This morning I was reading Romans 15. Wow, some power in that chapter! I found myself rereading 5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It reminds me of the series Timmy's doing this month. I encourage you to read Romans 15 this week. I am challenging myself with applying what I read and learn form a chapter to a week or two of actually doing and and trying harder to apply the lessons I am learning, living what the Bible says. Tough! But, I am looking forward to it!

Taking the Time

Rush, rush, Rush. Do you ever have thoughts of "Oh, I can get one more thing done" or "if I could just do this, then I.." all the while taking time from who really loves us the most. The carrot at the end of the stick has many of us running like little hamsters trying to "get it". Many times we're so busy doing we forget to take the time to include God in our plans. I admit I am a "get R done" kind of gal. I want things done, I want it done now, so many times I do it myself to "get it" done faster. I am not naturally blessed with patience so roadbloacks are frustrating for me. I will tell you that I try to pray daily and read my devotions, but I do not always take the time to include God in my plans, obstacles, praises, etc. My family logistics have changed dramatically in the last month. We are under more stress then I ever thought we could endure as a family and we have definitly felt the ups & downs with it. Funny thing the other day, I was feeling pretty heavy and rushing around trying to get the house cleaned up before bible study. I had all of these negative thoughts rolling through my head. You name it I probably thought it kind of thoughts. I had this overwhelming feeling to get on my knees "NOW". I say feeling, I believe it was an actual command from the Lord above, and so I did! That was my wake up for the week, how important it is to take the time to include God in all that we do! By doing so we are allowing the Holy Spirit in our hearts & minds, guiding us through this rush, rush, rush of a life.

Challenges

Everyone in todays' society is faced with challenges. Some were there before we started to make our own way, some we've created unknowingly, and some on purpose.
I am finishing this week with a challenge. One that I gave myself. I will be competing in a duathlon this Saturday. I haven't been nervous at all until this week. Then the fear of failure crept over me. It occurred to me how odd to have that fear, this challenge I created for myself. The original goal being that I just wanted to finish, now I have a fear of being last. Not that being last is bad, I mean hey you've finished right??It's ironic how we get all stirred up over challenges. As I was thinking about this I started to reflect on my relationship with God. Fear. Finishing. Am I running a good race for Him? Will I finish last or at all? This race is long and hard. But it's the most important run of my life and if I'm doing as God asked it's the most important race for anyone I lead to Him.
So, in the quote of the famous Jerry Maguire movie I ask "Who's coming with me?" I will run with you, and We Will Finish. STRONG

The Power of Scripture

So, I am attempting to clean my house with my 3 children and 1 daycare child a few Mondays ago. My thought process was that I would clean inside while they were outside, which wasn't working out too well as you can imagine. During this I am muttering under my breathe the whole time. Why is the house so dirty? Why doesn't anyone pick up after themselves? Do we live in a barn or what!? and so on. Seeing as how it was only 9am my day was not off to a bright and cheery start obviously. Then I looked at the pile of bills on the counter. Now I'm really ticked and the muttering is now ranting loudly to myself. Needless to say I was happy for nap time and my demeaner being as it was not one child argued. Finally I had a moment to myself, and with all of those negative thoughts running through my head I couldn't relax.
A little voice in my head said "Jen, go pick up that bible and READ It!" So I did. I have learned that I can argue, yell, whatever but when that voice comes-It's better to listen.(This took me years of getting things wrong before I would learn this) I came across Philippians and there it was right in front of me. "I can do all things through Christ Who Strengthens me" Phil 4:13. I knew what it meant. It wasn't about the house cleaning, the financial stresses, or the kids not behaving. It was about Christ. It not was about me. All of that "Stuff" I am so worried over, does it really matter? No, what matters is keeping your eyes on the road. Looking straight ahead and not letting the little things (though they may seem big to us) get in our way with Christ. I mean all of this stuff is possible because of HIM. And then I got it, My Whoosh! Gosh I love that feeling! I went out to the garage and found a paint brush, paint and some stencils. I had a perfect place to put that scripture. An hour later, just as naptime was over I finished my art. There in our living room as plain as can be is Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". I can, do all things with the power of God. We all can.
It amazes me the power of scripture. The power of God. How truly blessed we are to be given such a gift.

Can I get a whoosh!

It's funny how things hit ya, sometimes right between the eyes. My life had been pretty entertaining. I had a great job I was successful at, I was newly married. I had grown up an Army brat so I traveled all over. Things seemed to fall into my lap and those that didn't if I stretched just a bit I could reach. But for some reason I had this "empty" feeling. Couldn't really put my finger on it. We decided to have kids and we had 3 boys in 18 months. The first son was 18mths old when the twin boys arrived. Needless to say I had to make quite a few adjustments. I decided to stay at home with the boys. During that time I stumbled across a brand new church called Olathe Life. To be honest I really wasn't a church person, never really felt the need to go. I believed in God but I also believed that church was about people's rules and what nots. I was driving one day with my 3 very little boys in the car when I had this thought of "if we were to die right now, how would I see the boys again?" I knew the answer, GOD. When I walked in to that church for the first time ever i felt this "whoosh" feeling, goosebumps even, right when we walked in,during the music and sermon. I didn't know what that was. It's funny to me now, I still get my whoosh when I walk into church, when I hear the music and when I hear the sermon. But I love when I get my whoosh when I am on my knees praying for the start of every new day. I love that I know I'm not alone and that that whoosh is between me & GOD. It's my heart crying out to Him and it's my heart listening to Him. And that empty feeling I had, it's gone. That empty feeling is now the same spot where the whoosh is! Can I get a Whoosh! Amen!