This is my friend Shelby.  She frequently visits the shelter I help at.  I met her there last Christmas when my family and I went to go help serve Christmas dinner.  She usually wears sunglasses and a cute hat.  I’ll join her towards the end of lunch and she’ll tell me what the squirrels say when she drinks her coffee in the park.  She also shares about her daughter in New Mexico, her kittens, and the life she once knew a long time ago.

Yesterday, she approached me and asked if I would pray for her.  She said she was on day 5 of her “new life”.  She couldn’t tell me what her new life was all about or what it entailed but she knew that she needed a new life and that she couldn’t live it without a little help.  I was honored to sit next to her and say a prayer.

I have to admit, I wonder why she asked me.  We’ve never really talked about faith before.  Most of the time I just sit and listen.  When I’m not sitting with her, I’m usually helping participants fill out assistance forms or hauling bags of dog food for our pet assistance program.  It’s not like I wear a t-shirt that says “Licensed Minister” and I know she’s never read my blog.

The only conclusion I can make is that maybe all that sitting, listening, smiling, and serving has made an impression that no amount of preaching, shoulder patting, scripture quoting, or advice giving could ever make.

Whatever the reason, I’m glad she asked me to pray and I’m still praying that her “new life” continues on to day 6, day 7, 8, 9, 10 and keeps on going.

I saw this video posted on Ally Garner’s Tumblr and I thought I’d share it here.

We tend to see God as we are instead of as He is.  The fact is He loves us and desires us and our lack of “performance” does nothing to stop that love.

Here it is…

Thanks for reading. You can subscribe to my blog by Clicking here.

For a long time I’ve believed that the truly hard things in Life were the “big” things.  You know, taking that missions trip, making that financial pledge, praying like crazy every day.  Something really adventurous might be starting a ministry or learning a new skill.  Lately I’ve come to realize that those things aren’t really that hard at all and that the things I once considered no brainers are actually quite soul-wrenching.  Here are a few examples of what I mean…

Forgiving others.  Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to truly forgive someone?  We say the words but the pain is still there.  Letting go of the bitterness, anger, and feelings of betrayal can feel exhausting at times.  These things are like the neighborhood cat that won’t stay away from your house!  You get rid of them, and you never hear them sneak back up on you.

Letting dreams go.  Eventually, we have to just let some dreams die.  The truth is, there is only so much room in our lives and, if we’re going to be faithful in the position God has placed us in, we have to let some things go.  Let’s face it, can we really be a good father, husband, or whatever and still pursue all our “great ideas”.  That’s not to say some dreams aren’t God given and He will give them back to us, but the right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.

Trust.  Do we really trust God with everything?  We’ve sang about trusting, declared our dependence, and spoken confidently about giving everything to Him.  The truth is, we don’t mean it.  When the rubber hits the road and a real life choice is before us, we chicken out, rationalize, or make excuses.  We hold on to relationships we don’t belong in, we stay in jobs that aren’t right for us, and we hold on to our money because we’ve financially overextended ourselves.

Be loved.  Why is allowing ourselves to simply be loved so difficult?  Here we are the very center of Abba’s affection and we won’t just let him lavish His love on us.  How do we do this? I’ll tell you how…

By forgiving others, we allow God to heal the pain they’ve caused us.  We release them from judgment and His love just seems to settle on us like a tailored coat.

Letting go of our dreams allows God to lead us in new directions.  He longs to take us by the hand and walk with us to new places.

Trust is the truest sign of love.  As we trust God with everything, I mean really truly, holding nothing back everything, we experience God’s love in a whole new way.  Trusting God is like saying, “I receive your love.  Let’s do life together!”

The great thing about receiving God’s love is that it makes it so much easier to love other people.  It’s unselfish love because it doesn’t have to be returned or reciprocated.  It doesn’t have to be returned because no love, that any person gives us, can be compared to The Father’s love.

So choose to do the hard stuff.  Forgive, let go, trust, and receive His love.  The rest will seem like cake!