It's Okay, You Can Laugh About It (by Kathleen)

"If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to."

"If you prove to be a talented church volunteer, you'll be 'volunteered' for everything. But if you're really, really talented, you'll be able to get out of it."

"Every sunrise is my little way of saying, 'Lighten up!" (God)

"One day it happens, you think to yourself,' You know? That music is kind of loud,' and you turn it down."

Christian Fellowship Church (sign): "Church parking only. Trespassers will be baptized."

Which was more disillusioning realizing that there was no Santa Clause or that 'cleanliness is next to godliness' was not, in fact, in the bible?"

"Was Mary's sister Martha bitter because she got stuck with the old-lady name?"

"Why is it that when we talk to God we are praying but when God talks to us we are schizophrenic."

St. John's Catholic Church (sign)" "Now open between Christmas and Easter."

"Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for you will never cease to be amused."

*** Compilation of quotes from Christian writers, church billboards, pastors and bumper stickers from the book Laugh a Day ***

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I wanted to do a light-hearted blog. It seems that most of you are pretty stressed, fearful, overwhelmed, anxious and insert self-induced problem (here). So I wanted to remind you that in the scope of humanity and eternity.... your problem is really.... not that big. Sorry to admit it ladies but it's true (Confession: I have to remind myself of this truth all the time). So please, for the sake of your male partners and mothers, stop stressing out about it! Try and see the positive and laugh about what is so incredibly absurd. Like my pop always says," If you can't laugh at yourself, then you can't laugh," so start laughing. And like my other father says,"Who of you can add a single hour to your life by worry?" (Luke 12:25) and stop worrying.

I promise that you will always have stress in your life. I promise that your stresses will always get bigger. I promise that in 10 years what mattered today will seem like a tiny matter in comparison to what will matter then. I promise that "will be, will be." I promise that God is in control. And (saved the corniest for last) I promise that "If God is your copilot, then it is time to switch seats."

God will come to our rescue!!

The LORD is SO Faithful to hear our Cries!

Remember we can always cry out to Him and He will answer and help us in our times of need!!

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.

Psalm 107: 28-32

I love you Girls!!

Ashby

May His Spirit keep filling us up

Today was a POWERFUL day at church. It was one of those Sundays were you cant help but to be fully invaded by the Holy Spirit. When tears fall, grace comes, hearts break, and joy rises.

I had the amazing opportunity to bring a friend to church today who has been asking to come with me. I was nervous, I am not going to lie. It is always the times when you bring your friends when the sermon is the most awkward one for them to hear. But, because our God's love casts out all fear, He settled my heart and I was able to let the Holy Spirit take the reigns. And did He ever. The sermon was on sexual healing, which we are ALL in need of, and anytime there is a opportunity for the Lord to break us of chains, guilt, shame, in our lives, it takes the work of the Holy Spirit to really come in and clean out our hearts and heal us over. It was one of those mornings, when you leave church and you feel like you can breath again.

I learned today that it is Pentecost Sunday. Today marks the day, when the Easter celebration is over, and the Lord left His Holy Spirit with us on earth. Praise God for this undeserving gift! I cant imagine walking life without the gift of the Holy Spirit giving understanding, discernment, grace, healing in our lives. I stand in awe of Our Maker today that He not only loved us enough to create our hearts to know Him personally, but then sent His Son to walk life physically with His children so we could tangibly see Him. And if that wasnt enough, He left His Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts, so not only can He dwell with us, but IN us.

In Acts 2 it describes the power of this day:

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

⁵Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? ⁸Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" ¹²Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

¹³Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine.

¹⁴Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! ¹⁶No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

¹⁷" 'In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
¹⁹I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
²⁰The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
²¹And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

I love the power of this scripture that even still today, we act like this when the Holy Spirit comes. We cant grasp the power of it all, or put words to our encounters, it just all seems crazy. All I know is that is makes me stand in awe, and I am grateful.

I want to encourage you girls today, just to invite the Holy Spirit to invade every area of your lives, and to thank God for sending His Holy Spirit to dwell in us. Praise God it changes us and moves us.

One of my favorite hymns "There is a Redeemer" says

Thank you O My Father, for giving us your Son. And leaving your Spirit til, the work on earth is done.

I love that! I have been listening to this song "Healing is in Your Hands" by Christy Nockles (My FAV) on repeat since yesterday, and I just want to leave you with it. Such a beautiful reminder that there is NOTHING that can keep us from OUR MIGHTY GOD!

PS, this pic is from when I was in Myanmar. It is one my favorite gifts from the Lord that he allowed me to see this sunrise this beautiful morning. It marked a day of great healing and love in my life. Isnt it gorgeous what Our Creator creates!

Love you girls!

Natalie

Experience God's Peace

I want to start this post off with telling you girls how much I truly love to receive prayer requests from you. There isn't a problem too big or too small that we can't come to God with. I think a huge part of having friends like you guys is to lift each other up in encouragement, love and prayer when we need it most. So keep them coming.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have truly been aware of the power of prayer. I have prayed for a lot of things and seen God answer them. Although most of them have just been small prayers, He is still answering them. A lot of the time I don't realize it because I'll pray for it for a day or two, forget, and then a few weeks later suddenly see just how God has completely answered that prayer.

These past few weeks have been a little bit of a struggle for me, I'm not going to lie. I have been feeling dry, not wanting to read my bible and not praying as steadfastly as I should be. Through the days that I have been really needing God's help, even just a simple prayer to Him gives me that peace. It's crazy how fast He can work when we cry out to Him. My absolute favorite verse in the bible comes from Philippians 4:6-7 and I hold it so true to my heart. Natalie, when you mentioned last week about learning and reciting a verse over and over, I completely agreed. It's a discipline we are all capable of. When I am in times of worry, anxiety, stress or just overwhelming emotion whether good or bad, I often recite this verse in my head, taking a moment to completely understand what I am saying and just how much truth is in it:

"Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

I love the part about it being far more wonderful than our human mind can understand. When I experience a moment of peace, it is nearly the best thing in the world, and all along we aren't even fully able to experience peace from God. But I am so thankful that He generously offers it and showers it on those who truly ask for it. And I fully trust that His peace will guide my heart always back to Him.

Ok so I know I just posted, but I just had the BEST, long conversation with Natalie (wow does she know just how to kick your butt! :) haha I am just so encouraged and convicted about having Idols before the Lord. Natalie was saying even when she chooses to pick at her face or pluck her eyebrows before bed instead of getting on her knees and praying to God, these are areas of idols. We are making ourselves and everything around us idols before the Lord. Wow I am SO convicted and excited to weed out these idols! Facebook, the computer, TV, cleaning, talking on the phone, reading....not that these areas individually are bad but when they are coming between you and your time with God, they become such an idol in my life! Natalie thank you for not being afraid to speak the truth, thank you for listening to what God is placing on your heart! I am totally guilty of having so many idols before the Lord. I encourage each of you to be very real with yourselves right now and pick out those areas and idols. Lets get rid of them together. Lets spend our free time with the Lord! Ok I'm going to stop preaching and go do just that :) Just really wanted to share this because I was SO encouraged by my long chat today! Love you all, my real blog post of the week is below! Love Megs

How do I FEAR the Lord?

Proverbs 1: 7
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."

What does it mean to fear the Lord? This is something a few of us have discussed over the years and tried to figure out. Are we supposed to be afraid of God and obey simply out of fear? I don't think that is quite what fearing the Lord means, but if not that, then what? Clearly it is something important because it is mentioned over and over throughout the Bible. At times I will be reading then I come to the phrase "Fear the Lord your God" and I'm kind of like "ahhhhh what does that mean? How do I take in this passage of scripture without fully understanding what that means?!"

Proverbs 2: 1-5
"my son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."

I encourage each of you (and myself!) to fully jump into our faith, not one foot in and one foot out. To completely immerse ourselves in scripture, prayer, meditation with the Lord. To LEARN our Bibles (or as the vs says, store up my commands within you). Lets stop reading and agreeing and start doing. Lets "Apply your heart to understanding, and call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding"! I want to FULLY understand how to fear the Lord, the way He wants me to. In order to do this I have to stop messing around. I am either going to fear him or I am not...it is as simple as that.

I will leave you with these few verses from Proverbs that are not necessarily about fearing the Lord but stood out to me in my reading this morning. By loving my 'simple ways' and 'complacency', it is getting in the way of fully embracing my fear, love, and devotion to the Lord.

Proverbs 1: 22
"How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?"

Proverbs 1: 32 "For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of the fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."

Love Megs

Prayer for Rachey...

Hi ladies, please pray for my sweet friend Rachey today. Today has been an especially hard day for her. She had to go into Daniel's room to hang something up and just fell apart when she opened his closet and saw all his little clothes there. Please just pray for comfort and peace and restful sleep tonight. Thank you girls for caring and lifting her up. Love you, Megs

Happy Belated Armed Forces Day! (by Kathleen)

Thank you to all the brave men and women who stood up for liberty, justice and freedom for all. Your courage inspires many; your service commands the gratitude of all.

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“God of our fathers, who by land and sea have ever lead us to victory, please continue your inspiring guidance in this the greatest of all conflicts. Strengthen my soul so that the weakening instinct of self-preservation, which besets all of us in battle, shall not blind me to my duty to my own manhood, to the glory of my calling, and to my responsibility to my fellow soldiers. Grant to our armed forces that disciplined valor and mutual confidence which insures success in war. Let me not mourn for the men who have died fighting, but rather let me be glad that such heroes have lived. If it be my lot to die, let me do so with courage and honor in a manner which will bring the greatest harm to the enemy, and please, oh Lord, protect and guide those I shall leave behind. Give us the victory, Lord.” - General George S. Patton

Genius God (by Kathleen)

“You alone [are] the LORD; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.” – Nehemiah 9:6

As many of you know, I am a self-proclaimed history buff. Therefore, I l-o-v-e the History Channel. It has many of my favorite television programs, particularly, the show, “How the Earth Was Made.” It showcases different areas of the earth and how these places uniquely came into existence. One episode I viewed was about Yellowstone and how the national park was originally a volcano. The volcano erupted and the remains left various “hot spot” type geyser in the valley. The most famous geyser is Old Faithful. Another episode was about the Alps and how the tectonic plates of Africa and Europe collided to create the Matterhorn. The last episode I watched was about Iceland, the largest volcanic island in the world. This episode literally, blew my mind.

Below the earth’s surface of Iceland is a 500-mile tunnel of molten lava. The country’s land mass is situated perfectly over the tunnel which is what causes all of its volcanic activity (most recently, the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull.) In addition, an eruption below the sea surface in 1963 caused the earliest known landmass to form, the island of Surtsey. It was fascinating to learn about all the elements, which collided, combusted and came together to form the earth we live in. An inch here or a mineral absent there would have entirely changed the framework of living organisms.

The show (and the world we live in) perpetually humbles me to the brilliancy of our God. It took absolute genius-ness to bring together the universe and all that is within it. Personally, I think the show should be titled “How the Earth Was Created: an Exploration of a Genius God” because our God is so mighty. He spoke an entire world into existence. A world comprised of elements, compounds, minerals and gases that work in perfect partnership to sustain a beautiful universe…. What a genius God we worship.

Reflecting God's Image

This past week has been a little hard for me. One of those weeks where you just cant get motivated to be with the Lord. I know that if I seek time with Him, I will be filled, but I allowed my flesh to take over a lot this week and was choosing to not put God first. So, obviously my heart has been heavy about this. I know my Creator deserves all of me. All my praise, all my life, everything that I have to offer, even if its just me as I am. As little as that is I need to bring to the altar.

I felt led tonight to take a trip down memory lane and go look at some old pictures from Semester at Sea, specifically from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In Rio, on a very high mountain, there is a HUGE Christ statue, called Christ the Redeemer. There it is, a picture of our Savior, standing with His arms spread wide above the whole city and all who are in it, saying come to me and I will redeem you.

I cant remember exactly how I felt when I saw this statue that day in Rio. I even went back and read my journal to see what I recalled my experience to be, but couldnt really find anything of worth. It hit me hard though seeing this picture of myself that I didnt remember I even had. This one of Christ being reflected in my eyes....

Looking at this picture I feel all kinds of emotion, two being the heaviest. Conviction and motivation. Conviction, because I know that the Lord led me to this powerful picture I forgot I even had, to remind me that I bear his image. ALWAYS. Even when I dont feel like it, or dont feel like I am bearing it, the Lord made me that way. He made me, YOU, in HIS image.

Genesis 1: 27

" So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. "

Girls, we are made, created, formed, knit together, in the image of Christ and we are created and called to bear His image with our whole being. This was exactly what I needed to be reminded of this week. When I am not spending time with my Creator, I sure cant reflect Him very well. That image that we bear of Christ is a BIG deal and it should overflow on to everything that we do, say or live.

Which lead me to my next emotion..motivation.

The pastor this morning mentioned the words "Holy urgency" today in church. Something about that phrase really resonated with me. This "Holy Urgency" that was burning in me for the past 2 months hasn't been so hot and flamey this week. I have for some reason decided that it is not so urgent to share the image of Christ that I bear. And I dont know why. But God gave me a picture of myself tonight, physically reflecting His image to remind me what I am made to do.

Girls, this idea of a holy urgency, cant be temporary. I has to bleed out in everything that we do. We need to live in the truth, and the truth is that we were created by God, for God, to bear His image and point people to His wide, open Redeeming arms.

This may have been all over the place, but basically I want you girls to recognize the beauty that lies within your heart. Our heart is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit! What a beautiful thing! And if you are experiencing Him like you should be, your life should reflect it, His image should be reflected in your life, even so much that people all around can see it in your eyes.

Love you girls,

Natalie

Faithful to complete what HE has begun…

43 So the LORD gave Israel ALL the land He had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. 45 Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. (Joshua 21: 43-45)

So many times I have to remind myself that God is faithful and that He has a purpose for my life. It is easy to focus on our immediate situation and see no hope.

One thing my mom always says is,

“big problems-small God” “Big God- small problems.”

When we find ourselves overwhelmed with our problems, God can seem very small. But when you go through trials, keep looking at God. Meditating on the fact that God is Huge, He spoke the world into being, He is amazing, He is perfect, He is powerful and He loves us! Your problems will become small and you can rest in Your father.

Nothing is too big or small for God to help with. Nothing is impossible for Him! Everything that He promised Israel He gave them. Every promise was fulfilled!

I love you girls!! It was so good to see everyone at Nicole's engagement party!!

Love you

Ash B

Holy Ground

"The earth is crammed with Heaven,
every common bush is afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes"
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Just found this quote and wanted to share it with you girls. It is so powerful. Rest in the LORD's Holiness today.

Love you all! - N

Choose life that you may live!

God is about to let Israel enter the much awaited Promised Land. Like a loving father, God is speaking with Israel before they leave.

Those of you, who have little children in your lives, have many conversations similar to this: “If you throw your toys at your sister, then we will not go to the park.” This is exactly what God is doing in Deuteronomy 30:17-20.

Verses 17 and 18 are if/then statements. God warns Israel if they worship other gods (verse 17) then they will perish (verse 18). We are given this same warning in the New Testament, in Romans 6:23 it says, “For the wages of sin is death.”

Israel can choose to sin. We can choose to sin. But sin always leads to death.

In verse 19 God says, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you.” Don’t just read past this scripture without fully bearing the weight of what is being said here. God, the creator of heaven and earth, is saying, “I am making this covenant between you and me. And heaven and earth are witnessing it.”

God goes on to say that he puts a few options in front of us that we get to choose from:

The first option is life and blessing.

The second option is death and cursing.

“I will take life and blessing, thanks!”

Easy choice, right? God goes on to encourage Israel to make the right choice by saying, if you choose life, then you and your family will live and you may love the LORD.

Why do we struggle with choosing life? God promises blessing and the opportunity to love God.
In verse 20 I can hear God begging Israel to choose life. God says, “Cling to God, He is your life. And you will be blessed. This is such a wonderful promise from a wonderful God. I Pray that you girls are blessed this week. I love you and cannot wait to see you girls!!

Xoxo
Ash B

Deut 30: 17-20
(17) “But if your heart turns away so that you for not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, (18) I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. (19) I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death , blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendents may live; that you may love the LORD your God , (20)that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your father, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Let the Women of Great Faith Arise

When my baby cousin Connor was first born, I went to go see him and Nikki in Seattle. One of the most special things that I saw during my time there was that my Aunt Debbie, Connor's grandma recited the 91st Psalm over him. He would just stare at her, this little newborn, looked right into her eyes as she prayed this sweet blessing over him. Children know. They know their Creator, and they know the Lord. We should never assume that they cant comprehend who their Maker is, because no matter what age, we have longing for our Creator.

My Aunt Debbie memorized this whole Psalm to say over him. It is a POWERFUL Psalm and one that I have never really heard. I was so impressed at her ability to memorize scripture and it reminded me that I dont take the time to really plant God's Word in my heart. It is our defense, our comfort, or daily reminders of God's faithfulness and love for us. We should take the time to tuck in our minds and hearts.

She proceeded to tell me that my Nana's mom ( my great grandma's mom) used to pray this Psalm over my Nana. And my Nana prayed it over her babies, and now my Aunt Debbie is praying it over her grandbaby. I just think this is such a cool tradition. We as women, as mothers, as aunts, as cousins, have such an incredible opportunity to speak truth into our children's lives. I think something like memorizing a scripture to say over your children or babies in your life could potentially altar their relationship with the Lord, pushing them towards their King from the first day of their life.

In response, I have started to memorize this Psalm so I can pray it over not only my own babies one day, but the babies I have in my life right now. These words have SO much power in them and I want to speak something over them that is filled with the power of the Spirit. To encourage, to protect, to raise them up as Christ followers as they grow into who they will become. It is long, so i have about half of it memorized, but I say it throughout the day to myself so I can practice and also to have scripture on my lips for my own life.

Today being Mother's Day I just wanted to share with you a sweet tradition in my family about the mother's/women of great faith who have prayed over the children in my family. Through those prayers I think I now know God the way I do because of their commitment to the Lord. I encourage you guys to memorize one scripture this week, and try to make it a habit to memorize more. Knowing the Word of God is such a powerful tool. Read over this precious Psalm, Psalm 91, and rest in knowing that God is our Protector, Giver, Provider, and is All Powerful to never fail us.

I love you girls..Happy Mother's Day to you Kath! (You are such a wonderful Godly mother, I am so proud of you!) Make sure you tell all the mother's in your life how much you love and appreciate them today! Enjoy your day with your moms!!

xoxo- N

Psalm 91

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

² I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

³ Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

¹⁰ then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

¹³ You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

¹⁵ He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

God is light

First of all, I am so overwhelmed at how amazing my girlfriends are. I cannot tell you how much all of your support means to me. There is nothing better than having my friends cry, laugh, yell and be excited with me!!! Thank you for your prayers and lovin this whole week! I found these verses perfect for where I am at in life.

1 John 1:1-7

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have tourched-this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our FELLOWSHIP is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard form him and declare to you : God is light, in his there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowhip with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

I just love this. Not only do I get to fellowship with my ladies and pray over my marriage, but my fellowship is also with Jesus. We can only find joy when we do this, and right now we are totally obeying his word! We are living in light, and I am so encourged by you all.

sorry for the confusion!

I had some technical difficulties (shocking...I know...) while trying to post! In the middle of typing I hit a button that made it post before I was finished. So I finished the post in a second one and posted it but then realized you all will be reading the 2nd 1/2 of the post before the 1st...anyways sorry for the confusion. I just copy and pasted all of it and resposted it as one long one. So that's why there are 3 posts from me! haha sorry! All you have to do is read the first one (The other 2 are the same thing just broken up and jumbled!) wow this is a bit how I feel like my life is at the moment hahaha jumbled and broken up! hahaha how appropriate! Happy reading! Love Megs

Is it "wifey wendesday" already?! As I have been sharing with some of you, I really feel like I have been in a bit of a slump lately. In fact last week I tried to post all day long on my assigned Wednesday and I just had nothing to share. Something I feel very convicted of is "shouting on the street corners" so to speak, I do not want to be not right with God and then preaching his word and passion all over because it's "my turn". The flip side of that is my relationship with God is not an emotion and weather I feel it or not I need to continue on. I just didn't feel like I was in a place to share this and that and pretend when in my heart I knew I was being selfish and being consumed by myself and by life's hardships.

It's so amazing how God uses his scripture and surrounds us with people who are experiencing similar trials. I have never read all of the Bible and after a great pep talk from my ladies I realized how sad that is! I started reading and decided this time I would not skip over the "leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy..." sections haha I always viewed those as a bit slow, of a totally different culture, and unable to offer much help to my life right now. Wow has God prooved me wrong about that! I have learned more about my God and myself and just how SERIOUS God is about our relationship with him from the first few chapters of the Bible! In fact it is so pertinent to my life right now that at times it becomes a bit uncomfortable reading it because it makes me realize I am reading about MYSELF!

I AM AN ISRAELITE! About every 2 chapters the Israelites complain and complain to Moses and God saying why did you bring us here? It would have been better for us to stay in Egypt and be a slave than to be here. Then God reminds them of his greatness and power. God does miracles, punishes the unbelievers, makes his presence and plan known, and the Israelites repent and recommit their lives to God. They follow the detailed instructions of offering a sacrifice according to their sins, promise to follow and trust God, pray and worship him...then about 1 1/2 chapters later they complain and sin before God. The cylce continues and continues...I get so frustrated with them and in my eyes the Israelites are weak and stupid but I am realizing, yes they are those things...but so are we (specifically me!)God is showing me through reading these chapters that first of all, complaining is a sin! Complaining is not trusting in God. If God truely loves us much as he says he does then doesn't he surely love us enough to take care of us and our life. Just as he did not bring the Israelites out into the dessert to just die, he will not bring us out to our different areas of life and just leave us. If we fully submit ourselves to him he will have a beautiful plan for us. He doesn't promise it will be easy and pain free, but it will be HIS plan and he will be there to help us along the painful and hard times.

Basically I just want to encourage each of you to take a look at your lives and find where we have the most hard time trusting in God, where do we complain about and try and fix on our own? Because that is EXACTLY what the Israelites did. Some complained (they were destroyed), some ignored God (They were destroyed), some said the dessert is fine with me I would rahter stay here then go on (they were destroyed), some went on into the promise land before God was ready (and they were destroyed). We are guilty of each of these things, ignoring, complaining, trying to not consult God but do it our own way. Each of these is so unsatisfying and ultimately sinful before our Lord God. God has been showing me these last few weeks I am acting like these Israelites. I have been praying for him to humble us before him, to do whatever it takes to break us (David and I) so our hearts can be fully prepared to worship and be before him. As soon as God started "humbling and breaking" us I started complaining. I started feeling bad and getting frustrated and asking God why or worse, just ignoring God and trying to figure it out and carry the burden on my own. Just what the "dumb" Israelites did! My prayers have been, "God I'm sorry I'm acting like the Israelites" I never would have prayed that or understood that if I had skipped the "slow" chapters of the Bible! They are not slow at all rather JUST what I needed to hear!

God I am sorry for not only my complaining but my CONTINUAL complaining. You take me back time and time again and yet just like the chapters in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers...I complain and doubt again. I recognize for the first time the seriousness of this and am heartbroken that I have been treating you this way. God thank you for your faithfulness, even when I am not.

Sorry if my post was all over the place this time (to be honest I feel like I'm a little all over the place right now!) but I hope I was able to explain a little of what God is showing and humbling me! Megan

Finish The Race You Started (by Kathleen)

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
-2 Timothy 4:7-

I participated in sports growing up; I ran for class office; I was confronted with many situations where I had to “keep on, keepin’ on.” But nothing, I mean nothing, compares to the discipline and determination it took for me to complete the 26.2-mile marathon I ran last weekend. Physically, it felt like there was NO possible way I could continue on. Mentally, however, I forced myself not to give up, to push through the inextricable pain and finish the race I started.

Paul’s words had never been so clear to me then when I hit mile 16 and I started to cramp in areas I never knew could cramp. Pain shot throw my knees like a swift arrow. My body was breaking but I continued on. I repeated over and over in my head,” My body does not control me. I control my body. My body does not control me. I CONTROL my body.”

You see? Our faith is a lot like a marathon. Sin is like the pain I felt when I hit my “wall.” When my hip flexors tightened up like a strong fist and a sensation that can only be described as a blazing fire spread through my calves, I could have given up. I didn’t though. I CHOSE not to let the pain I felt in my body determine the outcome of my race. We have to CHOOSE not to let the temptation of sin determine the outcome of our life.

Strict discipline is the only way I know how to control my flesh. I mean let’s be honest, sexual sin is a huge stumbling block for me. So I have made several commitments to God, and myself in an effort, not to allow sin to pull me out of the TRUE race- again. If anything, the greatest lesson I learned from running a marathon is how much we can control our bodies. Pushing through pain is not easy but it can be done; getting out of the bedroom when kissing is getting a little too steamy is not easy but it can be done.

The determination it took to get 26 miles was challenging but when I crossed the finish line, I almost cried. The sense of accomplishment was immeasurable. I cannot even imagine the feeling I will experience when I cross the ultimate finish line... I'm thinking it’s gonna to be good.

NICA IS ENGAGED!!!

Everyone Has An Altar

Exodus 20: 4-6

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth below. You shall not bow down to them or WORSHIP them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."

The Lord has really been teaching me about worship this past week and how I am worshipping ALL the time, whether I realize it or not. The problem is, its not always HIM I am worshipping. We are called to worship NO ONE but the Lord. Clearly stated in the 10 commandments, above is the 3rd commandment not to WORSHIP any other idol. But honestly I struggle with this every single day, all day long.

Ashley and I are reading this book called Wired For a Life of Worship by Louie Giglio. We are one chapter in and already the Lord has completely opened my eyes and convicted me about all the ways I am worshipping so many other things besides the Him. He reminds us that we were wired to worship because He made us that way. That naturally we worship all day everyday. We were made to worship the Lord specifically, but its our choice whether we do that or not.

This chapter was full of all kinds of mind blowing concepts about worship and examples of how people engage in incredible acts of worship all day long without realizing it at all, but one of the biggest things that stuck out to me was he said,

"Everyone has an altar, and every altar has a throne."

Um, talk about conviction. There I was BLOWN AWAY by this simple concept and realizing that God is not on the throne of my altar most of the time. Truthfully, He is only on it when I make time to worship at that altar, usually late at night, or at church, or maybe if I have some requests I want to put before Him. But I am screwed up girls. We all have altars we worship at and sitting at that altar there is always a throne of the ultimate thing we are worshipping.

Maybe its yourself on the throne, and you are consumed with the way you look, or your weight, or who is paying attention to you. Maybe its your boyfriend or husband, who you long to be with more than the Lord, and you hang on his every touch and word. Maybe its your passion, the very thing God has created you to do, to be, but you are placing it above the Lord. I dunno what all the things that are in our lives that we put above the Lord, but girls, there should be NOTHING, not one person, not one thing, that we love or worship more than the Lord.

The Lord has shown me so much what I am worshipping over Him this week. It doesnt even have to be bad things. We just so easily turn things into sin, because we are sinful. For example, for all of you who know me, know that I live to create. I see God as the ultimate Creator, and I love to do anything that allows me to create, to use the gifts that He has given me. To reflect the Creator! So creative outlets keep me energized all the time. Its a very healthy outlet for me. This week I am have been digital scrapbooking like crazy bc I am working on a project that I am trying to finish quickly. I could spend HOURS doing this. I love it so much its crazy. I just get so caught up in creating, the colors, the layouts, the pictures, it just all makes me so happy. And I get to think about NOTHING when I create which I love. But this week as I was scrapbooking, my converstaions with God went like this.

Me: "God, I am going to scrapbook until 11:30 and then I am going to spend time with you before I go to bed. It will give me like a good solid hour with you."

God: "Deal"

Me: "Oh man, its already 11:45! Wow, just one more layout and then I will spend time with you. I am almost finished with this one. Ill just say up a little later with you."

God: "Ok, I am just waiting"

Me: "Wow, its already 12:30! Time flies! Ok Ill stop now. Man, I am so tired. Lets go spend some time together."

God: "Ok"

Me: (Getting all snuggled in bed with my bible out) "Dear Lord, I just wanna learn from you, spend time with you, be filled up with.....zzzzz...zzzzz..zzzzzz..zzzzzz" (Im now sleeping and I get the F)

Girls, I totally worshipped the very passion that the Lord instilled in me, INSTEAD of the LORD who instilled it in me. And by the time I was done worshipping myself and my passions, I didnt have anything left for the Lord.

We do this all the time. All day, everyday. I want you to think this week as you go about your life. The tiniest things that you do, or the big things. What are you giving your energy to? And are you choosing something over God to do it? Who is on the throne of your altar? Because if the answer is not God, then we need to check ourselves and ask God to come alongside us to help us put our priorities in order.

He loves us so much, and we say we love him too, so lets truly WORSHIP THE LORD, with all our hearts, all our minds, all our souls, and all our strength. He's our Creator! He deserves to be worshiped and praised for eternity just for being Him, no other reason needed.

Love you girls!

Natalie

The cost of worship

“And you shall remember that the LORD your GOD led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart whether you would keep His commandments or not.” Deuteronomy 9: 2

“And you shall remember”

Over and over again the church is told to remember what the LORD has done, to never forget the work of the LORD, to teach your children and grandchildren about GOD, and to build something in remembrance of what GOD has done. GOD knows our hearts and our tendencies to forget HIM, HIS faithfulness, and HIS promises.

“that the LORD your GOD led you”

GOD is proclaiming two important statements in this portion. One, that GOD is the leader and second, that GOD is their LORD. The LORD led Israel out of Egypt, it had nothing to do with Israel’s power or might. It was GOD who was their leader, a cloud by day and fire by night. GOD is our leader. If we are lost or confused or do not know where to go, GOD will lead us to the place where we belong.

GOD is proclaiming that HE chose Israel because HE is the LORD their God. The definition of LORD is a person who has power or authority of another person’s life. That is such a powerful definition. Have I given YOU the power and authority of my life GOD?? If I have not then are you the leader of my life or am I? Is GOD the LORD of your Life?

“all the way”

This portion makes me cry, GOD led them all the way. And he will lead us all the way as well. As you all know my life is in a transition period, to say the least. And I keep a promise that GOD gave me. I was feeling very lost and confused and I felt like I was in a raft floating farther and farther away from my dreams. And I was crying out to the LORD, “GOD what am I doing I feel like I am on a raft floating to the abyss while everyone is swimming feverishly to shore and some have already arrived on shore.” GOD so lovingly gave me the passage of Psalm 104. This passage talks about how GOD controls the waters, springs and oceans. How lovely is that! Even though I am floating out to sea, my GOD controls the waters that are carrying me! I have found such peace and rest in this.

“these forty years in the wilderness”

As I talked about last week, their journey was only supposed to take around two weeks and because of their unfaithfulness their journey was extended. Sometimes I feel like I have not been faithful and so GOD is not going to complete what he began in me, and yet GOD took them all the way. In the wilderness GOD never left them and even provided manna from heaven so that they always had food to eat. The wilderness was not their promised land, but even in the land of their disobedience GOD never left them.

“to humble you and test you”

God resists a prideful heart but gives grace to the humble. During their time in the wilderness GOD was transforming their prideful hearts into hearts that loved and reverenced GOD. GOD was also testing them to see if they really loved HIM. Going through testing is hard but there is always a blessing that comes after we have proved ourselves faithful.

“whether you would keep His commandments or not”

When things get tough it is so easy for me to feel like GOD has abandoned me. But it is in these times that I should keep GODS commandments. It has really been impressed on my heart that we will all stand before the LORD alone. All by ourselves. This has really made me accountable to what I do and what I do not do. It is very easy to go to our Christian friends/family and have them talk us out of living a sold out life for GOD. But you know what, only you will be held responsible for disobeying GOD. You cannot say, well my friends knew what I was doing it and they never stopped me, or my parents said it was okay. It is just going to be me and GOD, face to face. This really scares me. Just recently I had the opportunity to volunteer in the morgue. And let me tell you my friends nothing gets more real than being in the morgue. There was a patient who had just died, I saw his lifeless body on the table I got a scary feeling deep in my gut. In my mind I kept on thinking, “He is in the presence of the LORD! Right now this person is face to face with GOD.” I know that seems very obvious, but it was such a reality that hit me in the face. I cannot begin to explain the feeling. But at that moment I felt so shameful for not sharing my faith more. You see this patient was on my floor for 3 weeks. They were young and died in an accident and I could not even remember ever seeing them before. Yet I probably went into their room multiple times throughout the weeks. I encourage you to stop living a lukewarm life, stop living in the gray zone, and live for Christ. Because every single person that ever crosses our faces will one day be face to face with GOD, including you!

“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your GOD who brought you of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;” Deuteronomy 9:11

xoxo Ash B