Do Not Conform....

DO NOT CONFORM!!!!

All around me life just flows

So fast it’s spinning, whose is in control

It seems so right yet deception not slight

The river rages fast and strong, up current would surely be wrong

so fast, so many, could it be me

who is wrong, when will they see

The road less traveled that is my goal

No more conforming to the mold

Patterns seem right but are they free

Surrendering it all.. fool is what they see

But in the end the cost they will pay

Losing all will only be my gain!

- ME ;-)

BE STILL

Be STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD!!!

Sounds easy enough! And for some it might be too easy. For me .. ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS FOR ME TO DO!!

OH I WANT TO GO

OH I WANT TO DO

But notice the similarities in those two statements... " I "

I keep telling myself its not about ME! So many of us these days have to get this through our thick skulls! Its not about me .. ITs ALL about HIM!!!

I feel like I know this .. I feel like this is my life.. I want it all about HIM!! I want to serve HIM with all my heart, mind, soul, with every ounce of who I am ... BUT what does this look like!

I guess my answer is BE STILL! KNOW THAT HE IS GOD!!!

Life Application Lessons from Season I - THE CALL:
God is in the details. (not mine)
God’s timing is always perfect. (not mine)
God does not call the equipped, He equips the called. (but start equipping )
You will recognize God’s calling when it is something bigger than you can accomplish on your own. That’s because He wants us to rely on Him. (just waiting is the hard thing for me)
Fear and faith cannot co-exist in the heart of the believer. (my biggest fear is that he wants me to be still forever)
When you are in God’s will, you will be filled with peace. (Is this true? Will we always have peace when we are in His will ? OH LORD, Show me your will.. give me your PEACE)

My place is here... My place is now! Wife, Mother, Friend... and I will do it to the best of my ability... But GOD... if there is something bigger out there that can include what I am currently called to do.. Throw it at me! I WILL GO LORD .. MAKE IT HAPPEN!!! Until then,, I wait.. I trust your complete SOVEREIGNTY .. Direct my path.. I am yours !!!!

BLINDED!!!!

Don’t worry I will not always write about the same thing over and over again but I really have been continuing to think of this theme “My Fathers EYES”… what does that really mean…. It is what keeps ringing in my ear in so many different ways or forms over and over again.. like this…..

 

BLINDED… SO BLINDED

BLINDED ARE WE!

WHY CANT WE JUST HAVE YOUR EYES TO SEE

BLINDED BY SKIN AND THE SITUATIONS THAT’S BEEN WHY CAN’T WE ERASE THEM ALL AND SEE ONLY WITHIN

SO QUICK TO JUGDE BY WHAT IS SAID OR DONE NOT KNOWING THE HEART OF THE ONES WE ARE TO LOVE

BLINDED… SO BLINDED

BLINDED ARE WE

OH GOD I WANT YOUR EYES SO I MAY CLEARLY SEE!!

 

 

Dear God… Let this be my prayer always!  Let me love like you loved. Let me to see everyone around me like you see them.  Fill me Lord with your love and joy so that it cannot help but over flow to all those around me!  And when this happens Lord… help them to no longer see me at all but YOU within me!!!!

 

to "Wait" upon Him...

The following is the response to the devotional that started this whole silly thing!!

It was speaking of the scripture verse Isaiah 41:10... “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

The blog ended with this...

Spend some time reflecting over these verses. What does it mean to "wait on the Lord?" What does it mean that our strength will be "increased" and "renewed?"

The following is my response..

I am embarrassed about the book that I just wrote below regarding this subject but obviously this is something that has been near and dear to my heart recently and I thought I would share it with you…

The song was going over and over in my head just the other day…
“Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord… we will wait upon the Lord. We will wait upon the Lord.”

In which when you get something like that in your head it can be hard to get out (Thank God!).. But I started to think what “waiting” really meant and why God makes us “wait” so much.

Waiting does not mean standing idle, it does not mean doing nothing. For me waiting is first of all complete submission. Realizing it is not about ME and that His timing and His plan is so perfect.

Why does He want us to wait… One reason is to grow in character.. learn patience, submission, unconditional joy, or the PEACE that He speaks of the surpasses our understanding. I also think he so badly wants us to be waiting ON Him. Dumb analogy coming up but go with me for a sec… I imagine my dog (FYI: I am NOT a dog lover!) but if my dog sees me and knows I have a treat for her she is not going to take her eyes off me or leave my side until she gets it. Isn’t this what God wants of us? He so longs for us to always be right by His side, keeping our eyes on Him at all times and as we do so learning more and more about Him and His desires, His plans, His perfect ways. He longs for us to long for Him.

Oh man books and books could be written on this subject but I want to share with you how I have learned about “waiting on the Lord” just recently..

These last few years I have had the privileged of being with my father as we “waited” on the Lord together. Two years ago he was diagnosed with ALS, a progressive neurological illness that is basically a life sentence when you get the diagnosis due to no cure. Yet Dad had incredible faith and we prayed and waited on the Lord for healing and more importantly for His will to be done. My daily prayer these last few years have been, “Lord, You know the desires of my heart but I submit to your will.” I really don’t think there has been another time in my life that I have questioned, longed to be close to, cried out to, or just waited on the Lord than these past few years.

It has been an incredible year of peace, joy, pain and life lessons! Watching my father battle and then sir come to the disease of ALS was almost indescribable. I am sure we have not even begun to discover most of the lessons that he taught us throughout this horrific battle. Weekly something happens that I can relate back to a lesson that was learned or still being discovered. I praise God for all the blessings that he has given to us along the way of all the pain. His hand really was so evident in it all as we waited on Him.

One lesson in particular was the lesson of my father’s eyes. Towards the end of Dad’s life, ALS had robbed him not only of his ability to walk, lift his arms, use his hands, his ability to eat but also his ability to talk. The one thing this disease did not touch was Dad’s eyes.

Dad did such an amazing job communicating even up to the very end with just his eyes. Oh sure when he wanted to get a specific word it took us awhile to figure it out but we always really knew what he was thinking! Dad’s EYES said it all!! At the grave sight we all spoke about this. Dad always had these amazing eyes. And at the end he used them to the fullest. It is amazing what one wink could say! I could look at Dad and he would ask an entire question without saying a word? I knew when he wanted to know about each of the grand kids. I knew when he wanted me to give him a play by play of Luke’s last football game. But most of all I knew just by looking into his eyes when He just was saying I LOVE YOU! Wow.. How loved we all felt with a single wink. With a single wink each of knew he was saying we were his favorite.

But there ways something much more important about Dads eyes. Dad ALWAYS, ALWAYS had his eye set in the right direction.
Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
 26 Mark out a straight path for your feet;
 stay on the safe path.
 Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. Prov. 4:25-27

Dad lived his life very intentionally. He always knew where he was going and what his ultimate goal was! Even until the very end! Just like Peter who could walk on water as long as he was looking at Jesus …but the second he took his eye off of Him he began to sink!

Isn’t it amazing how we can see this in our own lives? We do not have to stop doing what we are doing here on this earth.. like school work and house work, our jobs, or our rest and fun times, but with whatever we do the important thing is to always keep our eyes on Him!. WAIT ON HIM! Don’t leave His side!
“ …. Don’t get sidetracked: keep your feet from following evil.”

What a privilege it is to be able to WAIT on the Lord. What Joy it is to “go through trials of many kind” so that we can learn to keep our eyes on the Lord from where our strength comes from!

Towards the end of Dad’s life his body had withered away to almost nothing. He went from this big, huge muscular man who played in the NFL 16 years including 4 Super Bowls and was known as being one of the toughest players on the field to the point where he could be lifted by one of his daughters to put him in bed. But in the end because my father always had his eyes in the right direction and because he continued to wait on the Lord it was during these times my father was the strongest. He showed us where his true strength came from.

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31

Dad died Sept. 23rd and the pain and loss is a fresh as ever but this too I thank God for. For it is a constant reminder how much I can not continue on without Him. How much I really do need to wait on him and seek His strength in my life daily. THis is my prayer for myself, my husband, my children and everyone around us. My we all continue to learn to keep our eyes in the right direction and truly “WAIT” on the Lord.

I lift up my eyes to the hills- Where does my help come from?
 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalms 121

INTRO.. to see with HIS eyes!

I was reading a blog that was posted at my children's school today.  It was set up as a weekly devotional.  I had read it before but this one had a certain impact on me. It triggered something that was on my mind lately and it was a great opportunity just to get it out.  And then I thought how fun just for my own benefit to be able to write those crazy or not so crazy, intense or just plan stupid thoughts that are so much a part of me from time to time.  Not sure who actually reads these things or how they would even know that it exists but I guess that is not my purpose in doing this.  We will see if it lasts or what comes about of it....  

I will attach the response I wrote this morning. It was a response to the scripture verses Isaiah 41:10.  Within this response you will notice me speaking of "MY FATHERS EYES".  Thus the title of this blog.  However, as much as I love and respect my earthly fathers eyes and vision these are not the eyes I long to see with!  Ohhhh.. to only have the eyes of Jesus.  How different would our world look? Everyone has there own individual perspective on everything.  No two perspectives are exactly alike. There is ONE and only ONE perspective that is pure and perfect.. if only we could all see through those eyes.