Just a Moment

"Take just a moment and be." Do you cringe when you hear (read) those words? Do you panic and think of that long list of unfinished "to do's"? I do.

There's a new Christmas song out, Joseph's Lullaby. I thought, ok another new song that's not very pretty and I don't understand the meaning. For some reason I was determined to find some depth to this mediocre song. Everytime the song came on the radio I would listen intently. The song is about Joseph singing to baby Jesus. Showing the love of an earthly father. There is one line in the song that speaks now after weeks of contemplating the meanings. Joseph is saying to Jesus, "The world can wait for one more moment, just have a peaceful sleep and chase your dreams."

For those of us who can't quite seem to grasp that, even Jesus was asked to take time for himself and rest. That's pretty powerful to me, the girl who thinks that my world will come crashing down around me if I take time to myself. The truth is God is in control. God had this world going before I was born even before Jesus was born. Jesus had a purpose here on earth, as do we, but God knew (and Joseph)that we need to love and nurture ourselves before we can save anyone else.

So, for those of you who relate to this story and feel like everything is going to crash if you disappear for a while, take this Christmas season to just reflect, ask God to show how he wants to recharge you, whether it be a quiet evening of worship and prayer, a bubble bath with candles and a good book, or just a few extra naps, I encourage you, INDULGE! God wants to use you, but he doesn't want to use a weary you or an about to pass out from exhaustion you, he wants to use a whole you.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

His Grace

I went to see ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ yesterday. I really wanted to write about what this story means to me. I love C.S. Lewis as an author and how he can really get you to understand the love of Christ. I, along with many others have eagerly awaited the opening of this film.

The film grabbed my emotions and took them on a journey that I can’t quite put to words. The San Francisco Chronicles said it best when they stated “…rather than reduce the novel to a fairy tale, they take up Lewis’ challenge and make a film that deals with the spiritual underpinnings of existence…”

Now, I don’t want to give the movie more credit than it deserves and the reason I say this is not to put the movie down, I want to drive home the point of the story. Ultimate Sacrifice! That’s the bottom line. What greater gift than for a man (or a lion) to lay down his life for another. Every time I crack open those books or watch the cheesy BBC version I lose it, tears start to flow and I’m overwhelmed by the love and the grace, and the acceptance, and the forgiveness, and the mercy. It’s all there, paid for by the blood of Christ.

The story also does a good job of reminding me that I don’t deserve those gifts by anything I’ve done but only by the blood of Jesus. A couple more things, I wished someone else did the voice of Aslan and I’m eager to see how they do ‘The Magician’s Nephew’. If you don’t know the story, go get the book. It’s about the beginning of Narnia. AMAZING!

Vision
I recently read a blog by Lightening and Sara about vision. It really challenged me to start thinking more about mine. I feel like alot of people probably aren't even aware that I have a vision, well, I do.

My vision is to create a place where broken and hurting women can come to be encouraged and beleived in and receive prayer and intamacy with christ. Specifically, I have a heart for women who are passionate about leading worship or teaching or have a secret dream of leading a housegroup and then maybe one day a church who feel disqualified. I want to make sure that those women know that that is a lie and that there is hope available to them.

I too struggle with those feelings, but I also know that when I am weak, he is strong. He has placed certain desires in my heart and certain gifts that have been untapped do to unbelief. God is calling me out, I am overcoming these obstacles one by one, not by my strength, but by his and I say Hallaluja! I'm ready to start living the life I was hand crafted for.

That's all for today. I wanted to start this off by letting you all know what I'm about. Please feel free to blog any comments, questions, or advice that you have.