Living The Dream (Part 1)

by Stacy

"Livin' The Dream!" Most of us say this phrase with a lot of sarcasm. We say it to make the person laugh who asked us how we’re doing because we all can relate that life can just be dull sometimes. My husband and I are in a transition period right now. Yeah, you know how fun transition periods are! Lol! Trying to find a house to buy, trying to start a family, trying to find out where God is leading us next. Well, let’s remind ourselves that we each have a dream that was placed inside of us by God. This dream is specifically for us to do the will of the Creator.


Dr. James Merritt, a pastor in Georgia and once the President of Southern Seminary in Kentucky, recently spoke about living out the dream that God has placed in our hearts and how we can fall for things to get us off track.

In this day and age when everyone worships celebrities and desires to look and to act like them, it is easy to fall into the trap of comparison. The pressure is on to keep up with the Jones’. It’s not a secret that our society is teaching us everything contradictory to the Word of God. TV Shows called “Revenge”, “Betrayal”, and “Scandal” just perpetuate this way of life.

I’m not even just talking about a cultural level of comparison, but also a comparison even amongst ourselves as sisters in Christ. You and your husband may have been trying for a baby for years and your best friend just got pregnant. Please do not fall into the trap of comparison or jealousy will rear its ugly head and drive a wedge between your relationships. Our envy of others devours us most of all. God’s relationship with you is just as special as it is with your best friend. He sees you and is with you. God has a plan for your life---through you, with you, for you.

Following Jesus is making God-given dreams come to life. Remember Joseph?? He had a dream. Let’s look at the beginning of his story in Genesis 37:5,

 “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”

Now I have a brother and if he came to me with this dream, my reaction would totally depend on how he presented it to me. lol If he came to me proud and haughty, I would probably call him a punk. But if he approached me innocently and sincerely to tell me that God gave him a vision, I would keep it in mind. Who knows how Joseph presented it. All we know is that his brothers didn’t take the information so well.

It also didn’t help that Joseph’s brothers were jealous because their father favored him over all. But God doesn’t say that everything will be perfect in life. He doesn’t say to behave according to how someone approaches you. I’ve got some work to do over here. He warns that jealousy is worldy in 1 Corinthians 3:3, and that we are not to behave in jealousy in Romans 13:13. The point here is that Joseph had a dream. God showed him over and over that He had a purpose.

Warning: You will be criticized, even mocked, for carrying out the dream God gave you. For example, Alexander Graham Bell’s naysayers said in a Western Union internal memo, 1878, “the telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a practical form of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” Responding to an offer from Alexander Graham Bell to sell his telephone company, the Western Union president William Orton said, “What use could this company make of an electrical toy?”

The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advised Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., in 1903, saying, “The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty—a fad.” Being from a Chevy family, my Dad would probably have a joke or two about Fords at this point.

And Joseph’s brothers mocked him saying “Here comes this dreamer.”

See me next time in the Round for Part 2!

Stacy

*Scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

The Struggle Is Real

by Joy

“The struggle is real.” It is a phrase used ironically to make jokes (full definition here on Urban Dictionary).

For instance, if you say, “My cell phone charger cord is too short to reach the bed,” someone may reply, “The struggle is real.” Of course that struggle isn’t really real. However, as Christians, we are in very real struggles everyday. Paul says in Ephesians 6:12,

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."(ESV) 

What Are We Fighting For?

Last time I wrote about finding my identity in Christ alone, and I know I am not the only one who must fight to believe that truth. Whether our personal struggle sounds silly or serious to us, that struggle is real. Regardless of if we keep on building our identity on something that seems small, such as clothes or home décor, or something that seems bigger, like body image or infertility, it is still the fight to believe Jesus is the only one who gets the final say in who we are.

Establishing my identity on things other than Christ does not always look like the discouragement I talked about last time, either. Sometimes I instead swell with pride, ego inflated like the Goodyear Blimp so that from my altitude, I can only look down on others. Though that may seem like an opposite problem from the first, they are actually just two symptoms of the same problem.


Both are symptoms of the kind of problem Paul describes in Romans 1:18-25. I fail to honor God as God, allowing other things to tell me who I am instead of listening to Him. I know where I should find my identity because God has told me, yet I so often exchange the truth for a lie and look for significance
in the created rather than the Creator.

How Do We Fight?

When the Holy Spirit is gracious to convict us that we are basing our identity on something other than Jesus, how do we fight to put our faith in Christ alone as the source of and ultimate authority over our identity? Fighting for something like faith often seems slippery since it is not just behavior modification. So I want to give you a few practical ways to engage in the battle.


First, ask God for faith. Faith is a gift given to us by God (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 12:3). It is not something we conjure up on our own. So it follows that if we want to grow in faith, we ought to ask the One who gives it. Be honest with Him about your weaknesses and doubts.  Then beg God to help you believe that your identity is in Jesus, that it is more than enough, that there is nothing you can say or do, acquire or lose, that will change who you are in Christ.


The Bible also says that faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). Did you catch that? If we want faith, we need to hear from God in the Bible. We need to regularly listen to Jesus in His Word if we are to persevere.  We need to be reminded of Truth so we are able to fight the lies. And as Ashley talked about earlier this week, we need a community of other believers to remind us of Truth, as well.


Finally, look to Jesus. The author of Hebrews reminds us to look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). I love this quote from Robert Murray M’Cheyne, 

“For every look at yourself take ten looks at Christ.” 

It is so easy to get caught up in ourselves, either in pride or shame, but we miss the point when we focus on self. Jesus is the point. Focus on Him. Consider His identity, He who is fully God but became fully man. As your eyes are fixed on Him, see if you start to care less about the worldly thing begging for your attention and realize that nothing makes sense but to define your life by Christ. See Him humbly emptying Himself, exchanging our identity for His, so that when the Father looks on us, He would see Jesus.


See y’all in the Round!
Joy

Practice Parenting

by Susan

Though I am not a parent yet, I do have three godchildren. The oldest is 21 and the youngest is 5. The middle godchild, age 10, is the one I spend the most time with because I pick her up from school each day, and she spends snow days and the summer vacation days with me. Of the three of them, I would say she is the one I try my future parenting skills on the most.

I've known Kendall, who I usually refer to as Little Mamas (that's a story for another day), since she was one year old. It has been a blast watching her grow up and turn into a caring, compassionate, intelligent young lady. She has strong female role models in her mother, grandmother, and dare I say, me.

As I said, I think how I interact with her is how I will eventually interact with my own children. I give her good doses of love, encouragement, and reality. Her mom is amazingly tolerant of all three, even though I am sure sometimes she wishes I would tone it down a little on some aspects.

I recently asked Kendall what kind of mom she thinks I will be. She said, "You will be the one who goes up to the school a lot... You should consider home schooling." You know, she is probably right. One of my frustrations when I help her with schoolwork is how the curriculum has changed since I was her age. Sheesh, I know that I am getting old when I lament the lack of social studies and citizenship being taught. I like to joke with her that I am going to sit in on her class one day.

Concerning social studies and citizenship, I feel the need to step in and fill her in on the things she isn't getting a steady diet of at school. As a result (and with the support of her mother, I don't want people to think I just do these things without permission), Kendall has helped out on a political campaign, saw a presidential candidate, and can name senators and representatives from various states. That is very important to me, because I want her to grow up with a healthy understanding of how our nation works and have the confidence to get involved in the process.

My biggest and most important "parenting" has definitely been in the area of her spiritual growth and teaching her the importance of helping others. Again, it is something reinforced by her mother as well. In April of 2013, my family took in a family friend who had just been released from prison after serving 11 years. The charge is not important, but it did require some conversations to happen. He was going to be living with us, and therefore interacting with Kendall. Her mother and I discussed what to tell her about the whole thing. At first, we decided that we would just say he moved back to town, especially since she wouldn't really see him right away.

Because Kendall is wiser than her years, she caught on quickly and already had the story figured out by the time we told her the details. At her age, she would have every reason to be scared by the thought of an ex-prisoner being around. Instead, she didn't bat an eye. She has since become one of his biggest advocates. It makes me so proud that she gave him unconditional acceptance. .

This is the girl who writes letters for me to take to people in Guatemala, the girl who makes rainbow loom bracelets for a missions auction, the girl who watches out for bullying and puts a stop to it. She does for the least of these. I couldn't be prouder. Her mother has done a wonderful job, and it is my pleasure to re-enforce those values and watch her grow into a woman of God.

So what kind of parent will I be? Surely I will be one who goes up to the school alot. More importantly, I will be one who teaches her children that they have a place and an obligation to further God's kingdom by seeing individuals for who they are and showing kindness and compassion to  them along the way.

See you in the Round!
Susan

Lessons from the 2014 Snowpocolypse

by Jenn

On what should have been my son's first week back to school after Christmas break, we had a rough patch of weather here in Northwest Ohio. The count was around 21 inches of snow in less than a week, plus drifting snow and subzero temperatures. I do not think anything could make me wish for summer more than that!

When it was all said and done, school was cancelled five days in a row. Mothers for miles around did a collective scream and started to get crazy twitchy eyes as that last day's cancellation was announced. Oh yes we did!

Here is a list of what I learned during Snowpocolypse 2014:

1. You know you have cabin fever when the sound of Curious George sends you into fits of hysterical laughter. And then you really lose it when your son says, "Mom, my video just said we are like Lima beans to sharks".

2. In a desperate attempt to get away from a momma with her crazy twitching eye and hot chocolate mustache, children are willing to brave subzero temperatures for long periods of time.

*That was purely for your amusement. And now for my real list:

1. It is amazing how life slows down when you are literally snowed in. It made me realize how quickly my three boys are growing up. I need to stop blinking. Sometimes I long for when they are older and less annoying more mature. I hear the lie when I say life will be easier then. Truthfully, it will just bring different challenges. God has things to teach me in this time and place if I only let Him.

2. It became evident while in close quarters, that my husband and I were clearly not in control of our house. As parents who desperately want our children to love Jesus, we had been focusing on showing our children how loving and gracious God is by giving them lots of grace (a good thing, right?). We came to realize, though, that for spiritual training to take hold in our children's hearts, we first must require obedience and respect from our boys. The Bible teaches that without the law, we cannot know that we sin (Romans 7:7). If we want our children to realize their sinful nature before a good and loving God, we need to teach them the law and expect them to follow it.

3. As many moms find out, it is very easy to get caught up in the tyranny of the urgent. We forget to make time for less urgent but still worthwhile pursuits. Lately, I have been walking around in a mental fog, not thinking deeper than what is needed for my daily survival. I have been neglecting doing things that I enjoy. Of course, do let us not forget the sleepless nights with a three month old baby. As a result, I have been a bit of a grump. However, I am a daughter of the King, and am loved and cherished. He does not want me to just survive, but to thrive. All of those enjoyed extra things that have been neglected are part of who God made me to be and I should not forget about them. So, I am picking up my camera again. I have my eye on a few books to start reading. I am so excited for the opportunity to write for this blog. Each of these things will help keep my head out of the foggy daily grind, as I strive to share how God is moving in my life.

What has God been teaching you lately?

4 Secrets to Mommy Perfection

by Kim

That’s right Moms! I am a Mom to 7 children and I am perfect! My entire house is organized, cleaned and runs smoothly 100% of the time. We have such a clear daily routine that my children never throw fits or whine. I grow all of my own food organically. This Momma also exercises daily, never raises her voice, has children that eat their veggies and always play well with others. Want to know how I do it?

Kim's Mommy perfection secrets:

1. Laugh at what you just read and realize that does not happen for me, or anyone else! If all that does happen for you, please share your secret.

2. Forgive ourselves for the mistakes we have made.

3. Forgive our children for the mistakes they have made.

4. Laugh again and realize that these energetic little humans that are learning are the exact reason we became Mommies.


Now that we got that out of the way… I wanted to get real with you. The real lowdown of motherhood is that we have no idea what life will throw at us. We are going to maneuver this tremendous blessing called motherhood that is rich, scary, beautiful, tiring and fun at the same time. Everyone around us will give their opinions on everything we should be doing.


We will have moments where we feel we are rocking out the best job in the world. We will also have moments where we shut ourselves in the laundry room with a cup of coffee for a few minutes just to wrap our head around the day ahead (or maybe that is just me). Wherever you are in this journey, know that you are not alone. I would love for you to join me as I share my journey of love, adoption, large family living, and life in general, as a wife to one and Mommy to seven as we live in the round.


See you in the Round!
Kim

When Faith Gets Hard

by Ashley

When we truly experience God’s Grace and the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see Jesus’ finished work on the cross on our behalf, life is never the same. The lifelong adventure of following our Savior begins. We are excited, joyful, and maybe even a bit over-eager as new believers to share with everyone what God is up to.

Life Takes Over

However, somewhere along the way that energy begins to slowly bleed out. Life takes over and if we’re not careful, our First Love becomes routine. Good things like meeting with other believers and studying the Bible morph into a list of obligations rather than life-energizing opportunities. And all of a sudden following Jesus is just hard.

How can we regain the energy that formerly came from a thriving understanding of our faith?

According to the Bible, one way to reinvigorate our faith is to consider the faith of others. Read about the heroes in the Bible (see 1 Corinthians 11:1). Read biographies of those who have gone before us (see Hebrews 13:17). Do not forget to identify godly women in your own circles who have an admirable faith. Paul says in Philippians 3:17,

“(Sisters), join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”

Foolish Choices 

In college, I struggled to reconcile my understanding of the Christian faith with my rebellious lifestyle. I would defend Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), but my foolish choices birthed debilitating frustrations that ended up making me miserable. My life was a reflection of the discouragement that had overtaken me due to a lack of understanding about how amazing God truly is.

www.uncannytoys.com/drink-hat-red

One day I met two girls and it was obvious they were both in love with Christ. While I have no delusions that their faith was perfect, I saw these joyful girls who loved life, sought adventure, and worshiped Christ through it all. At first, I watched them from a distance. I heard stories of things that you truly can only get away with in college - deciding one night to go downtown in pajamas to see what kind of reaction they got from passersby, buying beer-drinking hats to fill up with soft drinks, again for the sake of funny looks, and other crazy stunts. They did the things I only wish I was brave enough to do.


From these girls, I also saw glimpses of a faith that I previously thought I possessed, claimed to have, and wanted for myself so desperately. I heard stories about meeting people of other faiths, befriending and sharing the Gospel, and fostering relationships with them. I heard about random stories of God’s miraculous hand at work around them. I saw how they loved people with a love that did not make sense.

A Grand Adventure

Through their example, I learned so much about the character of God. I learned that He is not a stodgy, vapid Being. I discovered through fresh eyes that He is active in the lives of His people. He truly transforms hearts to beat for Him. He continues to take us on a grand adventure, whether or not we notice. And when we passionately pursue Him, our faith flourishes and others take note.


These two women very quickly became good friends of mine. Although I never quite grew the....um... ovaries to join in their college antics, my joy in Christ grew exponentially.


This, I believe, is one of the many reasons we are wired to live in Biblical community, especially with other faith-filled women. Sometimes, we all need a helping hand, and honestly sometimes we need to be pulled along.


I’m not sure that I’ve ever shared with these two college friends the extent to which they unknowingly pulled me closer to Christ. Of course, I still struggle with seeing the excitement of living for Christ. I see my Bible gathering dust on my table and the inner-debate begins, much the same way I struggle to do the dishes. However, it is my deepest desire to remain in mutually-encouraging community with other women who will, if necessary, drag me forward in my walk with Christ with their words and experiences. This blog is the result of that desire.

How are you being pulled closer to Christ? Who in your life has been an encouragement in your walk?


See you in the Round!
Ashley

“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Hardest Battle

by Megan

“Above all else,

guard your heart,

for everything you do flows from it.”

-Proverbs 4:23

Ladies, do yourself a favor and guard your heart…

It is a phrase that we have all heard before. It is the advice that I have given friends who have just begun dating someone. Looking deeper, it is a phrase that can sound quite ambiguous. What does it really mean to guard your heart?

I have come to find that, contrary to popular belief, guarding my heart is not confined to romantic
relationships. Instead, this idea should permeate all areas of my life. A wrong relationship is not the only way that my heart can be tainted and altered in a negative way. I need to also guard my heart from the world we are living in- from media, culture, societal pressures, individuals, expectations, and norms.


Think about all you encounter in one day: People you met, conversations you had, media you were exposed to, opinions and expectations that were thrust upon you... All these things influence every aspect of your being. They can either have a positive or negative impact on the way you view life, yourself, and God. You have the liberty to decipher the ultimate truth.


As a woman living in today’s society, I constantly feel the pressure to be smart enough, skinny enough, less emotional, kind-hearted, compassionate, not too sensitive, have a little more this and little less that, do this, not that. The world does a great job at telling us who we are to be, rather than encourage us to embrace that which we already are. This pressure can be quite crippling…it can impair us.

“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.” 

–E.E. Cummings, 1955

The ultimate standards that the world creates hinder our ability to see that there are no actual standards anyway. God does not have a single standard for His creation. He made each of us in HIS image and likeness, and therefore, we are inherently valuable. Life becomes beautiful, enjoyable, and liberating when we embrace the differences within us, as the things that make us gorgeous.


I do not have to seek this world or anyone in it to give me value and worth (and neither should you). I have already found that worth in God. Seeking value from the world will do nothing but let us down, disappoint us, and leave us feeling empty.


For most of the past 10 years, I tried to be someone I certainly was not. In fact, I tried to be and do EXACTLY what my friends were doing, wearing, saying, and liking. Independence, what’s that? Conforming was essential. Why? Well, because I wanted to do everything in my power to be accepted in my environment. I was tired of being the one who stuck out, the one who did not have a “place” in her surroundings. Fear drove me to act like those around me as best as I could. I was afraid that I would not be liked for who I really was, so I did my best to attain the characteristics of the people around me that were socially accepted and liked by others.

I felt like a slave to this world. It was not until I faced this idolatry head on, confessed, and repented to Jesus that I finally reached freedom…freedom from the bondage of this world and its foolish, irrational, unattainable standards. Believe me, this was not an easy process. It was excruciating. However, immediate peace overwhelmed me. God began pruning me to be more like Jesus. That rarely FEELS good, but good ALWAYS follows. For the first time in my life, I was able to stop trying and stop pretending to be anyone other than who the God Almighty has designed me to be. Insert a sigh of relief.


Once this happened, I was able to love God, others, and myself more deeply. When idols are removed from our lives, we are able to live freely.

IDOLS ARE ENSLAVING --- GOD IS FREEING.

IDOLATRY IS SELFISH --- GOD IS SELFLESS.

Simply put, guarding our hearts means to monitor what is going in and out of it.


It does not mean removing yourself from painful circumstances, difficult people, or even to isolation from the challenging realities of this world. Removing ourselves completely from this culture in order to guard our hearts is not helpful either. We have to figure out how to balance living IN this world, while also refusing to let our heart become a PART of it. There are huge ramifications for permitting the world to alter our hearts to its liking. We quickly become less of who we have been designed to be and less like our Savior.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Whatever we allow to enter our heart will affect what comes out of our heart.

Matthew 15:18 says, 

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”

Luke 6:45 says,

“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

See ya in the Round!
Megan

“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.