The Good, Bad and the Ugly. God is still God and He is Good!

Well I'm not even entirely sure what I want to write about, but I do know that I am in desperate need of some spiritual unpacking, so I'm just gonna type, and see what evolves.

So, for those of you who don't know, Eric and I stepped out in faith on a journey that only God knows where will lead. The one thing we did know, is that it was to begin by being a part of Lifesong Church in Manchester Ct. & considering the only life we've ever known has been in SC, we had a little ways to go. So, we sold our house (to my brother and sister-in-law, how cool is that??) and packed everything we owned(including two puppies and a cat), and headed out. Let me just tell you now that “stepping out in faith” is not a simple calling.

But, none-the-less, we are here!! Praise the Lord, we are actually here!! What does that look like?? Well I’m not entirely sure. Right this minute it looks like a family of five, with three four-legged pets, and a fish named male, snugly tucked into a studio six extended stay motel room..ever so ”patiently” waiting for our next step. But you wanna know what the coolest part of this story is?? That it doesn't matter where we're living!! It doesn't matter that Eric is not gainfully employed as of yet, or that we can only see a very very small portion of the jigsaw puzzle of our life. What does matter is that God is still God through it all, and that He is at work here!!

In the, just over two weeks, that we've been here... we have met several people who seem anxious to make connections with others. We have had the opportunity to share bits of our story with these cool people, and have seen their eye's light up at the news of Lifesong Manchester & we are seeing ways to begin to invest in their lives. We have seen our, sweet 5 year old girl, draw people of all ages in with a spirit of love like no other. We have & continue to experience great leadership through our pastor Tim, & I have had the opportunity to see what a Godly wife looks like in Lynn.

This crazy, beautiful expedition so far has been good, bad, ugly, great, painful, amazing, tearful, joyful, trying, overwhelming, mountain-top high, valley low, patient-testing, fast, slow, up and down and about every other adjective that you can think of. But God is still God and He is GOOD, and that's enough for me!

FEAR NOT!

Okay, so for the past few nights.. when the busyness of the day starts to die down & things begin to get quiet... this "spirit of fear" begins to creep in.  I don't even know what I feel scared about.  Perhaps the unknown, or just feeling like I'm going to be lonely.. but I don't even really know.   It's a really scary feeling to have tho... which is kinda stupid because now I'm having a "scary feeling" because of my feelings of fear!! So, I started to pray, and ask God to take these feelings from me.. and you want to know the really cool thing... God knows our humanness well enough to know that we need A LOT of reminders to "fear not"!!  So here are a few scriptures that have began to give me peace from an overwhelming fear:  

"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."  Psalms 18:2 (Jesus, you are my ROCK!!  I will put my trust in YOU)

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9  (I love this one because I need to be reminded REGULARLY to be courageous in Jesus!)

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:7 (I love that God is big enough to have a peace that is WAY beyond the grasp of our tinsy tiny understanding)

"But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”  Mark 5:36 ( That is SOOoo what I need to hear from Jesus sometimes)

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isiah 41:10  ( FEAR NOT!!!)

Wow, I am just amazed by the greatness of the God that I serve.  I don't think I can even start to grasp how much He loves me.  He gave me salvation, He gave me the Comforter, and He gave me His word to grow stronger and more confident in HIM!!  He knows my struggles, He knows my FEARS, and He truly CARES about each and every one of them.  HE IS MY ROCK, HE IS MY GOD,  IN HIM, I WILL PUT MY TRUST, AND IT'S IN HIM THAT I WILL FEAR NOT!!

Loving The Unlovable

Well the truth is that loving the unlovable is about as hard as it sounds.  So, here are a few things that I've learned to do to help me in this area.
Number 1)  Separate the Sinner from the sin.  In other words, take whatever that person is doing,(or saying) to make them seem so unlovable & put it under the "sin" category.  Then, take that person & put them under the "sinner" category.  Now, I bet you can find yourself under the "sinner" category too, hey??  I know I can!!
Number 2) Look at that person through the eyes of Jesus.  I have to do this a lot- I just say to God- "Okay Lord- You love "so&so" & your heart breaks for them when they are hurting.  Help me Lord, to change my heart to be more like yours.  Help me Jesus, to see "so&so" with new eyes so that I can love them like you love them!"
And last, but not least, Number 3)  Forgive and Forget.  I know what you're thinking... " I can't forget!!  I might be able to forgive, but I will NEVER forget!"  Well, that hasn't been the case for me.  The truth is that when I truly forgive someone, I can't remember every little mean thing they said or did to me.  I know, because I've tried!!  & probably the reason why is because I'm not sitting & dwelling on them.  When I truly forgive, I let it go & trust that God got it!  Forgiveness is just as much for us as it is for the person who hurt us... If not more!!  You cannot heal from the hurts, if you cannot forgive the "hurter".
So, whenever you feel like someone is just to tough to love, remember these three things!  They've certainly helped me in the past, & I'm sure I'll need them again..

-With love in Christ-  ~Hi-D~


Luke 6:35-36 - "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." 

"LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE"

      Sometimes obeying is HARD!!  Plain and simple. ITS HARD!! So, I have a choice.. I can choose to disobey something that God has put directly on my heart.  But at what cost?? What about the people that God has lined up to be changed through my willingness to listen to Him??  What about the children that my kids would have impacted in a Mighty way for the kingdom of heaven??  What about the Dads who could have learned what it looked like to be a man of Christ?  What about their lives??  No, more importantly, what about their souls?

      Because at the end of the day, what really matters?  "Love"!  That's what matters!  What's my purpose? to "LOVE!"  That's my purpose!!  So simple, yet so POWERFUL. As a wife, I love my husband!  As a mother, I love my children!  As a daughter, I love my parents! As a friend, I love my friends!! And as a BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN, I love GOD and love PEOPLE!! So, I know what you're thinking.. "what people?"  All people!!  Especially the people that are extremely hard to love. That's it, that's why I'm still on this earth!! to love GOD and to love PEOPLE!

       So, do I think that my God is not big enough to do it without me??  No, I know He is!!  But I'm so grateful that He chose me!!  Trust me, I'm not worthy to be chosen, but He chose me!!  That's just amazing!  So now??  Well now I'm going to do everything I can to be recklessly abandoned for Christ!  Sold out!!!  All in!!  Completely and totally His!  

                                

                                  LOOK OUT MANCHESTER CT, HERE WE COME!!!


John 14:15  "If you love me, you will obey what I command."