Wheat or Weed?

Matthew 13:24-30 says: " 24-26 He told another story. "God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too.

27"The farmhands came to the farmer and said, 'Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it? Where did these thistles come from?'

28"He answered, 'Some enemy did this.'

"The farmhands asked, 'Should we weed out the thistles?'

29-30"He said, 'No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.'"

God has recently been doing a lot of weeding in my life, and boy is He finding creative ways of doing it! Pastor Steven Furtick preached on this in his first sermon in the series called "Where are they now?". He talked about how when God is working in your life, the enemy is always working the night shift. That's why, when you think everything is about to get easier, everything may seem to fall apart. And in essence, some things may. However, we need to trust God that the things that seem to fall apart do so for a reason. You see-in this farmers field, as in any, when the weeds and wheat first start growing, they all look alike. How in the world would you know yourself which to pull up? God is pretty much telling us to let him do it. Give him the job of pulling out the weeds in your life and He will know exactly what to pull and what to leave.

I'll give you a moment to let that all sink in.

In beginning this series, Pastor Steven didn't know he would be throwing bricks at me....and showing me things that I needed to see a long time ago. The second sermon in the series talks about Spiritual Hearing Loss. Can I get an amen????? He pointed out that a lot of times, we hear God well on one frequency or another. In the frequencies that is easy to hear Him. However-when it is that middle frequency, or the one hardest to hear, where He may call us to difficult obedience, a lot of times we willfully tune him out. We only hear Him when it is easy. Man-that was a brick if ever I saw one. Sometimes in our lives, we only hear what is convenient. "God, I will do what you say or go where you say to go. But this area of my life? The one where I stick my head in the sand and pretend that everything is perfect? I don't need you there. I can handle that one all on my own, thankyouverymuch." And when that happens, you start to gradually get away from heariing Him at all. I don't know about you, but I want to hear His voice every day...in every area of my life. Sure-there are times when I don't want to. And there are times when I fight him tooth and nail-because I know what He is telling me to do will be the hard road. Thankfully, God doesn't call us to have the faith to finish-He only calls us to have the faith to start. Let's hear that again- God doesn't call us to have the faith to finish. He only calls us to have the faith to start. I can start anything. I can look at something for what it is anytime. If I only have to take that first step, it really reassures me that I can handle, tackle, overcome, or deal with anything He is asking me to. You see-I have come to learn that this is easier than letting something simmer and fester...and create a mountain out of what was only a mole hill.

Well then-Can you now see why I love this church and pastor? His preachings rock my world. He is authentic. He tells the church where he struggles. He has no desire at all to pretend he is perfect himself. He preaches from his own experiences. And I like it. I love it. I want some more of it. I love having "aha" moments in church on Sundays, and realizing what I have been doing wrong so I can fix it.

For now, I will continue to let him pluck my weeds from my wheat. And boy, am I ever ready for the harvest!!!

Weekly....er, Monthly Wrap-up!

I realize I have not, nor have I ever, been a regular blogger. I am going to try to remedy this situation, but I make no promises! We will do a monthly wrap-up/prayer list. 'Cause it's what I do. It's how I roll. Ahem.....

1. I recently posted what I was looking for in a pastor/church. Well-I do so believe I have found it. In Elevation church. In Charlotte. And it is rocking my world. If you are friends with me on facebook, you have probably seen the numerous quotes from sermons on there. The hubs and I are getting ready to start the "New Thur 30" series. We bought the cd's today. We will be reading the New Testament in 30 days. I am preparing to strap myself in and get deep in God's word. For the first time in my life, I am absolutely thirsty for it. Be on watch for more quotes from that one!

2. There are SOOOOOOOOOOO many changes going on in our life and the lives of my closest friends. It is so hard to wrap my head around all of them. Thankfully, I don't have to. I just have to keep walking forward oblivious to what else is around me. As Pastor Steven said today: "Resistance is fiercest when you are on the border of a breakthrough". Ahhhhhhhh.....I need to write that on post-its and paste them around my house.

3. Please, please, please pray for me that I would learn to embrace the people that God has placed in my life FOR. A. REASON. I know that with some of them, it will be a spiritual battle...one that I have the armor for....but the battle will be long and hard. He always finds a way to keep my tank full enough to push through whatever I'm in or facing, but I have a feeling that the things and people I am facing as of recently will be my greatest battle yet. But-He will refine me in the flames. Can I get an amen?

4. We have discovered in the last few weeks that Seth has quite a sharp sense of humor. Now, he has always been a funny kid...but funny in the "quirky" kid sense of the way. But in the last few weeks? He has been coming out with humor akin to that on "The Office". All I can say is.....It makes my heart swell with pride. And that he must have gotten that trait from me. Ha!

5. Praise alert! Praise alert! There is a couple that we are associated with that have been having horrible marital issues for a couple of years now. They are now pursuing interests with the church and seem to be diving in to try and repair their marriage. All I know is that you can tell they have been surrounded in prayer! Praise the Lord!

6. We have some friends that are having a horrible time with their job right now as well. Please add them to your prayer list....You can just pray for T and M....God will know who you are talking about....that they would learn to trust that He will provide. He is enough..... They are in the midst of it, and I know they will see it on the other side. We all know how hard it is to see it in the middle of it, though.

7. Um....that one little Sophie? Sheyna's baby? Well, just let me say..that she is getting to the age that I can relate to. And people? You couldn't handle the preciousness.....You just couldn't handle it. And her big brother Levi is quite the little protector. He told me just today that I couldn't take her home with me. He will definitey change that tune in a few years!

8. We had a trip to Gvegas this week! We met up with some friends-Ashley and Chase (www.supertoddsquad.blogspot.com) (Are you kidding me? Did you really think I would ever accomplish being able to put a link up on here? Oh, ye of little knowledge) (How many parentheses can I use in one post, you ask?) (As many as I want, of course.) I think we had a pretty successful trip down, and hope they did too. We will soon all see!

9. I was going to end the post here, but realized it was an odd number and if I did that I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. SO I will tell you that the hubs and I are having a relaxing night at home now, decompressing from the last few days, watching Armageddon. CAN YOU SPELL DEPRESSING??? We just saw the part where he says goodbye to his daughter. I think I will ask my hot husband to bring me an ice cream cone....because I can eat my emotions away (and this is why I roll) and think of happier things!

10. Ok. I promise to end this rambling post now. My hot husband is looking at me strange b/c I am crying and laughing at the same time. Why do I laugh, you ask? Well that's the "Hot debacle of 2010". You wouldn't get it. Only the other person like me on the face of the earth will. And that's ok. B/c she is my person. And she should get it.

Goodbye and goodnight!

Prayer

Please go to www.delightfullycliche.com and read about a friend of mine that needs your prayers. I have never "linked up" before...so here goes nothing! You can read the story firsthand over at www.ministrysofabulous.com. There is no way for any of us to know what to say....but God knows what to do. Whatever is supposed to happen is already taken care of for her. Please join me in praying that Amy Beth keeps her eyes on the one that holds her in His hands....that she can remember-even in the darkest hour of this-that God doesn't have a plan B. Thank you for taking the time to read and pray. Let's all watch God work!

*Update: Surprise, surprise...my links in the post didn't work so you will have to type the web address in the old fashioned way....Sorry guys!*

Proving Grounds

*I have had a post brewing for a couple weeks-and I promise you this blog will take a turn for the happier....Just please indulge me, one more time. Will you? I am worried about being able to get this onto a page where it makes sense. Here's hoping!

There are a lot of changes brewing in the lives of several people that are the closest to me right now. HUGE changes. Not just choosing which color to put on your kitchen wall. Life changes. In the midst of these changes, we are having to all face some really hard things. God is counting on us to listen to Him and build our trust and faith in Him. To say that these changes are increasing our prayer life is the understatement of the century.

Here is a little admission about myself. I don't do tough situations well. I am a "tuck tail and run" kind of girl. Now-I HATE this about myself. So, I am not doing it anymore. End of discussion. I made this decision a couple years ago. The thing I realized though is that I have never been around my friends when things like this start to happen and life gets hard. Really hard. Sure-I have been around for the small things-but never anything of this caliber. I mean, both of the friends closest to me are looking at 180 life changes...and so are we!!! I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do friendship when friendship is truly at its hardest. I know how to do it in theory. Hard times aren't theoretical. I know how to do happy times of rainbows and skittles, too. That's not reality. Fact is-I am learning how to do friendship at it's hardest on a daily basis. Trial by fire, so to speak. I love it. When something happens that's a setback or hard, I'm glad I am there to hear about it. When God works something out on one end and things look better, I am celebrating with them. Why in the world did I ever choose to miss this in my past life? My mother has always taken the easy option, and never would do anything that required work. I want to hunker down and dig in side by side with my friends. I want to see the ugly, the dirty, the pretty, and the victories! I want to get my hands dirty in friendship. I just have to continue learning how to do it. This is a time in my life that I am on the proving grounds for friendship. I have to prove that I can go the distance. I have to prove that I am not going to have mechanical failures that take me into pit row until the hard part is over. And when we all cross that finish line and God's plan for these changes is revealed? Well-I'm just saying that it is going to be one heck of a party with my people.
And there are no different people that I would want to see standing at that finish line.

*PS-You know I married a Nascar husband when I can write a serious post and refer to pit row. What the heck??? When did this happen to me? ;O)

Looking For Home

My mind is whirling with 10 million things today. Not unusual, but if I quiet myself with Christ, I usually realize that only a couple are of importance. I would like to bend your ear a little and discuss a couple of them here today. It is, after all, MY blog. And I can bend your ear if I wanna-just be forewarned that I am going to do it so if you wanna click to something more interesting....this is your out.

Still here? Ok-here goes.

We are looking for a home church. Granted-we are probably going to be moving in a couple of months, but I would like a regular church to attend in the mean time. I am struggling with not having complete control over the raising of Seth, and it is important to instill the values that we know to be true as much and as well as we can-and put the rest in God's hands. (This is definitely a hard lesson He is teaching me, and I am having a hard time learning. Just being real, people.) I have ran into several problems when we look for churches. They are as follows:

1. I want to go to a church where the people are the church. I want to have somewhere to go that has outreach programs for the community and people that are really involved. It has been heavy on my heart lately that people in the US are ready to help other countries, but we have people in our own country going to bed hungry. I want to feel proactive in this. While I can do it on my own as well, and have been, I would love to be in a group of like-minded believers that are actually doing something about it.
2. I want a church that has a really great youth program. Even if we are here for a little while, I want Seth to feel like it's ok to be a believer. I want him to know that even if some people find it uncool, there are other people his age that are in the same boat and still making the right choice. Now-I realize that the number of people in a youth program or the amount of activities they do are no direct reflection on how good the program is. I would rather him be in a group of 10 kids that are authentic believers and their parents are the real deal, as opposed to being in a group of 100 kids who are Sunday christians. There is absolutely no way to call this until you have been somewhere for a while. We are just praying about it and trusting God to put us and Seth in the right place.
3. I want an authentic pastor. I realize that pastors, and their families, are real people. However, when you choose to follow a calling into the ministry, you agree to be held to a higher standard. After all, God has entrusted you to present the gospel to people, and for heaven's sake-you are being paid to do it! I want to know that my pastor is a pastor to his family FIRST, and to the church second. I want to know that he is the same when he goes home as he is when he stands behind that pulpit. If he struggles with something, then it is the body of Christ, the church, that should be praying for him and with him over it. It shouldn't be something that is hidden away in a closet, while we all put our heads in the sand around him and pretend it isn't happening. The most important thing is-I want him to be someone that I will trust to lead my husband as the spiritual leader of my home. I want to feel good about the teachings that my husband will receive from him and put into place in our house. I know these pastors exist, I am just having a hard time finding one!
4. Before I get emails telling me how I am sinful, etc. let me just say that I am fully aware that I sin every day. EVERY SINGLE DAY. I am honest about them. I lay them out. I struggle. I admit it. I am a work in progress-and will be until I get to Heaven. But the key word there was work-I am working on it. I refuse to go into the mode of pretending to be something I am not or putting up a facade-I will tell you my struggles, and if you can't deal with them then you can walk away. If more pastors were this way, I think our churches in general would benefit from them being authentic.

Whew-The other thing on my mind is finding a place to call home. We are struggling with things needing to fall into place all at one time. It is hard-and I am having to learn to give up control-again. But I am learning. The place we are looking at now is Greenville, SC. I would love to live there-but we are still waiting to see if it is in God's plan for us to be there. We shall see.

I will end this on a happy note. We are on our way home from Washington and soon to be out of the snow! Hallelujiah and amen! We have to make a stop in PA first, but at least we are headed east! I hope you all had a wonderful, and blessed Easter!