How He Loves Us

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Kristin

I woke this morning with this song in my head – “How He Loves”. The chorus repeating over and over…”Oh how He loves us, oh how He loves us, oh how He loves us, oh how He loves.”

I am a hot mess most days.

We all have our stressors don’t we? Parenting that feels like it is going to throw us over the edge, stress at work, struggles in marriages and friendships. There isn’t a day that goes by that I think that I did things perfectly and for a Type A perfectionist like myself, this can be a tough pill to swallow!

I want to be an on fire woman for God. I want to raise my children without any serious issues that cause them to need therapy later in life. I want to offer unconditional love towards my husband.

But most days I am short-tempered, irritated with the littlest things, discontent and jealous of those that seem to have it easier than me.

Nice huh?!

But in comes grace. A gift I thank God for daily. A gift freely given to me, something that I don’t always comprehend, but something that is a balm to my weary and broken soul.

God never expected that we would get it right, that is exactly the reason He sent His Son for us.

Yesterday I participated in a fast. The last 6 hours or so were the worst. At this point I was “fruited” out and I would have given just about anything for a dry cracker. I craved grains, it was weird! 🙂 And then there was that time that my oldest son taunted me by eating a caramel filled cookie right in front of me with about 3 hours to go. Ahh yes the love…

I discovered in a real way how much I want what I want, when I want it.

Patience and surrender are apparently not virtues of mine. But in the end I made it. I went a full 24 hours and didn’t cheat…only by God’s grace really because I wanted to and even thought at one point, who would even know really?!

But you know what I DO know? Even if I had “cheated” or been unable to finish the fast, God loves me anyways. It isn’t about me at all really. I don’t have to do anything to earn God’s favor. He loves me, in spite of me. THAT is the takeaway reminder for me again.

I am going to mess up, I am going to be short tempered and insensitive. I will let my husband, my friends down…it is inevitable. I am not perfect – but God doesn’t need me to be. (<====Click to Tweet)

But God with His unconditional love, reminds me every day that He loves us, oh how He loves us. Thank you God for loving me.

I am joining the amazing Holley Gerth in her #2014EncouragementChallenge. Where writers come together each Wednesday to offer hope and encouragement to one another. We would love to have you come and join in!

Photo Credit: LifeHouseDesign

The Gift of Friendship

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Kristin

One of the biggest blessings that have come out of the past year and 1/2 are these beautiful women. Women that have poured into me. Prayed for me and blessed me with laughter.

On Friday, really really early on Friday, I will be flying to Houston to spend the weekend with 10 of the 12 founding members of the God-sized Dream website. We are meeting to dream and plan together….to seek God’s vision for the site and of course to eat way too much and laugh. Oh how I need to laugh!

This trip, and my ability to go, is a blessing in so many ways.

The community that we build online is real. It matters, it changes us.

I wasn’t aware that I could be filled in this way. That I would have the opportunity to pour into others….these crazy ladies that I met online! 😉

But it has happened, and the chance to spend even just a weekend in real life together, well I am almost beside myself in anticipation.

You see on Saturday is Karlena’s birthday….

A birthday that I can’t celebrate with her in person. Her loss in my life is still there….

But God.

Oh how He has filled my life to overflowing with the presence of some amazing women. And that this weekend was THE weekend that worked for so many of us to gather?! That at a time I would be feeling extra lonely, I will be surrounded by friends that are doing the very things that Karlena did with me.

Praying for me, encouraging me, being that light….that example of faith.

Thank you God. Thank you.

While Karlena will never be replaced in my heart, I am so grateful that God has filled that need for friendship with some wonderful women.

Friendship, real life, true friendship is a gift.

My prayer for each person reading here is that you will have someone in your life that is filling your need for true friendship, and that you would be able to be that gift back.

Lord, Thank you. Thank you for the gift of friendship. Thank you for filling my life with wonderful women who love You and love me so well. I lift up anyone who is feeling lonely today, who is searching for that friendship but doesn’t have it now. May they feel your peace and love even more today. In Your Great Name, we praise you! Amen

Each Wednesday we meet to join Holley in her 2014 Encouragement Challenge. If you need a little uplifting for your day jump on over and join us won’t you?!

We All Need a Little Grace!

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Kristin

The sound of something spilling all over the floor brought me running into the kitchen.

There was Elijah, my almost 5 year old, with a look of fear on his face. He had made a huge mess and spilled his juice all over the chair and the floor.

Maybe it is because I have been sick the past few days and unable to keep up with my everyday responsibilities let alone parent well….

Maybe it was the look on his face, I don’t know….but I didn’t respond the way that I normally would.

I didn’t get angry or yell at him. I have little patience for stupid mistakes. (I am serious…patience is NOT a virtue that I was blessed with and it becomes more and more clear as I struggle to parent a 3 yr old and almost 5 yr old well!)

Normally I would let something like this really upset me….I wouldn’t see it as an accident, but a careless mistake.

But this night was different.

This night I just grabbed a rag and started to clean up the mess and told Elijah it was just an accident (which it was)….

I told him that he needed to be more careful about where he left his cup on the table so it didn’t happen again – but I was calm and kind.

Grace.

We all need it don’t we?

I am not above stupid mistakes, heck I make them all the time! And I expect grace from others don’t I?!

Why am I not as willing to extend it then?

Just that afternoon I had left work for an extended time to take a nap because I was feeling so terrible. I need grace too, just like everyone else.

God really used this little incident to speak to my weary heart.

I don’t want my kids to always be afraid that I am going to get angry when they do something wrong.

I want them to learn how to give and receive grace. (<=== Click to Tweet)

I want them to know that their mistakes don’t define them, but God’s grace for their lives does.

As we enter the final days of Holy Week, I am more and more grateful for the amazing gift of grace that was shown to me.

God sacrificed His ONLY Son, to be a Savior of all mankind. Even when He knew we would be sinful, even when He knew we would curse Him, would fall away and turn from His love….He loved us THAT much that in spite of who He knew we would be, He still made a way so that we could spend eternity with Him.

Wow – that kind of grace is overwhelming isn’t it?!

Grace.

We all need it.

I am grateful that I had an opportunity to practice grace in a real way with my kids. I won’t always do it well…in fact now that I have written this post I will probably fail in a BIG way in the coming days. (I’m just saying….I am the chief of hypocrites)

But I hope that I can be more quick to remember to extend grace instead of react negatively.

Because we all need a little grace!

Joining the lovely Holley Gerth today in her weekly 2014 Encouragement Challenge.

Photo Credit: Share the Word

Even the Little Things

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Kristin

Yesterday was a rough day.

It started out with me waking up at 4:30 in the morning with a terrible headache.

I get a bad headache a couple of times a month usually, and they usually last a couple of days. Typically I can take 1 excedrine, or use a little peppermint oil and it goes away. I have tried all sorts of things for headaches over the years and found many options ineffective.

So when I woke yesterday I took 1 pill and went back to bed for an hour and thought when I got up it would be gone.

But it wasn’t and it was really bad. Another pill, some oil, some Ibuprophen…massaging my temples. Nothing was working.

I reached out to a group of friends that was going to be meeting over the lunch hour to pray for our God-sized Dream team. Each Tuesday several women gather over Google Hangout and pray for the team. It is such a gift to have people praying for you and there is power when they are gathered.

I asked for prayer for my headache. And then forgot that I had even made the prayer request.

Over lunch I noticed that the headache just stopped. I figured that the meds must have finally kicked in. But it was gone and honestly it didn’t return for the rest of the day. This isn’t typical for me. When I get a bad headache like this it will come back, it will last into the evening, it will be there in the morning when I wake up. For at least 2 days, sometimes 3.

Last night I got a boxer from my friend Christine and in it she reminded me that they prayed for my headache….at approximately 1:45 EST. I was having lunch at that exact time (CST)….

During the exact moments that my dear sisters were lifting me up in prayer I was finally feeling relief.

When Christine left that message I just had chills.

He hears our prayers. No they aren’t always answered in the time frame that we would hope…or even with the answer we are looking for. But sometimes we see an immediate answer….and yesterday was one of those times.

I am just so grateful.

Grateful that I have faithful friends that are willing to stand in the gap for me and lift me up in prayer.

Grateful that God loves me enough to hear and respond to even the little things like a bad headache.

I am not sure where you find yourself this morning….struggling with a bad headache, or maybe something even bigger.

I want you to hear just this one thing today – God hears your prayers, even the little things. He hears them. It is worth our time to keep lifting them up. And when we see answers – share it with others!

Give God the credit for how He loves us!

Last night I jumped on our FB group page to thank the women who prayed for being faithful. We need to be faithful in the praying, but also faithful in the praising of God when we see the answers come!

God, thank you. Thank you for hearing, for healing and for loving me so much. Even in the little things. I am awake this morning pain free and praising You and grateful for my faithful sisters who stand in the gap for me.

Do you have a prayer need that I can be praying about today? Please leave them in the comments and I will be lifting you up in prayer today!!

Joining my dear friend Holley in her #2014EncouragementChallenge. Sharing words of encouragement and hope each week! We’d love for you to join in on the fun!!

Photo Credit: Zach Alexander

“You Love Me Anyway”

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Kristin

We are in the season of Lent…anticipating the Easter celebration that will come in a few weeks, the culmination of the Christ story, the fulfillment of God’s promises.

But are we living out that gift of life that was given to us on a daily basis?

We are studying Revelation in church right now and it is very interesting and scary stuff. Scary for those that will be left behind. We see in greater detail God’s wrath on a fallen world.

But still there is hope in the story.

God, in His loving mercy, sent His only Son as a way out. Payment for our sins. God wants all to know Him and accept this gift of grace.

But do we live in that grace?

I have been a believer for a long time. I have also had a very skewed view of what that means. I am a failure at being a good Christian most days. I am not kind and loving with my family at times, I can talk about faith but don’t always live it out well, I am a hypocrite, 100%.

So who am I to stand here, writing about the grace and mercy of God?!

Those are lies that the enemy whispers to me often. Do you hear them as well?

Our pastor shared something at the end of his sermon on Sunday that really struck a chord in me and I just felt like I needed to share it here today. Maybe you find yourself in this very place as well….

As Christians we often hold ourselves to a kind of “to-do” list to keep us saved. Get up early for prayer time or Bible study, pray pray pray, go to church…etc.

All of these things are great. They keep us in communication with God, help build that personal relationship with Him that He so desires.

But it doesn’t keep us saved.

Christ’s shedding of blood on the cross is what was the ultimate payment, the covering we all need to remain in the presence of God for eternity.

I accepted this gift, and committed to walking in relationship with God but what happens on those days that I really need to sleep in and skip my quiet time? What about those times that I forget to pray for my husband and children? Or those times that I am selfish and ungrateful?

How could God possibly love a sinner like me?

And THAT is the point friends….

He doesn’t love us any less when we aren’t playing the Christian “part” to perfection!

God loved me so much (knowing EVERY sin that I would commit) that before I was even born He sacrificed His ONLY Son to die a painful and unimaginable death on a cross, so that the shedding of blood would be an eternal covering for me, if I would just accept the gift.

How powerful is that?!

It isn’t what I do, or blog about, or how often I get up and do a BIble study….He doesn’t love me for those reasons….and He doesn’t love me less in those times that I fail.

God loves unconditionally.

I can’t even fully grasp what that means because as a human, and a failure, I don’t know how to love unconditionally…I put conditions on my love all the time – even if I am not trying to do so….I think a hint of it is always there.

But God, in His great grace, pours out His love on us no matter what!

We should be walking in freedom friends!

Accepting this gift for what it is. A love offering from a God that cares more for us than we can even imagine. I am not going to loose His love when I fail…no, I already have His heart 100%. And so do you.

So start living in that redemption. It is your free gift to accept. And stop believing the lies that because you fail, that you have lost God’s favor. Your failures are the exact reason we have the cross.

A beautiful song the represents this is “You Love Me Anyway” by Sidewalk Prophets. Let the words fill your soul with hope today and walk in freedom because He loves you!

I am joining Holley for her #2014EncouragementChallenge. If you need some encouragement jump on over here and join the fun!

Photo Credit: www.ForestWander.com