I was recently doing a Bible Devotional study over 1 and 2 Kings by Lysa Terkeurst.  I have already learned a lot, and I appreciate diving into two books of the Bible I often try to avoid.  I never had much interest hearing all about these kings and them fighting other countries and making mistakes.  However, Lysa gives us a great message that the kings of Israel and the first and second king books in the Bible serve as a reminder for us to be trustworthy of God.  

Recently, I was learning about Jeroboam.  Jeroboam was a man who did not start out as a king.  Actually, he was originally called to speak for the Israelites to Rehoboam because the Israelites had a huge amount of labor thrust upon them by Solomon, Rehoboam’s father and the king prior.  They were dealing with heavy burdens and they looked to Jeroboam for help.  Jeroboam did speak for the people well.  He had the will of the Lord on his shoulders. Rehoboam decided to do the exact opposite of what the people requested.  He decided to make their yoke and their burdens heavier.  He didn’t want to weaken their load, but rather he wanted to add to it.  Because of this, over half of the country, as in 10 out of the 12 tribes of Israel left his kingdom.  This is where the Kingdom of Israel and Judah were split.  After the split happened, the 10 tribes left Rehoboam and decided to make Jeroboam king.  

Jeroboam had great intentions of being a good king.  He wanted to be there for the people, just as he did when he spoke for them.   However, he then becomes influenced by the world like all the other kings.  Even though Jeroboam was king over 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel, in order for the people to worship in the temple of God, they would need to travel to Jerusalem in the tribe of Judah, underneath the rule of Rehoboam.  He was fearful that as his people started traveling, they would believe the other empire was better and Rehoboam was actually the better king.  He was fearful the people would leave him, and he would be taken off the throne.  In order to keep the people, close by and to appease them, he made two golden calves and the places of worship around them, so the people could choose to worship there instead.  He started to trust his own thoughts and his own plans more than God’s.  Because of this, he would also deviate the other people being ruled under him.  

Lysa’s chapter on Jeroboam did help us reflect on our intentions.  Sometimes we as people and Christ followers have great intentions or motives starting out good, but then they turn out to not be the best.  One quote from this study says, “Here’s the dangerous assumption: because our initial motivation is good, our motives will always stay pure.  Sadly, that’s just not the case.  It’s good to keep checking our motives and to be honest about our present intentions.”  (page 65).  We can go into something for the right reasons, but then get blinded by society and start to focus on the results more than the following well of the Lord.  

Sometimes I have had mixed intentions around my Dressember fundraiser.  I love doing my Dressember fundraiser.  I love getting the opportunity to raise funds and awareness to end Human Trafficking.  I love being creative in my outfits and in the dresses I wear every day for the month of December.  Yes, towards the end, I am tired of wearing dresses, but I also know it is for a good cause. My intention is to do this fundraiser to help people and to raise awareness to end Human Trafficking around the world.   However, sometimes I become way too concerned about my own pride and my personal fundraiser to make myself look good.  I want to meet my fundraising goals, so I can feel good about myself.  I need to be very aware of my attitude and intentions all throughout this fundraising event.  

My challenge for you this week is to remember this verse wherever you go into anything in your life.  Make sure to use this verse as a way to examine your intentions.  Proverbs 21:2 says, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord ponders the hearts.”  People tend to look at the things people do, and maybe how successful they are.  People may look at the actions of others and how appreciated and admired they are by the people around.  However, God looks at the people’s hearts.  He looks at how well they are focused on the glory of God and how well they are depending on the Lord. My challenge for you this week is to focus on the glory of God with every single intention and motive you have.  This may take some double checking of your motives on a regular basis.  

I have recently started a book called, “The Pursuit of God.”  The book overall is short, and the chapters individually are short, but they are filled with so much truth.  This chapter in particular I read today, was all about our real faith in God, not just faith in the mere idea of God, but really believing in the God who loves and cares about us.  

There are many people who I know, but I don’t really “know.” I have met them, and maybe even know their names, and what they do as a career, but I don’t know their true personality, at least in different circumstances than the one I currently see them in.  I don’t know their favorite color, or the foods they like, or even what they like to do when they have free time.  There are many ways we can treat God the same way we look at those acquaintances.  We don’t really know Him, but rather, we just know of Him. 

There are many people who I know, and most likely you know, who really do know a God exists.  They believe there is a spiritual world beyond the world we are in.  They may even pray every once in a while, and they may go to church here or there or even on a regular basis.  However, they maybe really don’t “believe” in God, the way God deserves to be believed in.  They don’t believe He is the only true one who can save us from our sins or don’t believe He is the one who is in control of our lives.  

One quote from “The Pursuit of God,” says, “…but for millions of Christians, nevertheless, God is no more real than He is to the non-Christian.  They go through life trying to love an ideal and be loyal to a mere principle.”  (The Pursuit of God,A.W Tozer) This really made me think a lot.  There are many people who are dedicated to a principle, to a theory or to a creed of God, but they maybe really don’t truly know God.  They don’t know His personality or the devotion He wants from his followers.  

The next chapter in this book was very similar in its messaging.  This chapter was a reminder for all of us, that God really is omnipresent. He is around everywhere.  He can be everywhere and anywhere we are.  However, even though we can know He is all around, we don’t necessarily act as though he is always around.  We can remember his presence in the church building or in the Bible group, but what about our homes and what about our jobs, or what about when we are doing our hobbies or spending time with family and friends.  Or even when we are struggling, or we are in a place we really don’t enjoy.  

God actually does want to know us, and he wants us to know him.  He wants us to know what he likes.  He wants us to want to spend time with him, not out of obligation or because of a general belief, but because spending time with Him brings us great joy and love.  It can be awesome to think about a God who is all powerful and a wonderful creator, but it is more amazing to consider a God who is full of love and care for all of us. 

A few weeks later, I was doing my new Bible Study of 1 and 2 Kings written by Lysa Terkeurst.  She was breaking down every king of the nation of Israel.   She discussed David and Solomon and how they had a similar sin and downfall, but they had very different reactions.  Both David and his son, Solomon would be tempted by women that were not their wife.  David had the affair with Bathsheba resulting in a pregnancy and then the killing of her husband, Uriah.  This was a bad moment for David, but then there is Solomon who would take many, many, many wives, like in the hundreds.  What made these two men different?  Well, David repented from his sin, and he strived to never depart from God again in this manner.  However, Solomon never repented.  He would be completely led astray by his many wives.  He eventually started worshiping other gods along with them.  

1 Kings 11:4b describes this heart of Solomon.  “And his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.”  The sad thing is, Solomon was the one who created God’s temple.  He had a “relationship” with God, at least in part.  However, Solomon didn’t fully trust or know God.  He was following a principle when he created God’s temple.  He was following and believing in the God of his father, but not the God over himself.  He didn’t care about knowing God to his fullest ability. 

I can definitely be a compartmentalizer.  I can put my Christian beliefs and thoughts in one area of my brain I save for when I am at church, or I am doing my Bible Study but then quickly forget everything I have learned in the Bible study when I go to work.  I can forget about reading about patience and forgiveness quickly when something very inconvenient comes up. I can feel I am a very dedicated Christian, but maybe there are just times when I am really just dedicated to the very principles of Christianity.  

The challenge for this week is to remember to really pursue God.  It is to spend time reading the Bible and praying to really think about who the Lord is.  What is God really trying to tell us after we read a particular passage?  What does he want us to learn about Himself?  Why is this particular passage in the Bible, and what does it reveal about God? Hopefully through that time, you will have a deeper understanding of God as a God, and more than a principle.  

This year was a big year.  I would say it has been one of the biggest years of change for me personally.  It is maybe second to the year of 2014 which was the year I graduated from high school and started college.  This year, I finished my fourth year of teaching, and I started a new job at a local nonprofit in Cedar Falls.  I moved the boxes in my Buffalo Center apartment to my new Cedar Falls apartment.  I packed up my classroom and my lesson plans and moved to a new place where I now write financial literacy plans for all grades as opposed to my Spanish plans for high schoolers. 

I went to college at the University of Northern Iowa (Go Cats!) which is in Cedar Falls, Iowa, so even though I had lived in this town before, I wasn’t very involved in the community.  I was too busy being involved in my college community.  The nonprofit I work for, mostly serves Waterloo families, which is a city connected to Cedar Falls, so I have also tried really hard to get involved in that community as well.   I try to be involved when I am working, but now I have also gotten really involved in my church community, enrolled in a community choir, and am volunteering in other organizations throughout the area.

I knew when I graduated college that I had a passion and a dream to one day work in a nonprofit full time.  I am glad this dream has come true.  It was scary.  I knew the students at my school, I knew my coworkers, I knew people that were friends in the area I was in, but I also knew I really wanted to move on and try a different path.  I have learned so much and developed so many different skills through this job.  I have become more creative in lesson planning and in other ways to problem solve.  I love this job.  I really love the kids I get to serve.  I love getting to know and work with the families, and I love going out in the community of Waterloo.  I am very happy I made this switch in 2023.  

The other big moment for me in 2023 was writing and publishing my devotional book. This had been a lifelong dream of mine.  I had always wanted to write and publish a devotional book.  When I was a young child, I would take a blank journals and write devotions for my family and friends to read daily.  I had forgotten about that, until my friend Tiffani reminded me she had one of those devotional journals from me from many years ago.  She had kept the journal this whole time.  The book published this year is called, Psalm 66: Praise Amidst Hardship and Joy. 

The low point of this year was saying goodbye to certain jobs.  Specifically, I am very sad I had to say goodbye to my athletes in cross country and I didn’t complete another summer at the Bridge of Storm Lake.  I had worked there for seven summers, and the Bridge and the community of Storm Lake meant so much to me.  I missed the summer being with the kids and some of my absolute best friends that are there.  Goodbyes are hard, and the months of May and June were both exciting, but also incredibly hard for this reason.  I don’t need to have the stress of moving and the tears over moving away anytime in the near future. 

While this year has been awesome, I do know there are many things I can work on for this next year.  I have been struggling a bit with insecurity and jealousy at times throughout my life.  I am constantly working on this and am trying to improve.   I also can sometimes get too focused on achieving items on my checklists as opposed to really focusing on the people around me.  I have been working harder at making sure not to overfill my schedule, so I actually can focus on the people in my life, but in the year of 2024, I really want to meet with others on a regular basis to really care about them and talk with them about their lives and their relationship with Christ.  I just need to make sure I am focused on them, and not the other items going on in my life.  

I always want to encourage others to spend time reflecting on their previous year.  Being able to reflect on what good happened, maybe some bad, achievements, and things to work on, can only help improve you for the next year.  It can also be a way to stay constantly reflective and believe in yourself enough for future growth.  I also know sometimes we as people need to practice gratitude and joy.  It is important to make sure we remember our joyful moments from the year we just had.  

Now I want to end this blog post with my verse for the year of 2024.  This verse is Jeremiah 17:8, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  They will be like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”  I really love this verse for many different reasons, one being about having trust in God, but another is because I love the idea of looking to the year of 2024 as a tree.  The nonprofit I work at and have fallen in love with has a main symbol of a tree.  This symbol will hopefully be one to help me focus on growth for the year of 2024. 

I am reading a book called, “Revealing Revelations,” by Amir Tsarfati.  I was hesitant to read this book initially.  I didn’t know if I wanted to read a book centered around Revelations in the Bible.  However, I am really enjoying it.  I am really learning new perspectives about the book of the Bible that people try to avoid the most.  I am looking at this book in the way Tsarfati tries to show us, which is as a love letter to those who are in the church.  

One of the first chapters of the book breaks down the seven main churches such as Philippians, Ephesus, etc.  The churches back then were struggling through problems that many churches have struggled through recently.  The church of Ephesus was struggling through forgetting the importance of spending time with God, or as Revelation and Amir reminds us, “To remember our first love.”  Remember the love that God has for us and the love that you need to have for Him.  

The problem that Ephesus would also struggle through was that they would often try to show the best ways they were prospering without really going deep into their faith.  They were going “ten miles long, one mile deep” as the common phrase can describe some churches of today.  They were not investing into their personal relationships with God.  One quote that comes from this book is, “If service is not built on a foundation of close daily time with God, it becomes inevitable that bitterness, anger, territorialism, and wrong motives will creep in,” (Tsarfati, “Revealing Revelations, pg.57).  

Tsarvati reminds us that sometimes people can become very involved in the church, but then don’t actually care about their personal relationships with God.  Service in a church is very important and very good, but it is not the end all be all of being a Christian.  The church does need those who are very willing to serve in the church.  However, similarly to the idea that a person when faced with a plane losing altitude quickly needs to apply their own face mask on themselves before they help apply the masks onto others, Christians need to make sure they are investing in their own Christian walk before they can truly serve others.  I personally can get into the habit of caring more about serving at church for the routine and for the feeling of importance over the reasons behind it.  

One verse that highlights the importance of spending time with God is Joshua 1:8 which says, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”  This verse is a good reminder that one needs to keep the Word of the Lord close to their hearts and minds.  This way we may be successful and prosperous, specifically in our Christian walk and with the way that we feel.  We may still run into struggles with the things of this world, but we will be continuously close to God.  

I have found a better routine in the last few years by starting to do the time alone with God in the mornings.  I have found this is the most practical for me to really focus on what I am reading in the word or in Bible Study.  However, I have found that I do sometimes struggle to really remember what I have learned in the morning for the rest of the day.  I sometimes will quickly become impatient immediately right after I finished the Bible devotional time.  I definitely need to find a better way to remember the importance or the main objective from the lesson before I move on for the rest of the day.  

The challenge for this week is to spend time with the Lord on a regular basis.  I would find either a Bible Study or a book that you really want to dive into this week.  This could be any book that is in the New Testament, specifically a Gospel.  It is currently the Christmas season, so a good way to start is to read a Gospel, starting with the Christmas story and how Jesus came to this earth as a little baby boy.  Please seek to always remember your first love.  Remember the love that God has for you that began for you the minute you were conceived. 

I love reading.  I love books.  I love stories.  I love being able to learn something new from the book I am reading, and I love getting to think about something in a new way.  I am a passionate reader though.  I am a reader that wants to, at one time or another, throw my book across the room (I don’t, just an FYI).  I can get so passionate about what others are doing in the story, and I can really become vocal when I believe they are not doing the right thing or are hindering their progress. 

I am currently reading a book about two sisters who are experiencing the grief of their father.  They are both processing this grief in very different ways, and through this they are in many ways, unintentionally hurting one another and many others around them.  As a reader, I am screaming at the book at times because I just want to yell at them, “Why don’t you understand how the other person is feeling?”  It is so obvious.  Then I realized it may not be so obvious to the characters in my book.  They are not reading from another person’s perspective.  They aren’t seeing what the other person is doing when no one else is around.  They aren’t in another character’s mind like I, as the reader, am.  

This realization made me stop and think.  Oh, how I have misjudged other’s perspectives at many different times.  I can’t see from their headspace as much as I can see the characters in my books or my stories.  I need to be better at looking at other’s perspectives to the complete extent. Just because I can’t get into other people’s heads like I can when I am reading, doesn’t mean I can’t seek out their opinion or their thoughts as much as possible.  I shouldn’t just assume I understand everything from where they are sitting.  

I am often a person who can get really frustrated by others.  I have been working on this, but it is still a struggle for me.  One example I am sure many others have experienced is road rage.  There are many times when people can be slower than I would prefer.  However, then I can think of the experiences when I have been confused about where I was going, or maybe it is more slick or there is an issue with the car.  I have been in situations when I did not feel confident driving, and I know I am angering others, yet I can be very quick to become impatient with others when they are driving. I have no idea why they are choosing to be slower.  Maybe it could even be a new driver on the road or they had a flat tire yesterday, or they are not confident on the round-a-bouts, or they are trying not to spill a crockpot full of spaghetti.  (That was an example from my personal life).    

There is a verse that really captures the thoughts we should have when it comes to other’s perspectives.  Philippians 2: 3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  I have brought this verse up many times in blogs, but it still serves as a great reminder to get out of our own heads and focus on other people’s thoughts and what is in their heart.  We can be so focused on our day to day, when we easily forget that we have been called to focus on one another’s lives more than our own.  

I do want to point out that it is perfectly reasonable to get into disagreements.  It isn’t preferable for most people, but it is going to happen to every one of us from time to time.  Sometimes disagreements can really be beneficial because it will help solve issues that may have been hidden before.  It can bring about those different perspectives some people never bothered to think about previously.  I am definitely not suggesting to never bring up your own issue that you may have with something because you are trying to see it from another person’s perspective.  A person can definitely try to look at another person’s perspective before they bring the issue to another’s attention, but then it is perfectly acceptable to speak your thoughts and peace, respectfully.   

My challenge for you this week is to reflect on where you don’t see other people’s perspectives.  This could be in your work environment or class environment, on the road, when talking with your family or friends, or even in a church setting.  There are so many times we as people can disagree with one another.  This week, really try looking from the perspective of the person of whom you may not always get along.  You may learn quite a bit from them.  

One book I have read recently is called “Sisters of Mokama,” by Jyoti Thottam.  This is a book describing the women, specifically Catholic Sisters who moved to India in order to create a hospital and serve the people of India.  These women had to work hard.  These women served the people of India for any illnesses, and they also brought other young nurses, even nurses from India to their hospital to become trained as a future nurse or doctor.  This started in the 1950s, so they as a population were also fighting other big issues after World War II affected many countries around the world including the United States and during the Apartheid that really affected India.  They were also choosing to be women professionals in the medical field during a time where that was not the most common for women.  

One problem that arose was people coming in with leprosy, and they would notice those patients really struggled.  There were a lot of people who suffered from this disease, but they also had a troubling stereotype looming over their head that many people had when it came to those suffering from leprosy.  They thought those people were dirty and were often shamed. They would have to be sectioned off, so others, especially from those of whom were sick with other ailments so they would not catch their disease.  In order to serve so many fighting this illness quicker and to keep more people safe, they created a Leprosy care clinic every Wednesday.  The people were to come and get their diagnosis, their medicine and vitamins for the next two weeks and come again for another round.  

I enjoyed reading about this section because first, it showed how inventive these women were.  They were problem solvers, and I appreciate reading about people so dedicated to their mission that they will spend time changing something to serve as many people as possible.  However, I also loved this section because it really showed the care these women had for all the people of India.  When this clinic first started, there was really only one patient for the first few weeks.  However, the doctor and nurse named Crescentia  stationed at the clinic did not close down in discouragement.  They continued to serve him to the best of their ability.  It was only later when they were growing in great popularity that they soon had to have many more nurses and ques set up to achieve success for everyone.  

One quote from the book is “On the first day, there was only one patient.  His name was Ram Dham, a man in the later stages of the disease (leprosy).  For weeks, he was the only patient. But he kept coming, and that alone gave Crescentia the courage to continue.” (Thottam, Joyti, “Sisters of  Mokama,” pg. 156).  I loved reading this.  I am definitely one that can become discouraged too quickly,  and therefore impatient to continue a project.  If I had done all this work and planned on helping many others, and I only had one patient, I would have been so heartbroken.  I would have continued for another week or two, but then I would have forfeited this plan for a different one. It is so amazing they chose not to stop because there would soon be so many people helped by this clinic.   

I think this is a good reminder to do a lot of work even for one person.  It is important to put the same amount of energy into one person as you would a big group.  This can be in all areas, whether it is Bible Study, teaching a class, having an appointment or meeting, or an event.  Matthew 25:40 also describes this thought process well.  “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it for Me.”  God wants His people to really care about those in the world.  He wants His people to spend time working for those the world will often ignore or those that don’t always see love.  He wants them to be remembered, even if they are the only ones around.   

The challenge for this week is to reflect on how you act among a small group to the individual people as well as the big group.  Do you put as much care and thought into the individuals you are in contact with?  Do you spend time really thinking about the separate individual when you are in a big group?  What can you personally do for one personal individual this next week?  I also want this to be an encouragement.  Even if you are spending a lot of time caring for only one or a small group of people, as long as you are doing this with your whole heart, you are still doing God’s work. 

I recently finished the book called, “Goliath Must Fall,” by Louie Giglio.  It was a really good book that discussed the importance of getting rid of our personal giants and the problems many of us face including anxiety, fear, comfort, anger, addictions, etc.  This book was also written alongside the story of David and Goliath.  We see how David takes down the massive sized Goliath.  We see David having complete faith in God and that is the reason he was able to defeat what everyone else in the Israelite army was too afraid to do.  

The last chapter was very convicting for me, though, and I really wanted to share this with all of you.  Louie reminded us of the main reason why David decided to fight against Goliath.  If you are not aware of the story of David and Goliath, David was not a soldier in the Israelite army.  He was a shepherd boy who was told to deliver lunches to his brothers who were on the front lines. He could have easily chosen to go home after he did this simple task requested of him by his father.  

However, David saw Goliath, and then he decided to take his own shot at the giant.  Now, this is important.  David did not fight against Goliath because he really wanted to look brave and powerful.  He didn’t do this because if he won, he would achieve the awards that king Saul had promised.  It was because David heard Goliath speak ill of God, not just any god statue, but their God,the God over the Israelite people, the God of the universe.  He was not going to let him speak ill of the God he gave all the glory.

This is where Louie Giglio reminds us that these battles that we are fighting with our particular giants are not all about us. To start, we are not left alone.  God is there with us, when  we need comfort and help.  We know we have a powerful God we can rely on.  It is also not about us because we are fighting our giants for the God who saves, and the God who wants to be honored and respected above all other things.  David, again, could have just walked away from Goliath and the upcoming battle.  However, then Goliath would assume it is alright to talk about God in such a way, with no respect and no honor.  

One quote that stood out from this chapter says, “Jesus wants to take down our giants so we can walk free and have the life that he wants us to live. And he wants to do that so his name can be exalted above every other name in our world.” (Giglio, Goliath Must Fall, pg. 227) How beautiful is that?! God wants us to be able to be completely free, living away from our sins and Goliaths. He wants us to have a better life, but he also wants us to have this so he can be honored and glorified, and we can live with him in his glory at the end of days.  

The best part about all of this is God has the ability to show off his own divinity.  He doesn’t really need us.  He never needed man to show off his divine powers or strength.  At the very beginning of time, God created the heavens and the earth, and no man was there by his side to help him achieve that magnificent creation.  He has just chosen since he first created man that he was going to use them for his divine purpose.  A verse from Habakkuk 2:14 says, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”  The earth will be filled soon with the knowledge of the Lord.  We get to be on his side and help him achieve this.  We get to fight our Goliaths and help others to do that as well, all while leading them to the glory and the honor of God.  

If I had to state my Goliaths, it would be jealousy and anxiety.  I have always struggled through being jealous of others and their spiritual gifts or their particular relationships they have.  I have also had a lot of anxiety and can be way too concerned about how others perceive me, and how well I am doing a particular job.  I have always been aware of these two goliaths, and I have taken the steps to break them down.  However, I now have another reason for overcoming these goliaths.  Through breaking them down, I can give God glory and help other Christians along their walk.  

The challenge for you this week is to think through your particular Goliath in your life.  It definitely helps to be able to name them, and to bring those Goliaths to God.  He will always help you take down those goliaths.  He wants them to be taken down.  He wants them defeated, for your benefit, for an example to others, and for his ultimate glory.  Goliath may seem scary, but he has already been defeated and fallen because of the love of Jesus Christ.  You remember that and you can take down your personal Goliath. 

Dressember is coming up once again, and I am very excited for this fundraiser this year.  2023 certainly was a huge year for me personally, and while I am very blessed to reflect on this year in its entirety, it is not quite over yet.  I have a very big thing left and that is, of course, my yearly Dressember fundraiser.  

What is Dressember? Dressember is a fundraiser where the participant wears either a dress or a tie for the whole duration of the month of December.  This is supposed to be fun and creative.  The founder of Dressember, Blythe Hill, did this originally as a style challenge.  She wanted to challenge herself to be more creative in her clothing choices in a time of year when it can be very easy to wear super comfortable clothes.  Dressember is way more than a style challenge, though.  It is also a chance to raise awareness and funds against modern day slavery.  All of the funds go towards funding rescue missions, therapy for victims of human trafficking, or other items that those particular individuals will need.  Dressember is also a great organization to raise awareness about clothing companies that use fair labor to make their fashion lines.  

One reflection that Dressember gives us is the lack of choice those who are stuck in human trafficking suffer.  We have a lot of freedom in what we get to wear, where we go, and even where we get to work for many of us.  This year, I felt a great amount of freedom of choice.  I chose to take a new job, and I chose to move to a new community, and that came with more choices like choosing to join a choir, choosing which gym and workout classes to go to, and a choice of which church to start attending.  I have been so blessed with this opportunity to choose.  I can not imagine the choices I get to make being stripped away from me.  I want to make this a year where I really fight for others’ choices.

I joined Dressember originally because I love the opportunity to fight against human trafficking, and I love dresses.  It seemed like a win-win.  I get to wear some of my favorite clothes, and I get to make a difference in the world through my own personal fundraiser.  It isn’t necessarily world changing.  I am not changing a law in the world, and I am not reaching millions of people, but I believe it is important to remember that we as people can make differences in our world, even through raising awareness in our general sphere of influence and using our resources to advocate for others.  

My personal goal for this year’s campaign is $2000.  This will be my highest goal I have ever made, but I am hopeful with the added friends and community members I have developed, I will get to share my passion with them to fight against human trafficking and my love for the Dressember fundraiser.  Every year I have done this fundraiser, I have had the opportunity to reach out to others about what this organization and the fighting against human trafficking means to me and how this will better our world.  

This blog post is not just about seeking financial support.  Yes, I always appreciate that particular support and donations to this Dressember fundraiser.  I love feeling supported, but I also know that this is a fundraiser where the money is not going towards me and my personal goals.  I also should mention that I feel great support from my friends and family members who share my post on their social media, and I appreciate when a few individuals will wear a dress with me during the time of Dressember.  

In conclusion, I would love for anyone reading to prayerfully consider donations to my fundraising Dressember page and to Dressember as an organization in general. I have done this organization for so many years because I really do believe in its overall goal and mission, which is to raise awareness and funds for so many all over the world who are trapped in human trafficking.  

Dressember 2023 (funraise.org)

I help out a lot with the Sunday School program at my new church called, “Treehouse.”   I help lead the songs and lead into the main story for their large group time.  Then I often go in and am a helper in one of the classrooms when they divide into their age groups. I have helped out in all the different age groups, but I usually put myself in the third through fifth grade classroom.  They have big personalities, which is really fun, but also can be a bit overwhelming with just a few leaders.  I have gotten to know them fairly well, and I hope I can get to know them even better in the future.  This week, it was all about the crucifixion of Jesus.  It is very interesting because we are also learning our holiday song at the beginning of our time together.  Then we move on to the beginning of the Easter story during Bible reading.  

During class time, the third through fifth grade boys really made me smile.  We re-read the story in our classroom of Jesus going to the cross and dying for our sins, and then there were a few boys who raised their hands and said that they know the rest of the story already.  They proudly said, “Jesus is then raised from the dead three days later!”  In their words, they spoiled the ending, and I do suppose that is a perfectly good ending to spoil.  They were quite proud of themselves, and I was very happy with them as well.  

However, then they made the statement, “We already know this story.”  Almost like they felt they didn’t need to hear it again.  (They also asked why we were learning this story during the Christmas season, which was a fair enough question.) I realized that we can often easily take this story for granted.  We can think about the crucifixion and the resurrection and believe that we already have heard and studied this story, so we know everything that we need to know.  The students also were really good about answering questions that have to do with grace and mercy that we gained through Christ’s death and resurrection.    

This is not the story to just push aside.  This story is the only reason we can be Christians, the only reason we can read God’s Word, go to church, pray to a God who loves us, have fellowship with other believers, and live with a mission in our lives, only because of the crucifixion and resurrection of God. When we get so acquainted with our Christian walk and our day to day lives in Christianity, we can forget our base, but our base or our foundation is so vital for how we handle the rest of our Christian walk.  

There are sometimes when I quickly forget the main reason for my relationship with Jesus.  There are many times I get in too much of the habit of legalism and start running through the motions of my Christian walk.  I can read the Bible because I do love to read the Bible, but I also do it because it is part of my regular routine.  I spend time in prayer every morning and I make sure to write down my prayer requests as well as what I am thankful for, but again, I also do this habitually.  I really notice this when it comes to practicing my Bible verses I set to memorization.  I love to run through them, so I don’t forget them, and I know that it is good to practice, but I also find that I get very monotonous about my memorization in verses.  However, being reminded of the importance of the Christian story, helps me remember to care about these simple discipline practices with the love and dedication to a God who loves me and saved me.   

In the MSG version of the Bible, there is a great truth found in Hebrews 13:16, “Make sure you don’t take things for granted or go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others.”   This is very important to remember.  Sometimes we can go slack and forget what the common good is.  The common good is that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and then defeated death by raising from the dead and continues to forgive us for every future sin and mistake.  We have a glorious Father to serve, and we must remember to keep this fresh in our hearts.

My challenge for you this week is to review the Gospel.  This can be in any of the four Gospel chapters and books, as long as you are reviewing the Greatest story that was ever told that happened so long ago.  Read through it, highlight the important parts and the parts filled with intense love, and thank God for his sovereignty, and his mercy.  It is a good week as ever to review the story that we should be the most thankful for, as it is Thanksgiving week.  

I love the book of Esther.  It has always been one of my favorite books of the Bible, and I have read it many times.  One thing I paid attention to this time reading was King Ahasuerus after he divorced and sent off his first wife.  I had always read over that scene fairly quickly.  Esther wasn’t even a part of the story yet.  The interesting parts hadn’t begun.  However, God is so good about taking the seemingly boring parts of a story and giving us a great lesson out of it.  

Before I highlight the verse I want to, I am going to give a bit of context on the beginning of the book of Esther.  This book starts out with a huge banquet.  This is to honor the King, Ahasuerus and his wife, Vashti.  However, the majority of the time they are not together but rather enjoying themselves in their own separate rooms.  Vashti with the women in the court and Ahasuerus with his male servants and officials.  It was not until Ahasuerus called out Vashti to show off her beauty, they really spoke or acknowledged each other’s presence, at least as far as the reader can see.  

Now, it is hard to know exactly the reasons why Vashti denies her husband, the king, when he asks to have her show off her beauty.  Maybe, she really didn’t want to be harassed and ogled at by her husband’s workers and friends.  Maybe she didn’t really want to see her husband with a lot of liquor in his system.  Or maybe she was having a really good time with the other women in the court and she didn’t want to be distracted from their conversation.  Either way, she did not go to the king.  Instead of talking to her and solving this spat, the king did have a different plan in mind for how to deal with this situation.  His solution, send Queen Vashti out.  She was no longer going to be the queen or his wife.  

The verse I want to highlight from this story is Esther 2:1, “Later when King Ahasuerus’ fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti (first wife) and what she had done and what he had decreed about her.” I noticed this verse because it really shows King Ahasuerus was incredibly drunk and furious when he decided to be rid of his first wife Vashti.  It was like he realized after he had calmed down that he had made some bad choices. He doesn’t have a wife now, and his country doesn’t have a queen.  He was realizing in those moments, his actions had consequences.  King Ahasuerus was given the opportunity to have his staff create a contest where the single women come to the palace, and they are in a competition to become his next wife.  

This made me realize we can often make bad choices when it comes to being really angry, emotional, tired, hungry, etc, essentially when we are not in the best frame of mind. We can then hurt people, quit something we were originally passionate about, and fall into temptation.  There are so many bad decisions we can make and not realize our consequences until it is too late.  And…most of us don’t have a staff working to fix our problems. We need to make things right on our own.  We may have to swallow our pride and apologize, we may have to put in extra hours to fix a past mistake, and sometimes we may not fully be forgiven.  

One thing to learn is that it is important to remember when our emotions may be compromised.  For example, King Ahasuerus became really angry after he was incredibly drunk.  I think realizing how we can act when we are in any way inebriated is important.  Realizing we can make worse choices when we put ourselves in a particular position is something we need to be reflective over.  This can even include when we are extremely under slept or undernourished in other ways.   However, the next day, we are going to have to reap the consequences of our actions.  Using an excuse of being drunk or being out late will only work so far.  

I have learned through the years that whenever I start to get upset, I need to step away and reevaluate my emotions.  I may need to cry.  I may need to talk it through with someone else.  I may need to simply give myself space from other people.  I may just need a break from seeing people in general, even the ones who had nothing to do with the situation at hand.  It is important to avoid getting too emotional and too angry too quickly before I do something I regret.  

I also have definitely learned to pray over these situations.  I know that God is the only one who can help me when my emotions are about to spill over.  I definitely noticed this in high situations when I was teaching.  There were times I would become so frustrated with a class.  At nights and in the mornings, I would spend time in prayer, asking the Lord to help me with the patience to do my best for these particular students and class.  He helped me so much, and I know he saved a lot of relationships with my students.  

I am not necessarily going to have a challenge for this week because I am hopeful that this week there won’t be a moment that will upset you either in anger or in sadness.  However, hopefully when there will be future moments, you will know how to best handle your emotions.  I am hoping that maybe you find the few strategies that best process your emotions, so you don’t make a decision where you will wake up and regret something you had done in an emotional state.