January 2007

COURAGE. Innovation and risk to forge the future are necessary to living a life of faith - advancing the gospel and movement of Jesus Christ.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the absence of self.” - Erwin McManus

How often is it, when faced with opposition, adversity, or trials we shudder, turn away or retreat? Matthew 11:12 says, “From the time of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of God has been FORCEFULLY ADVANCING and FORCEFUL men lay hold of it.”

After months of transition, I have finally found a job that I believe God had created for me. Saturday I was asked to be the Client Services Director of CareNet (Crisis Pregnancy Center, Pierce County), Gig Harbor. Our Grand Opening is scheduled for tomorrow. CareNet, a pro-life ministry, shares the gospel of Jesus Christ with each young woman we meet with, seeing many women respond to God and choose life for their unborn babies.

But today, a bomb threat was made to the building in which we are housed.

My first response was for my safety, motivated by fear. And it was then that the Spirit of God reminded me of His presence within me. I remembered my own Core Value #7 - COURAGE. My second thought was, “I will not shudder in the midst of opposition!”

And so I will ADVANCE ,with the Spirit of God, proclaiming freedom and hope found in Jesus Christ.

all this for our GREAT and GLORIOUS King!

January 31st, 2007 © allthis

God is creating for me a home. I grew up in Portland and never questioned home or belonging before, until He burdened my heart for the Romanian people and Romania. When I first set foot in Romania, it instantly felt like home and my lungs expanded for far greater than I thought was ever possible. I felt unleashed, fully alive, FREE. In returning to the States, I felt like I was leaving “home” to go back to the place I had always known, the place I had lived all my life. I’ve lived, longing for home, longing to return to Romania, but God has moved me to Gig Harbor, for a time… And it is here, a place I anticipated for transition, that is becoming home. Although a piece of my heart will always be in Romania and I will always consider it home, what I do know is that the place is RIGHT HERE, where He has placed me. And as Erwin says in Soul Cravings, “Home is ultimately not about a place to live but about the people with whom you are most fully alive. Home is about love, relationship, community, and belonging, and we are all searching for home.”

January 25th, 2007 © allthis

“He who calls, calls out to me and calls me out. He calls me from all that I know, all that is comforting and all that I love to a life of RISK, a life worth living - fully alive.” (July 2005)

 
I LIVE FOR YOU
written by Joby Harris

Father hear my praise. There is no known place low enough for me. To bow down properly.

No, I won’t fear, what I do not own. The past Lord, or a future unknown.

I stand tall as your child O God, Victory’s all around me.

I live for you and nothing else. No battles ever fought by myself.

You’ve made a path on solid rock so with faith and courage I’ll walk.

 

Everyday I become more content, more satisfied. For the past three years, my heart has been expanded and has grown deeper in love. I began to love, that which was beyond myself. I began to accept, that which was beyond anything I could have dreamed.  I began to desire, that which I believed He wanted for me.  Recently I have had a change of heart. I have lived, believing I understood what sacrifice and contentment were and now I realize that I’m only beginning to understand. My heart bleeds, but I love Him more. 

It has always been more about a person than a place.  It has always been about courage and risk.  It has always been about passionately pursuing the very heart of Christ, growing in intimacy with Him.  It has been about learning.  It has been about healing.  It has been about brokenness.  It has been about wholeness.  It has been about hope. 

My mission and vision is clear.  What I do know is that the time frame is NOW and right now the place is RIGHT HERE, where He has placed me.  So, as Proverbs 16:9 has become a vital verse in my life, I believe it wholeheartedly, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”  And there is nothing in which I am more confident or content in than my beloved Savior.

And this is the life of faith…

January 18th, 2007 © allthis

What will I be remembered for?

A couple of weeks ago someone challenged me in a sermon to consider this very question. As I have gone back to this question time and time again, my heart continues to be stirred. Not only “What will I be remembered for?” but more honestly, “Will I live my life in a way that I will be remembered one day?” We all long for significance, to make a difference, to be missed if we aren’t around. We long for meaning…

I hope and pray that my life would make the difference that God intended and created it to make.

…that I passionately pursued the very heart of Christ above anything else.
…that I invested my life in Christ in the lives of others.
…that I loved people deeply.
…that I was willing to risk in life and love.
…that I lived fully alive.
…that I was a voice of hope to the hurting world around me.
…that all of my life was an offering to Him, “all this for a King”.

January 2, 2007 © allthis