31 Days - What I've learned...

I can't believe the month is over...really it seems like I just started this 31 day journey! Though the page on the calendar is turning I pray my intentionality of looking for God will continue. I hope I will hold onto the lessons I have learned.

So today I want to take a minute and think about what He's been teaching as I've been looking -

* I will find what I'm looking for. I've seen God at work and noticed the beauty of creation, but after 31 days of intentionally looking for Him I am reminded that I need to open my eyes and in my head I need to know what it is I expect to see. That doesn't mean life will be easy or the picture I see pretty, but if I set out expecting to see God in it, I will. His hand is in everything. I know that...now I want to live to see it.

* I don't just see with my eyes. God is different than man...He is invisible so obviously I can't see Him with my eyes. But friend I can see evidence of Him around and so can you! But we also see with the eyes of our heart and the pictures our heart captures are better than those a camera will ever take. Oh how I long to see Him more with my heart!

* Sometimes I might not like what I see. I'll have to admit this lesson has surprised me a bit or at least it wasn't one I expected. Over the last 30 days I have seen God in many, many good ways - blessing me, creating beauty around me, loving me and others, working in ways that amaze me and the list goes on. But I have to confess some of the things I've seen Him doing have been hard to observe and harder yet to endure. You see I've seen Him working in me, changing me, changing relationships and I don't know about you, but for me change is hard. There are times I don't want to let go, I don't want to step out. I don't want to be molded or chiseled, but that's what I see Him doing. Today my 7 year old daughter was learning to borrow and she didn't like what she was seeing - it was hard, she was frustrated, she didn't think it made sense, but as her teacher I know. I see the big picture - I know there's purpose and friend God does too! He sees the big picture and knows how His plan will unfold and though it may be hard to believe in the long term it's for our good.

* I see Him when I reflect. When life is hard and times are dark, I know it can be hard to see God, even though I know He's there. In moments like that I've been reminded to reflect, to look back at where I've been and see how God was with me too. My flashback Fridays have been good for me - remembering what God has done and where He's brought me from builds my faith and encourages my heart. It reminds of His presence and leaves me looking for Him again.

I'd love to hear from you...what's God taught you this month? Or as you look for Him what have you been learning?

31 Days - "But He's invisible!"

Awhile back I was talking with my kids about seeing God and one of them responded, "But Mom, He's invisible!!"  In her 5 year old brain, she knew if something was invisible that meant it wasn't able to be seen. Colossians 1:15 supports my daughter's thinking. It says, " The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."

There have been times in my life when I would have agreed with her thinking I can't see God, He's invisible!! Perhaps you can relate to those moments, when you get a call with news you never expected, when a love one passes away, when the diagnosis is not the one you prayed for or when a relationship falls apart.

In moments like that I find myself slipping into a dangerous place...not just thinking God is invisible, but questioning if He's even there at all. And friend that is a lie satan would love for us to believe...regardless if I can see Him or not He is there!

We don't have to look any further than His word to know He is omnipresent!!

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell [the grave], behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 139:7–10)

Friend if you're in the middle of a storm, physically or spiritually, He is there! It may seem He's invisible, but so is the wind. If we look we can see the effects of the wind and the same is true, if we look for evidence of God...He Will Show Us! Ask Him to reveal Himself and open your eyes to see!

31 Days - Scripture for Sunday

^{Words from King Jehoshaphat to the Lord -}

 ^{"We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."}

 ^{2 Chronicles 20:12b}

^{Oh, that they would be our words as well!!}

31 Days - Seeing God in our Obedience

Today I'm excited to be attending a women's conference where Lysa TerKeurst will be speaking! I know I will see God and expect to hear from His as well!! But for this post I'm taking another trip back and sharing a post from exactly 2 years ago when we were thrilled to have Lysa speak at our retreat! 

The day came and the day went…God was present and He provided! In attempt to update anyone who is unaware - Rise and Shine is a women’s retreat that was held this past Saturday. I’ve been blessed, honored and humbled to be a part of the team that God has entrusted to be responsible for the event. This year we were thrilled to have Lysa TerKeurst as our guest speaker and God spoke through her in wonderful ways!!

So back to the day that was…actually I’m going to begin on Thursday night - about 7 PM my little Joy started to get sick and she was my priority through the night, especially from midnight to almost 4 AM. By Friday morning she was feeling a bit better as in a “sick” little voice she assured me, “I’ll be OK.” I knew she would, but still saying good-bye was hard. This was the beginning of the reminders that God is in control and He will provide, strengthen and make a way!!

And make a way, HE did! Friday, the 4 of us along with some fabulous volunteers spent the day prepping - everything from preparing retreat guides, name-tags, decorating, last minute registrations… And it all went well! I missed this step last year, but all the others agreed it was much smoother and faster too. Again, it’s in God’s hands!

Then around 5 I received a call from Holly, Lysa’s assistant that they were near the church and looking to have supper prior to the practice and run-through. So we welcomed them to Iowa and they met real farmer’s wives and had a delightful conversation over supper. It truly was a joy to meet both Holly and Lysa! God is good and His people really are family!!

Rachel, Myself, Lysa, Holly, Judy and Leanne

Everything that night went so well and ahead of schedule, that Rachel and I decided to make the hour and a half trip home to at least see our families even if that only meant while they were sleeping! I believe God truly provided that opportunity because it really put my heart at ease to have my healthy little Joy smile and send me off on Saturday morning! And I was blessed to start the day with my husband, who’s believed in me and Rise and Shine since day one!

And now I look back at the day and it was all so good, I wish each of you could have been there, but that’s not realistic so I’ll share some highlights - we started the day in the prayer room, which is where our hearts have been all along! This year we’ve made prayer a much bigger priority and God responded to that!! From there we moved to the volunteer meeting and it was on my heart to share 1 Corinthians 3:6,7 “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” Because really that’s what this was all about!!

The day began and before I knew it Lysa was finished with her testimony and closing in prayer. During this time she explained the difference between religion and a relationship with Christ in a beautiful way. It was then she invited women to accept Christ as their Savior or recommit their life to Him. With everyone’s eyes closed in a powerful time of prayer she asked these women to make eye contact with her in order to acknowledge their decision and as they did she “Praised God” with her mouth and I did with my heart.

This truly was the highlight of the day for me and has once again brought me to tears because it’s such a picture of answered prayer - hearts were touched and lives were changed. Seeds were planted and others watered, but God was doing the growing! As this session came to an end, I whispered to a fellow Rise and Shine team member, “The day could end right now and the retreat would have been wonderful.”

It didn’t end there, but this blog post will…until next time friends, I will share this - if God puts something on your heart - even if it seems crazy, beyond you, too hard, too much work, whatever the excuse, today I want to encourage you to say “YES!” Initially I didn’t want to, but I did and like Lysa says, “Our job is obedience…leave the results to GOD!!” He can do it!!

31 Days - Flashback Friday

Today for our flashback Friday, I'm going back 3 years and returning to a post I shared after the first Rise and Shine Women's Retreat. I see God's hand in it all and pray you do too. I'm so thankful for the reminder of His faithfulness!!

From Nov. 2, 2009 -

The Rise and Shine Women's Retreat was held on Saturday, October 31st and what a day it was!! Above is a picture of the planning team along with our guest speaker, Renee Swope from Proverbs 31 and her assistant, Leah DiPascal. (From left to right - Leah, Rachel Beran, me, Renee, Judy Walsten and Leanne Anderson) The event was one we've been working towards and praying about for months and God showed up in a big way to answer those prayers and more!!

Leah, Rachel, Myself, Renee, Judy and Leanne

I'd like to try and capture a bit of the journey this has been, so to start at the beginning - in September of 2006 God put it on my heart to write a book and a couple of weeks later the idea of a women's conference was impressed as well. Doubt took over though and I really didn't think that would happen. I'd read plenty of books and attended a few conferences that I knew there was no way I could do either. I was right, alone I couldn't, but after putting the ideas in God's hands He continued moving me forward.

He started with the book, but about a year ago reminded me of the idea of a conference. I entertained it in my mind for awhile, still thinking it was a bit of a stretch, but yet no matter how much I tried convincing myself this was crazy, the idea didn't go away. So by December I stepped out and shared with my husband and a close friend and mentor and they agreed it would be work, but encouraged me to keep listening to God and move forward.

So I did and by January, we'd set a date, had a location, contacted Renee Swope to speak and created a planning team. It was all a bit overwhelming, but God kept providing confirmation as this is what we were to do. But by the end of February circumstances made me second guess all that was taking place - I found out I was expecting a new baby!! And with a due date of October 29th, 2 days before the retreat, I honestly didn't understand what God was doing.

I questioned how this was all supposed to happen and wrestled with the fact that I may not attend a retreat I was planning and excited about. I also felt bad in a way thinking here I had this idea, put a team together and may not be there to help. But still God confirmed it all - I remember in March when we were going to sign a contract and officially book Renee as our speaker. Before printing the contract, I emailed the team a second time to make sure this is what we were to do. After hearing another round of yes responses I printed the form and felt God say, "You need to do this."

That thought came to mind quite often as we kept moving forward. At times I'd wonder, "Why God? Why do we need to do this?" I never heard an answer, but tried to create one a few times, and often thought about the women who would be attending. And though I'm sure He had more than one reason for us to plan this event, He answered my question this past Saturday.

When God impressed on my heart, "You need to do this" I never thought the reasons would be so many and so personal. Like I said I know other lives were touched, but not until I was driving home did I realize I was one of the women we'd been praying for. Our goal for the retreat was that women would be encouraged, refreshed and renewed and leave with the desire to "rise and shine." He answered that prayer for at least one attendee - ME!

I look back at the journey of the last year and I am amazed at His faithfulness - God provided every step of the way. Including the birth of our little man on the 12th of October. And then He topped it all off with a wonderful experience this past weekend, one in which I was truly blessed. It was an honor to meet and visit with Renee and Leah on Friday night - they are wonderful women - so real and have a huge heart for God and His people.

Then Saturday, wow, I still feel like I don't have words. It was so neat to see faces for the names we've been praying for and hear stories of hearts touched by God. Listening to Renee was an opportunity to hear from God - I related to so much of what she said and was greatly encouraged by her obedience.

It seemed like God had so much to say and from the stories I've heard He wasn't just talking to me! I could elaborate but for now all I can say is I'm so grateful we serve such a BIG God, one who is good and has plans that are perfect. Tonight I encourage you to listen to His voice and follow His lead because when we believe, He will bless!!

31 Days - In the rain

As the rain falls, I think, "I wish I would have left the suburban out instead of parking it in the garage." We live on a gravel road and though our vehicle's paint is blue, but appears to be dirty brown. It's just a reality of country roads...drive on them often enough and your car will get dirty.

This thought reminded me that I too get dirty as I walk down life's road. This dirt doesn't come from a muddy road or dust in the air; no, it comes from the choices I make, better yet, the sins I commit. Romans 3:23 tells us, "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Friend, that includes me and you.

That's not necessarily the good news you wanted today, but it's the truth.

And there is a good part: Just as the rain can wash my vehicle, God can make me clean. And if you go to Him, He can make you clean as well.

1 John 1:7 says, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." Do you know what purify means? The dictionary I used said, "to rid of impurities, cleanse and to free."

I'm thankful for the rain...our land needs it, but I'm also grateful for the opportunity to see God. I've been reminded that He is a forgiving Father...He has cleansed me and I am free. 

I missed out on an opportunity to have my vehicle cleaned, but I pray you won't do the same. Take a minute and make the choice to stand with the One who reigns and let Him wash you clean.

It doesn't matter if you're covered in mud or just have a little dust...it's all dirt to Him and through the blood of His Son, He can make us white as snow.

Would you join me now, "Father, you are all-powerful, you alone are holy, you reign Lord and you know, you know I've sinned. You've watched me _____________. Please Lord forgive me for _____________________. Help me turn from my sin and walk in Your ways, in your light. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name, Amen"

31 Days - In His Word

For some reason today, I'm finding it difficult to sit and write, but that's OK. I'm seeing God and pray you are as well. This morning as I was reading I was reminded I never have to look any further than the Word to see Him. I'll share the Psalm that gave me a glimpse of God today -

The Lord reigns,
    let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim,
    let the earth shake. 
 Great is the Lord in Zion;
    he is exalted over all the nations. 
 Let them praise your great and awesome name—
    he is holy.

The King is mighty, he loves justice
    you have established equity;
in Jacob you have done
    what is just and right. 

 Exalt  the Lord our God
    and worship at his footstool;
    he is holy.

 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel was among those who called on his name;
they called on the Lord
    and he answered them. 

 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;
    they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.

Lord our God,
    you answered them;
you were to Israel a forgiving God,

 though you punished their misdeeds.

  Exalt the Lord our God
    and worship at his holy mountain,
    for the Lord our God is holy.

How have you seen His holiness today??