We had this tradition growing up that every Christmas before we opened up our gifts, we (meaning me and my two older sisters) had to give Jesus a gift. It was my parents brilliant way of reminding us that Christmas really was about a little baby who was born and not just opening presents. And I always remember being super challenged by this tradition of what to give. And I don't think I will ever grow out of the feeling of inadequacy in what I bring the King just like the drummer boy. But tonight, what I have to offer Jesus are my words. I love to write but so out of practice and can never seem to put my thoughts together. But tonight, I'm gonna stream them together and offer them because its been on my heart to write this post for a bit.
The first time I ever left US soil was when I was 14. My grandmother had a promise that she would take every single one of her grandchildren on a trip with her when we turned 14. This was not unusual because my grandparents spent their entire married lives traveling and doing ministry all over the globe. Switzerland and Germany were my first two stamps in my passport of what would be many many stamps to come. My second global adventure (when I was 16) was to Moldova, a small country sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. It was on this trip that I remember specifically asking God if he would ever have me live overseas. I kind of asked not wanting to know the answer, but I knew deeply in that moment that He had something for me abroad that I would always chase after. All I knew at this point was that my heart was growing for different cultures and for different nations and my heart was more alive than it had ever been. Not just because of my growing love for cultures but because it was here that I learned how beautiful it was to be a person that brought hope and peace as tangible as if I pulled it out of my back pocket and passed it out to people. There is something addicting about bringing people hope.
I never knew that by the time I was 32 I would have not only lived overseas but would have had the honor of being in so many different countries. I don't know exactly what to do with all the things that I have seen, the stories I have heard, and with the beautiful people I have met, but my heart is grateful beyond words. These days my heart is grieved for the state of our world. The world seems just a little bit crazy and unstable these days. With an election year around the corner, the largest refugee migration since World War II, ISIS, shootings, earthquakes, global warming, terrorism, hunger, war, cancer, trafficking, poverty (not just physical but emotional, educational, spiritual, etc..) and exploitation on every level...the world seems a little bit like its in need of rescue.
In the past year, God has grown my heart for Arabs. I have several amazing Iraqi friends in Houston and have had the joy of sharing in baby showers, holidays, shopping, and lots of other fun life events. My heart has been burning to go their country ever since I heard them talk so endearingly about their homeland. In addition to having Iraqi friends, I got the chance to go Jordan, Turkey, Israel, and Palestine last fall and I fell even more in love with the Middle East and have really grown in my understanding of Islam and what many of my Muslim friends believe. I have attended many mosques, shared Eid, observed Ramadan while in Jordan this summer, and been good friends with an Emam. I have heard horror stories from the civil war in Syria as I have sat in homes of Syrian refugees. So much loss that is unbearable. And to be honest, God has given me such a love for that part of the world that I can't explain and even more so for her people. The truth is that people are all the same. As women, we all love to feel pretty, go shopping, endure the joys and hardships of motherhood, long to be loved, and to take care of our families. I think that when God looks at that part of the world His heart is full of love and His chest puffs up like a proud dad.
I will be super honest and say it has literally grieved my heart as so many people have expressed so openly of their desire to kill this group of people (that I now love), deny them refuge, or mistreat them. However, I also will not judge people for their fear. I get it. Fear is one of the most crippling of the emotions. We fear what we don't know. And there are so many things we don't understand in our ethnocentrism. And sometimes we have legitimate reasons to actually fear. My best friend, who lives in Southern California, went to school with the shooter of the most recent San Bernadino terrorist shootings. Her husband was on lock-down at work. Shit gets real when fear seeps out of your television screen and enters in your life and into your family. And heres the deal, its ok to be fearful. That's normal, but what are you doing to do with that fear?
I'm going to speak to those that are followers of Jesus. As Jesus followers we should be the most FEARLESS PEOPLE on the planet. Jesus wants to meet us in our greatest fear and heal us from the inside out and make us fearless. One of my favorite quotes from my mentor is, your greatest dream is on the other side of your greatest fear. When we live in fear, we live differently and sometimes we miss our dream and what we were created for. We calculate differently, we hold back, we don't give or receive as freely or at all, and we quite honestly are miserable. And I know personally, I make the worst decisions when I am fearful. Like terrible decisions. So what do you do with fear when it creeps in? You bring it straight to Jesus and have him speak to you about your fear. Every time I have an extreme emotion that is not usually my norm, I take it as an opportunity for Jesus to do a deeper healing in me or to speak to me about what He wants me to know about that feeling. So when you are fearful, ask him what He wants you to know about your fear. When you ask Him it gives Him the chance to speak truth to you or for you to confess what it is that you don't believe about God to be true. It says in Scripture that it is Truth that sets us free. So when you stop and allow God to speak the truth of the reality of the world, the truth of the root of you fear, it is then you find true freedom and the ability to live fearless. God will always be for people, for his creation, for you. He will always draw you to a place of healing and a place of letting Him speak. Can you imagine how influential the Church could be if we took the time to let God speak into the deepest places of our fear, our shame and our guilt? We would truly be a set apart people and HEALTHY people! But not set apart in the way we judge but how we love AND because were free...truly free and living in our true identity and having right view of God. We'd be free from ourselves, our own way, and our own shortcomings.
As followers of Christ, we have to move past fear because we have Hope that the rest of the world doesn't have. And when we fear, we look like the rest of the world. And for some reason, Jesus named the Church as the vehicle for carrying this Hope and if we are all tangled up in fear we lose the ability to do the one thing He designed the Church for. So my prayer in this next year, is that the Church, followers of Jesus, will be more present in the world than ever before and we will not shrink back. Jesus came as a little baby to rescue us, redeem us, and give us hope. And He is near the broken hearted. And He comes to those who call out to him. I have some friends that just came back from doing relief work among Syrians in Germany. He said that the Syrians were coming off the boats asking who Jesus was. They had been having dreams and visions the entire time they were on the boat of a man in a white robe named Jesus. Jesus is King and He will draw all people to Himself when he is lifted. He becomes hope, life, and joy. Jesus meets us and rescues us and he loves all people...especially Muslims, and me, and you.
It is too great of a risk for us to be a people that are crippled in fear. We miss out on loving the world and His creation and we walk away from the one thing we were created for. Maybe you're not fearful of the world, but your fearful of your calling, or to speak in front of people, or to leave your miserable job, or to pursue people and friendship, or fearful that God won't come through for you. Whatever it is take it to Jesus...He has something He wants to tell you.
My prayer is that I will always be a woman who was truly fearless because I've trusted in the One who makes me fearless and free.
The first time I ever left US soil was when I was 14. My grandmother had a promise that she would take every single one of her grandchildren on a trip with her when we turned 14. This was not unusual because my grandparents spent their entire married lives traveling and doing ministry all over the globe. Switzerland and Germany were my first two stamps in my passport of what would be many many stamps to come. My second global adventure (when I was 16) was to Moldova, a small country sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. It was on this trip that I remember specifically asking God if he would ever have me live overseas. I kind of asked not wanting to know the answer, but I knew deeply in that moment that He had something for me abroad that I would always chase after. All I knew at this point was that my heart was growing for different cultures and for different nations and my heart was more alive than it had ever been. Not just because of my growing love for cultures but because it was here that I learned how beautiful it was to be a person that brought hope and peace as tangible as if I pulled it out of my back pocket and passed it out to people. There is something addicting about bringing people hope.
I never knew that by the time I was 32 I would have not only lived overseas but would have had the honor of being in so many different countries. I don't know exactly what to do with all the things that I have seen, the stories I have heard, and with the beautiful people I have met, but my heart is grateful beyond words. These days my heart is grieved for the state of our world. The world seems just a little bit crazy and unstable these days. With an election year around the corner, the largest refugee migration since World War II, ISIS, shootings, earthquakes, global warming, terrorism, hunger, war, cancer, trafficking, poverty (not just physical but emotional, educational, spiritual, etc..) and exploitation on every level...the world seems a little bit like its in need of rescue.
In the past year, God has grown my heart for Arabs. I have several amazing Iraqi friends in Houston and have had the joy of sharing in baby showers, holidays, shopping, and lots of other fun life events. My heart has been burning to go their country ever since I heard them talk so endearingly about their homeland. In addition to having Iraqi friends, I got the chance to go Jordan, Turkey, Israel, and Palestine last fall and I fell even more in love with the Middle East and have really grown in my understanding of Islam and what many of my Muslim friends believe. I have attended many mosques, shared Eid, observed Ramadan while in Jordan this summer, and been good friends with an Emam. I have heard horror stories from the civil war in Syria as I have sat in homes of Syrian refugees. So much loss that is unbearable. And to be honest, God has given me such a love for that part of the world that I can't explain and even more so for her people. The truth is that people are all the same. As women, we all love to feel pretty, go shopping, endure the joys and hardships of motherhood, long to be loved, and to take care of our families. I think that when God looks at that part of the world His heart is full of love and His chest puffs up like a proud dad.
I will be super honest and say it has literally grieved my heart as so many people have expressed so openly of their desire to kill this group of people (that I now love), deny them refuge, or mistreat them. However, I also will not judge people for their fear. I get it. Fear is one of the most crippling of the emotions. We fear what we don't know. And there are so many things we don't understand in our ethnocentrism. And sometimes we have legitimate reasons to actually fear. My best friend, who lives in Southern California, went to school with the shooter of the most recent San Bernadino terrorist shootings. Her husband was on lock-down at work. Shit gets real when fear seeps out of your television screen and enters in your life and into your family. And heres the deal, its ok to be fearful. That's normal, but what are you doing to do with that fear?
I'm going to speak to those that are followers of Jesus. As Jesus followers we should be the most FEARLESS PEOPLE on the planet. Jesus wants to meet us in our greatest fear and heal us from the inside out and make us fearless. One of my favorite quotes from my mentor is, your greatest dream is on the other side of your greatest fear. When we live in fear, we live differently and sometimes we miss our dream and what we were created for. We calculate differently, we hold back, we don't give or receive as freely or at all, and we quite honestly are miserable. And I know personally, I make the worst decisions when I am fearful. Like terrible decisions. So what do you do with fear when it creeps in? You bring it straight to Jesus and have him speak to you about your fear. Every time I have an extreme emotion that is not usually my norm, I take it as an opportunity for Jesus to do a deeper healing in me or to speak to me about what He wants me to know about that feeling. So when you are fearful, ask him what He wants you to know about your fear. When you ask Him it gives Him the chance to speak truth to you or for you to confess what it is that you don't believe about God to be true. It says in Scripture that it is Truth that sets us free. So when you stop and allow God to speak the truth of the reality of the world, the truth of the root of you fear, it is then you find true freedom and the ability to live fearless. God will always be for people, for his creation, for you. He will always draw you to a place of healing and a place of letting Him speak. Can you imagine how influential the Church could be if we took the time to let God speak into the deepest places of our fear, our shame and our guilt? We would truly be a set apart people and HEALTHY people! But not set apart in the way we judge but how we love AND because were free...truly free and living in our true identity and having right view of God. We'd be free from ourselves, our own way, and our own shortcomings.
As followers of Christ, we have to move past fear because we have Hope that the rest of the world doesn't have. And when we fear, we look like the rest of the world. And for some reason, Jesus named the Church as the vehicle for carrying this Hope and if we are all tangled up in fear we lose the ability to do the one thing He designed the Church for. So my prayer in this next year, is that the Church, followers of Jesus, will be more present in the world than ever before and we will not shrink back. Jesus came as a little baby to rescue us, redeem us, and give us hope. And He is near the broken hearted. And He comes to those who call out to him. I have some friends that just came back from doing relief work among Syrians in Germany. He said that the Syrians were coming off the boats asking who Jesus was. They had been having dreams and visions the entire time they were on the boat of a man in a white robe named Jesus. Jesus is King and He will draw all people to Himself when he is lifted. He becomes hope, life, and joy. Jesus meets us and rescues us and he loves all people...especially Muslims, and me, and you.
It is too great of a risk for us to be a people that are crippled in fear. We miss out on loving the world and His creation and we walk away from the one thing we were created for. Maybe you're not fearful of the world, but your fearful of your calling, or to speak in front of people, or to leave your miserable job, or to pursue people and friendship, or fearful that God won't come through for you. Whatever it is take it to Jesus...He has something He wants to tell you.
My prayer is that I will always be a woman who was truly fearless because I've trusted in the One who makes me fearless and free.
