Punjab Recap – Brotherly Love

You know what left me intrigued from the Punjab trip was the way people displayed their love towards one another.  They had no reservations displaying it.  This certainly puts Philadelphia to SHAME.  My gosh, we can’t even scratch surface on “brotherly love” after what my eyes saw in India.  It was pretty funny because the group of us that came from the States found this to be so different from our daily interactions with people back at home.

When we are in the States, we live life with the notion that people require space.  We don’t want to make others (or ourselves) uncomfortable, so everyone has their own space and we choose not to step over that boundary.  The moment we stepped into India, I felt as though that boundary flew out the window.  This is a funny truth.  I loved every moment of it.

Something I loved more is that this ability to display love started at a very young age.  This photograph to your upper left-hand corner is one of my favorites that I took while we were in Batalla, India.  I randomly saw these 4 little boys just loving on each other – they had no clue the photo was being taken.  They had such a sincere affection for each other.  Now, this was foreign to me.  I was immediately drawn to it and had to capture it on camera and share it with you all.  This was a learned behavior for these children.  They are born and raised in a society where it is not shameful to serve your fellow brother and sister in love.  It is  not embaressing to display affection.  These children are not born with the mentality of “I want to show my friends they are awesome to me, so I will give them a HUGE embrace.” Seriously folks??  Our carnality would never allow that.  We learn certain behaviors by what we are exposed to.

I always wonder why is it so bizarre for us to show actual brotherly love.  If Christ has called us to love one another like He has loved us, doesn’t it make sense to physically show our efforts??  Why are we so uncomfortable holding someone’s hand or rubbing someone’s shoulder.. or dare I say, giving someone a hug?? I feel like, I expect the Lord to be doing this for me.. why not give back what is given?  Can you imagine not receiving an embrace from God or have Him stop holding your hand??

Sometimes people just need us to stop talking and to start loving.  We need to break these walls that hold us back – walls that society, culture, and ourselves have built up.  In order to let the Lord’s love flow through our veins.. we need to start getting “uncomfortable”.  I am totally speaking to myself here.  I have such a HUGE issue with space and how I desire it so badly.  I feel like India was a massive reminder of how sometimes space can lead to complacent love.  It brings forth weak attempts to love people out of obligation, rather than relentlessly and with everything in us.

Prijo met these guys for the first time, as did us.. and as you can see, he was totally chucked into the waters of brotherly love.  It is the most refreshing thing to see Christians love on one another.  They don’t know anything about each other – they only know that God has brought them together for such a time as this.  I think that is absolutely awesome.  That is all we need to love.  I don’t think there were any gaps between these guys (as you can see).  Comfort zones.. out the window.

This is just a recap from my trip and a reminder for us to learn to love people without our walls of comfort stacked up high.  It’s easy to love friends and those we know intimately like family and accountability.. but strangers??  Let’s re-examine our hearts and the love God demonstrated for us on the Cross.. while we were yet sinners..

..Now we are called His friends.. what a difference a token of love can do, right??  Just a thought.

Lift up your Eyes

“And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.” - Matthew 17:8

I had some down time before I started my day and I got to open up the Word to the book of Matthew.  I read some pretty awesome stuff.  Let’s flip over to the 17th chapter and briefly go through this passage.  Just a side note, this passage reminds me of Bebo Norman’s song: “Lift My Eyes,” which is amazing, and I recommend you check out!

So Jesus is being transfigured in this passage.  For those of you who are new to the Church scene and have no idea what I am talking about (have no fear!) – the transfiguration is where Jesus began radiating like the sun, his face and garments began shining, and most interesting is probably the fact that Moses and Elijah appeared to the apostles talking to Jesus during this time.  Can you even imagine what this looks like??  Two dead prophets from the old just chatting it up and having a good ole time with Jesus (who is still very much alive).  I don’t know how one could witness this and not be marveled by the sight.

Here enters good ole Peter into the scene.  He speaks to Jesus saying (in 21st Century words) ‘if you would like us here, we will continue to remain here and while we are here we can build 3 tabernacles – 1 for You, 1 for Moses, and 1 for Elijah.’ Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with this picture, nothing sinfully wrong at least.. but isn’t it funny that even for a moment, Peter got his eyes off of Jesus and on less important things – Moses and Elijah.  I find it to be even more amusing that about a verse later (vs. 5) God immediately brought Peter’s focus back, along with the rest of the disciples.

God didn’t miss that opportunity to bring these men back in line.  He was not having it.  Jesus Christ was the only One who would receive glory and honor.  Although, if I was there.. I would think it’s pretty cool to see Moses and Elijah as well!  *smiles*

So, as soon as the disciples hear this they fall to the ground, face down, trembling.  Jesus does next what only He can do – He touches them and speaks peace over them.  What happens next I LOVE.. it says the disciples lift up their eyes and saw no one except Jesus Himself.

It’s interesting when we look around we find ourselves getting distracted in life.  I’m not saying all distractions are bad things.  Some distractions are good things, such as: family, friends, dreams & desires, but they still find ways to deter us from our Calling.  But it’s funny that when the moment we lift up our eyes – EVERYTHING fades.  Did you catch that??  The moment the disciples lifted up their eyes.. every thing else was gone – there was no Elijah and no Moses, it says Jesus was ALL they saw.

For this reason, I greatly appreciate the Psalmist David because he was constantly bringing himself to a point where he had to raise his eyes to the Lord.  When all around him seemed to cave in and mess up, the Lord seemed to be the only fixed One.  David knew this.  His life was full of distractions.  He was a King, a father, a husband, a friend, a brother, a musician, a shepherd at one point in time, a poet.. this list could go on.  He had many titles.  People knew him in various facets.  He had much in life to be distracted by, but he did one thing that to this day gives him the title of: “man after God’s own heart”. He lifted his eyes to the Lord.  None of those titles remain when the Lord spoke a new one over him.  That’s profound to me!

So, this blog is just a friendly reminder to keep our eyes lifted to Him.  Do not be surprised when you look around and find distractions multiplying.  Don’t freak out.  I feel like I’m speaking this to myself!  *grins*   I freak out about everything.. because I simply push off lifting my eyes.  Everything could be solved with just one glance of Jesus.  As I close, I just want you to know Jesus loves you and He is waiting for you to raise your eyes to Him.  Watch and wait.  He will come.  It is as certain as the dawn!

Punjab Recap – Healing

This may be a lengthy blog entry, but it’s more of a conversation from me to you.  I hope you get to read the entirety because it sums up my experience in Punjab.  There will be a few entries that share with you glimpses of my trip to India, because honestly, one entry doesn’t seem to cut it.  So, I’m looking forward to having you guys stop in again.  Grab a seat.. a cup o’ joe.. and good morning!  *smiles*

Previously I shared with you about an amazing man of God – Dr. Daniel Abraham..

Well, this morning I was emailing him back and a bunch of thoughts came to my mind.  My heart was stirred.  I never got to put my thoughts together on this blog and share with you all an overall re-cap of my trip to Punjab, India through my perspective.

So, I feel like now is the perfect time..

We were a random group of people, comprised of different cultures, denominations, age groups, and personalities.  Yet God made it happen.  As Prijo, Jules, Vickie and I spent more than a week together (many many hours of the day & night) we were able to share so much of what the Lord had been speaking to us about.  Some of us arrived in Punjab with high expectations while others had no idea what to expect, all we knew was that we were in Punjab for a reason.  That reason was the glue to our group.  It was our core.  It is what kept us going when some of us got sick for more than the majority of the trip (haha.. myself included!).

We were stripped from our comforts for much of the trip.  We missed our families and friends back at home.  We missed the smell of air (if you know what this means.. awesome!  haha)  We missed down-time.. simply having leisure time.  I have never missed Chick-Fil-E’s Southwestern Chicken Salad so much in my life.  I think for 4 days nearer to the end of our trip, I couldn’t stop yapping about that salad and how much I wanted it when I got back home.  I usually never get hype about salad, actually I never do, but you start realizing the small things when you are not able to do something as simple as EAT.  I was not able to properly eat in India.  That made an aspect of the trip very difficult, because I felt weak much of the time, my emotions were insane, I’d be laughing one moment and crying the next, nothing would digest right, nausea was ridiculous for me, headaches (which I very rarely receive) I had daily gotten in Ludhiana, India.  I knew the enemy didn’t want me there, but that compelled me even more because I knew the Lord had me there for a purpose.  I found myself praying every night: “Lord, if  You brought me here.. please give me the strength and heal me from whatever this is so I can fulfill what You’ve called me to do.”

Then one night in Batalla while many people came up for prayer, they placed their hand on the part of their body they felt needed healing from God.  So, I figured I would do the same, why not right??  I’ve been asking the same thing for the past 7 days and it wouldn’t hurt me to continue asking.  I remained in my seat, but something felt different that night in my Spirit.  I believed fully that the Lord would heal me from whatever I had, to this day, no one even knows what it was and the toll it took.  So I put my hand on my heart. You may ask, why out of all the places of your body that needed healing would you place your hand on your heart?  Well.. I felt the part that needed healing was my Soul.  My Soul needed to remember that in my weakness He is strong. My prayer did not need to be for physical healing (please do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with this.. I encourage that) but at the time.. my prayer needed to be “Lord, restore JOY to my Soul, so that I may walk in the power and boldness You’ve already designed for me!”

I promise you friends, I never felt the pain again.. at least to the extent it was before.  I can point my finger at many things and justify the healing, but I do know one thing.. on that night, I told God that it wasn’t the physical healing I needed.. I needed my Soul to be restored so that I would walk in what He had called me to walk in. It wasn’t physical health that got Paul rejoicing in the Lord.  His health was falling apart, literally.  It was the JOY and the strengthening of his Spirit that compelled him to complete his course on Earth.

It’s funny that when you are as young as myself, the Lord finds interesting ways to get your attention.  Matt Chandler likes to say that when you’re young you haven’t had the life kicked out of you yet.  There’s truth to this.  I’m praying that by the years my faith would grow in Him.  As Grandpa Abraham sacrificed many things in his 70 plus years of life.. I hope that one day I can do more than just desire to do the same, but actually follow through with it and act upon it.

Much more to share on the next blog entry.. wait for it folks..  *grins*

Outpraising the Heavens

“The heavens tell the glory of God, and the skies announce what His hands have made.  Day after day they tell the story; night after night they tell it again.  They have no speech or words; they have no voice to be heard.  But their message goes out through all the world; their words go everywhere on earth.” -Psalms 19:1-4

Can you even fathom what David just wrote in the Psalms?  These non-breathing things, such as the skies and the heavens declare of God’s awesomeness day after day.  Not a day goes by where they do not proclaim of God’s glory.  They have no way of speaking and zero word usage, but yet their declaration resounds throughout the world.  I think this is absolutely beautiful!  Seriously friends.  Not only is it a beautiful concept, it is also a convicting one.

Where am I going with this?  If these things which have no speaking capabilities, being vast and glorious declare of God’s splendor how MUCH MORE should we as children of God?  There are no excuses at all.  It’s a darn shame when people who call themselves Christians are not able to vocally express their love and praise to God.  It doesn’t seem to be an issue when praising other things – new fads, celebrities & musicians, sports teams.. this list can go on.  You understand.  Why is it so difficult to praise God?

We have mouths and CAN speak and hands that CAN praise.  What is stopping you from declaring God’s glory today?  This is a concern in the Church today because there are way too many people taking up space in the pews and not enough people taking part in action.  The Heavens and the skies proclaim of the greatness of God in whatever ways they can.  We being created in the image of God, should desperately ache to do so as well.  It should be something that is bubbling up in our insides ready to explode.  Like Jeremiah, we should be able to say, “it’s like a fire shut up in my bones.. and I grow weary holding it in..”

Stop holding back admiration & praise for God.  He deserves all of the glory and honor.  How can we be surrounded by the presence of God and not be moved by Him?  Let’s join in with the skies and the Heavens and out-praise them.

“You are holy, great and mighty

The moon and the stars declare who You are

I’m so unworthy, but still You love me

Forever my heart will sing of how great You are”

-Phil Wickham

light in the darkness

I hate when there is this much of a gap between my blog entries because there is so much to share and not enough space in one entry.  So, the next few entries will be about our trip to Punjab..

My apologies for such a big gap.  I was sick for about 1-week during the trip, so any moment I had down-time.. I took that time to deal with the pain I was feeling.  I think I got a bug somewhere in the beginning of my trip – it lasted me approximately 7 days.. 7 painful days.  I will say this, during those 7 days.. the Lord gave me so much strength to keep going!  I felt my weakness, and I was clearly able to discern His strength in the midst of my inadequacies.

I am back in the States.  The leaves are beautiful and falling.. just the way I love it!  It’s a bit chilly outside.. hoodie weather.. and I’m in my covers with my laptop on my lap trying to fight my serious case of jet-lag.

I have to share with you guys how much God moved.  My goodness.  Lives were healed and restored, demons were cast out, families were reconciled, the untouched were touched, God’s hands & feet were certainly manifested.  It was such a humbling experience meeting such amazing people.  I felt like we had no idea what to expect coming to Punjab, yet we had your prayers backing us up and a solid Hope in knowing that God never disappoints, and that took us throughout the whole trip.  God went over and above anything we could have imagined.

God moved in the midst of the injustice and poverty through the life of Dr. Daniel Abraham.  I call him grandpa, because, well.. he reminds me of my grandpa.  I never had sucha messy good-bye.  I didn’t want to leave him.  Tears just kept rolling down my face.  I love his heart for children, it’s like none other.  He has an ashram for daughters of lepers.  These are some of the most beautiful girls that he took off the streets and placed them in this haven so that they could live away from the scrutiny and wickedness of those who may purchase or sell them.  While in the ashram, they are daily fed, cleaned up, and educated.  As they grow up, they will be taught practical skills so that they can find basic jobs to bring money in.

I was so impressed by his vision.  He wants to have a total of 500 girls enter into those doors.  He has less than 50 right now.  Talk about a vision, right??  He just keeps expanding the ashram in faith, knowing the Lord will bring in girls.  We then found ourselves in the slums where he has established basic education for the children living in the slums.  They live in these straw “things” called home.  Many of them came in with no clothes on their back, until Dr. Abraham came into the scene with his jolly ole’ heart and clothed them and served them in His love.  I’ve never seen such an earthly love depict so unconditionally for ALL children of every background.  There was no bias to his love – each child was treated the same.  He called each one betta and betti.  A term of endearment in Hindi.

As we walked into the 2 classrooms, he proudly announced to us his children.  He had the proudest grin on his face.  It didn’t matter that these children lived in the slums or that they had no name or fame, they meant the world to this man.  I bet, he meant the world to them.  I felt love.  For the first time in a LONG time, I felt a different kind of love.  This was a dimension of Christ’s love that brought me to tears.  It was such a heavy experience.  One cannot be the same after encountering the face of God through those children and through the heart of that man.

Thank-you Jesus for the life of Grandpa Abraham.  Bless his heart and continue to grant him the desires of his heart.  May you provide his needs for these children.  May his vision increase and may nothing hinder what you have in store for each child.  Keep him in good health.  Give him JOY daily and pour on him love in a new way, so that he may constantly run over.  If I don’t ever get to see him on this side, I’m looking forward to seeing him in Heaven.  I’m sure he has a special spot Up there.

Moses, peanut M&Ms, and omelettes

It’s early Saturday morning here in Punjab.  It’s about 5am.  I haven’t been able to sleep more than 3 hours each day and it’s been a bit frustrating because when the afternoon/evening arrives.. so does my migraine and nausea.  Please continue to uphold me in your prayers.

Let me share with you how awesome yesterday was in a few words.  I wish you were here to see it face-to-face, but these words will have to suffice till then.  Vickie spoke in the morning and blew the socks off of people.  The Lord spoke through her.  That could not have been questioned.  It was not expected for her to speak yesterday so she was a little off guard, but I feel like, the Lord had divinely layed it out this way so that more of His power and glory would shine.  During the daytime Julie and I ministered to the children for a few hours.  Boy do kids take serious attention and energy!  I loved every moment of it though.  Some of the sweetest children I’ve met.  Many of them love the Lord so much and enjoyed everything they were learning.  We spoke on the importance of serving Jesus and discussed the life of Moses and his service to Christ.  We incorporated the Gospel and how Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us.  After cleaning up, it took us quite a while to leave the building because swarms of kids wanted to take pictures with us (literally).  It got tiring after a while (not gonna lie) but I will say, I tried to look at it in the perspective of: how many people come into their lives and love on them, serve them, and make them feel important by being left on their camera memory card.  I knew they don’t receive this, so Julie and I waited for quite some time going through the swarms of children – each one wanting their picture taken with us.  Bless their hearts God.

Please pray for strength and grace as we will be ministering to them again today.  We’ll be discussing the life of Joseph (and what a life he had!) and the importance of serving family.  I love Joseph.  Seriously folks, probably one of my favorite Old Testament people.  Every time I read about him in the Word, I can’t help but wonder.. ‘how did he remain so righteous!?’  It’s constantly a humbling experience to read about these mighty men of God.  I feel like I am learning a thing or two as I prepare for these sessions.

Thanks Prijo for sharing Peanut M&Ms with us girls!!  haha.. you can officially be my homeboy. *smiles*  I was craving chocolate.. ridiculously.. American chocolate.. Peanut M&Ms to be specific.. and none of the girls had any.  Apparently, Prijo was holding out on us.  He knocked on our door a little after midnight and brought us these mini bags of Peanut M&Ms.  My face lit up.  Seriously friends, I love chocolate (this could be a problem).  So, that’s the end of my moment of A.D.D. for this entry.. back to what I was saying..

Last night’s meeting went well.  I was able to worship.  The music pastor’s son helped play the keys as I led “At the Cross” by Hillsongs.  He’s got such an innate talent for the keys.  I was boggled at how well he was able to catch on to the song at his young age.  He’s only about 19.  I’ll try to get a clip up from our practice.  It was a good time.  Great group of guys.

The food we’ve eaten thus far has been good.  My stomach has not worked up.  I’ve stayed away from anything with noticeable red chili, green chili, or dairy.  Ha!  The sad story of my life.  Vickie has pronounced me to be a “bland girl.”  Yah, try having yourself labeled as “the bland one”.  Tis all good.  I love me some good food none the less!  *smiles*  I’ve gotta say, for breakfast yesterday, I had an AMAZING omelette.  It was so good.  It was so good that I told the girls to grab the same thing when they came down to eat.  And so they did.  They both loved it.  I’m craving that omelette right about now.. hmm..

That’s it for now.  I’ve gotta hop in the shower.  I shower about 2-3 times a day.  The girls think I’m crazy, but hey, the amount of dirt I pick up is unbelievable.  There’s nothing like feeling clean after being saturated by filth.  Let me tell you, the intensity of each day can take such a massive toll.  We have long days and long nights with little or no sleep.  Down time is so leisure to us, it usually consists of ipods turned on with our cell phone alarms ready to go off after 15 minutes.  Pray that the Lord gives us an extra amount of strength and JOY as we do this for His name.  I thought to myself, ‘Lord.. all of this is in vain without You.  My one desire is that You are pleased.’

So, God.. we LOVE You.  We need You.  We ask for You to be pleased and dine with us here in Punjab for yet another day.

[Vickie speaking for the morning session]

[a yummy chicken dish we ordered.. it had some Asian-fusion taste to it]

[a handful of our kids, cute right?]

Intense First Day of Crusade

I just took a cold shower, the warm water doesn’t work.  That wasn’t too pleasant and I feel as though all the lotion in the world does not help undo the work India’s water is doing on my skin.  None the less.. you pick up SO much dirt walking around India, a cold shower is still a shower to me.

Well, we got back from the first night of the Crusade here in Punjab about an hour or so ago.  I needed to tell you how HEAVY the Spirit of God was.  So, thanks to all those of you who have prayed and are praying.. please please don’t stop now!  It can only get better from here.  Altar call was so intense.  People literally ran to the front.. knocking themselves over.. seriously.. there was such an intensity.  The 12 of us on the team got in the front and prayed of each person individually.  It was such a precious time.  After chatting with Julie, Vick, and Prijo we all came to the realization of the desperate need that these people have for the Lord.  They truly desire Him with such a desperation.  It’s so different than anything we see in America.  Can you imagine thousands of people pushing everything aside (literally) to be at the feet of God.  I have never hugged so many people in my life.  I felt that many of these women and girls just needed the love of God.  They’ve never been hugged.  They’ve never been desired for.  I felt the Lord drop my guard and all my comforts came down and I truly wanted to do more than just intercede for these women and girls (in the midst of my insecurities).  I hugged and cried with them.

The first night had about 15,000 people.  Can you even imagine??  I felt so inadequate at times praying for the women and girls when there was such a massive language barrier, but I just kept crying out to God.  Literally, in the midst of my prayer, I would say “God, please don’t use my inadequacy against me.  I need you to intervene and show Your power in the midst of this person’s life.  I don’t know what she desires but You know her need and that is all that matters.  Please meet this woman in her point of need.”

It’s a little over 2 in the morning here.  My eye-lids are heavy because I’m on 1-hr of sleep from the previous night.  Please pray that I get rest for a change.  I have to be up in a few hours and I have a full day ahead of me.  I’ll be working with the local children.  I’m curious to see who shows up and how it goes.  I know God’s going to move in this young generation.  I’m humbled to be a part of it.

I met Prijo’s great uncle this morning and I just found out that he does tons of work with lepers children.  He has a school for them and everything.  I’m excited to spend time with them this Monday coming up.  That will be such a different experience for me.  I know the Lord is opening my eyes to see His FULL heart – not the neat and tidy aspects of Christianity that seem “comfortable” to love and serve.  I’m getting to be a part of the nitty-gritty and I could not be any more thankful.

Until next time friends, I will post a clip soon.  The internet here has been a bit sketchy – it’s hit or miss.  I don’t know how many more times the Lord will allow me to come back to India and do His work, so while I am here and called, I am trying to make the best of it.  Pray for the work tomorrow.  I’ll keep y’all posted!

[Arriving in Amritsar after a straight flight to India.  This was followed by a 3-4 hour car ride to Ludhiana]

[our team.. minus dad]

in Punjab already!

Hey folks..

Just wanted to say HELLO from Punjab, India.  The weather here is not bad at all.. when we arrived it was about 70 degrees.  A humid 70 degrees, if that makes any sense.

The people here have been so great thus far.  Tomorrow is the first night of the big week-long crusade.  So keep us all in prayer as we will be preaching, teaching, and leading worship.

I’ve got to say.. there is such a massive disparity for the “haves” and the “have nots”.  I’ll be sure to touch on this in a future blog.  It broke my heart to see these fancy schmancy hotels next to tents in which people dwell.  Almost unreal.

It’s 2:50 in the morning here in India and I’m running on zero hours of sleep.  The plane ride was awful.  Nausea hit in very soon after 10 hours.  My body felt so numb after a certain point.  All I could do to find my solitude was to crank my Ipod shuffle and start getting in the Word.  There’s nothing like spending time with Jesus when everyone around you sleeps.  A precious thing I noticed that I totally wanted to share with you.. late at night while we all were in the plane and everyone was asleep, each one of our team members was spending time with God.  I turned my head to look around and either they were working on a Beth Moore study, taking preaching notes, fixing their sermons, reading the Bible, soaking in worship music, etc.  It was so great to see light shine in the midst of darkness.

I’m readjusting to the sights, the smells, the tastes all over again.  I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve been in India.

So.. I am going to force myself to get some rest.. I’ll be posting a clip shortly!  Stay tuned!

Please keep us ALL in prayer.  God is moving as we speak.. can’t wait to see the ripple affects of His greatness!

[3 out of the 13 team members.  this is right before we left to the airport.]

Ready Now

Okay.. so I’m all packed up for India.

We’ll be leaving from my house tomorrow around 11:30am and driving to New York’s JFK Airport.

It’s been a crazy hectic few days.  It’s times like this that I absolutely LOVE.  I am sitting down.  There is nothing going on except for the Pandora running in the background.  Sara Groves is my musician for the night.  I love her stuff.  I love her raw heart for the Lord.. her “earthy” sound.. her sincere lyrics.

So how is my night being spent right now??  Let me show you guys..

Yes.  Here’s proof I am done packing and it isn’t the morning of the trip.  Ha.. it’s the night before.  Way better than my last trip folks.. minutes before I was out the door I was packing.  Here’s my 2 suitcases.  One suitcase is solely donated clothes, toys, candy, etc. for kids.  There’s a 50 lb limit before the airline charges us.  So everything is under 50 lbs.  Mind you, my empty suitcase itself weighs 15 lbs.  Yes.  It’s heavy duty on its own.  But, I’m pretty certain I’ll be good for the next 10 days.  I minimized everything.  White and black tank tops are gonna have to go under every top that requires a tank.  Indian outfits will be worn at night.  I feel like there must be cobwebs growing on these bad boys.  I haven’t busted out some of my outfits in months, if not years.

Here it is.  I LOVE this song.  It always makes me happy when it plays on Pandora.  “To Be with You” by Sara Groves.  There’s something about Sara Groves’ music that brings me to a place of peace and rest.  It’s also the same woman who challenges me and drives me many o’ times to a place of conviction and questioning.  So, thank you Mrs. Groves.  Keep the music coming.  Your heart for the Lord never gets old.

Finally, at 10:40pm at night.. I get this time to spend with Jesus.  How I missed You, seriously.  I’m on chapter 9 in “He Chose the Nails” by Max Lucado and I’m in the book of Matthew in my personal study.  Can we say the Lord has done some serious breaking apart of myself in this season of life??  Boy oh boy.. I don’t even see it coming half of the time.  I’m thankful for it though.. deep down inside.. somewhere.. sometimes, it’s harder to endure than I would ever like to fess up to.  There’s so much wickedness the Lord’s been exposing in my heart.  There’s so much depravity that is so evident in my walk.  I can’t seem to do anything right.  Anyone else get this??  I’m not alone, right??  Gee thanks for the few brave souls who raised their hands.  Ha, I love you guys all the more for it.  *smiles*

But seriously, I’m pumped, nervous, curious, anticipating SO much for our 10 days in Punjab,India.  I know the Lord is going to move.  Not because of us.  If anything, I feel like the Lord is already moving there.. He just happens to give us the longer end of the stick and allows us to be a part of the awesome things He’s already doing.

So, Lord.. I know You’re already there.  I know you are preparing hearts even as I type these words.  I will not fear.  Although a part of me does.  Help me be brave for You.  We invite You to come none the less.. because it’s one thing to come, it’s another thing to be an invited V.I.P. guest.  Our worship is just songs unless You come.  Our preaching is just words unless You speak.  I see the mountain.  But you know what else? ..I see the God who created the mountain.  I say to this mountain ‘Get up and Move.’  It’s going to be an awesome, yet stretching journey.

If there is internet access I will be SURE to get on this thing and take you all along with me for the journey.  I want you guys to know where your prayers are going.  I want you to worship with us.  I want you to pray with us.  I want your hearts to rejoice as lives get reconciled back to God.  So, whatever it takes to bring you guys with me (since secretly I wish I could fit you ALL in under my 50 lb limit) I will do so.  Please, pray for us and check up for new blogs, photos, and clips!

I love you guys.  Please drop a line and say hello!  An encouragement is always needed, especially when leaving so far away from home.  Please.. let me know how I can pray for you all while I’m in India.  Tell me what’s going on in the States.  It’s always so good to hear from y’all.  Makes me feel like I’m part of your lives and you guys are certainly a part of mine!

beauty and the beast

I spent some time last night reading “He Chose the Nails” by Max Lucado, yet another book of his I’m absolutely adoring and I recommend for y’all to pick up.  It’ll seriously bless your socks off.

I’m about to blog on a concept that he delivered in the 2nd chapter.  So, thank-you Max for stirring my heart in this direction.  I love how the Lord reveals His words to humans.

I love Disney.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a movie junkie.. and Disney.. my gosh, if I could afford every Disney movie on my (lack of a job) student salary I’d purchase it.  I don’t know what it is about Disney movies that I appreciate so much.  Maybe it’s the happy endings.  Or maybe it’s because the movies are catered to younger audiences, which helps bring out my inner 10 yr. old (she’s constantly lurking.. but too afraid to come out half of the time..)

So, let me help you refresh your memory on a Disney classic.  Do you guys remember Beauty and the Beast?  Beauty is depicted as this beautiful young lady, graceful in movement, genius in knowledge, and daring in action.  It’s like every young woman’s dream to encompass all 3.  Then there is the Beast.  He used to be a prince.  A handsome one at that.  He used to be kind and loved those around him.. until one day things changed in his life.. a curse came.

When the curse manifested in his life, he changed from a dashing young Prince to a frightening lonely Beast.  He hid from people and refused to show himself.  He was miserable.  He hated himself and hated that others around him had joy and refused to be a part of it.  His life seemed awful and unfortunate.. leading to no where good.. until one day things changed in his life.. a Beauty came.

She saw past his rough demeanor, frightening outbursts and disruptive temperament.  She refused to leave him.  She chose to keep serving him and loving him.  She was the one person who offered up all she had for this Beast, to dwell with him, abide with him, and to do so because she sincerely began falling in love with the person he was inside.  I’m sure at this point you see where I am going.  The Beast needed a savior. A hero.  Someone who would come into his life and tear apart his walls, his frustrations, and bring forth beauty from ashes.  His savior appeared as a normal girl, a cottage, country girl.  She wasn’t like the other girls who paraded around in Prada and Gucci.  She preferred her loafers and simple country dresses.  Even through her simplistic attire, her beauty was ravishing to him and her kindness drew him in.

This reminds me of the love of Christ.  The love of God.  That the ultimate Beauty would come down from heaven’s heights to greet us and feast with us.  What a love story.  This story.. seems so “Disneyish” – that God would tear down our ugly walls and keep pursuing while everyone around us runs in fear from the monster we truly are.  He brings out the beauty in us.  He romances us.  He sweeps us off our feet and develops a bond with the beast.  With us.  And we are never to be the same again.

I love what Max Lucado says: “He becomes the beast so the beast can become the beauty.” Did you catch that?  I hope so!  Please don’t miss that.  In the movie, Belle saw something in the beast that no one else saw.. she saw his beauty.  In the same way, Christ sees the beauty in the midst of the beast.  This is totally a swooning moment.  Seriously.  What a hope we have.  A Savior.  The ultimate Beauty.  A love like no other.. that He would trade places with us when we were under the same curse as the Beast, and He put Himself under the curse.  He broke the curse.  There is no curse.

Something to think about.. what if the Beauty never entered into the Beast’s life in the movie?  How would things be different?  How would we be different if Christ never entered into the scene and broke our curse and displayed to us relentless love.  I know who I would be.  I know I never want to be that again.  Now that I know the ultimate Beauty.. I know I never have to be the beast again.