At my mom’s church as well as a recent study of Philippians, I have gotten to learn about a woman that was highlighted named Lydia.  I personally have never learned much about Lydia, but she was actually a very prominent member of the opening and creation of the church in Philippi.  We meet Lydia in Acts chapter 16, and this will be a very fundamental exchange of the mission work for Paul and Timothy.   

We only know a few key descriptions of Lydia. We can gather that she is wealthy, and we can also assume that she is a business woman because we meet Lydia selling purple fabric.  Purple fabric is not the easiest to make because the strong purple dye is not easy to find and create.  Therefore, if she has the ability to possess and sell purple fabric, she most likely is financially secure.  She is also described as a worshiper of God.  However, even when she was a worshiper, we see that God was going to use her in more ways than through her individual worship of Him.   God opened up her ears and her heart to listen to Paul, so she decided to get baptized by them.    

Then she decided to open up her home to the followers of Jesus who also want to share the Gospel with others.  We see this beautifully described in Acts 16:15, “And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.”  She used that wealth by opening up her home to those who wanted to discuss and grow the Gospel.  She had hardly known these early church members, but she had a calling of God’s that she wanted to follow.  

Being willing to open up your home to other believers is a great way to serve God.  Some of the best times that I personally have with friends is when I am going to one of their houses and we are just hanging out and watching a movie, crafting, eating supper together, and just having long conversations in a comfortable setting.  I definitely feel closer to a friend or a church member once I am invited into their homes.  I know I am not the only one.  There is something comfortable and inviting about a home.  

I have a friend named Shelly, and she and her husband own a beautiful home. It also takes place on land for their cattle.  It is so attractive that her three sons all wanted to have their weddings take place there.  (I keep telling her that she really needs to make this a wedding reception for a future career on the side.  I don’t know if that will happen though).  One time she said that one of her favorite things to do is to open her home.  She would open up her home for her son’s sports teams and would give them a meal.  She would open up her home to church groups or to those she works with at a Christian nonprofit.  She used her home very wonderfully for God’s work, and that was something that brought her great joy.  

This is also a good reminder and encouragement that God can really truly use people in many different ways.  Some people may offer their home up to church groups all the time, but feels as though they are not doing enough.  I hope that after learning Lydia’s story, that it is not something you are thinking anymore.  Lydia opening up her home was the only reason why the church of Philippi began as well as it did, and it ended up being a big movement of sharing the Gospel.  Lydia used what she had for the good of God, and it became a great movement.  Never feel that what you have to offer God is too small.  

Now, I don’t think that I will necessarily open up my one bedroom apartment to major church groups, but this is a good reminder that I can definitely open up my home to serve others in a meal or could host a small bible study.  I don’t have a lot of space, but I have the ability to bring a few others over to enjoy some time with me in the comfort of my place.  I still have the ability to bring people in, even with the smaller surface area.  

I think that the challenge for the near future is to think of someone who would be good to bring over to your home.  Who is someone that you could make dinner for?  Who is someone that you could have a deep conversation within the comfort of your own home or place?  How could you make your personal place an inviting one?  I think this is a good reflection if we want to be used by God for big things, and the everyday small things such as opening up your home to a neighbor.  

I love singing.  I have always loved singing and being a part of a choir.  I was in a choir all in school, and then I joined a choir in college.  I am so happy I decided to be a part of a choir in college where I was able to do a lot of fun concerts and even went to Germany for a small tour.  I didn’t get the chance to sing the last few years, and I didn’t realize how much that really hurt my heart.  I missed singing on a regular basis, yes, but I also just missed the opportunity to be in a community with others who also enjoy singing and making music together.  

This past Monday was finally the chance where I could join the local chorale choir.  I was finally given the chance to sing in a group for the first time in years, (minus of course, worship time at church.) I was filled with joy.  I am so excited to be able to listen to choir music and spend time with that group. I know there were times where I was a bit rusty with the notes, and the sight reading was not at its best, and I did not have the breath support for some of the longer notes like I once had, but I know I will gain that back in time.  I am just happy with the opportunity to sing and to learn the skills again.  I couldn’t wait to tell most people about how my first rehearsal went, and I am already looking forward to the next one.  

There were many takeaways I got from this experience of singing in a choir.  In this instance of great joy, I was able to reflect on key pieces of this choir experience.  I just had to write about this journey back to choir with everyone. The first reflection that I had is to remember that one needs to include a youth filled love for the things of this world.  Then the second is that we can always remember to praise God with the hobbies that we are involved in.  

The first takeaway I have from this experience is to remember to get involved in the things that we have loved in our younger life.  Our youth is often filled with being involved in community and being able to try sports, music clubs, and experiences, but then many people lose the ability to do those hobbies once we get a bit older.  I have definitely realized through this experience that it is important to get involved in this choir because it was something that I enjoyed a lot as a child and I needed to have some of that child-like joy in this hobby back in my life.  Adults can definitely try something new, but I often hear stories about something that someone once loved and then they lost the time for it and now it is just a distant memory of a hobby they did in the past.  

The second main takeaway was the reminder to focus on God’s goodness while singing.  In this particular semester, the community choir is getting ready for the Christmas concert, so there were Christian themes in a lot of the songs that we were singing.   It was a good reminder that God wants us to sing words and praises to him.  Psalm 105:1-2 says, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!” The Lord loves to hear his people sing.  One of the pictures we get of the future of heaven is God’s people singing praises to him.  Isn’t it great when we can also have some of that vision on earth in the present.  

One of my favorite choir songs is, “How can I keep from singing?”  I have sung it a handful of times for many different choirs.  This made me realize that God has made the world and loves us and our story should really make us want to keep singing.  How can I keep from singing?  How can I not sing God’s praises?  I have said many times that I am not the best at listening to praise music or spending time in worshiping God, but I do think it is important that one who is a Christian, spend time in worshiping our holy God on a regular basis.

I realized that God has blessed us in a lot of different ways.  He has even blessed us with hobbies and activities that make us enjoy the world.  We have the opportunity to exercise outdoors, craft and be creative, write down our words and thoughts, and even sing or play music.  We don’t just work and then go home, but we have opportunities to express ourselves and give our passions to him.  I need to remember that now I need to use this time in a choir for God.  

I have two different challenges for you this week.  The first one is to spend time in praise to God.  I know that everyone isn’t a musician and isn’t interested in singing, but I know that we can all find ways to praise God and give him holy praise.  The second one is to think about something that you could do to praise God and to show him love with the hobbies in this world.  There are many ways to praise God and my goal for you this week is to find that thing, it could maybe be an old hobby that can bring praise to God.  

I have noticed recently that I have been a bit more addicted to my social media.  I have stepped away from Snapchat which I do believe was a pretty good idea in order to get me away from certain forms of social media, but now I have more of an addiction to the other forms such as Facebook and Instagram.  I have been on it a lot recently, and I have been more addicted to sharing stories and posting pictures.  I am not necessarily saying that is a bad thing in itself, but I am becoming more and more consumed with the thoughts of what others are thinking from my social media presence.  

  I know that I need to be aware of this because I can’t be that addicted to what others believe about me as opposed to what I and the Lord believe. I especially have felt this recently as I have moved.  I want the people who know I have moved to see from my posts that I am doing perfectly well.  I am making friends, I am doing activities, and I am doing great at my job.  Granted, I am really happy with the move, but I shouldn’t feel the need to flaunt this new feeling, and maybe I just have this belief that I need to let the world know I am doing great.   

I also know that I am a bit more vain in some of my pictures.  If I am honest, I have lost a bit of weight in these last couple of years and have achieved a few fitness goals.  I am very happy about these things, but every once in a while I have felt maybe too happy or too proud about this weight change.  I am a bit more confident in my pictures or in my clothes, at least most days, but I may feel a bit too confident.  I want to share more and more pictures of myself in the new clothes with the “newer” body.  I am not saying it is wrong to feel confident in one’s skin, but it is also important that we don’t feel the need to flaunt or show everyone all of our pictures.  

Psalm 75:4-5 says, “I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with a haughty neck.’”  This is definitely a good reminder that I should not be a boastful person in any way, even in the areas of social media.  Social media is one of the easiest ways to boast because it is something that you can easily post and then walk away, waiting for the people to comment, like or ignore.  I just wait for others to give me likes, or hearts or their good thoughts in their comments.  I get to enjoy the rush of feeling seen and beautiful, but it really only lasts for a short while.  

I have learned that I can’t just decide that I need to walk away from social media though.  I definitely need to also reevaluate my confidence and where I am getting my confidence from and more importantly from who. It is important that I step away from social media, but I need to be aware of the immature confidence being the root of my multiple posts and stories.  I feel the need to post so much in order to feel empowered.  “If I get so many likes and comments, and I see that people are seeing what is happening in my life, then I will feel better about myself.”  This is the subconscious feeling I have a great amount while on social media, and this toxic thinking is the main item that needs to be fixed.   

There are definitely some positives when it comes to social media, especially now as I have started this new job.  At my job, one of my coworkers is very diligent about posting items to our social media site.  These posts highlight things we need like gift cards for our kid’s snacks, volunteers for our lessons and other activities, and highlights the wonderful experiences our students have had. She does this regularly and she does a great job of showcasing the great pieces of the work we do.  I do really enjoy getting to help share this message by sharing the posts to my page or to my story.  I also often use social media for my fundraisers such as during December for my Dressember campaign, and that is where I get the most support and donations.  Also, through social media, I know that I can be an encouragement to multiple other people who are posting about their life online. 

Because of these positives, I don’t think I can ever fully walk away from social media for good, but I need to learn to maintain my thoughts and feelings while on social media.  However, I am going to challenge myself for the next two weeks.  I am going to limit myself to only going on social media twice in a day for a total of 5 minutes a day.  I also am going to try to go these two weeks without sharing any posts or stories. Now again, when I say social media, for me I mean Instagram and Facebook.  After these two weeks, I am going to do a bit more self-reflection.  Hopefully, I will walk away with a bit less of an addiction into social media and my thoughts surrounding the instant gratification of social media will have dwindled.  

I am not going to challenge anyone to do the same thing that I am doing.  I know that may not be where everyone is at in their life.  There are probably many people who are reading this who are very healthy with their social media consumption.  There are probably many who don’t go to social media for validation, and I am very happy for you in this.  However, I do want to challenge everyone to at least reflect on their life, and to spend time thinking about whether or not they do have anything that causes more validation for them than it should.  I would say that it is important to maybe take a break from that particular item if that may be the case.  

I have recently finished a book about Corrie Ten Boom called, “The Watchmaker’s Daughter,” by Larry Loftis.  I have learned about Corrie Ten Boom before, through church groups as well as “7 Women and the Secret to their Greatness,” by Eric Metaxes.  She is a woman I do look up to, and I am glad I learned a lot about her through this book.  I hope to read her story in the book she had a hand in developing called, “My Hiding Place.”  

I will give a very brief summary of Corrie Ten Boom’s life.  I will not serve her life justice, but I will give some of the main highlights.  Corrie first was very driven in learning her family’s work of watchmaking.  She became the first woman licensed watchmaker in Holland.  Eventually her family and their business became not only a place to have watches fixed, but also a haven for many jews and divers during World War II.  They were able to save many people through this work.  However, she and her family were outed by someone else and sent to prison.  They would be sent to a work concentration camp, eventually she and her sister would go to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp that many would describe as hell on earth with security guards of extreme hostility.  At this place, her sister would pass and Corrie would become very frail and sick. 

She would survive, but her work was not done.  She started two main organizations and ministries when she was out of prison camp and back to her strength.  The first was a place for rehabilitation for those who had also just gotten out of the camps.  They needed a place for healing.  They had just gone through something traumatic, and they needed to spend some time before they were ready to reenter society. Eventually she would be able to open a space where there used to be a concentration camp for this same experience.  This is using a place that was meant for evil and turning it into a place of good. Then she also would open the Beje, her old home, to those in Holland who had turned their fellow man and brother to the Germans.  She knew they were being harassed in the streets, and she wanted to extend an olive branch of forgiveness to the ones who had hurt her country.   

Her main message was forgiveness.  Forgive the soldiers who had tortured them and their loved ones, forgive those who had turned them into the camps, and forgive those who were not willing to apologize for any crimes they had done.  She would speak on this forgiveness, but she would also act it out when she had an encounter with a former S.S. officer at “Ravensbrück” who had been so cruel to her and her sister.  He asked her for forgiveness and she was able to grant it.  She also wrote a letter to the man who had turned her family into the authorities and therefore being the reason that she and her whole family were in a prison camp.  She wrote to him saying she forgave him and told him the lessons she had learned in the prison camp were a great blessing.  

There is so much more I could write.  However, even with all of her accomplishments and her ministries, something I found interesting about her life is how often she was very inspired by the people in her family.  She learned so much from her sister and her father.  She looked up to them throughout the whole time they were alive.  Corrie was fearful when her father passed she didn’t have a spiritual guide anymore, until she discovered her sister, Betsy, was her new spiritual guide.  In fact, Betsie was the one to remind Corrie to forgive those who have tortured them.  Betsie would often find something to praise God for.  One example of this is shortly after Betsie and Corrie made it to Ravensbrück, “‘Do you know what I’m thankful for?’ Betsie suddenly asked. ‘I’m thankful that Father is in heaven today.’ Betsie. Only she could find joy in a time like this.(page 201)” Betsie was also the driving force behind Corrie’s later ministries.  She had the vision and the inspiration.  She died in the camps before she could see them to fruition, but Corrie was able to live out her visions.  

I believe we can take a lot of inspiration from this tale for many reasons.  For one obvious reason, we can always strive to have courageous forgiveness like Corrie.  Corrie showed courage by being willing to hide Jews and other people from the Gestapo or the German officials.  She also showed bravery in boldly looking out for local Hollanders who were once affiliated with the German military after the war was over.  She wanted them to be forgiven as well.  That takes both courage and a great willingness to forgive.  

However, Corrie’s story shows the importance of spiritual guides.  I am very aware that people are fickle, and they will make mistakes, but there is still power in being able to find inspiration from others.  This can even be multiple people who have qualities that we would like to better possess.  I know that I can easily fall into jealousy of others’ spiritual gifts as opposed to wanting to learn from them to have a better spiritual gift in that area.  One verse that I believe really showcases this belief is Psalm 27: 13 which says, “I remain confident of this, I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” There are a lot of things in this world that are not good and not on the path towards God, but then there are those items, especially those people who have characteristics that God would like us to possess.  We can take that time to appreciate the good things of the world and the beauty throughout. 

Throughout my blogs and challenges I try to highlight the importance of talking over the topic at hand with someone.  When we share what we are learning with someone else, it just gives us more opportunities to grow together and to have more people to look to for inspiration and as a spiritual guide.  My challenge for you this week is to spend time thinking about who your spiritual warrior is or are. Then send them a thank you for being the spiritual warrior in your life. 

Lately, I have been struggling with feeling confident.  I keep seeing myself in the mirror, and I keep wondering if I have gained some weight.  A few years ago I lost some weight, and I sometimes get really concerned that I am going to gain it all back.  Because of this, there are definitely days when I am looking at myself and all the ways that I should improve.  I am looking at the areas where I want to be thinner and flatter.  

I am ashamed of these thoughts.  Mostly because I try really hard to remind the women in my life to look at exercise and health more than at the scale.  Before I started to lose weight, I had decided that I was going to set fitness goals.  I didn’t want to care about the weight I had lost or not lost, but more on what I could, through God, achieve.  I set mileage goals in running and lifting goals in exercises like squat and bench.  Then I actually lost some weight.  It feels like lately I have been starting to look at this in a backwards way.  I have been starting to focus more on weight loss and the weight on the scale as opposed to the fitness I am getting through exercise.    

Even though these feelings are not pleasant, I know that I am not alone when it comes to struggling with their bodies.  That is why there are disorders such as body dysmorphia which is the constant thinking of one’s flaws on a regular basis.  According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, there are about 1 in 50 people who struggle with body dysmorphia.  As a former educator, I am very aware that many young girls and boys struggle through other eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.  This is a problem.  Our bodies are the functions that get us to go from place to place and to be able to do the daily functions, yet we are constantly looking at them for their flaws.  

The world in general is also very focused on bodies.  Often magazines will highlight the best bodies, articles on how to get a better body or at least the body in trend at the time, and even filters on instagram where people are able to change their bodies to be more pleasurable (according to world standards).  These standards hurt many others’ perceptions of their bodies, especially if they were already struggling through the feeling of insecurity or lack of confidence in an area.  

I was reading a book by John Piper recently called “Future Grace,” and he was talking about how our bodies were made to glorify God.  One quote that I really enjoyed was,“Our bodies fit into that same category of physical things that God created for this reason. He is not going to back out on his plan to glorify himself through human beings and human bodies.”  This was accompanied with the verses of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 which says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?  You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body.”   

There are many ways that we can glorify God with our bodies, but I certainly know that one of the first ways is to not complain about them.  We are not going to be glorifying God by telling him all the things that we don’t like about what he has given us.  I am not saying that we should be vain.  We shouldn’t try to find our glory in our achievements or what we look like.  However, we should be grateful for the body God has given us. 

We can always make goals to change for the better, as long as we are doing it with the mindset of God’s glory such as exercising and eating a balanced diet.  There are a few goals I would like to personally have in regard to physical improvement.  I personally love to exercise.  I love to run, bike, lift weights, and go to workout classes.  I am not, however, the best at listening to my body when it comes to taking a day off or taking time away from exercising for a time period.  My goal in this area is to thank God more for my ability to work out and achieve more fitness.  I also know that I need to take a day of rest from exercise at least once a week.  

Another item I personally struggle with is eating healthy.  I don’t try to overindulge in unhealthy eating, but I definitely eat more sometimes than I should.  I struggle with eating vegetables and more foods with colors.  I know there are a lot of good nutrients that can come from the foods that grow from this world.  A personal goal I want to follow in this next year is having a chart where I can make sure to mark healthy foods I am eating, as a way to hold myself accountable for eating certain vegetables and fruits.  I want to be able to enjoy the less healthy foods, but only after I have put in the work keeping myself healthy.  

The bodies that we have been given are a temple.  They are a gift from God, and they are to be used for Godly reasons.  It can be very easy to find our flaws.  One from society pressures, and another from the constant nagging of the evil one, but it is important that those flaws that we believe we see is how God has designed us and put us into being.  My challenge for you this week is to spend a little bit of time thanking God for your body and all that it does for you.  The bodies that we are given are the reason we are able to do the jobs that we do, even on the days that we don’t like everything about it.  I pray that if you have struggled with any confidence lately like me, that you would be encouraged by the reminder of God creating you completely unique and with care.

I have been doing a lot of reading of books by Christian authors recently for my daily devotional.  The first was “Future Grace” by John Piper and then the second one is “Cross-Cultural Servanthood,” by Duane Elmer.  These are very different books with very different goals and objectives of teaching.  The first one is all about a person’s personal walk with God and their faith in future grace.  Then the second one is all about being willing to serve God by making sure to not overstep culturally while serving others in the world.  

However, even with these two very different books, there was a very big theme that came into both of them which was the term of humility.  Humility is fundamental for serving God and for being a Christian.  It can be very easy to call ourselves a servant, but it is important that we truly understand what it means to be a servant and how humility plays a huge role.  Both books brought up the importance of humility, even in a world where humility is not necessarily praised.  I want to highlight two very striking quotations about humility from each of these books.  

In the book, “Future Grace,” on page 85 it states, “But deeper than all these forms of unbelief is the unbelief of pride, because self-determination and self-exaltation lie behind all these other sinful dispositions.”  This was right after Piper brought up all the sins that many people struggle with, such as covetousness, bitterness, impatience, and total lack of belief.  Even though those sins are all bad, they really are all behind pride.  This is given more explanation when it later says, “Turning from God assumes that one knows better than God.”  When someone turns from God in some kind of sinful way and for something else, it is almost because we don’t necessarily believe in God’s sovereignty.  

The Bible gives a lot of warning against pride.  There are at least 153 verses that are in the Bible against pride, and there are many others that highlight the importance of humility.  One verse I want to highlight is James 4:10, and this says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”  The Lord loves when his servants are humble and because of this, these very humble servants will be exalted.  This verse is also a reminder that one’s salvation is based completely on one’s humility which makes sense because without humility, we wouldn’t be able to depend on God.  If we are prideful, then we may believe we can live without Him.  We can believe we are going to be saved on our merits as opposed to the Lord, the heavenly father.  

Learning humility as an essential piece of salvation is important for the ability to serve others and reach others with God’s word. In cross-cultural servanthood, there is such a highlight of humility.  Humility is so important for mission work, and this book really does a really good job reminding anyone who wants to work in missions that it is the main virtue.  This is especially when we are going cross-cultural.  

One verse in this book comes from page 31 which says“Pride has no place in our lives; everything we have is by God’s kindness.”  We don’t have anything without God.  We don’t have any virtues without God’s work in our lives.  It can be really easy to gain pride and base all of our successes in our lives on that pride.  However, one problem with this is that then we can obviously start to look at people as projects and goals as opposed to just looking to serve the only God who is completely perfect. I know there are many times I have been guilty of this.  I have looked at the areas where I have served and used that to really feel good about myself as opposed to thinking how that service was good for God’s kingdom.    

This being said, we need to be willing to practice humility in all areas of our lives.  This means being willing to listen and to learn from others.  We don’t know everything, even if we really think there is a topic where we are experts, there are many things we can still learn.  It can be very easy in one culture to assume that we know best for others, especially when they do something different based on culture, when in reality their culture could provide a whole different insight to us.  Having the humility to listen, learn, and understand in missions, our work, and with our relationship with God will deepen every aspect of this walk.  My challenge for you this week is to pray for humility and an opportunity to serve others with complete humility. 

Hello again, It has been a while since I have spent some time writing to you. but it is the three year anniversary of you going home, so I thought I would take this time to talk to you.  There has been a lot that has happened recently, so I really needed to fill you in on all the new things that have occurred in this past year.      

I got a new job, and I moved back to Cedar Falls.  I remember you and I going to UNI football games and I remember you always keeping up with the UNI basketball team, so hopefully you would be happy I have moved back to Cedar Falls, back to where I made so many memories in college.  I am working at a nonprofit now.  I did love teaching and my four years at North Iowa, but I always knew that this is where my dreams were taking me.  I think that you also knew that, so hopefully you would be happy to know I have achieved this dream. 

I am going to be teaching financial literacy lessons to all grades.  I am very excited for this new experience.  I am excited to be giving life lessons to those who are in Waterloo, to the kids and the families who really need this opportunity to gain finances and financial literacy lessons.  I think that you would have enjoyed hearing about this work.  You would probably give a lot of good insight to my lessons and my preparations.  

I also wanted to tell you that I have published a devotional book.  You knew I always loved to read books especially Christian books and devotionals.  I used to write personalized devotionals for people when I was younger.  I am pretty sure I gave a few to you and grandma.  I am so happy that one of my lifelong goals was finally achieved, and I have finally published a piece of writing.  

I spoke at my old Laurens Library, and I talked about how I have always loved to write, but I definitely did more writing after you went home.  I had a lot of words in my head that needed to be flushed out and put to paper.  I hope that you don’t mind that I put you in part of my writing story, but it is so true.  Ever since I have lost you in this world, I have grown more in my writing and my desire to write.  I also sell my devotional book at a local store in Cedar Falls where I work once a month.  That is actually a really fun experience. I know you would have loved to come and visit me selling my book and the other works that are there.  

Mom and I went to the Hawkeye game last year! It was the first time she had been there since you went home.  I knew she wouldn’t buy tickets on her own because she is pretty sad about losing you and missing you, so I decided to buy the tickets myself and give them to her as a very early Christmas present.  We went to the Heroes game or the Nebraska v. Iowa game.  Sadly, the Hawkeyes played awful in the first half, so they lost.  You would have been upset by the work the team was putting in.  However, the time my mom and I got to have was awesome.  We didn’t have a hot dog, though.  We did think of you when we passed a hot dog stand.  We also went to the Amana colonies which was a great day to spend shopping (your favorite pastime I write sarcastically). 

I still miss you a lot.  The past two Sundays I have broken out in cries.  I would say that happens every month or every other month.  I hope you wouldn’t be upset to know that.  I know you wouldn’t want me to cry so much. Time is healing, but it is not 100% fixing the problem and the hurt.  I also know the other family members have really been affected by your absence.  I hope you will think of grandma.  She misses you a lot.  I hope you can give her some peace to know you are here at least in some way.  

I have gotten to be there for a lot of friends when they have been going through some kind of grief.  I have been able to offer condolences and really be able to relate and be there for them in different ways.  One verse that sticks out to me for any pain  as well as when I am helping others who are struggling after loss is Revelation 21: 4, “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  This is a good reminder that God will be there for those who have been struggling with any pain that is in this world.  

I hope that you are making memories wherever you are.  I know that God is just as amazing as he has always been described.  

Till I talk to you again, 

Love, Courtney

I do pray also for anyone who is reading this blog post to feel uplifted.  I hope you know the person who you are missing is looking down upon you in some way/ This has also been a very good reminder for me to reach out to those I love.  This is a reminder to make sure everyone who has been in my life knows that I love them, and I care about them.  You never know when it may be someone’s last days or minutes, so I pray that you find those people to really spend a great amount of time with.  

I have been trying really hard to be better at listening to Christian podcasts.  I had never been very good about being diligent in listening to God’s Word or to wisdom and insight from other believers as opposed to listening to music that doesn’t always have the strongest Christian message.  I have started the Chrsitine Caine podcast that comes out weekly.  I am not the most diligent, but I am trying to be more aware of this as an option for insight into God’s heart.  

In these last few weeks, she discussed the importance of stopping our comparisons.  Sometimes we can see how other Christians are living and are convinced we need to live a life that is more like theirs.  We can be pretty content with our lives, but then we can look at others and suddenly we are filled with jealousy.  This can be in all areas of life.  This can be with the items we own, the house we live in, the adventures we take, and the friends we have.  

We can even be filled with jealousy amidst our Christian walk.  We can look at the lives some Christians are living or some skills they have and desire to be just like them. We can believe that they really have everything all together.  We can start to fear we are not adding up.   We can presume that the role they have been called to is so much better than our own calling.  However, we shouldn’t look at our particular role in a way as competition with others.  

Christine Caine tells us a story about a time when her ACL took her out for weeks to months at a time.  The ACL in our knees is not the body part that stands out, but it is a part of the body that is incredibly important because it helps connect the femur bone to the tibia bone while also working as a stabilizer in the knee joint. Our knees are the thing that helps us walk, run, play, bike, and stand, making hurting the ACL a major setback.  Now, I have never hurt my ACL.  I have known many people including some of my former high school students who have hurt their ACLs, and I know that it ends up a lot of pain and there are many weeks, even months of recovery for this injury. 

 I have, however, hurt my meniscus twice.  I had surgery when I was a Jr. in high school.  At the time, the doctors removed the small piece of my meniscus that had ripped and smoothed down my meniscus to go back to its original functional shape.  The second time a piece of my meniscus was ripped so deeply, but the doctors still took a chance and decided to sew the piece of my meniscus back on to the rest of it.  The doctors saved my meniscus.  The meniscus is actually a very important piece of the body, especially the knee.  It is the soft padding that protects the bones and the ligaments from grinding on each other.  A person can live without a meniscus, but there is more likely a chance that it will result in severe pain on a more regular basis.  

Sometimes, people are like meniscuses. Stay with me now, I know that sounds strange.  However, even though I have talked about the importance of the meniscus, especially to ward off pain, it is not something that is very big or seemingly valuable.  It is not the showy body part that everyone sees and admires.  No one will ever walk up to someone and tell them they have a nice meniscus.  (At least I hope not, because that would be a bit weird).  But yet it is important for every person to have a good meniscus. One verse that points out the importance of every body part, even a meniscus is Ephesians 4:4, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;” It is a good reminder that we have been called to one calling and one purpose and therefore need to work together as one body.  It is essential for me to remember how supportive I need to be of those who are in the body.  

Maybe that is you.  Maybe you are an encouragement to so many others.  Maybe you are the one that others go to for support and to reduce their pain.  Maybe your friends know that you are someone they can call and that you will come and help them out in any way that is possible.  I definitely have resonated with this a bit.  I may need to accept that I will not be the biggest body part in Christ’s body, but I can be someone that will help with the pain that may come in the body and be like a meniscus.    

There are other body parts that are very important that we don’t always think about.  For example, have you spent a lot of time thinking about your shoulders or your ankles or even your tonsils?  (I know that not everyone has tonsils, but I do believe that it can be a good blocker from toxins).  Similarly there are so many roles that are not necessarily up in lights when it comes to the Christian walk, but yet are so irreplaceable.  For example, the people who are in charge of the children’s ministry at the church.  They are the ones that are in charge of the little souls learning about Jesus.  This needs to be happening, and that is a great role to be in, if you are in that particular role.  

My challenge for you this week is to write down the strengths God has given you.  Have you got a lot of passion, are you determined, are you sensitive and a good listener?  Are you gentle or honest?  What has he given you?  Then if you really want to be silly or have some fun with this challenge, go ahead and think about which body part you would be.  I decided that I would be best suited as a meniscus with an encouraging spirit that enjoys being supportive.  What would you be? And how can you use that for God’s glory?  

This blog post is going to be a bit personal, but I wanted to give a few updates on the moving experience.  I do want this to be an encouragement for everyone who is moving in the future to remember to get involved and get connected in your new community.  It may be scary to jump right in, but I truly believe a person will become more established quicker the more involved in the community they instantly become. I also want it to be a reminder that while moving can seem like a lot of work, it is so worth it in the end.  

Moving to a new town is hard.  It isn’t just hard because of the packing boxes and the moving of the materials from one place to another.  It is hard because of paperwork and staying completely organized.  This includes changing your mail to your new address, updating your license and sometimes your plates, changing banks if you so choose, signing up for new insurances, etc.  It takes a lot of energy, and it can also be emotional.  It is a lot of the saying goodbye to the old things and the old community, cutting a bit of those ties, and starting anew in a new community.  

However, the other part of moving that is hard is finding everything so new.  When I was living in my old town, I had a job, yes, but I also had a bank account, a gym that I went to, a golf course where I had a membership, etc.  Moving to a new town means that I do have to work on finding new areas to exercise, golf, bike, run, and bank.  It is getting into a rhythm of the items that are necessary as well as the items that are for enjoyment and pleasure.  It is feeling confident in the new areas around the town.  It is the process of establishing myself in a new community besides just having it on paperwork.  I want to be plugged into a community. I want to find these new friends and new groups that I will feel welcomed into, and I want to welcome others into eventually.  

But I will also say that it is just so exciting.  I love that I have the opportunity to go to a new gym.  I love that it has so much different equipment and it has workout classes that have an awesome instructor.  That is definitely not something I had in my small town that I was living in before.  I also loved going to the new golf course.  It was fun to figure out how the layout is.  I loved my old golf course, but this one has more holes and therefore more opportunities to practice. I also reached out to some people about the opportunity for joining a community choir. I didn’t have a group like that in my old smaller community, so I am excited for the potential to get back into singing with a choir.    

I also knew that I definitely needed to find a church and a body of fellow believers to worship with.  I want to have a church that I can call home and that I can feel connected with.   I did find a church called Trinity Bible Church, and I am very excited to hear of all the new opportunities present there. I did recently go to the church’s Next Steps class where I was able to get plugged in.   I have discovered they need help with the Youth Sunday school, being plugged into a Bible Study group, and there is an opportunity to have a mentor that will meet with me one on one.  

Then there are also so many opportunities to volunteer in this community.  I have found one particular organization called House of Hope where I have gotten to go through the orientation and start some volunteering hours.  I can not wait to continue to serve the community of Waterloo and the people in it.  I am praying for more clear ways that I can be helpful and can be of service to those in that community.  

Again, I want this to be a reminder for anyone who may be leaving a community and joining a new one.  It is important to get yourself out there.  It can be easy to sit back and relax.  It can be easy to feel overwhelmed by all the newness.  However, I have found the best way to overcome that feeling of being overwhelmed is to dive deep into the community and to start to find ways to get around, serve the ones around you, and start talking to the people standing next to you.  It will still feel overwhelming at some points, but it will be so worth it in the end, if you just go right for it, right away.  

There are verses that really celebrate the new blessings that come from God.  One of those is Lamentations 3:22-23 which says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  This is a reminder that even in new places the Lord will give us new blessings and will be faithful.  Thank you all for reading about my update and I hope you will all be encouraged in any scary steps you may have to take in the future.  

I have been really diving into the book, “Future Grace,” by John Piper as of recently.  Through this book, I have been reminded of how to have belief in future grace.  God has shown such grace and mercy all through our lives and the history of the world, so we should have complete faith in God’s goodness and the faith that he will grant us in the future.  Yet there are many times when things in life can distract us from God’s goodness such as pride, desiring control, our anxieties, etc.  

Today I was reading about covetousness.  Oh man, this is something that I personally struggle with a lot.  I have tried really hard not to covet, but it can be so easy to fall into that trap.  I tend to really covet when it comes to other people’s talents and achievements.  For just one example, I am a writer.  I love to write devotional books and I love to write for my blog.  I have slowly been building up my writing career.  It is not my main job, but I dedicate time to it every day.  However, there will be times when I will look and see other people, other women, other young members of society succeeding, relatively more than me, when it comes to their personal writing careers.  I instantly get jealous of them.  I want what they have.  I want their accolades and their views.  I want to be seen by more people. 

Then I need to remember the reason for me writing in the first place.  The reason that I want to become a writer or write books and devotionals is because I love using writing as a way to reflect on my heart and my walk with Jesus and to hopefully help others do the same.  Through writing blog posts I am able to grow closer to God.  Even through this blog post, I am able to reflect on where I stand when it comes to being jealous or covetous.  Then I am hoping others will read my words and be encouraged and maybe sometimes healthily challenged by what I have written.  My main goal is to not make a lot of money or win a lot of awards or gain fame status through my words on a page. 

This brings me to one of the best quotes that I found from this John Piper book, and that is “Covetous is desiring something so much that you lose your contentment in God.”(Future Grace, John Piper, pg.237).  Wow.  It can be easy for me to believe that when I am coveting something of someone else’s that I can covet that item and still be just as close to God. I never thought of them being impacted by each other, but they definitely are.  As the Bible has often said, we can not serve two masters.  We can not be filled with desire for things of this world, while also being filled with desire to completely follow God.  

John Piper will go on to describe all the ways that being covetous and desiring what others have will do nothing but bring us a lot of negative emotions and reactions.  One of the obvious things is that the desiring of other things in this world will never truly satisfy us.  We may believe what we are coveting will completely fill us up, and maybe it will give us a high for a while.  However, then it will quickly fall away and leave us just as unsatisfied as before. 

This coveting of others will lead to falling into other sins.  We have all met that person who will go to any length to get the items that they are desiring, even if it is very harmful to both them and the world or community around them.  They are willing to hurt others and to cause destruction.  At the beginning those who have done that probably didn’t start out with the intention to cause harm, but the jealousy convinced them to cause harm. I have done that with my running and exercising.  I have often been jealous of others who are very strong and very in shape, so I sometimes feel the need to work out extra hard and long so I can be even more fit and strong.  This desire for even more can sometimes lead to a workout related obsession.  

Luke 12:15 is a very good example of remembering to not covet.  It says, “Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” The world consists of possessions and accolades, but one’s life should not consist of these possessions and greed.  It is very easy to be distracted by the shiny items that are in other people’s lives, but it is important that we are constantly on guard from the temptation of coveting.

It is important to remember that we shouldn’t be jealous of others.  My challenge for you this week is to spend time reflecting on what you tend to become jealous of when it comes to others.  What is the item that seems to draw you away from God or draw you closer to the items of this world?  It is important to be able to reflect on the items that take us away from God.  It is important to name the sin before we attempt to conquer it.  Then my next challenge for you is to think of one person whom you can talk that through with.  Again, being able to name the sin that you struggle with and being able to talk that through with someone will help you avoid falling into the trap of those jealousies more in the future.