Love Life Challenge

Recently I’ve come to a conclusion: There's more to life than just getting married and having kids. There's a mission greater than me to drive me forward Right Now. Jesus is better than life.

I know this sounds so elementary. But for most of my life I have lived like getting married was the end all goal. My thinking went something like this, I want to be a woman after Gods own heart and get married and raise a Godly family. Even though I would say my main goal was to serve God, my actions and most of my thought life betrayed what my main goal really was. 

What as it? Romance, a handsome guy, a fairy tale, a cozy home, a dream wedding, a beautiful ring, intinmacy, a place where rough times rarely invaded. 

Is it bad to desire marriage and a family? No. What was bad for me was that it became my idol. It was what I really wanted. The older I got, the more my desire grew and with desire my idol got a little bigger. Soon all I could see was what I didn’t have. I became bitter over what I hadn’t been given and felt like I deserved. 

Last year God loving demolished my idol. That is a long story to be told another time. Suffice it to say that God revealed where my heart was and He lovingly broke me. I praise God for all the work that He has done in my heart and life to restore me.

But in part of this healing and restoration I have come to the above mentioned conclusion. God created me for a bigger mission than marriage. 

In the past I have wisely nodded and said something in the affirmitive. Now it causes me to think. If that is really true, than how can I LIVE like it's true? How can my actions and my thoughts convey the message that I am coming to believe with all my heart? That Christ is better. That the life that He has for me is so much better than the one I planned for myself. 

Enter the Love Life Challenge. I've spent so much of my life up to this point wishing things were different or wishing that this guy or that guy would work out. Sadly I've missed so much of what was right in front of me. The more I look to Him, The more I see how amazing He really is. The more I look around me at the gifts that I have been given, the more I see Gods loving hand. The more I see His good blessings, the less I wish away the time He has given me. 

So for the next 31 days I’m going to take a challenge. Every day I’m going to post about something that I love about the life God has given me Right Now. I want to open my eyes to the blessings and joys that He has placed all around me Right Now. 

It's so easy for me to get caught up in what I don't have, what I wish I had, what others have that I want, and so on. But for the month of March I want to be intentional about seeing and appreciating the life that I have been given. The blessings God has poured out on me. The things I get to do. The life I get to live. 

My goal in this is to more fully enjoy the life that God has given me. 

Are you up for the adventure? I am. Let's go!

See you tomorrow!

Simply Grateful # 14

Day 14

Dreams that God has allowed me to live out, small and big. Being in a movie, getting a kitchenaid mixer, acting in a play, writing plays, having close friends, making a lovely cross stitched nativity, learning ASL, and growing in the knowledge and love of God. And I’m grateful for the dreams that I still have to live out.    

Simple Honesty: Part 6

Life and Dreams – Go with the flow

When I was young I had all these dreams for how life would turn out. I dreamed of being the lead actress in a movie, of being in a play, of meeting a handsome guy and …. The dreams went on.

And through the years, God has helped me make many of my dreams come true. I’ve been able to be in a movie, I’ve been in a play, and I’ve been able to make the strong friendship with other believers that I always dreamed about.

But in-between times of fulfilling dreams there have been times of preparation. These have been some of the hard times. I can’t see how God is going to work things out. I’m waiting for the next step. It’s in these times that God has grown me the most. It’s in waiting for His timing that I know where He wants me to use my talents.

There have been times when I’ve whined. I wanted it all now. I wanted to have the dream now. But some of my worst falls have been when I tried to take what God was not giving. It’s made me realize that it’s always better to wait on God’s timing.

And when dreams do come true, it’s been some of the best times of my life. One of the tricks I’ve learned is to go with the flow. No I’m not perfect at this either, but I’m learning. When you’re waiting, live in the moment and enjoy the growth process. When your dreams come true, live in the moment and enjoy what God is doing in you.  

Just keep living and enjoy what God is doing. Go with the flow. 

Simple Reasons For Film

One of the things that I did over the summer was produce a short film for a small film festival. This was an exciting and nerve-racking process. Nerve-racking because I put a lot of pressure on myself and was the director of the film. Exciting because I got to see God work in some wonderful and amazing ways. Through the help of Filmmakers Academy and its teachers I was able to get the tools that I needed to make this short film into a reality.

But now the work is done. The film has been edited and sent off to the film festival judges. Now I await to see what they think of my work.

A hundred questions come to mind. Will they like my work? What will they think of the message? Is there anything I could have done better? Should I have done worked harder on it before I sent it off? Should I have ….? Okay as you see I think a lot about this film. But over all these questions there’s one that keeps surfacing to the top, surpassing all others. Pushing it’s way forward and waiting for an answer. Will this film be a blessing? Will it turn the eyes of those who watch it back to God?

I’m sad to say that sometimes my motives haven’t been the purest. I got distracted by the prizes, the fame, and wanting to be validated personally. As I thought about these reasons for the film, God helped me remember another reason I did this film. A reason that puts all others in the dust and gives me a reason to go forward. I enjoy making films for the glory of God. I enjoy telling a story that points people toward God.  And this summer God gave me two chances to use film to tell a story.

So whether I win or not, I know that God is in me, working through me to accomplish a greater purpose. If lives are touched with His love, nothing else matters. Nothing.

Simply Be

Source

Don’t run from who you are – The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. So true. God created each of us differently. We all have different passions, feelings, hopes, dreams. 

Embrace them. Be the person that God has made you to be. There will always be people that think you are strange and will try to convince you that you are wrong. Just let it slide. 

Live as the person that God created you to be no matter how out of the box that is. 

Simple Dreams

Daydreaming is often discouraged today. We are so busy trying to work on the present task or jumping to the next one, that we don’t take time to think about what the future could hold. 

There are so many possibilities. There are so many things that You can do for God. 

So dream. Dream about what God might call you to do. Dream about the plans that God has for you. Dream about our home beyond this world.