Keep Trying

   My husband enjoys playing soccer in a summer league. He's played on the same team for years now. Usually he is recruited to play defense. That's the position he is best at and the team needs him there the most. This season though, he decided he wanted to play striker. He wanted to have fun and he barely played striker on that team before. He also wanted to score some goals if he could.

   At first, during the season, he played striker and the team struggled to win games. He kept telling the team he wanted to play striker though and they abided by his wish. As the season went on, the team began to struggle more as people on the team wouldn't show up to games. My husband decided to sacrifice his wish and played defense or midfield to help the team. That didn't mean he gave up on his goal. 

   During the last regular game of the season, he went to the game and discovered that four of the players who didn't say they were not coming didn't show up. They began the game with five field players against seven field players. They were playing against the second to last place team and my husband had hoped to score a goal that night but it didn't seem possible because of how few players they had. 

   At halftime they were playing 7 verses 8 with one substitute (it was a co-ed league so they needed to have two girls on the field but only one girl was there). The team kept pushing through in the second half even though it began to rain. My husband found himself in the midfield and he ran down the right side of the field. He made it past one defender, took a shot, the goalie blocked it but didn't catch it, my husband recovered the ball, he went around the goalie, he shot and scored. Just as he scored, the rain stopped. I looked over to the left and saw a rainbow. My husband hadn't given up on his dream even though the odds were stacked against him.

   That's what we need to do in life as well. We must persevere through it all. Hard times will come in our lives. When they do, we have a choice. We can choose to give up or we can push through. We can choose to trust God and work hard. 

   So, are you persevering through trials? How can you rely on God in everything?

Are You Awake?

    If you know me or have read my blog for a while, you know a place I like to go is Camp YoliJwa. It's a Christian camp that I've gone to for most of my life. While there, you do different activities. One of the things you do there is sing songs. There's a song that we sing in the mornings from time to time usually toward the end of the week because that's when everyone is tired. 

   The song goes like this: "I'm alive awake alert enthusiastic. I'm alive awake alert enthusiastic. I'm alive awake alert. I'm alert awake alive. I'm alive awake alert enthusiastic." There are motions with the song and the whole point of it is to wake you up if you are not awake. It is a silly song and usually brings laughter to the group. 

   Sometimes I think this song can relate to our Christian walk. We start to get tired and begin to just go through the motions. We don't feel like doing all the things, working hard, and trying to grow in God because it feels like work and we are tired. That's when Satan gains a foothold in our lives. When we begin to become tired or lackadaisical in our walk the devil comes in to try to break us away from God. 

   This is why we must be "alive awake and alert" in our walk with God. We need to stay strong and grow in him lest Satan step in to break us and our relationship with God. Not only do we need to be alert, we should also be enthusiastic about our walk with God. No other religion has communication with God. Sure, other religions can pray, but they don't hear back from their god. Our God wants a relationship with us. He wants us to talk with him and he listens. He gives us direction too, if we listen. Isn't that something we should be enthusiastic about? The creator of everything wants a relationship with us.

   So are you "alive awake alert enthusiastic" in your walk with God? How can you grow in God today?

Weather and the Good News

    I know we've all done it. We checked the weather for a certain day wondering if our plans would change or be cancelled. Then, on the day of our plans, the weather changes and we blame the weather person for getting it wrong. 

   Well, what if we didn't have weather people or the ability to look at a weather forecast? How would we plan events then? How would we know what to wear? We would have to go outside to figure out what the weather is. We would have to prepare our everyday lives like rain, snow, or sun might happen. Would we still plan events not knowing what the weather will be like? We probably would. 

   New question: what if we didn't have the Bible? I know, that's a big jump but stay with me. The Bible gives us a forecast of events that will happen in the future. It tells us how to live our everyday lives. If we didn't have the Bible, we wouldn't know those things. We wouldn't know what was coming in the future. 

   Even if we didn't have the Bible, I believe God would make the good news of the gospel known. People cannot stop God's plans from happening. Sure, we have free will, but God is the author of everything (look at Jonah, he had free will and chose to disobey God then he got eaten by a fish and changed his mind). God is a good father and he would let us know that one way or another. 

   Thankfully, we do have the Bible. That's one tool we can use to get to know God. It also tells us the forecast of the future and how to deal with problems that come up in our lives. While the weather person may get their forecast wrong, the Bible tells us the truth. We should be grateful to God for the gift of the Bible. We should also be grateful that we don't have to pack a rain jacket, umbrella, snow pants, a winter jacket, sunscreen, etc. everyday because we do have weather people; even if they get the weather wrong sometimes. 

   So, are you grateful for the gift of the Bible? How can you spend time in God's word each day?

Staying Free: Independence Day

   On July 4th each year, America celebrates our independence from Great Britain. All those years ago people decided they didn't want to be under Britain's rule anymore and, because of that, we have freedom today. People celebrate this freedom in different ways. Some people get together with family. Others just stay home and rest. Some decorate their homes. No matter how we celebrate, we have the freedom to choose how we celebrate because of the country we live in.

   Yet, there are some who still live in the bondage of slavery. I'm not talking about other countries. I'm talking about some of us still living in the bondage of sin. While we are free in America, we are not free in our hearts. God wanted better for us and sent His Son to set us free from that bondage. Some of us accept this freedom and keep it, while others turn back to bondage. 

   It's like if we would have fought for our freedom from Britain and then decided, no we don't like our freedom. We would rather Britain come back and tax us. We want to be under someone else's rule. Would America look like it does today if we would have decided that? No, it would have looked very different. God gives us a choice. We can choose to follow our sinful desires and stay in bondage to sin and Satan; or we can choose to get freedom in Christ's sacrifice on the cross and stay free.

   Many people choose the freedom in Christ but they go back to sin. It happens to all of us probably where we sin even after choosing to accept Christ as our Savior. But the problem is some of us choose to continue to walk in that sin without repentance. That's not freedom. That's choosing to go back to bondage. Sin is bondage. God offers freedom.

   How do we get free and stay free then? We grow in God. We learn about him and how to follow him. We read his word so we know how to say, "no" when Satan comes knocking. We choose to follow Jesus' example and do our best to emulate him. That's freedom. Freedom is having the choice. We choose who we follow each day. We choose if we will sin and eventually go to Hell or if we will accept Christ as our Savior, follow him, and stay free from our sins by choosing to continually follow him. 

   So, are you in bondage or free from sin? How can you continue to stay free from sin?

Miracle Child

   About two weeks ago I woke up still pregnant but feeling different. I began to feel some cramps throughout the day but I wasn't sure if it was normal or something to do with my digestion. I continued on with my day. But I did tell my husband that we needed to get certain things done that day because I just had a gut feeling. 

   That night I went to bed later due to a world cup match being on. As I tried to go to sleep, I continued feeling cramps. These continued through the night. I had just downloaded a contraction app that night. Around 3:30 I began timing what was happening and the app said I should go to the hospital. I called my OBGYN and she recommended I come to the hospital as well. I woke my husband up and we left. 

   At the hospital they checked to see where I was at. I had made it to 6 cm before going to the hospital, which was part of my goal. I continued being in active labor for a few more hours. During that time, I had my husband play a playlist I had made for labor. I had purposely chosen Christian music to play because I knew I would need to focus on God during that time. Doctors and nurses would come in and say how they appreciated the music that was playing. It was nice to know that others were inspired by the music too.

   Fast forward to after I finished pushing for thirty minutes and the baby had arrived. He was crying immediately. I said to my husband, "well at least I know he didn't come out blue like I did when I was born." See, I wasn't breathing when I came out so it was a relief to hear him crying. 

   After they had put him on me, and worked on me, one of the doctors came over to me. She said, "based on the music you were listening to, I'm going to assume you believe in miracles." Then she showed us the umbilical cord. There was a knot in it. The doctor said, "there was a knot in your umbilical cord. Your child is a miracle child as he could have had more complications because of this knot but he didn't." 

   I looked at my husband and smiled as much as I could with how tired I was. Since finding out we were pregnant, we had prayed for a few specific things. We prayed the baby would be healthy, that I would be safe during labor, that it wouldn't be too painful, and that we would be home when I went into labor so I wouldn't need to be picked up from work. All of those things were answered. God protected our child from any complications he could have had. He protects us all as well because he cares for all of us. 

   So, are you praying continually for what you want/need within God's will? Are you trusting in God's plan for your life?

Father's Day: Written by My Husband

This post is something I've never done before. It is written by my husband as he just recently became a father.

   I was initially supposed to have this written before I was a father.  But things have changed and our son arrived a week early, just in time for me to have my first Father's day.  

   A Father's job is to provide, protect, support, encourage, discipline, push, fix, lead, teach, and love.  I didn't always know this was the case.  The more my faith grew, the more I understood what a father was.  It's one thing to understand, and another to experience.  

   I look at my newborn son and I am overwhelmed with emotion and a weight of responsibility.  I have been made a steward of this spirit transmuted from my and my wife's flesh.  All I want is for my son to be healthy, happy, and to learn to love the Lord.  Can I do this?  Can I be the bad guy when it's justified?  Can I make the hard choices?  Can I do it all?

   Luckily God has provided earthly examples for me.  And ultimately provided Himself as the perfect example.  God was there for me through it all.  He feverishly pursued me with ferocious and unconditional love.  When I pushed Him away, He was never more than an arms length away.  When I disobeyed, He crushed me and built me back up in the same stroke.  

   He was patience through my stubbornness.  He ran to embrace me when I turned back to Him.  He is never afraid to do for me what is needed.  He only ever continues to mold me into who I was born to be.  He truly knows me.

   If I could just scratch the surface of that, it would be enough for my son.  And ultimately  if I can just be enough of a light to steer him to his true Father, then I will have peace.  

   So happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there who try to carry the world for their families.  If they are too stubborn to let God spot them or carry the burden, at least give them the day off to rest their shoulders.  Let them know how much you respect their work ethic. Let them know that you see them.  And stroke their ego just a bit and tell them that they can do it all, but that doesn't mean they should.  

Hard Work Vs. Hustle

    As we prepare for the new addition to our family a lot has happened. I've had lots of different symptoms. One major one is fatigue. It happened a lot in the first trimester and now it's happening again. Either that, or I'm just working myself too hard.

   What I mean is our last month was very busy. It was filled with events with family and friends, with appointments, and other general times of being busy. There were weeks I felt like I didn't get any rest. To top it off, we are also preparing our home for the baby. I've been working on building items for the baby and figuring out what else we need.

   After a month of all this I was exhausted and becoming overwhelmed. There were times I felt like I was doing it all on my own. At times I felt like no matter how much I got done it was never enough because the list keeps growing. The list still isn't done and I just keep adding things. I became discouraged and emotional because I felt tired and like no matter what I did it wasn't good enough.

   Then, one night after working most of the day, I went to JA to serve at our church. I was quiet on the ride there because I was tired and overwhelmed. My husband asked me if I was okay. I began to tear up as I said, "it's just so much work." Then I pulled myself together and ran the sound system at church for JA. 

   After JA was over, my husband went out with friends. I went to the grocery store. When I got home I put the items away and went to read a book I had just begun. God must have known what I needed because the chapter I read in the book talked about who we are doing things for. It talked about hard work vs hustle. Hustle means you get things done and stay busy. So busy that you wear yourself thin. I felt like that's where I was at. Hard work means you give your best in each thing you do. Remember the verse that says "work as if you were working for the Lord and not man (Colossians 3:23 paraphrased)?" That's what hard work is. 

   I knew this but I had forgotten. I think we have a tendency to do that. We know the answers to the Christian questions but forget or don't apply them the right way to our lives. At that moment, after reading, I felt peace. I was reminded that I wasn't doing any of this work for my husband, me, or even our baby. I was doing all of it for God. He sees the work I do each day and, as long as I do my best, he is proud. Everything that needs to get done for the baby to come will get done. I don't have to hustle. I need to work hard but remember to slow down and rest in his presence each day. That's how we become filled again. We become full by spending time with God. He gives us what we need.

   So are you more of a hustler or a hard worker? How can you spend time with God each day?