My mind races a lot.  I can think about many different things at one time.  I know it is because I keep myself busy, and I like to keep busy.  However, I struggle to be distracted with my thoughts, even while I am spending time in my Bible Study and while at church.  This is the time when I am supposed to be the most focused, and yet I can find myself so distracted. I believe Satan is good about using any tactic that he can think imaginable to distract us from the Lord.  This could be the text we get during the service or the anxious list of items we know we need to accomplish before the night is over.  I have plenty of hours to think of it all when the service ends, but Satan is placing the anxiety in my heart at the exact moment when I am supposed to be spending time with God.  

This all brings me to one of my favorite stories and reminders of the Bible which is the time Jesus came to Mary and Martha’s house for supper.  Jesus was going to spend time with Mary and Martha because he loved them so much.  He wanted their time and their company.  Similarly to the company he wants from all of us.  However, Martha was BUSY.  She was making all the good food for Jesus to enjoy.  She was making sure the house was clean and presentable.  It is one thing to have regular human company come over to a messy house, but quite another to have the Lord, the God of the Universe and the King of the New Kingdom come over to your house when it is a disaster.  She had a lot to do.  I could sympathize with Martha.  I always try to keep myself busy and try to keep everything in order.  I love a long list, and I love getting to check any items off! 

Martha needed help, at least according to her.  She did not get that help from her sister though.  Mary was too busy spending time with Jesus.  Martha became frustrated with her sister, asking how she could sit while there was such a list to be accomplished.  How could she let her sister do all the work?!  The Lord took this time to remind her, though, that Mary is doing the right thing because she is spending time with God.  This is said in Luke 10:41-42, “But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”  The Lord wanted to remind her that even though it was wonderful for her to care for the small things in the house, and to want to make him feel welcomed, he would rather she choose to be focused on him.  

There are a few steps I am taking to try to focus more during church.  I hope some of the steps I have taken would also be incredibly helpful to anyone else who struggles to focus when spending time with the Lord.  I have been working really hard at praying to avoid being distracted. I pray when I am doing my devotional so I can focus on the words that are in my Bible.  I need to make sure I do a better job at not getting distracted when I am in church.  Every time I go to church, I should make sure I pray to be completely focused on what the preacher is saying and how I can take the truth from the Bible in the sermon and apply it to my own life.  I have also done a better job at focusing on the sermon once I have started diving into note taking.  I was so happy a few years ago when I was challenged to take notes while listening to sermons.  Being able to find key points of the sermon and my action steps for the following week has helped grow me in learning from the sermon.  When I am focused on getting notes, it can be harder to fall into distraction.  

Satan is a very tricky and conniving being.  He wants to take away our comfort while we are sitting in the house of the Lord.  He wants us to be distracted by the anxieties and the evils of the world as opposed to growing closer to the God who is always present and always showing us love.  I would like to end this blog post with a prayer as one I hope to use to grow away from present distractions.

Dear Lord, 

Thank you for your love and your desire to spend time with us.  We are your creation, and you want to love us even when we easily get distracted and fall away.  I pray you will help me to not become distracted when I am spending time in your house.  I pray when I am spending time with you, I am less and less filled with anxiety and the overwhelming lists of things that need be done.  Please help me spend my time with you with my whole heart and presence.  This includes my complete presence, not just my physical presence.  I pray I can be more like Mary in the moments where I want to be more like Martha. 

I was hurt and I cried a lot.  People were hanging out without me.  They were having fun, and I wasn’t around.  They didn’t invite me.  I was nothing to them.  After all I have done for them! After all the presents I have bought for them! All the encouraging words! My tears went from tears of sadness to tears of anger.  My heart was quickly turning to stone, and then… God rescued me from myself.  If I stayed there in anger, I would have been filled with bitterness.  I would have been filled with hatred for so many people.  The ones that had hurt me and the ones who haven’t hurt me yet.  It was a yucky few hours. However, this is a good realization that many times we as people can be filled with bitterness.  In fact, I would say that every single person knows at least one person who is filled with complete bitterness.  They are really hard to be around, and they can make life situations really hard for others. 

The Bible has a lot to say about bitterness. In fact, the word bitter is mentioned at least 88 times in the Bible.  One of those times it is mentioned is from Ephesians 4:31, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” This verse is so direct.  There is not messing around with this verse and bitterness itself.  God wants us to get rid of all bitterness.  He doesn’t want us to be filled with any bitterness or anger.   God has taught us how to let go of bitterness through his continued love and forgiveness of our sins.  God wants us to be like him.  If he is willing to forgive us, then we need to be willing to forgive our enemies.  However, God also wants us to be willing to forgive because he knows being filled with bitterness will only hurt us.  It will not impact others as much as it will impact us.  It will impact our thoughts and inflict our heart.  We will not be filled with joy and peace, as he had designed for us.

I believe there are many ways to avoid bitterness taking root in our hearts.  The first is to feel your feelings, but in the healthiest way possible.  I wasn’t invited by people I loved people I have helped in the past, supported, and been there for.  Why didn’t they want me there?  I cried.  I cried to other people.  I talked it out, both by myself, and with others.  I was a bit angry.  I even said some swear words.  (I am not the proudest of that.)  However, in the end, I got out my emotions.  I didn’t stuff those emotions down.  I didn’t try to pretend they weren’t there.  I didn’t act as though everything was ok.  

Then I was tired.  Have you ever been so tired from your own emotions?  Have you ever cried so much that you have developed a headache.   I not only was tired, like I wanted to go to bed, but I also was then tired of being angry.  Then I did some actual thinking.  I thought about other’s perspectives.  I tried to understand their rationale and their thinking process.  This is where I really had to decide if I was going to put the emotions into my heart and let it harden my heart or let it soften my heart.  I had to become more aware of the people around me.  I had to take myself out of the center and become willing and open to forgive people I do really love. 

I then spent some time praying. If I was going to be willing to allow forgiveness to enter my heart, then I needed God’s help.   Here is what I would highly recommend.  I know we can believe God is too big and too perfect in order to care about our small little problems.  I believe we can think about God being a big God, yes, but also he cares about everything that is happening in his world.  He is caring about the little things, and he is caring about the big things.  He cares about and loves his people, so he cares about any of your concerns.  

I lastly told another believer what I learned from this experience.  Because I avoided allowing bitterness to enter my heart and my life, it was still a very big learning experience.   I needed to spend time talking to other believers to get advice and thoughts as to how to best continue in this new found joy, peace, and forgiveness.  One of those believers was my mom.  I had already talked to my mom when I was in the midst of crying, but then I talked to her again about how much I wanted to not be bitter.  Godly brothers and sisters in Christ were meant to help us in any stage of life.  Please find a person who is willing to listen to you in the midst of becoming bitter.  This is not an easy path to resist, and it is much harder on your own.  

If there is any bitterness you personally feel is growing in your heart, I pray you will find peace instead.  I do want to challenge you to think about the items that may cause you bitterness.  What are the things that when you think about, put you in a bad head space?  Who is a person that always brings up anger and resentment in your heart?  Then I do want you to spend time in prayer over those very items.  Bitterness is such a soul crushing experience.  I don’t want your heart to be weighed down by thoughts of bitterness.  I pray God will fill you with his forgiveness that can then be pushed out to the broken world amidst us. 

I am 27 years old and I have never dated anyone. I have always considered myself confident in my singless, but I am struggling a bit more with my singleness as of late.   I am starting to doubt God really has the best plan for me and sometimes this can lead me to have anxiety.  I am still a big believer God can use you in your singleness and singleness is a blessing, but it has overall been harder for me to live out this blessing mentally.  I know I want someone to love me and someone to tell me all the words I want to hear.  I want to hear that I am beautiful, smart, talented, and worth it.  I need to remember that no matter how much it would be nice to have a human man in my life to tell me those things, it would not be near as great as when the Lord, my Heavenly Father tells me those things.  I may not always listen to him, but he is saying these things to me all the time, and he is telling you words of encouragement as well.  They are all over in His word.  

The Lord tells me I am beautiful.  One of my favorite verses comes from Psalm 139: 13-14.  This says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.”  God took the time to put together how we look.  He did not just throw pieces together and this is how we ended up.  He purposely put us together and wanted us to be unique and beautiful in every way.  God is a Creator.  He takes care of His creations, which means he took care of me and took care of you, too.   

The Lord tells me I am smart.  Proverbs 2:6 says, “For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.” God continually allows us to be challenged.  This isn’t because he hates us or doesn’t love us, but he knows we are capable. We are capable in part because of the mind he has given us.  He again has blessed us with the Holy Spirit who helps us discern and problem solves on a regular basis.  This Holy Spirit has also given us power and creativity.  The Lord has blessed us to be wise and smart, and this is especially true when we rely on Him.  We may make mistakes, but this doesn’t mean we can’t learn from these mistakes and grow wiser and wiser.  He has given us this capability.  

The Lord tells me I am talented.  There are many times in the Bible when God reminds us to use our gifts to please him.  One of those is Ephesians 2:10 which says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ, Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” These gifts he is referring to are our talents and interests, and our spiritual blessing gifts.  God has given us a Holy Spirit that is powerful and has the wonderful fruits of the spirit such as kindness, patience, self-control, gentleness, etc.  These are talents.  They are not easy to share with the world, especially amidst the sin and the lies that are given by Satan.  However, they are incredibly valuable and need to be shared with the world.  These gifts make each one of us, as God’s children, talented.  

The Lord tells me I am worth it.  I want someone to make me feel like I am worth taking the time to get to know, worth spending time with, worth giving up things for, etc.  I quickly can forget how often God shows me I am worth it. There will be no one who would be able to fight for me or show me I am worth it more than Christ when he died on the cross for our sins.  This is said perfectly in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We are not perfect.  We are actually quite filled with sin, but God chose to save us and rescue us despite all of our sins.  Through this action and his many other blessings, He is constantly reminding us we are worth it.  

I need to remember that even if I were to get married, I would still be marrying a human man.  They have sins, shortcomings, and issues of their own that we will need to work through, as I do.  Regardless of your marital status, we as people need to rely on the Lord.  This does not change when we get married or when we have kids.  The Lord’s love and his words stay the same.  I hope this week, regardless of your position in life, God created you for a special purpose and reason, and he has put you in this particular situation for a reason.   There is a God who wants to encourage you and help you, regardless of where you are in your life. 

I recently finished a book that I would highly recommend called, “The Girls in the Wild Fig Tree,” by Nice Leng’ete.  It was amazing.  It was a true story about a young girl from Kenya, from the Maasai tribe that runs away from a tradition that maybe isn’t practical or healthy.  She talks highly of her people but also acknowledges that there are some traditions we can have in different societies that are not good for the people the tradition is serving.  She ran away from this particular tradition, (female circumcision) and even when she was shunned after, she still went back to her community in order to talk to them about why this particular tradition is wrong. It took some time, but she was able to get the elders to listen. 

Nice loved her father.  He died at a young age, before she was in the midst of changing tradition her community followed, but she remembers the messages and lessons he taught her before he died.  Her father taught her to listen more and talk less, especially when discussing items with people who disagree or think differently than you.  We are not going to change their opinion by coming in and telling them they are exhibiting incorrect behavior or that their opinions/traditions/thoughts are flawed.  We need to be willing to listen to their point of view and then be able to ask questions in order to fully understand them better.  This will get the people to trust us enough to listen, when offering advice or thoughts of our own.  

It is important for me to remember that God is a listener, and therefore, he teaches us how to be a listener as well.  Jeremiah 29:12 reminds us, “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”  God says that we can go to Him, and he will not only hear us, but he listens and cares about the words we bring up to him.  He is an all-powerful, all-knowing God, yet he spends the time listening to the little conversations and the little thoughts of the people here on the earth.  

I am a talker.  My mom and dad will often tell me they are impressed by my ability to talk, non-stop for hours.  This then is a good reminder for me, when I am with others, I need to make sure I am giving them the chance to talk and speak their thoughts.  I need to give them a chance to give their perspective and their opinions, before I give my own.  Just as God has shown us his example of listening, we are also commanded in the Bible to listen to those around us.  James 1:19 says, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” While I do love to talk, I need to remember that listening is incredibly important for developing relationships with others and with God, himself.  

The other piece of listening Nice will bring up has more to do with cross-nation/international conversations, specifically amongst those in the west versus the east. Nice will describe throughout the book about working with a company called Amref that is an African sponsored company employing Africans to help other Africans.  It is highly important to them that their own people are willing to go out and make lives better for others in their country.  Nice brings up that westerners will often try to come over, help for a week or two, and then they will leave because their short term trip is over.  She is not trying to shame those people, and neither am I in this blog post, however, I do believe it is important to think about these short term mission trips from the perspectives of a group of people who are the recipients of mission trips.  

I have gone on mission trips before.  I went to Hungary and taught at an English camp when I was in my freshman year of college.  It is very important for those of us who live in the west to be aware that it is not our job to go to another country, stay for two weeks, and then fix all their problems to be like they are running in the United States.  Make everything in that country run like the states or the west does. Sometimes we can think that we have all the answers. We don’t need to learn.  We don’t need to listen.  We don’t need to think of a new way to live or to think. This is a good reminder that the countries we visit shouldn’t be created like the countries in the west.   They are not us.  They are their own country, and we need to respect that they have different solutions and will have different cultures or traditions.  

This is not just an important reminder for us when we are out on mission trips, but in any other way we are seeking to share Jesus, or we are seeking to help someone.  We don’t have to put ourselves on a pedestal and act as though we are the saviors in the situation.  We are simply someone there from God who is helping someone else.  One of the best ways to continuously be humble in helping others is through listening.  Spending time listening to others around, gives us new perspectives and shows us different ways to love. And all of this is Praise be to God.   

These past few weeks have given me a new perspective on community.  This last week I was on the high school rewards trip with the Bridge of Storm Lake’s high school volunteers.  This was a lot of time together as a group and as a small community.  Then this weekend I had the Bison days which is a day of celebration for my small town of Buffalo Center.  I ran in the 10k race, helped face paint for the kids in the park, and went to the French toast breakfast fundraiser for the ambulance committee.  Overall, these little town celebrations show the town’s desire to celebrate the people that live there.  There is a calling to be together and spend the weekend.  Even when our lives are busy, we need to make time to communicate and have a lot of fun with those that are around us.    

I am currently reading a book called “This Outside Life,” by Laurie Kehler.  It has been a wonderful book about finding joy when looking at and interacting with nature.  One chapter I read recently was titled, “Campfire,” and this had a complete focus on community and the importance of it in our walk of life.  Laurie conducted research on the importance of community for her book chapter.  She writes, “Community is the invisible vitality vitamin that researchers are just now discovering.  In many studies on why certain people live so long and so well, the power of community has emerged as just as valuable as diet and exercise.”  The research has also found that one surrounded with community has a greater potential to overcome anxiety, depression, and addictions.  

There are many who are suffering from anxiety and depression because of the time spent apart from society for months amidst the years of 2020 and 2021.  There is also more and more behaviors that are becoming harder and harder to handle for those who are in schools or involved in nonprofit/social work.  There are more and more people who want to quit their jobs because of the amount of stress.  There are businesses that are shutting down because of lack of employment or lack of customers.  We are struggling.  We are hurting.  We are trying to fix these issues in any way that we can than through actually spending time together.  We spend time on our phones trying to block out the pain, but in reality isolating oneself only makes matters worse.    

The Lord created the importance of community and even showcases this in the Bible.   One example is from 1 Corinthians 1:10, “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”  It would be incredibly difficult to not have any argument amongst one another.  We all have different opinions and thoughts that make harmony incredibly difficult.  However with the Lord’s help, it can be easier to focus our energy on loving one another instead of creating divisions amongst ourselves.  

Some way I have tried to become more involved in the community is finding ways to volunteer.  There are always ways to volunteer in communities.  This can be big communities or small communities.  I, of course, started out with volunteering at school events.  Since I am a teacher, I knew the best way to get to know the kids and their parents, as well as other coworkers was through helping out at the sporting events.  They have some at least once a week, so there are lots of opportunities.  

Another big way to become more involved in one’s  community is to spend time outside when it isn’t terribly cold or unbearable outside.  (This is, at least the issue of where I live during a lot of the months of the year).  It is amazing how many people you have the opportunity to interact with, when you are outside.  While on walks, I will often run across others I can have conversations with.  I also will often find people to talk to while golfing.  While running or biking, I always have someone I can wave and/or smile at.  You will not find the community while sitting inside your house.  The best way to see others is to go amongst the area we all share-the outdoors.  

Lastly, I believe it is important to pray over your community.  Just like in everything, the main way that you are going to really make an impact on your community is through Jesus Christ.  Spending time lifting up the problems of your community is the best way to fix them.  If there is something that God wants you to do throughout your community, he will make it known to you through the Holy Spirit after time spent in prayer. Remember to thank God and show gratitude for the community He has given you.  He put those people in your life for a reason.  It is always important to show gratitude for them.    

My challenge for you this week is two things.  The first is to spend time in prayer over your community.  What are the issues in your community that need to be prayed over?  What are the blessings or the praises that you also want to lift up to the Lord?  Then I would like to challenge you to think about ways you can be involved in your community.  What is a way that you can volunteer?  What are some ways that you can help out or interact with others in your community? This can even be spending time talking to your neighbors.   It does not have to be big, but what is one thing this week that you can do that you didn’t do last week when it comes to interacting with your community, and then go do it. 

This past week was interesting for me, and I have felt a bit under fire.  I don’t necessarily have anyone say anything to me about my beliefs.  I have never had anyone question why I am a Christian to my face, but I see a lot on social media.  I have some friends on Facebook post that they are done or want to be done with Christians or evangelical Christians, or that they don’t believe they should share their ideas and thoughts.  I know it is a lot easier for people to put ideas and thoughts out there on social media rather than say it to someone’s face, but I know it is only a matter of time before I start to receive questions about the beliefs that I have and why I have them.  

I need to be able to answer the question, why am I a Christian.  This should not be that I was brought up in the church, so I stayed.  Yes, my mom and grandma brought me to church every week, but I don’t think that can constitute why I am a Christian currently.  In the last few years, I have made going to church, being a part of Bible Studies, and spending time with the Lord a regular part of my life because it is something that I want in my life.  However, if someone asked me today randomly on the street as per why I am a Christian, would I have an answer for them?  Would I be able to represent the reason well?  Would I be able to plant a seed by my answers into the hearts of those who are listening to my response? I want to be ready, so I am taking the time to write down my responses here. 

I am a Christian because I believe in the morality of Christian living.  It can be hard.  I don’t always like being the friend in my friend group who doesn’t get drunk or who doesn’t party it up completely, but I also know that it is enjoyable to be the in the right state of mind without any other influences.  It is hard to have that self-control, but I also am happy that I am in control of my body and mind as often as I am able.  I also love the message of being a loving, kind soul.  The thought of being filled with grace, mercy, patience, peacefulness, and love is a wonderful goal that I can strive for with the help of the Holy Spirit through Christ.  It is wonderful to be paired with these words.  It is wonderful to help those who are in need.  I know it makes others feel good when I help or care about them, but it really does make me feel better as well.  

I am a Christian because I know that God loves us so much that he became our Savior when we can’t save ourselves.  I was at church this last week when my Pastor Eric was commenting about a shirt he saw at a recent festival.  This shirt said in part, “working hard to make it to heaven.”  My pastor commented on just how much that doesn’t work.  He said we don’t get to take any of the credit for our own salvation.  We are given our own salvation through God himself, and this belongs to himself completely and his glory.  He is the one who is freely giving us happiness in heaven for the rest of our existence, even when we don’t deserve it.  If I were not a Christian, I would be working hard with the belief that this would get me to heaven, when it is not even close to the truth.  

I am a Christian because I believe there is more to this world than the one that we are currently living in.  I know that God has planned a place for all of us believers to be with him for eternity in heaven.  This is even said in John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?”  The Lord loves us enough that he WANTS us to be with him for the rest of eternity.  While the world and the days may seem long, they will not even compare to how long eternity will be. 

My challenge for you this following week is to think about the reasons that you are a Christian.  What is it about being a Christian that has brought you to the place that you are?  Are you able to easily answer why you are a Christian if someone asks?  It can be hard and take a lot of courage to respond to the question of why we are a Christian in a world or society where Christians are not appreciated, but having these thoughts ready can help us amidst the scary moment.  

It is also incredibly important to be able to voice these thoughts and our convictions with harmony and with grace.  We do not want to yell or swear at the ones who have asked us why we are a Christian.  It is highly important that we represent the Lord well.  If someone does not agree, do not allow them to disagree with how you delivered the message.  Maybe in the moment, this will be incredibly hard, but you may have just opened their minds to new perspectives that may eventually make them become Christians as well. 

During the summer, my role is summer coordinator for the Bridge of Storm Lake.  I am actually in charge of college students who come to work at the nonprofit in the summer.  I help lead them in their roles and help them become leaders every week.  I want to see them grow to become great workers and leaders when they enter into their career-based jobs. Sometimes, I am also blessed with the chance to teach them about Christ.  A couple times a week, I will do a Bible study with the elementary/middle school students who come to programming. Even though this is technically for the young kids there,  I hope that my leaders are also listening, so they are given the chance to grow or learn about Christ.  

Recently though I was talking to one of my summer team members, and they were very concerned that on our packing list for the upcoming high school trip there was a spot for a Bible.  They told me they had never read or owned a Bible before.  I was surprised to hear this, but I had always grown up with one.  I have owned a Bible for as long as I can remember.  My mom or my grandma always made sure I had one.  I actually probably owned quite a few.  I didn’t realize how blessed I was to always have the Lord’s word in my grasp.  

Originally, I told her that she could borrow one of my Bibles.  I have quite-a-few Bibles like I mentioned.  However, the Lord was working in my heart that day.  He kept telling me that I should go and get her a Bible of her very own, one that is beautiful and fun, but still yielding the power of God for her to keep.  One that hopefully she will read and learn from.  One that she can take notes in.  I went to Hobby Lobby, and I found the perfect and cutest Bible for her.  It was teal with butterflies all on the side.  There are even places to take notes and coloring pages for important verses. I was so excited to give it to her.  The good news then was that she absolutely loved it, and she was excited to tell others that now she owned a Bible. 

This made me realize how precious God’s word is.  As James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”  The Lord was the one who inspired the words in the Bible, so it completely comes from above and from the Lord.  This is then a good gift, and I would argue the absolute best gift.  The Bible is the only true insight into what our eternity will look like.  We have beauty on this earth, but that beauty will not compare to the beauty of the heavens.  

Now, I need to pray over this summer team member that this Bible will be a good blessing and a good gift in her life.   The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to put down a seed, but now I need to pray for opportunities to grow that seed.  This can either be done through me, or it can be done through another person that can walk into her life. I know I am not the one who can ultimately save her, only God can. However, I can continue to pray this Bible will be much more than a worldly gift. When I was actually on the high school trip, I showed her a bit more about how the Bible works and where you can find the chapters.  I showed her how chapters and verses work, and I explained the chapters that may be better to start with.  

I am not going to necessarily give you a challenge for the week, but I am going to be giving you a challenge for as long as you need it.  I want you to think about a person who you believe needs to have a Bible.  This could be someone you know who has never had or read a Bible.  This could be someone who is just starting their Christian walk. If you can’t currently think of someone, maybe pray over a situation where this moment could arise. I read a book where the author had many opportunities to give away her Bible to someone she talked to on an airplane. She remembers feeling so filled and happy that she had this opportunity.  I remember reading and not being able to think of someone who I could give a Bible. I prayed, just briefly, that a moment would emerge.  Now that moment has come, and I am praying that I can have more of these opportunities in the future.  

I know many people have cell phones that include easy and accessible Bible apps. However, there is something extraordinary about holding God’s Word in your hands. There is great power from his Word. With your printed Bible, you now have the chance to write notes, and showcase to the world your relationship with God. This is a good reminder for you to love your Bible and to share that love with the world in any way you can.

Something fun about children is that they can dream, and they can dream BIG. Their ideas and thoughts may seem silly, and they may seem crazy to us adults at times. I know that I was this way as a young kid. I was going to be the most famous pop star in the world if you would have asked me about my future aspirations as a 5-year-old. However, as I got older, I didn’t believe that dream as much. I even stopped doing auditions as I got older for different singing opportunities because I didn’t want to go through the heartbreak if I didn’t get the part or the solo.

I also sometimes struggle to dream big about my faith and where my faith in the Lord can take me. “I can’t tell that person about the Lord. They will never listen to me, and then they may even hate me.” or “I can’t speak at church because I have nothing important to say.” Lastly, a big one for me, “I can’t write anything of value. No one will want to read what I have to say.” Do any of these sound familiar to you? Do you have doubts or disbelief in your ability to share God’s word? Sadly, these are thoughts that sneak into my head way too often. I feel overwhelmed by everything I can’t do, so I quickly forget what I can do, or what God can help me achieve through himself.

Recently, I came across the verse 1 Corinthians 2:9, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”  We can be so small-minded as adults.  This is why the Lord tells his disciples to think more like children.  We need to be willing to believe that God can do amazing things, even when using us, his followers.  He has used just ordinary people in the past before in the Bible as well as using everyday people now.  He uses their talents and their desires to do amazing things, even when they themselves would have never seen it as possible.

One example of God using an ordinary human to do amazing things is, of course, the story of David.  Granted, you may say, “He was a King.  He wasn’t an ordinary human.”  This is true.  He was a king, but of course, before that, he was a shepherd boy.  Let me rephrase, he was a small and young shepherd boy.  He was so young and so small that he was not invited to be a part of the military, only his older brothers were. David was simply bringing his brothers their lunches.  When he was done bringing the lunch, that is when he noticed that there was a huge giant that all the other soldiers were afraid of.  Then after talking to the king, David was the one who would go up against that giant, Goliath, and would take him down with a simple stone and slingshot.  

An example in our more modern world that is especially important to me would be Jay and Anne, the founders of the nonprofit, the Bridge of Storm Lake.  I love this organization, and I often talk about how much I love it throughout my blog posts.  Jay and Anne opened up their porch to the neighborhood kids because they saw that these kids needed love and Jesus.  Through a few years and other people helping, the nonprofit, the Bridge of Storm Lake was born and now we have a summer team every year for college students to learn how to be leaders and are serving anywhere between 50-70 kids on a regular basis.  We are reaching them in their neighborhoods, seeing what they need, and showing them love.  God used this small town and a heart for helping children and created a great nonprofit for the town of Storm Lake.  

My challenge for you this week is to write a page or two about your dreams.  I know some of you don’t like journaling or writing.  But I want you to get your dreams out there.  I want you to think about the dreams you have stored in your heart that you haven’t put out into the world before.   The dreams that you have, that you don’t always believe could actually happen.  What has God laid on your heart that may seem impossible right now? Then I suggest you pray about these dreams.  You just may never know what the Lord has planned for you next.  

I have shared some of my dreams throughout my blog posts in the past. One of my biggest dreams is to publish a book or multiple books. I want to be a writer, and I want to continue writing my blogs for many people to read on a regular basis. I want my words to inspire other believers as so many other writers have inspired me. Another dream of mine is to work for a nonprofit someday. I am really passionate about working in anti-trafficking organizations. I love working for those kinds of organizations and helping/donating in any way that I can. It is sometimes hard for me to really see that all in my future, but I will pray that the Lord will use me in the best way. Maybe my dreams just may come true. Maybe yours will too. Maybe we will receive something even better than we could have ever imagined possible.

I have mentioned before that my mom is a better cleaner than me. She is really good at seeing every single speck of dirt that is in a house and can clean it up really well.  I try to clean as well as her, but I just can’t seem to get there, especially in my house.  This is why I ask her to help me clean my apartment once a year.  I need another set of eyes when it comes to cleaning my house.  When I want to write a really good paper,  I often will ask my friend Kenzie to look over these written works.  She is an English teacher, and she is incredibly better at writing and putting together words than I am.  I need her second set of eyes to help me in my papers and writings.  

This is because I have realized that in many things, we need another set of eyes. We can get so caught up in our own world, that we can’t see all of the sins or the problems that are right in front of us.  We may not understand how our emotions are impacting our actions because we are too blinded by the things that are happening in our lives.  For example, when I had my first knee surgery, I was pretty miserable.  I hated being laid up for so long.  However, I had no idea that I was acting significantly different from how I acted in the past.  It wasn’t till a few people at my church asked my mom if I was doing alright that I realized I was not smiling or as joyful as I had been previously.  I needed to spend more time with the Lord to help get back to the joy I possessed before.  This is why we need another set of eyes on anything we do, even and most importantly, our walk with God.   

There is a surplus amount of Bible verses that focus on the importance of fellowship.  A verse that I have been working on memorizing shows a lot of the humility we need to have in order to continue to grow in fellowship with other believers.  1 Peter 5:5-6 says, “In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourself to your elders.  All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”  I know that the word used here is elder, but I also believe that in this context, this can mean anyone who is older in Christ and can help us all grow closer to him.  This doesn’t necessarily have to be an elder in the church or someone who is significantly older in age.    

There are so many reasons for this importance in fellowship.  First, we as people can easily get distracted by life.  I can get so focused on my day-to-day job, exercise, books I am reading, and family that I may forget to do my Bible study or really dive deep into what the Lord is saying. I can even get distracted by my schedule while I am sitting at church.  When we have fellowship with other believers and have someone to sit down with us, we are forced to focus on God and his work in our lives.  Maybe, we may not even want to work on our Bible Study, but then after spending some time, we realize the importance of this time and how good it is for our souls.  

Second, we do actually have a job to help grow our fellow brothers and sisters.  It is very important to sharpen our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We can help be the eyes for others. Our experiences may show our brothers and sisters certain ways to live with peace, joy, patience, and love.  As the verse mentions, we are in charge of lifting each other up, so it is essential that we spend time encouraging one another in life and faith.   

Third, we need to feel refreshed.  Just as it is our job to help grow our brothers and sisters, it is also very important to become refreshed from our other fellow brothers and sisters as well.  Spending time in the Lord is refreshing.  It can be incredibly refreshing to spend time with the Lord on our own, but it is important to spend time with others, so they can help us grow in the ways that we need to grow.  I know that when I have had opportunities to tell others about what is going on in my life and how the Lord is working in my life, I do wind up feeling a lot better and a lot more refreshed.  

Fourth, when we have trials and tribulations, it is important to have others that we can lean on.  During rough times, it can be very easy to not see the world or the Lord as clearly as we did previously.  It can be easy to focus on the bad and the ugly as opposed to the wonderful and beautiful.  However, meeting with someone else may give you an insight into the good works that God may be doing in the situation that you are currently in.  

Fifth, we can learn so much more from the Bible.  Again, having another set of eyes, there is also another brain.  You know what they say, two minds are better than one.  We can both read the same passage and get different thoughts, ideas, and takeaways for how to live one’s life. My challenge for you this week is to do a Bible Study with someone else this week.  Have a Bible discussion and dive deep into the scriptures.  You may be amazed to find what the other person was thinking.  They may open your eyes to completely different perspectives or thoughts. 

I have anxiety and while I get anxiety attacks less and less, I still seem to struggle a bit with anxiety attacks every now and then.  I get really anxious when I can’t find my materials. This can be when I can’t find my phone, my car keys, my house keys, or my wallet.  It is incredibly stressful, and it is hard for me to not freak out over it.  Recently, I lost my wallet, and I was STRESSED OUT.  I was so upset, and I looked everywhere.  Eventually, I did find my wallet in the pocket of the pants I wore the day before.  I was so grateful and while on reflection, this had me thinking about the Lord when his children are lost.  

I wonder how the Lord feels when he can’t seem to find his children or when his children are lost from knowing him. Does He stress a bit over them as lost sheep as I stressed over my lost wallet? We do know that he has extreme joy when the lost are found. We can read that often in the parables that Jesus spoke to his disciples. There was the story of the lost coin and then the story of the lost sheep, to finally end with the story of the Lost or the Prodigal son. He told them that the women and the men who find their missing materials throw parties when the lost has been found. He described that this would be a similar experience for his Father in heaven. His Father in heaven celebrates with dancing and singing, filled with ultimate joy when every one of his children chooses to come back to knowing him.

The verse that is used to describe the Lord’s joy can be found in  Luke 15:6-7 gives this rejoice.“Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”  Do I spend the time really rejoicing over those who are lost?  Granted, I am happy when I hear about others becoming Christians, but I know that it is not my main piece of joy.  I want to start being more joyful when I hear about those who have been found.  

When I did lose my wallet, I was very happy with how many of my friends were willing to help me in my search. I stopped at a candy store which was the last place I had gone to, and they were very willing to call other employees to see if it had been left there.  My roommate helped me look throughout our trailer, my other friend looked throughout our place of work, and my boss even checked her car which I had been in earlier.  I was so very grateful for my friends and loved ones who helped me find my lost wallet.  They also were very happy for me when I found it because they knew I was filled with immense relief.  

This also made me realize my role as a Jesus-follower, that I need to help Jesus find his loss.  I am expected to be just as helpful and just as courageous in finding the lost sheep.  I am the one who is supposed to help the loss to become found.   When we were lost, we were headed towards destruction and heartache, but God has given us all the chance to become found and continue with him forever in paradise. John 10:10 gives this message perfectly.  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  Jesus has given an opportunity for others to become Christians and to become a child of God.  The enemy or Satan creates heartache and destruction.  When we spend time looking for lost people and lost sheep, we are saving them from this hurt and destruction.  

My challenge for myself this week is to think of one person who I feel God is calling on my heart to spread God’s word. I would also like to challenge you this week in the same thing. I would highly recommend that you spend time praying over this person. In the end, we are the ones who plant the seed, and then God is the one who can actually call them home. Then think about ways that you can engage them in conversation. I would highly recommend getting to know them on a personal level before you engage them in conversation regarding the Lord, make sure they know that you care about them on a personal, deep level. Then engage their heart and help them see God as their eternal Savior.

I want to make it clear that anytime you are willing to talk about God and your relationship with Him, you are spreading His message.  If the person chooses to not accept Jesus as their Savior that particular time, that does not mean you have failed.  You have maybe opened a door for a later conversation or you have opened the door for another situation to come in that will bring this person home.  We are God’s helpers and finders of those in need.  As long as we continue to do that through our testimony, love, and prayers, then we will be doing God’s work.