EMPHasis...

recently i have had some experiences that keep pointing in one direction, but i couldn't possibly tell you what i will DO with this direction... i truly think that God is speaking to me regarding the human trafficking situation, but you've totally got me what exactly He's saying... i feel that i need an interpreter... does anyone else out there feel that God is speaking to them in a foreign language? you know He is directing you, guiding you, you just don't exactly know how to apply, understand or comprehend what He is saying...

examples:
1. over a year ago our church hosted an art sale in huntington beach where the proceeds would go toward stopping human trafficking...naturally my ears perked up because of the "art" aspect, but i wasn't feeling led to participate.

2. a dear friend of mine told me about an event that was held at the sawdust festival venue called "isanctuary", proceeds would go toward stopping human trafficking (sound familiar)?? i volunteered for set-up and dipped a toe in the waters of helping in a verrrrrrrrry small way... i'm now receiving e-mails regularly regarding this organization and future opportunities to help.

3. i ran across a gorgeous t-shirt from one of my favorite companies "threadless t-s", the most artistic t-shirts i've ever owned and they always make a subtle statement...this one was a the silhouette of a girl with a "birdcage corset" the door is open and she is being set free...proceeds for the sale of this t-shirt? to put an end to human trafficking.

4. sunday morning at church an incredible group from maine came to share and sing at our church, refuge, they are called the wrecking, what aMAZing hearts...their cause and EMPHasis? to raise awareness and money for notforsalecampaign.org the prevention and abolishment of human trafficking.

5. and now today? i am compelled to write this because i was just on "stumbleupon.com" where an article and petition regarding human trafficking at an orphanage in haiti was brought to my attention.... i have 2 friends that at this moment are working in haiti to provide some medical relief and my prayers and my thoughts are naturally with them...so needless to say to read an article about something that is in this very spot? and that God has managed to tie up so many loose ends over this past year to point towards doing something.... maybe it's just to write this, maybe it's just to EMPHasize that God does talk to us and sometimes we do need an interpreter... maybe someone reading this is my interpreter;) if the least we can do is to sign this petition? then that's what we can do...

WEEK 2: Crazy love challenge...SMALL steps...

how many times have you asked for the strength and faith to take a small step toward a goal; breaking a habit, learning something new, getting to know someone, mending a relationship... there are SO many things that we as human beings would love to be/do but we can be overwhelmed with "self"...
our internal dialogue might go something like this...

"that's not my gift, i'm not talented in that area (music, art, communication, interpersonal relationships...)"

"but i've lived in this neighborhood for 20 some odd years, i'm gonna start talking to my neighbors now?? they'll think i'm really strange/odd/weird... "crazy"...hmmm..."

"every time i talk to them i feel like an idiot, they either patronize me or they cut me off, what do i do with that?"

these are all very valid reasons to not do something, to not try, to stay in the same spot... BUT what has God been saying to you in your 10 minutes of focus time this past week?? i'm sure, (like me) you have been hearing something pretty persistently in your ear and in your heart... what keeps coming back into your mind like a merry-go-round... what keeps repeating that God won't let you NOT hear... yep, we can ignore it? but we can also start with small steps... little things...

moses didn't think that he was a communicator (at ALL) yet he was asked to lead a whole bunch of people through a wilderness for forty years... God gave him the tools to be a leader, moses didn't really start out that way:)

maybe you've been wanting an opportunity to talk with a neighbor that you might see several times a week as you put out your trash bins...now follow me on this... lift up your hand, put it in the air, look at said neighbor, wiggle your fingers and say "hi"... it's a start... a small step...no, you don't have to present the gospel to them right there at the curb with your hand on your recycled trash bin... but you can do something...

lastly, this is a hard one, and maybe not something that is pressing on your heart or mind? but maybe it is... a broken or bruised relationship... something that has really taken a beating... small step? be the first one to open the door to communication, once more a simple "hi" can be a beginning...

prayer is a powerful thing, and God is opening all sorts of doors inside of you if you allow Him to make you aware...

i want to leave you with a little bit of a small step "vision"...

how many of you remember "indiana jones and the last crusade" (spoiler alert if you have never seen this movie...!!)

i will often think of a particular scene (many of you probably already know where i'm headed with this...) where indiana's father (a beautiful codger role played by sean connery, you gotta love it...) has been shot and indiana in order to save him must accomplish some tasks to encounter the holy grail which will save his father's life... the particular moment that i envision is when indiana is in a large cavern with no apparent way to get from one side to other without plummeting to his death, literally closes his eyes and takes one small step into what he presumes to be thin air... with the first step the optical illusion of rocks that create a bridge to the other side of the cavern to obtain the holy grail? is clearly marked and he makes his way across (of course throwing a bit of sandy rock across it to make it clear for the way back....oh indy...you're SO brilliant... or at least your writers did a great job...)... of course indy did this to save his father's life and this is completely fictional but i LOVE the graphic illustration of taking a small step of faith...

what is your small step? what will you do this week that takes you one step closer to what God is calling you to do??
close your eyes, put your hand over your heart, take a breath and step out...

2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith not by sight...

just checking in: crazy love week one challenge PRAYER

i realize i'm a day early in checking in with all of us that raised our collective facebook thumbs in agreement to get up 10 minutes early and pray daily to ask God "what do you want me to do??" but i'm kind of excited due to some vague "niggles" that have been stirred in my heart and mind due to this daily practice.... i must admit, i did NOT succeed in actually waking up the deadly ten minutes earlier in the past six days (too many nightly interruptions from my dear puppy, sweetpea... who knew that thunder and lightning could constitute such a shaking mass of fur?...poor thing...) anyway, i did manage to carve out the 10 minutes of complete quiet and distraction free time to devote specifically to our question...i am amazed at how LONG and how SHORT ten minutes can be when i am attempting to focus solely on God and truly try to listen to Him...it all seems so quiet...but, this is what i learned...

a. if something keeps coming back to my mind continually? God is in it... whether it is something i'm being convicted about? or it's something i should be doing (or not doing) God is in it...

b. if i sit there long enough? my mind does slowly begin to focus around the edges...(sometimes it's reallllly slow...)

c. time with God is never wasted:)

now, in this past week God has called me to step out in a manner of ways that i never dreamed possible... He has asked me to mend personal fences that i thought were beyond the realm of possibility to mend...humbling yes, and i would like to say that they mended beautifully? but God isn't finished with this little home repair project apparently...He has also asked timmy and i to look more carefully at our finances and our time management...where are we spending these precious commodities? on frivolous "things" and "shtuff"?? or sitting in front of a television set that is spewing out negative words, thoughts and ideas and invading our own conscious actions... once again, this is a process...i would love to share with all of you that i have miraculously been able to give a TON of our $$ to the poor and that i don't fall asleep to the glow of a t.v. every night... but God is helping me to make steps, some have been small, some a bit more like falling off a cliff;)...

i love that quote "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step..."


so what steps are being whispered in your ear by a patient and persistent God who wants the best for you??
what tugging on your heart and soul is being so insistent that to ignore it is almost a physical impossibility??

new challenge coming up tomorrow:) get ready!!


3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37 3 & 4

CRAZY love challenge week ONE: prayer!!!

my husband timmy and i have been greatly enjoying a small group bible study the past several months. we have been reading and reviewing what we've read on a weekly basis about, "crazy love" by francis chan...now, please understand me when i state VERY vocally that this is truly a challenge, a very humbling challenge...i figure it's a good thing when we are asked to look at our lives, especially as followers of Christ, and ask ourselves, "what exactly are we doing to make a difference??"...some of us have jobs where, on a daily basis, we have great opportunity to share Jesus' love by our attitude and actions and possibly even our words:)... others of us may have to create more opportunities to make a difference maybe through volunteerism, quiet acts of service, putting our time or money where our mouths are... but talking about these concepts in the real world? being the Jesus that others may not encounter because they have either never heard of him? or maybe their examples might be through the lens of assumed hypocrisy because words and actions (through humanity) did not match and, frankly, disappointed others, can be more than a bit fearsome (i would compare this with oh, let's say, a lion's den or jumping off a cliff...anything that requires true bravery)...whether you proclaim to the world that you are crazy in love with our Lord Jesus Christ and want to follow him at all costs, or whether you are crazy in love with Jesus but a secret admirer and don't know how to express this in a world that is pretty much...crazy...we all need, guidance... yes, there are questions, concerns, fears and doubts? hopes, dreams and gifts:) so if we're looking for guidance and wisdom from the very one that created us, who knows us better than we know ourselves? then maybe we should really try to make the time to HEAR Him... soooooo this is my proposal, my "challenge"...

for the next week? would you commit with me to get up 10 minutes earlier each day and simply ask God what He would have you do with all that "stuff" He has given you?? (time, talents, finances...you probably already have something in mind)... let's try it for a week, 10 minutes EVERY day, on our knees (or whatever position allows you to be comfortable with God...) and then be accountable to each other that we have completed this first challenge??

WILL YOU STAND WITH ME IN THIS CHALLENGE?
Raise your hand and let's support others that are crazy:)

Philippians 4:6
New King James Version (NKJV)
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

G.P.S.

recently i have been finding that there are many forms of G.P.S. in our lives... there is the obvious vocal coach that you drive around and have them issue many directions (oftentimes with the voice of your choosing...how pleasant)... the directions are repeated in a very persistent, calm voice, and it is difficult to deviate from someone insisting that you "turn right in 500 ft, turn right in 500 ft, TURN RIGHT IN 500 FT!", no they don't yell at you (thank heavens) but it does seem to be a form of automated nagging...

when we were in virginia beach this past summer...four very hot, sweaty, yet exciting and memorable weeks... we used the GPS on timmy's phone (free app, by the way...), we found ourselves in a variety of situations and places that didn't quite make sense and the GPS would actually make sense of it... how princess anne intersects princess anne i have NO idea, (and yes chad, this was for you...)....but something else i found fascinating about this little innovative directional gem is that when we DIDN'T follow the voice? it would say "re-routing, re-routing..." it would take a moment, re-calibrate what we had actually done, and then start us over in the right direction.

yes, many of us see where this is heading (and i'm sure you don't need GPS to get there...) but in each of our lives we are seeking direction! we have an initial path that we begin and then we just "head out"... maybe we need to be more purposeful? maybe we need to actually plug into our God Positioning Service and "assume the position" of prayer where we literally bow our heads and ask our Creator God where He wants us to go.... and that interesting little feature of the worldly GPS where it "re-routes" you? is not by any means lost in this analogy... no matter what we do, no matter where we go, if we are asking God to lead us, guide us and even re-route, He will speak to us in whatever "voice" He chooses to use; time (aka waiting...), prayer, people, His word, His work... if we're following His plan we'll never be lost we'll just find ourselves re-routed...

jeremiah 29:11 "for i know the plans that i have for you," says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

the tongue...

now some may take note of the title of this particular blog and wonder, "what in heaven's name is she writing about..."... ahem! i am writing about the beauty of our little dog, "sweet-pea" this fuzzy puppy (seriously, she is SO soft) has stolen our hearts (to the point of ridiculous obsession and even MORE ridiculous tolerance of her quirkiness, can you say, "lack of sleep"??) but what i find even more intriguing in our adoption of "her highness", is that she has actually changed us with this odd little tongue that never goes inside her mouth (no exaggeration here...)....she is a constant source of entertainment, she is a master manipulator of her cuteness factor, and yet the unconditional love exhibited by a 10 pound, hanging tongue, 3 toothed hound is a bit overwhelming...

the recent lessons we have learned from this little warm body have been many and irrefutable:

1. cute can take you very far in this world, especially if you're cute AND funny looking...

2. looking at someone as if they are the only one in the world that they love and depend on can probably turn the hardest of hearts to soft-serve ice cream...

3. when you put #1 & #2 together? it is amazing how tolerant of 1 a.m. romps and pouncing on your face your "people" will endure just to be able to enjoy some chuckles even at the expense of some sleep (although it does catch-up occasionally)

4. it is mind boggling that this bundle of warmth seems to realize which one of her people she will wake up...she literally takes turns with the two of us...i find this truly wondrous, perceptive and a little bit mysterious as well...

5. surprise quirks springing up on us are an endless source of entertainment; the way that she loves to be blow-dried after her bath, that the sound of velcro ripping (this is her leash/halter) will send her into a frenzy to go out, a ride in the car is the BEST thing ever, and certain bodily function sounds (insert noise here), will send her running from a room and looking over her shoulder at her "person" with great disdain and superiority...( sorry, but this one really cracked us up and HAD to be shared...)

6. last and definitely not least, it is an utter impossibility to not laugh, giggle, grin, smirk, snort or any other form of mirth to emerge from our lips when we look at this dog with the perpetual tongue...it's just that much of a quirk to draw you into the rest of the little package, and you just keep on smiling....

waiting room...again:)

a long time ago i came up with a visual regarding that dreaded four-letter word "wait"...i had been told, (or maybe i daydreamed it during a sermon??) that God has 3 answers to prayer..."yes, no and WAIT"... notice that the word "yes" has 3 letters, the word "no" has only two (although those two little tiny letters can pack a powerful smack on the chin when you feel God's impact of uttering them...) and then there is the dire whisper of the word "wait"... it's usually pretty distinctive because it resembles a verbal strait-jacket... no matter how you try to wiggle your way around it? if God really wants you in the "waiting room" He reeeeeeaaaalllllllyy wants you in the waiting room:)....

i find it interesting that we can choose to attempt to be uncomfortable in our strait-jacket waiting room (and this probably is coughing up an image of a psychiatric ward)...or we can trust God, not resist this time of waiting and look around at the pictures on the walls, the other patients, and in particular the magazines displayed on the coffee table in front of you... what do you see? can you learn something from these surroundings? for me, i've recently been fighting and wiggling in my job strait-jacket...i'm doing something i enjoy, but yet i'm not comfortable and feel like i need to pursue something different...but at this moment in time, i simply cannot be looking for another job or even a change of assignment within the constraints of my current employment...i am completely aware that God, the great Physician in every respect, is having me wait in this room so i can learn...learn from others that are in the same room? learn from the pictures on the walls? learn from the various magazines that are all there for a reason, either to distract me or to teach me a lesson...and that is completely up to me... how i wait, whether it be with struggle or with grace, this is all part of His answer, it's all part of the process...just like waiting for a doctors appointment, you eventually get there...but sometimes it takes longer than others to hear what the doctor has to say AND when the doctor finally does see you and give his prescription? it's up to the individual to listen and follow His advice...