-
TT.004: How Do You Handle Life’s INTERRUPTIONS?
Life is unpredictable. The only thing we can count on from the world is inconsistency. I think it is imperative that we understand that, in order to free us from the trap of setting our expectations on the fragile things of this world. Obstacles are bound to happen and the road turns in ways we cannot expect. It is like driving through torrential rain or fog, most days we can only see 5ft ahead if we are lucky. What is beyond that is completely unknown. It could be straight smooth roads opening to sunny skies or it could be a 100ft plummet into some of the darkest days of your life.
Okay those are two extremes and maybe all you are gonna face is a bump in the road….or a leaf. The fact is, sometimes we feel small like an ant and that leaf seems huge and life altering, but God knew it would be there. In fact, He put it in your path on purpose to correct and redirect you towards exactly the path you were meant to walk down. If you are not catching on to my reference yet this should do it, God is saying, “Stay calm! We are going to walk AROUND the leaf!”…(A Bugs Life) haha but seriously, don’t you ever feel that way? Like how is it that something as trivial as a leaf in our way (a relational rejection, a new job offer, a diagnosis, a canceled social event) can make us panic so much and lose our minds?
Our plans/path may have been interrupted by that leaf, but the ground is still beneath our feet. That relational rejection was God’s protection. That new job offer is an opportunity to advance, gain experience, expand your mind, test your trust, and allow God to pour out more blessings of provision into your life. That diagnosis may not feel like it, but it is an opportunity to cling ever so much tighter to the faith you have in the ultimate healer! Just like the blind man Jesus healed in John chapter 9, He may be using the diagnosis in your life to be an example of great faith that someone in this world needs to see in order to hold on to faith through their own situation.
And lastly, I know with COVID-19 we have all experienced some cancelled social events and gatherings that we are used to partaking in to mark special occasions like birthdays, weddings, graduations, or even funerals. If that is what has set your mind reeling and caused you to lose your peace, just remember, it is not the activities or motions we go through that create value in those events. In this current cultural storm we have to walk more carefully and intentionally to navigate our daily lives. I believe and hope, for the most part, it has caused us to finally slow down, be still, and really listen to the Holy Spirit. It has shown us areas where we had lost a bit of that genuine human connection and it is teaching us how to repair those areas. Just like Christianity is not about the religious activities or rules we follow but rather the loving relationship we each have with our heavenly father, the joys of life and relationships with our friends and family are still alive and well! They are not dependent on whether we blow out birthday candles together (can you believe we used to be allowed to blow our nasty breath all over a cake and then share it with our friends?! hahaha) or gather and “pick a side” to watch two friends profess their love to each other…etc.
As we leave 2020 behind us, the fundamental ways our lives worked will remain impacted. School, Church, Work will all continue to look different for future generations. I’ll say it again, our only constant in this world is inconsistency and we could get lost in the fear of the unknown but our home is elsewhere and that place offers us a consistent loving relationship with the One who wins! Let’s walk around the leaf together, live there and learn to love like Him!
Blessings FAM!
What leaf in your life has you feeling like an ant? How can you shift your perspective in that situation to reveal the steady presence and protection of God in and through it? Nothing is wasted and so even when we feel like we have failed to handle a leaf situation correctly, don’t let that derail you from trying harder to tune in to God’s purpose in the face of the next leaf. Each time we are intentional about learning what God is trying to teach us in every circumstance, we get better, stronger, and wiser in the aftermath. He is always working on us, we are His masterpieces in progress!
-
ThTh.003: The Third Testament
We all know that the bible has two testaments, the Old and the New. I believe that these are guides for how WE are to be the third testament…let me explain what I mean. The word, testament, means 1. Testimony 2. A person’s will, especially the part relating to personal property 3. Something that serves as a sign or evidence of a specified fact, event, or quality 4. (in biblical use) a covenant or dispensation.
The Old Testament is evidence of events and promises made by God to His people from the beginning of time. It also establishes His intended will for humankind, His creation (property). The New Testament is Testimony of Jesus’ life, evidence of His miraculous ministry and promise of eternal life made to us through His sacrifice for us on the cross. In its entirety, the Bible sets an example for us of how we are to live as the third testament, a living testimony of His love to the world. By resting on the foundational Old Testament of God’s faithfulness and prayerfully pursuing the loving example of Jesus found in the New Testament, we can live by the power of the Holy spirit as the third living testament and be a shining light for others to see His goodness in all things.
I get that this is a lot of pressure and unfortunately, humans fail at being good examples all the time! I think we need to change what we define as a good example though. Have you ever had a teacher or boss that you idolize for their skill and knowledge of their craft? Maybe it seems like they never fail and so you feel like you can never admit your failures to them. It can be intimidating, stressful, and leave you feeling like you will never be good enough.
The best bosses and teachers I have had were the ones who related on a personal level. They humbled themselves to be transparent in their shortcomings and mistakes in order to prove to me that they are not special or perfect, meaning I could do it too! I could name so many names of people like this in my life and I am so grateful for them. Unfortunately, I can also think of some on the other side that were too prideful to allow their mistakes to show and act as lessons for their students/employees. While the ones who hid their mistakes would outwardly, to most, look like the prime spotless examples to follow, I actually learned and was encouraged more by those who let their guard down and were vulnerable with me. These are the examples that challenged me to be true with myself and about myself. I developed a distaste for those who fake and hide there sinful nature and an inclination to always hold myself accountable to others with what I am facing.
In order to be a good example for others, we do not need to be faultless. That is impossible! We must be humble and admit our struggles and failures, in order to gain respect and credibility from others and to show them the depth of God’s redeeming power. If people cannot relate to you, they most likely will not listen to what you have to say. The Bible says that though we live in the world we are not of it. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God! While that is true, we must still live our lives on earth as an example before men. While we are here, we are tempted by the devil just like Jesus was and just like everyone else is. The difference is, we know that we are on the winning side and in the end we have hope in our eternal gift of salvation. We must meet people where they are and not alienate ourselves as “holier than thou” types so that they will listen and learn that they too are invited to the winning side! This is how we effectively fulfill our calling to be the third living Testament.
Blessings FAM!
What are some ways that you live in the world but not of it? Do you feel like people respect you for your honesty and transparency? If not, why not? Maybe this is a sign that you have been evading your purpose and putting up walls to keep people from seeing your full testimony. Pray and ask God to give you wisdom in opportunities and boldness to show people your struggles and failures. Let your character and attitude in hard situations be a shining example of the peace, grace, and love of God. Be the third testament before men, of His redeeming power and eternal promise!
-
TT.003: How Do You Normally Start Your Day?
I don’t know about you, but my least favorite time of the day used to be waking up in the morning. It is such a rude reality that we cannot spend our entire day in bed where we are safe, warm, and comfortable. Inevitably the time for rest always ends and we are forced into a new day of work and responsibilities. I said that I used to hate this time of day the most. I still have my mornings where I wish I could stay wrapped in my blanket cocoon for all eternity but for the most part, lately, I have been learning to appreciate my mornings. I am not consistent in this but I am getting better at it, when I wake up in a bad mood, I try to pray first thing and remember these words from Psalms and Lamentations:
“Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament. Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”
Psalms 5:1-3“Yet this I call to mind and therefore have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’”
Lamentations 3:22-24These passages are just a couple from God’s word that help us to know the best way to start our day, which is in prayer! Let God be the first one you speak to each morning and I assure you that your day will go better! He hears us all the time but in the morning, when we speak to Him first thing, He listens and honors our devotion of our day to Him from the start. The end of both of these passages also point out a critical follow up posture to maintain throughout your day that is, expectancy and waiting.
When we invite God into our day with us, we must then wait expectantly for Him to show up. If you invited a friend to meet up someplace and spend the day shopping or exploring a new area with you, you would expect them to show up and go with you right?! And if you expect that, you would also wait for them at the place you planned to meet. You wouldn’t leave without them or return home instead, you would wait. I think too many of us have been let down too many times by unreliable friends. This inhibits our ability to expect follow through which in turn makes us unwilling to wait but God is our most dependable friend, He will always show up and follow through! Wait on Him and when He arrives, go with Him!
His mercies are new each morning. You don’t need to carry the pain, frustration, or problems of yesterday into today. He will give you new strength for each day to face its problems. Don’t look back and harp on the past and don’t worry about tomorrow, focus on today and look for God. He will meet you where you invite Him and with Him by your side, you can face all things!
Blessings FAM!
How do you start your day? If it is not in prayer, give it a shot! I promise you it will change your life! Where have you needed to invite God to meet you? Maybe you have invited Him to those places. If so when you are in that place do you look for Him? Or do you get caught up in the stress and check out? Don’t be a flaky friend to God who invites Him someplace but then doesn’t show up or wait for Him themselves. He will be there if you ask Him to be. You need to show up too! Expect Him to be there and wait until He shows up!
-
MM.003: One Bite At A Time
A popular dad joke you may have heard before is, How do you eat an elephant?….One bite at a time! This seems like such a simple concept yet it is so hard for us to apply to real world situations in our lives. Why is that? Okay so lets imagine eating an elephant was actually a thing you had to do. Obviously you wouldn’t look at it and tell yourself, “Well I can’t fit it all in my mouth at once so I may as well not try!” So why is it that we look at the dreams God has put in our hearts, see how big they are, and say to ourselves that they are too big to achieve all at once so let’s not even try!?
Every God size dream is going to appear to be too huge to accomplish! That is one way of knowing it is from Him! This dream I have had for Flow Angel Media is enormous and for the longest time I had no idea where to start or how to explain it to people. (I still have trouble explaining it, that won’t change any time soon! haha) In college I discovered an enjoyment for most any form of digital artistic expression from Photoshop to 3D printing to coding and web design. I felt overwhelmed by all the directions I was being inspired to walk in career wise and in the end I settled for complacency in IT.
If you know me, you may know that this wasn’t my dream. If you have kept up with me recently though, you may be starting to see, along with me, how I have began to realize just how much God has taught me through my journey thus far. Nothing is wasted! Even though it hasn’t yet looked the way I planned for it to at first, God knew that I needed to take this slower route through some tough things in order to learn things I didn’t know I would need to know! Even though I spent years not knowing where to bite the elephant of my calling first, I didn’t stop wondering, learning, and seeking guidance. In the mean time I have grown in so many ways which has prepared me to take this next step which I will reveal to you soon…keep reading.
Another thing about elephants that I have seen people use as an illustration which I love is the fact that, an average elephant’s gestation period is 18-22 months long. That is at least twice as long as a human’s and at most almost two and a half times as long. The common illustration talks about how when we know something, like the fact that we are pregnant or that God has promised us something unbelievably awesome will happen in and through our lives, people may not believe us because they see no progress. Their unbelief does not discount the truth you know. Some times we are not called to share certain parts of our calling right away because the unbelief of others can rub off on us and cause us to lose faith in it as well.
I have been challenged in this regard a lot lately in different areas of life. I have been growing in wisdom about when and with whom I should share the glimpses of my callings, big and small, in order to protect them in their vulnerable unformed state. My fundamental flaw is overthinking and then being so sure of myself that I talk up a storm and then either lose all desire to follow through or have things crumble in front of me and make me look like the fool I was for presuming to know how God would work things out.
In light of all of that, I do not share this lightly. Some close friends and family already know what has been going on because there are some that I crave advice and prayers from and whom I trust to support me and not bash down my excitement. I feel like it is official enough now to share publicly and it may not come as a major surprise but….as of 8/8/2020, Flow Angel Media, Inc is officially registered as a nonprofit! I submitted the paperwork on that day and received the confirmation that processing has been completed just this morning! It’s finally official!! As an added display of God’s perfect timing, I ordered 50 stickers of this elephant design to have and offer as a launch special product. My vendor had an amazing deal on them but they were not supposed to make it till the 24th. However, yesterday I got confirmation that they would be delivered today and they have! I cannot ignore God’s perfect timing in all of this!
It feels like I have finally birthed this long gestated dream out into the world and now I get to nurture it and watch it grow! I am so excited for this new journey and cannot wait to see what God does through it all!
Blessings FAM!
p.s. Keep an eye out for the elephant stickers to hit my shop! I’ll have a special launch deal on them for a bit to celebrate the establishment of FAM, Inc!
What is a dream you have felt called to by God? What is holding you back from taking steps towards that dream? Do not let the unbelief of others discount your internal conviction to chase after it! God speaks directly to us and others are on their own journeys, they cannot always see the progress God is making inside of you. I pray for your wisdom to know when and to whom you should share your dreams with and for the boldness to work towards them each day regardless of external forces of encouragement or a lack there of. I hope that God brings your people around you, like He has for me, to believe with you in prayer for the realization of your calling.
-
ThTh.002: Truth or Lies
It is all about perception. The devil likes to keep us from doing the will of God by making us feel unqualified or less than good enough to be used by Him. He tells us we are lazy, poor, powerless, lacking in the required skills or knowledge to succeed in the things we feel called to do. The thing is…he is not wrong! God knows our weaknesses and pretty much agrees with what the devil tells us about ourselves. The better news is that God uses us anyway! You see, it is in the darkest places where His light shines the brightest, it is in our weakness where His power is most evident, and it is in our brokenness where He heals us and makes us stronger than before!
God knows our damage, shortcomings, and deep sin issues but He also sent His Son to redeem us from the consequences of them. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross, and by defeating death in our place, we can come before God and man alike, walking fully in the shameless, forgiven, new nature He afforded us by raising from that grave. God knows what we have done but he chooses not to see it anymore. The old man has gone away and we have been made new. Yes, we will still struggle and yes, other people will love to remember every failure or misdeed we have done. Often they do not let us forget them. By embracing our past in light of our new self, we can effectively reflect the redeeming power of God that much brighter!
Here is a cool thought. Do you know how mirrors work? Most mirrors today have been painted with a metallic coating to give a brighter representation of what it is reflecting. However, you can create the simplest of mirrors by putting a piece of clear glass against a solid dark black surface. This will allow you to see your surroundings and yourself staring back at you and it works best when light is shown against the front of the glass. We must be vulnerable and transparent like that piece of glass, then turn the light of our new salvation on and let people stand in that light and look through us to the darkest parts of what is behind us, the black surface. Then they will be able to see themselves in our story (mirror) and hopefully begin to realize how they can move past similar mistakes and begin to let God redeem them as well.
People want to know that they are not a lost cause. That God still cares for them and that they have a purpose. By seeing honest testimonies of redemption, they can begin to wrap their hearts around the fact that God DOES love them no matter what evil they have committed and that, even though they are not enough, HE IS ENOUGH! That is all that matters.
So the devil may tell the truth after all! If only we could humble ourselves and accept the parts of us he tries to use against us. Instead of letting those things stunt our growth and shame us into an inability to walk towards God’s purpose for us, my hope is that we could focus on shining God’s light to those areas in our life and begin to grow what is dead and buried there. Eventually being able to display the beautiful fruit of God’s redemption for us in those areas as a powerful testimony for others.
Blessings FAM!
What truth about yourself has the devil tried to use against you? Pray now and ask God to help you own that part of you and learn how the testimony of your repentance from that thing can be used to encourage others. Your biggest hurt or struggle could be the key to your biggest purpose in this life. Others earlier on in their journey need to hear how God brought you out of those dark places in order to find hope for their own redemption story. Be a mirror and reflect your testimony for the benefit of others.
