I Just Can't Get Over It!

You know you are starting to get old when your alarm goes off around 5:30 almost every morning because you have to be somewhere by 6:00.  I've given up on morning showers and makeup isn't always essential.  My body says, "If the sun isn't up, then I shouldn't be either."  But I have come to LOVE the stillness of the mornings.  After I hit my snooze a few times and I finally get my feet to hit the ground I'm reminded of His grace.  His grace so powerful that it draws me into Him.  His grace so beautiful that it outshines this world.  His grace so deep that keeps me from sinking.  His grace so strong that satan has no power over it.  His grace so good that it fills me with so much joy.

Every Tuesday morning, I am blessed to get to study the Word with a small group of women from my church.  I LOVE this time together with them every Tuesday.  As we share our stories with each other I am amazed by how each of us has experienced His grace.  His grace so beautiful and deep.    After Bible study I walk to my office and I'm filled with so much joy that I just want to skip up and down the halls.  I can't get this huge smile off of my face!  The power of His grace fills me with so much joy, and I just can't get over it.  He has done so much in my life and I want to tell the world about it.  The King has invited me to have a role in His eternal story.  I get to be a part of the best story ever told.  I just can't get over that.  He chose me!  He chose you!  We get to be a part of His story.  He doesn't need me, but He invites me to be a part of His story.  I'm so amazed.  Thank You Lord!

I pray that I will never seek to play a role different than the one He has called me to.  It's not my job to be the star of this Story.  My Jesus is the star.  This story is about Him, but it's so amazing that He chose me to play a part.  He chose me, and He chose you.  Now we have a choice too.  Are we going to choose to accept the role that our God has given us, or are we going to refuse it because we want to be the star or because it's not the role we really wanted to play?  He knows me best.  He knows my skills.  He knows my abilities.  There is no one better to cast my role than the one who created me and who writes the Story.  May I fill my role to the best of my ability for the glory of His name.

I'm amazed by my God.  He is perfect in EVERY way.  I don't understand everything that happens, but I know and trust that He is in control.  That He is working out everything in His story for the glory of His name and the growth of the Kingdom.  The way He does this amazes me.  I can't get over what He has done and continues to do for me!  May the name of the Lord be praised.  He is God!  He is good!  He is faithful!  He is love!  He is perfect!

How do we Thank Jesus?

This past week I made the trek back to Oklahoma City to spend Thanksgiving with my wonderful family.  It was such a blessing to be with them again.  These past 3 months away from them have been a challenge. They truly are some of the most amazing loving people you will ever meet.  As I was getting ready to go to bed on Wednesday night I stopped to spend some time in the Word.  My day had been filled with so many blessings from my awesome God and I couldn't wait to dive into His Word.

I have recently been reading through the Gospels trying to really focus on Jesus' words and what He said to those who were following Him.  Wednesday night I found myself in the middle of Luke 17.  It couldn't have been a more perfect chapter to reflect on with Thanksgiving being the following day.  As I read through the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers I was reminded of the one who ran back to Jesus to give Him thanks.

"He fell to the ground at Jesus' feet, thanking him for what he had done."  Luke 17:16

As I read that line it penetrated my heart.  He fell to the ground at Jesus' feet to thank Him.  He stopped what He was doing to run back to Jesus and thank Him.  How do I thank Jesus for all that He has done for me?  My Jesus has healed me of so many things.  He has given me so many things.  He continually blesses me.  But how do I thank Him?

So often I forget that I don't deserve any of the blessings that I have.  I don't deserve heaven.  I don't deserve to have a relationship with God.  I don't deserve forgiveness of my sins.  I don't deserve grace.  But for some reason my God who is rich in mercy and love pours all of these things out on me.  So often we think we are entitled to all of these things.  With our attitudes of entitlement come lives without gratitude.  We forget to fall to the ground before our sweet Savior and thank Him for what He has done.

May we remember that what we truly deserve is death, but because of our God's love for us we have the hope of eternal life.  May we never feel so entitled to blessings that we lose an attitude of gratitude. May we realize all that our God has blessed us with and all that He has done for us and fall before Him.  He has done for us what we could never do for ourselves!  Praise God for He is good!  His faithfulness towards us is amazing.  Thank you Jesus!

Listen to My Heart

Listen to our hearts.  

Hear our spirits sing.  

A song of praise that flows, from those you have redeemed.  

We will use the words we know to tell you what an awesome God you are.  

But words are not enough to tell you of our love.  

So listen to our hearts.

Last Wednesday night in the teen room we were talking about worship.  To close off the evening this was one of the final songs that we sang.  The “time of worship” during PV&J that night didn’t exactly run smoothly.  The projectors were not lined up, the Scriptures were cut off on the right side of the screen, and the final video didn’t play.  The distractions seemed to be limitless.  Satan is tricky like that.

As the night came to a close and we sang this song, God humbled me greatly.  I had gotten so caught up in how wrong things had gone and the “performance” that I had lost sight of why we were all truly there.  WORSHIP!  My lips were singing praises to my God, but my heart was singing complaints and worries.  As I sang (off key as always) and asked God to listen to my heart He made it ever so clear to me that my heart was not singing praises to His name.  It was like He said to me…”okay I’m listening to your heart and your heart says….I’m stressed.  I’m frustrated.  I’m distracted.  I’m trying to please people.”

I was proclaiming one thing with my mouth and a completely different thing with my heart.  My mouth was saying God I don’t have words to tell you how wonderful you are so please listen to my heart.  But my heart was far from that.  I would have really preferred Him not to listen to my heart at that point in the evening because my heart was self-centered.  I had lost focus of why I was there. I’m thankful for His gentle nudge that drew me back into focus. 

My God reminds me time and time again that He doesn’t just want empty words.  He doesn’t just want me to sing on key (I would be in trouble if that was a requirement).  He doesn’t just want me to go through the motions.  That’s not what He cares about.  He isn’t there to see us perform.  He is present in our worship because of our hearts!  He desires to have our hearts close to Him.

I want to be able to ask God to listen to my heart and know that He is going to hear things that honor Him.  I pray that my heart will praise His name at all times.  I pray that when my heart loses focus that His faithful nudge will draw me back to focusing on Him! I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart will be pleasing in your sight O Lord my God; my redeemer!

We are Christians

Our God is so so good!  I'm am so amazed at how He reveals Himself to me daily in new and different ways!  He is the Creator.  He always has something new up His sleeve for me to see!  I'm so thankful to serve a God like that!

Today after my run I decided I was going to go to the gym at my apartment complex to lift weights.  I was 1 of 3 people in the gym.  The other two people there were a married couple.  The girl happened to be wearing a shirt that said PEACE, LOVE, UCO!  UCO happens to be a college in Edmond, the town where I grew up.  As I was leaving the gym I walked right past the two of them and just casually said, "Did you go to the University of Central Oklahoma?"  She said, "Yes."  We then preceded to have a conversation about Edmond.  I told them that I had grown up there and that I moved here just about a year and a half ago to work at a church here in Little Rock.

After realizing that we were all Christians we started talking about our passions and different things that we have been involved with at different churches.  They have been looking for a church here in Little Rock to plug into since they just moved here.  I told them about how our church goes down under the Broadway bridge once a month to feed the homeless and they instantly asked if they could join us!  They were so excited!

As I was getting ready to leave Evelyn gave me her number and told me to text her.  Usually I don't exchange numbers with people I have only known for 2 minutes but as she read off her number to me she said, "We are Christians too."  That's such a simple little phrase, but the meaning of it was so strong to me.  The unification that we have in Christ is so amazing.  We are Christians!  We are a family!  It's amazing how He can bond 3 people in such a short amount of time.

There are lots of things that I don't have in common with this great couple that I just met, but one thing is for sure...I have the most important thing in common with them!  We are bonded in Christ!

He is Faithful!

If you asked me my favorite quality about God I would probably say His faithfulness.  I am always amazed at how He is so so faithful to me!

I have grown up in a family that has been overflowing with love for one another and I know that my parents would do absolutely anything for me.  They have been so faithful to take care of me and show me love, but their faithfulness towards me can't even begin to compare with the faithfulness my God shows me time and time again.  He amazes me!

This week at work was a little challenging.  I was struggling with really seeing my purpose and dealing with some of the challenges that come from being the only full time girl on staff and being the only person under 30.  Sometimes I feel a little out of place.

But God knows my thoughts and has a way of showing me and reminding me of His perfect plan.  He has a way of reassuring me of His purpose and reminding me that in all reality He doesn't need me.  He reminds me that I am here because He loves me!  And because He loves me He has invited me to be a part of His story!

This week was full of unexpected texts, facebook messages, and cards from people I haven't talked to in months just asking how they could be praying for me.  I received two messages from two different friends just saying that God had put me on their hearts and they wanted me to know that they love me and were praying for me this week.  Two girls I rarely talk to!  God had placed me on their hearts because He knew that I needed just a small word of encouragement.

Those words they sent me were so much more than just a small pick me up.  They were reminders of God's faithfulness to little-ole-me They were reminders of His love and His provision.  They were a beautiful blessing.

As I spend time with my girls laughing and sharing what God has done in our lives He reminds me of my purpose.  He reminds me that there is no greater joy than to see that "my children" are walking in the truth.  He reminds me of His faithfulness and I am reminded of how He deserves my FULL trust.

His faithfulness to me is amazing.  I am one of billions of people on this earth, but He loves ME so much that He would arrange for me to be encouraged by two other sisters.  ME!  He did that for me.  I don't get it.  His love is perfect and He chooses to lavish it upon me!  He is so much greater than a little blog could ever explain.  Praise be to God our creator.  His faithfulness is amazing!

You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago!    Micah 7:20

What does Satan Have to Say About You?

I try not to worry too much about what other people think of me.  I don't want people not to like me, and I don't want to have people upset with me, but sometimes it happens.  I don't like it when people don't like me, but there is one person who I really want to hate me!  Satan.  I want to be the kind of girl that when I wake up every morning Satan gets nervous.  I want him to think, O no here she comes!

I want to live my life in a way that satan sees me as a threat.  I want to live my life sold out for the Kingdom of God!  I want to fight against satan with every breath that I take.  I want him to have horrible things to say about me.

My fear is that sometimes all he can say about me is, "o yea, Barrie Jo she's a nice girl, but she doesn't cause me any trouble."  If that is all he has to say about me then something is really wrong.  I want to be a threat to satan.  I want to be worth his time.  When I look back over the past few years and think about the times Satan has attacked me the most it has been the times I have been trying to give my most to the Kingdom of God!

I know that my God is real!  I know that He has power far greater than I could ever imagine.  I know that He is omnipresent.  I know that He wins!  But I also know, satan is real.  He has come to kill, steal, and destroy.  One thing I think we often forget about satan though is that he is not omnipresent.  He can't be everywhere at once like my amazing God!  Satan has to pick his targets.

I have trouble believing that satan would waste his time attacking those who aren't a threat to him.
I don't want to live my life in a way where satan looks at me and says, "I don't need to mess with her.  She's not doing anything for God's kingdom.  She's not worth my time."  I want to live my life sold out for the Kingdom of God.

Being a nice girl isn't going to cut it.  So often we get confused.  We think being a Christian is about not doing bad things.  I know lots of people who don't do bad things and are nice people, who don't believe in God.  It's so much more than that.  It's about serving the Kingdom at all times.  It's about making disciples.  It's about falling in love with God more and more each and every day.  It's about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, and showing justice.  Satan isn't threatened by "nice people."

So my question to all of us is, Are you worth Satan's time?  What does he have to say about you? Does he even notice you?

I pray that my life will be so submitted to God that I will allow Him to use me to turn this world upside down for Him.  I pray that Satan will have no doubts whose side I am fighting on.  I pray that satan will have nothing good to say about me.  I pray that he will see me as a threat.

I know that when he attacks that my God will be by my side giving me strength.  I know that the attacks can hurt, but that they can also bring more glory to my God!  I have to remember, I know how the story ends!  My God WINS!  

Do Not Fear

Over and over again throughout the Word God tells us, Do not fear.  I am with you!  Don’t be afraid.  Trust in me!  Do not worry!  I will take care of you.  We read these words over and over and over again, yet we fail to let them penetrate our hearts.  So many times we are crippled by our fears and worries.  We forget that the creator of the universe is in control and that He is deserving of our complete trust.

Growing up I would worry about typical things; grades, friends, sports, and random other things that used to seem like a really big deal to me.  In college my worry turned more towards figuring out what I was going to do with my life after graduation.  I remember my sophomore year of college after returning from my semester in Honduras being panicked.  For the past 10 years I had been planning on moving to Honduras after graduation and being a missionary, but now I knew that wasn’t what I needed to do.  God had shown me that that wasn’t His plan, but He hadn’t yet shown me what His plan was.  I remember being so stressed, worried, and afraid.  He was teaching me a very valuable lesson…Trust!  Trust in Him! 

One night as I was stressing about trying to plan out my life God spoke to my heart in a very clear way.  He reminded me so clearly, “I have never let you take a breath alone, and I promise I never will.”  That simple reminder of His presence has calmed my heart in amazing ways.  I wish I could say that I never worry, but that is not the case.  There are still times when I forget that the creator of the universe is in complete control and I allow worry to slip in. 

God often reminds me that my worrying gets me nowhere.  One day I was sitting on a plane and my flight was delayed.  Because I have always lived in small cities like Little Rock and Oklahoma City with small airports I have found that there is no such thing as a direct flight!  My first flight was delayed and I started worrying that I wasn’t going to make my connection.  I sat there in my seat anxious about making my connection and then realized this isn’t doing me any good.  My worry wasn’t going to make my plane get there any faster.  My worry wasn’t going to guarantee that I would make my connection.  All my worry was going to do was get me wound up over something I couldn’t control.  So often we get wound up and anxious over things we can't do anything about.  Our worry doesn’t change anything!

Whenever I start to feel anxious or afraid I must remember that nothing will ever happen to me that doesn’t first pass through the hands of my God.  That doesn’t mean that everything is always going to be easy and great, but I know that my God will never give me more than I can handle.  I know that my God’s love for me surpasses anything I could ever imagine.  I know that my God is working things out for my good since I love Him.  I know that He is worthy of my trust.  So I have no reason or excuse to worry about anything.

When I worry I am pretty much telling God, “I don’t trust you.”  Francis Chan puts it this way in his book Crazy Love, “Worry implies that we don’t quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what’s happening in our lives.”  That is not the message that I want to be communicating to my God.

When I look back over my short 23 years of life that I have had on this earth so far, I can’t think of one moment of worry that has gotten me anywhere or that has changed anything.  Sometimes the things I have worried about have actually happened, more often than not they haven’t.  Even in the hard times when the things I have worried about have gone “wrong” my God has shown His faithfulness to me.

One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:6-7

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about EVERYTHING.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

This verse reminds me that when I start to worry I need to start to pray.  God knows what we need!  He knows what we need far more than we know what we need.  As I am reminded of all that He has already done for me, my heart is flooded with peace.  He has NEVER given me a reason not to trust Him.  I have no reason to worry.  In fact, He commands us over and over again not to worry.  It isn’t merely a suggestion.  Worry is a sin. 

So I pray that my heart will trust fully in my savior.  He has done so much for me.  He has prepared for me a place in Heaven.  This life is short, and soon I will be home with Him.  There is no pain here on earth that heaven cannot fix.  I have no reason to worry.  My God is in control and I trust in Him!

Thanksgiving!

I'm currently listening to the Justin Bieber Christmas CD which goes against my normal rule of no Christmas music before Thanksgiving, but for JB I can make an exception!  Even though I'm already getting in the Christmas spirit, I can't forget about Thanksgiving! With all of the pumpkin bread and pumpkin flavored coffee I have been consuming recently I'm falling in love with Fall.  I look at the trees and all of their bright red, yellow, and orange leaves and amazed at the creativity of my God!  Little Rock is so beautiful in the Fall.  On my drive to work each morning I cross over the Arkansas River and am amazed at all that my God has created.  The beauty of it all amazes me!  I have so much to be thankful for.  In honor of Thanksgiving I would like to share just a few of the things that I am thankful for!

1.  Starbucks Skinny Vanilla lattes!

2.  A good pair of tights!  I really appreciate the person who realized it was a smart idea to cut the feet off of panty hose and make them a little thicker!  

3.  My brother and sister-in-law!  Erin and I love this pic, but I'm sure Braden doesn't feel the same way.  I've been so blessed to have an incredible brother, and I am so thankful that He married one of my best friends in the whole wide world!  They are about to take off for 27 months to El Salvador.  I know that God is going to use them in incredible ways to bless the people they will be working with there!

4.  I am so thankful for my girls!  God has blessed me with some of the most incredible teens in the world.  I love my job!  They have taught me so much!  I love the opportunity to grow in our faith together!

5.  My parents!  I love these 2 people so much!  They have blessed my life in so many amazing ways.  I've been so blessed to grow up in a home where there was always more than enough love to go around.  I still crawl up in my dad's lap on the couch to watch sports whenever I go back to OKC, and I talk to my sweet mother weekly on the phone! They have pointed my eyes towards Christ since day one, and there is no way I could ever repay them for all they have done for me!

6. Casey, Kellie, and Isaac Rine!  I have been really blessed to be able to work with Casey over the past 6 months.  Each day in the office is full of lots of laughs and practical jokes.  Their family has been a blessing to me since I moved to Little Rock 1 1/2 years ago before we ever even worked together.  I'm very blessed to have this family in my life!

7.  My lil sister/best friend!  No one makes me laugh more than my little sister.  She is my absolute best friend in the whole wide world.  I love our random phone calls and our slumber parties that we have every time we are in the same city!  She has the biggest heart in the whole wide world.  She is always looking for ways to make other people feel loved.  I'm so glad that I was blessed with a built in best friend.

8.  The wonderful women at PV who mentor me and cover me in prayers!  Tonya, Linda, Jana, Gwen, and so many more!  God has blessed me with so many incredible women.  If I ever need anything I know that all it takes is one text and I will have some incredible women of faith at my side in no time!  I receive constant texts, emails, and phone calls of encouragement from these women.  I am so blessed to be a part of their lives!

9.  Kristin and Kristen!  Kristin has been right by my side since sr. year of high school and as time goes on we just continue to get closer.  Every time I come back to OKC we make it a priority to see each other and we have frequent phone calls in between my visits to OKC.  She is incredible and I am so thankful for her.  Before I moved to LR I prayed and prayed that God would bring me good friends here.  He is so faithful.  I have a wonderful group of friends here that I am so thankful for, especially Kristen.  He has blessed me with that go to friend who I know will always be there!

10.  The Horns!  The summer I interned in Jonesboro I was blessed to get a second family.  This family is so special to me.  I love my three little siblings and my second set of really young parents!  Since my family is 5 hours away from me it is nice to have the Horns a little bit closer.  I know that if I ever need a weekend away or if something goes wrong that I can be with my second family in less than 2 hours.  I always enjoy going up to Jonesboro to see them and slumber partying with Maggie Beth!  

11. A nice apartment.  I am so thankful for a place to live.  God has blessed me with a comfortable place to sleep.  I love having a place where my girls know they can come and hang out!  I love having them in my home.  I love being able to use my apartment to bless other people.  

12.  Abbey, Beth, and Jenna!  There aren't too many of us girls in youth ministry floating around, but I have been so blessed to have three close friends right there going through the same blessings and struggles.  It's such a blessing to have friends who understand some of the struggles and joys of ministry. These girls are a constant resource and some of my best friends!

13.  The Church!  I am so thankful that God has blessed me with an incredible church family.  I love knowing that I can go almost anywhere and have a family of believers there.  I am blessed so much by being a part of His family.  

14.  The Word!  I have always been thankful for the Bible, but God has really given me a hunger for His Word recently.  I am really starting to learn just how much His Word impacts my life.  It is my constant source of strength and guidance.  His Word fills me with joy and overflows my heart!  

15.  The thing that I am most thankful for is my Jesus.  You could take away all of the other things on this list from my life, and although I would be upset, I would still have a reason to rejoice because my Jesus can never be taken from me.  No matter what this world has in store for me, I know that someday soon my Jesus has something far greater prepared for me.  I am so thankful for the sacrificial love of my father to give up His only son for me.  

I have been blessed beyond belief.  I am so thankful to my awesome God for all the blessings that He has poured out on my life.  I pray that I will turn around and use these blessings to bless others.  To those who have been given much, much will be expected.  After all that my God has given me I know that He expects much from me.  I pray that each breath of my life will be fully 100% dedicated to the glory of His name.  May I never forget that these blessings came from Him and should be used for Him.

What are you Praying For?

Dear God,
You are so good!  Please help me today to have a good day.  Please protect me from bad things, and fill me with joy.  God please keep me safe and bless me.  Please heal those who are sick and don't let anything bad happen to us.  Help us to look more and more like Jesus.  Thank you for sending Him to die on the cross for our sins.  In Jesus name.  Amen

So often I let my prayers sound like this.  I ask God to bless me.  I ask God to give me _________.  I ask God to protect me.  I ask God to heal everyone who is sick.  I ask for peace and comfort. I ask God to help me look more like Jesus.  Then I thank Him casually for all He has done for me and for giving up His only son to die for me, say amen, and go on my merry little way feeling good about myself.

Recently so many different things have been challenging my prayer life.  God has been showing me that praying for safety, comfort, peace, healing, blessings, and protection are not always what is best.  I must remember that He is sovereign.  God has been showing me over and over again that often times what draws me closest to Him is pain, helplessness, sickness, and feeling uncomfortable.  He's really been challenging me recently to change the way I pray and what I pray for.  I found myself just last week praying that God would allow me to go through trials and pain that would draw me closer to Him.  It scares me to ask Him to do that, but I truly believe that there is nothing better in this world than knowing God more and more.  I know that sometimes we must suffer to grow in our faith and dependence on Him.  I trust that He who created the whole world and whose power is limitless is in control and that He works things out for the good of those who love Him.

So often we pray and pray that we will be more like Jesus, but then we turn around and in the same prayer pray that we won't have to go through any of the things that Jesus went through.  Our prayers are focussed on us instead of focussed on Him.  Often times I pray for things that will bring me immediate benefit and joy.  Sometimes I think God listens to us and says, "you just don't get it.  I want to give you something that is far greater than just the immediate pleasures you are asking for, but it's not going to be comfortable."

So many times when I pray I lose sight of eternity.  When Jesus prayed in the garden before He was crucified He kept eternity in mind.  He knew that He was about to suffer great pain, but He knew that He must suffer in order to save me from my sins.  He was able to pray not my will but yours be done because He kept eternity in sight.  He kept Kingdom vision.

I pray that we will trust that God is constantly working things out for the good of those who love Him.  He is constantly working things out for the good of the Kingdom.  He is concerned far more with my relationship with Him, and His Kingdom than He is with my comfort and material blessings.  I know that His Word is true and therefore I can trust fully in Him.  I can trust that He has a plan.  I can trust that He truly knows what is best.  I can trust His love for me.

He has my complete trust.  This changes everything!  My prayer life is no longer... give me, give me, give me, bless me, bless me, bless me.  It's falling on my knees in humility before the Creator of the Universe.  It's your will be done.  God send me through the fire if I will come out more purified.  God let me experience pain if it will draw me closer to your heart.  God take away my comforts and teach me to rely FULLY on you.  God give me joy even when the trials come.  God may I trust fully in you even when the evil one attacks.  God when persecution comes fill me with boldness to speak your word.  God use me to advance your Kingdom.  Give me only what I need to survive today so that I will never stop depending on you.  God, thank you!  Thank you for the way you have shown me love!  Thank you for the way you have shown me what it truly means to give and to sacrifice.  God thank you for the ways you have blessed me.  You give and take away, but my heart will choose to say, Blessed be the Lord.  God, thank you for just allowing me to come into your presence.  You are the one true King!

May we pray with eternity in mind.  May we seek what is best for the Kingdom.  May we trust that our God is working things out for the good of those who love Him!

       

Break my Heart for What Breaks Yours

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you

Have loved me!

Break my heart for what breaks yours

Everything I am for your kingdom’s cause

As I walk from earth into eternity

This is a verse from one of my favorite songs by Hillsong.  As I sing this song as a prayer to God there is always one line that stops me and catches my attention.  Break my heart for what breaks yours, EVERYTHING I am for your Kingdom’s cause.  What a powerful and yet scary prayer to pray.  Do I really want all of the things that break God’s heart to break mine as well? 

I think about the things that must break my God’s heart and get a little overwhelmed.  The people 15 minutes from my apartment who slept outside on the streets in the cold last night, that has to break my God’s heart.  What about the orphans in Arkansas who have no one to call Mommy or Daddy, that has to break my God’s heart.  What about those families living 10 minutes away from me who don’t have enough money to buy food so the family goes to bed hungry each night, that has to break my God’s heart.  What about the children all over our country that are stuck in abusive homes, that has to break my God’s heart too.  What about the people all over our state who don’t know about the saving grace of our Savior Jesus because no one has ever shared the Good News with them, I think that has to break my God’s heart.  And these are just the things off the top of my head from my immediate surroundings. 

One of the reasons I think these things must break the heart of our God is because He didn’t create a world without creating enough resources.  There is enough to go around, but a small percentage of the world uses a majority of the world’s resources.  As Christians we can and should be the answer to each of these problems.  We can help the homeless find shelter.  We can give homes and families to those who have no Mommy and Daddy.  We can share our food with those who are hungry.  I’m

pretty sure I could stand to miss a few meals and still be fine.  We can be a voice for that child who can’t stand up for his or herself.  So often I think we look at God and ask why is there so much suffering in this world and He looks at us and asks the same question.  We are supposed to be His hands and His feet.  We as the Church are the answer to these problems.  But for some reason we have chosen to ignore these things.  It’s so much easier to pretend like our little world that we live in is perfect.  May our eyes and our hearts be open to those who are hurting.  May we allow God to break our hearts for the same things that break His heart. 

God has been working on my heart a lot recently.  He’s shown me that I still have a long way to go.  I’m thankful that He is constantly at work and that He won’t ever give up on me.  There is so much work to be done.  I’ve always been the girl to wear my heart on my sleeve.  Growing up you could look at me funny and I would start to cry, but recently it’s been different.  I’ve been praying that God would soften my heart and that He would break my heart for what breaks His heart.  He is definitely at work on my heart.  Over the past few weeks there have been multiple times where I have been sharing a story with someone or listening to someone tell a story and just start tearing up.  My heart just starts breaking.  I want to just grab the person who is suffering and hold them and hug them.  I want to fix it.  There is still so much work to be done on my heart.  I still am far from loving the way my God calls me to love, but I think by His grace He is making some progress on softening my heart.  I am still far from seeing all of His children through His eyes, but I pray that by His grace He will mold and shape my heart to look more like His.

I want to learn how to love ALL of His children: red, yellow, black, and white the same way.  I want to see them all through His eyes as His children.  I want to look to each of them and see a brother or sister who I long to spend eternity with.  I want to love every person that He places in my life the same way I love my parents and my siblings.  I pray that my God will fill me with His love and that I will allow it to overflow into the lives of each and every person that I meet.  I pray that He will break my heart for what breaks His and that I will give EVERYTIHNG that I have for the Kingdom’s cause.