My Command is This

"My command is this:  Love each other as I have loved you!" - Jesus

This past week while I was in Honduras this verse was constantly on my heart.  As I opened up my Bible Sunday night for my quiet time and read through John 15 these words spoke directly to me. What a challenge!  "Love each other as I have loved you."  Sweet savior teach me how to do this!

With each person that I met last week I was challenged to think, how would my Jesus love them?  How would my Jesus love the kid with no shoes dressed in rags?  How would my Jesus love the child with AIDS? How would my Jesus love the guy who had too much to drink and was staring creepily at us through the car window?  How would my Jesus love the girl who smells really really bad?

How did my Jesus love me, a sinner?

He died for me!  He forgave me!  He overflows my heart with joy! He provides for me!  He listens to me!  He brings me life!

And this is how He calls me to love others!  "Love each other as I have loved you."

His love is not always comfortable, but that's what we have been called to do! His love is not easy, but as disciples we are commanded to love as He has loved!  His love was not selective, but was for everyone!

Holy Spirit teach me how to love the way my Savior first loved me.  May your love flow through my life and draw people to You!     

Sisters!

When I was three my parents thought it would be a great idea to have another kid.  And by great idea, I mean they didn't plan it at all, but boy did we get a surprise!  At the ripe old age of 3 1/2 I had to start sharing my title as daddy's little girl with a blonde headed blue eyed princess named Brennan Miles Mitchell!  Little did I know that this diva was going to turn into my absolute best friend in the whole wide world.  Evidently when we she was a baby I would beg mom to let me hold my little sister and I would tell my mom that she was my baby.  Aren't I precious?  I wasn't always that sweet with her...there were also days further on down the road where my brother and I would tie her hands and feet up with belts when mom and dad left us home alone and stick her in the bathtub so she couldn't get out, and I believe Braden and I are part of the reason Brennan will no longer eat beef or pork.  We used to tell her when she was little and she would eat hot dogs how sad it was that she killed an animal to eat that.  We made sure to give her a hard time as often as possible.

Brennan and I grew up sharing a bed room until sixth grade.  I'm sure we had plenty of bonding over those years.  At that point in time I was the messiest kid in the world and I'm sure it drove her crazy to be living in a pig sty.  When I was in middle school and high school I remember having our fair share of fights, but once I went off to college we began to get super close.

My freshmen year of college was her freshmen year of high school.  We no longer lived in the same house, and I was starting to miss the little princess, so each week I would check her out of school, pick her up for lunch, and take her out to eat.  I truly looked forward to that 50 minutes together each week.  I would say that was where the true bonding began!  She was starting to change from my little sister to a dear friend.

My sophomore year of college I went to Honduras for 6 months.  I wasn't suppose to come back to the states until the middle of November, but one day when I was talking to Brennan and I asked her what she wanted for her 16th birthday which is October 25th she said, "All I want for my birthday is for you to be here."  Huh?  How in the world was that suppose to work?  I was in another country!  After a little thought and planning with my mother, I decided to head home a few weeks early from Honduras to surprise Brennan for her birthday.  My sneaky mom didn't even tell my dad that his daughter was returning after 5 months away.  I got in late on October 24th and Brennan had already gone to bed.  The little princess needs her beauty sleep.  The next day my mom picked Brennan up for a birthday lunch, but little did Brennan know that I was hiding in the back of the mini van.  When I popped up she screamed and started crying.  Needless to say she was a little surprised!

There were other important times of bonding over the next few years, but none stands out more to me than the night my sister decided to be baptized.  It was the Summer going into her senior year of high school and I had been interning all summer in Jonesboro, AR with the Southwest Church of Christ.  I was sitting in church one Sunday morning a couple of weeks before we were leaving for camp at Lipscomb and I really felt like God placed it on my heart that I should invite Brennan to go with us to Impact.  After clearing that with my wonderful bosses I called up my lil sis to see if she would want to fly up to Nashville for a week of camp with people she had never met before in her life.  Surprisingly she agreed, although when I look back at it, I'm not at all surprised she agreed because I know that the Spirit was at work!  The final night of camp we are standing for the invitation song and I scooted down to be by my little sister.  Before this point in time I had never been one to be too bold with what I said to my sister when it came to matters of faith, but God spoke through me to her that night.  Before I could figure out what I was saying I blurted out to her...."What are you waiting for?"  She kind of gave me the cold shoulder for a second, but the next thing I know she grabs my hand and pulls me with her down the aisle.  I instantly broke into tears.  I can't explain the joy I felt knowing that my sister was going to turn her life fully over to our awesome God.  I am so thankful to our Holy God that I was able to share in that experience with her.  What a blessing it is to watch your biological sister be transformed into your sister for eternity!  Praise Him for He is good!

Right after Brennan's baptism

After that Summer in Jonesboro I finished out my senior year of college at OC and Brennan finished up her senior year of H.S. at Edmond Memorial. She decided that she was going to head off to Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN and I ended up moving to Little Rock, AR to work at PV.  Over the past year and a half the two of us have grown even closer together, even though we no longer live in the same state.

The two of us are about as opposite as you can get, but we have the most important thing in common!  We both LOVE the Lord with all of our heart!  Just to give you an idea of how different we are...Last time I was in OKC with the fam Brennan and I went shopping.  She was dressed up in a skirt with her hair all curled and her bright red lipstick and I was in my gym shorts, t-shirt, chacos, no make-up and was sporting a messy pony tail.  She's funny and I'm not!  She's artsy and I'm not!  She's a fashion diva and I'm not.  We are so very different, but I love and admire this girl so much!  She has such a huge heart for people.  She is constantly seeking for ways she can make people feel welcome and show them God's love.  I know that God is working in her and through her in incredible ways.

I am so thankful for the few times a year that I get to spend with my bestest friend in the whole wide world.  I love it when she calls me just to catch me up on all the crazy things that are happening in her life.  I love it when I get to hear about how God is using her.  I'm so thankful that she took my place as the baby of the family and that God blessed me with such an incredible little sister!        

Come glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together!

I will extol the Lord at all times; 

his praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the Lord;

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the Lord with me; 

let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant; 

their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; 

he saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; 

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Psalm 34:1-8

I love these verses.  David lived a life of continual worship to our awesome God, and I pray that I will seek to worship God with each breath that He blesses me with.  

I love that David opens this Psalm resolving to praise God at ALL times.  As he writes this he is fleeing from Saul who is trying to kill him and finds himself having to run from King Abimelech who thinks he is a spy.  Not exactly what I would call ideal circumstances, but that doesn't matter because He chooses to praise and trust in the Lord even during the hard times. 

My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.  He wants others to know that the Lord is his source of joy.  He will boast only in the Lord.  I pray that I will constantly give God glory for the joy that He has flooded my life with.  May I boast in Him alone!

Come glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together!  This has always been one of my favorite verses.  I often put this verse on cards that I send to my girls.  David wants others to see and experience what it is like to worship our awesome God.  It is so good that He just can't keep it to himself.  I pray that we will constantly be inviting others to come and exalt His name together.  He is so worthy of ALL of our praise!

May our faces be radiant and never covered in shame because we have sought the Lord with ALL of our heart.  May we shine with His presence and may people know that we are different because we have seen the one true God!

So here's my invitation to you.  Come, let me tell you what He has done for me! Come, taste and see that the Lord is good! Come, glorify the Lord with me!  Let us exalt His name together!

Honduras!!!

This Saturday I will be returning to Honduras after 2 1/2 years away from one of my 

favorite places on earth!

Honduras has played a HUGE role in my life since 7th grade.  Thirteen years ago my family started taking a yearly mission trip to Honduras over spring break to build houses, help build church buildings, run a VBS, and run a medical clinic.  I had no clue how big of an impact that first trip in 7th grade was going to make on the rest of my life.

I remember so much about my first week in Honduras.  I remember not being able to breathe because the air was so polluted!  I remember lying in bed coughing myself to sleep at night. I remember falling "out" of a tree and landing in a pile of glass and being my parents' only emergency medical patient of the day in the clinic.  I remember catching the "bug" with about 30 other people from my group and being super sick.  I remember the guards walking around with huge guns.  I remember not being able to speak a lick of Spanish.  I remember being scared out of my mind,  yet somehow God caused me to fall in love with this place.  I was hooked from there on out.

I began to look forward to each March because I knew that I was going to be going back to Honduras with my family.  As the years went on I grew to love the place more and more.  As soon as I got to high school I started taking Spanish classes so that I could learn how to better communicate with my Honduran friends.

In the mean time a dear friend of mine, Amber Foster, graduated from OC and moved to Tegucigalpa to be a missionary.  The yearly trips to Honduras soon turned into two or three trips a year.  Anytime I was out of school I was heading to Honduras and staying with Amber!  I was there over Christmas break, Spring break, and would spend at least a month of each Summer speaking Spanish with my kiddos in Honduras.

As I went off to college I felt a pull at my heart to do mission work in Honduras.  I felt that God was leading me to move down there when I graduated and work with the people there.  My parents always use to joke that they were going to have to learn Spanish to be able to communicate with their grandchildren (not like that's a current issue).  As I started school at Oklahoma Christian I decided to major in Spanish.  I needed all the help learning the language that I could get!  My biggest language mistake ever would probably being telling a group of girls Soy hombre instead of Tengo hambre.  That's the difference between saying I am a man and I am hungry. The girls got quite the giggle out of that!

At the end of my freshmen year of college I told my parents that I wanted to take a semester off of school and move down to Honduras to live with Amber for 6 months.  They weren't nearly as excited about the idea as I was, but they knew that God was calling me there, so with much prayer they kissed their baby girl and shipped her off to a third world country for a few months.  I do remember my mother clearly telling me before I left, "if you don't get back on that plane in November I will fly down to Honduras and put your booty on that plane. You will finish college!"

June through November I spent living with Amber and working right by her side.  My Spanish improved daily and I developed strong relationships with so many little kids and the women in the church at Magote.  Those people are so dear to my heart.  God showed me a lot over those six months.

The first few months I was there were busy busy busy.  Our time was consumed with organizing youth groups who had come for a week for Summer mission trips.  I loved working with all of the different youth groups and building relationships with so many different teens from around the US.  It was so much fun to teach them how to build houses, mix cement, run a VBS, and help translate.  As the Summer came to a close and I began to experience what daily life in Honduras was like without all the busyness of the groups I found that my heart wasn't fully in it.  I started to realize that maybe this isn't what God was calling me to.  Don't get me wrong I still loved the people, but my heart just wasn't drawn to it like before.

As I returned to the states I began to question all of the plans that I had made.  I began to realize that Honduras wasn't where I needed to be.  God had given me a passion for Honduras for 10 years, but I believe that He allowed that passion to fade over time as He planted new ones on my heart.  Second semester of sophomore year was challenging.  I mean I thought I had my whole life planned out, and then just like that I realized my plans were wrong.  I didn't have a clue what I was suppose to do from there.  It was too late to change my major and honestly I didn't really have a passion to do anything else. I remember being scared out of my mind and thinking, okay God, now what?  What am I suppose to do?  I also know that His response to that question changed my life.  It's one of those moments in your walk with God where you hear His voice so clearly that you can remember every detail about the moment.  I remember Him saying to me, "I have never let you take a breath alone, I'm not going to start now.  Trust fully in me."  Just like that I had more peace than I had ever felt before.  I didn't know what He had in store for me, but I knew that He was right by my side and that I had nothing to fear.

It wasn't long after that that he led me to Mayfair for my first youth ministry internship.  For the first time in years I was spending my Summer in the United States.  I hadn't celebrated the 4th of July in the US in probably 5 years.  At the time I had no clue that God was preparing me for my dream job.  Isn't it crazy how when we look back we can see so many of the ways He was working, even though in the moment it was so much harder to understand what was going on.

Spring break my junior year of college was my last trip to Honduras.  It was filled with mixed emotions. My love for the people was still so strong, but my desire to move there was no longer there.  I knew that God was preparing me for something else.  He is so faithful.  After two Summers of youth internships I prayed and prayed that He would open up and youth ministry position for me and seriously weeks after I started praying that prayer I received an email about the youth ministry position at Pleasant Valley where I have been for the past 1 1/2 years.  He works in incredible ways!

This Saturday I will be taking off to Honduras for the first time in 2 1/2 years.  I'm excited and nervous all at the same time.  I don't really know what to expect.  I know that my awesome God will reveal Himself to me in exciting ways.  I am excited to see my little kids!  I can't even imagine how much has changed over the past 2 1/2 years.  I'm so excited to see Amber and Darwin (my Honduran brother) and to meet the newest addition to their family, Rosie (Amber is incredible...she has pretty much adopted these 2 kids and raised them as if they were her own).  I am so excited to see all that God is doing through them in one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

Please be praying for Kristen and for me as we take off on our "vacation".  We know that God has exciting things planned.  We pray that we can be a source of encouragement to Amber and that we can be the hands and feet of Jesus to those in Honduras.  I pray that we will reach out in faith and touch those who no one else will touch.  I pray that God will transform us to look more and more like Him with each one of His children that we meet.  

I'm Still Yours

I have had this song by Kutless on repeat all morning long.  

If You washed away my vanity
If You took away my words
If all my world was swept away
Would You be enough for me?
Would my beating heart still sing?

If I lost it all
Would my hands stay lifted
To the God who gives and takes away

If You take it all
This life You've given
Still my heart will sing to You

When my life is not what I expected
The plans I made have failed
When there's nothing left to steal me away
Will You be enough for me?
Will my broken heart still sing?

If I lost it all
Would my hands stay lifted
To the God who gives
And takes away

If You take it all
This life You've given
Still my heart
Will sing to You

Even if You take it all away
You’ll never let me go
Take it all away
But I still know

That I'm Yours
I'm still Yours

Oh, I'm Yours
I'm still Yours
I'm still Yours

This chorus makes me think every time I hear it, If I lost it all would my hands stay lifted to the God who gives and takes away?I pray that my faith will be so deeply rooted with God my savior that even when I go through the storms that I will still lift my hands and praise the only true God.  May I remember that He is not just God when I'm on the mountains, but that He is also the God over my valleys.   May I trust and know that "Even if You take it all away You'll never let me go.  Take it all away, but I still know that I'm Yours, I'm Yours!"

When my life is not what I expected, the plans I made have failed, When there's nothing left to steal me away, Will You be enough for me?  Will my broken heart still sing? 

I pray that when things don't go according to MY plans, but rather according to HIS that I will know that He is more than enough for me.  He has rescued me and given me life.  My Lord is my shepherd.  He has led me through green pastures and through valleys of the shadow of death, but I find so much comfort in knowing that no matter where He leads me I know that HE is God over that place!  Since He is God over every place my heart still has a reason to sing.  

May my heart always sing praises to the Holy God.  May I fall humbly before His throne and praise His name for He alone is God.  He is more than enough for me.  Even if everything else failed me I know with all of my heart that I would still have a reason to sing, for I have been redeemed by my Savior and He is alive and living in me!  That alone is a good enough reason to praise my King for the rest of eternity! 

STILL

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.  Psalm 37:7

Be still and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10

Stillness is not something I excel at.  I'm pretty sure my parents told me daily as a little kid, "would you please just be still." I always have to be doing something or going somewhere. Sitting still and being quiet are definitely challenging to me. Recently my patient God has been teaching me the importance of being still.  I am trying to learn how to quiet my soul and just be still before my awesome God.  

I am learning to love the stillness.  It amazes me how much more clearly I am able to hear and see my God when I turn off all the noise and am still in His presence.  In the stillness I KNOW that He is God.  His presence cannot be escaped. In the stillness I am reminded that HE is in control and that I can and should trust FULLY in Him!  In the quiet His voice is so much easier to hear.  In the stillness I pray that He will transform me to look more and more like Him.  In the stillness I know that I have EVERYTHING that I need.  In the stillness He fills my cup and makes it overflow.  In the stillness I am reminded of what my savior has done for me.  In the stillness He brings peace to my soul.  In the stillness I know that HE is God!  

I'm so thankful that our Holy God allows us to approach His throne and know Him so intimately.  In the stillness I am reminded of how He demonstrated His love for me and I am challenged to live each breath of my life fully dedicated to Him.    

Fully Dependent on Him

I have been so blessed to grow up in a family with parents who have great jobs.  I have never been worried about whether I would have food to eat or a place to sleep at night, or a car to drive to school and for that I am so thankful.  I have always had everything that I need, and probably more often than I should, I have had most things that I want as well.  My parents have always taught me that I should be thankful to God for all that He has blessed us with and that when we are given much we are expected to give much!  I am so thankful for the material blessings that He has given me, but way beyond that I am thankful for the blessings of my family, His Church, His Spirit, His death, and the life that I will get to spend with my savior for eternity!  Those things far outweigh any comforts of this world. 


I am so thankful to serve the only Awesome God!  I know that He is alive and that He works in powerful ways.  I have so much faith in Him, but sometimes I don't feel like my life depends on my faith in Him.  When I'm hungry I can go out and get food, when I run out of gas I can go put more in my car, when the bills come in I can pay them, and when I need/want new clothes it's only one quick shopping trip away.  I have more than I could ever need. I must remember that those blessings come from Him alone! 


There is a girl named Katie who lives in Africa who is my age and has adopted 13 orphan girls.  Her story absolutely amazes me! God is alive and living through her in beautiful ways.  She has such great faith in Him.  She has to have such great faith in Him.  She lives her life in a way that is fully dependent on God.  If He doesn't come through for her she is going to be in big trouble.  In her blog she writes about His faithfulness.  How one day a bill will come in and she doesn't know how she is going to pay it, but it never fails, the next day He sends exactly what she needs.  She lives her life in a way that fully depends on her awesome God. With each circumstance of His faithfulness towards her her faith must grow by leaps and bounds.  


There is something exciting about living a life like that.  I want to live my life in a way that I am so dependent on God for everything.  I want to know that if He doesn't come through I am in a huge heap of trouble.  I want to live in great faith, knowing that He is able to provide for all of my needs.  I know that my God will come through for me.  I know that He will give me exactly what I need, but I have to remember that what He knows I need and what I think I need may be two totally different things.  He is faithful. 


I pray that my God will teach me how to live a life that is dependent on Him.  My Jesus that fed the 5,000 with just a few loaves and fish still lives in me today through the power of His Spirit and I believe He still has the power to do amazing things.  May I call on His name, and may I live my life with so much faith and so dependent on Him that I'm in BIG trouble if He doesn't come through for me.  He is faithful!  I trust in Him!

My Hero

I have been blessed to have so many incredible people pouring into my life over the last 23 years.  God has truly surrounded me with incredible men and women of faith who have helped shape and mold me.  I thank God for the hundreds of people who have invested so much into my life!  I am blessed to have incredible parents who have pointed me to Christ since day one and so many other amazing brothers and sisters in the faith, but this past year God has blessed me with one of the most Godly women I have ever met.


Tonya is one of my heros in the faith! She has blessed my life over the past year and a half in more ways than I could ever explain.  Tonya is my mentor, sister, and dear dear friend.  She has 2 kids in the youth group and twin 6 year old girls as well.  Before I moved to Little Rock I prayed and prayed that God would provide me with a mentor who would speak His truth into my life, pray with me and over me, and share her wisdom with me.  I met Tonya my second Wednesday I was in Little Rock at a youth group girls swim party.  From the moment I met her I knew that she was the woman that I had prayed for.  I knew that she was suppose to be my mentor.  The next morning I sent her an email asking her if she would be willing to mentor me and meet with me, and she wrote me back saying that she had been praying that God would show her how she could mentor and encourage me before she ever even met me.  Crazy how our God works things out perfectly.  


Over the past year Tonya has left me numerous notes in my office, on my car, and at my apartment.  She is constantly encouraging me and speaking His truth into my life.  When things were really hard last year she would take me to breakfast and we would find ourselves crying in the middle of McDonald's as I poured out my heart to her.  She would speak His words of truth into my life and pray over me.  There were days when she would drive up to the church just so that she could come pray with me.  This woman is so very dear to my heart.  


Over the past 3 months my love and admiration of her has grown even more.  A few months back her husband Eric was diagnosed with a brain tumor and cancer.  The way Tonya has taken on these new challenges and still glorified Christ through everything is such a testament to how He works in hard situations.  Even through the past 3 months this incredible woman has found ways to pour encouragement into my life.  The other day I opened up a piece of mail and was taken back when I read her encouraging words.  She is going through so much and she still takes the time to pour out encouragement on me.  She is the most selfless woman I have ever met.  But it doesn't stop there.  Just last week she came up to my office to talk with Casey and me and before Casey got into the office she grabbed my hand and started praying over me.  I broke down.  How can she still have so much to give?  How can this woman who is running from one doctors appointment to another and raising 4 kids still have so much love to pour out on me.  I know how she does it!  Her cup is never dry.  She is constantly seeking our awesome Lord for strength and He is constantly filling her cup, and she is constantly overflowing.  She has such an intimate and constant relationship with our savior that even in hard times He is overflowing through her.  I am so so so thankful to God for Tonya.  I pray that God will mold me to be a woman like her, who even when hard times come I won't be shaken because I am covered in His truth and love.


Please continue to lift this family up in your prayers as they seek to bring glory to God in incredible ways through their trials.  God is good!


I pray that in the same way she has shared her life with me, that I can share the story that my God has given me with my girls and point their eyes towards our father.  I pray that my heart will be so hidden in my Savior that people only see Him.  He alone is good and worthy of our praise!

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:4

For so long I have loved this verse.  I mean who doesn't love the idea of God giving us everything we want?  Over this last week I think God has truly revealed to me what this verse really means.  I pray that He will teach me how to live it!

I think if I truly delight myself in my Lord, if He is truly my delight and my deepest desire, then the desires of my heart will be His desires!  I've often tried to use this verse to justify God giving me my earthly desires, by saying God I love you, so you are going to give me what I desire right?  But I don't think that's what this Psalm is saying at all, I think it is calling us to delight so much in God that the desires of our heart will be lined up with the desires of His heart as well.

As God has put this on my heart this past week He has showed me that I truly have a long way to go. That I'm not there yet.  That my fleshly desires still weigh heavy on my heart.  I pray that my Lord will continue to work on my heart, and that He will teach me how to delight so fully in Him that my heart rejoices for the things that make His heart rejoice and my heart breaks for the things that make His heart break. 

I want to truly delight myself in my awesome God.  He deserves to be my everything.