Run With Me

Have you ever watched a little kid trying to step on an escalator for the first time? If you put yourself in their shoes, you realize that it probably seems quite terrifying. Last week I forgot about this truth when I casually hopped on the escalator expecting the kids to follow suit. They didn't. Thankfully Matt was with them, but 1/4 of the way down I looked up and realized there was no way he was going to be able to get both of them on the escalator. So what did this classy mother do? Ran up the down escalator, of course.

We all managed to get down just fine. I'm sure it was a lovely show for everyone watching us in the bookstore.

Besides being a little stressful and a lot humbling, it served an excellent purpose in reminding me of a great analogy for the Christian life.

Imagine a really, really long escalator heading down (that escalator represents life). Jesus is standing at the top of the escalator beckoning us to turn and run up to him. But everything in this world is telling us to keep heading down; away from Christ.

Some of us turn around and listen. We might even acknowledge that Jesus is God, but we don't move. Its too easy to just stand there and let the escalator do the work for us. But there is a huge problem with that response to Christ, right? We're still headed away from where we need to be.

Others begin to walk towards Christ. They have a desire to live for him; they go to church; they even read their bibles sometimes. But there are pieces of their lives that they just can't surrender. There are things they are just unwilling to give up. Have you ever tried just walking backwards up a downward escalator? Where do you go? Yeah, nowhere. Not a great result.

So how do we get closer to Christ? Well, my friends, we throw caution to the wind, our pride over our shoulder, and we run like mad for the top. When we fix our eyes on Christ it means actively rejecting the lies that this world tries to sell us. When we follow Jesus it means purposefully living each day as one who has been redeemed.

Sometimes we won't look so classy or cool.  Sometimes we'll be the ridiculous mother trying to run up the down escalator at Barnes & Noble to help our babies.  But we'll find ourselves closer to Christ and filled with greater joy than we could imagine.

Its the beginning of the school year, and for a lot of us that means a new set of resolutions to make this year count.  Lets begin the year by committing to run.  No more letting the world's escalator take us farther from Christ.  No more standing still.  And no more walking.  Lets not go through the motions of the Christian life; lets live it to its fullest!

Arm flailing, leg stomping pursuit of Christ.

That's my desire.  Are you with me?

Fill Me Up

The other day I asked a group of girls to tell me the top 5 things that could take a totally fabulous day and make it go right down the drain. The answers were pretty typical; boys being uninterested, friends being mean, fights with parents, bad grades, being sick. . . You know, I may be 17 years older than some of these girls, but truthfully my list doesn't look that different. Its funny how some things change and others always seem to stay the same.

I wasn't asking the question because I didn't know how they would answer, though. I was asking the question because I wanted to find out what they do to recover in those moments of disappointment and discouragement. How do you respond when the events of your day don't quite measure up to your hopes and expectations?

I won't share the personal details of their answers here, but I'll give you a glimpse into my crisis management mode. The answer for me is simple: I call my mom.

Maybe you're not supposed to need your mom so much when you're 31. But there is just something comforting about hearing her voice when things have flopped. You see, no matter what anyone else thinks of me, I know my mom will always love me. She has to. Its her job.

So when I'm bummed and discouraged I can call my mom and talk until my face turns blue. She'll listen, sometimes process with me and give me advice, and I hang up the phone feeling a little bit better. The negative events in my life drain me; they pour water out from my cup. Talking to my mom fills me up.

Now, I'm pretty much in favor of that plan. I think its a good one. Except that sometimes it doesn't exactly work out. Believe it or not, sometimes my mom doesn't answer her phone. Sometimes she is out walking the dog, or out with friends, or at the grocery store. Sometimes she even goes on vacations where she is unreachable for days on end!! (I'm not exactly sure why she thinks that is acceptable. . . but I'm trying to extend grace. . . )

So what do I do when I feel hurt by a friend or frustrated with a circumstance in those moments? Do I keep calling until her caller ID reports 48 missed calls when she finally returns home? Do I sit in a corner and cry my eyes out, feeling lost and aimless with my empty cup?

Or, could there be a better way?

Could there be another solution to the frustrating events of my day that isn't dependent on my mom being available to me whenever and wherever I need her?

Tell you what girls - there is a better way. There is another place I can go to for comfort when things aren't so hot. There is a way to fill my cup back up with living water; water that will be available every moment of every day for the rest of my life.

I can go to Jesus.

You see, this relationship I have with Jesus is a 24hr thing. He is never out walking the dog or comparing prices at the supermarket. He is always with me; ever ready to take my hurting heart into his healing hands.

What do you do when your day takes a turn for the worst? Have you ever thought of going straight to your knees and talking to your Creator? He is there, and He is longing to be the One who fills you up when you need it most.

I want you to take 10 minutes today and read an amazing story in John 4. It tells about a woman who met Jesus at a well one day. . . and let's just say that Jesus filled her cup. Not only did he fill it up, but he promised that the water he gave would satisfy her every thirst.

Here's the other crazy cool thing about that story; Jesus knew everything about her. He knew all of the dark, secret, sad pieces of her life story. He knew those things, and he wanted to offer her living water still.

I think sometimes my desire to talk to my mom is really a longing to connect with someone who knows me. She's walked through life with me for the last 31 years, so for the most part - she gets me. I can be myself around her because there is really no use trying to be anyone else.

Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus knows you that well, too? He sees every part of us, and he longs to satisfy our deepest longings and needs anyway. His love for us is, honestly, unreasonable. But he offers it, nonetheless.

The more we turn to him when things go wrong, the more we'll find that his love is enough and his comfort sufficient for everything we will face in life. Its an important skill to learn, girls, because there will come a time when the problems are deeper and bigger and harder than tests, friends and frustrating parents.

We need to know what to do when things go wrong - even little things - so that when the day comes that something really big goes wrong, we aren't alone. We need to be prepared, so that in that moment we know exactly where to go, who to turn to, and what to do.

I love talking to my mom.

But Jesus fills my cup.

Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

-Jesus, John 4:13-14

Beloved

There was this couple in my high school that was famous for their explosive relationship. They would be all googly-eyed and giddy around each other one day (and showing way more affection that I thought necessary or appropriate) and then suddenly be freezing each other out and yelling at each other in public the next. . . It didn't seem like the healthiest relationship, but I have to be honest - on the good days I found myself secretly envious.

When this particular boy was not fighting with this particular girl, they seemed to be living in some sort of alternate universe of sheer joy and complete self-confidence. On these good days this girl would float through the hallways with a huge grin on her face, oblivious to the gossip going on all around her predicting the time and place of their next huge meltdown. . .

You see, when that boy loved her, it seemed to me like she was invincible! So long as she felt confident in his feelings for her and her status as his girlfriend, all of the negativity around her seemed completely irrelevant. It was like watching a scary movie; totally horrific but completely addicting.

The other day I wrote about how important it is for us to understand our princess status as children of God. I wasn't referring to some superficial confidence, or poofy dresses and tiaras. I was talking about seeing ourselves as God sees us in Christ. I was alluding to the alternate universe that we actually belong to where we are loved beyond measure and accepted just as we are.

You see, when we understand our "princess status" as believers, then we get to walk through this life filled with the sheer joy and complete confidence of knowing that we belong to God. We can slap a big, silly grin on our faces and become invincible to the gossip and negativity around us. We can love others without the fear of them one day refusing to return our love because we've received all the love we'll ever need in Jesus.

I think understanding this reality is especially important for girls because we tend to struggle way more with feelings of insecurity and unlove. Maybe that isn't always true, but it seems to be the trend in my life.

Lets take, for example, the 4 month period when Matt and I were engaged and living 3 hours apart. We would talk on the phone most evenings, and when it came time to say goodbye the awful cycle would begin. I would feel sad that we had to say goodbye, and I would try to prolong it. Matt would get frustrated that I was prolonging it because he had to go work on a paper, so he would just get a brief "talk to you later" in there and be on his way. I would shut my phone and cry for 3 minutes, feeling completely abandoned and unloved and then I would called Matt back. . . He would then assure me of his love and we would begin the whole hanging up routine again.

My word. I really was insane.

So maybe you aren't that crazy - but for me feeling completely secure and confident in the way someone else feels about me is difficult. I tend to compare myself with others and often find myself wanting. I don't always feel like I deserve the love of the people in my life, so I try my very hardest to earn it.

Do you want to know something amazing? That isn't how God's love works. There isn't some way that we have to earn our princess status in Christ. Here's what we do: we admit that we are broken; we confess that we have sinned; we believe - not just with our minds, but with our hearts, hands & feet that Jesus can wash us clean. . . and we rest in the knowledge that His love is enough!

I don't have to worry about earning His love any more than I need to try and make you like me. I can walk through this hallway of life focused on the alternate universe that will one day be my home. . . smiling because His love for me is not explosive and unpredictable. It is never changing, never fading, always present love. And it is all I will ever need in this life and the next.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10

There you go friends; Princess 101.

Gag Me

I used to like to think of myself as a manly Christian. Is that weird? Maybe a tad. But it seemed preferable to thinking of myself as a girly Christian. Girly Christians made me gag.

That sounds like such a harsh way to start this post, but I've got to be honest, right?

So maybe I should explain myself before anyone takes this the wrong way. It all goes back to one particular night in college when I found myself slightly ashamed to be a girl. You see, I was involved in Campus Crusade for Christ and we would often have "Mens' Times" and "Womens' Times" where the boys and girls would separate and we would hear talks geared specifically for our gender. To some of you this sounds weird already, doesn't it?

Well, anyway, on one fateful night I remember coming home from our Women's Time and talking to some of the boys. They were super pumped about what they had learned and were talking on and on about it. It was something totally manly and spiritual like being a man and rejecting passivity. Then the unfortunate moment came when they asked us what we learned at the Women's Time, and I had to choke out these words: "Well, we learned that since Jesus is a Prince and we are all his adopted sisters that we are, in fact, all princesses."

At this point it might help to remind you that I was not in kindergarten but college.

So it was at that moment that I decided to try and 'man up' the women's ministry on our campus. I was desperate for opportunities to go deeper; I wanted to learn something more significant than my princess status or how to look trendy and modest at the same time. . . I firmly believed that being a girl didn't mean I had to be a syrupy Christian.

I still believe all those things are true, but I gotta admit, my perspective on the princess thing has changed.

I think we need to hear about our princess status in Christ; I think we're never too old to be reminded of what it means to be a girl and a Christian at the same time.

Here's the deal: I've never met a girl who didn't struggle with insecurity and unhealthy comparison on one level or another. And the only truly effective solution I've ever found for this epidemic is understanding our true identity and ultimate worth in God's eyes.

You see, not talking about these things would be like trying to skip kindergarten. No one skips kindergarten - its where you learn how to read and the rest of school would be a little challenging if you couldn't read.

Its no different with the princess thing. It is foundational to our relationship with God and our ability to live out our faith effectively. The problem is that a lot of us start hearing about it when we're 5, so we associate it as a lack of growth and maturity thing. We think things like, "Oh, I've heard that since I was 5, I get it. I don't need to hear about the princess thing anymore - I'm too mature for that."

Except - I think we have a faulty system for determining when we have graduated from princess training school. Take reading, for example. When do you know that someone has learned to read? When they can read. Brilliant.

So, how do we know that we have fully understood our position in Christ as a girl? When we live and act and speak and think in ways that show complete confidence in ourselves and the way that God has made us. When we are never tempted to judge another girl's behavior or skills or put someone else down so that we will feel better about ourselves. When we are overjoyed at the successes of others even if it means we're a notch or two lower on the totem pole.

Whenever there are still hints of insecurity in our lives, well, those are reminders that on some level we have not fully understood or accepted our princess status. The funny thing is that when I was 19 I thought I had passed that course. I thought it was beneath me.

Now that I'm 30 I am realizing that I might never pass that course. I will be in princess training for the rest of my life. . . and I'm ok with that. My brilliant solution to all of this is to do both. I can simultaneously work on understanding my position in Christ and growing deeper in my knowledge of the Scriptures. They can work together. . .

It is a dangerous place to be when we think we have it all figured out, don't you think?

Its ok to be a girly Christian. . . so long as we are continually striving to find our full selves in Christ and pursue Him with all we are and have. . .

I'm a princess.

And I'm not feeling the urge to gag one bit.

Love & Prayer

I love to read. When I was younger I was addicted to fiction. I especially loved adventures set in times long ago. . . As I grew up and started taking my faith more seriously I started reading books that talked about God; books that helped me walk with Him and live for Him more fully.

I remember one car trip with Matt before we had kids. I was reading out loud from a book by D.A. Carson, who happened to be one of Matt's professor's at seminary. The book was about prayer; how we can look to Paul's prayers in the Epistles as models for our own prayers. For some reason I remember being particularly moved by what I was reading at some point and bursting into tears. Poor Matt. I believe I kept reading as I sobbed. . . I'm not sure he was able to glean much from that particular reading. . .

That incident was at least 6 years ago, but there are parts of that particular book that have stuck with me to this day. There is something powerful about praying Paul's prayers for myself and for the people I love.

So this morning I am praying for you. The other day I talked about how love seemed to be the theme of my God-thoughts these days. . . and it will continue to be the theme of my summer as we hit the road with our bible study on His Revolutionary Love.

Today I am praying that you can experience the richness of His love in a powerful and life-transforming way. God knows I am longing for it to continually transform mine. . .

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

L-O-V-E

In my last post I wrote about the all consuming, amazing love of Christ. I spoke about the power of that love to heal our hurts and lift us out of the struggles we face. . . This summer we're going to kick off some small groups at Big Tree and I'm leading a girls study based off of the book "His Revolutionary Love." As you would assume from the title, the whole purpose of the book is to help us see that God's love is more than sufficient to fill our hearts and lives with joy, and peace, and significance. . . Over the last few weeks Matt has discovered some new music - and all of my favorites from these fabulous bands are songs specifically expressing the love of our God for us.

Do you see a theme here?

This has happened to me before. When I was in late elementary school I remember writing this in my diary: "Dear God, everything around me has to do with bras and periods lately. What does this mean?" Apparently it meant nothing except that all my friends were maturing at a much faster rate than myself. Oh well.

But sometimes I feel like there is a purpose behind the "coincidental" themes in our lives. Its like God is preparing us for something; or like He is making things obvious so that we actually sit down and ponder what we're learning.

So I find myself thinking, "Do I really understand the enormity and expansiveness of God's love for me?" I think the more we understand this love, the easier life on this fallen earth becomes. The more we depend on this love, the greater our capacity to forgive those who disappoint and hurt us here. And the more we return this great love to our God, well, the more our lives begin to look like an accurate reflection of Christ. . . our Savior, our King, our brother, and our ultimate example.

I'm glad that God is finding so many ways to set His love before my eyes. It is life giving and heart filling. . . and it makes my love for Him grow ever so strong and steady.

Here is one of my new favorite songs. If you have a minute, give it a good listen. . . and roll around a little in God's overflowing love while you're at it. . .

One Thing Remains

You Make Me Beautiful

I am so excited about what happened in our youth room last Wednesday night. 62 girls gathered together to hear about the painful reality of eating disorders and cutting. It is an epidemic that our culture is feeding; one that begins in small and innocent ways and ends in heartache, emptiness, and sometimes death. I don't mean to be dramatic. . . its just the simple truth.

The wonderful hope in it all? That there is another way.

Truly - there is another way to face the hurt and pain in your life. Another way to deal with the rejection of parents, or friends, or family. . . There is a source of comfort that will never fade, or diminish, or abandon you.

There is a way that you can see yourself that does not involved shame, or disappointment, or failure.

Oh - sweet friends - there is Jesus! He is the way. He is the truth. And He is the life - the very best life you will ever know. A few months back I wrote a blog about beauty, and the discouragement that we often feel when we compare ourselves to the world's standards. You can read that post here. If you are struggling with the expectations this world has for you and are feeling like you'll never measure up - take a minute and read it. . .

Most of all, I hope you know that in Jesus we have the most overwhelming, radical, consuming love we could ever hope to find. That love heals, protects, fills up, and finds beautiful absolutely every single person it enters.

Do you have that love in you?

This world tells you the 587 steps you need to take to become beautiful. That love tells you that you already are.

Don't just read that and walk away. Marvel in that. You are beautiful to Him. His love completes You. And there is nothing you could ever do to lose it. . .

I like that way of living and dealing with life a whole lot better than the way the world offers. . . don't you?

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39