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Posts Tagged ‘encouragement’

Posted on February 9, 2009 - by kelly

How deep are your roots?

John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

My first house was the cutest little thing you ever saw; a little white wood frame with green shutters, it was 1,500 square feet of newlywed bliss. One of my favorite parts of the house was the back yard. In the back was a beautiful red bud tree. Every spring it would bloom bright pink flowers, it was absolutely stunning. One night we had a storm come through. For those of you unaware of “tornado alley,” wind storms in Oklahoma can be quite destructive. In a matter of an hour the winds had kicked up and our beautiful tree had been knocked down right before it was to bloom.

It laid in our yard for the next week waiting to be taken care of and the most amazing thing happened. It started to bloom! Roots sticking up in the air, it laid there blooming its bright pink flowers. I knew it wouldn’t be long before it died because its foundation wasn’t in the ground. It was an amazing and sad thing to watch.

Reading John 15:5 reminded me of that tree, God is the vine, I am the branches. God is the ground in which that tree was planted, once it pulled away from the ground it was only a matter of time before it died. The thing about being a christian is we can “bloom,” or at least fake it for awhile. We know the things to say, we know how to act, so that from the outside it appears that we are “blooming,” but if we are out of the soil too long we will eventually die.

I encourage us to keep each other grounded and attached to the true vine.

Posted on October 16, 2008 - by kelly

Fear

I never thought of myself as a scaredy cat kind of person. I like scary movies, I don’t have to check under the bed for possible hiding people in hotel rooms (my husband), I am not afraid of my dark basement (Brian Jones), you get the idea. So recently I was faced with this fear thing, and it took me by surprise.

Last week some of our staff went on a retreat and Stephanie and I had the opportunity to go on a ropes course during some of our free time. It was a beautiful fall day up near the Poconos, the leaves were starting to change and there wasn’t a breeze to be found. We get harnessed up and Stephanie takes off cruising through the course like she was part chimpanzee. So it’s my turn, and I froze, completely scared out of my mind. I could no more take a step off that platform than I could lift a building. What was crazy about the experience was that the fear was completely unexpected. So I stood there frozen while a wrestling tournament was taking place in my mind. The logical side of my brain argued that my harness would hold me, the rope swing before me was something I had used a thousand times with my kids in the backyard, and Steph. was right in front of me cruising through the course with ease. The irrational side of my brain was arguing every reason that I would plunge to my death if I were to even think about stepping off that ledge.

Needless to say, with Stephanie’s encouraging words (or the threat of telling my kids what a chicken I was if I didn’t do it), I managed to take that first step. After that I was fine, the fear subsided and I made it through the course and was able to crash land like no other.

So the follow up left me thinking, what else scares me? Do I let fear stand in my way of doing things that would help me do my job better, be a better friend, wife, mother? I have to say, fear probably stops me from doing a lot of things that I’m unaware of. I am trying to be more in tune with that feeling and not let it keep me from accomplishing what God has set me out to do.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Posted on May 8, 2008 - by kelly

Because I can’t, he can

Today was one of those gloomy weather, my son is home from school sick, my husband is out of town, feeling a little down kind of days. I find that on days like this my mind begins wondering and that voice of self doubt creeps in. I started looking around thinking about all the ways I have slacked off on house cleaning, how I had a to-do list a mile long at work that wasn’t getting done, phone calls to friends that were way over due, surely I’m not the person God wants me to be.

So I decided to sit down and pray. I thanked God for my unclean house, thanked him for my children who made it that way. I thanked God that my husband has a job that he loves, I thanked him for my job and the friends that I had made over the last year. I thanked him for having enough faith in me that he trusted me with the task of leading our children’s area.

The more I prayed the more I realized that it really is true, through my weaknesses, he is strong. I opened up my bible to James chapter 4:7-10

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.

I am thankful that God finds me useful, honored that he is able to work through me, and painfully aware that I am nothing without him.

Posted on April 29, 2008 - by kelly

Elijah

A few weeks ago I was reading about the prophet Elijah. Here is a guy who is fleeing for his life. He sets out to climb Mount Sinai and talk to God. As he stands on the mountain top God sends a crazy windstorm, next he sends an earthquake, and follows the quake with a fire. Now these are God sized calamities, I can only imagine what it must have been like to stand at the top of the mountain and witness God’s power through these storms. But the bible repeats, God was not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire. God shows up after all of these mighty acts in the sound of a gentle whisper.

As I was preparing to go out of town to a children’s conference last week, I felt myself behaving like a natural disaster. Everywhere I went was rushed, too busy for my co-workers, husband, kids, friends. I was creating the perfect storm around me. When I got to this conference one of the speakers reminded me of the story I had just read.

Sometimes I get so busy with doing “God’s work” that I forget to seek him out. I think if I can work a little harder, get a few more things checked off my list, connect with a few more volunteers, I will be worthy of the title I have been given. Funny thing is, I create this storm around me and God’s not there. He just wants me to take some time to hear the gentle breeze of his whispers.