Fervent Friday - ReMoved

This week's installment is a video that speaks closely to an organization that is very near and dear to my heart. I will be putting up a blog post in the next couple weeks about Royal Family KIDS, an organization that exists to reach out to children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned,  so be on the lookout for that!!

This video is a look into the life of a little girl who is removed from her home and placed in foster care, all from her point of view. I've watched this video at least a dozen times now, and each time, I find myself crying and welling up with emotion. It's stories like this that make it very hard for me to sit back and do nothing!

Please let me know how the video spoke to you, and if you would like more information about being involved in making a difference!

If you are unable to view the video below, you can see it here: ReMoved Video

-Go sing God's love song to the world!

Fervent Friday - The More I Seek You

This week's Fervent Friday is a song that I have loved for almost eight years now. I was introduced to it while on a youth group missions trip in Chicago, and it has stayed my heart's desire. Here are the simple and beautiful lyrics. Click title of song for the link to listen! 

The More I Seek You

-Kari Jobe

The more I seek You, the more I find You.

The more I find You, the more I love You.

I wanna sit at Your feet,

Drink from the cup in Your hand,

Lay back against You and breathe,

Feel Your heart beat.

This love is so deep, it's more than I can stand.

I melt in Your peace.

It's overwhelming.

When I think of laying back against someone, being so close that I can hear their heart beating, I am brought to a place of trust, vulnerability, and total intimacy. The more we seek to be close to God, the more He reveals His love and character to us. His Father heart longs to hold us and have us know Him in the most intimate way.

I'd love to hear how this song spoke to you! Converse, create an artistic response (poem, picture, song...), or just simply comment!!

-Go sing God's love song to the world!

Fervent Friday - The Kiss

This week's Fervent Friday post is a poem I wrote right around five years ago. I had been going through a creative dry spell and God laid these words on my heart about the truth of Christ's love for us. I hope it blesses you as it has me these past few years.

(Again, I'd love for this to be interactive. Comments, creative responses, and the like are welcome, encouraged, and appreciated.)


The Kiss
By: Sarah A. Newkirk

You received the kiss of death
Yet You freely give the kiss of life,
With righteousness and peace,
That we may know Your glory and life,
That we may glory in You.
You were born
That You may die,
To give us life!
How could I ever repay You,
Oh, Lord?
How could I ever come close
To being like You?
It took the kiss of death
To give us life and breath
In You!


Isn't it wonderful that the story doesn't end there? Christ took death upon Himself for us, but He broke the bonds of sin in us when He rose from the grave and defeated Satan. We can truly live in the freedom Christ gave us when He willingly took our place and overcame even death itself! We can now be more alive in Christ than we could ever be on our own.

-Go sing God's love song to the world!

My Prince Charming Is Not

Prince Charming. You see him in movies. You hear about him in fairy tales. He is the one to rescue the princess who has found herself in an unfortunate situation. He is regal and thinks of nothing but saving his princess. He is handsome and always looks his best. He never smells weird or wears clothes that his princess would be embarrassed by. And according to everything I just said, my husband is no Prince Charming. He does not live up to those expectations that every little girl has when she watches her favorite Disney movie.

Andy is a farm boy. He does not always have the right words to say to make me feel better. He dreams (like, in his sleep) about farming, and that is just weird to me. He sometimes gets preoccupied with work and does not always have the time to do what I would like because of it. He is very handsome, but sometimes he comes home dusty and dirty, smelling like whatever chemicals or grain he has been around that day. His fashion sense is non-existent. He is no Prince Charming.

And sometimes I fault him for not being what I expected. When he falls short, I wonder why he does not try harder. Truth is, he is one of the hardest working people I know. He worked his way through college so he could graduate debt free (happy dance!!). He spends extra hours at work, even on Saturdays in order to get the job done. He would go out of his way to lend a hand when and where it is needed. When he puts his mind to something, there is no stopping him. I am truly proud of his hard work and determination, and I love him all the more for it!

But can I tell you a secret? I do not always love my husband. WHAT?! You must be thinking I am the worst wife ever. But I think I would be a worse wife if I lied and said I did. And I would be willing to bet he does not always love me. Our marriage must be doomed, right? Nope!

Loving a person who fails is not always easy. Loving someone else when you yourself are not perfect is not always easy. Loving someone who gets on your nerves sometimes, who you sometimes disagree with, who sometimes says the absolute wrong thing, who does not live up to all of your expectations. That is not an easy thing to do. Sometimes you find that the love you have for them is nowhere to be found.

I do not always love my husband, but even in those moments, he is still my best friend. He is that one person that I want to talk to, laugh with, laugh AT, and just simply spend time with. God has given us the grace needed to get through those rough patches and come out with more love in our hearts for each other.

Marriage is not about having all the right answers. It is about discovering each other and learning to appreciate the things that make both individuals who they are. Andy may not always have it all together, and I know I am worse than he is most times. But together, with God leading us, we are invincible! God has given us strength and patience for each other.

I have learned a lot from marriage. But more than anything, I have learned that my husband will never be 100% perfect or 100% the person I need him to be 100% of the time, and I will never be those things for him either. And it is in those shortcomings that we learn to be a better couple. It is through those times that the love we truly have for each other is strengthened.

I have learned that I would choose a life with a stinky, goofy, strange, unfashionable, hard-working, encouraging man than a life with Prince Charming any day! Because Prince Charming would never get over the fact that my hair is not always in place, my make up is not always perfect (pretty much almost never), I am messy, and I do not always handle my emotions with grace. But my husband accepts all of that and loves me still.

I will leave you with a few pictures from a day that my hair and make up were perfect, we smiled all day (until it hurt), and we undoubtedly felt love for each other. (Photo cred goes out to http://www.orangepeelphoto.com/)

This was the look on my husband's face the first time he saw me on our wedding day. We did a first look before the ceremony, just the two of us (and our photographers), and we exchanged personalized vows that we wrote for each other. This look on his face is unlike any I could have even imagined!

This sums up our relationship perfectly! We are goofy, and I would not trade it for the world!

He kissed me on the tip of my nose before kissing me on the lips. Again, perfect!

Fervent Fridays - Build Your Kingdom Here

In an attempt to get myself on here more regularly, I have decided to start a regular posting every Friday. I am calling this "Fervent Fridays" and will post a song, scripture, video or other form of media that is especially close to my heart. I enjoy digging in to what God has for me, and find joy in sharing that with others. I hope you find these regular Friday posts as a source of encouragement as we experience little gems from God together! Along with some, I may write a short (or, knowing myself, long) blurb about what that particular item means to me. With others, I may just leave you to receive what God gives you through it. Either way, my desire is for this to be an interactive post. I'd love to hear what God speaks to you through the different outlets. I'd love for all of us to gain insight from each other, not just my ramblings.

Welp. Here's the first of hopefully many!!

Today, I'd like to share with you a song that has been my favorite for a few weeks now. The first time I heard it, I fell in love with its passion, prayer, timeliness. It is the desire of my heart to always echo the words spoken, as it should be for all of us! Enjoy, and please let me know what you think! Remember, it's about the words, not necessarily the style of the music. :)

"Build Your Kingdom Here" by the Rend Collective Experiment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcSWpVKKMcs

-Go sing God's love song to the world!

You've Got That Grace Amazing

Grace - I've heard it used in different ways. From acting in a graceful manner to gracing someone with your presence. From being used as a name to being the prayer we pray before our meals. In preparation for what I felt God calling me to write about, I got on dictionary.com and looked up the word GRACE. I wanted to better understand the many aspects of such a simple, beautiful, and yet complex word. Many times we hear grace right along with Christ and what He has done for us. Maybe I could come to understand more of who He is by looking in to this one little word. What I found truly kicked me in the gut. As I read the many definitions of grace, I found that in nearly each one, I was realizing something about the character and true nature of God, which brought me to tears. I would like to start out (or rather finish this introduction) by saying that God has placed the topic of grace on my heart tonight not only to hopefully reach to someone else, but to grab me and reveal Himself to me in this moment. Even know, I am listening to worship music and weeping at the beauty and sweetness of my Creator!

I am going to share with you the definitions of grace and how they speak to who God is, and the way He can truly turn our world upside-down (in the best way possible!) if we let him! Grace can be used as either a noun or a verb. That in itself is amazing to me, because God is not limited to a box, but rather a being so great that He cannot be contained!

NOUNS:

-Elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action. Other words that could be used in this definition are attractiveness, charm, ease. Now, I have never seen God, though I am excited for that opportunity one day when He decides to call me to my true home in Heaven with Him! While I haven't seen Him, I have seen His beauty and elegance displayed in my life and around me. From the beautiful sunrises which He has painted, to the people around me, whose spirits have been created in His image. Creation gains its beauty from its Creator.

-Favor or goodwill. Other words could include kindness and love. Many verses in the Bible point that God is love. He shows favor on us, His children! Does this mean your life will be without trial, temptation, struggle? NO! It means that His grace, His favor, is over you through whatever valley you may face! He has already won and overcome those moments before you were even born! His favor extended to you before you even imagined what may come. And He is already in your tomorrow, clearing the path for you, if you will choose to follow Him and trust in Him. His love and kindness are not kept from His children, but rather lavished upon us as we lean on Him and live as He has shown us.

-Manifestation of favor, especially by a superior. Other words include forgiveness and charity. God is very much our superior, but how awesome that He is also our friend! He has not so far removed Himself from us that He refuses His grace -His forgiveness! Last Sunday in church, the speaker shared that forgiveness is painful. It costs the forgiver something. And that sometimes forgiveness causes us to draw that person in to a place of closeness with us. God is no exception. His cost of extending forgiveness to us? Christ crucified. Christ knew what was going to happen; He told his disciples about it ahead of time down to the betrayal and death. He could have, at any point, said "no" to what he was on earth to do. Being fully God, he could have chosen to release himself back to the safety of Heaven and avoided being beaten, broken, crucified, and forsaken. But how amazing that his love and forgiveness reached farther than any realms that could have possibly confined him! His forgiveness was given to you when he CHOSE to die on the cross. His forgiveness continues to extend to you. It breaks his heart every time you choose to sin, but his forgiveness is extended, and he is awaiting our repentant heart to turn back to Him! He is not a three-strikes-you're-out kind of god. He is a I-love-you-so-much-that-no-sin-is-too-great-for-me-to-stop-loving-you kind of god.

-Mercy, clemency, pardon. This is maybe the most compelling part of the "noun" of grace for me. God has shown us grace through mercy and pardon. But from what? From ourselves, the world around us, eternal separation from Him. Being born of human flesh, we are instantly doomed to a life without our Creator, but He has extended his mercy so that we have an escape from the evil of the world and from the destination that brings us to. Consider a prisoner on death row. His final destination is what - the electric chair, lethal injection - Death. But what would happen if he were pardoned? He would no longer face death, but rather have the opportunity to live his life fully. This is the same for us! Our pardon has been made. We no longer belong to this world, and I think we can all shout "AMEN" to that! What we deserved, we no longer face once we accept what Christ did for us and live according to that pardon.

VERBS:

-To lend or add grace to. Other words include adorn, embellish, beautify, enhance. It may not seem like that's adding much, but as I look at it and apply that to my life, it's amazing! The sentence that dictionary.com uses to show this word in context is: "Many fine paintings graced the rooms of the house." What does this mean in context of God's grace? When I think of the sample sentence the website used, I see it perfectly! My favorite painting - Starry Night by Vincent VanGogh - is featured prominently in my home. I am proud to own even a copy of it! I enjoy looking at it and sharing it with others. I admire it and feel a connection with the painter himself. Now. Take God. If a painting is meant to adorn, embellish, enhance my surrounding, how much more should God?? Do I feature him in my home and in my life? Am I proud to follow Him? Do I display what He has done in my life so others may see and enjoy it as well? Am I allowing Him to enhance and beautify my life in a way only He is capable of? That is what we should be doing! No, He's not a painting that we can hang on the wall, or in my case, right above our big screen TV so it's always a focal point! But He should be our most proud feature. The one thing in our life that we can't seem to stop bragging about! Is that what He is in your life? I know I still have work to do!

-To favor or honor. As in - to grace an occasion with one's presence. This is very similar to the previous definition, but I think it takes it a step farther. It is not only the effect of being present, but the very presence itself. When God graces you with His presence, He simply allows you into His presence! He makes His environment yours, and your environment His. In reality, we are in the constant presence of God, yet at times we feel it more prominently than at others. Have you ever had that "mountain top moment" where you feel God's presence so strong you could almost reach out and touch Him? Isn't it an amazing feeling? In those moments, He has fully graced you with His presence. As I said, He is always with us, we just don't always feel Him. Why? It could be a possible valley or wilderness that you are walking through and His presence is there, but softly, allowing you to build your trust and faith in Him. It could be that you are being too stubborn to sense Him. It could be sin in your life that you are holding on to. Whatever it is, He is still with you! He has never left you, and He never will. You are his prized possession.

Well, those are the definitions of grace according to dictionary.com and according to Christ and his character. 

In all honesty, this post is about a week overdue. God has been laying it on my heart to dig in and learn what His grace looks like. I have made excuse after excuse not to. Finally, I decided to follow that, and in turn, I have been given a clearer picture of who God is in my life. May my life be one that strives to display Him to those around me! His grace is His beauty, kindness, forgiveness, mercy and love. He graces us through elevating our life to a new level with Him, and through being ever present, whether we feel it or not.

My challenge to you is that you would spend time alone with God today. Ask Him to truly grace you with His presence as you seek Him. Allow Him to sing His love and mercy over you so completely. Then go sing that same love song over those around you. Do not be ashamed of Christ, but rather display His goodness in your life so openly! 

What Is Love? Baby, Don't Hurt Me!

Let me just start out by saying just how wonderful it feels to be blogging right now! My last post was in November. 8 months without posting anything is just WAY TOO long! I've sat down a couple times since then and started one, but never finished it. Well. This time I'm actually going to!

Since my last post, my husband graduated college (YAY!!!), we moved to Nebraska (so not any different than living in Kansas...lame), and we have started going to a new church. I had gone to the same church for 20 years, so to be at a point where we were scouting out and having to find a new place to call home just felt weird. It took only one time of visiting our now home church to know that God wanted us there. We have started getting involved in the men's and women's Bible studies, as well as the worship team. It is a blessing to be able to use the gifts God gave me!

The women's study we are currently doing is called Named By God. It is a great study by Kasey Van Norman. It's a great study that digs through your past, present, and future as a person and a child of God. To any and all women - I encourage you to pick up her book or go through the study. God has broken me and helped me let go of past hurts while He speaks over me my true worth in Him!

I was on Facebook earlier this morning and saw an update from Kasey Van Norman. It was simply put, yet so profound. "God's love for His own is not a pampering love; it is a perfecting love."

WOW! Sometimes we have to see something in front of us before we truly grasp a great truth about who God is! God loves us - I hope we all know that! How God loves us is beyond compare.

Have you ever sat there and been angry at God because He didn't allow something to happen in your life? Or maybe you suffered a great consequence due to sin or doubt in your life. If God really loves you, would He have let you suffer in that way? That seems like a tough question to answer. But really, it's quite simple.

God loves us too much to let us be stupid humans! Sometimes we think because God loves us, our lives will be without struggle and without correction. When we stumble and fall, we expect God to let us be on our way without consequence. We think - I learned my lesson. I'll do better next time! But He loves us too much not to discipline us!

When I was younger, if I lied or disobeyed my mom, I would get spanked. Oh my goodness! I know. Call the police. My mother spanked me. Many times. Why? Because I kept choosing to disobey. Would a parent allow their child to continue to lie, steal, hurt others, or do something that could be dangerous? No, because even we as humans have enough love to correct that behavior and allow the child to live better.

How much more does God love us as His children? It's not all butterflies and unicorns. He loves us enough to, through correction and discipline, continually break us of our flesh. His desire is for us to live according to His will and calling. To live a life pleasing to Him, honoring Him in all we do and say. To live a life that is encouraging to others instead of creating stumbling blocks. We earn the discipline God gives us by what we do.

His perfecting love is also shown in what He allows us to endure. Did you lose your job? Do you have a sick family member with a bleak outlook? Do you still struggle with what that next step is going to be? Sometimes God allows us to go through a period of wilderness in our lives in order to grow us into the man or woman He calls us to be. Sometimes those trials and hardships come not to break our spirit, but to cause us to truly lean on Him!

He loves us enough to not let us do life on our own. He gives us those gentle (and sometimes not-so-gentle) reminders that He is in control and all we have to do is trust in Him!

So. What does God's discipline look like in your life? In what ways has He shown you HE is in control and that your trust needs to be fully in Him? Are you in a period of wilderness in your life? If so, what is God trying to teach you?

Take time to praise God for His discipline and for that wilderness, because that shows us He truly loves you and desires more for your life! He loves to sing His love and mercy over you! Accept that, and go sing His love song to the world around you!