God's Calling

“God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable” Romans 11: 29 HCSB

His gifts and calling are final. They can’t be changed. And so it’s up to me. Do I ignore the calling placed upon my heart, or do I embrace it? Do I stay busy and preoccupied, or do I give myself moments of quiet and rest in which to write? This calling, this life God has called me to, is not easy . I feel such a strong calling as a military wife, a mother and a writer. These are all a part of who I am. The first two callings take up a large portion of each day. With a house to clean and a baby getting into everything, I am more than busy. Just the same, my fingers long to write. My soul longs to empty itself on the page. Writing is cathartic for me. It’s one of the ways I talk to God. It’s the way in which I’m the most transparent. I love writing to the point that it scares me. I love writing so much that I’m afraid of criticism. I’m afraid of being turned down. I’m afraid that people won’t like my writing, or will be overly critical of my grammar (my weakest link). Jus the same, it’s my calling. It’s something that can’t be ignored. This gift of writing is such an intricate part of who I am. And so, I find tiny moments out of the day to write. I experiment with styles. I stretch my skills. I search for ways to get published. And most of all, I seek the face of my Father, who gave me this gift for a reason. What that reason is, I may not see until eternity, but it’s a wonderful reason just the same!

What calling has God placed upon your life?

A Message of Faith

“This is the message of faith that we proclaim: if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation. Now the Scripture says, No one who believes on Him will be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10: 8-13, HCSB).

It’s so simple dear friends, but we often make it so complicated. We try to live this life on our own. We try to handle everything that has been thrown at us. What we end up with is brokenness, despair and defeat. We feel lonely. We feel unloved. When right in front of us is the answer. Right in front of us is One who will carry all of our burdens for us. Growing up in a Christian household I knew all the correct answers, I knew how to sing the songs and act like a good little Christian girl. Although I knew all the answers, a point had to come where I admitted that this world was too hard for me to handle on my own. And believe me, as a perfectionist, I tried to handle it! That point, for me, was a point of extreme loneliness. It was a point of life in which I felt like I didn’t have a friend in the world. It was at that point that I reached out to Jesus and took a deeper step in my relationship with Him. It was at that point that I let Him fully into my life as my truest friend, the number one love of my life, my Savior and my God. All it took was placing all of myself at His feet and letting Him take control of my life.

I’ve never been disappointed.

Sufferings

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:1-5, NIV).

I have long struggled with this idea of rejoicing in my sufferings. How can I find good in such things, I ask? How can I be happy that such things come about? I’m starting to think that it isn’t that we are happy for the struggles that come our way, but instead that we see how God uses those times of struggle. I never wanted to experience my grandparents dying, but I know God used that situation for His glory. He used me to show other’s how different my grieving process was, since I had the assurance that I would see my grandparents in heaven one day. He used a bad time in my life to improve my prayer life and draw me even closer to Him. Through it all He was improving me as a person. He was forming me into the kind of Christian woman He desired me to be. That gives me joy. That gives me hope. That gives me a desire to share my story with the world around me. And that, I believe, is what makes this world, with all of its struggles, worth living in.

The Call

^"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:8).

I am here for a reason. My being here has purpose. It has intent.

At times I start to believe I’m insignificant, that I don’t really matter. But there’s no truth in that.

God has called me by name. He has given me a life to live on this earth, and that life has purpose.

That purpose is to share the Gospel. To tell others how much God means to me. How life isn’t worth living without Him. Hopefully this is evident in the very way I live my life.

In addition to this, He has called me to be a mother. He’s given me a beautiful gift in my daughter, one I don’t take for granted. He has created me to be the perfect mother for this little girl. My strengths and weaknesses (and those of my husband) are knitted together in a way that will help to best raise this child.

He has called me to be a wife. He’s blessed me with a wonderful husband, one whom I’m called to love and support day-in and day-out.

He has called me to be a writer. He has put words upon my fingers, and given me an unquenchable desire to share them with the word. If the desire wasn’t there, I wouldn’t write.

He has called me to live my entire life for Him.

What has God called you to in this life? Are you answering that call, or ignoring it?

The Coal

Reading: Isaiah 3-6; 2 Corinthians 12

"Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:6-7 NIV).

This morning I felt my human nature well up inside of me. I woke up to a crying baby, who continued to cry for the next two hours. I was filled with woe-is-me type thoughts, filled with grumbles and complaints.

Until I stopped and admitted that once again I needed a touch from my Savior.

Once again I needed Him to place a coal upon my lips and make me worthy.

Worthy to come into his presence.

Worthy to enter the throne of grace.

Once again I needed to be reminded of all of the blessings in my life.

Blessings that are hard to see what I have a crabby, stuffy nosed baby on my hands.

And so I turned to prayer.

I turned to scripture.

I turned to my Savior to feel his heeling touch.

Whole-hearted Living

Reading: 2 Chronicles 24-26; 2 Corinthians 11:1-15

“He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly” (2 Chronicles 25:2 NIV).

Amaziah King of Judah did what was right, but not with all of his heart. He knew the rules, he knew how to play the game, but his heart wasn’t in it. How many Christians have I meant like that? How many Christians know how to say the right words, act the right way, but don’t feel it deep inside? I really don’t have an answer to that. And I’m not here to cast stones. Instead, I’m here to look at my own life and ask if I have always lived my life wholeheartedly for God. I hope I have. I hope that others see that this life I live isn’t just an outward act, but an inward love. I hope they see that I truly love God wholeheartedly, with all that I am. I hope that see all of this.

What does the word “wholeheartedly” mean to you?

Captive Thoughts

Reading: 2 Chronicles 23; Joel 2-3; 2 Corinthians 10

“ We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:2b NIV).

This week has been tough. As soon as I decided to find joy in this Christmas season, I was bombarded with stress. My little girl has been extremely fussy, and my list of to-dos just keeps getting longer and longer. It seems as if there are never enough hours in the day (or night for that matter). My mind has been filled with negative thoughts. Satan has known exactly where to attack me as of late. He makes me doubt my mothering skills, my writing skills and my wife skills. He makes me look around at my life and see everything that is broken and incomplete. He directs my eyes away from Christ, where they belong. The verse above is meant for me, today and everyday. It’s a great reminder to take each thought and deed captive. In fact, it’s a verse meant for everyone of us. There’s a destroyer out there that preys on our thoughts. Some days we have to go moment-by-moment, giving each thought back to our Lord and Savior. That’s life for you. Satan wants nothing more than to make us feel insecure and insignificant during this Christmas season. He wants us to get caught up in the craziness of gift buying, and forget to find joy in Jesus Christ.

But I’m not about to let him. I’m taking each thought, and giving it back to Christ. I’m living each moment of this Christmas season for Him. I know it sounds cliché but He truly is the reason for the season.