I’m (Kind of) Back!

Hello friends!

It has certainly been a while since I have been able to post anything on my wonderful little blog. It’s so nice to be back!

Unfortunately this little reunion may be short-lived. Since moving to Northwest Arkansas, I am more busy than ever, it seems. (I’m not entirely sure how that’s possible, but it’s true, nonetheless).

A very, very brief update on my life: For those of you who are unaware, I am currently attending college in Northwest Arkansas, and, although I will always be a Texas girl at heart, I must admit that it’s truly beautiful up here. My social life is more than I can handle, my academic life is blasting forward faster than I can keep up, my sleep cycles are confused and disoriented, and my athletic life is utterly non-existent. Sounds great, right?

It’s a little overwhelming at times, but honestly, it is great.

I am loving this season of my life. It’s utterly exhausting, but it’s worth it.

I apologize for being absent from my blog for such an extended period of time. I know that a few of you have posted comments and have tried to contact me about my blog. I assure you that I am not ignoring you! I will be sure to address your comments as soon as I get a chance.

For all my wonderful followers, you should know that although I have been absent from this blog, I have not been altogether absent from the blogosphere. Allow me to explain.

The Lord has opened so many doors for me since I have been here (per usual). At the beginning of the semester, I was offered a position in University Communications which is a department of University Advancement. Before I was even aware that the position existed, I had been recommended, and the head of the University Communications found my blog. This blog.

So, the department contacted me, invited me to interview, and hired me.

At the time, I didn’t realize what a phenomenal opportunity I had been offered, but now I understand. When I initially began the job, I was assigned a project to begin my very own student blog to be promoted and endorsed by the University. It’s taken me some time to get the blog started, but the wheels have finally begun turning. You can check out that blog here.

I am incredibly thankful. I have been given a voice. Praise the Lord, He has given me a voice!

As for other developments in my junior year of college: Basically I write. A lot.

And I am fairly certain that I am progressively becoming a worse writer.

I have no words left.

My vocabulary has gone bankrupt.

So I’m sure you can understand why I have not had the opportunity to write on my blog in a while. But I have missed it!

I would love for you to check out my other blog, but if you don’t get a chance to visit, just know that I will do my best to come back to this dear little blog as soon as I get the chance.

I love and miss you all so very much,

Chels.

Home of the Mighty ThunderDucks

As the school year approaches and college students prepare themselves to move away from home, there are a select few who will not be attending a prestigious university this fall, but will instead be attending a two-year institution commonly known as community college. To those select few I can honestly say I empathize with you.

Community college is rarely the ideal. Dreamers don’t usually imagine themselves soaring through high school straight into a two-year junior college. It’s usually Plan B, or in my case, Plan Not-even-thought-to-be-given-a-letter. But, it would appear that the Lord’s plan for my future included Plan Not-even-thought-to-be-given-a-letter: Richland College, or as I like to facetiously refer to it, “Poorland College.”

Poorland College. Home of the ThunderDucks, striking fear in the hearts of our opponents since 1972 by the mere fact that our mighty mascot doesn’t even exist in nature.

As much as I like to laugh about my time at Poorland, (and about the fact that I call it “Poorland” in jest), God has truly used this place to change me. Community college can be a wonderful place to learn new things, and I am eternally grateful that the Lord did not allow my “Plan A” to succeed, but instead chose a different path for those two years of my life. He has used Poorland to chip away at my pride, strip me of my social codependence, teach me courage, show me how to show grace to others, give me love for the unloveable, pry my fingers from my self-righteousness, and for the first time in my life, He taught me how to share Christ in a sea of hostility and bitterness.

Not that I have arrived. I still have a long way to go and a massive number of things to learn. But, praise Jesus, I am nowhere near where I was when I began this journey.

Where did I begin, you ask?

I am a Christian private school brat. I had attended Christian school for thirteen years before Poorland. So I’m sure you can imagine how much of a culture shock I endured when plunged into the secular school system. In fact, the first time I heard my professor cuss, I nearly went into cardiac arrest. See what I mean? Culture shock.

One of the things that I quickly gathered at Poorland was the nearly palpable hostility towards Christianity that I encountered. In fact, this is one of the few reasons I chose the moniker “Poorland.” How discouraging it was for me to discover that the spiritual state of my college was nearly bereft of hope and love. I observed that people so rarely reached out to one another, cared for one another, sacrificed for each other, or served one another as I was accustomed to (with a few exceptions & some huge blessings! I am so grateful for those of you I was able to meet who encouraged me and had such a large influence on my life!). And the term “Christianity” was certainly not something that these people correlated with care, love, hope, sacrifice, or service. Rather, “Christianity” was associated with hate, judgement, and ignorance. It was unusual for me to experience. It was culture shock. Thus, because of the spiritual poverty of my environment, I chose to refer to Richland as “Poorland.”

This isn’t unusual in American universities

Despite all the talk about the political and religious neutrality of the public school system, you may not be surprised to hear that finding a Christian professor–or even a conservative professor–at a secular university or college is somewhat akin to finding a unicorn standing in a field of daisies in a post-apocalyptic barren wasteland. Pretty darn rare.

Alright, I may be exaggerating a little. But it’s still rather uncommon to meet an openly Christian or conservative professor at a public university. It is much more common, however, to meet an openly atheist, Hindu, or Buddhist professor, at least at Poorland. (Rarely an agnostic. Professors simply don’t admit to believing that something cannot be known). Alright, kidding. 

How ironic, it seems, that the establishment of the university originally stemmed from the church. Today, the secular movement has boxed out any form of clergy in the school system, whatsoever. Most universities would rather have a 0-11 football season than be accused of having a traditionalistic worldview. *Gasp!*

One of many differences I observed in the public school system was the increasing push to wipe out gender discrepancies and to render distinctions between men and women meaningless. And folks, this isn’t just happening in colleges and universities.

• This year Harvard University appointed its first permanent director of bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, and queer student life. The individual, Vanidy Bailey, has asked that he/she never be referred to as he or she, male or female. Harvard has agreed.
• Each year more and more American high schools elect girls as homecoming kings and boys as homecoming queens. Students have been taught to regard restricting kings to males or queens to females as (gender-based) discrimination.
• In Rhode Island this year, one school district cancelled its father-daughter dance after the ACLU threatened to sue the district for gender discrimination. Only parent-child events, not father-daughter dances or mother-son ballgames, will be allowed.
• Teachers. . . [if asking a young girl or boy about marriage] . . . have to make it clear, ‘Will you marry a boy or a girl?’¹

And while we are talking about public school systems, let’s talk about the school system sexualizing children. ABC News did a story almost five years ago that stated, “In schools across the country, kids as young as three and four [are] now facing charges of sexual harassment that will stay with them permanently on their school records.” “In 2007. . .166 elementary students were suspended for sexual harassment, including three preschoolers, 16 kindergarteners, and 22 first-graders.”² (emphasis mine). Recently, California passed a law that required teachers and textbooks to explain bisexuality and the contributions of homosexuality to society to all ages six and older.³ Can you imagine trying to explain bisexuality to a six-year-old? Talk about robbing childhood innocence. But this is actually happening. The things that our young people are learning, whether in preschool or university, are pretty disconcerting for those of us who adhere to the Bible as our definition of morality and ethics.

I want to make a distinct point that I mention these things not to wage a war against homosexuals, or secular professors, or even leftism. I don’t hate you in the least! I have counted you as dear friends from the moment I met you, and for those of you reading this whom I may not have met, I am sure we would be great friends as well. You have made me laugh day after day, and I enjoy spending time with you. I enjoy seeing you, and I count myself blessed to have gotten to know you, regardless of how much you disagree with the things I believe. I have counted you as friends, and I am honored that many of you have done the same towards me. Although this sounds trite, I simply don’t know how else to phrase it: It is entirely true that I love you. I don’t know how not to love you.

However, this is why I write these things: I mean to make it abundantly clear that it is difficult–increasingly difficult–for an outspoken Christian to take a stand in the flurry of opposition he will encounter in secular school systems. I was taught again and again throughout my time at Poorland that the Bible is nothing but an outdated, irrelevant, and morally bereft manuscript that holds no bearing on today’s advanced society.

I disagree.

One of the most politically incorrect and (as I have been told) “intolerably ignorant” statements one can make in an environment of public education is, “I look to the Bible first for guidance, wisdom, and morality.” If you make such a statement, I can guarantee that you will face opposition. The type of “morality” encouraged at in colleges and universities is not one defined by standards, it is one defined by the heart. Absolute truth is thrown out the window, and “personal truth,” (aka, relativism) is applauded. God is not thought to be morally necessary. We have removed ethics from solid ground, expecting it to continue living and thriving, but when ethics are made malleable, they can hardly continue being ethics at all. So what authority should people consult to adopt their values and morals? The university? People magazine? Goodness, I hope not. In this time dominated by “feelings” I am so grateful to the Lord for warning me that “The heart is deceitful above all  things and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9)

So the question is…

“Do colleges and universities discriminate against Christians or political conservatives?” From my personal experience at Poorland College, I would be inclined to say, “Yes.”

In fact, you have no idea how often I hear professors boast about the unbiased and political open-mindedness of their institution. It’s practically laughable.

The establishment of the university seems to be a stronghold against conservatism, and certainly a place where Christianity is viewed as an opponent of higher education. Science and God simply cannot co-exist. Or so I have heard. Interestingly enough, I see it differently: without God, science cannot exist.

How can this change?

Well, I would be thrilled to hear that more Christian professors are flocking to public universities to invest their time in balancing out the secular slant that is so heavily influencing our young people. The problem? Christian professors have an extraordinarily difficult time being hired at public universities. If you expect to land a job in the science or philosophy department, particularly, you will either need to ditch your religion, or keep silent about your beliefs and teach a Godless message to the masses.

And thus, Christian academics are being barred from the university. Consequently, more of our generation is being impregnated with a humanistic worldview. And students are all too willing to buy into such a worldview. After all, who wouldn’t want to be their own god? Biology, philosophy, humanities, government, etc, all join together in the same song of self-indulgent humanism, living in abject denial of subservience to anyone or anything.

So, if Christian professors are not able to get positions at public universities, and the students attending public universities continue to learn these Godless worldviews, what is the solution?

I wish I had an answer that would satisfy.

I simply don’t know how to reverse this cycle. But perhaps we can join together in prayer for God to intervene in the secularization of the universities.

Christian students: Wherever you are, view that place as a mission field. Be steadfast in prayer. All day, everyday. Be respectful to your professors, no matter what. Work hard and be diligent. Don’t allow your name or Christ’s name to be tarnished because you choose to be lazy. Remember: the harvest is plenty, and that includes professors as well as students. Talk to your professors about Christ (believe me, I know that can be terrifying), encourage them in whatever ways you can, and respect them, even if you disagree with them. And remember that the way you act speaks volumes. The words you say bear no meaning if the way you act does not love so loudly that others can’t help but notice. Serve other students and professors with your whole heart. Make every step intentional.

Christian professors: If you are struggling with finding a job at a secular university, do not despair. I am praying for you even as I write this.  If you have the gift of teaching, remain steadfast to the Lord. He will use the gift He has given you, although, sometimes, not in the ways that you might imagine.

Let’s be honest, here. Opposition against Christianity is nothing new. But before you get discouraged, remember the words that Jesus spoke in John 16:33:

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Praise the Lord for that!!

¹Prager, Dennis. “Why a Good Person Can Vote Against Same-Sex Marriage.”Townhall.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2013.

²Chang, Juju, Alisha Davis, and Cole Kazdin. “First-Grader Labeled a Sexual Harasser.” ABC News. ABC News Network, n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2013.

³”California State Senate Passes Transsexual-Bisexual-Homosexual Curriculum Bill – Christian Newswire.” California State Senate Passes Transsexual-Bisexual-Homosexual Curriculum Bill – Christian Newswire. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2013. 

 

Speechless

The past several years, I have been involved in R.E.A.L. Life Student Ministries, a ministry of Lavon Drive Baptist Church. For the past year and three months, however, I have been able to serve on staff in this ministry and walk alongside some phenomenal counselors, students, pastors, and friends. Nevertheless, due to the fact that I am moving to Arkansas by the end of this month, Wednesday night was my last night to serve as the student ministry associate at Lavon Drive Baptist Church.

It was with a heavy heart that I had to say farewell to my beloved brothers and sisters in REAL Life last night, but these wonderful people pulled a fast one on me and had a few surprises waiting for me yesterday evening. REAL Lifers, even as I write this, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for what you did for me last night. You have rendered me speechless. Throughout the entire evening, you lavished praise upon me (quite undeserved by me!) and I feel that I didn’t adequately express to you how much you mean to me, and how grateful I am to you. So I thought I would take this time to share my heart with you.

P.S.- I was definitely surprised! 

1. The Chelsea Cake.

You prepared a cake with my name on it! How awesome is that?!

The Chelsea Cake
Photography by Matthew Wilcox

2. The gifts.

The wonderful, thoughtful gifts. You don’t know how special your gifts are to me; you put so much thought into every one!–a cupcake baked by my favorite baker (she’ll own a famous cupcake shop one day, just you wait!), one of a set of two matching rings, a Starbucks, Target, and Chickfila gift card, college supplies in some of my favorite colors, and White Cheddar Cheese-its (goodness, y’all sure do know me well!), are only a few of the plethora of gifts you bestowed upon me, including the very special gift that made me cry, given to me by the pastoral staff. You have all been so generous to me. I am overwhelmed.

Photography by Matthew Wilcox

3. The prayers.

What a powerful thing to gather together in prayer (Matt 18:19-20). And to think that you boldly approached the throne of God for me makes me feel completely undeserving of such attention. My heart is full.

Photography by Matthew Wilcox

4. The words.

The testimonies. The stack of letters and cards. The personal conversations. All of it. You have just about knocked me off my feet with all the encouragement you have poured into me.

Photography by Matthew Wilcox

As I read the cards, and of course, in the testimonies given last night, I have realized that many of your stories about me have the same (rather hilarious) beginning: “I thought you were so weird at first!” and “I was very intimidated by you before I knew you,” and “I thought this Chelsea would be the same girl I knew in eighth grade.” To those comments I would like to say this: first of all, I must have been pretty awful a number of years ago to garner such a response from so many! But praise the Lord that He has influenced a change in my heart and that I am no longer who I was! Can I get an “AMEN!”? That overbearing, unloving girl is the Chelsea that I should and would be today, had the Lord not broken my heart for Him and for His people. Thank you for all your kind words about me and my influence on your life; you have influenced me greatly, as well. However, I need to let y’all in on a little secret: I am nobody special at all! The only thing special about my life is that it belongs to Him. My life is His life. I am beyond blessed that He has used me in your lives (He has used you in my life, too!), but you need to know that anything good that may have come from me, is ultimately from Him. Because there is no way I could have attained any righteousness or goodness on my own. (Romans 3:10) Praise the Lord for that! He is faithful to create a clean heart in us! (Ps. 51:10) He is faithful to make us into new creations! (2 Cor. 5:17)

5. The laughter.

Your stories brought back so many memories, and brought me so much laughter. I especially enjoyed Lauren recounting the time I forgot to turn off the camera flash in the movie theater. . . three times. Lauren, your impersonation of me was spot on! I’ll never forget it!

Photography by Matthew Wilcox

Photography by Matthew Wilcox

Thank you.

REAL Lifers, you have done an incredible job of making me feel loved and special, and you have also done your very best to cause me to get a big head. But now, I would like to return the favor and tell you just how much you have changed my life.

Students, thank you for sharing your lives and stories with me. Thank you for trusting me enough to share your hurts, habits, and hang-ups, for allowing me to pray for you, for allowing me to pray with you, and for allowing me to walk with you as you go through your struggles. Thank you for allowing me to rejoice with you and to mourn with you. Thank you for teaching me how to play Super Smash Brothers Brawl (which I can now do, albeit very poorly), for teaching me how to play Whirlyball, for teaching me how to play guitar, for teaching me how to sing “Mashed Potatoes & Gravy,” and for making it so easy to love you. I long to see you rise up as a generation completely in love with the Lord and ready to be used by Him to change the world. I believe He will.

Pastors, fellow youth workers, and friends, thank you for walking through this chapter alongside me. Your words, your service, your patience, and your unceasing love towards me have changed my life. I am a different person because you have continually lifted me up. I am so incredibly grateful.

Photography by Matthew Wilcox

The Lord has used this season in my life to teach me invaluable lessons—lessons that I am convinced will continue to change me, mold me, and ring with truth and wisdom, even as time passes and years go by.

Thank you for being a part of it.

Love, Chelsea

Moving Forward By Looking Back

My normal Sunday morning routine goes something like this:

1. “Snooze” about 15 times.
2. Finally talk myself into getting up.
3. Make myself presentable and go to my home church.
4. Turn on the music/lights/etc. in the youth room.
5. Talk with the incoming teenagers.
6.  Head to the 8th grade girls class to teach Sunday school, along with two other wonderful women. (At which point I would also normally nab a warm, fresh brownie that one of our most faithful, wonderful youth workers, Mrs. Lynette, makes every week. She has been making a batch of fresh brownies every Sunday morning since I was in 8th grade. Talk about a ministry! But I digress…)

The past two Sunday mornings were a little different.

1. Snooze about 15 times.
2. Finally talk myself into getting up.
3. Make myself presentable and go to my home church.
4. Thank another one of our awesome youth workers, Terry, for turning on the music/lights/etc. in the youth room.
5. Grab a Krispy Kreme. (Okay, okay, yes, they are very unhealthy, but, come on! Krispy Kreme! Who in their right mind can say no to a fresh, warm, Krispy Kreme?!)
6. Talk with the incoming teenagers.
7. Head to the 8th grade girls class to teach Sunday school, along with two other wonderful women, only to remember that this week, the 8th grade girls class is merged with the 7th grade girls class. This week’s lesson was taught by a woman of God–a woman that I am blessed to know–named Mrs. Kris.

Oh, me, oh, my, I was completely blessed by that lesson.

Lately I have heard some incredibly thought-provoking, God-glorifying messages from some of the most renown preachers, teachers, and evangelists in the world. However, I have found that there is certainly something to be said for going back and re-learning the simple things that we were taught years ago. Taking a step back from the complexity and merely reevaluating what love should look like in our own lives holds unspeakable wisdom. What do I mean? So glad you asked.

Mrs. Kris had us all do an exercise. Fill your name in the blanks.

___(Insert your name here)__is patient.

_____________________is kind.

___________________does not envy, does not boast, is not proud.

_________________does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

_________________always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

________________does not dishonor others, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered.

___________________keeps no record of wrong doing. (I Corinthians 13:4-7)

Mine looked like this:

Chelsea is patient.
Chelsea is kind.
Chelsea does not envy, does not boast, is not proud.
Chelsea does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Chelsea always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Chelsea does not dishonor others, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered.
Chelsea keeps no record of wrong doing.

Time to evaluate.

When you fill your name in the blank and read the passage to yourself, are there any statements that don’t quite ring true about yourself? My answer is yes. There are certainly statements written about me that don’t quite ring true. What should one do in response to this somewhat startling, and completely humbling evaluation of oneself? Well, I’ll tell you what I did. I talked to God about it.

Lord, would you please forgive me for the un-surrendered, unloving parts of my life that I cling to and give me Your love that is patient. Father, would You please give me Your love that is kind. Jesus, give me Your love that does not envy, does not boast, and is not proud. Mighty God, give me a love that does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. Christ, I want Your love that always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Oh, help me to love others and not to dishonor them, not to be self-seeking, and not to be easily angered. Allow me to love others, and keep no record of wrong doing. Lord, give me the love for others that You have bestowed upon me.

He is faithful to take our messy, unloving lives and transform us. It’s what He does: He shows us grace and love for His glory.

The Sisterhood

Alright ladies, this one is for you.

As our lives grow busier, our webs of community grow larger, too. So how should a modern-day girl respond to community with other girlfriends?

Well, I’m glad you asked.

Ladies, if you’ve brushed up against any kind of secular media anywhere, I can pretty much guarantee that you have been exposed to a horrible example of what friendship–sisterhood–is supposed to look like. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of a single popular television show or movie that models Biblical friendship. What with all the Gossip Girls, the Mean Girls, the Gleeks, the Top Models, the vampires who keep diaries, the vampires who don’t keep diaries, the Secret Lifers, the Hills girls, and the Pretty Little Liars, it’s no wonder our concept of friendship is disfigured. The types of female “friendships” modeled for us by the world flow with gossip, betrayal, vanity, secrets, selfishness, insecurity, and lies. The claws come out. And too many young women are deceived by these models of female companionship. These worldly models of “friendship” tell us that the betrayal, the drama, the cattiness, and the gossip don’t matter as long as, at the end of the day, we end up crying on each other’s shoulders in a dramatic chocolate-induced hug-fest.

No ma’am. As Jen Hatmaker would say, “That makes it sound like we’re a bunch of sob sisters. I think of [you] as brave, capable, educated, passionate, and obedient… [able to be] mobilize[d] for great good.” Don’t allow your friendships to fall into a stereotype. Remember that the Gossip Girls are not the kind of friends that allow growth, trust, and love. That is not the kind of friendship modeled in the Bible, and that’s certainly not the kind of friendship that the Lord wants for our lives.

Ladies, friendship is the Lord’s instrument for growing us, revealing things to us, and sharpening us. He does have a purpose for friendships, and ultimately that purpose is to glorify Him and further His kingdom. Thus, as one of my favorite speakers, Marian Jordan Ellis, says, we’ll call these “kingdom friends.”

This past week I had the phenomenal opportunity to spend time with one of my closest friends–a kingdom friend, my best friend, Hannah.

I haven’t had many opportunities to see Hannah in the past couple of years due to her time in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Zambia, Georgia, North Africa (soon!), New York (soon!), Iowa, Minnesota, and Tennessee (She’s a world traveler, for sure!) However, despite the distance, she is still my closest friend. I consider her one of my many kingdom friends, and, as we talk more about kingdom friends, I’m going to use our friendship as an example to illustrate what I mean.

So the question is, “What makes a friend a kingdom friend?”

1. Intentional friendships

Ladies, intentional friendship is important. Once we begin viewing our friends as purposeful, and not disposable, our friendships will change. And when our friendships change, our lives will change, too. And when Christ changes our lives, He uses our lives as His vessels to change the world.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” -Proverbs 27:17

Intentional friendships are not accidental…Obviously.

God has specifically placed my kingdom friends in my life. Did God drop them on my doorstep and introduce them to me as my future best friends? No. But God did designate a specific time period in which for me to live; He did specifically select my dwelling place; and He directs the paths and the lives of those who walk in the light of His Word. It seems less plausible to believe that my kingdom friendships are accidental than it does to believe that an all-knowing God specifically designed our paths and lives to intersect for the ultimate purpose of His glory.

“And He made from one man every nation of mankind, to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.” -Acts 17:26

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” -Proverbs 3:5-6

Intentional friends pray for each other

Be intentional in your prayer life. You must make an effort to pray for your kingdom friends on a daily basis. Remember this: girlfriends who pray together, stay together…And girlfriends who pray for each other from hundreds of miles away stay together, too. It doesn’t rhyme, but it’s still true.

“Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” -James 5:16

2. Accountable friendships

Intentional friendship requires intentional followup. If a girlfriend shares a struggle with you, it is your responsibility to follow up with her! As time goes by, check in on her, ask her questions, send her encouragement, love on her, and keep her accountable. For example, if I began acting like a hoochie mama, you better believe  Hannah is going to call me out on it (in love!), and I would do the same for her. She is not against me; she is not out to get me. She is on my team. Kingdom friends pursue Christ together, and that means accountability, among other things.

For those of you who have far-away friends, I know how difficult intentional far-away friendship can be. Believe me, I have more far-away friends than I can count on my fingers, some farther than others. One of my closest friends, (another wonderful kingdom friend), has been living in Costa Rica for the past two years. Far-away friendships can be difficult sometimes. So here’s my advice for you: set priorities and make it realistic. For example, am I going to know everything that goes on in Hannah’s life? Of course not. She lives three hundred and fifty miles away from me, and life is busy. Sometimes, I may not get a chance to speak with her for weeks. But I can still pray for her daily. And if she ever needs me for support, encouragement, accountability, or anything else, I am going to be there for her and vice verse. Why? Because our kingdom friendships need to be a priority in our lives, ladies. Set those priorities!

“Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” -Galatians 6:2

3. Loyal and unified friendships

God uses kingdom friendships to change the world. Ladies, your kingdom friendships are ultimately to glorify Him and make Him famous. Reject the “all-about-me” mentality. Put away selfishness, put away competitiveness, and put on loyalty and unity. Satan has been around for a long time, ladies. He knows that the Lord uses friendships to glorify Himself, and he will attack your unity. So stand by your kingdom friends, even when it is tough. Trust each other, support each other, and be on each other’s team. Sometimes that means saying the really difficult things, and speaking the truth in love. Sometimes that means listening to some things that are hard to hear, and remembering that these ladies are on your team. They are for you, not against you.

“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.” -Proverbs 12:15

“Preach the Word, be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction.” -2 Timothy 4:2

Pursue unity. Your unity will come under attack. This is why it is important to:

• Pray for each other daily.
• Put on love. Love needs to encompass your time with each other, your words to one another, and your service towards each other.
• Ask for forgiveness
• Choose to forgive.
• Communicate openly.
• Encourage!

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” -Ephesians 4:2-3

We need community. This is why the church is so important! With companionship comes accountability, counsel, comfort, and sanctification, and Satan will attempt to destroy that by trying to break your unity!

4. Christ-centered friendships.

Look towards Christ, not at each other. As previously stated, kingdom friendships have a purpose–to glorify Christ. So it’s imperative to remember that kingdom friends should not look at each other, but should look towards Christ together. This is ultimately what binds us together, girlfriends. It’s not our commonalities nor our “friendship chemistry” that makes kingdom friends stick. Kingdom friends stand side-by-side, running together towards Christ. That is what binds us together. We run towards Christ first.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if you lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” -Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Marian Jordan Ellis puts it this way, “[Kingdom friends] are important, but they are still not Jesus. So remember to always go to the throne before you go to the phone.”

Amen, sister.

A Little Fall Of Rain

Rainy weather is my favorite weather. I love the overcast skies; I relish in the gusty wind that accompanies the big fat raindrops falling to the ground; I savor the smell of rain; I enjoy feeling the rumbling thunder deep in my chest; I delight in the crackling lightning as it flashes through the dark skies, making everything visible, even if only for a moment. And my favorite thing about rainy days is the sound of the raindrops pounding against my window.

Now, as I watch the raindrops slide down the glass panes of my dining room windows, I am reminded of a similarly rainy day years ago. I was at home with my mother and two older brothers, and although it was midday, the sky was nearly black. A violent storm raged outside our tiny 1,300 square foot house which sat in the middle of our little Texas town. In the very midst of the storm, as our windows rattled and the resounding thunder echoed throughout the house, we heard the trilling ring of our doorbell. A cold and wet UPS woman stood at our porch-less front door, soggy package in hand. She gingerly held it out to us along with the “Confirmation of Delivery” paper that awaited Momma’s signature. Behind the woman, we saw a lighting bolt crack and light up the skies, and we heard the thunder release the kind of blast you could feel in your chest and fingertips; the house trembled. The poor lady was drenched and shivering in the relentless storm. Upon seeing the nearby lightning and hearing the angry thunder, Momma insisted that the lady come inside to wait for the storm to calm. The lady hesitated, apparently unsure of whether it would be acceptable for her to agree, but as the deluge continued and the thunder cracked, leaving our ears ringing, she gratefully acquiesced. For the next ten minutes, she stood in our front entryway, chilled to the bone and shivering as the violent storm crashed and howled outside. My brothers, my mother, and I plied her with hot tea, cranked up the heater, and did everything we possibly could do to serve the UPS woman who had been caught in the thunderstorm. The deluge had only slightly relented when the woman thanked us and abruptly rushed back into the blasting storm.

When she left, Momma and I stood at the window and looked out over the pools of water gathering in our front yard and reflecting the ominous dark skies. She seemed lost in thought as she wrapped her arms around my tiny shoulders, and prayed, “Oh Lord, please keep the poor woman safe.” Then she stopped for a moment, and murmured, “You never know when you could be entertaining angels unaware.”

Looking back, Mom may have been right: maybe we were entertaining an angel. Or maybe we were just providing a cold, wet lady a temporary reprieve from a storm. I suppose I may never know.

But reflecting on this story makes it clearer for me to see how easily I can say that I love raindrops pounding against my window from this side of the window. I doubt I would like thunderstorms so much if I were ever caught in a storm with no shelter. “The gusty wind” may not seem so appealing if I were being tossed to and fro like a rag doll with each blast of cold air. The overcast skies may not be so lovely if I were unable to see anything clearly. The rumbling thunder might not be so enjoyable if it were shaking my world apart.

Sitting inside this warm house, sipping coffee and looking out my window, it’s easy to forget that others aren’t so fortunate. It’s easy to forget how many people need shelter from a storm in their life, whether that storm be divorce, death, tragedy, illness, strife, abuse, assault, depression, or addiction.

Regardless of what kind of storms we may see through our front windows, this I know: He remains the ultimate and sovereign Hiding Place, and we are His vessels. Let our hands be the hands that show love and healing to others caught in the storms of life.

Oh, Lord, use my hands, my home, my time, my words, my gifts and my life as a shelter for whomever may be suffering through a storm. You are a cleft (Ex. 33:18-23), a hiding place for Your people. May we never forget it.

“You are my Hiding Place and my shield; I hope in Your word.” -Psalm 119:114

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter–when you see them naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”  -Isaiah 58:6-7

So now, as I watch each raindrop slide down the windowpane and greedily devour other beaded raindrops, as I hear them patter against the glass, I am reminded of that day, years ago, when we brought warm towels to the wet UPS lady in our front entryway. As the raindrops shower down, the Lord reminds me that He is my hiding place.

He is my shelter from the storm.

There is Power, Power

I love Pinterest. Oooh, I love it. In fact, I occasionally suffer from what is commonly known as Pinsomnia.

Today I typed a word into the Pinterest search bar: “Power.”

The results? First of all, there was this little nugget of wisdom: “With great power comes great electricity bill.” Yeah, I thought that was pretty clever.

As for the rest of the results, I was dismayed to say the least! I got an overwhelming number of results relating to “Flower Power” (Umm, would someone like to explain to me how that ever became a trend? Because quite frankly, I don’t see the appeal!) The other results were even more disappointing. A conglomerate of half-naked women appeared on my screen with a weak quote captioned beneath each picture. I was astounded! The results included pictures from various websites and magazines selling assorted items such as “Power-Trip Crop Top,” “Power Push-Up Bra,” and “Power Fishnet Stockings.”

That is not power.

That is the illusion of power. That is bondage, lies, sex, and self-degradation masquerading as power. In fact, degrading oneself in such a way will not empower you, it will weaken you, and force you to kneel as a slave in worship of that which will strengthen its hold over you. There certainly is power in things like taking mostly-naked pictures in “Power Fishnet Stockings,” but you should know that you will not hold the power. Things and people will hold the power over you.

So let’s talk about the matter at hand, here: what is power?

Now, this is the part where I could easily give you the ole cliché Webster’s dictionary definition, pat you on the head, and send you on your way, right? Well, I have never been one to take the easy road! Besides, what does Webster know, anyway? I mean, he only wrote a dictionary. What a slacker! Let’s refer to some ultimate authority.

Although I would like to encompass the full perspective of what the Bible says about power, I’m not sure that I would be able to fit it all into this entry! Did you know that God refers to power over 270 times in the Bible? So clearly, there are some pretty important concepts that He wanted us to glean from His Word about power.

1. You don’t have any.

Yep. You don’t have any power. The Bible is quite clear about a few things that do have power, none of which are you.

“Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth.” -Deuteronomy 8:17-18a

 “No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death.” -Ecclesiastes 8:8a

“Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by His power; they rise up when they despair of life.” -Job 24:22

2. Sin is powerful.

Sin is not only powerful, but also costly. Namely, it will cost your life. Sin is so powerful that it demands nothing short of death for those who partake in it. Christ, however, lived a sinless life—a life which did not require the payment of earthly or eternal death. And yet, Christ subjected Himself to death. The only man in history that was not required to die in payment of His sin did die in payment of our sin. Sin is powerful.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 6:23

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved.” -Ephesians 2:4-5

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” -1 Corinthians 15:56

3. God is MORE powerful.

He is mighty. Above all others, He is powerful.

“Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to You, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For You will render to a man according to his work.” -Psalms 62:11-12

“Ascribe power to God whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies.” -Psalms 68:34

“Behold, God is exalted in His power; who is a teacher like Him?” -Job 36:22

“So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory.” -Psalm 63:2

“Let Your work be shown to your servants, and Your glorious power to their children.” -Psalm 90:16

“Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; His understanding is beyond measure.” -Psalms 147:5

“Be exalted, O Lord, in Your strength! We will sing and praise Your power.” -Psalm 21:13

“But for this purpose [I] have raised you up, to show you my power, so that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” -Exodus 9:16

4. God empowers us!

Doesn’t it seem a little unrealistic to buy into #1 in light of the fact that we seem to have the power to do basically whatever we want? Here’s the thing: Yes, we do utilize power, but no we do not utilize our own power. Big difference. The Bible makes it clear that even the breath which fills our lungs is a gift from God. Nothing that we are able to achieve is achieved due to our own strength. But God is not a stingy God. He lavishes His blessings upon us. He is faithful to provide strength to the weak, and He is faithful to provide power to the powerless. God delights in empowering the weak to shame the strong.

“He gives power to the faint, and to Him who has no might He increases strength.” -Isaiah 40:29

“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;” -1 Corinthians 1:27

“And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by Him this man is standing before you well.” -Acts 4:7-10

“Nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” -Acts 17:25

“Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: ‘I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you;'” -Isaiah 42:5-6a

“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” -Job 33:4

“For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.” -Colossians 1:29

“For He was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but in dealing with you we will live with Him by the power of God.” -2 Corinthians 13:4

5. Christ’s blood has unimaginable power!

Have you ever heard the old hymn “There Is Power In the Blood”?

There is power, power, wonder working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.

Wonder-working power, indeed! Remember when we established that the power of sin requires death? (#2) How much more powerful, then, is the blood by which we are redeemed! Yes, the wages of sin is death, BUT, by Christ’s blood we may attain life once more. He has given us a gift—eternal life. We still must pay the earthly consequences of our sin, which is earthly death, but we were spared eternal death through the power of Christ’s redeeming blood. Resurrection from eternal death? What wonderful power that is!

“But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.” -Isaiah 53:5

“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” -Hebrews 9:14

“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” -Philippians 3:10-11

Here’s a quick endnote for you: for those who are forgiven and redeemed through Christ’s POWERFUL blood, sin is defeated! #2 is dead! (1 Corinthians 15:54-57) Hooray! Praise God!