Ouch.

That stings, huh?

I was totally convicted reading through this chapter recently. This has always been my downfall. I use too many words. When a person does that, when I do that chances are good that some of those words will end up stinging.

God has given me the spiritual gift of wisdom. It’s hard for some people to read those words without thinking, “Man, she thinks highly of herself.”

No. No, I do not. I just know how God has wired me and how he has gifted me. You see, it is a gift. It was given. I have received it and used it to help others.

But apparently, I don’t always operate wisely because of those cutting words I use from time to time. 

Dadgummit.

Today is a new day. I am much more aware of my words and how they can cut others…even if I say, “I was just kidding.” 

I challenge you to join me in watching your words. It may be a challenge but I am confident that we will find success when we lean completely on His strength.

That’s you.

You are absolutely the apple of His eye. He could have chosen any of His creations to call His “prized possession” but He did not. 

He chose you.

And He chose me.

Even in our disobedience and rebellion, He chose us. Even knowing what we’ve done in the past, what we are doing right now and what we will do in the future, He chose us. Even knowing that we might reject Him and follow the world, He chose us.

That’s how great His love for us is. 

But do we live our lives with the realization that we are God’s most prized possession? That the greatest gift, Jesus Christ, was given for us? That if God had a refrigerator up in Heaven, our pictures would be on it. 

That’s how great His love for us is.

Father, may we live like the prized possession we are to you. May we follow you wholeheartedly and unswervingly all the days of our lives. 

Prayer. 

I didn’t want this to be my word for 2015 but it is. I was pretty sure God was leading me to this but I held my hand up and said, “God, let me pray about that.”

Oh goodness, yes I did.

You see, I have gotten too busy to really be a person of prayer. I’m in the Word every day, often times more than once. I love the Word. I pray the Word. I memorize the Word. But, the part of my life that seems to have gone by the wayside is my prayer for others.

In all honesty, when someone would ask me to pray for them, too many times I would forget. I’d go days without praying for my husband and sons as well. I would hope the best for them, “think about them”, offer counsel and advice to them, but my prayers FOR them were borderline non-existent. 

As many Southern mommas would say, “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

While I am bothered at that ungodly statistic, I’m choosing grace over wallowing in shame. Shame does nothing for the future but action does. So, that’s what I’m doing. I’m taking action.

I want to be someone who intercedes for other people. I want to go to my Heavenly Father on behalf of others. I want to believe BIG in the lives of the people I love the most.

My biggest prayer this year is for myself: That choosing this word for 2015 would make me a praying person for the rest of my life. So, I guess you could say it’s my word every year until the day I breathe my last.

I’d love to know if you have a word and/or verse for the year and how God led you to it.

My eyes welled up with tears when I read Mike’s email. This friend of ours from church took the time to share a “win” with us about our teenage son, Noah.

(And mercy, don’t we parents of teenagers need to hear these things? I see that hand.)

He recounted his recent experience at Chick-Fil-A, the most blessed of chicken sandwich establishments. As he was waiting in line to place his order, a very old woman was placing hers in the line next to him but a few people up from him. By the time he made it to where he was able to place his order, the little, old lady was still there at the register placing hers. Mike wrote “the young man waiting on her was so compassionate and patient with her that I was amazed. As a pediatrician, I see kids this age all day long, and this is certainly not the usual. As she stepped away, I noticed his name tag said Noah.”

Y’all, that was my Noah. I know, right?

We shared Mike’s email with Noah. I told him that his choice to serve her graciously could have made her entire day because she could have gotten someone who was annoyed and impatient. It was a great teaching moment with him to illustrate the verses below:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24

I told Noah how proud I was of him for doing something so small to make such a huge difference and that not for one moment was I patting myself on the back for his character development. I told him that I was just overjoyed that the Holy Spirit is working in him, leading him, guiding him to do the small things, which are often the hard things, to make a difference.

I’m not entirely sure where you are in your life. Maybe you are at home with small children and you wonder if changing a dirty diaper for the third time since lunch even matters. Or perhaps you are working in a job that doesn’t affect people in a huge way but you show up anyway. It’s likely that you are just going about your life each day, doing the tasks and errands that just need to get done.

Friend, He sees. I am confident that our Heavenly Father would rather see us joyfully doing our daily duties, however insignificant they may seem, than have us dread some activity that appears to be much more important.

The word whatever in the verse above really does mean whatever. So, press on and know that the often unimportant can actually be the most far-reaching and influential.

Wanna save some babies with me? If you’re like me, you want to give to where there is a need and you want to make a difference. Well, here’s an opportunity for you to do just that. What greater way to make a difference than in the life of a child.

World Help is a humanitarian organization that I can personally vouch for. The Vice President, Noel Yeatts, is a personal friend of mine and what they are doing with local partners on the ground in other countries is amazing. So, if you’re wondering if this is legit, it is.

Join me in contributing to make a difference today. Whether it’s $500 or $25. Everything makes a difference

Go to this link and watch the video. http://bit.ly/LALIbabyrescue (Oh, and grab a tissue.) 

You know what’s funny? The fact that I have a song playing in my head at any given time of the day and then also with any given situation. Like right now as I’m writing this post, I’m singing, “When God closes a door, He opens a window, a window. He opens a window so I can see-eeeeee.”

(I know. Gobs amount of cheese on that song.)

It’s not cheesy because God doesn’t give and remove opportunities because he clearly does. 

I’ve seen it. I’ve experienced it. I’ve lived it.

Closed doors on dreams, desires, callings, relationships, you name it, are hard. There is nothing about being rejected for something, for anything that feels good. 

But I’ve made some progress in the area of having doors closed, opportunities removed, desires set aside. That progress has been monumental for me in my personal growth. It doesn’t mean I don’t feel the sting of rejection. It just means I see something bigger behind it. I don’t always know what I’m seeing, but I know there is something out there, near the horizon, out of my present reach. Almost like a shadow of something familiar yet still vague.

The Bible says that God has “good plans for us…plans to give us a hope and a future…” according to Jeremiah 29:11. We can also read that God wants to give us “an abundant life…a full life” in the 10th chapter of the book of John. 

I believe God’s Word to be absolutely true despite the fact that I don’t understand everything in it. I have learned along the way, somewhere in my 44 years on this earth, that I will never understand all the ways of God or why many things happen. I don’t have to. If I had to know, then where does faith come in?

Because God’s Word is true, I know He has good plans for me. He has an abundant life for me. And when I surrender my plans, place them on the altar of sacrifice, God always comes in and gives me more than I could have ever asked for. You see, what I’ve come to peace with is this: If what I want is not God’s best, then I don’t want it. 

Not one single bit.

Ten years ago, maybe even five years ago I would have begged and pleaded with God to “give me the desires of my heart” but not now. Yes, I have dreams and goals and plans and I ask God to make those happen. But I also have this understanding with God, if you will, where He knows that I don’t want what Cindy Beall deems as an abundant life. 

I want what He deems as an abundant life.

And you just can’t put a price tag on that.

My Pastor posted this picture on Instagram about a month ago. Isn’t it stunning? Our Oklahoma sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking sometimes. As I examined the picture more closely, I noticed the construction happening down below. Don’t we have beautiful red dirt? Our church is adding some space for more offices. It struck me how this is a complete picture of our everyday lives.

You see, God’s got it under control. He’s majestic. He’s calming. He is peace. He is perfect. When we see a glimpse of Him, it’s hard to take our eyes off of Him. We, on the other hand, are quite the opposite of perfect. In fact, most of the time, I’m a mess. I’m stressed, or I’m frazzled. I’m definitely a constant work in progress, because in reality, I want to have it all together but I just don’t.

Our life is a construction zone, friends. It’s messy. You can not see the finished product through all the tape, wire, and holes. A foundation is being laid. God is at work. He is shaping us. He has the floor plan. He knows what He is making. Instead of looking around at our chaos, we need to look up. Look at His beauty. Embrace His strength. Reach out for His glory. As we focus on the sunrises, the new beginning of each day, we will soon forget about our mess. We will trust in His plan.

Look up! Seek Him and I promise you will continue to grow and be refined. He is at work in you. He promises to bring the good work of you to completion. Embrace the friction. Embrace the construction.  You will be stronger and wiser because of it.

Philippians 1:6 (NIV) being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus

Isaiah 64:8 (NIV) Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

I read some really good stuff in my YouVersion reading plan this morning. The plan is called Holy Emotions and man, is it powerful. SO good. 

The author of the plan, Carol McLeod of Just Joy Ministries, suggested John 15 as the reading for the day. After reading it, her first two sentences in the devotional part simply said this:

God has an anecdote for weariness; He has prescribed “abiding” for your tired and exhausted soul. The spiritual opposite for weariness is the simplicity of abiding in Christ.

IS THAT NOT ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING?

I thought so, too.

McLeod also goes on to say that we are to remain in constant, unbroken fellowship with Christ, build a life around His presence, make His presence our home, allow Christ to whisper in our ears a plan for each day, continually fill ourselves with the manna of His Word and refresh ourselves in the cool stream of worship.

WHAT????

I am just beside myself about this.

BE. SIDE. MY. SELF.

I love what she shared. I was challenged by what she shared. I’m encouraged by what she shared. I’m hopeful about what she shared.

I wanted to dive into this even more, so I did. I looked up abide in my online Webster dictionary and here’s what I found out about the word abide:

- To stay or live somewhere
- To remain or continue
- To wait for
- To endure without yielding
- To withstand
- To continue in a place
- To sojourn
- To stay
- To dwell
- To hang around
- To remain
- To stick around

My challenge to you today and EVERY SINGLE SOLITARY DAY is to abide. Don’t fret, I’m doing the same. Take some time with these definitions and really allow the Spirit of God to speak to you. 

Let’s abide together.

Not because I didn’t think it would be but because it’s Vegas.

Sin City.

Entertainment Capital of the world.

City of Lights.

But I loved it!

Some of it was a bit off color for my taste, but that’s fine. I may or may not have mentioned a topless woman in one of my sessions at re:treat. My eyes may have seen a thing or 20 that I don’t see in Oklahoma.

But that’s not all you find in Vegas.

You find amazing people like Jud and Lori Wilhite, amazing churches like Central Christian Church, amazing restaurants with mechanical bulls and amazing cupcake shops with one of the best Red Velvet cupcakes I ever have shoved down my throat.

Glory.

Enough of that. I wrote this post to show you some pictures.

Oh, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

Flying into Vegas

First slot machine sighting in the airport

High Roller!

View of the Flamingo from 550 feet in the air on the High Roller!

Lori sharing about her church with the mechanical bull operator

Seesawing with Brandi Wilson

Trisha Davis and me amazed – our first visit to Vegas!

Linda Seidler, Jenni Clayville and me

The women worshipping! Amazing!

Hosanna Poetry – spoken word – she is the real deal!

Kerri Weems – FABULOUS!

Dr. Tara Jenkins – Don’t Make Me Get My Belt!

Visiting with longtime L&LI friend, Steph Thomason!
Me speaking from stage