God delights in you

Have you taken the time recently to think about how God delights in you?
He delights in YOU period.

There is no comma, conditioning clause or a but followed by exceptions.
He simply loves and delights in you as his child.

The Lord your God …will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

God gave me a beautiful picture of this the other day when I was spending time with my nephew. Have you ever held a sleeping baby before? (if not I'd highly

recommend it because you're missing out on one of the most precious, peaceful moments in life)

But anyways, as I sat on the couch holding my baby nephew in my arms. I simply looked down at his sleeping little body and my heart overflowed with joy and love for him. I watched his chest rise and fall to the rhythm of his breathing, the details of his little eyelashes and the warmth of this body against mine and simply soaked it all in. I was delighting in him, and my sweet little nephew did not have to even do a thing for my heart to be filled with joy. He wasn't smiling at me, holding my fingers, making adorable baby noises, or showing me his new tricks of clapping his hands, waving and standing up. No he was just there simply being and that's all he needed to do in order for my heart to overflow with love for him.

I wonder if that's a picture of how God views us. He doesn't need us to spend an hour reading the Bible every day, or to perfectly share the gospel with others, be involved in 5 different ministries at our church,  and go on missions trips every summer. While none of those things are bad, God doesn't need us to do any of those things. He delights in us and loves us because of who we are and not because of what we do. He delights in us simply because we are his children just like I delighted in my nephew simply because he is my baby nephew.

God loves you simply because you are his.

Now, when my nephew gets excited to see me, gives me a hug or does something cute, it brings me joy, because I see that he is responding to the love that I have for him and he shows me that our relationship isn't just one sided. So yes it does bring God pleasure when we walk with him and follow his ways, because we are showing him that his deep, unconditional love for us has affected our hearts that we have received the love and value that he has placed in us and we want to respond to that love.

BUT even when we don't and even when we mess up and we aren't perfect, God's love for us never changes. We are still his children who he delights.

Rest in that today, sweet friend. Bask in the knowledge that you can rest that you can stop striving to earn God's favor, performing and seeking to be perfect, because God has already poured out his favor on us and given us the highest value he has called us his beloved Children, and that is an unshakable identity.

You know the best part about our identity as children of God? There is nothing we can do to earn it (it is only through the cross and Jesus's payment for our sins) which also means that there is nothing we can do to lose it. This is the one identity that is not dependent on ourselves, but is instead dependent on God's amazing and unchanging grace and love for us.

So let go of the burden of performance and run in the freedom of grace.
You are a beloved child of God, and no one can change that! 

The 13 letter word

Have you ever heard of the 13 letter word? I'll give you a hint, it starts with a "V" ....

Vulnerability- it's a word that makes me cringe
when I hear it I tense up and immediately pull up my shield to block my heart.
I get antsy and immediately want to change the topic
or run out of the room.
But what is it about his word that I fear?
Why does it stir up so many emotions & protective mechanisms?
Why does it make me want to bolt out of the room?

Because vulnerability means trust
vulnerabiltiy means taking off the mask that I've spent my whole life protecting
vulnerability means intimacy
vulnerability means allowing others into my life
vulnerability means the possibility of hurt, rejection and abandoment
It means showing people I'm not the perfect girl I try to be

BUT

vulnerability also means being truly known
vulnerability means love
vulnerability means truth
vulnerability means community
vulnerability means openness, freedom
vulnerability means acceptance for you who are and not just your mask

Is it worth it? Is it worth the risk, worth the possible hurt and rejection?
I say an emphatic YES!

Vulnerability means you don't have to feel worn down and wear by putting up a front all of the time, it means leaving behind your feelings of lonliness and embracing being fully and completely known. If i'm honest as much as that thought scares me it also sounds like the most amazing, freeing thing ever!

Putting down my shield of self-protection and letting others in is a risk, it's terrifying and it makes me want to run the other way.
BUT
What if we asked God for the courage to be vulnerable, to be truly known for once in our lives and to stop pushing poeple away, but to instead allow ourselves to be loved?

Knowing that my identiy is found in Christ and not being perfect. In Christ, and not in self-protection, in Christ and not in how others view me is what frees me. When I am firm in Christ and my identity as a daughter of God than I can courageously take the risk of letting other in, of inviting them into my heart, letting them be a part of my story and allowing myself to feel God's love through the tangible love and care of others. 

When I feel like ignoring the pain in the world

Life in this broken world is hard 

There are so many things that are not as they should be, so many sorrows and so much pain

Sometimes the world makes me want to close my eyes and hide pretending that all the horrors will simply go away if I just pretend like they're not there.

 As much as I wish I had the magical power to simply wish all the bad things away and make everything better that's just not how life works. 

Actually it's quite the opposite. 

So yes there may not be a simple solution to a problem 

but when we ignore it and pretend like it's not there we're being selfish. 

We are thinking about ourselves and protecting our own eyes from seeing the pain 

and our hearts from feeling the sorrow of this world. 

We are telling all of those who are hurting, vulnerable and in need that our own safety and comfort are more important that theirs. 

That we would rather ignore the voiceless so that we can have a more blissful life 

one that doesn't include all the real hard parts. 

We are saying that their heartache and pain are not worth my compassion, energy and emotions. 

Is that the message that I want to send? 

Without realizing it when we ignore the social injustices in our world 

and the pain and exploitations of our neighbors we are only perpetuating the problem, 

shoving it under the rug and turning off the light. 

We are giving more power to those injustices because brokenness and sin breads in darkness. 

They need light to shine on them so they can be opened up to what is good and right.

Yes it may be hard like watching a prostitute be grabbed and taken away by a man, 

hard to process, sad to watch and difficult to understand or share 

but it's in acknowledging the problem and being bold and brave enough to allow our hearts to feel their pain and break for them  that we begin to be able to advocate for them. 

To be a voice for the voiceless 

to let these people know that they aren't invisible, 

that we see them and the horrors that they are going through 

and that we are courageous enough to take a stand against the evil 

to talk about the things that are uncomfortable, hard and broken in our world 

in order to take another step towards ending it 

to shine a little more light and bring a little more hope

 to the world, to these people and to these faces. 

That's all I can ask anyone to do. 

Yes, you may not be able to change everything in the world but you can change someone's world by showing them that there is hope and there are people who care and a God who loves them!

Grace is the greatest Brave

 Grace is the greatest brave.

 Everyday we face battles, and for each of us those battles look a little different. But we all live in a  world with broken people and so relationships, friendships, and family are hard. 

 

Sometimes its battles of people persuading us that we’re failing

Tearing down all that we’ve tried to achieve

Or its gossip and rumors

Other times it’s people breaking our trust, lying to us, hurting us

The battle of trying to be good enough, smart enough, pretty enough

The battle of trying to be accepted and loved

But no matter what it is the battle never seems to end

When we’re caught in these battles with people giving grace doesn’t come easily or feel natural at all.

It takes a lot of courage to give grace to the person who hurt you, the one who gossiped and slandered about you or the one who won’t let you live down your past.

But, as hard and difficult as it may seem, it is possible to give grace, and Jesus proved it. He showed us how to give grace even when it is hard

 He gently and lovingly reminds me that

 I was the one who was warring against him

 Living for myself and worshiping the world

 Yet, Jesus gave me grace

 I used to do things to him that people do to me. 

 Promise things to him and then break those promises

 Tell him that I loved him, and then turn my back on him

 And I took from him

 I lied to him and made fun of him

 Yet he was courageous enough to take all of that sin and give us all of his grace

 We didn’t deserve it, but he gave us a second chance.

 So yes, I am weak and unworthy and I don’t want to forgive people who have hurt me, but his grace  is enough for all of me 

 I can be brave, because Jesus Christ was brave

 "We don’t get the luxury of looking like Jesus and holding on to our hurts"

 Grace restores, rebuilds and changes mindsets

 But grace doesn’t just happen, someone has to be brave enough to give it.

 Will you?

Dear Grandma,

I have memories of coming into your house as a little girl with pigtails, running straight into the kitchen, because I knew that’s where you would be and then jumping into your arms for a big hug! Memories of when you would let me make a mess by taking out all of your pots and pans to play with, sometimes I would make musical instruments out of them and other times I would pretend to be cooking like you were. The times where you would let me help you make jello and we’d make it into fun shapes, and then you’d be so patient with me as I would check every 10 minutes to see if it was ready yet. Memories of sitting at the table having life chats with you and the way you always made me laugh and gave such good life advice. And my absolute favorite were the way you would take us all out on dates for our Birthdays, we’d get to have a special grandma lunch and pick out some new outfits and somehow you always knew what clothes I would like and remembered such little details about each one of us grandkids.

 

But time is ticking and with every day I realized how quickly it is slipping away from us, how precious each and every second is, every conversation and every hug. While I may not be able to do all of those things that I used to do with you anymore I’m learning that I don’t need that to feel loved by you. Just holding your hand fills my heart with joy and love, or being able to sit next to you. Seeing a smile on your face or the sparkle in your eye when you see us kids. These little things mean a thousand times more than I ever realized before and I treasure these little moments even more than all those big memories you’ve painted my life with growing up.

Thank you for always being there for me. For being such a fighter and being so strong. For not complaining but instead enjoying life and your family as much as you can. Dearest grandma, I love you more than words can say and while it’s hard to see you hurting and sick, and it breaks my heart to see you losing your independence. I am so grateful that I am still blessed with getting to make these simple little memories with you and treasure these little moments of eating chocolate together, and simply sitting there holding each others hands.

But I would be very grateful if time would slow down just a little bit so I can squeeze in as many of these moments and memories with you into my heart to keepsake forever!

Sweet Grandma I hope you know how much I love you, and how dearly I treasure all of the sweet memories you’ve etched into my heart and the love and care that you’ve brightened my life with! I'm storing up all of these memories with you & I can’t wait to hold your hand again in just a few weeks!  <3 

Hold on to hope...

                                                                                                     
 Dear friend,

Are you overwhelmed?
Overwhelmed by the struggles of life
The pain that feels so strong that you can't breathe
The sin and brokenness that's so prevalent in this world
The to-do-list that seems to never end
The uncertainty that looms over the future
The burdens that seem too heavy to bear...



I have talked to quite a few people in the past week, and although the causes, circumstances and reasons are all very different the theme of feeling overwhelmed seemed pervasive. It's a feeling that comes all too frequently and one that everyone can understand because let's face it life is hard, it's full of curve balls and all too often it's painful and breaks your heart.

But today I want to fill your heart with hope and truth. To remind you that with every reminder of the pain that is in your heart there is a reminder of the hope and comfort that we have in Christ. That we don't have to listen to those ugly lies that try to overpower the voice of truth. The lies that tell us that it will always be this hard, or this painful, or this overwhleming. The ones that tell us that things can never change, that there will never be true joy or peace again.

My dear friend don't listen to those lies, because no matter how hard the day is, no matter what is bringing you so much heartbreak and no matter what makes today feel like it is the hardest day of your life...here's the truth

You're going to be okay.

Your heart will find healing, peace and joy again. This is not the end of your story, and you are SO deeply loved.

Your pain is not worthless, it may be hard to see right now, but God is creating beauty out of the ashes.
Yes, it's okay for you to feel sad and hurt, but remember that it is not the end, hold on to hope. Hang on to the promises of God.

So instead of letting your heart become overwhelmed with pain and the struggles of life in this broken world, allow your heart to become overwhelmed by Jesus. To be overwhelmed by his amazing, boundless unending love, his peace that surpasses all understanding and the beautiful joy that only he can fill your heart with!

One of those days

Have you ever had one of those days? We all have them from time to time
The one where maybe your alarm doesn't go off on time
or you don't get to shower in the morning
where you drop your whole bowl of cereal
You get stuck in traffic on your way to work
find out your shift is 2 hours longer than you thought, so you can't go on your lunch date
The one where you double book meetings
spend all afternoon running around campus
When you realize that you have a paper due at midnight that you forgot about
Your coffee order gets messed up, but then you end up spilling it on down your legs anyways
You leave your planner at home and completely forget about one of your appointments
The day where it's 9:00pm you haven't gotten a chance to eat any real meals yet and this is the first time all day that I've gotten to just sit down for half a second. & you finally feel like you can breathe.

But also the one where God reminds you that he's there in the midst of all the craziness and the whirlwind of life. Where he uses the smiles and hugs of friends and tangibles encouragements of others to keep you going and the one where he reminds you that no matter what kind of day you're having, how hard or crappy it may seem it is still a blessing and it is a still a beautiful day full of the grace of God. A day where I have my heavenly father there to carry me through the storms. A day where he reminds me of his faithfulness and love even when it's hard to see. And the one where he reminds me of how crazy blessed my life is, even when I'm stressed.
Yes there are those days that don't seem to go as planned and there may have been a lot of bumps in the road, but God is still faithful and there is beauty even in the midst of the chaos and storms, and God's grace, goodness and peace always prevails! Take time in the midst of your overwhelming life to look up and look to God and I promise he'll provide you with the strength you need!

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt 11:29-30