Can't We All Just Live Together...

I am surrounded by some very opinionated people. I'm pretty opinionated myself, I'm just not very confrontational so if we go on and on in a debate and you refuse to accept I'm right, then I'll probably just nod and say, "OK", while thinking, "you are so wrong, I feel so sorry for you" :-p

Anyway, I'm constantly inundated by people's opinions particularly on being a single "Christian" woman. Ick!, I hate that term. It sounds so death-by-plague-ish. This is the point of my post.

I'm sick of people villifying other people for their choices on how they choose to handle the seasons in their lives.

You see posts like, "why do you think the grass is greener on the other side, just find happiness in being single" or "you'll never be content when you're married if you're not content by yourself" I don't know how to describe these statements, I'm sure you know what I mean though.


There's definitely truth to them. I'm just like, on the other side of the coin, quit shaming people for their feelings! I, for example, am perfectly content in who I am and what I'm doing in my life. I can be content and still be hungry for more. Every time though, that someone tells me something like, "Did you go to Bible school for Jesus or for a husband?" mostly other single people, by the way, they imply that I have a reason to be ashamed of my feelings. My truth is that there was room in my heart for both Jesus and dating and that is no more right or wrong than your uni-directional heart. I've got some pretty awesome things going on in my life, I kinda have a desire to share them, there's nothing wrong with that? Don't put me in a place where I have to hide or be ashamed or be fearful about the condition of my heart when I know and God knows that I have no reason to fear or be ashamed.

So, yes Christian world, I am ready to mingle and grab coffees and dinners and it's NOT A BIG DEAL and it's nothing to be ashamed or fearful of!!! Oy Vey!!! You'll either sink or swim, but you'll never know by sitting in the middle of the boat with your eyes squeezed shut.

"So, yes Christian world, I am ready to mingle and grab coffees and dinners and it's NOT A BIG DEAL and it's nothing to be ashamed or fearful of!!! Oy Vey!!!"

So I know it's kind of ironic writing that people should stop writing to disparage others while it may sound like I'm disparaging those people myself, so I'll end my rant here. My point is just to ask, can't we all live together? Handle your seasons the way the Holy Spirit and your community is leading you to handle it, and let me handle mine the same way. There's room for all of us.

September 2014 Insta-Recap

ready for Church!!! :-)

 

back home after the best day at registration. Feel incredibly privileged and ecstatically happy to be in Dave Ward's RG this year, heard so many great things, experienced so many great things, his interns are friggin awesome. Secretly praying i would end up in his group, since I pired out my heart to him as my summer pastor, didn't think I would end up in his group becasue they told us our summer pastrors would not be our rg pastors but I did & it feels like home already :-) This is gonna be a great year! #bssm2 #bssm

Everything about this is what I want to be every day. Living God's way, having affection for others, exuberance for life, serenity and a willingness to stick to my commitments without them feeling like drudgery or a chore...it always surprises me how the Bible hits it on the nail so well all the time #lovethatWord Gal 5:22-24 (MSG)

#Redding your beauty astounds me! Sunrise today means 2nd year #bssm worship team tryouts!!! Good luck to everybody trying out, it's going to be a spectacular year for you! Can't wait to see where you lead us.

Finally get a homework assignment on a book I've already read! Here's to head starts and second time arounds! :-) #billjohnson

representing the Motherland today at the International Student Orientation #bssm #AfricaPride

Made it to the 1130am Holy Spirit Movie Premiere phew! Busy day today! Thats Todd White and Brian 'head' Welch from Korn sharing their hearts right now. Happy Saturday folks! You can watch the movie free in bethel.tv for 48 hours

met some incredible people AND another girl from Kenya here for 1st year!!! Woohoo! That makes 2!!! #bssm2theworld

Love this girl!!! @makariasriel #latergram Happy 20th!

 4 Sundays waking up extra early are done, last small group training today! :-) I'm thankful to get to spend the next few months completely submerged in getting as deep as I can get in learning God, wherever life takes me I know this season will have me ready

 Today on the blog: How to Enjoy Life in the In-Between - When you're past the Past but have no idea what the future holds http://tinyurl.com/lgv5pw8

Seeing worship in the front page of The New York Times definitely made for a cool morning. Totally blessing #Hillsong Brian Houston and Carl Lentz and all God is doing through them #andalltheearthwillshoutyourpraise

http://tinyurl.com/mjwh39k Today on the blog, "How to Trust in God's Faithfulness" because for the past 2 weeks between classes, both my church's services, podcasts etc it seems God's not changing the message from #process, #timing and #trust

Woke up to this beauty, now because its Friday and there's no school, I'm heading back to bed 😉 #sunrise #redding #norcal #igers #igphotooftheday

 Poetry night hangs at one of my favorite places, this is how we get turnt up in Redding! 😃 #fridaynighthangs

New School Photos are up!Second time getting my picture taken by the super talented @heatherarmstrongphotography #bssm #bssm2 #schoolphotoday

Hung this up in my room tonight because I'm missing one of my best friends @kevgishe 😩

1. God can use anyone regardless of whether you feel "prepared enough" in the moment. All He needs you to do is show up; everything else is His job. 2. God is good 3. God is who He says He is 4. Prophesy is fun 5. Prophesying is easy 6. I have the best Revival Group Family in the world (pic) #bssm2 #retreatweek

Happy Birthday to the most beautiful person I know. She's literally God's representative to me. She's my Jesus with skin on. She's constantly standing in the boat with me when plenty of others have abandoned ship. She takes care of me. She's kicked my butt when I've needed it and still ends up cleaning up my messes. She's both my mother and father. She is so smart and enterprising. She is Proverbs 31. The other side of my coin, my siamese twin in the spirit because my victories are her victories, my prayers are her prayers, my blessings are her blessings. I can't believe how much I love you mom. 😍😍😍😘😘😘

Excited to head out of town for #bssmretreat tomorrow and for the next couple of days. Excited, mildly nervous; full of anticipation for what God's gonna do.

Back in Redding!!! Craving a recovery shake after all the camp food we ate the past 2 days #loveRedding #goodtobehome #vscocam

The sky looked really cool tonight

#ootd in honor of these jeans I got my 1st time shopping at #Forever21 on our Chico trip. Customer service wasn't the best experience, but these jeans ARE especially for only $7.80 (ksh.700) #mostcomfortablejeansEVER 😍 #readyforfall

my mom bought me this denim jacket when I was probably 12 or younger. I'm 24 now so this jacket is nearly half my age and still holding on 😤 I'm sure there's a prophetic statement in there somehow

joannefuraha Shout out to my Bestie @meshiwani for the top and the bracelet that she MADE! Further proof that without her I would be walking around in fig leaves. #Wedges from #ClothingRevival, #leggings from #Forever21 #ootd #churchoutfit

excited to see what this journey holds #inovermyhead #asusual #bestplacetobe #youthpastor #leadership

Passion Dies When...

Every week, I listen to a couple Church's podcasts and I thought it would be fun to add those here on All Things Good, because, trust me, they are good. Steven Furtick is one of my favorite preachers. Elevation is currently on a sermon series dubbed, "Meant to Be" and this is the third sermon of the series.

For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health . . . These are the vows we take when we get married - but in our current culture we don't always understand the depth of the covenant we're making. In marriage, two are supposed to become one. So why do so many couples struggle with staying together? In part 3 of our series Meant To Be, Pastor Steven explains four ways our life-long relationships are challenged - and shows us how building an anointed marriage begins with the debt-canceling grace of Jesus.

 
Main Points
Passion dies when:
1. Celebration becomes Frustration
2. "We" becomes "Me"
3. Debtors become Collectors (Matthew 18:20-29, once you have a payback mentality, it's very hard to get out of it. Maybe the guy hadn't fully accepted the grace He just received and was trying to still pay him back. If you insist on living under the system of payback, you'll always be paying back.)
4. Covenant becomes Contract

Living in a Transitional Town

Redding is often described us a catch and release center. Every year a bunch of talented, creative amazing people come for revival, get infected and go back to change their worlds. I'm sure being a local is hard. Being a Revival Group Pastor harder still. You let people into your world who are only going to be there for 8 or so months before they leave. No amount of FaceTime or Skyping fills the gap of not seeing someone you've shared your life with daily for an extended period of time.

I get that. But in a world where we believe in an unlimited God, who can do the most crazy outlandish things, I don't want to limit him in my friendships or relationships.

It would be tempting as a local to take to shutting out out-of-towners or internationals from your circles or from forming deep friendships with them, let alone dating(!). You are responsible for you. Nobody has a right to claim your space or get in the middle of what you're building. I get the need to protect your heart, it's important to surround yourself with people who will be with you and your family for the long haul.

But, I also feel like I should encourage people to not limit God and not limit their hearts' capacity to grow and expand and heal. To not limit the depth of friendship that God wants you to experience in whatever season. Sure, a lot of special people pass through this town, and they'll keep coming. But, what if this particular special person had something so great to offer you or your group, that God had to send them from the other side of the world to give it to you and you missed it because you were afraid of the next summer vacation?

We pray for God to use us to change the world, but we ignore the guy from Slovakia living next door. I'm totally biased, but it just doesn't sit right with me. The exclusivity that belies a culture of community. I firmly believe if you help someone achieve their vision, you help yourself achieve your own.

Give people in transition a break, we didn't move across the country/world to break your heart, we're just trying to live our lives and it's scary for us as well. Speaking from an internationals' point of view, we have Uncle Sam on our back, living below the privileges entitled to his kids which is great. God willing, Mother Africa will be waiting with open arms for me ;-) I have a home. Uncle Sam's privileges are one thing, but we don't need to live below the privileges of love and connection entitled to all God's kids.

If we're doing this and we're in this thing for eternity, wouldn't I want to know the people I'll be working besides in the Kingdom? This is your chance! Covenant has to override distance and space. Bill Johnson and Randy Clark don't live in the same city, but are they still brothers? Yes. Kari Jobe and Brian Johnson don't live in the same town, that didn't stop them for writing "Forever" together. Brian Johnson and Ben Fielding don't live on the same continent, they wrote a song together too. Carl Lentz went to school in Australia and came back with an Australian wife to plant an Australian born church in New York City. The precedent is there. Distance doesn't break friendship. Laziness does. Not being intentional does.

In my opinion, as scary as it is to put your heart on the line, it would belittle God to live like I didn't believe He's in control of our seasons and interactions. It would be bordering on the edge of hypocrisy to believe God can raise the dead to life, but He can't make my life richer after mine or someone else's transition into a new season.

#lovethesojourner

Deut10:18

How to Enjoy Life in The In-Between

I'm great at having a vision for the outcome of things. That would be my gift - I get a picture, I can see it and that picture influences my spirit and mind and basically my life. The problem with visionaries though is since we have a picture of what God's going to do in say, 10 years, we have a hard time accepting other people's opinions because we've seen it! Also, it's easy to grow weary in the waiting, like, "argh, God, that felt so real! When is it going to happen!!!" so we end up not valuing the present or the small things.

Paul says in Hebrews 12:2 everything that Jesus put up with, He did because He had a goal set before Him - the joy of finishing in and with God. That's how we survive. It's how we wake up everyday and go to work because we have our paycheck in mind. It's how we hold our tongue and keep our love on, because we want to have good relationships. It's how we pay bills upon bills every month, because we want to have hot showers, use the internet and charge our cell phones.

It's easy to do a hard thing when you can see the great reward at the end of the tunnel. I remember once being involved in a project at work. It was after hours so of course I was picturing the over time check in the mail. At the end of the assignment though, my boss said, "great, thanks for the help!" as he packed up and left me open-mouthed gaping at his back. I was livid and frustrated and couldn't believe how hard I had worked even when nobody was watching.

The question God put on my heart, is, would I have worked any less or performed below my ability had I known the outcome? Would I still do it; live my life the way I do, if there was no earthly reward at the end of it. If the reality doesn't match my expectations and all I get is a divine pat on the back at the end of my life. Where would my heart be then?

Today's "How To" is a simple one. How do I enjoy life in the in-between, where I'm past the past, hopeful for the future, but in reality, only have a vague idea of what it looks like and all I feel like I'm doing right now is fumbling around trying to get there. How?

1. By making God the joy set before you.
Sad to say but, money lasts but a second, relationships can fade away, life is fleeting, jobs come and go, the economy is a constant ebb and flow. Even with our best intentions, decisions are made by other people everyday that make any joy we aim for in this world shifting sand.

Don't get me wrong, expect great things and chances are you will get them. The whole message of my life is to know and have people know the reality of living heaven on earth, the power of testimonies and the living, active power of God to fulfill our hopes and the dreams He's placed in our hearts.

All truth is held in tension, so as we hope and dream big extravagant dreams, we need to remember that "there's far more than meets the eye, the things we see are here today and gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever."
(2 Corinthians 4:18 MSG)

To be fully intimate with Him is the most extravagant dream of all.

BSSM Chronicles - Part 1: 1st Day of 2nd Year!

I had a couple of posts lined up for this week, but, wow, I have to write about my first day of school today.

Today was my 1st day of 2nd year.

To say I was unprepared would be an understatement. 

First if all, we had a book report due today, yes, on the 1st day. I had it written a long time ago, I was just too lazy to figure out how I was going to print it. Let me tell you, there's a lot more pressure to have your "stuff" together compared to last year. Last year, my assignment would be late and I'd be like, 'whatever I'll hand it in tomorrow, so long as the deadline hasn't passed, I'm good!'. This year, not so. This year, I'm a leader. My time should be spent pursuing leaders, growing my mind and my heart, falling in love with Jesus and all these other things that can't be done with an empty homework bin looming over my head. So there I was during our 30 minute recess speeding back home to finish editing and rushing to the print shop to sort that paper out. It felt like I was filming Mission Impossible and Tom Cruise was sitting beside me in the passenger seat. I literally had a countdown timer on in my phone. It was exhausting and I was probably better off staying at school and handing in my paper late tomorrow.

Second, I was unprepared for the depth we're expected to venture into this year. 1st year turned me inside out pretty good; I was emotionally exhausted at the end of each day. I thought this year would be different...yeah, it wasn't. Cue me, driving through In n Out for some emotional eating & getting sick an hour later because I haven't eaten a dirty burger in 4 months and it was a bit of a shock to the system.

Anyway, today wrecked me. Kris Vallotton spoke on Apostleship and the difference between denominational-ism and apostleship. Gabe talked to us about our expectations and our pastors expectations of us. Then, there was some phenomenal worship by Kristene and Matt that I was nowhere near ready for. Then there was Sarah and Dave...

Sarah spoke about the importance of falling in love with Jesus. How loving Him should be tangible, we should feel that love permeate the atmosphere. She used the example of John G Lake healing a woman simply from feeling God's love for us and for this woman in that moment and he gave the woman a hug and she was healed. Then she played us a video with this guy leading some mind blowingly beautiful worship and pouring out His love to God and some BEAUTIFUL stuff happening in the process, that video changed my life.

Dave, spoke and God spoke through him. Of the many brilliant things he said, he said we need to stop fighting our weaknesses and rest in them because in our weaknesses Christ is made strong. He proposed that the devil might then be afraid of our weaknesses more than we were because he knows the potential for strength that they have. I like Dave because he's real, he said he knew his teaching isn't easy to apply - sitting in our weakness? I mean, naturally when we're covered in slime all we want to do is wash it off, but he said that in all our trying, we forget the main thing which is rest in God. We try and try and follow 10 step program after another and always end up in the same spot and these are the moments the enemy loves: when we're distracted and beating ourselves up because then we're as ineffective as we will ever be and cut off from the life renewing power of God. What happens though, when we decide to keep our focus on God rain or shine? He called for a vulnerability in the place of our shame. For us to break the walls of hiding & self preservation down and to be raw and honest.

I'm extremely privileged to be in Dave's group this year. All of our pastors are amazing - wise, kind, generous, affectionate, insightful - I'm excited to simply be in the same room as them. At the same time, I have to say it's scary. It's scary trying to figure out what pursuit looks like, what coming under fatherhood looks like, what not hiding behind a smile and a laugh and being raw looks like, what opening up and being known and seen looks like, what servant hood looks like, what I as a leader will look like, how to grab this year for all it's worth and not miss a thing? I want more than anything to soak it all in, be intentional about growing and becoming and being uncomfortable and being able to sit in uncomfortable situations and be fine with it, still I.am.scared.

It's different though, because even in my disheveled state at the end of the day, I know I need my Spirit to be triumphant as I go to bed, because this year I can be confident in what He's done. I don't need 2 days of solemnity to make myself believe it. Hence, this late night post, trying to rev up my Spirit to be triumphant (apart from the junk food hangover). I can go on; compared to last year when I'd carry the emotional and spiritual load for days. 

I don't want to speak too soon though!

That's it, day 1.