The God of SUDDENLY

This is part two of “Out of Sorts but in God’s Plan”… last time I shared how I have grown and continue to do so through seasons of transition.  As I was writing the post last time, I realized it really needed to be a two part thing.  (You can read Part one HERE).  Enjoy part two...                     “The God of SUDDENLY.”

Yes, No, or God’s waiting room

We have experienced a lot of transition in our lives.  I’m sure not unlike others.  Some may ask… How did we arrive to where we are today?  We pray for God’s direction and He opens doors, closes them, or says nothing.  When we are pursuing His will for an area of urgency to us and hear nothing, we simply wait and do what He told us last until He says otherwise.  I will not say this is easy… in fact it is down right tortuous at times, but we don’t want anything, but God’s best!  Our very best plan in strategizing our future doesn’t even come close to what God could do with a heart and life radically committed to Him!

Many times we have sat in God’s waiting room, doing that last thing He told us to do faithfully, but frustrated. (You can read more about my waiting HERE).  It is in those moments that God shows up when we least expect it and SUDDENLY He throws us a game changer.  Sometimes it feels like a good thing while other times it feels like a bad thing.  Just to name a few of ours… I get sick and can’t work full-time anymore, the car breaks down, the house we are renting sells while we are in it (three different houses, three different times), jobs open up or close, and the list goes on.  In those moments of SUDDENLY we need to go straight to God.  It is a faith-growing moment.  Trust is built as God sets us up for the next chapter He has ahead.

The Great Adventure

Living for God is definitely an adventure.  I don’t know how anybody can just “go through the motions” when it comes to God.  When we take the time to draw closer to God, really listen, and yield to His promptings… amazing things can happen!  It’s called radical obedience!  Sometimes it plain doesn’t make sense until you follow through… and sometimes it is awhile later before all the pieces come together.  BUT… when we learn to hear God, sense His promptings, and trust Him by radically obeying, the adventure begins. 

God has done some awesome things as I have learned to obey Him radically.  You don’t have to be outgoing or even radical to obey God.  He is just looking for someone who is WILLING to be used by Him.  He uses all personalities to touch and impact lives.  YOU qualify my friend.  I think possibly it is in the acts of radical obedience that may bring about those SUDDENLY’S in our lives.

Radical obedience grows fearless faith in our lives to believe God for the impossible’s life may throw at us.  Many times those mountains that seem to consume us are actually just little mole hills that the devil has magnified.  Feed your faith and wait for the SUDDENLY.  It is coming.

  

Suddenly What?

God moves suddenly.  He moves unexpectedly. He'll move when you are unaware that He is moving, and then it's happened.

Suddenly, you'll get saved. Suddenly, you'll get healed. Suddenly, you'll get delivered. Suddenly, God will provide what you needed when you needed it. Suddenly, you'll be called by God, because suddenly is how God moves.  He moves instantly, He moves unexpectedly.  We see it all over the Bible...

“Instantly her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed from her disease.” Mark 5:29 (NCV)

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.   Matthew 8:3 (NLT)

Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!  The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself.  But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”

The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  Acts 16:26-30 (NLT)

Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench.  All the people saw it happen and fell on their faces in awed worship, exclaiming, “God is the true God! God is the true God!” 1 Kings 18:38-39 (MSG)

SUDDENLY lives were changed!  Healed, delivered, set free, and amazed by God’s presence showing up and showing off… suddenly.

Suddenly good or suddenly bad?

All of God’s suddenly’s may not seem good to us.  Consider a story found in Luke.  It tells of a time where some typical, every day believers in God faced what seemed to be an overwhelming storm in their lives.  Let’s look at what they did…

Luke 8:22-25 says…

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and started out.  As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger.

The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm.  Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?” (NLT)

Some times our SUDDENLY might be an unwanted storm in our lives or circumstances that hit beyond our control.  Life is unpredictable and storms will come!  Some things jumped out to me as I read this scripture…

~God’s “suddenly” could be a storm that blows into our lives unexpectedly.

~FEAR was the first reaction of the everyday believer at this church event (they stated “we’re going to drown!”)

~They went to Jesus LAST after they exhausted all other options (the boat was FILLING with water)

~The storm didn’t rattle Jesus… He says…“Where is your faith?”

~His very words brought peace to the storm

My Suddenly

All of this makes me ask myself some important questions.  When I face the storms of life, am I rattled?  Do these circumstances that hit my life out of no where fill me with fear? Do they paralyze my faith?  Do they keep me from going to Jesus except as a LAST resort?  Jesus is the ultimate “Storm Chaser.”  The storm “HIT” in the story above… life is unpredictable.  Will I continue to live for God even when storms HIT in my life?  Jesus knows how to calm the storms of my life and those in my heart.  Sometimes this kind of “Suddenly” can change us on the INSIDE as well as the outside!!!

The SUDDENLY of Jesus changes things…

SUDDENLY Jesus can heal YOU!  Grief can be turned to JOY!  SUDDENLY all can be calm!  SUDDENLY you can be promoted.  SUDDENLY God can bring your special someone along to share a life time with you…. He can make a way where there seems to be NO way!  He can deliver, reconcile, restore, and provide above and beyond what you could ever imagine.

One touch of God and SUDDENLY there is supernatural breakthrough for YOU… your MARRIAGE, or your FAMILY!  Are you in need of a SUDDENLY in your life?  Winds of change are blowing….

Prepare for YOUR “suddenly” or moment of change.   Draw closer to God.  Learn to recognize His voice and promptings.  Obey radically when He asks you to move outside of your comfort zone.  Be open, available, and ready for whatever God has NEXT for YOU.  It will be worth the wait!

Living to leave a legacy,
Julie

"Out of sorts, but in God's plan"

I am in a season of transition.  It seems that has been my life since college.  It was in college at nineteen years of age that my life really started to change.  I had turned my heart and life over to God two years previously, but hadn’t really let God have complete control of EVERY area of my life.

Recently I had a déjà vu moment that reminded me of a life-changing decision I made years ago.  I was at a Missions festival at my church.  A missionary shared with us about his time in Africa. He is about to retire, but shared of his burning passion for reaching the lost there.  There are many he is still finding who have never even heard about Jesus.  What a radical man! Anyways at the end of the service he called forward any teens who wanted to be tools in the hand of God to offer their lives completely to Him! I had a flashback in that moment. When I was 19 years old the same thing happened to me. In a service after a missionary spoke, he called the youth forward as well and in that moment I committed my life in service to God however He wanted to use me. It's been 22 years now and I have never regretted a day!

Since that life-changing encounter, I have been on a journey to pursue the will of God wherever it may take me.  After I got married, my husband and I began that pursuit together.  It has been an adventure!  Our desire is to always be where we are confident God has led us. 

We have spent most of our married life (20 years) in full-time vocational ministry as youth pastors, U.S. missionaries to teens, and senior pastors.  We have LOVED every minute of it!  Seven years ago God threw in a game changer for us.  I got sick, VERY sick, so sick I was bedridden for three months before they could diagnose me.  What was it… Myasthenia Gravis, an autoimmune disease.  Not necessarily life threatening, but definitely life altering.  The past seven years have been defined by managing this disease in the midst of attempting to minister full-time.  Let’s just say we have faced some challenging things.  A scripture comes to mind when I think of tests or difficulties that haunts me in a sense.

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”   James 1:2-4 (MSG)

Faith grows BEST when “forced into the open to show its true colors.”  “So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely…”  I don’t know about you, but I feel like I have had enough tests and challenges lately that my roots should be pretty deep when it comes to faith and endurance.  I have learned that we are in full-time ministry, whether we have an official title and the salary to go with it or not.  I have ministered to MORE people on a deeper level in the past seven years than I could have every imagined. 

At times when I did not feel my best… I had little to no voice to speak because I was SO weak and God brought a broken, hurting lady to my door.  She hunted me down so I could pray with her.

I was in some of the lowest moments of life, desperate for healing; feeling forgotten, and alone, but God kept sending people my way.

They were sick, lonely, broken, hurting people who received the message more, I guess, because I was BROKEN too.  My faith has grown and I have been giving it away.

The title of this post is “Out of sorts, but in God’s plan.”  Why did I title it this?  … because transition brings awkward feelings with it.  Being in transition reminds me of the feeling I had when returning from Missions trips in the past… culture shock!  Things were VERY different here in America compared to the third world country I just returned from.  I guess what I am saying is that transition brings with it culture shock.  God has paved the way, but I need to learn to adjust to His new assignment.  It’s a natural process, but not one I enjoy.

Currently God has transitioned us back to the exact town we were in seven years ago when I first got sick.  I have a lot of mixed emotions being here, but I know it is EXACTLY where God wants us for this time.  God has opened doors for us in amazing ways.  I’m not sure what God has in mind, but I am excited about what it could be.

The journey God has taken us on over the past seven years has changed me.  Each city God led us to, church we attended, house we lived in, school my kids went to was hand picked by God.  Divine appointments were scattered across our paths.  The people I have met along the way have shaped me and made me better.  Such amazing, incredible, men and women of God… some I had the chance to lead into a personal relationship with God… SO powerful!  I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Are you right where God wants YOU to be?  Are you on a journey in pursuit of His BEST for your life?  Has God got you on special assignment?  Look around you and see WHO God might want to use YOU to touch for Him.  Your life will never be the same!

This post is to be continued….

Next time I will be sharing more on how we arrived where we are today…. “The God of Suddenly.”

Living to leave a legacy,

Julie

"The Vow"

We live in a day and an age where vows mean very little.  The wedding day was meant to be more than just dressing up to repeat a bunch of words and get a piece of paper.  It is SO much more…

I just finished reading the book “The Vow.”  It was awesome!  The book told the true life account of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter… quite a bit different from the movie.  Just a couple months after their wedding day they were in a devastating car accident that left Krickitt with a massive head injury and in a coma for weeks.  On that day the course of their lives was altered and would never be the same.  Krickitt lost a part of her memory that she would never regain… her dating, engagement, and marriage to her husband.  Even though she didn’t remember this man who seemed a stranger to her, her family and friends reassured her of her love for him and the vows she had made.  In the midst of such extreme trauma to her brain her spiritual life seemed to remain in tact… her connection with God was secure.  The road ahead for these newlyweds was one of a daily struggle, but their commitment was for the long haul.  They both knew with God all things were possible!   Kim sought to make his wife fall in love with him all over again and she did.  They remarried about 2 ½ years after their first wedding date, so Krickett could remember forever the day she made her vows publicly to the man she loved.  What an amazing testimony of the great sacrifice, yet great reward of keeping your vows.

I made a vow to my husband on this day 20 years ago… our wedding day.  I made a life-long commitment to Al Davis, I said… “I, Julie, take you Al to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part, I will always be faithful to you, and from this moment forward we shall be one.” 

These vows that we make to our spouses are a serious thing.  The dictionary defines “vow” as… a solemn promise, pledge, or personal commitment.  It’s not a promise to break, but a promise to keep.  My commitment to my husband is for the long haul… “in sickness and in health, for riches or for poorer, until death do us part.”  This is a commitment that is important to me and one I want to keep! 

Keeping our vows is a daily choice.  Storms of life will come!  When they do you have a choice as a couple:  you can hold tightly on to each another and ride the storm out TOGETHER becoming stronger in the end… or you can do it alone and be ripped apart.  God is the cement that holds us together.  With God in the center of our hearts and marriages, we can make it through anything.  Be a commitment keeper.  No matter what you face, do it together!

I can honestly say I have tested almost all of the vows I made over the years with my husband.  Sickness… yep.  Poor… yep.  Death… um, not yet?  It hasn’t been easy.  We have had to make a conscious choice to stick with the relationship even when things got hard.  When the stress is high, and the bank account is empty… hold tightly on to each other.  When you are all run down with nothing left to give… stick to your commitment…  When you are at the end of your rope and you don’t know what you are going to do… dig your heels in, link arms, and face it together.  You can make it through anything with God’s help.

It is twenty years ago today I married my best friend and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.  I love him more today than the day I married him.  Our love over the years has grown to become more than words, it has developed into a love of action lived out on a daily basis.

Thank you, Al Davis for being who you say you are all the time (a man of integrity).  Thank you for being an amazing and loving father to my boys.  Thank you for working jobs you hated to provide for our family.  Thank you for setting your dreams and passions aside to help me get well.  Thank you for generously forgiving me when I hurt you with my words and trusting me with the secrets of your heart.  Your love for me fleshed out in action as you cared for me when I was sick all of those years will forever be etched in my heart.  I will love you forever!

Vows are a serious thing.  Shouldn’t we be just as serious about our dedication to God?  Isn’t it supposed to be a life-long commitment?  Storms will come in our walk with God, but He is committed to weather the storms with us.  Link arms with Him today.  Love is a choice!  I challenge you to make a vow to God… a life-long, stick with it commitment to Him.  Just like a couple repeats vows on their wedding day, say these vows to God today…

“I _______, take you, God to be my heavenly father, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part, according to your holy ordinance; I pledge myself to you.”

My husband didn’t abandon me because I got sick.  I didn’t give up on our relationship because we weren’t rich.  When we faced difficult times, overwhelming circumstances, or unplanned obstacles, we didn’t give up… we linked arms and pushed through together.  When Kim and Krickitt Carpenter faced overwhelming odds, they pushed through and God did a miracle.  Don’t give up so easily on God when things don’t turn out the way you expected.  He is in this relationship for the long haul, are you?  Make that life-long commitment to Him today.  I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

Living to leave a legacy,

Julie

MOVE!

Have you ever moved before?  It’s hard work.  There is the sorting, organizing, wrapping, packing, and thorough labeling if you want to find what you packed later… quickly.  I heard it said recently that one of the top qualifications for a minister is FLEXABILITY.  The “called of God” have to be willing to go wherever, whenever, and however God provides.  It is a radical walk of faith.  Sometimes it feels like God shows up at the last minute, but I have learned in retrospect that He is right on time.  Our waiting time is actually His growing time.  While we wait, He tends the garden of our hearts and grows character deep within us.  I’m not saying this is fun, but it is a necessary evil in order to prepare us for the next stage of His journey for our lives.

God has a purpose and a plan for our lives.  We were not an accident.

Psalm 139:13-16 says…

“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.” (MSG)

God knows us better than anyone else so inevitably He knows what is BEST for us, right?  In the midst of the chaos of our lives, however it’s hard sometimes to remember that.  MOVE!  Just the thought of it can fill me with anxiety at times.  After all of these years and many moves, I have almost become a pro at it.  All those things that were lost, misplaced, or scattered have been found… organized, labeled, and put in their designated resting place.  

After almost twenty years of marriage my husband and I can honestly say we have NOT become hoarders, packrats, or clutter bugs.  We haven’t had the opportunity… we keep moving forcing us to de-clutter our houses as well as our lives.  Less is better!  Watching friends who volunteered to help us move carry in box after box of junk overwhelmed us.  Was it really that precious to us that it took HOW LONG to move it all?  Moving de-clutters our lives and helps us find out what is really important to us.  For us, it’s not “things” but people we care about most.  Priorities have been re-evaluated and our lives adjusted to keep God in the center of our world wherever we go.  We have learned to hold on to the things we have loosely for the better good.

Colossians 3:1-2 says...
“So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.” (MSG)

I have discovered I have a curse on me when it comes to renting houses.  In the past couple years each time we rented a house it went up on the market and sold.  The first house we rented was in the country and needed lots of work.  We lived in it and got a great deal while it was on the market.  It was our way to get moved over to the town we wanted to live in until we found something else.  I really didn’t think it would sell quickly.  It wasn’t entirely livable when we first took possession of it, but after working my magic (and with a little assistance from others of course) it went from a piece of property to a home. 

I have the gift of making a house cozy.  I don’t want to live in a dump, so I try to make our house as homey as possible.  After all it’s where we spend most of our time, so it should be comfortable, right? 

Well, after maybe a year it sold.  My curse was making it too pretty I guess.  We moved short term into a duplex and in October landed an incredible house to rent.  It is amazing… 4 bedroom, 2 ½ bath, large living room/dining room, office area, 2 ½ car garage, above ground pool, fenced yard, and awesome garden area… down the road from a basketball court.  The perfect location and the perfect house…. We loved it!  I worked my magic and made it beautiful inside again… cozy and homey!  In May our landlords decided to put in on the market and in two weeks it SOLD!  Boo!  Uh… the too pretty curse got me again.  We move in less than three weeks now.  Yikes… (I should be packing!)

It may seem like this has all come out of the blue, but God has been involved in the moving process all along.  As I look back at every house we have ever lived in, God set us up.  He put specific people in our lives to cross paths with to reach for Him.  They were quirky pre-teen boys, lost & searching young adults, a woman suffering from an illness similar to mine, single mom’s needing encouragement, elderly people my boys were able to help out, and lonely people looking for friends.  We have had the opportunity to be “Jesus with skin on” to them and it has been amazing!

We are moving again, but this MOVE is ordained by God.  We are beginning a new chapter in our lives.  We are endeavoring to go back into full-time ministry.  We have had to step out for a season because of my health, but now is the time to return.  We don’t know where, when, or what, but we know we are moving toward that end.  God is prompting us! He has forced the move forward through transition with our living arrangements.  Our lives are in His capable hands and we trust Him.  Not to say that I like this moving thing, but when God is in it, it’s a lot easier to move His direction.

Have you ever been there before? …Too comfortable to MOVE.  I’m not talking about that feeling you get after a huge Thanksgiving feast (I think that’s a turkey thing).  I’m talking about moving beyond where you are comfortable spiritually to where God wants YOU to be.  God loves us to be “uncomfortable.”  When we move out of our comfort zone, it releases God to move in and make up the difference.  It forces us to let go and let God move in new ways… have His WAY in our lives.

Moving is hard and takes a lot of work whether we are speaking physically or spiritually.  It’s not fun, but once you get settled in to that new place it’s always worth it!  Moving involves a lot of FAITH!  There are a lot of unknowns in moving… where, when, why, how, the details are not always nailed down, and the plan does not always go as anticipated.  Life can become unpredictable at times.

In those moments of transition and un-comfortableness, secretly God is growing us.  He is the master gardener of our hearts.  His pursuit is godly fruit….deep roots of character that will stand the tests of time.  One character trait that grows best in the midst of adversity, challenging circumstances, the storms of life, the unpredictable, and the impossible is FAITH.  Faith in essence is trusting God with ALL of the details of your life.

Where is your faith level at today?  Is God growing you?  Has He been tending the garden stirring up the soil of your heart?  Is He asking you to MOVE?  When it comes to moving there is a lot of trusting involved, faith is tested, sacrifices are make, and God is magnified in and through our lives.  Are you willing to MOVE?  Are you ready to step out?  I dare you to MOVE in His direction!

What is He asking YOU to do?  Maybe moving for you means stepping out of your comfort zone into a new place… What does that “new place” look like?  It could be a new area of ministry to serve, inviting someone to church, starting a Bible study, praying as a family before meals, spending more quality time with God, setting boundaries in your relationships with the opposite sex, reaching out to the homeless or broken-hearted, finding a mentor, pursuing a new career or chasing a dream. 

Maybe you need to make a MOVE toward God.  Are you stuck in a routine that doesn’t involve God?  A MOVE in that direction for you may require change.  It could be giving up a job, changing churches, letting go of unhealthy relationships, tithing more, or rebuilding your relationship with God.  You may feel far away from Him and a lost cause, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  Step out and MOVE toward Him and watch what happens. 

James 4:8 says…

^“Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” (NLT)

What is it for YOU?  MOVE!  Could it mean a literal “move” answering a call to full-time ministry and taking the steps to fulfill that dream?  It’s scary, but moving CAN be exciting too.  New people to meet, new things to learn, new things to do…  “new” CAN be a good thing (physically and spiritually).  I dare you to MOVE!

Are there dreams in your heart God has planted years ago that are getting dusty?  MOVE!  It’s better to do SOMETHING, than nothing.  Start walking His direction and He will show you which way to go next.

Psalm 37:23 says…

^“The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
 He delights in every detail of their lives.” (NLT)

I think you are getting the point hopefully.  God wants us to be willing to MOVE and obey Him at a moments notice with no agenda prepared.  He wants us to trust Him with the literal moves and the spiritual ones.  He wants to transform our lives and hearts as we learn to trust Him with all that we hold dear to us.  He is trustworthy!  If you are in a place of uncertainty I encourage you to… MOVE!  Be obedient to God and MOVE toward Him.  It’s a scary place to be, but do we really trust Him with our lives, families, and future?  There is no safer place I would rather be than in the palm of God’s hand.  I relinquish my will and way so HIS may be accomplished in my life.  I trust Him today, do you?

Jeremiah 29:11 says…

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)

God wants to fill you with hope for the future.  Lift your hands up in surrender and trust Him with the details.  He’s got this covered!  I look forward to seeing you on the other side of your comfort zone.  I’m sure your life will never be the same!

Living to leave a legacy,

Julie

Negative Habits to Break!!!

A friend posted this article recently and I thought it might encourage you... It says for tweens, but I think it applies to EVERY family. Enjoy!  Please let us know what you think.   I love feedback!

http://www.imom.com/parenting/tweens/parenting/training/10-negative-habits-your-family-needs-to-kick/