God Has a Way...

God has a way of working out things in our lives.  For a while now, I have been planning on writing a resignation letter to the Women's Ministry Team at my church.  I had decided that I wanted to concentrate solely on youth ministry.  I couldn't adequately do what I felt I needed to in both ministries, so I went with the one where I felt like God wanted me to be.  I do desire to do some women's ministry, but at this time, I feel like God wants me to stay working with my middle school girls.

I waited and waiting writing that letter though.  I'm not sure if it was just mere procrastination, fear of confrontation or maybe I was actually waiting on God, but in any case, I'm glad that I waited.  This past Sunday I was handed a thank you card and a flower for my service over the past year by the women's director.  Apparently God had been working behind the scenes and the women's ministry was completely dissolved (in the form that it had been).  So now I don't have to worry about writing a letter of resignation, there's nothing to resign from.

Isn't it strange and great at the same time when God takes care of things for you?  I mean, we all say that we trust Him to do just that, but do we really?  Do we really trust that God will handle things for us? Even the things that are the most uncomfortable?  I've been teaching my middle school girls about the different themes of the Bible.  We've been studying about how God cares, comforts and takes care of us.  This past week we were reading Psalm 37 about how trusting God allows him to bring good to our lives.

Look at this...
³ Trust in the LORD, and do good;
         Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
 ⁴ Delight yourself also in the LORD,
         And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
      
 ⁵ Commit your way to the LORD,
         Trust also in Him,
         And He shall bring it to pass.
 ⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
         And your justice as the noonday.
      
 ⁷ Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
         Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
         Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
 ⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
         Do not fret—it only causes harm.

Trusting and delighting in God brings us the desires of our heart. In contrast, anger, worry, or being unpleased with life only cause us harm.  Could this mean that being discontented with life holds God back from bring blessings into our lives?   Are we tying God's hands every time we complain or worry about our lives?  Oh my, this really makes me think twice about how I perceive about things !

I was talking to my mom earlier this week about perspectives.  We can look at things through a negative or a positive viewpoint.  There's a mountain directly across from my driveway.  On that mountain there's a wasteland of dead kudzu vines among the bare winter trees.  But there's also some evergreens clinging to rich dark green leaves.  I can choose to look at that mountain and only see dead things or I can choose to look and see that life is still present in the evergreen leaves.  It's my choice what perspective I take, not just in matters of things I see, but also in how I choose to feel about things.  What if we made the conscience choice to alter our viewpoints to the positive side?  What if we found something purposeful or meaningful about everything we go through in our lives?  Would God be able to move more effective in our lives? I'm inclined to think so.

Another thing that came to mind while I was talking to Mom was the differences between boundaries and limitations.  Boundaries are set by God; ie right from wrong, black from white.  Limitations are placed by man (often ourselves).....for nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).  We shouldn't allow man's limitations to hold us back from God's possibilities.  Please join with me in not allowing your own perspectives, fears, worries or complaints to hold you back from experiencing God's best for you.

Photo 365: 2010

Yesterday I finally got caught up on posting all my Photo 365's to my Flickr page.  You can now view them via my side bar.  The pics began to take up my whole blog, so now they are all in one convenient place.  If you'd like to see the pictures in a bigger size, just click on the word Flickr and it will take you directly to my page.

I'm not exactly sure my pictures are in order by day, because when I added a new memory card, my phone mixed them all up.  But I almost certain that I'll be ok with that. ;-)

Ok I hope to be back this week with some actual posts. Life has me very busy lately and I haven't taken enough time to blog or write.  I'd like to change that.  Plus I'm dying to share some new design inspiration with you.

~*Melody*~

A Note From My Pastor

Our church has been using Facebook a lot lately.  It seems that people have really opened up to one another through this medium.  While at first I thought it was quite strange that people could be so friendly online, I slowly came around to the idea.  I questioned the validity of their friendship over and over, that is until I saw people actually communicating in real life.  There's a wave of joy that's come over our congregation and honestly it's quite intoxicating.  I have more desire to serve in the church again.  I personally haven't gained any new friendships from any of this, but God has awakened the servant inside of me again.

Today I received the following message from my pastor in my inbox.  He's been sending these out a couple times a week now for about a month.  I thought I'd share his encouraging word for the day to you all as well. 

~*Melody*~

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Encouraging Word
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Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God. 2 Corinthians 4: 1-2 The Message

It's amazing isn't it? When the whole truth is shared about what Jesus has done in you and I things really get exciting... What's happening in our families is nothing short of a miracle. It's not hype or exaggeration. We're putting Jesus on display - making Him famous, and He is responding to our worship.

I stand amazed really. I received a letter from an adult and a youth in our church this past week. Both said almost the exact same thing - that we need to get into God's Word and allow HIS TRUTH to wash us into holy vessels pleasing to His name.

Be encouraged today to put aside the mask. There's no need to play games. Be encouraged to get real with God. Be real! Walk a real walk! Talk the real talk!

We don't have to twist the obvious because we are all a work in progress. Let everyone see that we are God's children, each in the process of growing into His image. We don't use masks to cover our past or our failures. We are pressing toward His high calling...

However, more important than us pressing forward to reach God, He has initiated the first step in reaching out to YOU and I. It is HE who has initiated this redemptive plan. Thanks God we are part of His plan and have responded to His voice!

Because of such great love, we are NOT ABOUT TO THROW UP OUR HANDS AND QUIT! I'd encourage some of you to get down right angry at the enemy and put your hands on your hips, tilt your head back and look that ole' devil in the eyes and say, "Honey... I'm just getting started. I'm not about to throw up my hands and quit. You might have had me, but you sure don't have me now. I'm blessed. I'm favored. I'm God's child. I'm serving at my church. I'm reaching out to my community. I cannot be deterred, delayed, or denied. I will not quit!"

Blessings,

JG