this is your life.

Tags

calling, faith, future, God, hope, life, plan, possibilities, postaday2011, wishing

This is your life. Are you who you want to be?

Stop dreaming. Stop wishing and hoping. Go for it. Don’t wait until tomorrow.. because after all tomorrow may never come.

Take a minute and analyze your life. Are you truly living it fully? Leave the world of maybes and possibilities behind and live the life God designed for you. He has so much in store for you and He’s waiting for you to take that leap of faith. Don’t let anyone question you or your purpose. God has a special plan for you. All you need to do is take the first step.

God didn’t put you on this earth to live an empty life, to live a mediocre life. He has great things in store for you. You may not know what is or why you’re even here. But.. start seeking. Ask God to open your eyes to the wonderful possibilities of living a God-centered life.. a life focused on pursuing your true purpose in this world.

This is your life. Start running the race God intended for you. This is your life. Get up. Get going. Live a life of purpose. Start being the person God designed you to be. When you start living that life.. there’s nothing better.

Join me as we seek together God’s calling for our lives. I can’t wait to see what He has in store for us.

your best days are not behind you.

Tags

church, comparison, Craig Groeschel, faith, future, God, membership, new life, New Life United Methodist Church, plan, postaday2011, relationships, staff, Steven Furtick, success, uncertainty

The church I belong to is going through a difficult trying time. Thankfully, there are so many people devoted to the church that truly believe in what it stands for and believe God has a wonderful plan for its future.

Too often we judge ourselves based on other people’s success. We compare our businesses, our families, our everyday lives based on what others are doing. And the same is true with our churches. It’s so easy to look at other churches’ memberships and annual reports and become dissatisfied. We want what they have. Maybe we don’t want their pastor or their praise band. But we want their following.. their passion.. their drive.  But we need to remember. We’re all different. Each church has a different vision so it’s literally unfair for us to compare them. We, as the church, need to remember that we can only measure our success against our own goals and aspirations.

Pastor Craig Groeschel once said this.. “I want you to always choose kingdom influence over worldly success.” God doesn’t care so much as to whether you are reaching millions or only five. It’s about the relationships and the impact you are making on their lives.

Last night at our Staff Parrish Relations Committee meeting, we discussed whether our church was a church that aims to go wide or deep. (Cue in the popular kid-friendly song, “Deep and Wide”) Are we a church that aims to continually grow membership to serve more and more people? Or are we a church that focuses on the current members and strengthening their relationships with God? We couldn’t really come to a concrete conclusion. We wanted to be both. But in choosing to do both, are we choosing to be mediocre? Some say yes. Some say you need to have a clear vision on this aspect in order to grow. And to be honest, I just don’t know.

a little about love.

Tags

adoration, faith, future, God, hope, husband, journey of life, life, love, marriage, plan, postaday2011, relationships

If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll know that I may or may not have gone over the top about my irritation with my husband. Looking back, I probably exaggerated just a tad. And before we continue.. you must know this. I absolutely adore my husband. And for those of you that really know us, you know we’ve been together for like 8 or so years. We dated from high school, through college and the years thereafter and finally got married in a snowstorm in January of 2010. If getting married in a blizzard wasn’t a sure sign of our dedication and loyalty to each other, then I don’t know what is. I adore this man and cannot wait to grow old with him.. to have little seven pound babies with, to go on family vacations with, to invest in new opportunities with and to sit on the front porch with in our oh-so-awesome rocking chairs (thanks sis!). I am so blessed to have met ‘the one’ at seventeen and I pray that each of you find your ‘one’ as you continue down your journey of life (if you haven’t already).

And if you are ready to gag yourself with a spoon or poke out one of eyes from hearing all this gushy love stuff, please don’t. For one, I value you and who you are, but I’m also fairly sure you’ll regret only having one eye. But.. to the point. The gushy love stuff may annoy you because you haven’t found that special someone, but don’t lose hope. And definitely don’t settle. God has someone perfect out there just for you. That person has been specifically created and designed by God JUST FOR YOU! (How incredibly awesome is that?!?) Really think about that. There is a man out there that was designed by God purposely to be your husband, to love you unconditionally. God planned that. And you may have already met him.. or you may still be in that waiting period. But, don’t give up on seeking him out. When you find him, you’ll know.

And while you’re in this waiting period of life, work on yourself. Work on who you want to be and work towards who God has called you to be. The more time you spend ‘perfecting’ yourself, the more you are preparing yourself for your ‘match made in heaven’. Spend this time of independence serving others and doing things you necessarily won’t be as free to do once you’re in a committed relationship. Just live life. If you’re too consumed with finding Mr. Right, you may end up with Mr. Wrong. Follow God’s plan.. and just wait. It will happen when you least expect it. And when it happens.. it’s oh-so-glorious. Believe me, I know.

{okay, I promise I won’t be gushy tomorrow.}

an instruction booklet for life.

Tags

building, construction, directions, faith, God, instructions, plan, postaday2011

When was the last time you had to build something from scratch? Probably Christmas. You may have bought a doll house for your daughter that comes in a box with nine million pieces. Or maybe you bought a truckload of materials to build your son a playground in the background.

Most of the time, we start out by following the directions and then we get about half way through and we get frustrated. Things don’t seem to be going correctly and we just get more and more mad. We decide to take control by dismissing the written instructions and doing what we think needs to be done. We start doing our own thing…and then..disaster strikes.