Hope this doesn’t sound too weird, but I’m feeling like I did when I was anxiously awaiting the birth of one of my kids!

You know that butterfly feeling in your stomach when excitement and anxiousness is all rolled up together and you can’t be still kind of feeling?

The feeling of  “I’m in over my head” yet knowing the overwhelming blessings and benefits of what being in over your head is bringing into your life!

I can’t get past point one from this past week’s sermon from our EXTRAVAGANT series:

God wants it all!

He wants me in over my head totally dependent on Him.

Living an extravagant life…

exceeding the bounds of reason.

He doesn’t expect obedience only when I can wrap my brain around it

or when I “feel” totally comfortable with what He’s calling me to.

Is that scary for me…?  you better believe it is!

But there’s also a freedom in it

because like Ron shared on Sunday, “It’s all His anyway.“  So, it is kind of freeing to stop the resistance.

I just want to encourage you today to press into what God is doing in your life.

Just take one step at a time in obedience to what He is speaking to you…

I think you’ll be amazed by where you’ll end up!

I’m thinking it will be somewhere EXTRAVAGANT!

In my previous blog,  Wholehearted I mentioned putting our hands to those things that God has placed in our hearts.  A desire that has been in my heart for years is having resources for encouragement and avenues of connection for women.

In today’s world we have had so many messages in front of us.  Sometimes the messages that I believed to be true weren’t as visible and accessible.

A lot of the things I would read concerning women didn’t resonate with me and what I felt like God had put in my heart.  Not saying everything out there was off base… just didn’t hear many voices speaking my language.  I know what is in my heart is not appealing to all women, but I’m confident there are many like me out there.

One aspect of resources/encouragement is Thrive.

Thrive is a sisterhood of women joining their hearts together to encourage and empower each other to not just survive, but to Thrive in life!

Here are some of the ways you can connect with the sisterhood of Thrive:

Facebook

Amplify Church

We want a place you can go when you need encouragement in your week.

It might be a word or a thought, but hopefully it’s something speaking to the heart of who you are!

We would love for you to jump into the conversation!

As I’ve shared before I love men (married to one!) and have great respect for them.

Definitely not a male basher!

But God’s plan for mankind didn’t stop with the creation of man.

After God created man (Genesis 2)  He said it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper comparable to him.

So obviously God’s plan was not complete with the creation of man.  He created woman with a distinct plan and purpose.

He created women with certain qualities and attributes that the world needs to see and hear.

The world needs to hear your voice!

Some of Thrive's world changers!

We had our first Thrive meeting this past Sunday and it was such a great night!

I say it was a great night because  the comments I have received are what I prayed would be the take away from the ladies that attended!

The goals of Thrive monthly meetings are:

A girls night where we can laugh together and enjoy being girls!

A sweet time of worship where we can join our faith together as women and declare

the promises of God through music

a teaching that speaks to our hearts and challenges and equips us to move forward in our lives.

Would love for you to join us!

A little over 15 years ago I was in a spiritually intense season.

Even though I had been a Christian since childhood and was involved in full-time ministry at the time, it was such a time of growth for me.

I can remember reading the Bible constantly and it was as if I was reading it for the first time.

The words were so alive and powerful.

My faith was so stirred as I read the stories in the Bible.

My desire was stronger than ever to follow Christ and His purpose for my life.

I was on my bed one morning reading my Bible and journaling.  The TV was on in the background and I looked up at one point as a Bible teacher was talking about the heart and the hand.  I don’t even know what the teaching was about really because that’s all I heard and suddenly I felt a desire to kneel down beside my bed and pray.  I started praying and was immediately overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord.  I began sobbing.

To be really honest, I remember thinking in my mind “why am I sobbing?”  But I do believe in the power of the Holy Spirit.  One of benefits of the Holy Spirit is that He prays through us at times to the Father those things we don’t know the specifics of what to pray or how to put into words (Romans 8:26-28).  So even though I didn’t totally understand my emotions at the time, I knew enough to trust in the work of the Holy Spirit.

I had been praying for a few minutes when I heard my door crack open.   I glanced up to see my daughter Alexis, who was around 4 at the time, peeking in the door.  I felt like the Lord spoke in my spirit, “she has something for you.”  I asked her what she needed and as she walked toward me she said, “I drew this for you.”

As I took the paper from her hand she said “I drew you a heart in a hand.”

Immediately I heard the Lord speak to my spirit, “What’s in your heart you will do with your hands.”

I was overwhelmed again, and even though I didn’t know the details of what that meant exactly,  I said ‘Yes’ once again that day to God’s plan for my life.

It was a powerful moment in my life.  One I will never forget.

I have thought about that picture and day many times through the years and have seen the reality of that in the different seasons of my life.

I have that picture framed and it is such a treasure to me.

Ever since that day I notice the word heart and hand.

It’s a reminder to me that God put desires in my heart.  He’s the one who created me.

He wants me to put my hand to the things He has put in my heart.

He created me to live wholeheartedly and impact my world.

I want to remind you today…

He created YOU!

He put the desires in YOUR heart!

This Valentine Season let’s not just tell those we love how special they are to us (although we need to do that, and not just on Valentines Day).  This year when we see the hearts everywhere, let it be a reminder to us that God wants to give us the desires in our heart. (Psalm 37:4)

We are usually not waiting on Him…

He’s waiting on us to live Wholeheartedly the life He created us to live!

I’m so excited!

We will be having our 1st Thrive Sisterhood meeting Sunday, February 12th.

This is a night for girls of all ages to come together to celebrate and learn from each other.

If your desire is to not just survive in this life, but to thrive and live the life you were created to live, then you don’t want to miss this night!

 Thrive

To Flourish or Prosper

1. to grow vigorously

2. to progress toward or realize a goal despite of or because of circumstance

Sisterhood

A community of sisters.

1. the solidarity of women based on shared conditions, experiences, or concerns

Our theme this semester for Thrive is Wholehearted.

  I am looking forward to our time together these next few months.

I love hearing your stories…

your struggles… your victories.

I love hearing how God is working in your life and I’m excited about an environment where that can be shared with more and more women.

I know God is going to do some incredible things in us these next few months as we choose to live Wholeheartedly the life we were created for!

You can connect with Thrive Sisterhood on Facebook

and the Thrive page on Amplifychurch.org

I woke up this morning with a thought that I have had several times since the girls accident.

The thought was…

the body has an incredible ability to heal itself!

I’ve been amazed over the past few weeks as I have seen staples and stitches removed and watched healing take place…

little by little,

day by day,

healing.

Sometimes when we have Erica’s brace open for cleaning on her stomach, we will take a picture of the scar so she can look at it closer.

It took a few days for her to be able to even want to see the scar.

It’s been neat to see the transformation.

At first I could see the discomfort in her face as she saw the mended wound…

the imperfection.

But honestly I’ve come to look at that scar as something beautiful.

A reminder

of a life saved…

of God ‘s faithfulness…

of the overwhelming love of friends…

of overcoming…

of  a  Christmas to remember.

I  thought of the body of Christ, the Church, and how by being a part of His body it  brings healing to us individually.

I love the power of the church!

Again, the Body has the ability to heal itself,  but if the body is not assembled back to together how can it be healed?  Erica needed the help of a surgeon to mend the wounds on her colon.  In the surgeons own words, “I reconnected her colon.”

God cannot not heal our wounds if we are not willing to be connected to His body.

I also had the realization that when it’s our scars all we see is the imperfection…

BUT

when we look at the scars on others we are reminded…

of a life saved…

of God’s faithfulness…

of overcoming.

What stories do your scars tell?

The rest of the body needs to hear and see your scars so that they and you may be healed!

Read more about your Place in the Body at Jonathan Stone’s Blog.

To Bless…

to bestow good of any kind upon.

Blessing…

A Blessing is such a powerful act!

The one thing it takes to bless is action.

We can bless each other in many ways, but probably the biggest way to bless someone is with our words.

Words are powerful and a creative force.  In Proverbs 18 it tells us that life and death are in the power of the tongue.

When we speak words of kindness to others and about others we are speaking life to them and ourselves.

When we speak unkind to others and about others we are speaking death to them and to ourselves.

Sounds serious…

it is!

Let’s be intentional with the words we are speaking.

Let’s use them to speak life into our world.

You can change the atmosphere in your home in an instant with your words.

You can change the heart of your spouse with your words.

You can speak to the purposes of God in your child’s life with your words.

It’s so easy in our hurried days to let whatever our flesh is “feeling” to come out of our mouths.

And not only are you hurting the people hearing your words, but they are bouncing right off them and coming right back into your life!

You are powerful and the power is right there on your tongue!

Use it to Bless someone today!

I had just finished writing this blog about our words and blessing.  I was struggling because I knew there were some things stirring in my heart, but honestly I couldn’t wrap my brain around them.  So instead of pressing into the discomfort  I was choosing to place my thoughts elsewhere. 

In other words I was avoiding the stirrings in my heart…

the still small voice… God!

I got into a conversation with Ron and I shared some of my thoughts on how I was feeling.  He immediately started speaking into my situation.  I was starting to feel set up.   It was like someone had given him all  the answers to my test.  He spoke truth into every question I had.  His words spoke life and clarity to my fear and questioning.  It’s like they (words) pulled back the covers I was hiding behind and I said, “okay God, I hear you clearly”.

He had no idea that the blog I had just written was on blessing people and speaking life to them.

But within minutes of me typing the last word and walking into another room I experienced a blessing.

Blessed that on someones way out the door this morning they took the time to listen…

and to speak…

to bless!

(written 12/18/11)

It’s a Sunday morning and it feels odd because I am actually at home instead of being at church.

  Almost two weeks ago my 2 oldest daughters were in a bad car accident.  In the last few days they were discharged from the hospital and are now both at home still very much in the recovery process.

I saw my 21 year daughter (that actually moved to her own place this past Spring, now home for the recovery) cry for the first time yesterday when she asked if she was going to be able to go to church and I had to tell her no.

In the midst of my heart breaking for her sadness my heart was also filled with gratefulness.

Grateful that in the midst of all that is going on my child’s heart is longing to be with her community of believers.

Grateful that they both recognize the strength and stability it brings to their lives.

Trust me,  I know first hand the church is NOT a building or place we go, but it is a living, breathing, community that Christ gave His life for.

I’m going to go ahead and apologize…

because after the past few weeks that I have lived.  I’m not feeling much like sugar coating things.

It’s not about “going to church” it’s about “being the church.”

The prayer support as well as other practical support that we have received from the body of  Christ during this time from literally all over the world has been incredible.  We have experienced the Body of Christ like never before.

I had a parent of a student that the girls teach say to me, “It’s amazing to me to see how your girls are  responding during all of this. I don’t think it would have been the same for me at their age.”   I told her it’s an example of  planting the seeds.    When you’re thrown in the middle of a circumstance you don’t have the luxury to decide on how you’re going to respond.    What’s in you is going to come out.

Our children need to know serving God is serious!

We can say what we want, but what our children are getting is what we do.

When we put everything else in front of being committed and involved in the body of Christ-

our children see that.

They see what we really value as important by our choices.

Please hear me-

I am NOT setting myself up as Super Spiritual Parent!

I fail all the time and believe me my kids know that.  My point is we have to lay a foundation of God in their heart that is bigger than our imperfection as parents and a solid faith to be able to deal with whatever life is throwing at them.

My children know where their strength comes from.

I want to remind you as a parent, you have been entrusted with your children from God.

 As parents we don’t give our kids the choice to decide if they want to eat.   We would NEVER let a day go buy without giving some kind of nourishment to our children.  We even feel guilty if we have to grab fast food too often.

We don’t let them make the choice if they want to be educated or not.  We drag kids out of bed and send them off to school sometimes crying because that’s what we do as good parents.

So I’m always surprised when it comes to spiritual feeding and education why so many times we let the children make the decision.  Or when as parents we don’t give it the same priority as the other things in our lives.

Again, you can tell your kids, “God is #1 in your life,” but when they see you as more committed to getting them to school or an extra curricular activity, they see the difference.  Or choosing a few extra hours of sleep instead of going to church knowing every other day of the week you would be getting up if you had to go to work or get them somewhere.  Believe me they are getting that message.  Don’t get mad at me… just speaking the truth.  I warned you no sugar coating today.

We have to model that the family of God is a beautiful thing and when you are part of a family …

you show up.

You show up even if you’re mad at your brother and your mom made you mad or you’re just tired.  You show up because you are family and there is commitment and strength in that.

Just recently I had a conversation with someone that was questioning their involvement in a community of believers as a result of several issues of hurt in the church.

My response was  “I can so relate to your struggle…

  Community has been the source of my most wonderful times, but it has also been the source of my most painful times.  I, myself have struggled at times as to why God has called us to it.”

My children have experienced these extremes as well growing up in the church.

  They have experienced far too many times people being as close as family only to not be there the next week without even a goodbye.

They’ve experienced times of being  judged unfairly and gossiped about.

  But, they have also experienced the wonderful…

people that love you on the good days and the bad days.

Days where you have showed up with more questions than answers and joined with other believers in faith-

speaking and singing and declaring the Word of God together.

It is in that moment of community …

that we are encouraged ,

we are strengthened

we are changed.

*I would encourage you to check out a  few blogs written by Jonathan Stone  for some deeper thoughts and  insight on community.  Good Stuff!

There were a few friends with the girls in the hospital room. I decided now was a good time to leave them and Ron and run home to shower and change out of the clothes I had been wearing the last few days.

It was late and dark as I headed away from the hospital.  Those of you that know me well know I have a thing for downtown areas.  After living in St. Louis for a few years I always wanted to live somewhere that had a beautiful downtown.  It is one of the things that make me love Jacksonville.  I love going downtown just to drive around and look at the buildings and I absolutely love seeing the lights of the city at night.

Our family had just been downtown the weekend before for the Christmas Tree Lighting and the fireworks at the Landing (a favorite tradition of ours if we are in town at Thanksgiving).

The trauma center that the girls had been rushed to after their accident was on the other side of the city, so my drive home included coming across the river on a different bridge than we normally cross.  As I rounded a corner on the interstate, I saw it.  My city all lit up.  My heart felt so full as I looked at the beauty of it.  I actually found myself slowing down so I could take it all in and since it wasn’t my usual drive, it was a different view of the city.

 In an instant I was in the middle of a holy moment.  Tears started welling up in my eyes and I heard God speak into my spirit.  “You are going to see your world from a different perspective.”  The rest of the drive home was filled with sweet communion with God.  I thanked Him for what He was doing in the girls’ lives and us as a family as I once again committed my heart to His plan for us.

It was almost a week later when I brought Erica home and had to run to the pharmacy to pick up her medicines.  I was surprised when I saw the line of people at the pharmacy.  As I joined the back of the line I felt no aggravation for the wait.  Instead my mind started to wonder what their stories were…

I wanted to reach out and hug the elderly lady right in front of me.  I wondered if she was picking up medicine for some illness or disease she was fighting or if she had a sick husband at home that she is caring for.  I wondered if she had people around her, as we did, helping her during this time.

My view was different and I felt it on every level.

And I prayed right there in that line…

‘God, help me never forget!’

Help me never forget what I realized these past few weeks.  During my day when I had interacted with people and they were short with me.  Did they realize I had two daughters lying in hospital beds and I was on my way back to them?

When people in passing would smile and say, “Hi, how are you?”  I just smiled back knowing they had no idea what was going on in my life.

Or the person who honked their horn at Ron the day of the accident.  He got out of the line of traffic to pass cars as he drove in the emergency lane to get to the scene.  They had no idea where he was trying to get to in such a hurry.

When I see someone these last days, my view is different.

I know there is a story behind what I am seeing.

I’m seeing things from a different perspective…

It’s refreshing, it’s heartbreaking and

it’s oh, so beautiful.

Happy New Year Perspective!

This will definitely be a Christmas we remember…

My two oldest children, Erica and Alexis and my nephew Richie were in a car accident on Tuesday, December 6th on their way to the church. My nephew was pretty banged up, but not hospitalized. Both of my girls were taken to a trauma unit and both had to have surgery due to injuries.  After days in ICU and 11 days in the hospital, both girls are now at home continuing in their healing and recovery process.

Erica - First Night in ICU

  My husband was able to be at the scene just a few moments after the accident and went to the girls in the car and prayed over them and spoke life to their bodies.  I truly believe things could have been much worse.

When I first saw them in the emergency room, it felt like a dream as my husband and I moved in between the two rooms praying over the girls and communicating with the doctors.  I kept communicating to both of them “Don’t freak out over what anyone says is wrong.  It doesn’t matter what it looks like right now.  We know what our God can do!”

Alexis - In Trauma Unit

For those of you that don’t know, the girls teach and run a dance studio and were on their way to teach when the accident took place.  So it was pretty surreal seeing them both in neck braces and hearing Erica telling me she couldn’t move her back.

But louder than what I saw with my physical eyes I was hearing the words to a song we sing frequently at church:

” Our God is Greater, Our God is Stronger, 

God you are higher than any other! Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God!”

They ended up life-flighting Alexis due to a collapsed lung and I rode in the ambulance with Erica to the trauma center downtown.

One of the Doctors in the trauma unit commented to Ron as we were asking questions, “You guys sure are calm to have 2 children in the trauma unit!”

We knew there were some issues with Erica’s back and some intestinal issues and when she arrived at the trauma unit they immediately took her to surgery to explore more deeply to see the extent of the injuries to her intestines.

While she was gone they inserted a tube in Alexis’ lung and stitched up the hole in her leg.

It was a long 5 hours later when the Doctor came and explained that they had to attach the colon back together on both sides of Erica’s intestines.

Erica was in ICU a few days and then was moved into a room with her sister which was a step down.

Erica had a few rough days while waiting for her bowels to wake up from having the surgery, but once they did she started doing much better.

Eight days after the accident Erica was discharged wearing a body brace for her spine while it was decided that Alexis had to have surgery due to her lung repeatedly deflating.

Alexis spent the next few days in Thoratic ICU before getting to come home.

We are home now and are very aware that we are still in the beginning process of healing and recovery.

We have been so encouraged and strengthened by the love and support shown us by our friends and family from literally all over the world.

I will forever be grateful for all the texts and messages of prayers as well as other practical support given to us at this time.

The following picture was taken on a whim a few years ago when we were taking Christmas pictures.  My husband Ron suggested the kids lay under the tree.

I was reminded of this picture at this time because here we are the week of Christmas, no material presents under the tree, but the most priceless gifts I’ve ever been given are laying under that tree in the picture.

This is my story this Christmas…

I don’t know what your story line is telling you right now.

I just hope you will look past the pain of the circumstance you might be facing this Christmas Season and see the fulfillment of what He has promised.

He is FAITHFUL and He is HERE with us!

Merry Christmas!

I admit it…

I can tend to be a control freak.

It’s something I have to work on and I’m happy to say

I have seen great improvements in my life in the last several years.

As a mother of 5 there’s ALWAYS chores to be done… dishes and clothes to be washed, dried and put away!

I have to stop myself from just jumping in and cleaning up the piles that are starting to accumulate because there are more than a few others in my house that are fully capable of doing the task.

And, if I’m not doing the dishes or laundry, I could put my attention to something that only I can do.  Trust me, I still do plenty of dishes, and loads of laundry, but I’m doing my children, as well as myself, a disservice if I do it all the time.

Our tendency as mothers and leaders is to do the task that needs to be done ourselves.  Honestly, sometimes there is so much to do and my thought is, “I’d rather just knock it out myself, then have to explain it and recruit help” (especially when I know that it wont be done exactly the way I would have done it).

This past week was Thanksgiving and we made some pies and pumpkin cheesecake.  My youngest wanted some dessert, but the choices we had were not what he was looking for.  He did however spot what he was looking for in the pantry… a box of brownies.

So I agreed “we” could make them together.  He is 10 and besides making his own sandwich at times, he hasn’t had much interest in the kitchen.

I went over how to read the directions on the box and together we added all the ingredients and made the brownies.  I could tell he had a proud moment and a few nights later he asked about making brownies again. (A pan of brownies doesn’t last long in a family of 7).

I agreed and this time I let him do everything and I just watched and was available  if  he had any questions.  He did a great job and was excited to share the brownies with the rest of the family.

So… I wasn’t surprised when a few nights later someone mentioned making brownies and Marcus excitedly said he would make them (We don’t usually make brownies 3 times a week, but it was Thanksgiving with the added festivities of decorating for Christmas) .

I confidently told him he could… only this time on his own.  He successfully made the brownies that night all by himself!

It was a great reminder for me as a mom and a leader.  Nobody benefits from me doing everything for them all the time.

When we allow others room to grow… It’s a win for everyone involved!