Joy in wonder

Have you ever seen something so beautiful that it literally stops you in your tracks and you are speechless?

There have been several things in the last month that have caused this sense of wonder in my life.  In the times of drought and struggle, these are the joys that push us forward. They are the cup of joe that spurs us on. Enjoy. 

 This gorgeous sunrise exploded in the sky at the end of a morning Bible study with Cy-Ranch girls. I had to take a picture to capture the moment. God is creative and He likes to use my favorite colors to paint the sky. 

This boy's laughter makes my day no matter the circumstance. If you don't have a favorite baby that you can listen to as they laugh...find one. They giggle as the ones they love, love on them. 

It seems we should giggle more often since we have a God that loves on us all the time! 

Ever having a stressful day...invite sweet friends over and make your favorite dishes. The best conversations comes from the kitchen with a spoon in your hand. Don't forget...in blessed fellowship, calories don't count. 

Last, but not least...the best way to beat the blues...CUDDLE!

Grab a blanket and snuggle up to someone who is always there to love you. just for who you are. 

FIND JOY. SEEK IT OUT. ITs ALWAYS THERE

joy in the closing of a chapter...

Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done. The things You planned for us no one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” Psalm 40:5 NIV


The past two years have been a struggle to say the least. God has carried me and protected me and cared for me through accidents, funerals, depression, and unexpected changes in life. God alone has done this. 


" The LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way you went until you came to this place." Deut. 1:31


I sigh in HUGE relief in the blessing of this next stage in life. No more must I weep at unmet expectations, grief, or sadness. God has closed that door and I stand before Him now, stronger, wiser, and different. I have learned to lean on my Savior when nothing else makes sense. Several times in the last two years, I have curled up in His arms and didn't leave for an extended period of time, because I was too scared to go. Security in His presence was the energy I lived with.  For this was a situation that no amount of coffee could fix. 


The LORD, my God, has carried me, His daughter until I have come to this place. Now it is time to walk beside Him with the strength He has taught me to walk in. I am so looking forward to each and every step. He has lavished such blessings on my life, I can't help but laugh every time another one comes, out of sheer joy of my Daddy loving on me. 


"I will follow my Lord every step of my life, for His love is better than life!"


"Every good and perfect gift gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17 ESV

Joy in blindness...

For a couple of years, we have had chick-fil-a morning bible studies with the girls in the community. There are several churches and denominations represented. It is a beautiful picture of believers coming together for a common purpose. Jesus.

This week, we camped out on John 9, the blind man healed. I had a completely different lesson planned, and God guided the girls to a different direction.

A question was asked of, "What benefit would it be to the blind man, if he would have returned from the pool still blind?" Often, we choose to be obedient to Jesus when he tells us the instant reward.  Jesus simply placed spit and dirt in the man's eyes and told him to go wash in a certain pool. The blind man was given no hope of healing or a miracle, but still HE WENT.

The girls answered the question with the answer.... "His benefit would be knowing he obeyed Christ. His reward would come one way or another."

The blind man was healed because he showed faith through BLIND OBEDIENCE. He went without knowing the outcome.

Are we obedient to the Spirit's calling even if we don't know if a benefit will even come to us? We are selfish in our obedience.  Many of us live in a way that tells the world that we work on a merit system with Christ. If we are good, He rewards. If we are disobedient, we are fearful of punishment.

One of the girls shared this example... she came home from school one day and randomly decided to unload the dishwasher. Her mom got home from work and began to cry over her daughter's willingness to be obedient...just to be.

Blind obedience is a way for us to throw ourselves in the arms of the Father and trusting that He has us taken care of. We are obedient because we love Him and want to make Him smile. In return, He wants to lavish so many blessings on us because we are His children, simply that.

"If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love."


Take a risk, be blind, and let Him heal!

Joy in hiccups...

Remember when you were a child and you hated getting the hiccups? My sisters used to try and scare me so that the hiccups would stop interrupting my playing time. That tactic didn't really work, rather it added the fear of walking around the corner and being taken off guard once again. The only proved method of curing the hiccups was drinking water...up-side down...from the opposite edge of the glass. It is such a random, goofy, easy solution, but it works! 


In our lives, there are little "hiccups" that interrupt our daily living, and our plan for our lives. It could be as simple as getting a phone call that a lunch date was cancelled, waking up late for a meeting, or as difficult as losing a friendship. Whatever the issue may be, life throws us "hiccups" that disrupt our happy, peaceful life. When that moment comes, we get annoyed, mad, or bitter that life is not going according to our plan. 


We have simple solutions that we try to cure those hiccups. We try distracting ourselves, getting pep talks from friends, and my personally favorite...shopping. Yet when we crawl into bed and wake up the next morning, our hiccups remain and our frustration continues and grows. 


Is there really a sure-fire way to stop hiccups as soon as they arise? I have found the answer is yes! It too...is water. Living water that is. The trick to stop those pesky spiritual hiccups is to drink deeply of God's Word. 


"Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-38)


Typically, the last thing I think to do when bumps in the road happen is to simply drink of the living water. All I have to do is stop and drink in the beautiful and convicting words of Christ. When we choose to run to the healing powers of God's word, we pass over the complications, frustrations, and bitterness that come with trying to solve the problem ourselves. Instead, it focuses our mind's attention on Christ. 


"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul." (Psalm 23:2)


Captivating our thoughts of "losing control" of our lives, we allow our Shepherd to calm us down...to literally restore our breathing. We go from uncontrollable hiccups to deep meaningful breaths. When "hiccups" come in life and we are shaken, we have peace that we have our Shepherd's words to comfort and restore us. Instead of fear, drink deeply and breath peacefully. 

Joy in disappointment

"Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding..."

"Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Ps 73:25-26

You get a small taste of something so sweet and your expectation to taste again rises. You begin to plan your day around the next bite. You cannot think of anything else. One day passes, then two, then three. Still no new taste. It begins to be the only sweetness of your life. You forget to taste and see that the Lord is good, but so was the first bite. But the comfort comes in the second part of the verse. "How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" (Ps 34:8). I cannot take refuge in the expectation of another bite. Of the sweetness of the bite itself. Things of the world are sweet but they will end. I have an eternal comfort and shelter. As when I dwell in this shelter is when I taste and see the "goodness" of the world to the extreme. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. When my taste buds are set by the Word of God, I begin to enjoy the things surrounding me because I have first tasted and enjoyed the eternal goodness of Christ. Like a fine wine brings out the flavors of food to the fullest.

Disappointment is inevitable. My eyes get set on the things of the world. I settle for a store-bought cookie when God is waiting to indulge me a four course meal. My disappointment lies in wanting to dictate my diet and expecting to eat one thing. The Lord knows to the fullest what my diet needs to be for me to be healthy, satisfied, and the most enJOYable. My God is good to me, I have tasted and seen.

I will CHOOSE to taste the goodness of the Lord today..... "Choose" by Christy Nockels

Let me be in love with what You love
Let me be most satisfied in You
Forsaking what this world has offered me
I choose to be in love with You
I will choose to be in love with You

Let me know the peace that's mine in You
Let me know the joy my heart can sing
For I have nothing Lord apart from You
I choose to call on Christ in me
I will choose to call on Christ in me

For in the fullness of who You are
I can rest in this place
And giving over this, my journey Lord
I see nothing but Your face

Let me know that You have loved me first
Let me know the weight of my response
For You have long pursued my wandering heart
I choose to glory in Your cross
I will choose to glory in Your cross

And I bow down...
Humbly, I bow down...
Humbly, I bow down...
I bow down...

I bow down, I bow down
my beloved- here I am
I bow down, I bow down to You...

Joy in starting over

My Mama always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on.
- the movie Forest Gump

Psalms 23:3 “He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Everyone makes resolutions this time of year. Basically to be a whole new person. The standards we set are so high, we are bound to fail. But it’s a fun conversation started, especially when you are meeting new people or when you come back to school. I usually make the typical girl resolutions, do things on my “There is no way i would ever do that list”, spend less money on shoes, and lose weight to fit into the skinny pants I haven’t worn since JH. This year, January 1st was approaching quickly and I didn’t want to make any resolutions, mostly because enough change had taken place for the whole year to come. I was given a second chance at the end of the summer. Now normally when someone starts out one of these “near-death”, sob stories, it usually ends with an eye-opening, life-changing experience. I couldn’t have a normal “near-death” experience. My second chance, a new change was a hard choice.

In the middle of august, I was at the lake with the leaders from our youth group. Long story short, I was hit in the back with an airborne jet ski. I was knocked out. They thought I was dead laying face down in the water. Then I woke up. I have no idea why God choose to let me wake up, still learning the answer to that one. I came away with no permanent injuries, and I walked away from the hospital 5 hours later. Normal near-death experience consist of telling everyone you know how much you love them, you understand your life better, and you have perfect vision of what you are on earth for. I didn’t have any of that. I laid on the couch for 2 weeks, unable to go to work, see friends, and live life. I sunk into depression. I hated every minute of my injury, because it stopped me from living.

When I came home from the hospital, I had a choice. Just like each one of you have a choice in your life to start over. Whether it be through a situation in your life you didn’t count on or simply a new year’s resolution, you are at a cross-road and its your choice which way you go.

When you have things in your past that constantly haunt you and you can’t escape, like my constant back pain that reminded me of what happened, you have a choice to be miserable with it, or move past it. Starting over requires learning from your past but not letting your past dictate your future. I finally decided to not let my injury stop me from living, but I still had to work-out, stretch, not go running for a long time or lift heavy things. My injury affected my future, but it didn’t dictate it.

This beautiful truth is shown in one of the most popular scriptures in the world. Psalm 23:3 “He restores my soul (healing), he guides me in the paths of righteousness (guidance) for His name’s sake (purpose).”

When something happens in your life and you are forced to make a decision to “start over”, you can rest (like in verses 1-2) assured that God will heal your past (He restores your soul). It says that he removes your sin as far as the east is from the west. Your past no longer has control. Then He guides you on the right path. He shows you the right exercises and stretches to make you strong again. He leads you on the right path. Why does all of this happen??!? “for His name’s sake.” He gives you purpose: to live for His name.

One of my favorite songs says this:

Cause you can’t change what you’ve done

But you can choose who you’ll become

Every moment is a second chance.

Today is your choice what you do with the crossroad in front of you. Start over today because His mercies are new every morning. (Lam 3)

joy in the unknown

When I can’t see the next step...

I see your face.

When I can’t feel my way in the dark...

My hand is firm in your grip.

I don’t know...

but You do.

I can’t understand Your ways...

I wouldn’t understand if you told me.

I don’t have to know...

You do.

My world is in Your hands.

Your will is not in mine.

I close my mouth

I listen to the words that comes on your every breath.

I rest in peace

My Jesus holds my world in His hands.

He knows what He is doing.

I’ve never been more thankful.

As humans, we love to see others do the impossible. But as soon as the spotlight comes on us, our faith is weakened beyond belief and we are struck dumb. Anything that scares us or seems impossible can be done by anyone but ourselves. But what happens when you see someone complete what looked to be unthinkable.

One of the biggest hit shows of the last decade has been the Biggest Loser. Why is watching a bunch of overweight strangers workout and try to eat healthy while sneaking Twinkies in their room appealing? They are doing what the world says is "impossible". The end of the season becomes the biggest inspiration to the rest of the nation watching from the couch to do the impossible in our lives.

We can't do the impossible on our own strength. But we serve the God who majors in the impossible. Pick any story in the Bible and I prove my point. One of my favorite stories is God accomplishing the most impossible task to humans...Mary's pregnancy.

She couldn't see the future, she was living day by day on faith and seeking God's face.

Her world was dark and unsupportive around her, she held on to the grasp of God's faithfulness.

She didn't know what He was up to, but OH how well HE knew what He was doing!

She would have freaked out if God had told her what was going on! He knows best!

Her world was in His hands...the whole world laid in the hands of the One she was carrying.

She choose not to argue, but to dwell on the words of comfort from her Lord.

She rested in peace as she held her Jesus in her arms, knowing one day He would do the same for her.

I can say without a doubt she was thankful for that God knew what He was doing!

Whatever situation you are blinded to right now, rest in the one who sees not only what is going on, but understands the fears and concerns of your heart and wants to put them to rest in His peace.