Reflect

There is no greater joy than to have the priveledge of blessing others. Sometimes we even plan to go and do or "be a blessing", but when it's all finished and we stop and... we receive a blessing. God's economy just works differently than the world's (aren't we glad!) Jesus taught us this throughout His short stay on earth.

The last shall be first...

The least shall be the greatest...

The meek shall inherit the earth...

Love your enemies...

Be peacemakers...

Do others see us this way? Do our actions match our beliefs? What do you reflect?

In travelling I have noticed that Americans haven't left a good impression on the rest of the world. To the rest of the world we are seen as rich, demanding, impatient, rude and basically spoiled brat snobs. Sometimes that is a huge obstacle to overcome, but sometimes it makes Christ's light shine brighter. I have seen the huge impact that a caring Christian makes in the lives of others when a perceived "rich American" shows Christ's love. I actually had a kid ask me once: "Why would you, a rich American, come to my country and even talk to me?" My first thoughts were to laugh...school teacher=rich...right! Then it God spoke to me...you are being Christ to them. You are reflecting Me!

So in finishing this book here is my "take away". You are made by God. You are valuable to Him. You have a special unique plan that He has made for just for you. Celebrate who He has made you to be. Use who you are to make a difference for Him. Let nothing slow you down or keep you from serving Him. Let Him fill you up so you can pour out blessings on others. Now go and...

Reflect Christ!

The Rebel with a Cause

Spiritual maturity can be viewed two ways when it comes to age - either you’re too young to have it or you’re too old not to have it. Personally I have found neither option to be true.

Looking back on my own life, my spiritual maturity has changed based on how much I’m feeding myself with God’s word. I was really involved in my youth group as a teenager and as a result of that, I possessed more spiritual maturity during my teen years than I did in my twenties. Now I feel like my maturity grows stronger as I continue to seek and obey God. It requires change and it is an ongoing process but the reward far outweighs the struggle.

Obviously with what God placed on the very young shoulders of Mary, there is no age requirement to obtain spiritual maturity. God does not place a sign out that says, “If you were born after May 13, 1999 then you are officially spiritually mature”. It is based solely on you and your relationship with God. Draw near to him and you mature. Pull away and you don’t. It’s as simple as that!

As Christians we place a lot of stereotypes on others and by doing this we judge their spiritual maturity. Jen says in Chapter 10 – ‘God constantly blows the doors off our stereotypes ….No one is more unconventional than God. Funny how His name is used to create boundaries when, in fact, He is the Ultimate Rebel. Frankly, I’m shocked when He uses anyone slightly normal, whatever that is.”

I love that God is a rebel – and that he uses abnormal people because I have that going for me! And I’m pretty sure it really ticks off Satan to hear God described as a Rebel and to see him cozying up to the bad guys, because if anyone can flip a bad seed good, it’s God! Satan is probably saying “Back off my people – I got them locked up!” See that is the thing with God…nobody is excluded from His grace which means anyone can come in to spiritual maturity no matter what their past is. God is a rebel with a cause - and that cause is YOU!

I really enjoyed reading about Jen’s friends in Chapter 12 – wow what amazing women. I’m kind of feeling like a slacker! Makes me realize I could do so much more than what I do for God. I do however have something awesome coming up so I’ve decided to be totally selfish here and ask for your help. For the past 2 summers I have had the opportunity to participate in a mission trip with my church to Moldova, the smallest and poorest Eastern European country. On June 20 I will be headed back there with another group of adults to help lead a sports camp for teenagers. We have a very small group going this year – just 4 of us – and we really need your prayer! So if you can start praying now for God to be with us in planning, preparation, in the willingness of the kids to attend, for the Moldovan leadership as they put the camp together, for our safety in travel and for us to be spiritually mature and share God’s love with these kids – it would be greatly appreciated!!

I’ll leave you with a picture of me and my girls Karina, Nadia and Maria, and my husband Devlyn and Karina's brother Dan, some of the awesome teenagers in Moldova that I have formed a very special bonds with. Thanks for your prayers!!

Jesus I'm your mother!

Our last woman in the lineage of Christ – Mary! We are going out with a bang on this one – she’s Jesus’ freaking mother - you can’t get any closer than that!! Everyone knows who Mary is. But does everyone know how young she was when this huge responsibility was placed in her lap? The answer is 13. Thinking back to myself at 13 and how I would feel if I was told I would be giving birth to the Savior let’s just say…I’d be totally freaked out! I just started shaving my legs and didn’t even know about shaving my armpits and you’re telling me I’m going to have a baby? And he will be called Jesus? And oh yeah – he’s pretty much the Son of God. Awkward!

I’d be pretty glad if I was Mary that the song ‘Mary Did You Know’ did not come out until way after the fact because it would have freaked me out even more. The lyrics go…
Mary did you know…your baby boy will some day walk on water / will save our sons and daughters / has come to make you new / the child you have delivered will soon deliver you / will give sight to a blind man / will calm a storm with his hand / has walked where angels trod / when you’ve kissed your little boy you’ve kissed the face of God / is Lord of all creation / will one day rule the nations / is heaven’s perfect lamb / the sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am.

People talk about Kate Gosselin being a super mom – well she had nothing on Mary!! TLC would be all over this one – I can see the show now – they'd call it ‘Oh Jesus I’m Your Mom’ – starring Mary and Joseph and Jesus Christ as Himself!

As we’ve all heard many times, age is just a number. As of today, I am 429 months and 3 days old. Sounds like a strange way to say I’m 35. I think it is funny when you ask a mother how old her child is, she will tell you in months. Now I can understand doing this when they are under 1, because months are all they have. But when they turn 1, just say 1 people! Also when you’re young, you give ½ years…I’m 11 and a half. That half is important. To this day, I still acknowledge my half birthday. I was under the impression everyone did but apparently I’m one of the few.
I think you pretty much stop telling and people stop asking your age around 30. Personally I don’t care, it is what it is, but some people have real hang ups when it comes to age. Thank goodness God doesn’t!

Our last truth – women are favored by God. Hooray for us girls!! Now I personally know what it means to be favored. We have a joke in my family that I’m the favorite child and I have to admit – for me, it’s kind of fun. Or it's fun to at least pretend that I am because I know my parents truly do not favor me over my sister.

Now having the favor of God does come with a bit of responsibility. It’s not automatic. You can’t have favor with someone who you don’t even know. If you have a relationship with God and you remain faithful - you will remain in His favor. Jen gives the example of Peter and feeding the sheep. This is one of my favorite stories of the Bible. I have a close relationship with my dad and since I was young I have asked him, “Dad – do you love me?”
He will say yes and I will respond “Feed my sheep”.
Sometimes he answers yes I’ll feed your sheep because he knows the drill. I try to catch him not thinking about it and get him to just say yes so I can say the feed my sheep part.
It’s funny because it is the same way with God. If I am close to Him and He asks if I love him, I’ll say yes and I will feed your sheep. But if I stray away and get off track when he comes to me with this question I simply say yes. Then he has to remind me to feed his sheep.

Feed His sheep ladies - remain in His favor!!

I’m so sad this book has come to an end! I loved the book and would recommend if you haven’t already read it, you need to!! One last story for you...
When I was little I wore my underwear backwards for so long that when my mother tried to get me to stop, it just didn’t feel right wearing them correctly.
This is kind of how I feel in life lately. I think I know myself and my capabilities but everything I know about myself is just like my underwear – backwards!
After reading about these 5 great women – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth Bathsheba and Mary – I see some of the same great stuff in myself. I too thought I was too powerless (Tamar), too tainted (Rahab), too inferior (Ruth), too broken (Bathsheba) and too young (Mary). Now I know I am smart, brave, beautiful, influential and Godly – how cool is that?! I got my panties on the right way and it feels good!!