Happy Monday everyone! I just finished up my 31 day devotional that I was doing. I always get very excited when it's time to pick out a new one. I headed to the Christian bookstore this morning and found the perfect one. Stay tuned for my thoughts as I work through this new book.
Our time in Georgia is wrapping up soon. It has become home very quickly. There are many, many aspects of Georgia we will miss greatly. First and foremost we will miss our beloved Journey Community Church desperately. We are also able to visit with my dad a great deal which sounds funny. We actually see him more now than when we lived in Ohio! He is alone now and can pretty much come and go as he pleases. He and his dog, Sky, can hit the road often! We all just had a great weekend together. We had a fire outside, went biking, played Frisbee golf, ate great food, worshiped together at JCC, and enjoyed a big Buckeye win!
Changes are coming for our family. Change is hard. I'm not that good at change. Being a Procter and Gamble wife I have learned to roll with it. Like anything else there are pros and cons. There are so many places we could go. I think about it a lot. Sometimes I plan in my head what should happen. I have a perfect scenario.
If we go overseas it would be an experience of a lifetime. We could see the world! It would be an incredible experience. We could take Eli to see the Colosseum in Rome, the Charles Bridge in Prague, or to the beaches of Normandy. We could ski down the Swiss Alps. The possibilities are endless! There are obvious cons. Um, we would live a world away from family and friends! I would have to leave behind my sweet Jessie. Eli is also concerned about not being able to talk to other kids because of the language barrier. His schooling would be a concern also as he attends a Christian private school now. I also pause when I think about leaving the United States. I'm VERY patriotic and I absolutely adore this country. Even with her problems I just straight up love America.
There are some interesting places in the United States we could go. Maybe we would live in the west. That would be cool. We are complete mountain people and our dream home is a beautiful cabin on a lake in or near the mountains. We love being cozy! Mountain biking and hiking are a blast. Skiing is awesome not to mention how great it would be to live near the family condo in Deer Valley Utah. Snow isn't my favorite, but it is more acceptable in the mountains. Again, Eli's schooling is a concern and that is always on my mind when we discuss moving.
I also think a great deal about going back to Cincinnati, where we came from. A few years ago I would have been okay to never go back to Ohio. I didn't miss the dark, cold winter nights and minimal sunshine. I also didn't miss the dreary, rainy spring. Ohio was a painful reminder that my mom was no longer with us. It seems like as soon as I crossed the Ohio River my heart began to ache even harder in the waves of sorrow that would come over me in thinking about her battle with cancer. In the last few months my heart has changed towards returning to Ohio. Cincinnati is about three hours from our "home," but to us Cincinnati is also home. Dave lived there for five years when he attended the University of Cincinnati. We lived there for almost three years before moving to Georgia. My best friend lives in Cincinnati and I would LOVE to live near Jessica again. This time we would try to live even closer to her and her family...even the 15 minutes like before would be too far!
Speaking of Jessica I got the best note from her last night. It was so nice to just hear all about her and her life. We used to work out together, ride horses together, sit by the pool together, worship our God together, and let our kids play together...I miss that with all my heart. Even now when God reveals something big to me I want to tell Jess. I remember three years ago when I was in the ugly midst of my hormone fiasco she was so encouraging. In February 2011 my mom was dying from cancer. We knew she didn't have much time left...maybe just a week or two. Dave and I had planned a trip to Utah with Jessica and her husband Derek many months before. My dad encouraged me to go, go and just breathe. I felt awful guilty going for the four days we had planned. How on earth could I go to our winter paradise when my mom was in Ohio laying in a hospital bed literally dying? We went and it was good. It was good to sit for hours and just talk to my dear friend. It was nice to give my heart a break. I'll always remember that trip.
Okay, that last paragraph was off topic. Sorry. Jess, if your reading this...love you sunshine. Anyway, back to Cincinnati. There is something about going back that would be nice. There are great school options and I could still enjoy my horse. We would be much closer to our families which is a huge positive. It is familiar. It is a wonderful city to raise a family and there are many great churches to attend. In addition to the Tye's we have some other friends in the city that we would love to reconnect with. Beside all that everyone is an Ohio State fan there! That's not really at the top of our list, but it IS nice!
As I type all this the following Bible verse comes to mind. Leave it to the Proverbs to offer me some good, practical advice. My mom was a living Proverb. She offered practical and wise advice. I just spent five or six paragraphs talking all about my plans. It is hard not knowing what is next for Dave, Eli, and myself (and Olive the Corgi and Jessie the horse). The only thing I can do is trust God to show us where to go. I can plan and plan and plan some more, but He institutes my steps. He puts my steps into operation. It is His path I want to follow regardless of my plans. I'm not gonna lie...I have in my heart the perfect scenario. I know what I want. Life is about more than doing what I want. It's about allowing Him to establish my steps. My personal goal is to put myself in a position to listen to Him, to hear Him, and then to obey Him. So stay tuned!
Proverbs 16:9) In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Barrel Prayers
Hey everyone. I hope this entry finds you doing well. If your going through trials please know you are in my prayers. In our culture doing "well" means not having any problems. It means being happy. I love being happy! Doing well to me personally means trusting in my God despite how I feel. Some days I am doing better than others and that directly correlates to how much I'm living in trust or not. Wow, that was off-topic!7'
Many of my recent Bible studies have had two similar themes. One is the story of Abraham and Sarah. The other is the concept of praying big, gigantic prayers. Our small group is doing a study together called "The Circle Maker." We had a super discussion this past week and I intend on buying the book. I'm also reading through a devotion on declaring good over your life and the lives of loved ones. Pastor Bobby recently did an awesome sermon series on praying barrel prayers. On stage he had a cup, a bucket, and a barrel. It was a great visual. I'm not going to lie...I typically pray cup and bucket prayers because I'm too afraid to prayer barrel prayers. What if God let's me down? What if I get my hopes up for nothing? What if, what if, what if...it's the devil's game. Today's blog is going to consist of my thoughts on these topics and hopefully in the end it will make some sense to you (and me).
Matthew 6:10) ...your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Think about the above verse. How many times have you prayed that prayer? I have noticed that many denominational churches recite it quite often. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but can desensitize us to the realness of the words we are saying. Essentially it is saying that we desire His will above our own. Ultimately that's the goal here, right? We SHOULD want God's will above our own. That would entail a large amount of trust. I'm working everyday to truly desire God's will above my own. It is easier to do in some things and harder in others. For example, I am better at giving our living situation over to God and struggle more with giving my health condition over to Him. Dave's job could take us to The Czech Republic, South Africa, Utah, North Carolina, Ohio, etc. Now I would prefer some locations over others, but at the end of the day I'll go where He sends us. Now with my health...it freaks me out. I get terrified that I will have to live with some of these symptoms for the rest of my life. I mean when I say terrified I mean terrified. Is this Godly? Nope. Does Satan know my weakness? Yep. I am battling him day in and day out because I WILL NOT LIVE IN FEAR. So my point here is that it's easier to say "Your will be done" in some things more than others.
Along those same lines how many times do we tack on "if it's Your will God" onto the end of the prayer? Is it done because we are like uber Christians and want to sound super holy to ourselves, others, and even God? I think so many times. If we get totally honest with ourselves we tack it on to provide God an escape route. I have done it. It's my way of praying without getting my hopes up that He will actually provide what I'm asking for. Really think about this. I will not pretend I get the whole God's will thing and when something is or isn't His will or how do I know it is His will so I can pray with authority and confidence. Yeah, I don't have it all figured out. What I know is that He wants us to pray with confidence that He is going to provide something above and beyond what we ask or desire. That is a barrel prayer.
Ephesians 3:20) Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...
Another thought I have had recently is on the topic of my heart's desire and dreams I have buried down within me. Sometimes I think my dreams aren't worthy because they don't involve me becoming a pastor, worship leader, missionary to the jungle, Christian theologian, Christian author, mother of orphans, Mother Teresa, fill in the blank of some awesome title. They are just small things to me. They are too personal to share right now, but they are mine. I hold them very dear in my heart. They are a part of me. I have struggled with praying over these dreams because they are not good enough or holy enough. He is revealing to me a little at a time that they are important to Him because they are important to me. Is it even possible that He is the one who put them there in the first place?
Psalm 37:4) Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
The more time I spend with God the more my desires become His. My prayers change, my goals change, and my desires change. For example, I used to pray that God would take my health condition away, just take it all away. I still do at times, but now I try to pray more prayers about the process. I ask Him to give me courage and strength as I go through this trial. My heart's desire is that I face it head on without fear. My desire is to be brave and wise in the face of the enemy who is whispering 'this will NEVER get any better than it is now.' I desperately want to be strong and to not quit. Those are His desires for me too. So see how my desires are aligning with His? He knows every thought I have so He obviously knows I ultimately want to be free from this condition. I do not deny I want that, but I try to not make it the main point of every prayer. My character has changed so much in the last seven years or so. I am so glad God didn't leave me where I was even if that meant living a really tough life. He loves you too much to leave you where you are at.
We are to pray with boldness, expectation. Do not be afraid to pray barrel prayers. Yes, seek God's will in all you do, but don't deny yourself those hidden dreams that are buried deep within. Wrestle with God over them in prayer. Seek Him in all you do and in time, His desires will become your own.
Many of my recent Bible studies have had two similar themes. One is the story of Abraham and Sarah. The other is the concept of praying big, gigantic prayers. Our small group is doing a study together called "The Circle Maker." We had a super discussion this past week and I intend on buying the book. I'm also reading through a devotion on declaring good over your life and the lives of loved ones. Pastor Bobby recently did an awesome sermon series on praying barrel prayers. On stage he had a cup, a bucket, and a barrel. It was a great visual. I'm not going to lie...I typically pray cup and bucket prayers because I'm too afraid to prayer barrel prayers. What if God let's me down? What if I get my hopes up for nothing? What if, what if, what if...it's the devil's game. Today's blog is going to consist of my thoughts on these topics and hopefully in the end it will make some sense to you (and me).
Matthew 6:10) ...your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Think about the above verse. How many times have you prayed that prayer? I have noticed that many denominational churches recite it quite often. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but can desensitize us to the realness of the words we are saying. Essentially it is saying that we desire His will above our own. Ultimately that's the goal here, right? We SHOULD want God's will above our own. That would entail a large amount of trust. I'm working everyday to truly desire God's will above my own. It is easier to do in some things and harder in others. For example, I am better at giving our living situation over to God and struggle more with giving my health condition over to Him. Dave's job could take us to The Czech Republic, South Africa, Utah, North Carolina, Ohio, etc. Now I would prefer some locations over others, but at the end of the day I'll go where He sends us. Now with my health...it freaks me out. I get terrified that I will have to live with some of these symptoms for the rest of my life. I mean when I say terrified I mean terrified. Is this Godly? Nope. Does Satan know my weakness? Yep. I am battling him day in and day out because I WILL NOT LIVE IN FEAR. So my point here is that it's easier to say "Your will be done" in some things more than others.
Along those same lines how many times do we tack on "if it's Your will God" onto the end of the prayer? Is it done because we are like uber Christians and want to sound super holy to ourselves, others, and even God? I think so many times. If we get totally honest with ourselves we tack it on to provide God an escape route. I have done it. It's my way of praying without getting my hopes up that He will actually provide what I'm asking for. Really think about this. I will not pretend I get the whole God's will thing and when something is or isn't His will or how do I know it is His will so I can pray with authority and confidence. Yeah, I don't have it all figured out. What I know is that He wants us to pray with confidence that He is going to provide something above and beyond what we ask or desire. That is a barrel prayer.
Ephesians 3:20) Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...
Another thought I have had recently is on the topic of my heart's desire and dreams I have buried down within me. Sometimes I think my dreams aren't worthy because they don't involve me becoming a pastor, worship leader, missionary to the jungle, Christian theologian, Christian author, mother of orphans, Mother Teresa, fill in the blank of some awesome title. They are just small things to me. They are too personal to share right now, but they are mine. I hold them very dear in my heart. They are a part of me. I have struggled with praying over these dreams because they are not good enough or holy enough. He is revealing to me a little at a time that they are important to Him because they are important to me. Is it even possible that He is the one who put them there in the first place?
Psalm 37:4) Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
The more time I spend with God the more my desires become His. My prayers change, my goals change, and my desires change. For example, I used to pray that God would take my health condition away, just take it all away. I still do at times, but now I try to pray more prayers about the process. I ask Him to give me courage and strength as I go through this trial. My heart's desire is that I face it head on without fear. My desire is to be brave and wise in the face of the enemy who is whispering 'this will NEVER get any better than it is now.' I desperately want to be strong and to not quit. Those are His desires for me too. So see how my desires are aligning with His? He knows every thought I have so He obviously knows I ultimately want to be free from this condition. I do not deny I want that, but I try to not make it the main point of every prayer. My character has changed so much in the last seven years or so. I am so glad God didn't leave me where I was even if that meant living a really tough life. He loves you too much to leave you where you are at.
We are to pray with boldness, expectation. Do not be afraid to pray barrel prayers. Yes, seek God's will in all you do, but don't deny yourself those hidden dreams that are buried deep within. Wrestle with God over them in prayer. Seek Him in all you do and in time, His desires will become your own.
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