Soulful Sunday: Three Times

2 Kings 13: 18-19 (NLT) - Then he said, “Now pick up the other arrows and strike them against the ground.” So the king picked them up and struck the ground three times. But the man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck the ground five or six times!” he exclaimed. “Then you would have beaten Aram until it was entirely destroyed. Now you will be victorious only three times.”

This encounter in 2 Kings is Elisha’s last prophecy before he dies.  There were many things that I found interesting here.  First, even though the king knew Elisha (and I’m sure of all the great things God used him for) he only did a minimum.  Elisha becomes angry with the king probably because of how small the request was.  He reminds the king of God’s power and now give a prophecy that the king will not destroy the enemy.

For me the passage hit home about how I can narrow my view of God in light of the struggles I face.  Instead, I should remember how big my God is.  I’m not saying we can manipulate God by showing Him how big our faith is.  This isn’t one of those things that I am saying God will do as I ask because of my faith.  Instead, I’m saying that sometimes, just like the king, I see my struggle as so large, I only ask God for the minimum.  Which to me is a symptom of a heart that is making what I am facing bigger than God.  Which is idolatry.  Which is against the first commandment.  

You know, the one that says we shall not have any gods before God.  SO maybe, just maybe, instead of praying for the minimum solution to what feels like an overwhelming problem, I should start praying from a place of knowing my God is greater than anything.  Instead of “striking my arrows” three times, I should go ahead and do five or six.  Then I can watch God do more than I could ask or imagine!

Thoughtful Thursday: His Ways Are Higher

Soulful Sunday: Broken Vessels

This is on the latest release from Hillsong's "No Other Name."  I have a feeling that this song will be as impactful as "Oceans" was for many last year.  I love the images that come to mind within this song.  It is so beautiful because it reminds us of the fact we are broken due to our sin, but God's grace and love transform us to be used for us.  A great reminder for us all...

Thoughtful Thursday: Love Conquers All

Soulful Sunday: Don't Get My Hopes Up

2 Kings 4: 15-16 (NLT)-  “Call her back again,” Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway, “Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arms!”  “No, my lord!” she cried. “O man of God, don’t deceive me and get my hopes up like that.”

Have you ever been in a season like this?  You know, one where that desire of your heart hasn’t yet happened.  You have prayed for something, got your hopes up over and over again and yet for some reason,  what you are praying for hasn’t happened.  Maybe it is for a spouse, a job, or to have a child.  Maybe it is for a direction in life.  Maybe it is for that person to come to Christ.  You then resign yourself to the idea that what you desired isn’t going to happen.

But then God intervenes.  Perhaps it is a verse you read that encourages you.  Maybe it is a word from someone, telling you to keep the hope alive.  You go to church and the sermon speaks directly to you.  A song comes on the radio that speaks straight to your heart.  God is calling you to hope in Him again, just like God used Elisha to call hope into this woman’s life.  Instead of your reaction being filled with praise and joy though, your reaction is a lot more like the woman here.  She doesn’t want to be let down once again.  We then feel guilty because we feel like we shouldn’t have wavering trust in God.  We feel like our hope should be steadfast.

Don’t be hard on yourself.  I love these verses in the Bible because they are real; real emotion behind deferred dreams.  I think that if we gave ourselves grace to continue hoping, even during  moments of resignation or fear of the dream failing once again, we can move forward with God to the place He is calling us.

Thoughtful Thursday: Today's Feelings

And Now For Something Completely Different on Matchmaker Monday: I am a Nazarene

On Mondays, I usually devote time to writing about my journey as a single Christian woman living in the Bible Belt Buckle called Oklahoma.  I felt awkward about writing about my journey since I feel like a minority with the majority of friends, family, and co-workers married.  However, God hit me over the head this week with what it truly means to be a minority.  

You see, I may feel sad at times because I don't have a husband to come home to everyday.  I look at the birthdays of my students and realize that I could be old enough to be their mother, without any social stigma, and I feel sad knowing if I do have children in the context of marriage, it could be considered a 'geriatric pregnancy.'  I could even be upset that I still don't own my own house yet.

Then I turned on the news.  Then I read through my Facebook Newsfeed.  Then I read my Twitter Timeline.  I realized something much bigger than my pity party of singleness was happening across the world. I now saw what it truly meant to be a minority.  Iraqi Christian women are devastated by pure evil right now.  They are forced from their homes, brutally raped, husbands killed, and their children beheaded.  As I listen to the stories and see the pictures, I am absolutely gobsmacked at the horrific violence.  Everyday since I've heard about what the ISIS is doing, I have prayed.  First, I prayed for forgiveness for being so self-centered and selfish lately.  Second, I've just prayed this simple prayer for those fellow Christians- Lord, help them.  

I'm in the middle of reading the Old Testament in my year of reading the Bible.  The violence that is making the news is the same violence in the books of Kings, Chronicles, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc.  It is evil determined to drive out all of God's people.  It breaks my heart that so many are suffering and I sit here in America, helpless.  Or so I thought.  I'm reminded of when King Hezekiah was faced with ruthless threats against the people of Israel and God by King Sennacherib.  You can read about King Sennacherib's threats in 2 Kings 18.  He was surrounding the city and thought for certain he would be victorious.  In the next chapter, we read about King Hezekiah's response.  He goes into mourning.  He is upset and very distressed.  I imagine it is probably very similar to the Iraqi Christians.  King Hezekiah prays this beautiful prayer: 

 “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.  It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.” 

The prophet Isaiah then comes to King Hezekiah and tells him that his prayer for deliverance will be answered.  Then God sends the Angel of Death into the troops of King Sennacherib's troops and they are defeated and driven back to their city.

While the ISIS makes news headlines for the terror they are inflicting, let us as fellow Christians (or Nazarenes, to use their word)  use the most powerful weapon we have to help in the fight halfway across the world: PRAYER.  Let us all approach God with the humility and confidence of King Hezekiah.  I have adapted his words from 2 Kings into a prayer we can all use to pray for Christians in Iraqi and to defeat the evil of ISIS.

"Lord, the God of all Christians and of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over the entire earth.  You have made it all.  Listen to our prayer now, open your eyes to the violence; listen to the evil, hate filled words of the ISIS.  See how they have driven your people from their homes and destroyed cities that belonged to you.  See how they have committed brutal, unspeakable acts of violence.  They are shedding innocent blood, mocking your Holy Name.  Now, Lord our God, deliver your people from their evil hands, so that the whole world would know that you alone, Lord, are God. In Jesus Name, Amen."

Brothers and Sisters, let us pray fervently and ferociously for the Lord God to deliver His people and end the violence.

Soulful Sunday: My Beloved

I know I have posted several of David Crowder's work with the DCB and on his own as Crowder.  His new album, "Neon Steeple" is great!  Crowder calls it a 'folktronica' blend and I enjoy it as it mashes two of my favorite styles together!  Here is one of my favorite songs from 'Neon Steeple':

Thoughtful Thursday: HIGHLIGHT REEL

Think about it.  We all have things we don't share with the world.  Things that don't make the blogs, the FB newsfeed, the Twitter updates, or Instagram.  Everyone's life is not as perfect as social media makes it.  Stop and take a deep breath.  Rest in who you are.  Be confident in yourself.

What's Entertaining Me Wednesday: BBC's Walk On The Wild Side

This week, I had to post a video from BBC's Walk On The Wild Side.  I have no idea what it is about this show, especially since I have only watched YouTube clips of it.  There is something about the animal faces and the voices together that CRACKS. ME. UP.  If you are in need of a boost this midweek, check it out below:

Matchmaker Monday: It may be weird, because normal is not working...

Wow.  I got a lot of response to last week's blog about profile pictures of men while online dating!  I had no idea it was going to be quite the subject when I wrote it!  Out of that post, I have had a lot of real life conversations about my actual approach to online dating, so I thought I would share what I was doing.  I will preface this post by saying that THIS WAY is how God is leading ME.  It may not be what God leads you to do.  That is where you pray and seek Him.  Also, if you aren't a Christ-Follower, all of this is going to sound weird.  But, as my pastor says, "We are going to be weird because normal isn't working."  For me, normal didn't work at all.

First off, I have to admit this:  I like to get my money's worth at all times.  If I pay for a meal and the quality is substandard, I probably will not visit your restaurant again.  If I buy a shirt and the threads come out of the seam quickly, well, I probably won't buy a shirt there again.  To me, if I am paying for something, and paying a higher dollar amount, I expect something for the money.  Now, online dating can be tricky because you can pay for something, but not have the desire result.  However, I do find it more reasonable to pay $35.00 a month for a service with about 5-7 good connections vs. $70.00 for no connections.  Now, because I've paid for a service, I feel like I should use the service.  Equal opportunity for me to wink, smile, and e-mail away.  I figured we are all in this together, so if I see someone I'm interested in, I'll take a bit of the initiative.  Men shouldn't be intimated or scared off, because again, we are BOTH paying for the service and I'm not going to let my service go unused if I'm just waiting for a man to contact me.

Since May that was my approach.  I did get a few responses, in fact, when I counted it up, I was "meeting" a new man every week for the past two months.  A lot more contact than normal, especially since I'm a kindergarten teacher and I have yet to meet a single man in my line of work.  (I mean one that is available for dating, not literally a single man.)  However, these connections usually fizzled out very quickly.  I was becoming frustrated and felt like I started to see the same people over and over.  And the other quality men I didn't initially contact were gone.  I took about a two week break, praying and seeking God on what to do next.

After much prayer, here is my approach.  It sounds radical and like I'm not getting my money's worth.  But I feel like it is allowing God to move in the way He wants.  And it is getting me to practice waiting on Him and trusting Him.  I have my profile up, it is active, but I'm not initiating.  I will wait for a wink, like, or email and then respond.  I'm not spending time searching for men, but rather waiting, and trusting if this is the way God has designed my husband to meet me, then it will happen.  I'll be honest, for some one who likes to do things and also likes getting their money's worth, it is difficult.  I want to log on and search, etc., just so I feel like I'm getting my $35.00 for the month.  However, like the verse in Isaiah, God tell us that His ways are higher.  I'm going to trust Him.  Plus, this removes me from the equation, so if something does happen, He gets 100% of the glory, as it should be.

Weird, right?  I know it is.  But I'm ok with standing out and being different.  And if I do meet someone this way, then as I said before, what a testimony to God working in my life.  And if I don't, then that is ok too.  God is still good and I will have learned to go deeper in my trust.

  

Soulful Sunday: Alive (Acoustic)

Yes, I may be a little outside the target demographic of Hillsong Young and Free, but I do love their album.  In fact, it is one that I like to workout with or just listen to when I need a boost.  I actually sing this song a lot at church and it is one of my favorites!  I was listening to Relevant's podcast and this was a special recording from that session.  I love the acoustic version as much as the original!  I was afraid that when they said it was going to be acoustic it wouldn't translate.  However, I enjoy listening to this version a lot.  I think it is because the truth in the lyrics is so powerful, whether it has a big techno sound or the acoustic sound.  Enjoy!

Saturday's List: Random Thoughts

1. This week I've had the most random songs in my head: The Mulan Soundtrack and Unchained Melody. Any one know why songs pop up and stay on your mind?

2. Learned a lot about Old Testament idols when I googled it, looking for pictures. (Insert little embarrassed emoji face.)

3.  Greek Yogurt+ Blueberries + Granola= Yummy Breakfast

4.  24 is an awesome TV show. I'm sorry I wasn't a fan while it actually aired.

5.  I removed my duck face and cleavage shots from my online dating profile.

6.  Just kidding. I never had those kind of pictures on my site. :-)

7.  If you forget to rinse the conditioner out of your hair, just go ahead and put it into a bun. Otherwise you look like you have spaghetti hanging from your head.

8.  School starts in 13 days. I don't know why, but this year I'm very nervous to meet my class. I loved my class last year. It was one of the few years the kids ended up treating each other like family instead of friends, so it was a comfortable environment. I pray this year, the students learn to grow to love each other this way quickly.

9.  I really like pistachio frozen yogurt.

10.  I really like reading the Gospel of Mark. Mark jumps right into the ministry of Jesus and highlights how important faith is to believing. 

11.  My allergies are worse when it rains. Am I made of sugar and actually melting? :-)

12.  Saw a TV show about epic homes. A man had a yacht that not only held his car but had real gold leaf tiles for his bathroom. Gold in the bathroom, who knew?

13.  I've spent the summer reading books about quirky females. 

14. Unless I got sucked into reading about end times, Jay-Z, the Denver Airport, and Coldplay. I had no idea that stuff was online. I'm not sure what to make of it.

15.  I guess I should rewatch Frozen so I'm ready for all the references from the kids.   I thought it would drift away, but one of my best friends just had a Frozen birthday for her daughter a week ago. I guess we are just not ready to let it go.

16. One of my first jobs in education was as a teaching assistant in a first grade classroom. That was in 2005. Those first graders are now old enough to drive. 

17.  "I just want to murder someone and eat soft pretzels."-Jess Day, New Girl, on PMS

18.  I'm all for natural methods and science holding hands to work together.  Both have a place.

19.  Vanilla Dr.Pepper is a new favorite of mine, says the woman who only drinks Coke.

20.  I'm into Physique57 workouts right now. It is a barre style class, but I can do it in the comfort of my home. I'd like to think I'm getting stronger without having to lift weights. I'll let you know. :-)