The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. No, I am not talking about an old western featuring famous cowboys facing off each other surviving the rugged wild west; but I am talking about facing another wild and rugged place... I call it LIFE.

I am sure you can relate. There are good days, bad days, and just right out ugly days of life.

Boldly Love On God at the Next SHINE Event!

Hello ladies! Where in the world does time go? Man, how did this month fly by and I haven't even sent out an update about the next SHINE get-together! I know with this late notice, many of you may not be able to make it... but "consistency" is the area God is working on in my personal life.

So get ready to have a great time with our wonderful sisters and SHINE!!!

This month we are going to meet at my house... GOD HELP ME!!! Or maybe I should say, "GOD HELP THEM!!!" My house is ... well it is my house, my mother would probably flip her lid if she thought I was going to invite company into it. And to be honest, a few of you may think, "What was she thinking!?!" when you come. BUT...............life is life and this is me and I am trying to do better and it takes time... yadda, yadda, yadda! No more worries, just do what God is wanting me to do!

Ok, now that that is out of the way:O)  This month we are going to learn how to BLOG: Boldly Love On God!!! And yes, that is going to be the lesson; but.... I am also going to be giving a little Blogging 101 lesson as well. For our activity this month I am going to help any of you that want to, set up your very own BLOG!!! What better way to Boldly Love On God than to share your testimony!! A blog is the perfect way to practice.

There is so much I want to tell you all, but this isa crazy busy week! So, I will leave it at that! I will have at least 3 computers available and any of you who have laptops, PLEASE bring them. I have wifi and you can get online and get those creative juices running! The event will be Saturday the 28th at 5 pm at my house. If you have to work or can't make it right at 5, don't let that stop you. There will be so much going on, you can drop in whenever you want.

There will be some LIGHT snacks. Don't know what yet, this is one of those can't wait till payday kind of weeks, so I am going to be creative! It may be bologna sandwiches or it could be something fancy. I just haven't decided yet! Just come expecting to have a good time and enjoy the presence of good, godly fun!

I love you all! If you POSSIBLY can, it is always nice to know who is and isn't coming. It just helps me plan a bit. So.. RSVP's are great, but if you don't get to it, don't EVER let that keep you from coming on and joining us!

God bless you.. remember to BOLDLY LOVE ON GOD this week!

Greater Love

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” –John 15:13

Can you imagine giving your life up for someone? I mean, we would all like to think we could. But if it REALLY came down to sacrificing your own life for someone else’s, could you do it? I don’t think I could. I know there are countless heroes that have been able to make that call in the heat of a battle; mothers who have been found sheltering their kids under their bodies in natural disasters, and best friends willing to sacrifice an organ and possibly die in surgery to save a friend. Friends, I hate to tell you- but if you are looking for that kind of friend- I am probably NOT it!

Shame on me! Didn’t I just read that scripture verse? It was about all that greater love and friendship stuff. I love my friends, but I don’t know that I could give up my life for them. What about my kids? Would it be fair to them? I have dreams and ambitions. Could I put a screeching halt to my life for someone else? Jesus did….. OUCH!!!

As I thought about the verse in John last night, it hit me differently than ever before. What if Jesus wasn’t talking about laying down life like we imagine? What if He wasn’t talking about having to literally die for a friend? Of course, that is the greatest love and the greatest gift. That is why Jesus is the salvation of the world. But what if He was talking about laying down your life in a different context?

Some synonyms for “lay” are put down, place, rest, arrange and position. What if Jesus meant we need to show love to our friends by arranging time with them? What if He meant to show love we need to arrange our friends’ lives ahead of our own? What if He meant that the best way to show a friend love was to prioritize them… to lay down the aspects of our own life and just be there (even if it does seem uncomfortable or like an inconvenience).

Our ladies group talked about what it takes to be a true friend. Some in the group were worried about hurting as they faced a sick friend; some felt a bit neglected and unloved; but one thing we all agreed on was how loved we felt when someone else puts their life on hold for us.

Maybe what Jesus was talking about in John 15:13 is that the greatest love we can have is by putting others first. Isn’t that what Jesus did? Not just when He died on the cross, but His entire ministry. He took the time out of His busy schedule to let little children sit on His lap; to spend time talking to the woman at the well, and to even let a doubting disciple place hands on His freshly made scars.

The next time a friend calls wanting to grab a coffee, needing a babysitter, or wanting a break from their wayward teen… ask yourself if you are willing to LAY DOWN YOUR LIFE for your friend. I think the more we practice this kind of sacrifice, the more love will grow for our friends; and the more we’ll become like Jesus.

Lord, you know in our hearts whether we could literally give our life to another.
Help us to examine our relationships with friends and
make it a point to give something up for a friend this week.

Let's Be Real

Our introduction to SHINE states, “This is a ministry for real women. This is a place for you to be whoever you are in the moment, perfect or not.” So, I have decided to just be real. I’m going to be me… right now, in this moment, and it is definitely NOT perfect!

Opening up my life to this point scares me half to death. I could talk myself out easily debating how not only I may be viewed, must my methods to ministry as well. SO WHAT! God has called me to be real, and that is what I am going to be! I by no means want to offend anyone, step on anyone’s toes, or hinder anyone’s spiritual growth. My goal is to be real, open, honest, and sincere. My goal is to live life striving for the best and letting God shine through the areas where I screw up.

We all screw up. We all have areas where we are weak. We all do things that other Christians may or may not agree with. We are each individuals of God’s creation; and thankfully, He is not a boring creator!

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Now the next part of what I am going to say is a bit harder. I have written three paragraphs and trashed them all because I am just having a hard time knowing how to put it. What I want to say is, “We all want to impress those around us to some extent.” Some do it more than others. Some will claim it is because they don’t want to offend. But, ultimately, we all seek a bit of fellow approval. So at the risk of losing approval… here I go…

As I was sitting in the bed, having my journaling time, drinking a Smirnoff, (YES… I said it!) I was praying about what to write in today’s blog. No, I wasn’t convicted about the drink of choice. There I go. I have just deleted three sentences of defense. That is between God and I, and I know where I stand.

Anyway, as I sat in my bed, a friend popped up online and asked if it would be ok to call. I could tell from the urgency that this was important. My friend needed someone. (We will assume it is a female just to make references easier.) She called and proceeded to tell me how she has been struggling with drinking. IMAGINE THAT… drinking! It had become an extreme issue for her because it was taking over her life.

We discussed all the stresses she was under. She totally has faced more sorrow in the past year than one person should have to face in a life time. She was obviously depressed, mad at herself, and weak. There was NO way I knew what she was really dealing with. But, I listened, and I shared my weaknesses with her. She was so ashamed of her problem, but just didn’t seem to know how to get the strength to overcome.

How many of us deal with that? You see, drinking may be your obsession and not mine. I may be able to have a drink once every six months and you may depend on it to make it through another stressful day. You may be able to chat to friends online all night long, but if I start chatting online, Satan quickly leads me to a shameful life of sexual immorality. Each of us has our area of weakness.

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Am I promoting sin? Weakness? Drinking? Sexual Immortality? BY NO MEANS!!! What I am saying is that God knows our weaknesses. He knows how we were formed. He loves us despite our weaknesses. Don’t let your weakness keep you hidden. Don’t let the shame keep you from shining for Him.

Matthew 5 is well known by many Christians as the Beatitudes. I want you to read the entire chapter, but listen especially to this:

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. (Hmm… that sounds like struggling with sin) With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You’re blessed when you feel like you have lost what is most dear to you. (Could that be your reputation?) Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are (weaknesses and all) - no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.”

Do you see what Jesus is saying here? We are blessed when we are willing to let HIM SHINE through us, imperfections and all. He wants to use us. Yes, He wants to change us; make us better; create in us a new likeness of Him. But… IN OUR WEAKNESS HE IS MADE STRONG! The thing to remember is that we still always need to constantly be striving for better in our lives so that we don’t become stagnate or lukewarm.

We ended our conversation in prayer and I am trusting God to do a work of encouragement in her life. Not to mention… God gave me a gentle reminder. I too need to be careful. There are many things that are innocent in the beginning and Satan can quickly turn them into traps to keep us from God’s full blessings in our life. I challenge you to share your weakness with someone today. Just as my friend and I laughed over my friend’s fear to tell me she had a drinking problem as I was taking a sip myself… God uses those kinds of things to let us touch others for Him.