Give When You Think You Can't

I just love random acts of kindness... both receiving and especially giving them!

The other day at Starbucks I was getting my free coffee (which will end when January does!) and there was a man who's been there a lot lately. From what I can gather, he's middle-aged, doesn't have a job, nor does he have a place to live other than the camper that he drives. When I passed by him, he had a scent of not having bathed for a few days and it seemed he was doing school work on his laptop.

God was tugging at my heart to support him in some way. I decided to get him a Starbucks gift card. Even though I had looked at my finances just the previous night and knew things were tight, even when I thought I didn't have anything to give to this man, I did it anyway.

God blessed it. And He ended up almost doubling what I received in return when a friend paid for something I had anticipated paying for.

This small circumstance reconfirmed for me what I already knew to be true: you can't out-give God. And when you think you can't give anymore, even though you hear God calling you to give more, when you do it, He will meet you there with more blessings to give back to you.

He is, after all, the King of unlimited resources.

The apostle Paul talked about this when addressing the church at Philippi after they had generously given to meet his needs: "I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received... the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Philippians 4:18-20

Finances. Time. Gifts. God gave all of these to us to use appropriately for His glory, and there's so much more where those came from. Give when you think you can't afford to. And watch what God does!

To God be all the glory.

A Starbucks Supercharge... Or Was it Jesus?

During December, Starbucks had a special holiday deal on a SB travel mug which you could take into SB every day in January to get free brewed coffee. Guess what? I received this for Christmas. :) So, taking advantage of this great deal of free coffee gifted to me by my mom, I made my visit to SB this morning.

On my way out of the store, two gentlemen greeted me with a friendly "Have a great day!" and a smile. Had never met them before in my life. Didn't even interact with them in the store, other than that momentary passing by. And yet they saw fit to bless me with those four words.

A gift of God's grace.

It's amazing what even the smallest act of kindness can do.

Starbucks' coffee can supercharge me -- especially considering the crazy amounts of caffeine in it! But this morning my small interaction with those men supercharged me even more.

I began to think, What if my one New Year's resolution were to bless someone with a smile and "Have a great day!" every day? It takes only a few seconds and yet it can speak volumes to another person. It says, "I acknowledge your presence. And I truly hope your day goes well for you."

Those men at SB were like the face of Jesus to me. And in their faces, I saw a reflection of what I want to be. Other-focused. Blessing others. Every day.

That is where the true and lasting supercharge comes from... the infilling of the Spirit of God and His joy as we seek to bless others.
Not from my Starbucks coffee.

"...I will bless you... and you will be a blessing." Genesis 12:2

This is NOT Comfortable!

In the church, we celebrate a season of preparation in the weeks leading up to Christmas, called Advent. It's a time to wait and prepare our hearts for the celebration of Jesus coming into the world. This year, I decided during Advent to give something up for those few weeks to make a little more room in my life for Jesus.

Coffee. Yes, one of the things I think I can't live without. But I did it because I love Jesus. I wanted to prove to myself that Jesus is really the One I can't live without. Plus, it made me feel the discomfort that comes with waiting for the fulfillment of things you long for.

I tend to try to avoid pain and discomfort.
But what if pain and discomfort are part of God's plan to sharpen us and make us stronger?
To help us identify with the pain of others and be able to minister to them better?
To shape our lives and hearts to look more like Jesus?

I certainly don't want to miss out on that!

It's a choice. We choose to either embrace or shun discipline and training in our lives. And we choose to either embrace or harden our hearts to the pains and hard times that come without asking our permission.

If we allow God to mold and form us through these things, His magnificent beauty will be manifested.

"Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms,
you would never see the true beauty of their carvings."
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Unless I Had Believed...

Christmas just came and went, seemingly so quickly! I hope you had a great Christmas with family and friends! Mine was wonderful.

It's comical to me how after Christmas Day is over, people are immediately counting down the days until Christmas of the next year. Speaking of, as of now we have about 362 days and 14 hours until next Christmas.

I wonder why? Maybe it's because Christmas is a time of hope, of celebration, of believing. And quite honestly, our world continues to throw at us reasons not to hope, not to celebrate, not to believe.

I can't help but wonder what the people of God were thinking and feeling before Jesus, the Messiah, their long-awaited Savior, came into the world. For centuries they waited. Centuries! Did they still have hope? Did they find anything to celebrate? Did they still believe the Messiah would still come one day?

I'll be honest, I have a hard time holding onto hope and continuing to believe God will answer a prayer or fulfill His promises after only a few short weeks. I can't imagine being one of the people waiting for the Messiah for years upon years upon years! I'm afraid I would have given up all hope & just started believing that God had forgotten me or was punishing me by leaving me in my miserable state.

The reality is that we're going to believe something. The question is, what do you believe in times that seem hopeless, when you see absolutely nothing good happening, when the world tempts you to quit believing in goodness, to quit believing in God? Do you believe God's promises, or do you believe that nagging voice that speaks against everything Scripture and faith say are true?

One of my favorite Scriptures that I cling to in hard times is Psalm 27:13-14:
"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD." (NASB)

I can't imagine where I'd be without Jesus in my life and without God's words of truth to give me hope and help me keep believing. And I can't imagine what I'd do without friends who help me keep hoping and believing. These are entirely gifts of God's grace for which I am eternally grateful, and they're available to us all.

Worthy of All Praise

What speaks to you of God's greatness and majesty?
As for me, it's nature. And particularly the sky.
It's also Christian music.
Mix them together and I'm in Heaven. :)

One of my new favorite songs is one that's actually been around awhile but has been re-recorded in a new edition:
"How Great is Our God (World Edition)" by Chris Tomlin

Not only does it have the original words in English, it also includes these other languages: Hindi, Indonesian, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Zulu, Africaans, and Mandarin.

Listening to this song, I can't help but think of these words of Revelation in the Bible which talk about the end of time when people from every nation and tribe will worship God:

"After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a mighty shout, 'Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!' And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell face down before the throne and worshiped God. They said, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and forever. Amen!'" Revelation 7:9-12

God just leaves me speechless sometimes. This is one of those times. There's no limit to His greatness and even our best words of praise and thanksgiving to Him can't begin to express this. I love Him so much!

Name above all names
Worthy of all praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God

Not Chosen... Or Am I?

Ugh. I am so tired of being single!! Seriously, I’m beginning to question whether there is anyone out there for me.

But what’s so bad about that? Why can’t I just be content being single?

It would be fine, except for the uncomfortable underlying sense that I’m not wanted. Not loved. Not chosen.

And yet, as a friend pointed out a few days ago, my perspective is so not the perspective of others. In her eyes, she instead sees me as someone who knows she is chosen and is waiting for the man God has chosen for her, rather than settling for someone else.

The Bible also tells me my perspective is not God’s perspective. God says I am loved. He believes I am beautiful in every way. I am His. He has chosen me.

Not only do friends and the Bible remind me of the truth, but God has also given me a precious dog as a companion to remind me. If I’ve ever questioned whether God loves me, sees me, or has chosen me, I now know He does because I’ve seen it through my dog, Tipper.



Sweet Tipper loves to love me. His favorite place to be in sitting in my lap, laying his head on my stomach and looking up at me. Every moment he’s awake, he’s intently watching me. He doesn’t take his eyes off of me. He is enthralled with me. He loves me, and I know it because he shows me.

Tipper’s been in my life for about 5 years, but it’s only recently that I’ve begun to see his love for me as an expression of God’s true and extravagant love for me. Maybe because I’ve been asking God to show me how much he loves me. Praying for God to satisfy me with his unfailing love so I can again be content and joyful, rather than discontent and always longing for more.

“The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.” Psalm 45:1

“All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” Song of Solomon 4:7

“…You are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.” Isaiah 43:4

“I have loved you with an everlasting love…” Jeremiah 31:3

“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!” Psalm 139:17

“…You are the God who sees me.” Genesis 16:13

“…You are…chosen…royal…holy…God’s very own possession…” 1 Peter 2:9

With one look, Tipper’s eyes express all these things to me – different facets of God’s love for me, without even a word.

And no longer do I need to question whether I am chosen. Whether God sees and cares. Whether I am loved. It is clear. Thank you, God.

If you’re struggling with some of the same questions I have been, I pray that God would give you little revelations of His love for you too. Through pets, friends, and His very personal words to you in the Bible. You are very loved. Wanted. Chosen. LOVED. WANTED. AND CHOSEN.

Beneath the Surface

I just spent a few hours with my friend Teri. In the course of our conversation, we talked about dry ground. Friends we know are experiencing “dry ground” in their lives right now. The two of us in our own ways have experienced dry ground in our lives recently too.

But unlike we frequently think, though we only see dry ground, that does not mean nothing is happening. There’s a lot going on beneath the surface, things that we can’t perceive or imagine.

Maybe you’re in a place of dry ground right now. God’s not speaking nor is He making His presence known. Be encouraged that God is doing a beautiful work below the surface of your dry ground.

Did you know there was a period of 400 years in which the people of God heard nothing from God? The prophets had no more messages to deliver to the people because God was not speaking. The people had heard the prophecies of a coming Messiah, the promised Deliverer of God’s people. And yet, where was He? Where was this Hope of the World? Talk about incredibly dry ground – not hearing from God for centuries, nor seeing the fulfillment of God’s promises. And then…

Then Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the long-awaited Deliverer of God’s people, came into the world. “[He] grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground” (Isaiah 53:2).

Earlier in the prophecies of Isaiah, the prophet wrote this about the coming Messiah:

“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot – yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

He will delight in obeying the LORD. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked. He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.” (Isaiah 11:1-5)

When this promised Deliverer, Jesus, came He was such a breath of refreshment and new life for those who had prepared their hearts for Him, who were ready to receive the Promise.

As we look toward the season of Christmas, at the end of the month we’ll enter a season called Advent. Advent is a period of preparation and expectancy, when we’re watching and preparing for the coming of our Deliverer.

If you’re weary and wondering if the promises of God will ever be fulfilled in your life, hold fast. God’s promises will always, always, always be fulfilled.Let this dry time be a season of preparation for you, a time to wait expectantly for the coming of God’s promises fulfilled.

You are dearly loved, and God working something beautiful beneath the surface of your dry ground.

“If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place.” Habakkuk 2:3