Addicted to His Glory

My life isn't extraodinary, but my God is. I love seeing His glory at work; in fact, there's nothing I enjoy more--I'm addicted to it! Join me as I seek Him in my normal, everyday life watching Him do amazing, glorious, extraordinary things. ♥ --R Rebecca (noun): -- Daughter, Wife, Mother, counselor, and friend with the gift of story telling; has a merciful and compassionate heart; loves dancing in Fields of Grace; delights in the Lord and hopes to be His vessel used to reflect His glory to the lives and world around her.

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And then love came to the village today. They knew that God loved them because He sent a plane full of love today just for them. Thanks, Troy, LeAnna, and Darrell for carrying His heart...and mine!

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The latest picture of our Ugandan sponsor-daughter, Sharon. Thanks Kristy for the great pic and thanks Sue for keeping us connected to our Kankoole Kids!

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#truthinlove

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Written in the palm of His hand

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“‎”For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

Luke 2:11

I woke up this morning in the City of David, about a mile from the birthplace of Jesus Christ. I look out my bedroom window and see shadows of shepherds and memories of days gone by in the...

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The village grown in God's heart: Kankoole, Uganda, East Africa (at uganda, ast africa)

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The thing about grace is that it is not free. Oh, people will tell you it is, but it comes with a great sacrifice and price.

Grace, flowing from the heart of the Gracious One, is indeed freely given—to that there is no dispute. However, the monumental cost lies in the heart of the receiver. To...

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African portrait of Worship (Taken with instagram)

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If you saw God, what would you ask Him?

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Focus-Forward

The beautiful thing about the Lord is that His promises are "yes." He's not "kind of" or "maybe" or "if I get around to it." No, He is just "yes." If you seek you will find; if you knock, the door will be opened; if you ask, you will receive. Today I went knocking. And asking. And seeking. I had a 100-mile drive to Louisville for a meeting, and this "windshield time" provided the perfect opportunity to search God's heart--and ask Him to search mine.  "Lord, give me your wisdom," I asked. "Show me your heart. These opportunities lay out before me and my family. What do you want? How would you have us proceed? How can we dwell, stay, and remain in your presence while moving throughout life?" My family is in a time of transition. Jobs changing, callings evolving, new chapters being opened. We are literally in a step-by-step stage of life, and as I drove I wondered what the next step might be. Then, like out of a motion picture, a storm descended on the highway. The kind of storm that not only makes you bring your kids inside, it makes you send them and family pets to the basement and pray.  But here I was, half way between here and there, with nowhere to go but forward. The waves of rain were so intense, at times I could not even see the hood of my car. Pelted by hail and pummeled by rain, although it was 3:00 in the afternoon, the only time I could see anything was when lightening would illuminate the sky for one brief second. Hazard lights flashing, I slowed to 60, 50, then 40 miles an hour, knowing it was unsafe to pull to the narrow shoulder with so many semis behind me, and  knowing going any faster without visibility  would be just as deadly. My only choice was to focus forward.  "Keep your eyes on Me, Rebecca," whispered the Spirit inside me. "Keep looking up, don't get distracted. Focus forward." Looking for glimpses of white lines, yellow lines, tail lights, and trees, I did my best to stay the course. I didn't fiddle with radio stations, I paid no attention to the chewing gum available in my purse, and I had no intention of talking on the phone. "Focus forward, Rebecca." The words echoed in my heart. "Keep your eyes on Me." Within about 35 long, long minutes, the clouds began to thin, and eventually I was free to re-set the cruise control and continue on the journey. Although the storms cleared, the message stayed with me. "He carries me through the storms. My role is to focus forward and keep my eyes on Him."  the other thought that occurred to me was my alternative. And I chosen to pull off the road and wait, instead of driving through the storm I would have been stuck in it for much, much longer. Less than 10 minutes into the sparkling sun and blue-sky second-half of my drive, Hubby called to chat.  I shared with him about the storm, then he shared with me about an opportunity this summer. It would mean giving up what is behind and pressing on to the goal. It would mean letting an established ministry lay in capable, willing hands while we move on to the next things God has for our family. It would mean leaving God with the outcomes of something we love and choosing His presence and His potential instead of reminiscing over what's in the rearview mirror. You see, whether it is storming or whether the sun shines, life can't be lived exclusively in the rear-view. Watching what is passing behind us only serves to run our lives and our hopes off the road. The only way to stay the course is to ask for the next destination on the journey, seek the white and yellow lines of direction, and keep focus-forward. Sitting here typing in my hotel room bed, I may not know where the journey leads next, but I know that with the Truth, Life, and Way as my guide, we're in for one wonderful ride!

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Guarding My Heart

Above all else, guard your heart,    for it is the wellspring of life.  

--Proverbs 4:23 (NIV, 1984)

Oh, how difference in perspective and translation changes everything!

 For as long as I can remember, this verse has been my mantra. In high school, when running for student council or while being girl #13 on a 12-couple homecoming court, the voice in my head would echo, “guard your heart.” When dating in college and I liked a guy more than he liked me, “guard your heart” would fill my mind. And when I entered ministry, married a minister, and somehow took on the role of “pastor’s wife”, it was guard your heart that motivated my movements.

  Only, although it was a Biblical perspective and loving command, for years this practice of guarding my heart fell into a pattern of presence that had very little to do with the intention of God’s heart when He breathed the inspiration for the penning of this verse.

  Somehow along the way I developed the reasoning that I had to take care of myself because nobody else was going to do it for me. Great bring-home-the-bacon-and-fry-it-up-in-a-pan early 90’s, Murphy Brown-styled reasoning, but to heavenly eyes I missed the essence of the idea completely.  When God asked us to guard our hearts, it was for freedom.  His Words tells us, “It is for freedom Christ set us free” (Galatians 5:1).  Instead of understanding this, I built a guarded wall of self-protection, not allowing anyone to peek into my soul lest they might see that I was somehow less than what was required to meet the muster. Instead of this:

  .

 I developed this:

  And oh, how good I became at being on guard—guarding my heart to the point of walls impenetrable an army could not invade! Little did I realize that all the careful guarding had built a prison around my spirit.

This morning, 37 years into my life journey and 15 years into my relationship with the Lord, God gave me an a-ha moment that showed me I had it all wrong. You see, I had taken the imperative as a command to keep others out, keep others from hurting me, and to keep myself removed from possible external harm. But this particular battle isn’t with others; it’s not even with an unseen enemy. This battle against my own deceitful feelings, emotions, and thoughts that hi-jack my heart into thinking things like “I’m not good enough,” “that person would never accept me if they really knew me,” and “I somehow don’t measure up.”

  We all fall prey to those thoughts.  Maybe yours sound like “I’m not as good as…” or “I need to be more, do more, and win more.” It could be, “I’ll never make it” or just as bad “I’m all I need—I can do this all on my own.”

I had memorized and internalized the 1984-translation of that verse. Reading the NIV of today, here is the same sentence:

Above all else, guard your heart,    for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 23:4, NIV

    Maybe that is not much difference to you, but to me the difference totally reinforces the revelation God shared with me this morning: Rebecca, you don’t need to guard your heart with a fortress on the outside, you need to guard it with the Sword of My Spirit from the inside. 

  What does this mean?

  Guarding my heart does not mean establishing a wall of protection and keeping others out. It means opening myself, trusting in God for my safety, and then when thoughts, ideas, or emotions play or sneak into my spirit, piercing them through and incapacitating them with the Truth of His Word.

  I’m not good enough. What a load of garbage—I am good enough to die for. I am good enough because HE is good enough and I am His.

I’m not loveable. The king of Kings loves me more than all of creation—so much that He sends His Son to die for me.

I don’t measure up.  The only measurement is in Him, and I am a daughter of the King.

So-and-so thinks….(fill in the blank). First of all, you don’t know what they think, and second of all, you live, sing, and dance for an audience of One. What someone else thinks is between them and God.

On and on, God showed me the method He would choose for guarding this wellspring of life within me.  –Not by building an insurmountable wall that would separate me from all possible hurt or harm, but by opening myself up to experience the fullness of life while taking each thought and emotion before Him to either validate or discard.

  Above all else, friends, guard your heart. And from that comes the wellspring of His peace, His presence, and life abundant in His truth and grace.  …And once you can walk in that practice, everything you do will flow from Him.

  Thankful that He still teaches old gals new lessons,

  ♥ R

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