Ask For The Nations…

Ask For The Nations...

When Charlie is on the road preaching, I think of our wedding vows… I think of the commitment we made to one another to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world together. 7.5 years later, 2 kids, 3 cities, 6 different homes, 9 jobs, 2 Bible Colleges, 4 years of full time ministry, countless cities and this year 22 nations reached between the two of us…. I’m sorry, but I don’t hear you when you say I CAN’T!!

With God ALL things are possible. Dare to Dream in God and watch as He brings it to life.

Be My Valentine…

Since Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching, I felt a tug on my heart strings to blog about this wonderful day. I am sappy. I wouldn’t say a romantic, but maybe a little gushy squishy. I am not artsy and poetic in thought, where everything is rainbows and unicorns and love comes riding in on a stallion made of cloud dust….

I am practical.  I like a good reality check. Ask the hubs.

And yet, when we talk of Mr. Darcy & Elizabeth my heart melts. No one can deny a good love story. In fact, many girls dream of how their love story will unfold. They play dress up when they are young and imagine what Prince Charming will look like. What will their wedding be like? How many kids will they have? Dogs or cats? The list goes on.

They create a fantasy world of expectation that often leaves them disappointed. I read I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris as a teenager and at the time it caused me to go into an extreme anti-dating mode. Which continued for a number of years after this as I fed myself with all of those wonderful Christian dating advice books. And they are wonderful. The only problem was in the interpretation of them. You see, as a young Christian woman who valued her purity I was dead set on never dating until I met my husband. Which if you think about it, doesn’t quite make sense. How are you going to know if it’s your hubby if you don’t even say Hi? 

Don’t live in an illusion that thinks Mr. Wonderful is going to plop out of the sky with a pocket full of diamond rings for you to choose from. Don’t barricade yourself behind a wall of unattainable expectations. Dating can be a touchy subject in the Christian sphere with extremes on both ends and so I will tip toe around it slightly and just let you read my story… How does that sound? I’m not going to tell you how to live your life, I’ll just share with you what happened in mine.

And remember this Valentine’s Day if you don’t have the “one your heart longs for”… God’s does and His timing is perfect.

(Follow the link to Part 1 of “How I Met My Husband”)

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prince charming

When You Don’t Make the Cut…

I am not your typical Preacher’s Wife. Or so they said…

I didn’t make the cut. There were others that could sing, play an instrument, dance, even had a better speaking gift and with stories to tell. I may not have been as smart as some or even as artsy. The only thing I had was raw desire and a dream…

When I was 18, it came time to make a decision about my future. What would I do? Where would I go? Thanks to my parents, impossible wasn’t in my vocabulary. So, would I attend a Christian College, Art School, travel with a ministry team in the US, or intern overseas with missionaries. These were all viable options and I sought the Lord for His direction.

Before I made my decision, I met with a few youth ministers. I wanted guidance and their opinion mattered. One in particular was an Evangelist. The fiery kind. You know, one that sparks hope and faith and courage to be whatever it is that God called you to be.

Standing in the lobby of my church, fumbling, awkwardly, for the right words to say. I said… I want to go into ministry and you’ve made such a huge impact on me. After I graduate high school, can I participate in your year long program and travel with the group of young people you take all over the nation?

He didn’t take much time to respond, other than to ask me a few questions….

Do you sing? No.

Do you play an instrument? No.

Well…….. I know your brother does, so maybe he should travel with us.

In that pivotal moment, it felt like a cold slap in the face. When I looked around at the other young adults that had joined and were seeing lives transformed by the power of the Gospel, I thought…. no one told me I’d need a piano.

How many times have you felt the cold slap of rejection? Or almost gave up on a dream? The problem with rejection is that it feeds off an illusion. The illusion of what should be or what the right mold is, and if you don’t fit into it, you are left feeling less than. It doesn’t see beyond that. It can’t take into account the unique design God placed inside of you. You’ll never be cookie-cutter, because, let’s face it, no one is.

If you feel rejected today, you didn’t make the cut this time around… don’t give up! Kick rejection in the teeth and face your fear head on. Continue to dream and dream big!!!

Wrecked.

To celebrate yesterday being Charlie’s 13 years of living radically for Jesus Christ, we have a guest post from him! Enjoy 🙂

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There I was, eighteen years old, a freshly born again believer sitting in my friend’s house talking about revival when all of a sudden the girl to the right of me began to weep and shake under the power of God. A wind began to blow through that little house and I found myself lying on the floor because of the sheer weight of His presence. At that moment I was taken into an open vision. There, I was in the Holy of Holies and directly in front of me was the ark of God with the presence of God burning between the cherubs.

 Out from the midst of the fire came a man dressed in full armor riding on a horse. The man’s eyes where burning like hot coals. A holy fear gripped me as he stopped for a moment to stare into my eyes. He lifted his sword and pointed it straight at me. Then, without a word spoken between us he began to charge full speed toward me. I stood there, not moving, still in shock from what I was seeing. Just when I thought I would be trampled, the horse and the burning man who sat upon it entered into me.

Within moments I found myself back in the small living room with my friends. By that time they were laying all over the place, weeping and laughing, inebriated under the power of the Holy Spirit. A heavy cloud of God’s presence seemed to rest in that room. I knew from that day on I would never be the same again. The Jesus that I came in contact with that day was a fierce warrior that was looking for an army. I had come in contact with the burning man and in turn I became a burning man.