L Shaped trees

Have you ever seen a weirdly shaped tree where it's bent somewhere in middle of the trunk to form the tree in the shape of an "L" and asked yourself, how'd it get that way? We assume that trees should grow straight reaching towards the sky, right? Logically yes, but there's a story behind the bent trees. 150-200 years ago Native American's would purposefully bend the trees to create trail markers notifying travelers of things of where there was food and water near by or to mark warnings of rough country ahead. They were important for the navigation of early travelers. Someone having created for you a guidance system of where you were supposed to go yet keeping the knowledge organic and secret was necessary for survival. Trees shaped like this are mostly lost to age and disease however there are few that still remain and allow us to see history.

Think of your life's journey, I'm almost certain that you've had crooks which were purposely placed in your life haven't you? Challenges with jobs, marriages, children or anything that you believe strayed you from your life's trail. Do you think that these trials have been placed in your path that forced you to bend in a different direction for a good reason or do you think what you faced was unfair? As we start the new year we have high hopes for new beginnings or changes that will allow us to grow and become better people, better than we were the year before. Things we want to be different and now we have the chance for them to be changed. We as Christians believe that God will provide all needs but if we're being honest, somewhere tucked in the back of our minds we wish that we could have a trail marker. A guide book from Him for early navigation, we want to see the bent trees.

But we know full well that's not how our walk with the Lord works. We want easy flat groomed trails that lead us in predictable 90 degree angles. We don't want hills or valleys or swamps to waddle through, we want to come out clean on the other side with little to no effort. We're lucky though, we don't have clean trails but we've been entrusted with a travelers guide, the Bible. We have fellow Christians that will walk along side us, our community for safety in numbers. And of course and most important, we have a trail blazer, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is constantly stepping before us, navigating us to food and water and giving us directions to stay away from danger. Our guidance system was well thought of before time existed and our community with whom we blaze the trails with was created by the One who created the guide book. Every time you think that something should be going straight but has wavered crookedly, think of it as a trail marker. Something along your story line that the Lord has gifted to you because He has gone before you and made a way, a way for us to grow dependent and rely on Him has been forged.

Let us step confidently into 2018 with our heads held high, our trail shoes on and our travel book worn from reading and researching. We have the necessary survival skills instilled in us but we must trust our trail blazer and let Him show us the way.

Luke 9:57

What has been asked of you?

Can you imagine how it would've been to be Mary, to have been visited by an angel who delivered news that was going to change your life forever and from that very moment you are anticipating the arrival of God's promise? God chose you, yes you. You see He chooses those who are most unlikely to do the most extraordinary.

Mary was a single, young woman who was a virgin who was chosen to give birth to the Savior of the world. On the night that the angel came to visit, don't you think that Mary could've given him a million reasons as to why she wasn't the right person for this request? Reasons why she could've just walked away and just said nope not me, I'm not good enough, I'm not prepared for this...please just find someone who is more worthy, anyone but me. But she didn't, she had faith. Faith that would change the world, forever.

What has the Lord asked of you that would change your life for a season or perhaps the ask is to change your life forever? Have you come up with a million reasons as to why you can't or why you shouldn't take the steps He's told you to take? Are you uncertain? Do you trust Him? You can't be ready to take those steps if you're not prepared to turn it all over to God and allow Him to help you overcome all of your doubts. When He prepares us for what He asks, He doesn't tell us that we have to do it alone but with Him and a community. 

Emmanuel, Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords was born to bring Heaven to earth and He was born of a virgin who was faith filled and so His Story became life, the promised Messiah.You see, Mary was unlikely but because she said yes to the extraordinary, she was given the most incredible blessing anyone could receive.

There's only one story that involves Mary and Joseph and this we know of as the beginning of His story. So today I'm asking for you to think about yours. The outline and headers have already been written, the Author of your life has a first edition nestled on His bookshelf waiting for you to fill in the paragraphs. My story is almost 42 years in the making but 7 years ago today I gave my life to Jesus and as I wait in anticipation for His arrival, I will continue to say yes to whatever He's asks. I too am unlikely, but will continue to pray for my extraordinary.

The Miracle of The Moment

I've had a few dreams in my life, most I've seen come to past but looking at them now I can see why the doors were shut or never appeared for the chance to be closed.The ability to look beyond the door handle has taken time, I've learned in my time that God moves is His time not ours. He's never late and as most of us can attest to, He's usually not early. He invites the unexpected into our lives to invite us to put our trust in Him and depend on Him entirely. In our times of wait, He's preparing us with the tools necessary to fulfill His promises. And because He knows our hearts desires and since He is the God of completion, He will fulfill what He sees fit in His time, its the miracle of the moment.

I've had thoughts before that perhaps the Lord has forgotten what I wanted, what I've prayed for for years and years something of which I knew deep down my heart has ached for but haven't seen come to light. Something I had almost given up on but GOD. If you doubt prayer, don't. If you don't see immediate satisfaction or have an immediate answer don't give up, keep praying...keep praying your Sun Stand Still prayers. Remember that the God of the universe created you, He created you with a story that He has already written and in which He has designed the moments. Your moments, your miracles. 

Learn to trust God's timing, He's the conductor of miracles and the divine designer of timing. If you are waiting for your something set aside your own timetable, trust that God is doing a good work in your life for His purpose, trust that your moment will come when God reveals your miracle.

And her tombstone read...

Think about this for a moment would you, if someone was left to create your tombstone today, what would be the identifying sentence or two that sums your life on a piece of marble for eternity? The late Myles Monroe once said, "The wealthiest place in the world is a graveyard because there sits the dreams that were never released and the desires that never came forth that have been buried into the ground. There sit businesses that were suppose to start but never came to fruition.There sit the books that were suppose to be written that were never penned to the page. Things that people were called to do, but they sat scared and lazy on the sidelines watching everybody else do it. It is a place full of people who thought, "Maybe I'm born for more, but maybe I'm just born with this capacity. Maybe I'm just born to sit on the sidelines." I'm not a sideline liner, white line hugger or bench warmer, I want in, I want all in! We have to remove our self inflicted mental caps and become the people who God has called us to be, His children without limitations. 

Our Father has given each spiritual gifts and He wants to work in you and through you to shape you in to who you are. Sometimes, at least for me, knowing what my spiritual gifts are is hard. How do you identify your gifts? I still struggle with this question and for me I wish there was a self instructional guild or checklist that I could use to help me better narrow it or them down. I think I know what some of the are, I'm not saying I'm absolutely lost with what He's given me I would just like to feel comfortable in knowing that I'm using them to the full capacity He would want me to. Have you thought about yours? 1 Corinthians 1:7

I'm very excited about this next season in my life and I'm pray that if our gifts are measured in volume, that at the end when it's my time to go Home that I will have used everything that He has given to me. We serve an Ephisians 3:20 God, so let us open the businesses we're supposed to open, pen the books that are supposed to be written and go bravely and say yes to the things we were called to do. Our Father who if He had a wallet would have our picture in it, wants infinitely more for us than we could imagine. So don't let the lack of desire or sideline excuse stop you from becoming who He has created you to be. Don't let your spiritual wealth get buried in the ground and don't have the tombstone read "if they only would have."...let the Author of your life be the one who at the end says, "Well done good and faithful servant." Speak prophetically over your life as you have the power to shape your destiny with your words.

Philippians 4:13

Obscure signs

On my way home I've passed this sign hundreds of times not really paying attention to it, just glancing at it, you know that look you do that you half see something and you may recognize it but you don't really "see "it. Today as I was jamming out Jimmy Eat World and I was almost home when I saw the sign and then the Lord asked "Isn't that how you treat me?". Intrigued? What was the sign? No it wasn't a burning bush or anything like that but it was the sign for the boat launch in my neighborhood. Strange huh? Well the Lord doesn't always use conventional means to get my attention.

Here's what I think of what He was trying to get me to think about, so play along with me and stick through the analogies. Let's say we're the boat and we're tied down and safely hitched to God, the carrier, the trailer, the hauler, the One who keeps us grounded. The ramp represents the ups and downs of life and the water is either calm for smooth sailing or choppy for a rough going. What our Father does is He will release us into the waters of life to live free and experience both the shallows and the deep uncharted depths but He's prepared the boat well just as any captain would. It's not without the necessary life savers. Life vests for when we feel like we're drowning, flares for when we drift too far and need others to see us to help and lastly the anchor. The anchor to prevent us from going where we shouldn't while we're working in the depths and learning to sail though life's lessons.

If you happen to come upon rough waters and you feel like you're in danger or it's getting too much to handle, remember that the One who keeps us above ground and safely secure and is willing to take us anywhere is also the one that provides the anchor, He is the anchor. If we have faith that He will provide safety when needed
then fear not. 

I have a tattoo and a matching custom wall hanging that reminds me daily that I've got Hope, Love and an anchor that will keep me from drifting. I pray that whomever reads this remembers that you too have Hope that the Lord will provide, His unconditional Love and a steadfast Anchor to keep you grounded and will prevent you from drifting beyond Him.

Read: Hebrews 6:19 

Every fallen leaf has a story

The trees are going to sleep and the autumn winds will blow, soon the leaves will at last release their hold of what they grew to know. They will fall to the ground and become as dust and food for future growth but will remain memories of a yesteryear. Another season passed.

I feel like we could compare life to that of a leaf in that we go through certain seasons. Seasons of hope, gladness, joy and sometimes of despair, anger and fearfulness. At the beginning of each of these seasons God gives us the opportunity to grow, so we start of as small buds needing light and nourishment so He gives us all that we need, we just have to be willing to let him garden. During this time, we're blooming, we're fragile and learning how to be in the transformation but with the Lord there will always be a lesson. There will times of difficulty, a drought so to speak where we may have strayed because it was difficult and we thought we could handle things on our own. We become stumped. Perhaps we've forgotten that amongst the dry season where we haven't grown as we should've it's because He's using this season to bring us to back to Him. He want's to be part of our every moment if we let Him.

I have to confess that the Lord has been working on me these last couple of weeks and I've been on the battlefield, the enemy has had his way with me, beating me down at every corner. My lesson came to fruition this past Sunday. This season has not been easy, I feel like when I started to bloom the rains stopped, the thoughts of being inadequate and being hurt by the opinions of others drowned out my light, covered me with an umbrella and stumped me. BUT GOD. I feel that this season is starting to be over. The veil of the umbrella has been removed because I refuse to allow others to define who I am and the light has broken though. I am a daughter of the King and His opinion is the ONLY ONE that matters.

So just as the leafs life comes to the end of another season so will our seasons end. We've both grown, we've survived the purpose and at the end we've changed appearances and now it's time to let go. Each season we go through we have the opportunity to feed the next and to help others blossom in their growth. 

Read: Genesis 40:10

59 "One Another's"

There are 59 commands in the New Testament of "One Another's". Be at peace with one another; Wash one another's feet; Do not slander one another; Encourage one another and it goes on and on but the one that is mentioned the most, 15 times respectively is...Love one another. As Christians these commands are sometimes learned from the pulpit and though other believers in our community but putting these in to action should come from the overflow of our heart and love for the Lord.

I was doing some research about the number 59 I found that in numerology it is said to have this meaning "its sense of personal freedom — broadly, wholeheartedly, intending to encounter all aspects of humanity that it is feasible to experience."* Isn't that interesting that in looking at the number of times there is a command in the Bible for one another's that the number in another fashion represents a sense of personal freedom. How could we not take each of these and apply them in our lives? Imagine the personal freedom we could have if we lived as we were commanded! While I understand that realistically each of these can't be done on a daily basis, why as a community of believers can't we be more intentional?

Andy Stanley says it best, "The primary activity of the church is one-anothering one another." Let's start by the living out the command mentioned most, and the rest will fall in line. Love ONE ANOTHER as He has loved us.

Read: 1 John 4:7



*https://affinitynumerology.com/number-meanings/number-59-me