Can You See Me?

 Have you ever felt invisible?

Often times I feel like I have an invisibility cloak on, which is funny because one would think you could easily spot me in my bright red coat and super blonde hair. But I get overlooked, ignored, and forgotten. This is something that has really hurt throughout my life.

But you know what? The Bible is filled with invisible people. People that were overlooked, ignored, and forgotten. People that society found no purpose for, or if they did, they were labeled as such and could never change. These men and women were the beggars, the cripples, the prostitutes. However, Jesus saw them. 

If you think about it, the world is filled with invisible people too. The women that are stuck in human trafficking, the children that are forced to serve in the LRA in Africa, the orphans that cry out for food or even the smallest ounce of love. Closer to home: the men and women that mindlessly work their 9-5 for a paycheck only to sleep and repeat the next day, the college students that seek to find their value in sex, alcohol, and drugs, or the quiet teenager that struggles as his/her family falls apart. Does anyone see these people? 

It's easy to get wrapped up in myself and throw a pity party when I feel invisible. But what about the other billions of people that are hurting on this earth? The ones that are overlooked, ignored, and forgotten. 

"When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” -- Luke 13:12

Those are three of my favorite words in the Bible. Simple, but Jesus saw her. Throughout His life on earth, Jesus saw the least of society and let them know. Jesus sees the children starving in Asia and He sees the broken family struggling in Brazil. But He also sees you, in all your hurt and sorrow, in all your joy and gladness. There is not a day where you are invisible to the Creator of the Universe, the Highest King, the Savior of the world. That's pretty neat. 

Not only did He see them in their hurt, but He sought to find a way to fix it -- not their temporal hurt per say, but their eternal hurt lost from God-- but He saw their need for salvation. And He did something about it. That dark, bleek day on the cross, Jesus saw you. He saw your sin, in all its ugliness, and He stayed there until death. But He also saw you when He didn't stay dead, because He rose so that we can live with Him forever!

Befriend

I've been reading through a book by Andy Stanley, called 'Deep & Wide.' It's about "Creating churches unchurched people love to attend." So far it is a very good, and insightful book about what should be at the heart of our churches. But it has created a bit of uneasiness in my heart and mind. It's caused me to contemplate a nagging question.

"Am I the kind of person unchurched people love to befriend?"

It's not an easy question, or an easy answer. It gets down into the dirty world of my life, and how I live it. My personality, my desires, my perspectives. It forces me to contemplate whether or not my knowledge of God and all which He has done for me, has transformed to action.

I find it easy, in reflecting on questions like these, to sort of mentally chew myself out, for not being better, or doing more. This is not healthy, or beneficial. Instead I'm learning(slowly), to take note of why and how I was failing, and use that information as ammunition for growing beyond my failure.

The only way we are able to be the kind of person unchurched people love to befriend, is to rely wholly on what Jesus Christ has done for us, and is working in and through us. Jesus died, paying the price for our sins, and taking all the wrath of God against our sin for us. Not just most of God's wrath. All of it. Then He rose again, in so doing, declaring He overcame death for us. This gives us life in Him. Out of this knowledge, this freedom, this peace, we are enabled to live in such a way others love to befriend us.

Remember what Christ did. Remember where you've been. Reflect on what Christ is doing. Reflect on how you can live in light of those three things.

Are you the kind of person unchurched people love to befriend?

Our Temporary Home

Jordan, Zeke and I just returned from a nearly week long trip to the Minneapolis area. Our time was busy, but blessed. Stressful at times, yet relaxing at others. We saw a good chunk of our family and friends, ate at restaurants that we usually don't, served at Feed My Starving Children, and enjoyed not washing dishes. But to be honest, even from the beginning of the trip, I was looking forward to coming home. One of my favorite parts of traveling has always been coming home. It's comforting to come back to the familiar. To return to a daily routine. To grind my own coffee beans, put my baby boy down in his own bed, and to shower in our own shower. I will boldly declare along with Dorthy that "There's no place like home."

Except its far too easy for me to think of "home" as our house in western North Dakota. Too often I forget that this house that we call home is just temporary. Too often I forget that my time should be spent on things, on people, that are going to last for eternity. Too often I forget that my money should be spent more on those in need than on myself.

"'Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.'" - Matthew 6:19-21

Yeah, it's great to be home. I'm looking forward to popping myself some popcorn in our Stir Crazy and resting my head on my pillow tonight.  But am I living like this house - this life - is just a temporary place? I pray that I will be living with eternity in mind. May that affect every decision I make, from how I manage my time to the people that I invest in.

3801 Lancaster

Truly, I say to you, 

as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, 

you did it to me. 

Matthew 25:40, ESV

I'm compelled to share a video with you. It's not an action, comedy or romantic. It's not even entertaining. And yet, completely gripping.

You won't laugh.
You may cry.

“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. 

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” ― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Be warned: this video content is for mature audiences.
_______________________________________________________________

On February 18th, 2010, 
the FBI & detectives from 
the Philadelphia District Attorney's office 
raided the Women's Medical Society, 
a clinic in west Philadelphia. . .

What they found was unthinkable. . .

After watching this, I pray it moves you to action. Men and women alike--look up your local Crisis Pregnancy Center, call and ask how you can be a part of saving lives. We cannot overlook this genocide any longer. We must reach out to the tender, piercing cries of innocent children. We must stand up for those deceived women being driven through these clinics like mindless cattle. We must embrace those whose lives are scarred from abortion. 

We must empower them with the Truth.
How will you  make a difference?

Get Into Your Comfort Zone

On the topic of following Jesus, if anyone has ever told you to "get out of your comfort zone"; raise your hand.

Okay.

Now that everyone's hand is in the air, breathe in deeply.

Yuck.

Today, on the topic of following Jesus, it is imperative that you get into your comfort zone!

In John 15, we see  Jesus using the word abide ten times in one little paragraph (that can be read in approximately 48 seconds).

This word abide  is often translated "remain."

What is Jesus getting at when He says abide/remain  over and over again?

That little paragraph summarizes the who, how, what, why, where, and when of following Jesus.

To summarize this summary:

Remain in Jesus. Read John 15.

This is where you are to live every day life.
This is how you know Jesus.
This is who will bear fruit.
This is what Jesus wants for you.
This is when you are in your comfort zone.

All too often, we as followers of Jesus get out of comfort zone to do something for Jesus.

At what expense?

We are busy, worried servants like Martha who end up missing miraculous moments with Jesus.
We are bold, popular preachers and teachers yet walk through life feeling alone, unknown.
We are tired, weary travelers seeking mountain tops rather than His presence in the valley.
We are scared, doubtful disciples forgetting the simple truths taught by our Rabbi.

Get into your comfort zone!

Nuzzle up to Abba. Sit in His presence. Listen to His heartbeat. Breathe deep and smell the fragrance of the infinite. Quit talking and be quiet. Stop. Stare at the beauty created by our Creator.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love." - Jesus 

Planner With No Plans

"The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry." --Robert Burns

I don't know about you, but I'm a planner. The first thing I do in the morning is make a rough draft of what the day is going to look like. In all honesty, I tend to do this for a week at a time too: I like to be able to tell you what I'm doing at any given moment in the week to come by the Sunday night prior. My friend once titled me, "Captain Agenda". It's pretty bad. There is something to be said about planning in the Bible: 

"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" -- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." -- James 4:13-15

I've made my fair share of plans in my life and not many of them have worked out the way I intended. I have hopes and dreams that I get crushed when they don't work in my favor. But you know, and here's the cliche, God has something better.

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." -- Psalm 37:4

For the longest time, I understood this verse to mean that if I follow God and love Him enough, He'll grant me my wishes. Somehow He became a genie in a bottle here to me. However, I believe this verse to mean so much more now: As we walk with the Lord, He will continue to mold and shape us to be more like Him, therefore placing HIS desires in our heart. 

I am not saying that God was not the one to place the desires that you have in your heart, but it's the willingness to be molded and changed that gives Him liberty to exceed those dreams. 

I still like to plan. I have a tentative plan of what this entire day should look like. But I also know that God has an ultimate plan. So as you try to plan your day, your week, your life, remember that God is in control and He has a good plan in store for you. 

Lame? Lazy? Extraordinary?!

I like to-do lists. I even have a planner that I write my daily to-do list in. Part of the reason behind this is so that I actually remember to do things; if I don't do the task immediately or at least write the task down, it could be days before I remember that I needed to vacuum the corners of our bedroom or clean the bottom of the fridge. But I'll be honest: sometimes, I write already completed tasks down on my to-do list so it just looks like I accomplished more on a particular day. Because there is something about our human nature, or maybe it's just our culture, that thrives on being busy and accomplishing.

The other day I was asked, "So what do you do all day?" This particular person knew that I was a stay-at-home-mom. In that moment, I felt like I had to come up with a long, large, impressive list of daily tasks that I accomplish around the house, at church, or in the community. But all I could come up with was: "Well, we go on an hour walk every morning. And we both take naps in the afternoon." Lame. And it sure makes me sound lazy.

So what do I do all day? Well, I guess it depends. I spend a lot of time on my hands and knees, playing peek-a-boo around the kitchen island as my baby boy crawls after me and giggles. I spend time reading books to my little man, or at just holding the pages open so Zeke can turn the pages on his own. I spend time changing poopy diapers, preparing food for the three of us, washing dishes, making sure Zeke doesn't eat any electrical cords, cuddling with him, and holding him high enough so he can pull the cord to the ceiling fan.

And why does that somehow, in my mind, seem so unimpressive? So unimportant? I wish it didn't; it shouldn't. Because it's things that I love. Things that I would not change for anything.

Maybe it's because I'm looking to fulfill the world's definition of success and importance. Maybe it's because everyone around me seems to be doing so much, to always be busy, to always have somewhere they have to be. Maybe it's because, for some awful reason, it seems like spending quality time with my son doesn't seem like an "important" enough task.

I've found great encouragement regarding this in the following words from Grace for the Good Girl by Emily Freemen (can you tell what I've been reading lately?):

"In the midst of my insecure emotions, I picked up a book written by Major Ian Thomas called The Indwelling Life of Christ. My eyes went directly to this: 'It is not the nature of what you do that determines the spirituality of any action, but the origin of what you do.' 

If what I do is done in complete dependence upon the Father, then it doesn't matter what that thing is, rather who the one is doing that thing. Is it me? Or is it Him? Colossians says that by faith, it is beautifully and mysteriously both. 'To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me' (Colossians 1:29 NIV). Who am I to decide what is extraordinary? The Father has already decided. He says He Himself is extraordinary. So anything I do as I depend on and partner with the Extraordinary One, I suppose that is extraordinary too." (emphasis mine)

Even changing diapers for the tenth time that day. Even patiently teaching an eight-month old how to self-feed. Even washing dishes, doing laundry, and cleaning the carpet. May it all, even in the un-importance of the task according to the world's standards, be done by His strength and for Him alone.

"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of your inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." - Colossians 2:23-24 (emphasis mine)

"The Awe Factor"

The topic of creation has come up in several Bible Studies and Kids' club this past week, which reminded me of this video that I saw a long time ago. It really puts into perspective of how small and insignificant I am. But in that insignificance, God chose to love ME, to save Me. What an awesome God He IS. Watch this video, "The Awe Factor of God," presented by Francis Chan, and let the love of God fill you up!

God is good all the time! 

All the time, God is good! 

You're Being SPIED ON!

 "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for 
one another." John 13:35

Spectators surround you. Unawares to you, they’re always there--hiding behind magazines, ear buds, laptops, cell phones, even their own conversations. You aren’t the least bit suspicious, because they keep just enough distance and feign just enough disinterest. But there they are, silently observing, scrutinizing, and decoding your every verbal and nonverbal communication.

What do your relationships reveal about you? We’re talking your nitty-gritty, everyday interactions: 

You wore my shirt?

I can't believe you did that!

I told you three times already!

What do you mean,

'the flight is overbooked'?!

Did you hear about so-and-so?

...and on an on the dialogues could go.

What do your relationships reveal about you? More importantly, what do your eyes, body language, and emotional connectivity betray about your faith?

You have been handed the most powerful tool to expose Christ to a lost world. Love. They will know you are a Christian by I Corinthians 13 and the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) lived out in your life! Specifically in your dealings with other Believers. If you are generous and speak with fond love of your Christ to the homeless man, but with the turn of your heels harshly reprimand your mother. . . your faith will be deemed fake, phony, a fraud; and you will be labeled a hypocrite. 

"If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." I Cor. 13:3

Evaluate your relationships and conversations. As spectators observe you, will they know you are a Christian. . . 

. . . by your love?

Listen to this: Jars of Clay

You Chose to Choose Me

through the narrowness of my self-focused scope
I see the day I trusted and found a new hope
that decision I made when I first followed You

was this the beginning? is that where I start?
can I point to the time You invaded my heart?
when did You decide to choose me?

in the vast expanses of nothing
You thought that I was something
in the chaos over the waters
You saw us all as sons and daughters
as You made day and night
You watched us basking in Your light
before creating the most beautiful views
it was me You decided to choose

not so I would be something great
not so my name would be seen as grand
no, You chose me so we could walk hand-in-hand

I am Yours so I can tell Your Story
I am Yours to show others Your glory
Father, Son, Spirit; You chose to choose me

(thoughts from John 15:16)

At the Feet of Christ

I'm not good at being quiet.

I think I've told you this before, but I really hate to be alone. I'm good at being busy-- I good at socializing and serving and constantly going. I really have a lot of energy when it comes to that, and then I crash so I can wake up and do it all over again the next morning. That way I don't think too much, and that way I don't have to listen to the lies that Satan throws my way. I'm a very positive person, but it's really easy to believe that I'm an inconvenience, not loved, not beautiful, etc. I know we all have certain thoughts that we struggle with, but if I'm busy I can usually dismiss them and focus on what I need to be doing instead.

I'm alone a lot now. In speaking of this fear with a friend, he told me that it sounds like I need to just be quiet for a while. This made me take a look at someone I resemble far too much in Luke 10:38-42

"...And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to His teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to Him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

Mary sat at the feet of Christ. Martha served. Mary soaked in the presence of the Lord. Martha was distracted, anxious, and troubled. I could start going by the name Martha from this description.

Maybe I'm preaching to the choir and this post is more for myself than anyone else, but I find it easy to be Martha. Just to sit at the feet of Jesus seems strange, that somehow there must be more that we should be doing. But Jesus said it was good.

So I've stopped. And I'm quiet and still and alone. A lot. In this aloneness -- although there is a sense of being lonely in the physical manner -- there's also such sweet joy that comes in sitting at the feet of Jesus. There's time for prayer and the Word of God and sweet, sweet fellowship with the Lord.

Friends, I don't know where you are today. Maybe you're already a Mary and this is just an encouragement to continue in your time with Jesus. But maybe, just maybe, you're a Martha like me. Maybe you too need to hear that you just need to be still, and know that HE is God. Wherever you are today, I pray that you find yourself at the feet of Jesus.

"Don't be in a rush to move forward when God might want you right where you're standing." -- 30 Words by Jarrid Wilson

Taking in Beauty

When was the last time you stopped and took the time to be filled with awe at the beauty around you?

I've been experiencing this a lot lately. The stars on a crisp night, an orchestral ode to Frank Sinatra; an amazingly good tasting biscuit; snow falling in sunlight; the way six different writers from several different centuries can convey essentially the same idea to me; a young child's discoveries; and many other things.

I haven't gone searching for these raw beauties... I've simply had my eyes opened to them as I've asked God to reveal Himself to me. God's handiwork is all around us, pointing us to the glory of God.

When was the last time you stopped and took the time to be filled with awe at the beauty around you? 
Would you take some time today, maybe even right now, to take in the beauty of God and His handiwork? 

Great Expectations

I was pretty excited this past weekend to have a named winter storm headed our way. Gandalf was coming, and supposedly he was bringing a significant amount of snow, lots of strong winds, and some frigid temperatures. Since Gandalf was going to be so intense, I expected to hunker down inside: no morning walks with my baby boy, an increased consumption of hot beverages, dozens of cookies baked as the wind howled and snow fell; maybe even having my husband trapped inside and unable to go to work. No such luck: we only got a couple inches of snow and the wind didn't seem extraordinarily fierce. I was able to walk on Friday morning after all. I didn't drink more coffee than usual; I didn't even make hot cocoa. I didn't bake cookies. And Jordan still had to go to work. My expectations sure weren't met.

I've been thinking a lot this past week about my expectations in regards to my service to Jesus. If you would have asked me ten years ago how I would be serving Jesus today as a 24-year-old, I don't know what I would have said. Probably something lofty, obviously important, and amazing. Like living in Africa serving in an orphanage. Or working in a children's ministry at a church alongside my youth-director husband. Or missionary service at a homeless shelter. Emily Freeman sums up my thoughts in her book Grace for the Good Girl:

"I am struck by how I have lived in a constant state of high expectation. I compared my current life to the one I thought I would be living. I compared my Jesus walk to the way it seemed it ought to be. I had clear ideas about what important Jesus work was supposed to look like, and it had nothing to do with cleaning the toilet." 

This past week, I've been challenged to change my thinking on what it means to follow Jesus. All too often, it is easy for me to focus on the big things, the obvious things, that people do to serve the Lord. But there are ways in which we are to serve the Lord that may go completely unnoticed by others. Like clamping our mouth shut when we want to participate in gossip. Like putting others' needs before my own. Like bringing a meal to someone in need. Like getting to know my neighbor across the street and sharing Jesus' love with them. Like giving more than I'm receiving. Like telling the truth instead of lying. Like not envying that couple's house or those girls' friendships. Like being the best mom I can be to my little Ezekiel and the best wife I can be to Jordan.

Jesus' call to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him probably includes those huge, mountain-moving acts of faithful service like serving as a missionary in a foreign country. But I think, more applicable to the average Joe like me, it has to do with our daily living right here in HomeTown, USA. It might not seem as exciting or as important for the Kingdom - but it is.

However we serve, however we live, I pray that we would be working to hear these glorious words:

"'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'" - Matthew 25:21

From Mundane to Upside Down

If I were a guy, I'd play football. I used to try with the neighborhood boys until they realized I was a girl, and now my lack of muscle would definitely place me on the side-lines. But I love football. I love the exciting atmosphere, the thrill of each play, and the sheer bliss that comes when you team wins (Whoot for NDSU Bison! Sad to be a Viking...). But I've been thinking about football for more reasons than the fact that last weekend was a little crazy to be a football fan in Minnesota/North Dakota.

Last week I went to a conference called TCX in Minneapolis with Campus Crusade for Christ. It was an amazing few days spent soaked with the Word of God, Christian fellowship, and very few hours of sleep. Many of you have been to something similar to this: the FLY Convention, Bible camps during the summer, Urbana, Passion, or any of retreat/convention. During this time you're filled, you get the "mountain top experience" (literally at the FLY Convention!) and start to think this is normal life. You settle in to hearing such sweet Gospel preached to your convicted soul and enjoy the often times multiple praise and worship sets throughout the day. But then the last day comes, and you're sent off to return to the mundane life that found you before these life-altering few days.

This was exactly where I was on New Year's Eve. I wanted to stay right there, but as morning came we were ushered out of the hotel and I suddenly found myself in Fargo again. Something that night struck me:

"This is the team huddle. We can't stay here, we have to go play the game. If you try to go out alone, they'll crush you. You need the team, and the team has to go out together."

This picture reminded me of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles. They had just experienced the ultimate "mountain top experience", but they didn't stay there. They went out and preached, even with the rules and elders and scribes against them, "for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:20ff) They hadn't hopped a boat and went to far away cities, in fact, these men stayed where they were for quite some time, but they couldn't help but be changed. They couldn't return to their mundane lives from before, because their lives had been so utterly turned upside down that it didn't exist anymore.

"And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." -- Acts 4:31

Later in Acts they do embark on bringing the Gospel to the Nations, and the leaders spoke of them as "the men who have turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6). This wasn't anything they were doing in themselves, but the fact that God was using them in more mighty ways than they could imagine as they walked with Him daily.

Friends, this started across the street for them. They preached the Word and loved the people where God had placed them. It's easy for me to think I need to prepare myself to serve God in Africa or Asia, but forget that I'm here, in Fargo, with lost souls as well. And there is a time to cross the ocean and go "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8), but when we're here, don't forget to take notice to who's across the street. And recall that YOU cannot save a soul, but you can point them to Christ, who can.

Let us love like Christ, and put that passion into action, here, today.

Some 2013 Maybes

The first few week of January is probably one of my least favorite times of year. Christmas is officially over. Stores have already clearanced all things Christmas to make room for Valentine's decor; the radio stations no longer play music celebrating the Savior's birth or anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus; and life has simply returned to normal. Relatives return home. Classes resume. Life goes on. And while returning to the routine of life is good, I miss the joy, the awe, the wonder, the fun that Christmas brings.

As I moped over the fact that Christmas has indeed come to a close this past week, I spent some solid time considering what exactly it is about Christmas that I love so much. Here's what I came up with:

• The music. I love the hymns we sing in church, going caroling, and playing Christmas music while I bake or sip some coffee. Sure there is great "non-Christmas" music; but you've got to admit with me that there is something great about Christmas albums, no?
• Everyone seems happier. Sure, there's still a Grinch or two or three out there, but there seems to be this joy that is contagious wherever go. I like that.
• People seem less selfish. Yeah, there's a bounty of selfishness at Christmas time as we focus on ourselves, what we want to get. But for some, there's a focus on "What can I give to show my family/friends how much I love them? how much I appreciate them?" 
• The beautiful lights, trees and other decorations. Christmas lights on a dark night reflecting off the snow? Absolutely beautiful. Christmas trees? They seem to hold a certain fascinating beauty too.
• Seeing family. Although 500 plus miles separate us from Jordan and I's families, we still had an opportunity to see them during the Christmas season. I am so blessed by each and every one of them.
• Having our mailbox stocked full of Christmas cards and letters from loved ones rather than bills, ads, and junk mail. This is the one time of year that it seems we are remembered by more than Chase, MDU, and the City of Beulah. 

After making this list, I decided that most of those things I can do -- I should do -- every month of the year. Sure, I might not want to listen to "Let it Snow" in July, but why not something like "O Come All Ye Faithful"? And although  Christmas lights and trees are indeed beautiful, there is other beauty around me that I consistently take for granted. Like the bright beauty of the moon on a clear night or the awe-striking colors in the sunrise. 

And why, oh why, does it take a holiday for me to think about something to give my loved ones? Why do I spend days, even weeks, pondering what to give my husband for Christmas when I should be giving to him daily? Maybe not buying an expensive or elaborate gift for him each day - but shouldn't I always be thinking of him before myself? How I can put his needs above my own. How I can serve him with love and respect. How I can support him best in his ministry. And why does that stop with family? How can I bless my neighbors? The clerks at the store? My church family?

"Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." -
Galatians 6:9-10

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions. But I think this year I'll try and keep the spirit of Christmas alive despite the coming of January. Maybe that means I'll be listening to Kenny G in April. Maybe that means I'll take time to soak up the beauty of the Lord's creation when I would otherwise complain about the heat in August. Maybe it means your mailbox will be hearing from me more often throughout the year. Maybe I'll begin to focus less on my self every day and more on those around me. 

Who's with me?

Remember

Today is the second day of 2013.
Has it sunk in yet?
Did you make resolutions?
Have you kept any of them?

These are all things we regularly think about at this time of the year. However, instead of looking forward, I find it helpful to start into the new year looking back, remembering were I've come from.

I know, in my own life, God has been fervently at work in this last year. Whether through my failures, weaknesses, strengths, or experiences, God has been growing me. Developing me. Changing me. It wasn't easy. In fact often it was so hard, I simply gave up and went my own ways. But God used even those times to draw me into a deeper relationship with Him.

It's important to look back and remember what God has done. It gives us a fuller perspective on what He is continuing to do in our lives, and can remind us of how we still need to grow.

I don't know what you've faced in this last year. Maybe you had your feet swiped out from under you from something you didn't see coming. Maybe you did something which you deeply regret. Maybe you had a completely carefree year. Whatever you came through, look back, remember, and rejoice at what God has done in the midst of your life in the last year.