally or even in writing! I love looking back and seeing how I've grown and how God has been faithful!

How will you encourage someone today?

Powerful.

This past week I read through John 17-19 for small group. What I didn't realize was I was about to read about the crucifixion. What amazed me was the way this story affected me; I had heard it so many times before. I had occasionally heard the song "Why" by Nichole Nordeman and this time, I read while I listened. I teared up thinking of the horrors Christ went through for my sins, my wrongs, my terribleness, my awfulness.

This past weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a retreat in Des Moines!! (A HUGE thanks goes out to my parents for being the greatest! Love you!) The theme: Bride of Christ focused not only on relationships between men and women, but our place in the church. I learned so much! I would love to tell you everything I soaked up, but I'll save you three days of reading. How about a taste of a couple stand-out points?

Being a Biblical woman submits to male leadership. In a world trying to gain equality for women in every aspect, I learned that submission shouldn't have a negative connotation. Allowing men to lead even glorifies God! What a simple way to please our Lord!

Also, the speakers, Paul Sabino,  Jeff Dodge, and Bob Thune each had challenging, yet encouraging messages. Today, Troy Nesbitt totally ruined just the happy vibe and humbled me with: Does God care about and love us? Yes. Does God love the church, His bride, more than lowly me? Absolutely. Adding to that, we pray for His will be done in our own life. This limits our all-powerful Lord. God does not think that small. Yeah, He keeps His eyes on the sparrow and He's watching over me, but what am I doing to further His bride? The church isn't just the bride, but the body of Christ. We are recognized and seen by our bodies; God is no different. He must be seen through His body. (Next part from Bob Thune) Without our community, the body of Christ, we are simply a severed body part, lying lifeless on the floor. (This isn't the Addams family, it's God's!)
I can tell when I haven't been to church in a while, I don't meet with God as much, and I miss the fellowship with my friends! Some weekends, I wouldn't "feel" like going to church, or something was "more pressing". I could tell! I needed that community of believers encouraging me and helping the Lord form me into the perfect being I can only be through Him.

Also, have I told you what I'm giving up for Lent?? Negativity. Yep. That's the term I'm giving it. Every time I say or think something negative or rude or just plain mean, I have to say or think something positive to counteract it. I told lots of my friends to help me stick with it and call me out. It really challenges me! I realized I can be so mean and not using my words to build others up. I want to change this. Changing thoughts takes practice, but I know it will help me better myself and the ways God can use me in His church to further His will. (Also, I gave up biting my nails. I'm not doing super, but better!) God's always shaping me, I just pray to remain soft and mold-able. :)

Praying for each of you!

Risk

1. The game called Risk and I are not on good terms. (another story for another time)
2. Sometimes, I despise even the ones I love.

Now that you know those things, I will tell you the story of an interesting event.

Thursday night, I again attended a church group with friends. After church, sometimes, we go to the information desk to look at the "Risk" cards. Red and yellow, on the front, these cards bear a motto.

"Be Changed, Bring Change"

Red cards have more difficult tasks than yellow. My friend went to grab one, and wasn't too fond of  repeating. Instead of sliding it to the bottom of the stack, she offers it to me.

"Here, you have it."
"No, I already haven't done the one I grabbed last week!"
"Oh, you can have two!" And to my dismay, she snuck it under my purse strap.
I read it.

"Pick one day this week to engage in a 'word fast'.
Tame you tongue in such a way that your words are few, very few.
On average we speak about 16,000 words per day.
Shoot for 1/10th of that."

"A word fast?! I really love to talk, but I guess I can do it." I grimaced at my luck.

Later, another friend came over. His friend pulled out a card, but one dropped close to my feet.
He picked it up, and then decided that I should have this one. "Here, it was obviously meant for you!"
"No, I already have one from tonight!"
"Well, you can have two."
"No, I already have two! One from last week and one from the previous week!"
"Oh, come on, you can do it!"
I grudgingly took it, "Okay." And then I read it.

For those who can't read it:
"Consider doing a 72-hour fast from food.
Spend that time in prayer and praising God."

"Aahhhh!!!" I so did NOT want to do this one. "This one looks so hard! You guys are trying to kill me!"
"I've fasted before. It's not too bad after the first day." My friends tried to convince me to take the risk.
"Yeah, you could probably do a juice fast, where you just drink juice."
"Wait, read the card again. It says 'consider'."
"Oh my gosh, you're right!" My way out had arrived!!!
"But just think of how good you'll feel afterwards, having fasted."
"Yeah, after I eat everything in the dining center."
"You could start small, just do one day of fasting."
"Yeah, I think I could go two days. Okay, I'll do it. But I'm so drinking juice. I don't think I could just not eat or drink anything."

I have now planned to fast Monday and Tuesday, and depending on how I feel, Wednesday.
My speech fast will happen Monday for sure. (and maybe tuesday)
On Friday, I will do my original card.

Sorry for the blurriness:
"Do as many push-ups and sit ups
as you possibly can in one sitting.
Feel the burn!"

After all this is over, I will love my friends. :)

Challenge yourselves this upcoming week!

Vision for What

So this might be a little weird, but I wore my glasses today. Not only did I feel like a cute nerd :P , but it got me thinking. The important times I make sure to wear my contacts include: concerts, plays, movie theaters, so on. Why? Because I don't want to miss any detail! I want to see how the backstage crew hooks up Glinda in her flying bubble-blowing bubble, and I can't miss how the thing in the background is preparing to slice someone's head off. (slightly gory, sorry.) I want to guarantee that I see how the lights set the mood for the next song. Why don't I wear my glasses? Short answer: I don't want to be an owl. Owls can't move their eyeballs, just their head. (270 degrees, might I add) My eye doctor explained that when I wear glasses, the only part that has max prescription is the very center, the part I look through. And for me, having max prescription is kinda a big deal! If I look up, down, or side to side, I have a very slim part to look through before my glasses end and my vision becomes blurry.

And this fact made me think of our Christian walk. Shouldn't we be looking through glasses when we go through life? Straight through the perfected personalized lenses to the Creator of our imperfect eyes. He didn't create them imperfect, but because of our sin, we all need glasses. While contacts are great to physically wear, spiritually they allow us to see everything else going on other than the Lead Actor, Jesus Christ. We can get distracted with the lights and the set changes, the backstage or backseat junk in our life. And while the backstage stuff can set a mood, how the Lead Actor reacts(ed) to things going on around Him shows(ed) how we should react. He IS our role model, anyway!

Maybe you've focused on some backstage stuff lately, go to God with it. Make it all right. I definitely still need work in that area. My prescription in my glasses isn't always to the max, but I'm striving. Check out my new life quote: "God gave us our free will so we would have something to give back to God." What are you doing with YOUR free will?