The Plan I Have For You

I do not believe for a moment God puts people in your life by accident.  A few weeks ago, I was given the great honor to preview a book written by a young man who has an incredible God story.  It is his biography, in which he shares the challenges he faced growing up, and how for part of his life he completely turned his back on God.  Even in those times when he didn't believe, you can see seeds being planted.  God miraculously spared his life after a serious auto accident and began to make a change in his heart.  This man, who wasn't even expected to live much less walk, will begin a cross country trek on foot in just a few days to share the message of Christ, coast to coast. I hope you enjoy the blog, and I encourage you to buy his book.   Please join me in covering Jason with prayer for safety, provision and for God to put people in his path that need to hear his message of hope.   Every Step Jason Truett How do you beat a Goliath...

Zechariah 4:6 So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. I crave expectations and goals, and I get a high when I can check one off the list.  Not too long ago, I completed four months of work to create a beautiful list and portfolio of projects in anticipation of a deadline.  The timeline should have allowed all projects to be wrapped up in a neat bow...but one thing after another stalled progress.  In spite of my greatest efforts I left one project dangling.  I simply could not make it happen no matter how hard I tried.  My expectation of praise for the volume accomplished was quickly replaced with the words, "I'm disappointed."  My spirit was crushed, but I had to hold my head high and know that even though my best was not sufficient, I had given my all.  I left the meeting, sat down at my desk, and my eyes met with a scripture taped on the ...

I was concentrating on the microphone shaking in my hand.  Solo singing isn't in my comfort zone, especially since I'm never quite sure how things will sound in my world.  More than two years after ear surgery my ears still play tricks on me.  There was one thing I heard clearly this morning.  The message in the words I was singing.  We will remember, we will remember, we will remember, the works of your hands. We will stop, and give you praise for great is thy faithfulness. As we walk through life's lonely valley, we will look back at all your have done. And we will shout, our God is good, and he is the faithful one. In that moment, I saw the hard times of my life before my eyes.  Once you get on the back side, its easy to rejoice in his goodness.  We say thank you, and move on.  Until the next trial... How often is it in that moment, to look at the mountain we are facing, and cry in despair?  We often complain about our ...

I've always been a planner.  I found my love for event planning in high school, and for the past 20 years I've had the privilege to work and volunteer with so many different events.  Making the list, putting the pieces together, promoting, then sitting back and watching the activity unfold...I love the process.  When you plan, you have expectations.  Good planning means also planning for the unexpected, thinking through all the what if's and making a plan to take care of them so your events run smoothly. I guess it is only natural to let something like that spill over into my personal life.  I like to plan it out too.  My husband gets so upset with me sometimes for "over thinking" things.  I like my list, and I like my road map.  I've been thinking about this subject a lot the past few days.  As 2013 comes to an end, I have to tell you it was one of the toughest years of my life.  It wasn't tragedy, misfortune or illness that makes...

I'm celebrating my 40th birthday in just a few days. I thought by age 40, I would have my life figured out and expected to be settled into the plan God had prepared for my life.  That streamline path I expected has been more like a wandering experience, not knowing what would come next. Each time I seem to get "comfortable" in the role God has planned for my life, he seems to open another door into another area of the "wilderness." I know, you have been there too. I've been thinking about the Israelites 40 year journey out bondage into a land of freedom.  A straight route from point A to B would have been less than 250 miles, or about 2 weeks on foot.  So why did they spend 40 years in the desert?  Deuteronomy 8:2  says "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no...

Isaiah 43:1-2:  But now, this is what the Lord says—      he who created you, Jacob,      he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;      I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2  When you pass through the waters,      I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers,      they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire,      you will not be burned;      the flames will not set you ablaze. I flipped open my Bible to Isaiah several weeks ago after reading this verse, shared by a coworker as he began his cancer journey.  They are words of hope, and words of courage.  They are calming words and a promise from God to take care of us during our hardest times. I got so excited as I thought about the examples the Bible of God's provision described here. ...