Continuing Through the Pressure

   One Sunday morning I got up and went to church. The worship leader had just made the announcements and asked that we quite our hearts for worship. The piano player begin to play. Then, all of the sudden, "BANG, BANG, BANG." It sounded like a gun had gone off. People began to look around frantically. I looked around at all of the exits as I covered my ears. There was no one there. Then I looked back at my dad, who was at the sound system. He and my brother were frantically trying to shut off one of the microphones. Finally they shut it off. People began to laugh after that and we continued on with the service.
   The noise only lasted about 30 seconds, but tensions were high for those 30 seconds. I honestly thought someone had walked in with a gun it was that loud. After 5 seconds I realized what it was because I had worked with the sound system before. I also realized something else. The piano player kept playing throughout this experience. She didn't stop even though she had jumped as well. She didn't stop playing because she knew what her job was. She didn't stop because she trusted God.
   Many times when we go through times of pressure or problems we forget to trust God. We stop doing our job, which is to obey God. We stop doing our job, which is to trust God. Yes, the little song we heard as children: "trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus" is just as true today. The piano player obeyed God by playing the piano. The piano player trusted that God would protect her so she kept playing.
   What about you? Do you obey God and trust in him no matter what? What do you do when the pressure is on? Do you continue to follow God or do you fall away?

   Proverbs 3:5-6 and Romans 8:28

   Image from here. 

Where's Your Heart?

   A few years ago I taught a kindergarten class. One of my favorite subjects to teach is Bible. I just love bringing Bible stories to life for kids. Not only that, but helping students apply those stories to their lives is just a joy to me.
   I've taught Bible lessons before I worked at this school. I was a Sunday school teacher, taught Vacation Bible School lessons, and lessons at camp. But, teaching at this school was different. I taught Bible lessons every day at school and went deeper into those stories with the kids. Each story I taught I started to see a common thread: everything comes back to the heart.
   Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Why? They disobeyed because their heart was not for God at that time. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son. Why? He was willing because his heart was for God. Saul killed Christians until he met Jesus on Damascus road. Then he started to preach the Gospel. Why? Saul's heart originally wasn't for God. Then his heart changed, he repented, and he started to preach the Gospel because his heart was for God.
   Each of these stories teach us many lessons but my heart started to change while I was teaching too. I have always tried to do what God calls me to do, even when it's not easy. That year many times when I was teaching Bible I wasn't just talking to my students, I was also talking to myself.
   Have you ever had that feeling when you heart starts beating faster and louder, you keep on talking though you may not know exactly what you are going to say next, and after you say what you said you are thinking "how did I do that? Where did those words come from?" Those words did not come for you, they came from God. And, those words may be talking to you as well.
   The words that come out of your mouth lets people know exactly where your heart is. If you are asked to help volunteer somewhere and you say, "I can't I have to get some things done at home." Then you just sit on the couch all day. Where is your heart? If you are asked to go to a special event at a church, and instead you go out to eat, where is your heart? If you lie, cheat, steal, etc. To gain things for yourself, where is your heart?
   God lets you know exactly where your heart is by testing you. If you feel like you are not having good conversations with God like you used to then your heart probably is not in the right place. What can you do to continue to have your heart in the right place? God tells us in the Bible: read the word, pray to him, and trust in him. That's the way that your heart will be for God. That's how we can be like those in the Hall of Faith. That's how we can reach others for Him.
   So, where is your heart at? Do you have a good relationship with God? What can you do to keep having a heart for God?

   Ezekiel 36:26, Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 6:21

   Image from here. 

Redemption of Ant-man

   Years ago a movie called Ant-man came out. There is a man named Scott Lang in the movie. He just got out of jail. He was in jail because he stole money from the company he worked for. He was looking for a real job to reset his life. Once he earned a certain amount of money his wife would let him see his daughter. Scott has trouble finding a job because of his criminal past. He lies about who he is in order to get a job but is found out and gets fired. He has a friend who also has a criminal past. This friend tells him about a job where he could get easy money by stealing something that was in a safe at an older man's home. At first, Scott says no. But, eventually Scott gives in to temptation. Scott goes in the house where his friend said there is a huge safe. After much work, he cracks the safe. In the safe and all that is there is a suit. This leads him on a journey that he wasn't expecting. He has a choice he can continue to live life as a criminal, or he can become a hero and help others.
   What I find interesting about this story is it is a story of redemption. Scott messed up because he tried to right a wrong by stealing money from the company he worked for, since they were stealing from others. He wanted to stop being a criminal and start a new life. He wanted to be a hero to his daughter. Scott chose to go down the right path and became a hero. He could have easily gone back to being a criminal, it was what everyone was expecting. But, he chose the harder path. He worked hard to become a hero and made a difference in many people's lives.
   What about you? We all have hard choices. Maybe you think you are making the right choice because it's the easy one. The right path is not always the easiest. Many times the right path takes you down a hard road, but it's also worth it in the end. Do you have hard choices to make now? Will you choose to do the right thing even if it's hard?

   Ephesians 1:7, Galatians 2:20, James 4:17

   Image from here.

So Little Time: A Mother's Day Blog

   Imagine you wake up early, get dressed, eat breakfast, spend time with God, and relax for a bit in the morning. Then, you hear a bump. You begin to get goosebumps and you cringe. It is about to begin. Here they come: the children! They come running and bumping down the stairs. There is yelling, fighting, music blaring, and much more. This is the life of a mom.

   I’m kidding, sort of. Ha, I’m not a mom but I do have one. I am also a teacher so in a way I am like a mom to my students. And, if you are a mom, your house may not look like the one I just described. It may be better, or it may be worse. I know that no matter what your home life looks like you will probably be stressed at some point. It may even seem like there just is not enough time in the day.

For those of you who are not moms or do not work with children, here is a video describing everything a mom says in a 24 hour period but in 2 minutes and 55 seconds.

   Wow, that song was impressive. But, what is more impressive is all that mothers do in a short time. Time is a valuable thing. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Time has a way of changing things. Children are born, they grow, and they leave the nest. That’s just the way things tend to work. We never know how much time we will have with someone. That’s why we need to be thankful for the time we do get with them.

   Today, I encourage you to send a message to your mother thanking her for all she has done for you. Mothers I encourage you to be thankful for the time you have with your little ones. They grow up so fast.

Storms of Growth

   Crash, bash, boom! Those were the sounds I heard as I lay in bed. I opened my eyes and saw lightning flash in my dark room. Once again, I was awakened by a storm. I am a very light sleeper. If I hear a noise I will usually wake up, sometimes even noises in my dreams wake me up. Many times when I was younger I would wake up while it was storming and I couldn't get back to sleep. I would get close to sleeping then I would hear thunder boom again. Can you imagine how annoyed I was? (Some of you may be saying, "you've never had a kid. You don't know annoyed until you've had a baby keeping you up." You're right I don't know how that feels that's why we are talking about storms :D
   Storms are annoying for many reasons. They are loud, messy, bring floods, and create fires. Why do we need storms? Well, what good things do storms bring? They bring water to animals, plants, and people. They are beautiful at times. They show God's power. Storms help things grow.
   In life we also have storms. We have annoying problems come. These problems could be loud and bring destruction to people, places, and things we love. But, just like real storms, these problems also help us grow. When bad things happen we have a choice. We can choose to pout, complain, and wallow in our pain. Or, we can choose to let those problems help us grow. We can choose to walk with God. We can choose joy. These problems can shape us into better people. God is molding us into who we are meant to be. We just need to choose to see the lessons in our storms of life.
   So, what storms do you have right now? How are you viewing those storms? Are you trying to let those storms help you grow?

   Romans 8:28 and Proverbs 3:5-6

   Image from here. 

Faith, Confidence, Hope

   Faith. It is something that people have a hard time with nowadays. Faith and trust are basically synonyms. And, trust is something that is hard to earn but easy to lose. Is there anyone in your life that you trust? Another way of putting that is: if you were required to do a trust fall with someone, who would you trust to catch you? Many people would say family members. Some may even say lifelong friends. But, many would not say too many more people.

   What about God? Would you do a trust fall with him? Do you have faith in him even in hard times? In Hebrews 11:1 it says: “Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see.” If we call ourselves Christians that means we are to have faith in God. We are to be confident in him and his will. We are to have assurance that he does exist, he loves us, and he has a plan. That isn’t always easy; but, luckily, God gives us plenty of examples of people who had faith in him.

   In Hebrews 11 Paul shows us many different people who had faith. They faced many hard times, yet they had faith. They were promised many things: and sometimes did not receive those things in the way they expected, yet they had faith. They had people taken away, possessions taken away, and personal injuries, yet they had faith. Were these people perfect? No, but they believed in a perfect God.

   Those people are examples to us. When we face hard times we can know that God is trustworthy. When we face hard times we can know that we are not alone. When we face hard times we can have hope that this is not the end.

   So, do you have faith in God no matter what?

   Image from here.