The Shack

I finally finished the book, The Shack, tonight. I know, it took me forever it seems. But with life, moving and my other studies, I had to put it down for a bit. But I am so glad I picked it back up. I highly recommend it. It's amazing, wonderful and unbelievable. I don't usually read fiction, especially Christian fiction. I've always thought to learn about God I need to read non-fiction, you know, real stories, real life, etc. But I am so glad I read this book. I feel like I've learned so much about God in this story compared to the other non-fiction books I've read in a long time. Except for the Bible of course. It has truly touched my life and given me a 'magnificent glimpse into the nature of God.' Even if you aren't a believer or a Christian, it's a thrilling story that you will not want to put down. If you don't believe me, believe this. It is a New York Times best seller and has sold 5.5 million copies!

That being said, I want to quote a part of the book here. I love how God works. He always meets me where I am, telling me what I need to hear, over and over again. He loves us that much. I hear you God, but I need your help.

"All I want from you is to trust me with what little you can, and grow in loving people around you with the same love I share with you. It's not your job to change them, or convince them. You are free to love without an agenda."

Messages From God

I just wanted to share some things God has revealed to me since my last post.

Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown.
- George Shinn

My personal responsibility is to be a living sacrifice to God: Romans 12 (NLT). I would love to post the entire chapter here, but I've included a link above to a great website that has every version of the Bible. So if the New Living Translation version doesn't speak to you, try the Message version or any version you like. You can change it on the drop down box at the top.

I received quite a few emails and phone calls in response to my last post. I want to thank all of you for your prayer, your concern and your love. It was nice to hear from all of you and I appreciate it. Knowing I can depend on you helps enormously. I'm not having issues with my faith or having problems hearing from God. I am hearing Him loud and clear. I just don't know how to do what He's telling me I need to do and it's definitely out of my comfort zone. So I'm a little scared. But I have learned in the days since that I need to do it with others not just the person I need to do it with. I know God is going to use this for even more amazing stuff. I can't wait to see it.

Learning Through Struggles

One of my goals in life is to never stop learning and growing in the Lord. I do not ever want to become one of those I know it all believers. They are not only dry and not pleasant to be around, but they have stunted their relationship with God. I hope I never do that. Please my brothers and sisters, kick me in the butt if you see me doing this.

So in order to keep learning and growing, God puts me through situations so He can teach me about Himself and shape my mind and character to be more like Him. So anytime you talk to me, I am most likely going through something to which I am learning about God and His ways in the process. That's a too simple way to explain how it works.

But I'm struggling in one area of my heart right now. Not that I haven't struggled with it before, but I think God believes I may be ready to address it now. I've been working on focusing on His Word and Him so I don't have any distractions from hearing His voice and so I can tell His voice from the other voice that tries to tell me things (and lies to me). And what I have been hearing from Him (God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit) in the last few months is it's time to work on that part of my heart. I am scared because it's a part of my heart that I don't want to address.

If you know me well, you know how I feel about needing and wanting. There's a huge difference between needing and wanting. I don't want to address this but I need to. It's so much easier to just ignore it, but I know I can not live with this much longer. Not only will it prevent me from growing in my relationships with people but it will prevent me from growing closer to God. And that's something I for sure do not want to do.

So there you have it. I don't want to go into any more detail than that. I'm shaking as it is just typing this, on the verge of tears. It's something I am really struggling with and I really want to let go of it but it's hard and I don't know how to let go of it. So please pray for my heart, for the Holy Spirit to teach me how, for Jesus' love to fill me up so I can love like Him and for God to continue to speak to me so I don't push this off any longer. Thanks.

Satan's Working Overtime

You know, Roger's leaving Walter Reed Army Medical Center this week, coming home for good and you think there's nothing that could bring us down or mess up this week, but Satan is good at trying to make your good times not so good. I know how he works. I know it's him trying to bring us down, discourage us and pull us away from God. Thank the Lord we are able to recognize him and his lies and go straight to God for help and encouragement. And God always meets me where and when I need Him. I was thinking I need to read some scripture so I can change my focus back to Him and thought about what scripture I should read. I glanced over at my Bible Gateway Verse of the Day widget and as usual, the Lord put the scripture I needed there. Once again, He has led me where I need to go in His word.

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. Deuteronomy 7:9

After praying for the Lord to speak to me and lift me through His word, I studied the chapters surrounding this scripture. Peace and hope only the Lord can give has been found again. Thank you God. Please pray for Roger & I both. We are in the home stretch. Please pray for all of Roger's paperwork to be signed, approved and processed in a timely fashion and for us to make it through this last week with love, patience and peace. Thank you so much for praying for us. I'm sure you know how much we need it.