1) I'll try to make this one short (though I doubt it will be) but filled with honesty. Sometimes in life we experience times where we hear from God clearly and often. And sometimes we don't... This past week I'll admit that I've kind of been in one of those 'don't' spots. Until yesterday. To be honest I've been frustrated with it. I've been in the Word daily and just craving one of those 'aha moments' where the Lord reveals something monumental and earth shaking to me... and I haven't really gotten it. I've been reading Walking with God by John Eldredge, a book that focuses on truly being able to hear from God. Yesterday morning the Lord began to bring full circle everything I've been reading this week (He has a knack for doing that, you know) and I began the morning by finding this quote in the book:
Let go of the pressure that says you have to hear from him right now or things aren't right between you. Things are fine. You are his. Rest your heart and your relationship there.
Those words were big for me... caught me right where I struggle the most. I'll save the rest of that conversation for later, however, and flow right on into the second part of this story...
2). After reading this, I got an opportunity to drive to Duluth for the Orange Conference. If you read my blog post yesterday, you might have picked up on how heavy my heart was... I feel like I wrote that ten years ago but that's another story entirely. Driving to the conference, my prayer was this: "Lord, give me words today." Words to speak to people who needed to hear them... words of wisdom... anything. Just give me words. And that reminded me: I have this friend, you might know her, and the Lord has given her the gift of prophecy. I'm beginning to understand that more and it moves me to hear her talk about it. So often when she shares stories with me she says it this way: "I got words for her." meaning that the Lord literally gives her things to say to other people. The stories of the results of her acts of obedience are phenomenal and I believe that all of us do this to some degree but it's definitely one of her spiritual gifts. Not mine. Yesterday morning I told Elissa I was in a weird mood and didn't know why but I just needed to go sit and blog. I had this realization yesterday afternoon: the Lord gives each of us words in different ways. She gets words to speak to people. Me? I get this desire burning inside of me to write and it will not rest until I do so. It consumes me... weird? Definitely. But hey, if the Lord lays a message on my heart for even one person to read then okay... okay. That was just an interesting thought. Or maybe you didn't find it interesting... and that's okay too :)
3) I had a really cool rest of the day with the Lord yesterday. Somehow last night I found myself alone in a private suite at the Gwinnett Arena listening to Needtobreath. It was like Daddy Daughter date night with God... I loved every second of it. Favorite part? As one song was about to end I asked the Lord if they could please play a little Washed by the Water. It's my fav. Know what notes started to play just seconds later? You got it. I was beaming. Alone in a box. Just hanging out with the Lord. Pretty cool.
Also at Orange I made a new friend and got to pretend I worked for Sweet Sleep for a little while. That was a fun story. I'd work for them in real life... I also decided I want to be a conference blogger. Did you know they have those? Yeah.
4) Well, all of those thoughts were really intended to be one... but I knew I'd never keep anyone interested without at least pretending to keep this thing moving. Here's number four: I'm seeing a new trend in ministry pop up all over everywhere. Elissa and I had a great chat about this today. Let me see if I can sum it up briefly... I'm seeing people all over the place answer the call to allow the members of their ministry, the volunteers, etc., to take it and run with it. This is your place to love and serve. I heard this concept this at Orange multiple times and it reminds me of our new bcm structure. Ministry isn't about a team of leaders planning things for others. It's about a team of leaders empowering others to serve in the way that they see fit and use the gifts that God has given them. Sometimes in leadership roles it's really hard to let go of that desire to be the one in charge and to just say "Hey, you guys got this. What do you want to see happen? Go for it." It's interesting... I'm loving watching this play out. The cool realization I had today is this though: That seems to take away from your role as a leader, right? Not at all. Because here's the thing-- if you don't take the time to sit and invest in your people, you'll never know what their spiritual gifts are. You'll never know where their talents lie and where they feel the Lord is most equipping them to serve. This perspective shifts your role in ministry, not diminishes it. Sometimes letting people serve the way they feel most called to serve is the very best way to minister to them. They don't have to have it all together to serve... praise God that He never asks us to have it all together.
5) The last and final thought on this lengthy post is this: Last night we had a bunch of girls over and had a 4 am Princess Party to watch the royal wedding. Judge away. No, none of us cared much about the wedding... but we always jump at the opportunity to turn the living room into a princess tent. Colorful sheets, christmas lights, paper crowns, muffins, and glittery stars hanging from the ceiling... it was a dream day. We were girls for the night. We laughed til we couldn't breathe. I'll never stop loving my roommates (how many times have I mentioned that?). I pray I never forget the nights like this one. Something about finals always brings out the best in us.
Sorry these are completely unedited. Time is fleeting today... merp.
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