Reputations

Reputations

            This lesson is actually a really old one that God reminded me of last Saturday as I was eating my breakfast toast.  Now, a week after He prompted me that morning to share it, I’m finally getting around to putting it into words for you all.

            I was reminded of a day a couple years ago.  Because my riding instructor was out of town, I was having my riding lesson with her older sister Madeline.  We were both on horseback in the farm’s arena and were heading toward the gate to go out on a trail ride.  I still had in my hand the riding crop I had been using though, and I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to do with it since our riding had now turned away from training.  So I asked her.  She turned around in her saddle at the question and asked me to repeat what I had said.  I did, indicating that time as I spoke, to the riding crop I still held.  Madeline laughed then and explained that with my Georgia accent, the word “crop” had sounded like a very different word.  “I wouldn’t have expected that to come from you,” she added.

            Her words struck me then and continue to even as I reflect upon that day now years later.  At the time, in my innocence, I didn’t know what word she thought I had said, a word with an identical spelling and sound to “crop” except for an exchange of vowels, but it didn’t matter then.  The lesson was still just as penetrating to my young mind as it is today.  I realized then that I had established a reputation without even realizing it.

            Every single day, we build a reputation for ourselves by the things we do, the things we say, our morals, and the standards we set for ourselves.  Whether we realize it or not, people are watching us in our everyday passing interactions and judge us accordingly.    

As I was preparing to write this post, the Lord gave me a supporting illustration as He brought to my memory a morning just a couple of weeks ago.  It was a Sunday morning and the Lord used yet again another one of my brothers in Him to speak to me through in this illustration.  That morning, something was different about this brother.  I recognized it almost immediately; it was so obvious, I couldn’t help but notice it.  I had been attending church with his family for nearly eight years, but there was a definite change in him that Sunday.  Maybe I was the only one who sensed it because God wanted to use it as an illustration to me, or maybe everyone noticed it.  I don’t know.  But something had come over him, and even before he later shared his experience, in my spirit, I knew that he had been filled with fresh joy from the Lord.  It was all over his countenance.  The joy in him was immediately recognizable and highly contagious.

That’s how it should be, isn’t it?  The presence of God in each of us should be unmistakably recognizable and contagious to those around us.  As Christians, the reputations we make for ourselves should not only be built upon the foundation of what we do and say, but upon the foundation of Christ within us, which actually will affect what we do and say.

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Eph 5:1)  This is the kind of reputation the Lord wants His people to leave behind.  “You are the salt of the earth…  You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:13-16)  Clearly, God wants our reputation to be one that makes people say, “There’s something different about him.”  He wants His people to be set apart and different in this world, to stand out from the unbelievers in the crowd.  To set forth a reputation of being an imitator of Him, whether in our schools, in our workplaces, our businesses, our homes, or even in our day-to-day interactions with the cashier at Wal-Mart or the barista at Starbucks.  “The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.  The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” (Ps 19:8)  God wants us to walk in His holiness and light, set a good example for others, and leave behind a reputation of integrity, righteousness, purity, honesty, humility, joyfulness, and all things of Him.  To live in His love and be known for sharing it with others.  To allow His presence within us to shine forth contagiously in our dark world and set others aglow for Him.

            As believers, our mission is to reach others and bring the good news of the Gospel to them, but our reputation is also built upon who we include in our close circle of friends.  Jesus ministered to the unbelievers, but His inner circle of friends- the guys He hung out with- were strong believers.  2Corinthians 6:14 tells us, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.  For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?  Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”  You can tell a lot about a person by his friends and close acquaintances.  You may have the best of intentions and plan to only influence your unsaved friends, but the people you hang out with and allow into your personal life influence you whether you realize it or not, and they play a tremendously important role in establishing your reputation.

            So I ask you, just as I’ve asked myself, “What kind of reputation are you leaving behind now? And is that the kind of reputation you want others to recognize you by?”  If it’s not, remember, it’s never too late to start over.  It may take time to tear down the past reputation you established for yourself and build up a positive one instead, but gradually, the reputation you’re associated with can change.  Even if someone were to intentionally slander your good name, by proving the claims wrong, you could reverse the damage of the calumny.  Your reputation is what you prove it to be, and a reputation, whether good or bad, will outlive you and be remembered by your future generations.  Make it one that neither you nor they will have reason to be ashamed of.  “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” (Pr 22:1) 

 

 

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Ephesians 5:1

 

 

Photo courtesy: www.123rf.com

 

~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3

                                                                                                              

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Looking Back

No Looking Back

 

            “How much would you be willing to give up for Me?”  That’s what the Lord asked me Wednesday afternoon at my riding lesson as I was brushing Cheyenne, the horse I was going to ride.  In my last two posts, I’ve talked about having to give things up as God moves us into a new season, but not everything He asks us to leave behind is necessarily spiritually destructive He’s teaching me.  Sometimes, it’s just time to move on.  But it’s not always easy.

            At this time last year, I had every intention of owning my own horse someday and training horses for the rest of my life.  But over the past several months, I had begun to realize that life on a farm, owning horses and training them as my occupation, was not what God had in mind for my future.  My dreams and His dreams for me were not the same. 

            It had only been two weeks since I had been riding when I had my lesson Wednesday afternoon.  But as I entered the familiar barn again, I realized something.  The farm was the same, the horses, my riding instructor Elizabeth… everything was just as it had always been.  But I was different.  I felt strangely out of place.  And I knew in my heart then in that moment that I didn’t belong there anymore.

            Many of you know why my riding lessons mean so much to me.  If you don’t, read my post More Beautiful You from November 2012, and you’ll understand.  I had been taking riding lessons for four years, throughout most of my teenage years.  I had grown up there and changed.  My riding instructor and I were both just teenagers when I arrived on the farm for my first riding lesson.  God helped me discover myself while in the seat of the saddle, and ever since, He’s taught me so much in that place.  But the true value of it all isn’t in the farm, for my riding instructor and her family moved to a new farm just last year.  No, the beauty of the place isn’t in the barn or the piece of property, but it’s in the people always there, my special little family away from home.  But the memories don’t stay on the farm; I have them to carry with me for the rest of my life as some of the happiest days as I was growing up.  I still love all the horses, and I still love Elizabeth and am so grateful to God for the kindness of her friendship to me these past years… but it’s time to move on.

            I lived that afternoon with a different perspective.  Every moment was precious and something I savored and preserved as a keepsake in my heart.  The strong gust that blew my hair out behind me as I cantered, our laughter that carried away on the wind, every beam of sunlight that warmed my back, every pound of hoof beats beneath me.  Every word my riding instructor and I exchanged as we’ve opened our hearts to each other and shared our dreams and desires for the future, talking about life and reminiscing about good times.  My riding instructor Elizabeth spoke of training Cheyenne in the first steps to a more complicated maneuver, but even as she spoke the words, I knew in my spirit that I wouldn’t be there to ever see her reach that point.  As I unsaddled Cheyenne afterwards, I hugged her soft warm neck and took in her horse scent, knowing that it would be one of the last times I ever did.

            But it wasn’t until I got home and was in my bedroom that the entirety of what God was asking me to do really hit me.  It sunk in.  The girl who rarely cries cried like a baby.  I know that my riding lesson days are numbered and though God’s allowing me to postpone the inevitable, I know that they’re slowly drawing to a close.  My heart feels as though it’s being torn my chest.  But what God asks us to do isn’t always easy, is it?

            A year ago, I knew what I wanted in this life.  My plans were made.  I wanted an occupation as a horse trainer, a successful side career as a Christian novelist, and a cowboy to boot.  But God’s taken my every dream and turned it upside down.  He’s calling me to give up my world of horses, He’s turned away my desire to write fictional stories, and He’s taken away the old girlish dreams of a cowboy.  I’ve sat by watching these past months as all of my dreams faded away into dust.  I have nothing now, no plans, no future directions yet.  He’s begun building my dreams from the foundation up… the way He wants them to be built.  Is it difficult on those days when I feel utterly lost and disoriented?  Yes, and I have those days.  But years ago, I told God I’d give Him all my dreams, and now it’s time to fulfill that promise to Him and walk by faith.  He took away my dreams, and I’m trusting that what He has for me on the other side of the pain of saying goodbye is far better.  My lesson of holding onto hope when I don’t feel hopeful came into use during that somber afternoon.  “From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.”*

            Only months ago, I lived in a fantasy world and I always have while growing up.  The fiction world of my novels was my outlet of getting away from the troubles of the world, and my riding lessons were my special little world of escaping from reality for a few hours and pretending that all in the world was right.  But now God’s calling me to live in the here, the present world.  Imaginations and childhood dreams are beautiful, and they’re gifts to be cherished, but God hasn’t called us to live in our own little bubbles in denial of the world around us.  It’s time to wake up to the reality of the hurt people around us and the lost multitudes still wandering hopelessly in darkness and unknowing that God’s love is unconditional enough to surpass their every sin.

            A new season comes with its own changes, and they aren’t always easy.  As the saying goes, “no pain, no gain.”  Sometimes, what God calls you to give up will be a real sacrifice.  Like me, it may be something you wanna hold on to, and what He’s asking you to leave behind may not always even be something that’s a hindrance to your spiritual life.  Sometimes, it’ll just be something of the past that He wants you to let go of as you become the new you He wants to transform you into.  Maybe He has to take something out of your life first to make room for something new to come in.  I don’t know what that “something” is for you… but you do.  So I ask you again… “How much are you willing to give up for Him?”  Only you can answer that.  But whatever it is for you, when He asks you that question, I pray that though the very words may break your heart, you’ll whisper in reply to Him… “Everything.”  And never again look back.

 

 

 

“Let us give up our work, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our influence, our all, right into [God’s] hand; and then, when we have given all over to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about.”–Hudson Taylor

 

 

*I recently discovered a great new song called In Christ Alone.  I particularly like the simple but poignant version by Owl City, but unfortunately, you can’t buy it.  However, here’s a link to the YouTube video of Adam Young’s (aka Owl City) rendition, which you can download and convert: www.youtube.com  A very anointed song that stirs something in me every time I hear it.

 

Photo courtesy: www.123rf.com

 

~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3

                                                                                                              

           

Work in Progress

Work in Progress

 

            So this past weekend, I was lying on the couch in our family room, just reflecting and thinking.  I had felt in my spirit that something was God’s will, but a hindrance had arisen unexpectedly, and I found myself confused and questioning.  As I lay there, trying to sort it all out, I prayed, asking the Lord to help me look past the obstacle if what was in my heart was truly from Him… and He did.  This illustration which is, in a way, a second part to my last post A New Season, is one that I felt prompted to share with you all.

            As I laid there on the couch, the Lord revealed to me a vision of a house that was being built, just the framework having been erected.  The house is our mission as Christians here on this earth; it’s the kingdom of God here that we’re all being used to build and further for His glory.  As disciples of Him, therefore, we are the wood in the construction of the house.

            As I said in my previous post, the Lord has begun bringing me out of my dormant season in my relationship with Him, and in the process, I’ve had to leave behind some things of the former me.  Unfortunately though, my situation wasn’t unique.  We all experience dry, dormant seasons in our spiritual life.  Lethargic times when we’ve grown lukewarm and apathetic toward the things of God, when it feels like we’re simply going through the religious motions, seasons when we’ve allowed ourselves to grow out of touch with Him and our relationship with Him to grow stale.  This is the kind of condition I’m talking about when I use the term “dormant season.”  In our illustration with the house, if we are the wood that is supposed to be used in the building project though, when we are in our dormant seasons, we aren’t in active use in the construction.  We are laying unproductive in furthering the Lord’s kingdom.

            If you’ve ever seen a piece of wood that has been set aside for any long period of time though, you know what happens to it.  Fungus begins to grow on it.  Mold and mildew and lichen begin to accumulate on the wood the longer it lays there unused.  When we are not actively serving God and our relationship with Him is not what it should be, we too begin to accumulate things from the world that hinder our usefulness in the divine overall goal.  Another way to put it is to compare our spiritual treks to a journey through a thicket in the woods.  Along the way, you pick up burs and thorns on your pants legs that have to be removed.  You pick up hitchhikers- ticks and chiggers- parasites that will suck your blood- your very life- out of you.  The fungi and wood illustration is no different.  The fungi on a board of wood will eventually deteriorate the wood until it decays, falls apart, and is no more. 

            But a weathered piece of wood can still be used.  However, a process must be undergone to restore its usefulness.  You can’t just pick up a fungi-covered board of wood and begin building with it.  You have to first strip away all that has accumulated on it during its dormant season.  As the Lord brings us back into a new season of awakening, of restoring to us life and deepening our intimacy with Him, we must allow Him to take us on a process of recovering our usefulness.  Of polishing the vessel so it can be used again.  Of striping away the fungi so He can use us to build His kingdom and do His will.  We too have to give up some things and shed off some habits as we move back into our former role of being actively used for His divine purpose.

            Sometimes though, I think we have a tendency to place expectations of perfection on our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord or even on ourselves.  We expect their boards of wood to always be ready and well-sanded.  We place them on a pedestal.  But even a good piece of pine has its knots.  No board is perfect and no person is perfect either.  We all have our rough edges that haven’t been touched yet in the Lord’s remaking of us.  We all have our own faults and flaws that we need to allow God to sand away as He uses us for His glory.  But the good thing is that, unlike a piece of wood, He doesn’t wait until we’re completely prepared for the building project before He uses us.  He prepares us along the way.  Even with all of our rough edges still, He desires to use you and He desires to use me just as we are if we’re willing to submit to His will and follow His directions, His blueprints.  “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph 4:11-13)

            I used the illustration of dormant winter awakening into spring in my last post.  We are entering a new season, but even the bare branches of winter must leave behind the brown and deadening leaves of its former year to deteriorate as it moves into spring.  The trees cannot bear new fruit and new blossoms if it clings to its old leaves.  Like us, it too has to leave behind the things of the past in order to embrace the new.  “You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph 4:22-24)  But just as the decaying leaves enrich the soil, so God can use everything from our past- everything we allow Him to sand away- to teach us, build character in us, and make us into a better person than we were in the former season- into the person He wants us to be.  Nothing is wasted in His hands.

            Despite this illustration the Lord gave me, the next morning, I was still pondering the obstacle that had arisen in my heart.  I questioned whether maybe it was time to put up a good fight again and move on, and without my asking for His thoughts on the matter, the Lord spoke up anyways.  He had something He wanted to make sure He said, whether I asked for it or not.  It wasn’t an audible word- unfortunately, I’ve never His voice audibly speaking to me before- but often He speaks to my mind in very clear and very distinct complete sentences, although His words to me in this manner are usually short but to the point.  What He had to say in that moment was no different.  When I was ready to give up and walk away, He told me very simply, “Not yet, Little One.”  (“Little One” is His nickname for me.)  The sanding hurts, friends.  Sometimes it’s a long process and we’ll want to throw in the towel.  Sometimes it’ll be easier to just lay there dormant and unused, but I believe that today the time to succumb to the pressures of hardships and disappointments is “not yet.”  The Enemy wants to destroy your soul and your usefulness by deterioration and decaying until there is nothing of you left.  The road of slothfulness leads to hunger and the road of sin always leads to death and destruction.  But it’s not too late.  As the Lord directs me, I continue to “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:14) and I pray that you’ll allow Him to pick you up too from where you’ve been laying at the wayside and begin using you in the construction in this new season as well.  “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Ps 23:6)

 

 

 

 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2Corinthians 5:17

 

 

 

*I so love the song Nothing Is Wasted by Elevation Worship that our awesome worship team at my church introduced to the congregation a couple weeks ago.  If you’re not familiar with it already, look it up and be blessed!

 

Photo courtesy: www.123rf.com

 

~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3

                                                                                                              

 

 

 

A New Season

A New Season

             Hello again, Heart-chords family!  Spring is on its way here in Georgia!  Warmer days have shone themselves on occasion, petunias have been stocked in the store garden centers, and the first splashes of color can be seen on the branches of trees as we drive down the road.  Winter is awakening.

            With the turning of the seasons though has come the blossoming of a new season in my own life and the bearing of new fruit.  The deadness of winter is fading away, and the Lord has taken me into a season of renewal now, of bringing me into the life and youthfulness again that I had allowed to die during my dormant season.  The bitterness and brittleness in my life were made pliable again by brokenness, and I was ripe for a new casting of my vessel.

            As many of you will remember, at the close of last year, 2012, the Lord took me on a journey of discovering the great depth of His unfailing love for us all… for me.  He’s now beginning to reveal to me the process of His great plans and is opening my eyes as I look back to see the stepping stones He led me over.  Although I didn’t realize it at the time, that lesson was only the foundation for the lesson He’s teaching me now in the spring of this year.  I mentioned before that hope is my new lesson in this season.  It is, but He’s also given me another lesson to learn simultaneously.  True love.

            Some would balk that I can’t possibly be learning what true love is- after all, I’ve never even been in a romantic relationship before- but it’s the truth.  Like all girls, I knew what infatuation was and I had accepted it as the world’s definition of love.  But now the Lord is opening my heart and my mind to understand what He calls love. 

            In the “love passage” of His Word, the Lord gives us sixteen attributes of love.  “Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.” (1Cor 13:4-8)  This is God’s definition of true love, and one by one, He’s teaching me each facet and helping me to embrace them into my heart and into my life.

            I had heard before that love changes everything, but it really does, doesn’t it?  Through the journey of this lesson, the Lord has brought a refreshing vitality to my life now.  Every day is new and exciting in its own way as He continues to prepare my heart for my future occupation as a wife and mother someday.  He’s given an opinionated, stubborn girl a submissive desire for a man’s leadership.  The girl that found it an inconvenience just to unload the dishwasher now wakes up anticipating five o’clock when it’s time to make dinner again.  My bedroom used to be my favorite room in the house; evenings when I would close my door, turn my music on, and poke around on my computer used to be my favorite time of day.  Now the kitchen has become my favorite place to be and housework- cooking, cleaning, baking, doing laundry- has become my favorite pastimes.  It’s a busy, exhausting, and never-ending work, but nothing can compare to the satisfaction and contentment I feel at the end of the day as I reflect on my productivity.  I’m doing what I was meant to do now, preparing to fulfill the noble calling of a housewife that God has ordained for women.  It’s our place in the family and our part in supporting our society.  As I crossed the milestone of leaving behind my teenhood and embracing young adulthood, I began to feel the void of that womanly role not being fulfilled in my life.  

            Love has inspired me to prepare for keeping a home for my husband someday, but the selflessness of love keeps me learning the skills even on the days when it isn’t “fun.”  There are days when there are other things I could be doing instead and probably enjoying more, so why do I devote my time to learning the skills of a homemaker when no one is forcing me to?  Because of love.  I’m willing to sacrifice my time and my own preferences for my future husband’s benefit someday because of love.  And this love is overflowing and affecting my relationship with my parents.  I find because of my love for them, I’ve become more eager to help and serve them.  My desire to learn homemaker skills from my mom has strengthened my appreciation for her and has brought a new connection between us as we make memories together in the kitchen and around the house.  The “mothering instincts” of a wife and mother that God’s arousing in my heart has affected the way I treat my father.  My respect for him has grown, and I run to accept opportunities to serve him and “take care of him,” to take advantage of the little things as a way to show him my love.  True love is selfless and puts others before yourself.

            Genuine love is patient.  We think of patience as being the quality of not getting easily frustrated, but the Lord’s teaching me that the patience of love also means being willing to wait for its ripeness, being able to resign yourself whole-heartedly to wait for God’s perfect timing for love to bud.  Love perseveres and gives the benefit of the doubt even when you don’t have all the answers.  Love trusts unquestioningly.  Sincere and authentic love is pure and demands to be kept sacred; marriage is called holy matrimony for a reason.  Real love is more than a feeling, for love is faithful and loyal even when the excitement of the love emotion has tamed.  Love is not an emotional high; love is a deep admiration and respect.  Love draws you closer to God, not detracts from your relationship with Him.  It rejoices in the other’s joy and shares in the other’s sorrows.  Love allows you the freedom to be the person God has created you to be; it doesn’t arouse a need to impress but gives confidence in being yourself.  It accepts you as you are, even with all your faults.  Love gives a sense of security and comfort, and it sees life not through rosy-colored glasses but sensibly and responsibly; its perspective of life is viewed through an eternal lens.  Love desires to support and encourage physically, verbally, and with prayer through all trials and hardships in this life.

True love has been God-ordained since the creation of Adam and Eve.  The Lord created the beautiful thing we call love, and authentic love- love which has been God-given and orchestrated- has His smile of approval shining down on it and bears fruit in the life of whose heart it is sprouting; the work of the Lord can always be tested by the fruit it bears.  Love also brings hope and healing.  See?  I did say my lesson for this season was hope.  But there’s still so much more about love I have yet to learn.

Love does change everything.  Through this lesson, God has brought me out of a stale rut in my relationship with Him and has brought me into new season, fresh and glowing like the fragrance of blossoming spring just budding.  But I had to be willing to allow Him to take me into the new season.  For animals hibernating in the winter, spring is a time of waking up from lethargic slumber and of shedding their heavy winter coats at the promise of warm weather again.  To embrace the new season God wants to bring you into, you have to be willing to make some changes.  You might have to give up some things- shed some things you’ve been holding onto and leave them behind.  You have to be willing to wake up from the easy slumber and follow Him when He asks you to step out from your comfort zone and do some things that aren’t necessarily easy.  You have to be willing to endure some discomfort and inconvenience.  But it’s worth it, I’m learning.  This new season He’s brought me into in my life has been one of the best times yet that I’ve encountered in my journey, and I feel closer to Him now than I ever have before, knowing without a doubt that I’m walking in unity with His will.  I sense something big about to break on the horizon as God awakens His people in this time and brings them into a new season in their relationships with Him.  My deadness is breaking away and budding into fresh new life as vitality runs through my veins again, and it’s my sincere prayer and desire that each one of you, dear readers, will lay hold of the courage to embrace the change the Lord wants to stir in your hearts as well.  To surrender control, loosen your grip, and say, “Okay, here I am.  It’s all yours.  Take me where you will.”  A new season is breaking forth, and God is awakening His people.  Let Him deepen your intimacy with Him and bring you into the new place He wants you to dwell.

 
 

 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

             

 

 

 

*In this new season in which the Lord has brought me, I’m reminded of a song we began singing in my church fairly recently, This Is What You Do by Bethel Live.  It’s a happy song with an upbeat rhythm whose lyrics describe my new season with remarkable similarity.

**Those of you that have been following my blog from its beginning will probably remember that last April I received the opportunity to participate in an event called McKeever’s First Ride.  Again this year, I’ll be volunteering at the event, and if you live in the area, I would love to have you join me in participating in this beautiful day of ministry.  McKeever’s First Ride is an event specifically designed to help encourage amputees in their situation and to boost their confidence in themselves through the emotional therapy of working with horses.  However, there are numerous opportunities to provide your help in the event even if you have no experience whatsoever with horses.  If you’re an amputee and would like to volunteer, the invitation is extended to you as well.  Volunteers must be at least sixteen-years-old though.  The event will be held at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds on April 20^th, 2013.  The deadline for volunteer registration is March 29^th.  For more information, photos, and registration, visit the McKeever’s First Ride website at www.mckeeversfirstride.com and the website of its sponsor Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at www.choa.org.  Should you choose to come and be a part of this day as a volunteer or as a participant if you’re an amputee, you will be tremendously blessed by the opportunity to serve.  I speak from experience.  To read an account of my personal experience of the event last year, read my post from April 2012 titled Follow-up to McKeever’s First Ride. 

 

 

 Photo courtesy: www.123rf.com

~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3

 

 

 

 

Message in the Mirror

Message in the Mirror

 

            Well, here I am again sitting on my bedroom carpet and leaning against my bed, my Acer netbook opened on my lap.  Today the Lord used a very trivial lesson to open my eyes to a new perspective, and I wanted to document it and share with you all.

            Yesterday, my mom and I had stopped in Walgreens to get some makeup, and since there was a buy-one-get-one-half-off sale going on, I ended up getting a green eye shadow as the half-off item.  For those of you that know me well, you know I’ve only ever worn white and petal pink eye shadow; I’m not the type for radical colors.  But I figured, why not try a bold color like green and just see what it looks like? 

            So this morning, I took out my makeup bag from under my bathroom sink and began experimenting.  It looked like a pretty shade of green in the bottle- “Extreme Green” they called it- but as I began “painting” the liquid eye shadow on my eyelids, I decided “Monster Green” would’ve been a more appropriate name instead.  Later I concluded that “Shrek Green” was the best way to describe it though.  As I was smearing it on, I laughed at a visual that crossed my thoughts.  I could just see my future boyfriend someday telling his parents that he wanted to ask me out.  “You can’t like her!” his mom protested.  “What’re you thinking?  She wears creepy green eye shadow!”… and creepy it did look on me.  It’s fine for some girls I’m sure, but needless to say, my mom and I decided that green just isn’t my thing.

            It was a funny flunked experiment, although a good effort, but as I was removing the “Shrek Green” makeup from my eyelids however, my thoughts turned to more serious reflections.  The green eye shadow hadn’t necessarily looked bad on me.  I looked like a teenager again though, like I was a typical sixteen-year-old trying to look older than my age.  I could’ve passed as a makeup model for COVERGIRL Intense Shadowblast Extreme Green Eyeshadow+Primer.  I realized then that for years, growing up, that was the look that I had wanted.  I wanted to look like a glamor girl, like a model.  To be the dolled-up, popular girl that catches a boy’s attention everywhere she goes and has a string of boys competing for her time and affection.  To meet the world’s standard of attractive.

            But as I looked in the mirror at my reflection, my green eye shadow bold enough to catch me the attention I had wanted for so long during my teenage years, I realized that I hadn’t really known what I was yearning for then.  I was reminded of such a powerful scene from one of my favorite movies, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of The Dawn Treader.  One of the main characters Lucy Pevensie doubts her self-worth, and one night, she recites a magic spell she had found to turn herself into the image of her older sister, who she thinks is more beautiful than herself.  After glimpsing the consequences of having wished herself away though, she shudders in horror at the remembrance.  “That was awful,” she admits to Aslan the Great Lion.  “But you chose it, Lucy,” Aslan reminds her.  And then the words of her reply echoed to me this morning.  “I didn’t mean to choose all of that.”  As I yearned as a young girl to be considered beautiful when compared to models and glamor girls, I didn’t realize either that I was wishing for “all of that.”

            The dolled-up glamor girl was who I had thought I wanted to be… but I realized in my moment of reflection that she wasn’t.  The girl that I had wanted to become was not the girl that God had wanted me to become.  Sometimes, I wonder if maybe that’s the case for many of us.  We think we want something so bad, we make ourselves over to be the person we want to be, but in reality, that person is not who God desires us to become.  Our wants and His wants are not always the same.

            Lately, the Lord has been doing a tremendous work in me, maturing me mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, so this transformation in my own desires had been begun long before just this morning.  But He used my “Shrek Green” eye shadow experiment to open my eyes to see the work He had already begun in me.  He’s conformed my wants to His wants now, and I see that the glamor girl, beauty pageant queen reputation I had thought I wanted isn’t really the reputation I want after all.  Rather than being known as a fashionable dolled-up model that all the guys are crazy about, I’d much rather be known as a pretty, respectable, godly young woman that would make an excellent homemaker wife and mother someday.  That’s the person I want to be now, the person He wants me to be, and who He’s helping me to become, for as my best friend wisely reminded me once, “…we can trade our virginity to be like other girls at any moment; however, those who have sold themselves short can never be like us again.”  “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” (Pr 31:30)  “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” (1Pe 3:3&4)

            As I said, what we want is not always what the Lord wants for us.  He loves us unimaginably and knows what’s best for us.  He knows us better than we know ourselves, and therefore, He knows what will really make us happy, despite what we might tell Him we want.  The same goes with the kind of young man I used to say I wanted to marry someday.  I realize now that my former ideal future husband is not really the kind of man that I could be truly happy with as his wife.  The Lord is conforming my ideals to His in every aspect, and maybe it’s time you ask Him to begin the same work in you.  Maybe it’s time for some inner reflection and evaluation of your dreams and your desires.  Are they truly what the Lord wants for you?  Or are they only what you want for yourself?  If you find that your ideas of what will make you happy are contrary to God’s, maybe it’s time to take the makeup off, stop pretending, and allow Him to transform your desires and conform them to His.  I’ll never be the popular glamor girl I used to dream of being, but I’ve realized that being the unassuming, intelligent girl He created me to be is of far greater value and worth than any of the attentions I could’ve received from my physical appearance.  The inner beauty of being who God wants you to be and of doing what He wants you to do brings the greatest happiness you’ll ever know.  While He was still just forming you in your mother’s womb, the Lord knew the person He wanted you to grow up to be.  “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Ps 139:16)  As Aslan later tells Lucy, “Don’t run from who you are.”  Or from who you’re supposed to be.

 

 

 

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…”

Jeremiah 1:5

 

 

~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3