Overwhelmed

For a long time, I struggled with the fact that I couldn't hear God speaking to me.  I had heard stories from people about how God spoke to them throughout their life or a certain situation or even the seemingly miraculous times when an audible voice could be heard and they knew it was God.  Why wasn't I hearing God; I prayed all the time (and still do) so shouldn't I have been able to hear God?

It's amazing what God has told me (revealed to me):

First, I'm constantly moving and going and doing and God has told me to "be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10) I sure wasn't being "still"

Second, aside from my constant moving, I was always surrounded by noise.  I now have four kids (so that should be explanation enough) but also, because we were out a lot, we were always around people and noise.  Also, I'm a music lover!  I've always liked having music on, not matter what I'm doing (when I was younger I would get in trouble for having my radio on while I was doing homework).

So there were hardly any times when I was just in silence so hearing God wouldn't have even been possible.

I've learned, God's Word is how he speaks to me.  All I need to do is "be still".  If I don't take time to listen to him, then how can I ever hear him?  And listening to God means being in his Word, daily, just like I would talk to my best friend daily.

Songs do still speak to me and help me reflect on the gift God gives me.  I am overwhelmed with awe that God has chosen me.  He loves me, and my yuck-filled past doesn't make him love me any less. This song that I'm going to share with you tells what God did for me; while I was still a sinner he sent his son to die a brutal, horrific death.  Jesus' death AND resurrection means that I will not be separated from God, I am forever bound to God through Christ.  And I have some AWESOME news for you - this precious, precious gift is for YOU too!  How can we NOT be overwhelmed by this awesome, amazing gift?  Have you received this gift yet?  Do you truly grasp the weight of the debt that we have but the mightier weight of salvation?  Can I pray for you, right now?

   

     God, I just ask that right now, if someone is here that doesn't know you and doesn't know this awesome gift that you sent into the world for us that you will move in them. God, I pray that the words of this song can speak to them the truth of your precious love for us. God I pray that after this song ends that they can just be still and know that you are God. And I pray that they have someone in their lives that can come with them, put an arm around them as they turn their life over to You. God, I pray that this awesome truth can be spread like wildfire.

  Share this amazing truth with someone today, and  then do it again tomorrow and the next day and the  next...

A new year (kinda)

Well, it's February 2015 and I haven't had a blog post in almost a year.  I'm not really a writer (not a good one at least) so sitting down and putting my thoughts into comprehensible words is sometimes difficult for me.  However, there is so much going on in my life and I think it does some good to get those thoughts out of my brain and onto "paper" because I can type a lot faster than I can write, my fingers can keep up with my thoughts :)

Over the course of the past year and a half our family has done a lot of changing!  We moved (again) so now we are closer to our amazing church and closer to Jeremy's work.  We started talking about moving our family globally to follow God's call to missions and not only did we talk and pray about it, we started the application process with SEND International!  Eek!  I only say that because just a few years earlier, we were talking with a young family about their work in missions in Africa and how we admired them and their obedience to God to move their young family around the world.  We never thought that we could do something like that (moving to a different country is one thing, but with young kids - we just didn't think we could do it) NOW, God has called us to do that same thing.  Never say never, huh?  

So, now that we are in this process of talking with SEND and giving them our life history (literally!) I'm feeling more led to get my thoughts un-jumbled and organized into some sort of "journal".  If you happen to be reading this, would you take a few minutes and pray for us?

Pray:
-That we will come closer together as we draw closer to God. 
-For comfort and peace as we may become anxious about this process and the possibility of "rejection"
-We will continue to obey God and his will for our lives
-Opportunities to share our faith, love and testimonies with those around us know (may this be our mission field while we are here; before we go)
-For the people working with us through SEND right now, that God will give them clarity and discernment while they review our applications.

We are truly looking forward to what God has planned during this process - looking forward to what He will be teaching us.  

Personally, I am hoping to write a blog post two to three times each week.  Share a little about our lives and the missionary application process and share my heart and whatever else God leads me to share.

Feel free to keep me accountable and ask for updates ;)