ON BEING HUMAN

     Some time ago, I was reading the book You Are the Girl for the Job by Jess Connolly. My takeaway was this one exercise at the beginning that asked me to write about my idealized self. So here is the reveal. And guys, this is not just for the girls. So hang in there.

     MY IDEALIZED SELF:

     On my best days, I see myself as loving, benevolent, inspiring, teaching, completing tasks at hand, giving out words of knowledge, opening up a business for passive income, traveling, speaking, and doing book signings for published books.

     I see myself as energetic and curious about traveling and experiencing new places and cultures. During this part of my journey, I see lives transformed, gratitude, joy, love, and hope taking center stage. Concerns, fear, inadequacy, timidity, and fear of faithlessness are pushed aside.

     I serve an all-powerful, all-sufficient God, and I am capable of doing anything that I want to tackle as long as He is walking alongside me.

     God created me for this time, so I wave goodbye to my idealized self and hug my real self, which responds to and deals with real people and the real world.

     MY ACTUAL SELF:

     My real self is my most influential self because that is who lives in my skin. I still see weakness, face obstacles, feel pain, or am the cause of it--this is me, but I am evolving daily. 

     I am better equipped today than yesterday to face challenges that try to trip me up. They will likely cause me to grow in my resolve as my frailties are uncovered. My life is a journey. I've learned that it is in the rough spots that as my weaknesses are revealed, these are times when I  experience the sweetest communion with God. 

     It is in these challenging places that open my eyes to a need for power outside of myself and discover strengths that have been developed over the years. As I trust myself to God's direction and care, I also experience His presence as He hovers over me with loving care in times of crisis.

     In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me. NIV

     Just like hydrogen alone is highly flammable and potentially explosive, I, just on my own, can cause a lot of damage to myself and others. So, I choose to merge and live my life under God's tutelage: under his wise counsel. I submit to his authority because He walks in perfect love and knows everything I need to grow into the ruler and priest He created me to be. Plus, the Holy Spirit fills this earthly temple. 

     After experiencing His loving care and goodness toward me so many times during the dark hours of my life, I will never choose to face life without Him.

     ACTUAL ME + GOD = vibrant life

     It's you and me against the world, God! We've got this.

     1 Peter 1:12: "Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this." MSG

     A spirit-empowered life of purpose is one where we choose to strategize with God through our unique gifts and callings. This option is unique to being human. Embrace your actual self and maximize your greatness by embracing the Creator.

*Disclaimer: I credit Jess for any seemingly borrowed thoughts. I journaled about what I had read and wrote from those books. Her book was a sweet read.  

THE BLINDFOLD

THE BLINDFOLD

       It was the beginning of a new school year for me in high school. This was my sophomore year so I knew my way around and I felt much more confidant than I had the year before. It was my first day so I was meeting new teachers and discovering the mix of peers in each class. 

     This period I headed to my English small group. I entered tentatively and saw Mr. Menges with his glasses perched halfway down his nose. He glanced up from the table he was working at and greeted our tiny group of eight girls. Right away, he introduced himself giving a little background, and then we shared some information about ourselves. 

     I was first. “Hi, I’m Chris. I’m a sophomore taking choir, French, and Spanish for electives. I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, but I love to travel, read, ride bikes, and play tennis. I am the president of my youth group and sing in a youth choir at church. I also work part-time  at the public library.”

     The rest of the girls followed suit.

     Our teacher assured us that this year would not be like our other English classes, and to get ready for a ride. We listened with interest because usually English was full of predictable grammar and literature exercises. 

     Mr. Menges whipped out some paisley bandanas from his cupboard. “Ta-da!” he grinned as he saw the surprise on our faces.

     Hmmm…weird I thought. Now what? This was our last class of the day and we were all weary and ready to go home. 

     “Today you will work in pairs,” Mr. Menges announced.

     The next thing I knew, I was being led around the school by a girl that I have never set eyes on before, while I sported a paisley bandana which covered my forehead and eyes. This was not the way I wanted to make a first impression this year.

     My self-esteem was not that high, to begin with. I was well aware that I ranked low on the social scale at my high school since I turned down pledge invitations from two sororities in my freshman year. At this high school, being invited to pledge and turning them all down spelled social death. I threw away any chance to be a part of the ‘in-crowd’.

     So here I was going around looking goofy with this blindfold mashing my mascara into my face and adding a crease in the back of my waist-length auburn hair. What was the point of this crazy exercise in English anyway? 

     Ascending and descending several flights of stairs, roaming through the gravel in the student parking lot outside then down the hallways inside, we headed toward the library: our rendezvous point.

     To begin with, I thought this was merely a trust exercise, but now Mr. Menges instructed us to brainstorm twenty things we remembered about our experience. Next, we had to write a paper based on one item from our list. Now I understood; he gave me a sensory experience could write about. So, I wrote about trust and detailed many of the horrible things that my partner could have put me through like sending me into the boys' restroom or walking me into the pool. But she hadn't.

     A little eccentric at first, this man became one of my favorite teachers. He triggered my thinking in new ways and true to his word this class was not boring at all. I was stretched and challenged.

     Once when I took my four older kids camping, I held onto my son, Jonathan, as he leaned out over a stone wall to peer down a steep cliff near a scenic overlook. Off in the distance, we could see the Frio River snaking its way through the hills. It was breathtaking. It was a sheer drop of over five hundred feet to the bottom so there was no way I would have released my grip around his waist. As dangerous as it looked; he never hesitated for a moment. It never occurred to him that this might not be safe. He completely trusted me.

     Now a new era dawns with this global pandemic. A great reset is changing the way we live our lives and the way that we relate to one another. We're riding a roller-coaster in many arenas. Trust is a big issue for us today. Amid all of the conflicting facts and shifting regimens, I am comforted to have God as a constant in my life.

     My God is always with me and speaks to me daily during my Bible reading, in times of meditation, during conversations, and as I listen to prophetic voices that confirm that what my spirit is sensing about these current events. This new era emerges historically as nations shut down as never seen before. In the natural, we see social distancing and isolation, and in the spiritual realm, we sense a time of rest and reflection which has allowed us to reassess our lives, businesses, and our eternal destination. God calms me and reminds me to continue daily with joy. He urges me to remember my identity, that I am a child of the King of creation. I share in his endless resources. In the past few years, God has emphasized that I was born for such a time as this. He has prepared me for this time in my life. Retirement from my secular job may be timely, but now there is still so much to do in life. 

     As anxiety tries to overtake me, Jesus overrules and melts it away with his peace. He comes from a kingdom that is ruled with the rule of law on a level of love and joy that we have only glimpsed at best in shadows here on earth.

     Just like my youngster relied on me as he leaned over the precipice, I know from life experiences that I can rely on my Father God in total abandon. He has been a rock for me through many rough places. At first, walking a life of faith can seem a bit risky, like when I trusted that stranger as I was lead blindfolded, but you will find that the Bible is true and God is faithful. So why not prepare for the ride of your life by connecting to a friend who sticks closer than a brother? Jesus loves you.

Proverbs 3:5 (MSG)

5 Trust God from the bottom of your heart: don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Psalm 27:13,14 (TPT) 

13 Yet I totally trust you to reuse me one more time, so that I can see once again how good you are while I'm still alive!

14 Here's what I've learned through it all: don't give up; don't be impatient; be entwined as one with the Lord. Be brave and courageous, and never lose hope. Yes, keep on waiting--for he will never disappoint you!

JUST RIGHT

JUST RIGHT

     This stray branch hanging down out of symmetry on my mountain laurel tree is thanking me for not whacking it off for my preferred perfectionistic shape but rather; I've allowed it to show off the potential that was packed inside of it.

     I just wonder what we do to our children in the name of education and even home training with our approaches to clone them for higher education. 

     We classify them and sort them into boxes that we have organized in order to define them all by the perceived deficiencies we notice in them rather than allowing them to feel loved, supported, and reinforcing the fact that we delight in every aspect of their personhood. What might they turn into if we would watch them with great anticipation in all of their uniqueness to see how they will beautify and improve the world with their special endowed powers.

     I thank God for diversity. I thank Him for gazing at us with eyes full of love. No matter what we get ourselves into or how weak we seem so much of the time. Still, God is full of admiration. He knows what we are fully capable of if we would only just take Him at His word and believe all that He says about us. 

     Our Heavenly Father embraces us, the whole package (our weaknesses, inconsistencies, and oddities). He still encourages us with, “You will do wonderful things. You will be brave. You will be a light when others feel like their darkness is overwhelming because you are you. Not perfect but you. That is all I want. I want you to know that every day you are enough and reach out to others in full confidence in the beauty of your soul.”

     God spoke today to me just from an oddly pruned branch that hung down from a tree in my front yard. Look around. What is He saying to you today? Open your eyes, be still for a moment, and listen.

Ephesians 3:20 NIV 

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

CROSS THE LINE

CROSS THE LINE

     Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

    

 THE ALAMO- In 1836 William B. Travis was famous for drawing a line in the sand at this mission in San Antonio, Texas.  February 23-March 6 was the Battle of the Alamo where Travis asked for volunteers to stay and fight, even though all of them knew that their only victory would be to buy time for the Texas forces to gather more men to fight and it would also give them more time to evacuate farms and towns along Santa Ana’s route to fight against them. Every man there stepped across the line and committed to stay and fight, even though it would mean their death.
     The courage shown in this sacrifice inspired more Texans to volunteer to fight and stop Santa Ana.  “Remember the Alamo!” was the battle cry that drove them on to victory to win their freedom from Mexico in the Texas Revolution.

     SARAH- Abram, Sarai’s husband, was told to change both of their names. He would now be Abraham, the father of many nations. His wife would be Sarah, who was barren and had not been able to conceive a child. She was now in her nineties. 

     Genesis 17:17 Abraham fell facedown and laughed...then when the Lord appeared to him again with two angels at his tent, Sarah overheard the Lord say to Abraham that by the next year this time, when they visited, Sarah would have a son.  

     This time it was Sarah who laughed and wondered, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”   

     Yet Sarah did believe that God would do what he promised.  She embraced the challenge, crossed the line in faith, even if it was a little hard to believe at this stage of her life.

     JERRY AND CHRISTIE- So, Jerry and I took Philip on a vacation to Costa Rica.  We thought we would stay for a couple weeks in the mountains and a week for Philip at the beach.

     The first night we encouraged a new Christian from Wales, Great Britain. As we stood on the sidewalk outside of Papagayo’s talking, I felt the Holy Spirit flow over me in waves.  It was so strong that I stopped and looked at Jerry and the young man and asked them, “Can you feel that?  Do you feel God’s presence right now?”

     They both acknowledged that they felt it as well.

     That night and through the rest of the trip, I felt God tugging at my heart concerning Costa Rica.  I felt that God was asking me again, to CROSS THE LINE and accept the challenge to leave all and serve Him in this country.  

     So, when I was praying and asking God in July of 2012 if he would confirm to me that Jerry and I were truly meant to share the good news of Jesus in Costa Rica, I opened my Bible, intending to flip over to the New Testament. The Bible opened up and up flashed this verse. My eyes saw no other one on that page.  

     EZEKIEL 12:3,6- Ezekiel was being told to leave like an exile to another place.  To pack all he could carry on his shoulders and to leave at dusk.

     What God said to us was to go and no matter that it was in the dusk of our lives. We did not stop and think long about it. We knew that we must go and CROSS THE LINE.  

     So, we have traveled into Costa Rica mostly into the Alajuela Region for times of intense ministry. There was a time when we put our home up for sale for two years without one nibble to buy it. We hardly had anyone come to view our beautiful home. Here we were willing to give it all up, but nothing was happening. We had already applied and been accepted for permanent residency, so we waited on God to confirm whether or not we would permanently move down to Costa Rica. 

     Surprisingly, the houses all around us sold during that time. Our home had more bedrooms, many upgrades, amenities, and sat on a lovely treed lot in the Texas Hill Country, but not one offer came our way. 

     Finally, one day while Jerry inspected the empty interior of our home and swept up a few dust bunnies between showings; he said he felt God told him the house had not sold because it was ours. Jerry declared that God was giving the house back to us. He called me right away and told me to pack up all of our belongings from the rent house; we were moving back home.

     We crossed the line in faith, but God has only required that we go intermittently for a month or a few weeks at a time to encourage pastors and to stir up fires through teachings at ladies’ conferences, through Jerry's teaching ministry to pastor’s and men's’ meetings, and through evangelistic meetings where Jerry, guest ministers, and worship teams experienced the Holy Spirit falling on all present for salvation, for baptism of the Holy Spirit, for healing the sick, and for creative miracles. 

     We are gearing up to head down, the two of us, to a new region, to new congregations, on the Osa Peninsula for joint women's meetings and a crusade between nine churches. There will be meetings in five other towns as well. We have no idea how we will be received or what God has in store, but we are rolling up our sleeves and preparing for good things in people's lives because He is a GOOD GOOD GOD.

     It is joy indescribable to walk in tune with God. I always find that when He is gently leading me out of my comfort zone it is to take me into a wonderful adventure. One that my heart is longing for. 

BE WILLING TO CROSS THE LINE 

NO MATTER WHAT ISSUE IT IS 

NO MATTER WHAT TEMPTATION YOU FACE

NO MATTER WHAT JOB OFFER YOU GET

NO MATTER WHAT RELATIONSHIP YOU ARE IN
WHATEVER GOD TELLS YOU TO DO...DO IT

TO OBEY IS THE WAY TO A MORE EXCELLENT LIFE