Hoarder Extraordinaires: Stop!

Last night was a very powerful night at our young adults ministry, Vertigo, at City of Grace. Words cannot begin to describe when God has fully entered into the room and is working within His people. It's stronger then the most powerful, moving speeches man can compose. It's more powerful than 50,000 people cheering on their favorite team at the local football stadium. It's more core shaking than an 8.0 earthquake. It is unquestionable to the saved and the unsaved when His powerful presence comes. 


Last night was beautiful. Pastor Jason (aka my amazing husband) was truly touched by the rescue that came to him through our Savior, Jesus Christ. The challenge was loud and clear: How can we not desire to save the life of another on Christ's behalf when He has truly saved our life? The moment was sensitive, it was challenging, it was raw and it was God. God was reminding us of the crap He has rescued us from. It was a challenge to all to remember that and not hold it for our own, but open ourselves up, look past our own issues, our individual identity crisis, our selfishness and find others who need a Savior. 


This morning I was at Boot Camp (yes me!) and a fire fighter was telling us that she had had 3 hoarder fires in the last year. 3 homes burnt down, because they hoarded everything they ever encountered. They shared nothing, they kept their garbage and their treasure all compiled in one shell of a home. It leads me to believe that we too can be that way in our own hearts. We have experienced Christ's redemptive power first hand; we keep it to ourselves. We have experienced (some of us) horrible lives; and we hang on to that too. Many of us search for significance and find nuggets that we can cling to for a time; hoarding that moment in time. Many of us attempt to overcome a past of mistakes and sin; holding onto it instead of releasing it to a forgiving and gracious God. Meanwhile, all the good and bad is compiling. It's impossible to sift through; we don't conquer and throw away our baggage. We don't fill up and share our wins, our salvation experience, our testimonies, our struggles. Instead, we hoard it; our hearts filling until we can no longer breathe. We aren't truly allowing God's work to purify us. We don't truly recognize the powerful work of grace which we have been given! We wonder how long our hearts can take such suffocation before they explode; with nothing left but ashes of hopelessness. 


We experienced something new last night in a room of 160 young adults (aka life-savers). A releasing came. An understanding arose. A recognition of God's gift to us that has overcome all past behaviors, sins and experiences. An undefinable yet undeniable moment where God reminded us!


The challenge was this: Recognize the amazing gift of your life saved; stop hoarding it & start living in it! Moreover, save the lives of others. After all, we are all meant to save a life!

The Little Things

Don't you wish, at times, that there were more hours in the day to do the things you truly enjoy. More hours to play. More hours to learn. More hours to enjoy family & friends or just some simple peace & quiet; while not taking away from responsibility.

I'm hungry for more time to do the things I'm excited about. I love to read. Right now I'm reading 3 books; all of which are so great; none of which I have more than a few minutes in the day to read. I love to do creative things. I love to see the finished result of a project I've been wanting to accomplish. I love to bake...mmm!

Lately, I've found myself so frustrated that by the end of the day I haven't been able to do anything that really allows me to relax. Of course with two kids, a husband, ministry life and more, it makes it difficult to complete much more than feeding ourselves and the kids. We work hard and need to begin to play hard. It's a fact, at least for
me, that when I don't have time to play and do the things I enjoy I'm not prepared and ready to do what I'm responsible for. I've got low energy and am not the best that I can be. I'm working hard to establish my God given gifts and find security in Him to push into the task He has set before me. While pushing forward I have to find time to be still and enjoy the gifts He has given for that day.

Here's to a season of finding/making time to do more playing so that I can be more effective all around!

Starting yesterday with this yummy goodness and a moment to do something thoroughly enjoyable and delicious!

My Little World Changer Turns 2!

So, today my little man is 2! I can't believe that he is already 2. It seems that I was just pregnant with him (partly because I was still prego just 9 months ago with his little sister), but we waited for him and prayed for him and received him! Justice is a gift from God for sure; even his name was chosen by God and we believe is a sign of things to come through his life. I don't know what he will be when he grows up. I don't know how he will impact his generation. I don't know if he will follow in his parents footsteps as a Pastor or will influence through another channel in our world. Either way, I do know that what he will do will be great. 

We continue to relentlessly pray for him as he continues to grow into the man God has destined him to be. I'm sure many would think I'm crazy for speaking about who he will be as he is only 2 years old, but one thing I know is it is never too soon to begin to pray for the great man my handsome son will become. 

For now though I will let him be the amazing boy that he is. He is handsome (as mentioned), brilliant (literally, I'm not being biased), a little crazy (a lot at times), fun, playful, cuddly and so much more. He loves to pray and read his Bible (though sometimes I think this is an excuse not to sleep - I'll take it either way!). He's our little man and we are proud, blessed and humbled to be his parents.

Happy Birthday Justice!