Lemons to Lemonade

Memorial Day Weekend (Part 1?)

Long weekends are nice for getting away. Personally, I would have been fine just spending it at home hanging out at home or in public places that, with work and church, I don’t have to time to explore now; however, we decided to take the opportunity to get out of dodge for a couple nights and head to Ohio. 

I didn’t intend on logging into any social networks while I was gone, sort of a social networking hiatus, but we all know how these things go. Breaks are easier said than done, plus we just added a wi-fi router here at my grandparents house (albeit a basic one that kicks everyone off at some point. At some point, everyone in the house will be searching for that ONE GUY who is hogging the network, but it’ll be cool!). 

When we get away, we don’t normally attend church. We’re always going and sometimes the best form of rejuvenation for a Pastor’s family is to simply sleep in and enjoy a day off, which is what we did. We’ll be heading to the hotel later to go take a dip in the pool on this gloriously warm day and then Lane and I are super psyched to go survey the local high school track (I’ve been off for two days; I’m feeling it BAD, and I’m not looking forward to the break again tomorrow, although I could probably work something out at the cottage. There’s a lovely trail-like thing that wraps around the pond *IDEA*). 

God has blessed me immensely in these past few weeks:

• I had a job fall in my lap that will help me take care of some things. I had a job at the college this summer, but with some impending situations that will require my full attention this summer, I chose to rescind the offer and come home to devote my attention to that. Since then, I had applied for multiple jobs and had ONE interview to work. One night, I was at church and my phone was not with me (anyone who knows me knows that, as of late, that is not a major surprise). Mom texted me and eventually called me to offer me a position as a receptionist working with her at Mason Family Chiropractic. Considering outside circumstances and prior fill-in experience at this office, I jumped at the offer. It’s a little overwhelming at times, but I’m getting the hang of it. 
• I have started to run. I am really excited about this because I have always had issues with my heart and body whenever I take the dive and run. This has bothered me because I love the feeling of running. I like moving and going and being active. I like that feeling I wake up with the morning after I’ve pushed really hard and I’m sore all over. Cliche time: No pain, no gain. The other night, I did 4 1/2 miles. I had a church service with myself and everything and then had a great talk with Troy the last little bit. This has been tremendous for me. I feel better and it’s encouraging me to drink more water (always a struggle for me considering I like flavored beverages such as juice, tea, and coffee).
• Friends. Period. God has placed some great friends in my life for encouragement and growth in this season. To say “in this season” is rather difficult for me, but I’m allowing God to do what He wants in me. 
• I’ve started in the summer of growth that God told me I would encounter. The day I got the email that determined me rescinding the Summer Conference Assistant position at school, God told me that this summer would be a summer of change for me. If I open up my life to be radically changed, He’s going to help me become a better person. As I draw close to God, He will draw close to me. Because God is holy, certain things in my life that aren’t compatible with His holiness are going to have to change. That is extremely difficult because I always think about what other people will think if one day I’m a certain way and God changes my heart and I’m different. It is a process and I must put it into practice. I will make mistakes, but it’s hard to even start the process when Satan whispers how “not legit” I must appear to others. I started off the summer reading Self-Improvement 101. It sounds like a self-help book, and in a way it could be considered so, but it’s not all 100 tips to be your best self now. No, John Maxwell talks about things you have to change and talks about an ongoing process of growth. You can’t just go do one thing and expect life to just fall into place. It is a series of decisions that you must make everyday. It is the art of becoming, of making the best of your time in the cocoon, and then influencing others as a butterfly with the experience of your time as a worm. 

There are an infinite amount of things I could say God has blessed me with. I’m already learning so much. I’m so ready for things to be different and to make the decisions on that path. Most days, I’m not ready to go back to school.  

The Best Day of Someone’s Life (Part 3)

A few posts ago, I began dissecting this quote. I thought, for some reason, I had finished, or it had at least slipped my mind for the time. Today, I was reminded of the post while surfing Pinterest, so I’ve returned to complete it. 

As before, here is the quote:

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours — it is an amazing journey — and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.” Bob Moawad 

In the first post, I talked about placing yourself under God’s authority. I talked about how life is always a choice. It’s a choice whether to follow God and submit to His will or pursue our own will and throw God off to the side. View the post “The Best Day of Someone’s Life (Part 1)”. 

In the next post, I discussed God being someone we could rely on. I gave scriptural references to assert God being someone for us to rely on. Then I discussed how we can cling to the hope of all the promises that are in the Bible because Hebrews 13:8 says that He is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” and provided situations in which people in the Bible were in a tough place, but they continued to place their hope in Christ and they made it through! They clung to the promises and are now the inspiration to us. I connected this to how Jesus took all of our shame so that we may be free of our past and move on to a future in Him, killing our human darkness with his everlasting light! Next, I talked about there being hard times in my relationship with Christ. No matter what I go through, I can always cling to the hope in Christ because He has experienced every kind of temptation and made it through without sinning (1 Corinthians 10:13). Finally, I used James 4 to say how we are responsible for the quality of our relationship with Christ. View “The Best Day of Someone’s Life (Part 2)”. 

Part 3

“… This is the day your life really begins.” Bob Moawad

Once you take all of the aforementioned scriptures and information in this series and apply it to life, you can embrace this final sentence by Bob Moawad. The best day of your life is when you look to God and submit your whole life to Him. 

I have heard a lot of talk lately about giving God everything. They’ve talked through the analysis of personal experience. All of them talk of a time where they’ve said they professed giving God everything, but knew deep down there was something they weren’t giving up. I can relate to that because I’m a person who has trouble relinquishing control over situations. To me, relinquishing control has been the equivalent to throwing myself overboard on the Titanic when my family and friends are on a lifeboat that has just enough space to squeeze me in.

I, like everyone else who listened to the message, was inspired to pray that God take total control over every situation in my life. It worked for a couple days but then I started taking control again over little things and then greater things. Every time I tried to reform, I would hit the point of devastation again and come crawling back to give it up for a few days. 

Last night, I was talking to God about stuff. I was telling Him about how I was telling Andrea He is my best friend (she said He is her brother). I replied that He is that too, but really He is everything. Well, that “everything” came to mind. I was telling God how I truly want Him to be my everything but was concerned about saying He’s my everything if I don’t give Him the total control. I thought, “What does it mean to truly give God everything? What does it truly mean to give Him control of every situation in my life?”

Here is the answer that came: Giving God true control of ever situation and making Him everything means to submit everything to Him. This happens when I trust that His will is better than my will. 

Me taking control is when I trust that what I can do in my own power is better than what God could do in and around the situation (life). When I take control, I’m telling God that I’ve got this and that I want what I want and what He could possibly want will destroy that. BADBADBADBADBAAAAAD. 

God taking control is when I have things that I want, but I “give it to Him” (a common Christian catch phrase). I always wondered how I could “give” something to someone I can’t even see. Is there a place I go? Is there a hand gesture? Do I have to cut myself open and weed through something to find it and physically give it to Him? The symbolic giving never really worked for me. It felt like an impersonal routine that was waste of time. I looked for a feeling of peace when I did that  (often because speakers would say that if you raised your hands above your head and opened your hands, you would be giving all your situations to God and peace will come over you). Yeah, NOT FOR ME. In the answer I got last night, this means to relinquish my will in relation to the things that I want to Him. It means to trust that God’s will and what He wants is much better than what I could concoct in my human brain. GOODGOODGOODGOODGOOOOOOOD. 

Let’s do an example everyone can relate with: You like a person and would like to get to know them better and possibly hang out.

BAD: Hey, God! So, *soanso* is really hot and can you make them like me? Lord, please let *soandso* like me so we can go out and be boyfriend and girlfriend and get married and have babies and live happily ever after and be rich! 

GOOD: Hey, God! So,there’s this person and they rock my world. I’ve thought about the possibility of going out with them and getting to know them better. Even though this is something I want really bad right now, I want You to have Your will. God, I realize that I’m in a place where all I can see are the super awesome things about that person, but You know better than I do what I need. You know what You have for me and I want that. You have my best interests at heart. Help me, Lord, to be patient as I wait for You to bring that right person, and if *soandso* is that person, great! If not, please help these feelings to go away so that I can move along in Your will. 

That is simply an IDEA. A MODEL! It’s not a formula, but you can, if you want, take ideas from it. Basically, that’s how I would talk to God. Speak from how you are really feeling. He wants to know about You. Heck, He does know all about you: 

“You alone created my inner being. 
You knitted me together inside my mother. 
I will give thanks to you
because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made.
Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this.
My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
when I was being skillfully woven in an underground workshop.
Your eyes saw me when I was only a fetus.
Everyday of my life was recorded in your book
before one of them had taken place.
How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O God!
How vast in number they are!
If I try to count them,
there would be more of them than there are grains of sand.
When I wake up, I am still with you.” (Psalm139:13-18)

Yet, He still wants You to tell Him. Try it. Anytime I do it, I feel so much closer to Him. It is so nice to be able to say absolutely everything the way it comes out and know that the Perfect One takes the time to sift through all the things in communication that causes us humans to have misunderstandings and arguments. He judges the intent of what we say, so we don’t have to come up with some religious to-do in order for Him to hear us. We don’t have to use a spiritual dictionary/flowery vocabulary to get what we need from Him and get into His presence. He just wants You to come before Him with honesty and humility. BE REAL!

• “What should I bring when I come into the Lord’s presence, 
  when I bow in front of the God of heaven? …
  You mortals, the Lord has told you what is good. 
  This is what the Lord requires from you: 
  to do what is right, 
  to love mercy, 
  and to live humbly with your God.” (from Micah 6:6-8)
• Matthew 6:5-15 (I would type all that out, but I’ll let you look it up!
• Mark 9:33-37

Side Note: The things that God asks for us to do requires for us to put our pride away and humble ourselves before Him and others. Check me on it. If there is any place where pride wins out over humility, let me know! I wouldn’t want to lead anyone astray! 

Side Note: Up where I was talking about the things we want and trusting God’s will, this does include the things we need. Trust Him that He will provide the things you need in some way and be open to the way it comes (means being humble!). 

• Matthew 6:25-34
• Luke 12:22-34

Well, guys, I think that finishes us up on the series! It’s been fun diving in! : ) I love sharing what I find on the internet and in God’s Word, especially when I can use them to reinforce (or refute in the case of finding things on the internet and the Word says something else!) each other! 

God bless, my friends!