When Blogs Collide...

I'm beginning to realize that I blog in spurts.  You can probably gauge how busy our life is at the present moment by how frequently or infrequently I post.  To be honest, this past weekend was the first weekend in a loooooonnnnnnnggggg time that we had nothing going on.  And that's only because our original plans got canceled as Josh's half IronMan was downgraded to an Olympic-distance due to the heat.  [Speaking of the heat... WHEN is it going to end??  This summer has been downright ridiculous!]  Most of our busy has been due to races actually and between marathons, half marathons, 10K's, and triathlons we seem to be traveling all over the surrounding area every other weekend.  It feels good to be back to our old racing selves, fully enjoying the season.

But along with our travels, we often find ourselves in a town where we have old friends... and sometimes even friends that we've never even met!  The first came on a trip to Nashville back in May when Josh ran the Nashville Marathon.  Even though we were just there for one night, we still managed to meet up with one of my favorite gals, Kristen, who I follow over at Add-and-Land.  I had seen her last August, but hadn't seen her daughter since she was just weeks old (and she's now six!) and had never seen her son in person.  Jake and Landon were like two peas in a pod... it could not have made me happier!

Coming along as well was my blog-only friend, Jessica from The Parsonage Family.  This was the first time I've ever met someone whom I only "know" from the blog-world, and it was so amazing to see her and feel like we were old friends.  Her husband and sweet kiddos were there, too, and although they are adorable in pictures, I definitely think all kids are cuter in person.  She did a better recap of the trip that you can find here and here's a picture of (most of) our crew.  Notice which child is missing... Jake had decided to run around like a maniac at this point, which was okay considering that he had spent four hours in the car AND gotten car sick on the way there!  He's such a trooper.  In this picture though, the back of Landon's head could pass for Jake!

Jess and I hit it off so well in fact that we recently met up again for lunch when she was up visiting her parents.  I never would have imagined that an online friendship would be something that I would ever have, or that it would translate into real life so well.  She and I have a ton in common as we're both married to pastors, so that helps, too.

THEN... on our way back from Georgia a few weekends ago, I asked Josh if we could possibly make a quick pit stop in Knoxville to visit Channa from My Boys.  Channa and I met late in college, but really reconnected (online of course) when we were both pregnant for the first time at the same time.  Her boy was due in February and Jake in March and we both used blogs to journal the experience and probably became each other's most avid readers at that time.  Then we both had kiddo #2 and have felt like we've known each other's kids all their lives.  I can't even explain it.  We've been trying to get together for YEARS and a quick lunch at Chick-Fil-A finally worked out.  Seeing our kids play together was like a dream come true:

I know I've mentioned before that occasionally I toy with the idea of giving up the blog, but then I think about these friendship and how real and rich they are due to this little outlet.  It's so strange and I never would have expected this, but I absolutely love it!  I follow many others and read quite a few that I don't actually follow, too, and hope that this can happen more in the future.  And if you're ever passing through Eastern Kentucky and would like our blogs to collide, I'd love for that to happen, too!

Reflections - Just Do It!

Happy 5th of July!  Having a holiday mid-week really through a wrench in my organizational skills, but it was a nice day off nonetheless... more to come on that... along with a catch up on what we've been up to and where we've been for the past two weeks.  Summertime does not mean slower-time for this family- we're running just as fast as always!  But let's get down to it, shall we?

This week's topic was based on a message that my husband preached last week from the book of James.  If you did not get a chance to check it out, you can view it online here, and the week 2 message is up now, too, if you are at all interested.  There was so much good "meat" in this message, so I thought it would be best to just hone in on a couple major points so that I don't write a blog post that would take you two hours to read.

The first, is applications.  So you claim to be a Christian, eh?  Did you know that Christian basically means "little-Christ"?  So if I asked you what you were doing on a day-to-day basis to be like Christ and show His love to others, would you be able to give me several examples?  What about reading the Bible?  Are you actively in the Word?  Are you tithing?  Are you praying?  ... Let me say this before I go any further: these questions are just as much for me as for anyone else.  Although I am married to a pastor, I can put all kinds of "priorities" in my life above these that I just listed.  It pains me to type these words, but I have to admit that I do not read my Bible everyday.  Eek!  And you know what?  There are days that I get in bed and realize that I did not speak to God all day!  And then I look back at my day and you know what I see?  That the "priorities" I put in front of those things were running around like a crazy person picking up groceries, cleaning up toys, doing laundry, and doing the everyday mundane things that are inevitably going to need to get done again tomorrow.  Cleaning up after two kids is like shoveling snow in a blizzard... so why should I focus so much of my attention on that when the creator of the universe is patiently waiting on me to come to Him?  I think I forget what a privilege that is.  I mean, think about it: the most powerful force in the entire universe wants my company?  He wants to bless me?  And He wants to do it even though I don't love Him and serve Him perfectly?  If the President of the United States or maybe even a famous actor, sports player, or public figure wanted my company, wouldn't I drop just about everything to see that it happened?  Wouldn't I let the laundry sit for another hour or two or the house go messy for a day so that I could work that out?  And yet, someone FAR more powerful and important than all of those things beckons me to Him everyday and I brush Him off sometimes.  "Give me five more minutes, God," or "Let me finish these dishes, God" or "I'm not ready to get up, God... You made me and understand that I need my sleep rather than getting up to spend some time with You" always get in the way.  Sound familiar?

And then there's the other issue of reading that book of His.  In order to be like Christ (so a Christian in other words), don't we have to know what He said and did while He was here?  And isn't that all written down for us?  I know as well as anyone that the Bible is an intimidating book.  It's big, and it doesn't use the same flow of language that we use in everyday conversation.  But as Josh points out in this message, there are so many different version and translations of the Bible, so you can always try a different one if the one you have isn't working.  I feel silly in saying that until about five years ago, I did not know that there was anything other than the King James Version!  No wonder I was confused!  So if you take nothing else from his message this week, I at least hope you walk away knowing that there are resources out there to help you understand what it is that He is trying to say to You.  We speak to Him through prayer... He speaks through us in His word.  How can we live it if we don't read it?

He summed it all up with this one verse found in James chapter 1 (imagine that!):

22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.

Josh puts it in language that we will definitely understand: "Don't just hear it, but DO it!" 

How often do we know what to do, but yet we go the other way?  And how often does that turn out the way we'd like it to?  Hardly ever.  So let's try it together... let's do the things that we already know, learn what we don't, and try them out, too.  Make TIME for God, for He is the giver of time... shouldn't He get some?  And put Him first, because He always puts you first.  Start making choices based on His word and see how your life begins to change.

As always, you can read Brittany's thoughts over on her blog here and leave your own thoughts as a comment.  Appropriately, Brittany picked next week's topic that falls right in line with this.  Coincidence?  I think not.  So here's the topic for next Thursday:

"I have been challenged to my core recently to really evaluate how good I am doing with "living it out" so I pose the question....how are you doing???  I'd like for us to focus on this for next week.  And share along the lines for some accountability what is working and what may not be working right now.  And I'd like for the MAIN IDEA to be that of "cooperation and discipline"...what do you think??"

So let's live it out together this week.  I'm particularly excited about sharing what works for you so that hopefully some of it can be applied to my own life.  And just like every Thursday, I look forward to meeting you all again here next week.

Reflections - Cornerstone

Happy Thursday!

Did you have a chance to listen to the song picked out for this week?  If not, it's Cornerstone by Hillsong and you can find it here... and even listen to it as you read this!  I admit, I had not heard it even though I love Hillsong, and it's actually a good fit for someone who grew up in a traditional church and is dipping their toes in the "contemporary" Christian music world.  I put quotations around contemporary, only because I personally do not really like the phrase.  Everything in this country, from technology to building structures to corporate infrastructure has always continued to grow and change and improve with the times.  When we have more resources available, why not use them, right?  But when the church puts a rock band on stage, we're viewed as "contemporary" and not just current with the times that we're living in... but I do get that some people are not as comfortable in that environment as they are in a more traditional setting, and that's okay by me.  We always say as long as you're in a church, we're happy... it doesn't have to be ours if that's not works for you in terms of worshipping God.  

WOW... what a tangent... sorry!  All I meant to say is that this song is basically a hymn with some drums, so yes, it's a good mix of the new and the old.  Cool?  Okay, moving on...

Instead of reflecting too deeply on the song this week, I thought about that word: Cornerstone.  I kind of knew what that was, but looked it up just to make sure I wasn't thinking of something else.  Webster's Dictionary defines it as this:

(1) - A stone forming a part of a corner or angle in a wall;  (2) a basic element: foundation

When I started this blog three years ago (already??), I never had any intention of doing any posts like this.  I'll get into a lot of this in a future post, but basically the original concept was to simply have a place to update our friends and family on how we were doing after moving across the country.  It was my outlet to write about our new home, new town, new friends, and our church planting experience, which I later found is almost impossible to put into words.  But after we got married and through the process of planting our first church, my faith and trust in God was put to the test... A LOT.  But you know what?  The more it was tested, the more it grew.  The more I doubted, the more I handed over to Him, and the more I felt His love.  I am a completely different person now than I was three years ago, and when you think about it, that's not a very long time in the grand scheme of things.  I had always known who God was, but I never really surrendered to Him, put my full faith in Him, or fully trusted Him.  It was so often my way or the highway, and my way always seemed to lead to trouble.  Hmmm... imagine that, right?  It wasn't until I decided to live by the principles set out in the Bible and follow the teachings of Jesus and read the letters from Paul that my life truly began to change, in all kinds of crazy good ways.  Sure, there are some tangible blessings: I have a great marriage (granted, that's all due to the two of us being committed to treat each other by what's outlined in the Bible), two beautiful children, a roof over our head, food in our refrigerator, money in our bank account (most of the time- ha!), and more friends than a person could ever want.  But the true blessings have been the intangible things... the knowledge that even on my worst day, things are going to be okay; the comfort in knowing that there is a God who loves me for ME, no matter how badly I mess up; the willingness to make the wrong things in my life right; the freedom of knowing that I don't have to be trapped by my past mistakes or be pinpointed as the person I used to be; and the peace in knowing that Jesus died for my sins so that one day I can have eternal life in heaven with Him and His people.  My life doesn't end here on this earth... I am just a visitor and my home is in heaven.

The reason my blog has weekly posts on a Christian topic now mixed in with the day-to-day stuff is because my life changed dramatically because of my relationship with God.  I knew who Jesus was, but didn't truly meet Him and get to know Him until I first started learning what He actually had to say, and secondly decided to let Him guide my thoughts and behaviors.  I am in such a better place than I have ever been and wish I would have figured this all out much sooner, but am thankful that I'm here now.  And I want others to have it... so I have no choice but to share.  A building cannot be sturdy without a cornerstone or a strong foundation as we learned above, and I, too, cannot be sturdy without Jesus in my life.  He is my foundation.  He is the root of all of my decisions and actions.  And He ensures that I don't crumble into rubble only to try and build myself up again without His help.  I've tried that path and although it works for awhile, it ultimately ends up giving you a lot of heartache.  My best day without Him isn't near as great as my worst day with Him.  And that, my friends, is news worth sharing.

My encouragement this week is to evaluate where you are at in your relationship with Christ and strive to make it better.  If you don't have one, I challenge you to learn more about Him... read His teachings, learn His story, and perhaps you'll fall in love the way I did.  If you do know about Him, work toward living BY his teachings, doing things HIS way, which again, might mean doing a little reading yourself to find out what all that entails.  Doing things this way makes life SO much easier.  And if you're not in a church, I challenge you to go out and find one... and one that connects with YOU.  Just because you grew up Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, etc. does not mean you have to continued down that path if you're just going through the motions on a Sunday morning and not getting anything out of it.  Those are all man-made religions, split only because of a few tiny differences in interpretation of something in the Bible.  When looking for a new home, look at it through the lens of how the people treated you and welcomed you in and how the message spoke to you.  You might know right away that it's not for you or you might be willing to give it a second shot just to see if that's the place.  And remember that it's not just important for you to go each Sunday just to "do" your obligatory one hour.  The reason it's so important is to surround yourself with others who are striving to live the way you want to live and trying to do life better.  We all mess up, and if we surround ourselves with people who have behavior patterns that we're trying to get away from, they are just going to pull us back down with them... the temptation is too strong and we are too weak.  But if we're surrounding ourselves with people who understand that we're not perfect and admit that they're not perfect and everyone is just trying to be better, well, chances are that path will be a little bit easier.  It's all about community... and it's all about living in the word.  Let God be the cornerstone of your life.  Try living His way for awhile.  Chances are, over time, you might find yourself blogging about things you used to roll your eyes at because you just can't keep it in.  In the end, I know where I'm going and I know who ultimately will be the judge, and my days won't end here.

Please jump on over to Brittany's blog and read what she has to say here, and if you shared something, please leave a comment so we can check out your post.  I will eventually start doing link-ups again, but right now it's a lot of work and we only have one or two linking up (if at all) so we'll just hold off on it.

For next week I'm going to put in a bit of a shameless plug and have us all watch a message by my personal favorite pastor, who I happen to be married to.  He delivered a slammin' message last weekend, which I think is worth sharing.  And for those of you readers who were actually there to hear it, perhaps you can share your reflections on it in my comments section next week.  Cool?  You can listen to it online here.

Alright... sorry this got up late this week, but better late than never, right?  Have a happy Thursday!

MIA

Missing in action?  Maybe a little.  But this week I'm actually IN the MIA (Miami that is) and back to the grind at work.  I fortunate to work from the office in our home all year long, but occasionally I do have to actually come show my face and remind everyone that I still exist!  So this week was no exception.

So what's one to do while away from her kids and family for three days?  Well... first I cried a little... can't even deny that.  Granted, for those of you moms out there who can understand, my hormones have been a bit unbalanced due to weaning Lil before this trip.  I don't think I realized how not ready I was for that until I actually started doing it.  Jake weaned himself, but with Lil I literally had that very last feeding, when I knew in my heart of hearts that it was the last time we'd ever have that special time.  Oh my gosh, I might start crying again... so moving on...

I arrived to the hotel last night around 9:30 in the evening, chatted on the phone with Josh for maybe 20 minutes, turned on the TV, and- you guessed it- fell asleep.  Probably by 10 with a few lights on and before brushing my teeth.  This mama apparently needed her rest!  And on tonight's agenda?  More of the same I can assure you.  It's funny how life changes... get me in a room by myself and I don't even want to watch TV anymore, read, or even peruse Facebook; nope, I just want to sleep.  My family isn't here and it's completely thrown me out of whack, and although I need the sleep for rest purposes, I mostly choose that option because it passes my time here the quickest.  I am one-fourth of an equation now, and the majority of my heart is up in Kentucky, hundreds of miles away from here.  My teenage rebellious self would probably die of a heart attack to read this, but I am not me without them.  I need them just as much as they need me, and I love that about our life.  Blessings come in all forms, shapes, and sizes, but my favorite three (and by far best three) blessings are three of the greatest people I know- one big and two small.  And I can't get home to them soon enough!

I would like to give a big thanks to everyone who is helping with the kiddos and checking in on the hubs this week to make sure he has everything covered.  Again, we are so blessed.  I even heard that a tray of spaghetti was delivered to the house last night, which is so very awesome (and better eats than he gets even when I'm home I assure you!).  I don't think there was much of a point to this post other than to just say that I'm so very thankful for what I have and maybe realize it more when I'm away from it.  Sometimes all it takes is a temporary change of scenery.  To stay-at-home moms out there whose child is frustrating  you to know end, keep in mind that being there with them is ultimately what would fill your heart more than being away from them.  And to all of you who go off to work everyday or travel often, I commend you for that... I know it's not easy.  But in whatever you're doing and wherever you're at, know that it's the place you're supposed to be right now and find joy in it everyday.  This too shall pass and I"ll be home soon enough, so for the next couple of days I'm going to continue to rest, relax, work without interruption, and enjoy these quiet moments while I have them.  

And from what the pictures that I'm being sent show... these two look pretty content without Mom around this week!

Reflections - Change the World!

Wow, is it Thursday again already?  This week has just flown by!

Last week I set out a topic that was not all that deep, but hopefully stirred up something within you.  As my husband often teaches, find the thing that ticks you off and that's probably what makes you tick.  Translation: if there is an issue in this world that breaks your heart, chances are that you'd serve very passionately to work toward that cause and it would fulfill you deeply.  For my husband, TurningPoint Church is the fruit of that... his heart aches constantly for those who do not know the love of Christ and he worked diligently to do something about it.  And for me, helping my husband fulfill his dream was what made my cup run over as well.  Granted, over time and through hearing story after story of what God's love has meant to someone who previously had not known it, my heart breaks for those who are without God as well, and without that, we could've never survived church planting together.  It baffles him that we don't automatically have that big hurt and we don't feel that urge to get everyone into a relationship with Christ, because he had that from day one.  And I know others like that, too.  But for most people, we go through a selfish period first (what can He do for me?), finally realize at some point the impact that having a relationship with Christ has made on our life, and then we start to want that for other people.  I really wish it was the other way around.  But I digress... where was I going with this?

Oh yes, how do I want to change the world?  That was what I put out there last week to reflect on, and for me, it really boiled down to how do I want to change my world (AKA current situation) right now.  You see, over the past year things in my life have been turned upside down in a very good way, but now that the dust is settling, I realize that I have put everyone else ahead of me and am not sure if I'm exactly where I want to be.  Does that make sense?  And hear me out... I think this was (A) completely necessary for this time in our life, (B) a conscious decision that I happily made and have loved, and (C) something that had to transpire in my own life.  Why?  Because, well, I spent the first 29 years of my life living very selfishly, and these past few have taught me the importance of putting others first.  My problems are not that big, my life is not that bad, and even on my worst day, I am more blessed than a large majority of the world.  Yet, I find myself complaining from time to time and a sense of dissatisfaction sets in.  Because like all selfish people (meaning... ALL of us), I want MORE for myself.  Now that the church is in a healthy state and our life is a little more routine (although we really don't know the meaning of that word!) I think it's time to self-assess and evaluate and find out exactly what that MORE that I want actually is.  Do any of us know?

There is a magnet on our refrigerator that says "If you could do anything and know that you could not fail, what would you do?"  A couple of weeks ago, Josh asked me if I had an answer to that question, and it was odd that I read it just about everyday.  So... I thought about it.  And you know what?  It turns out that as we stormed through life like a Tazmanian devil for the past three years, my dreams are still there.  They're still strong.  And the some have even come true!  I am married to a man that I adore, who inspires me to be better and do great things, and does many himself on a daily basis.  I have two incredible children, who I love more than this life.  We have a home, tons of friends, and more love than I could ever ask for.  Those dreams have come true.  And what's left are those "bucket list" types of accomplishments that are so personal they scare the crap out of me.  Some are small... get better at photography, learn to use Photoshop, learn new techniques to decorate cakes.  But then (gulp) there are those big ones that you don't even want to tell anyone for fear that you'll fail.  And then I think of that magnet, and well, at some point you just have to go for it, right?  Because I think the only answer to this dissatisfaction is tackling those things that leave you shaking in your boots.  Things like... (deep breath)... write a book, run a sub-four hour marathon, have a successful ministry (although I'm not sure for whom or on what), wear a post-baby bikini... okay, I just made that last one up, but seriously, how scary is that?  Like I said... BIG stuff.  SCARY stuff.  Stuff that could take YEARS to accomplish.  Stuff that require tons of work, commitment, time, and dedication.  Stuff that leaves me shaking in my boots.

But then I look at my husband and see the satisfaction painted on his face.  Since this dream welled up inside of him, there have been days that he thought he would fail, days that were tough, days when there was not enough time or money, and days that we thought we'd kill each other.  His dream is BIG.  His dream is SCARY.  But he went for it!

So... I think the way to fight dissatisfaction is always to be going after these big, scary things that we're afraid to say out loud.  If your 9-5 is just what gets you a paycheck right now or if you feel stuck in a rut being a stay-at-home parent, keep in mind that the dreams you had before life got crazy are still there- they might just be hiding underneath loads of laundry, piles of bills, or dirty diapers.  But I think they still want to be chased and it's in the chasing that we find contentment.  What are some of yours?

Okay, so that was so not where I had originally planned to go with this post, but sometimes you just have to go with it.  Now that I've put all of that out there, I guess it's time to get started, right?

Please check out Brittany's thoughts on the topic over at Daughter... Wife... Mom... Sis on this.  I think she basically said what I was trying to say before I got off topic and it completely rocked my socks off.  She and I are great friends and pastors wives who live WAY too far apart, but I love coming together like this each week.  We also hope that you shared this week and will link up below!

As for next week, here is what Brittany has challenged us to reflect on this week: 

I'd like for us to meditate on the new Hillsong song...."Cornerstone".....it is just absolutely UH...MAZE.....ING!!!!!!!!  You will not be disappointed.  It talks about God being our anchor and cornerstone in life!  Let's focus on the words of the song and share on what spoke to you most!  

Here is the link and the lyrics: 

CORNERSTONE

My hope is built on nothing less

than Jesus' blood and righteousnessI 

dare not trust the sweetest frame

but wholly trust in Jesus' name

-Chorus-

Christ alone, Cornerstone

Weak made strong, in the Savior's love

Through the storm

He is Lord, Lord of All

When darkness seems to hide His faceI 

rest on His unchanging grace

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil

[Chorus]

He is Lord, Lord of all

[Chorus 2x]

Then He shall come with trumpets sound

Oh, may I then in Him be found

Dressed in His righteousness alone

faultless, stand before the throne 

Some Special Dudes

First comes love...

Then comes marriage...

Then comes babies in the baby carriage...

No, I'm not making any sort of announcement!  Phew!  It's just that when that first baby comes along, the man you love becomes a father... and with every smile at the new baby, every kiss, every cuddle, every giggle, and every snuggle, you fall farther and farther in love with him.  Yes it's true, nothing looks hotter on a husband than fatherhood!  Josh has a way with our two kids that melts my heart like nothing else.  Those kids adore him.  Nobody makes them laugh harder, squeal louder, or grin bigger than he does.  He truly is their hero, and I truly am more and more in love with him everyday.  I am a lucky woman, and they are two lucky kids.

Happy Father's Day to Mauneyland's favorite pop!

And on that note, happy Father's Day to these VERY special guys as well!

Great Grandaddy

Great Pop-Pop

Grandpa

PawPaw

Uncle Josh

And Uncle Mike!

WE LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Reflections - Leadership

Good morning, y'all (that's right... I said it.  I have officially lived in Kentucky for a year so it's time I start using the lingo!).  Did you have a chance to listen to the podcast posted by Brittany last week?  If not, you can find it here.  And if not, I encourage you to jump over there and listen because Christine Caine (the speaker) really knows her stuff and is such an inspiration to men and women all over the world.  For those of you who have never heard of her, she and her family have been in ministry for a long time, but their main focus now is their A21 Campaign, which works to abolish sex trafficking all over the world.  Talk about taking on a really big, ugly problem, right?  And I am embarrassed to admit that until I heard her speak at a conference, I really had no idea how horrific and HUGE this issue is.  Did you know that there are an estimated 20 million people (mostly women and children) imprisoned by slavery today?  Against their will?  From child labor to prostitution, people are still being sold and shipped like cargo to live in bondage and I sit here in the comfort of my cozy living room and complain when my husband has to work late or my children won't nap!  It really puts things into perspective, doesn't it?  Okay, so I did not mean to go into that too much today, but if you did not know about this atrocity that is still occurring worldwide, I encourage you to look into it.  Knowledge is power and bringing awareness to any problem only works toward finding a solution.  And that's what I love about Christine Cain... she refuses to just sit back and let this happen... which brings me to my point today.

You only have to listen to her speak for about two minutes before you hear the point that I'm going to post on today.  She begins to talk about her 5 top qualities for leadership and although all five are great (conviction, confidence, commitment, consistency, and courage), one jumped out at me.  When she talks about confidence, I love that she specifically defined it as "confidence in Christ."  We've probably all been to leadership seminars in our lives, and even though confidence is probably touched upon, have you ever heard it expanded not just to confidence in ourselves and our own abilities, but confidence in Christ.  In God... who created the heavens and the earth and breathed life into you and me.  And ultimately, we can only have confidence in ourselves because all of our gifts and abilities come from Him.  But how many times do we shy away from something because we don't think we're good enough?  Maybe we don't apply for a job because we don't feel qualified or don't join in a discussion because we don't feel smart enough?  It's in these times that we need to take a step back and realize that we can only have confidence in ourselves if we first have confidence in Christ.

A good friend of mine has been going through a lot lately and it has been taking a toll on her emotionally.  Anytime we don't know the outcome of something, it opens the door to the what-if's and she found herself there, which is not a fun place to be.  I listened to her without much advice to give other than just to wait and see, but wish I had more.  Later that day I went home and opened up a new book we just bought for Jake called "Jesus Calling: 365 Devotions for Kids" just to skim some of the content.  First off, let me just say that I love this book.  He's still a little young for it, but even though it's geared toward children, I am getting so much out of it!  I think we complicate things as adults, so getting back to the basics is kind of nice sometimes.  But anyway, I "coincidentally" opened it up to the page that had these words:

"I am all around you.  Even when you don't notice Me, I am here.  you may not notice Me because your mind is tied up with other things.  Like worry.  A lot of people believe that worry is just a part of life.  But they are wrong.  Worry is actually a kind of unbelief.  Worrying says you don't believe I am big enough to take care of whatever it is that upsets you so much.  Worrying says you think I need your help.

Wrong!  I am big enough.  I am strong enough.  I love you enough.  Bring your problems to Me.  You can trust Me to take care of you- and whatever you are worrying about!"

I immediately called her back and read that to her... and then later emailed it.  The words that struck me here are "You don't believe I am big enough to take care of whatever it is that upsets you so much."  Ouch.  Do you ever find yourself there?  Without... wait for it... CONFIDENCE in Christ?  How can we believe that we can accomplish anything if we don't always believe (and know!) that God can do anything.  And not only that, but He can do anything THROUGH us.  We are his hands and feet and the only way He can do good in this world is to use us to do His work.  Which ultimately means that we are far more equipped than we even think, so sometimes we just have to step out of our comfort zone and just go for it!  If we just believed with all our might that we can be used in big ways, we really can be a light into the world and change it for the better.  One of my husband's favorite sayings is, "God does't call the equipped... He equips the called."

Is there something in your life that absolutely bugs you?  Something that breaks your heart that you wish could change?  It could be big or small... not all of us have to be as brave as Christine Cain to tackle a global issue (yet anyway... hee hee) yet there has to be something in your world that could be better.  Taking what we learned last week in this podcast, along with the words found in John 16:33, how can YOU use these things to make a difference?  How can YOU begin to change the world, or even just your current situation if you're unhappy with it?  Draw confidence in CHRIST this week and join us again here next week to share.

Please make sure to visit Brittany over at Daughter...Wife...Mom...Sis to read her take on this week's topic and then link up below or leave a comment to share your own thoughts!