A Saintly Example

Today is my mother's birthday. I am grateful for the inspiration she is and will always be to me. From her, I learned to be a good mother to my children. I learned to be a good wife and helpmate by watching the way she loved her husband.

I learned to forgive quickly because of her example. I learned to look to Christ for my purpose and worth because of her love and devotion to Him. I learned that God always creates beauty out of broken lives by watching how she lives her life so eloquently and intentionally. 

I learned to dance and laugh and sing in all circumstances by watching her. I learned about God's amazing grace by being around her. By her example, I learned that being a follower of Jesus means helping the poor by actually getting close to them and getting to know them. I learned how to be accepting of everyone, how to love unconditionally, and how to give sacrificially because of the way she lives daily.

I learned from her how to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not just talk about it. I learned how to show grace and kindness to all people no matter how they treat me. And I'm still learning to be generous and gracious in everything I say and do by watching her.

Happy birthday to the best mother and saintly example a person could have.

I love you, Mama, with all my heart!

Beauty for Ashes

It was a clear, winter day and I was sitting on the family room floor making valentines. I was 8 years old and didn’t have a care in the world. I was enjoying the moment I was in and safe in the comfort of my home with my mom close by in the kitchen.

That’s the last thing I remember before I heard my mother’s panicked voice hollering out, “It’s a fire!” 

I looked up and there I saw the kitchen curtains engulfed in flames. My mom tried putting the fire out, but her main concern was my safety.

We ran outside to get away from the smoke. A gentleman who had seen the smoke from the post office next door ran over to our house, grabbed a hose, busted a window and put the fire out.

Later on that day, we went back inside to assess the damage. In a matter of minutes, the flames had completely destroyed our kitchen, and the smoke had damaged most of our house. 

We never stayed in that house another day. We packed up our salvageable items and moved in with my grandparents for a few months. My parents made the decision to build a new house a few miles away. It was months before our beautiful, new home was completed.           

My life had been turned upside down by the rampant flames that raged through my house on that winter day. It was difficult to have my life so shaken up, but knowing a beautiful home was being built for my family helped to ease the difficulties. I remember visiting the new home often to see the progress that was being made.

I’ll always remember the day I first saw my completed bedroom with the brand new carpet I picked out myself. It was breathtaking—nothing like my young heart had ever experienced. It was almost more than I could take in at once. It was amazing. After losing my old home and many of the things I had been attached to, the new home was sweetness to my soul.

The new life Christ has given me is much like the new home I moved into after the fire during my childhood. Before I fully surrendered my life to Christ's purposes for me, fiery trials swept through my life and destroyed many things that were important to me. After surrendering everything to Jesus, He rebuilt my life and turned the ashes of my past into a beautiful display of splendor.

I remember times when I wondered if I would ever have beauty in my life again. The stress of a struggling marriage relationship, the tension from strained finances, and not being physically well—it seemed impossible. 

As I wrestled to believe, my faith won and things began turning around for me. Step by step, Christ renewed my marriage, restored our finances, and taught me ways to improve my health. 

When we believe things are hopeless, then we will have a hopeless life. When we teeter on the fence of disbelief, we miss out on the miracles the Bible promises we will see. 

In 2009, I made a commitment to stop doubting God forever. Whenever a doubtful thought taunts me, I meditate on the scriptures to bring life to a worn out and weary spirit. Doubt cannot penetrate a heart that is fixated on the truth of God’s Word.

Christ has good plans to give every person a future filled with hope (Jeremiah 29:11). He is the redeemer and restorer of broken lives.

Are you struggling to believe God for good things? Leave fear and doubt behind and begin believing that Christ is the author of beauty. Surrender it all to Him and watch as He rebuilds and recreates the beautiful life He longs to give all His children. 

Trust Him to give you beauty to replace the pain of your past. He will bestow on you a crown of beauty instead of ashes and He will give you the oil of gladness instead of mourning. He will plant you firmly in His promises to be displayed as a glorious vessel of His magnificent splendor.

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor." Isaiah 61: 1-3

Live Abundantly!

Amy 

This post has been revised from a piece originally written several years ago. The above picture is one of me at the Biltmore House gardens. 

Dancing in the Rain

Children hold the key to a happy life. They are trusting by nature. They are innocent in their thinking, and they know how to enjoy life to the fullest instinctively.

When my children were younger they loved to go out and play in the rain. I have joyful memories of  their little voices begging me, Mommy, if there's no thunder, can we go out in the rain?

With joy I would stand at the door and watch them jump around and dance in the rain. It was full living at its best as they splashed in the puddles. Sometimes they would dance with umbrellas, or they would make a tent of umbrellas on the driveway. Sometimes they would simply stand in the rain on the edge of the street feeling the rush of water flowing between their toes.

The rain didn’t stop them from simply enjoying the day.

A downpour of rain doesn’t hinder a child’s ability to embrace the moment and fully live.

This is how our Father in heaven wants us to live out our lives. When He created us He never intended for us to endure life. His original idea was for us to see Him in the midst of the rain showers and enjoy life to the fullest.

God knew life wouldn't be perfect or easy. I believe His greatest desire is for us to rely on Him in the midst of the rainy days. When we’re dependent upon Him, He continually pours out His grace and love onto our lives in the most unimaginable ways.

Several years ago while praying, I heard words in my spirit that changed my perspective.

"If you stay on the path with Me, you will not be disappointed." God whispered to my heart.

At first I was thinking, "How can that be possible?" But I soon understood what the Lord was trying to get me to understand. He wanted me to know that if I followed Him and stayed close to His heart in the midst of the things that would normally be disappointing to me, He would turn my mourning into dancing instantaneously. His words have proved to be true in my life. I can honestly say—because I have been so wrapped up in His love—that disappointment has not penetrated my heart during the past several years.

Life is full of difficulties and challenges. But when Jesus is the center of our lives, His love overshadows everything else.

My friend and mentor, Bonnie, had a gift for expressing this truth. She said, "With Christ, there are no disappointments. The challenges in life are HIS-appointments." Bonnie passed away in 2008. Her faith in Christ lives on in my heart. She danced in the rain more than anyone I've ever known. The beautiful life she lived continually spurs me on to dance and live fully alive in every circumstance.

Leaning on our own strength leads to more disappointment. It's when we lean on Jesus that we see His glory.

Why not choose the latter?  Why not take the risk to see His Glory in your life? Choose joy. Choose life. 

When the rains pours down, choose to turn toward Jesus and dance.

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. ~ Psalm 30:11 (NAS Bible)

Children of Zion, celebrate! Be glad in your God. He’s giving you a teacher to train you how to live right—Teaching, like rain out of heaven, showers of words to refresh and nourish your soul, just as He used to do. ~ Joel 2:23 (The Message)

Live Abundantly!

Amy 

This post has been updated and revised from a piece I wrote in August, 2009.

The Abundant Life

It was during one of the most difficult seasons of my life that I learned the most about abundant living. My husband had recently been laid off from his job. I was working tirelessly to make ends meet and life was very stressful. I wanted desperately for my circumstances to change.

While battling hardships and trials, I was wondering why everything that had brought me security had been lost. I sought the Lord for answers, and He diligently answered me. He led me to a scripture in the Old Testament that jumped off the pages when I read it. Deuteronomy 30:6 says, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart, and with all your soul, and LIVE.”

In these verses, I found the answer to what my heart longed to know. The word "circumcise" is derived from a Latin word meaning, to cut. In the midst of excruciating trials, it felt like my heart was being circumcised. God was cutting away the things in my heart that were hindering me from fully loving Him and fully living life. The process was far from easy. At times it was excessively painful. But ultimately it led me to a full, abundant life.

Everyone wants to live abundantly. John 10:10 says that Jesus came to give us life, and to give it more abundantly. Yet, how many people truly tap into the abundant life that Christ offers? Could it be the way we view our lives, or what we equate happiness with? For years, my thoughts of the good life were completely intertwined with the external circumstances in life—having a good income, having constant harmony in my relationships, and being able to  do the things I love doing.

For a season, I only sought abundance in the external joys of life. But in God's infinite grace, He took me through a season of testing because He wanted to give me true life—the life Jesus promises to everyone. It was in the dark times that I found His greatest treasures.

Are you in the midst of being pulled and stretched? Do you feel as though life is caving in around you? To be rebuilt, a house needs to be torn down first. It can be an excruciating process. Do not lose heart. God is building a beautiful house out of your life. He uses every loss and every struggle for our good. Nothing He allows in our lives is in vain. He uses it all.

The struggles I experienced many years ago are the very substance of the good things in my life today. The things that were the hardest to endure are what led me to the abundant life in Christ. 

Through the hardships, God gave me a new heart—a heart more like His, one that rejoices because of His love. There is nothing that compares to His great love. It’s worth it all.

It really should be pure joy to face trials because we know that no matter what is happening Jesus is walking along side us, carrying us, allowing us to bask in His love at all times and in all circumstances.

Jesus is everything. When we know this, then we know that anything else in life is the icing on the cake.  
  
...I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  ~ John 10:10 (NAS) 

Live Abundantly!

Amy 

This post has been revised and was originally written in 2008.

Stunning Beauty

Joy was overflowing out of my soul as I gazed out at one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. I was standing near a 15 acre sunflower farm—something I had been dreaming about for years, but never experienced. My family and I drove over an hour to Rutledge, Georgia to visit a sunflower farm I had discovered by searching online.

As I was gazing at the field from a window in the gift shop, I was exclaiming, "I feel like I'm in heaven!" I told a young woman that was working there that it was my first time to ever visit a sunflower farm. My childlike enthusiasm seemed to touch her deeply as she stood there with tears in her eyes.

Shortly after paying the fee for cutting the flowers, we made our way out onto the field. There were beads of sweat on my face as I walked through the field of flowers. The temperature was about 97 degrees and it was glorious even in the extreme heat!

It was surreal for me as I remembered envisioning this day so many years before. It was over six years ago that I wrote these words: "Today while I was running, the Lord gave me a vision. I saw myself in a long, flowing, gauzy, white skirt and a loose-fitting, matching white blouse…dancing in a field of beautiful yellow flowers. The flowers were above my knees and they were surrounding me for as far as I could see. It was a beautiful picture in my mind of how my heart has been let loose (set free) and longs to be surrounded by BEAUTY. As I was visualizing this I imagined Michael taking pictures of me and capturing how my heart feels…on film... I trust that the Lord will lead us to a field of yellow flowers!"

The same year I had the flower vision, I stumbled upon a huge print of the most magnificent sunflower field. At the bottom of the print I noticed these words: "Take the time to MARVEL at the wonders of life." While reading these words, I knew that someday I would find a field of sunflowers just like the one in the large picture. I purchased the print and hung it on the wall behind my desk in my small writing studio. The theme of my little writing nook became "sunflowers." Looking at the picture of the beautiful sunflower field has been exhilarating for me during the years that I've had it. But it doesn't compare to standing in a real life field of sunflowers.

As I stood there in the midst of the beauty all I could think about was how heaven has touched me with the freedom I have found through the love of Christ.

Jesus wants for all of us to live in His freedom and let Him heal our hurts as they arise from within our souls. He died on the cross so that we could live freely and gloriously! It took me decades to see this and to truly know that Jesus wants me to live free from carrying the burdens of life.

I used to be weighed down with anxieties, hurts, and fears. The disappointments of life had robbed me of the life Jesus had envisioned for me and for all of His followers. I had carried those burdens unnecessarily.

All along, I could have been surrendering my cares to Him. But I held onto the hurt for much too long. When I realized the healing power in the blood of Christ, He began removing the hurts and fears—layer by layer—from my heart and began replacing them with a sense of freedom that makes me want to dance in fields of flowers. So I did that recently. I jumped. I twirled. I threw my arms up toward heaven and rejoiced over the freedom in my heart while my husband was shooting every picture he could. With the camera, he was capturing a visual picture of the glorious freedom that is found in Christ alone.

In Him, we are free to live abundantly...free to dance...free to sing...free to shout hallelujah...free to be what He created us to be...free to bask eternally in His stunning beauty.

Psalm 27:4

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.
  

Live Abundantly!

Amy

For more information about the sunflower field I found in Georgia, visit the website:

http://www.sunflowerfarmfestival.com/