So... over the last couple of weeks as I have shared God has been doing a number on me... Mexico opened the door to a whole world of unexpected changes within myself. I think I mentioned in a previous blog that I was thinking Mexico would be a launching pad so to speak... and it actually has been, just not in the way that I expected!!! Funny how God does that.... The first event that began to speak to me and challenge me, was Life Tree. If you have ever been to Life Tree, you know that it's a great time of conversation and learning. If you've never been to one, I encourage you to get online and find one close to you!! At any rate, the theme a few weeks ago was about survival, living through crazy events like the Earthquake that hit Haiti! In it, a man shared that his grandmother had sent him a letter. Now without going into the whole hour long Life Tree session, the letter ended with his grandmother writing,
"Live for the Living".
A curious phrase that had me thinking! My immediate response when asked to discuss it at our table was, "That should be our mission everyday." We should be doing things that lead others to the Lord. Simple enough... in my mind.... at the time.... I began to recite the phrase to myself frequently, and several times it made me think of my dad. I think that Living for the Living was the only thing that brought my dad to the Lord. He was always telling my brother and I that we were going through a "phase", that our zeal for this "God stuff" would one day end.... well it didn't and sure enough, he gave his life to the Lord, 5 months before he passed away.
The next event I attended: the Dare to Be conference in Bellvue, NE! It was last Tuesday night and the theme if you hadn't guessed it... was about Daring to Be... Daring to be whatever God was calling us to be, Daring to step out, Daring to dream, Daring not to sit back and let life pass us by!!! Now, it may not seem like these things go hand in hand but to me it was like God saying, "Do you get it yet?"
I should back up and also say that every month I also attend a local Women's group called Wings. At the beginning of the year we discussed journaling and not setting resolutions but giving ourselves a WORD for the year. A word that would motivate us, speak to us, challenge us, and something that at the end of the year would not make us feel bad because we hadn't "achieved" it, like a resolution! Now, smart girl that I am... totally forgot my Word until these two events had passed!! (Let's just say it's been a chaotic start to my year!) Ok so.. can you guess what my word was???
LIVE
Ha ha!! Nice right?!?!? Yeah... So... I then remembered my "motto" to go with my Word, was
"Go big or Go home!!!"
Yep.. that's me!!! I started thinking after these events that maybe I had set myself up for failure... maybe I had this great pie in the sky idea that I would essentially "fail" at.... but I remembered, it was a Word... a base for motivation, I can't fail at living... ha ha... I mean... even if God takes me home... HELLO!!! Eternity will be Epic!! I started to think... I started to pray.... How can I start LIVING, how can I be the example God wants me to be, how can I live for the living and how can I go big...(Cause I'm not ready to go home... yet!!) I started thinking about work, about the "sudden" favor I seem to have among the "big dogs", I started realizing that these things are not by chance. I have tried and tried for promotions within that company, I have sacrificed blood, sweat, and tears (ALL literally) over that place and just when I thought I was on my way out, God seems to be saying, "Better Go Big or Go Home"!! I realized this week, I have a huge responsibility where I am to start stepping out, to start DARING to speak, to start LIVING out loud!!
I have started to take my clients to church and youth group, I have started to speak up when asked to give my opinion on things, and God is teaching me to look for opportunities and open doors. I'm praying for better discernment and more boldness. I'm praying that as I am faithful in my actions, as I continue to cultivate the inner beauty I talked about previously, and as I learn obedience that people will be drawn to the Lord, and that my clients will experience healing.
Let me now challenge you to do the same...
Live for the Living (so that others will be drawn to God through your witness and actions)
Dare to Be (so you can go before the Throne with no regrets)
Don't sit back and WISH you could make an impact, don't HOPE someone else tells your friends about the Lord, don't WONDER if you could have had that blessing..... In the end, we should all want to hear
WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!!
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