She'll be comin' round the mountain....

Another 2 weeks have passed!! Iactually started this post on Dec. 15th but it's not getting posted until tonight - 12/28. The holidays are just such a whirlwind around our house. Work seemed especially hectic this year. I work for a nonprofit that provides food & emergency assistance to the needy and the needs in this economy have been great. It was a wonderful Christmas though. I hope it was miraculous for each of you. However, I have found myself once again going round and round with things & situations I said I would not do again, plan better for, etc. Am I the only one that gets frustrated because I get into situations where I know I should know better??!! I didn't even get a single Christmas card sent because I was so behind.

It's not just Christmastime. As I listen to conversations going on while waiting in the grocery line, in the aisles at Walmart and at church, I hear many experiencing the same. Why do we keep ending up in the same place? I thought I had gotten past some of the actions that get me to a place of franticness. I thought I had buried some of those habits that eventually bring me to a place that is unhealthy. I was sure I had conquered that old thinking pattern or gotten past that old wound.

After I got back from my youngest daughter's chorus program I thought about this. A mix of 3rd thru 6th graders belted out updated versions of "Jingle Bells", "The Holiday Season" and "Feliz Navidad" to name a few. Everyone loves to hear kids sing at Christmastime (okay maybe not everyone) but I have to admit, some of those songs seem to go on and on and on and on!

There are challenges, habits and patterns in my life that do the same thing...go on and on and on. They seem to keep creeping up even after I thought I learned that lesson or mastered that challenge. Areas like knowing when to say "no" and not overfill my schedule, like not feeling guilty when I do say "no", like not being disappointed when a family member runs over my feelings. Here we go again!

The reality is that on our own, left to our own way of doing things, we'll never move forward. We'll never break out of that cycle of going round and round the same thing or situation. Thankfully, God knew we'd get stuck and stay stuck and He loved us enough to provide a Holy GPS to get us off our redundant human traffic circle. If we'll listen, if we'll ask Him to, the Holy Spirit can and will guide us to break those cycles. He'll show us how to not be wounded by the same things, to prioritize they way He wants us to and thereby allowing for peace in our lives. Deuteronomy 2:3 says, "You have circled this mountain long enough, Now turn north."

Are you ready to listen to what Holy Spirit has to say about the holidays, your schedule, your priorities, YOUR LIFE? Are you ready to BELIEVE that 2009 can be a better, more peaceful, more productive year...a year of getting to know our Lord more intimately... I certainly am!

I have desired to live to please God for many years, but I'm ready for a new level. I'm committing to a new level of AUDACIOUS BELIEF. I'm tired of compassing some of the same mountains and excited that God is allowing me to see it and with that drawing me to BELIEVE for different...for new mountains.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all!

Here's to us all leaning into the Holy Spirit with a kean ear. I BELIEVE we'll hear a new song. For me it definitely will not be "She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes..."

Well, it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post. More than usual busyness at work + school holiday programs + a child with pneumonia + Christmas shopping + husband's company functions + being under the weather myself all add up to a frustrating period of no blogging! I actually worked on a post 3 different times, only to end up with incomplete thoughts and cramped up fingers. Sitting down to a quiet moment this evening though, I am realizing just how therapeutic being able to pour out onto paper (or computer screen) is.

During the past week God has reminded me of His love for me and all mankind. He has shown up in the kinds words of a stranger in the grocery store. He has shown up in a verse on a Christmas card from new friends. He's been there as I prayed for healing and strength for my daughter. He's been there in the conversation with a grieving friend. He has been in the smallest moments and the biggest events, intimate and close up.

The holidays are the time for "wonder and BELIEF". That may sound cliche' but even as our world seems so uncertain, the Lord's love for His children becomes more real. Ask Him to give you something to BELIEVE Him for this season. He will lay something on your heart and He desires to bring it to pass!


Believe in how much He truly loves you. Believe Him to reveal something new to you.

My girls went on the Polar Express trip in Bryson City, NC a couple weeks ago. They brought back their train ticket and it had the word "BELIEVE" printed along the inside border. I kept that ticket as a reminder of what the holidays mean to children and adults alike. Where there is hope, anything is possible!

Tonight's post is short but filled with dreams, BELIEF and expectancy for miracles this Christmas season.

Will you be checking any baggage today?

I had lunch with my dear friend and mentor today. As always, we covered more topics in one lunch hour than a week's worth of 6 o'clock news segments. I'm sure to the patrons at adjacent tables, it's like watching a very animated tennis match. Two expressives, over fries, discussing the lastest happenings and what they mean...good stuff, God stuff!! After leaving the restaurant and getting back to work, I thought back on some of the things we discussed; world news, local news, both of our families, the economy, etc. Boy am I glad I'm a BELIEVER or I could have come back very depressed. And, even as Christians, we can get depressed. Especially when we attempt to carry it all.

A few years back, I spent an afternoon with two of the most Godly people I have ever met. Dr. & Mrs. Slade were introduced to me by a mutual friend and they helped me talk through some very challenging things in my life at that time. They petitioned God on my behalf and helped me to see that "God had it covered". That day and frequently since, the Lord has shown me all that I have tried to carry. I can remember at one point I counted it a badge of honor to be able to carry the load for myself and those around me!! I was a blond Wonderwoman...cape, belt, gold bracelets, invisible jet...yes, the whole package. What I didn't see though, was that all that weight, all the luggage, the baggage, I was never meant to carry. The Lord showed me that I needed to go back to the playground. I needed to check all those bags at His terminal and trust that He had it covered. Visually, He gave me a clear picture of a 5 year old girl going down the slide, then moving to the merry-go-round, then the swing. Carefree, blissful in every moment, all under the watchful eye of my Heavenly Father. That little girl wasn't carrying a Samsonite. When's the last time you saw kids on the playard pulling a "carry-on bag"? If I needed to pick up a bag, He would let me know.

Because of the drama/trauma I grew up in, I don't know that I ever really felt carefree, so that was an incredibly powerful image for me. One that He reminds me of consistently now. It is a choice though. We can certainly continue to stack on backpacks, suitcases, trunks and cases of worry, stress and anxiety. We can gain imaginary valor and take pride in our Super Hero-ish baggage-toting abilities but eventually that will suck the life (and joy) right out of us.

Now, don't get me wrong. I do not for a second think that God wants us to abandon our responsibilities and go on a permanent trip to the amusement park. He wants us to be moved by compassion. He wants us to take note of circumstances that He may be using to direct us to change. That is where we must be atune to His unctioning. However, He does not want the troubles of this world to consume us. He wants to consume us!

Amidst all there is to worry about these days, let's BELIEVE that we can "check our baggage" and visit the playground more often. Let's BELIEVE, audaciously, that His plan is at work & we can trust in it. Happy flying everyone (luggage free)! ~