One of my favorite stores in the entire world is a store called, “World’s Window” in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  This is a fair trade store where everything is made from around the world, ethically and sustainably.  They are now selling the starfish project jewelry which is a brand that raises awareness and funds for those who have been human-trafficked, and many of the pieces have been made by those very survivors. I had the opportunity to go shopping there recently, and I got a necklace that has the words, “walk humbly, love mercy, act justly.”  Many of you will recognize these small groupings of words.  They are from the verse, Micah 6:8, and this is also one of my favorite verses. 

The whole verse goes like this, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  I love this verse because I think that it provides a blueprint for how we should live our lives.  I am going to break down these small groupings of words, but I am going to switch up the order for a very important reason, and that reason is that in order to do anything, we must first be walking with the Lord.  

I am first going to talk about the words, walk humbly.  As we see in the verse, this says, walk humbly with your God.  The only way that we are going to be able to do anything, including bearing a lot of fruit is through being humble and walking with God.  We can’t do anything on our own that is 100% pleasing to the Lord.  We need to have his spirit with us, every step of the way.  I have found the best way that I can walk humbly is through constant prayer and reflection.  I pray that God’s spirit will be the one to guide me.  I also then reflect on whether I am doing actions as a way to feel better about myself or as a way to grow closer to the Lord.  

The second one is to love mercy.  The general definition of mercy is, “to not receive what you deserve.”  In our Christian walk, we deserve death because of our sin.  We were not meant to have a relationship with the Lord.  We should not be given the chance to be with the Lord after we die in any way shape or form. However, the Lord paid our punishment when he died on the cross that then opened the door for the grace of eternity in heaven. That is mercy.  We should be in love at the mercy that God has provided for us, but we should also love mercy for other people.  Yes, we can still believe that there is justice.  I am not saying that we need to believe that no one deserves any punishment ever.  However, we can believe in forgiveness and the power that it can bring.  

The third one then is my absolute favorite, and it is probably the reason why I love this verse so much as well as love this necklace I purchased. This is to act justly.  To act justly is to try your best to be completely fair.  There are some social systems that need to be eradicated and fixed in our world today.  There are some issues that need to be discussed.  If any of us watch the news, then we can see this very clearly.  Acting justly means being willing to see the problems in the world and be willing to fix them.  Acting justly means standing up for our faith.  Acting justly means treating everyone in the world, who are all creations of the Lord, with complete respect and love.  

There are times that I just want to skip right to acting justly.  I hear about a good cause and I want to be a part of it.  I want to fundraise, I want to raise awareness, and I want to make it a part of my life. I will use the example of the fundraiser that I do every year called, “Dressember.”  I love doing Dressember.  I love wearing dresses all throughout the month of December and raising awareness and funds to end human trafficking.  However, there are times when I don’t spend time really thinking about the whole reason I love Dressember.  I can make this fundraiser all about myself.  I make this a fundraiser where people get to see my pretty dresses and outfits, they get to help me raise money, and I get to look like a good person.  However, that is not what this fundraiser is.  This is a fundraiser that is raising money and awareness for those who have been oppressed, and then even more importantly it is a fundraiser that is showing God’s heart for the ones left behind and the ones that are forgotten and have been hurt by the world.  

If I were going to focus on doing this fundraiser correctly, then I need to first spend a great deal of time in prayer.  I need to make sure that my heart is in the right place, and that I am pursuing this for the right reasons.  I have tried to be a lot better at spending time in prayer and writing down Dressember as a prayer request before I start the fundraiser.  Then I should spend some more time reading about the issue at hand that I am choosing to fight for because this will help me develop more compassion and a desire for mercy to those who are suffering.  Lastly, I then will be able to act justly and will be able to fight for those who are hurting.  

I hope that all of you can remember the power of Micah 6:8.  This is really a lovely verse and shows the power that God’s spirit can have amongst his people as well as the love that he shares with all of us.  My hope is that when any of us become passionate about an issue in our world, or whenever we are about ready to stand up for our faith, we first remember to pray to the Lord for his strength as well as remember the power of mercy and forgiveness.  Remember, this is something the Lord has shown us as good. 

Interview with Gwen:

I wanted to try something different with this blog post.  My friend and coworker have been on a health journey this last year and a half that also has included a lot of spiritual and emotional health improvement.  This made me realize that we as people can sometimes put ourselves on the back burner.  We can get too busy to work out, eat healthily, spend time journaling, do yoga, go to church, do our devotionals, etc.  We may even spend too much of our time thinking about others that we don’t know how important it is to take care of ourselves before we can take care of others.  

The questions that I asked Gwen and her responses:

1. What made you want to start this health and therefore lifestyle change?

Before I started, I was stressed a lot of the time, and I was very tired.  I felt like I had brain fog.  Then my body started to hurt, so I decided to go to a massage therapist.  This therapist was then the one who talked to me about a new and different health program. This particular program is more nutrition-based, not very time-consuming, or heavy on exercise.  

I was depressed thinking that I would be this tired forever. I didn’t want to continually live this way. I decided to start this program, and it has been a major change, both for my physical health and my mental/emotional health.  

2. What would you say has been your favorite part about this whole health and lifestyle change?

Losing 40 pounds has been great, but overall the mindset change has been the best part.  I have definitely felt less tired and have had more energy.  I have also been given a wonderful opportunity to help others on the same health journey.  I love the opportunity to encourage others and help them be the best that they can be.  

3. What do you believe is the importance of taking care of yourself?

Life can be hard now, or it can be hard later.  As I watched my parents age, I realized that more and more.  I didn’t want to make my life harder when I was older.  I wanted to be able to age with less pain and less fatigue and illness.  It is important to realize that the bad habits that we have now can affect us now, but they can also affect our lives in the future.  Making healthy choices now may seem hard, but they may make the lifestyle we live in the future so much more pleasant.  

4. What do you think is the connection between physical health and spiritual/emotional health?

It is all tied together.  If someone uses a deprivation mindset, then that will be hard on the body.  For example, sometimes when we as people are stressed or anxious, we tend to stress eat. Focusing on your mindset and believing that you can change, makes you also want to focus on stepping out of your comfort zone in all areas.  That is why I have also focused on surrounding myself with positive people, working on personal development, and feeling planted in my faith, which helps me feel grounded. During this same time as I have lost this weight, I have also found a church that has really helped me in my spiritual journey.  

5. What advice would you give to someone afraid to try something new?

1. Dreams die in comfort zones.  When you get comfortable with where you are in life, then you should know that is when you need to push yourself and step farther out of your comfort zone.  

2. If you have failed at something before, then you can always improve and try again.  Just because you failed the first time, does not mean that you will fail the second time.

3. Small changes add up to big results.  Even when those small changes seem hard.  Write down the reasons why you want to change and make those small things happen.  Once those smaller things are done, then you can always conquer those bigger items.  

4. Know that fear is a liar.  Fear is the thing that keeps us from changing and keeps us from trying something new.  However, that fear often tells us that we aren’t good enough to change.  Now that you know it is a liar, hopefully, that will not be the item that stops you from stepping out of your comfort zone.  

I hope that you enjoyed this different style of a blog post from me.  I am so blessed to have so many people in my life that are inspirational and have a lot of insights and ideas to share.  I realize that I need to make more time to really listen and learn from all those that are around me.  Gwen has been an inspiration to me and many others around.  She has really helped a lot of others in their fitness, weight loss, and wellness journey.  It is important to remember to eat healthily and care about the wonderful bodies that God has given us.  

I am going to leave you with two goals or two challenges for this week.  The first is that I want you to find someone that you admire, someone that God has placed in your life, and take time to listen to their story, and ask them some questions.  You don’t have to necessarily interview them as I did, but just ask them some deeper questions.  I knew Gwen before I conducted this interview, but I wanted to understand her story more, so I spent that time.  Then my second challenge is to write down the item that is scaring you.  Write down the thing that you have wanted to try, but haven’t yet.  Write it down and write down the first way that you can start to achieve that goal or item that is out of your comfort zone.  My particular goal is to write a devotional book.  I have had this goal for years, but I require writing down how I can make this happen.  I have started to write the ideas, but now I just need to put in the work.  I have now written it down and told all of you, so I just need to make sure it happens. 

Something to know about me is that I absolutely love flowers.  I love to paint flowers, take pictures of flowers, clothe myself in flowers, and my apartment is filled with flowers, specifically sunflowers.  I love to receive flowers, and I love to give them away.  I own a few plants, and my favorite thing is when the flowers are in bloom.  As spring is approaching, I am seeing the start of more and more flowers, along with the spring colors.  I am anticipating their return.  Something that I have gotten better at since I have started my blog is noticing the items in the world that are in direct correlation to the Christian walk.  Many other followers of the Lord will often go out into nature in order to grow closer to God for this very reason.   One of those direct correlations is the flowers that are blooming.  There are many wonderful characteristics of a flower.  Many of these characteristics, I have found, relate to how our relationships with other people often are and how we should view them with a Christian lens. 

The first is that flowers come after the harsh and cold winter.  After we have had a long wait and a long cold time, there is something beautiful that is approaching.  They come when we need to see them the most, to renew our hope.  Our conversations with others and the time that we spend with them is sometimes the best thing that can come out of a very dark season.  Just like a flower adds a splash of color, conversations, and spending time with loved ones, having a good moment, can add a dash of color to our days that seem long and hard. 

Another characteristic of a flower is that they are small and delicate.  They take care.  This is not something that you can just leave and not take care of.  If you don’t take the time to water them, give them the proper sunlight, and the space or the air to breathe, especially away from harmful items like weeds, then they will suffer and many times die from this environment.  This is also similar to our relationships with others.  If we don’t take the time to create a good environment and take the time to make sure they feel cared for, then our delicate relationship can easily be destroyed.  

On the total opposite spectrum, flowers are attached to plants that have deep roots, especially if they have any hope to survive any amount of time.  The idea is that even though flowers are delicate, when there has been a lot of history or the nutrients developed, then you may have developed a plant that can last a lifetime.  Relationships take time to develop deep roots, but once the roots have been established, they too can last a lifetime. This is something that I need to be reminded of recently.  As a teacher, there are some students that are easier to start a good relationship with right away, and then there are those students that are a bit harder to get along with.  However, each one is important, and every student needs to have time to build trust.  I have been filled with joy recently though, and one of the reasons that I have wanted to write this blog, was that I have grown a lot closer to some students than I was at this point last year with them.  It is wonderful to see the non-fighting and the good conversations when the year previously we would argue almost every week.  

Lastly, just like every flower, every single relationship with every single person is different.  You will never have a relationship the same twice.  Just like every flower has a different design and color, every relationship has different characteristics that make it unique.  You will have your absolute favorites, as I do with sunflowers, but regardless, each one is special and important.  There may be some that I want to ignore, and I may not want to take the time to admire its beauty, and therefore don’t fill it in my life, but then I could be missing out on another necessary beauty.   

Who are some of the flowers that are in your life?  Which are the flowers that are easy to get along with and which are the ones that you really need to deepen?  I know that I need to continually develop the relationships or the flowers with the middle school boys that I have in my middle school study hall.  As a teacher, I know that I should try my best to be an advocate for all my students, but it is so much easier to care for and love only the ones that make my teaching job easier.  I need to remember that the students who may be making my life harder are most likely the ones that need my love and care more than the other students.  This week I am going to take one student that I have been struggling with and write down the positive qualities.  Then I am going to take that time to make sure they know their good qualities.  Even if they don’t want to listen, I know that this may hit deeper than it may initially seem.  

The goal from me to you this week is to pick one person with whom to develop a relationship.  This means carrying about what “food” it may need to flourish, how much water, and what kind of environment it needs.  This will again be different for every single relationship, so it is important to know which each relationship needs. Obviously, this should not be for a relationship that is toxic or is very much detrimental to your mental or physical health, but if there is not that concern, then we have a great opportunity to really fill our lives with a beautiful boutique of flowers.  

The time of year has come when basketball is everywhere, college basketball that is.  It is time for the NCAA championship to be the best basketball team in the land.  I personally am not the biggest follower, but I love watching my friends and family fill out their brackets and then talk about the different games.  I love seeing their joy when they get a game pick right and laugh a little at their slight dismay for being wrong.  I know that all of the people in my life are having fun with this and are not making it a serious guessing game or competition.  

Something that is always fun, though, about the March Madness tournament is the upsets.  There is something that everyone loves to see in watching an underdog take over the game.  It is wonderful to watch a team do a lot better than most people, and even themselves thought possible.  While I was pondering this, I thought about how that is exactly what God does with us.  God was not known for using the highest known people to start revolutions in the Bible.  There were times when he used kings and judges to complete his tasks.  However, he often used a lower cast, out-of-the-blue person to be someone who did great things for his kingdom.  

One of my favorite examples of this is any of the women that Jesus used for his ministry.  When Jesus was alive, there were not a lot of women that had high positions or were hardly ever talked about or talked to.  However, Jesus was very good about making connections and using women to really shape and grow the Christian community.  For example, the first person to see Jesus after he was resurrected from the grave was a woman, Mary Magdalene.  Not only was she a woman, but she was not a prominent woman by society’s standards.  She was not from a rich family and was even considered to be a sinner (by this I mean, someone who was living in sin, possibly prostitution, but we can’t be 100% sure) by everyone who knew her at the time.  

Besides just the Bible references, there are references since that time.  God is still continuing to use the average person to build a Christian world.  I am still continuing to read John Piper’s book, “The Swans are not Silent” or “21 Servants of Sovereign Joy,” which showcases Christian followers who are just average people that have also been used for the glory of God.  One of those is John Bunyan.  Many of you maybe have heard that name in the past because he was actually the writer of the book, “The Pilgrim’s Progress.”  This is one of the most popular books and maybe the most read and popular book besides the Bible in regards to the Christian walk.  However, what many people may not know is that a part of this book was written while he was serving in jail.  Similar to Paul in the Bible, the Lord was using a prisoner to complete his best work.  

It is often important to remember that God wants to do the same thing for us in our lives.  I know that I am just a Spanish teacher.  I live in a small town in Iowa.  I am not what many would call rich (by American standards anyway, by otherworldly standards I am).  I am not a prominent leader in any country.  I am not of high standing.  However, I believe that God has put me in this place for a particular reason.  He has chosen me to be the teacher to the students that I am, and I know that he wants me to put an impact on their lives.  I have also been chosen to work at a nonprofit in the summer, and I absolutely love that opportunity that I have.  

The last thing that I want to mention is the song, “Nobody,” by Casting Crowns and Matthew West.  This song highlights that God does take nobodies and use them for his glory.   The main lyrics are, “I’m just a nobody, trying to tell everybody, all about somebody who saved my soul.”  We are all or should be nobodies that are trying to tell somebody or the world about the only one that matters and that is Jesus Christ.  What are some of the ways that God can use you?  What are some of the blessings that God has given you that can be used to make an impact on the world?  What are some of your gifts that can be used for the future?  Lastly, are you just a nobody that is trying to tell everybody all about Jesus?  I hope that I am.  I think that if Jesus had a March Madness bracket, it would be filled with a lot of underdogs, and that is just a beautiful thing. 

Lately, I hate to admit, I have had a bit of self-pity.  I will have one or two things that go wrong or one or two people that say something wrong, and then I can find myself impacted by these emotions.   As a teacher, I will often say that my job is not always rainbows and butterflies.  I would love to say that it is, but it is often incredibly difficult.  There are so many emotions that are involved when working with young people.  This is in all of elementary, middle, and high school.  In elementary, they are still very, very young and don’t always have a handle on their emotions.  Then in high school, which is where I work, they are going through a lot of changes, and they have a lot of hormones that accompany those emotions and changes. They may whine, complain, get angry quickly, etc.  This often gives me moments where I just don’t know how to best handle a situation.  It can be very hard and draining to range all those emotions all day.  For anyone reading this as a parent, nurse, cashier, etc, you will also completely understand what this is like.  Whenever we work with others, we are also working with their emotions and their behaviors/attitudes that are different from ours.  It is very hard to not let those emotions and their behaviors affect your own emotions.  

This brings me to a Bible verse in 1 Chronicles 16:27, “Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.”  I had never looked at this verse too closely before, but I really enjoy it because this really showcases that joy and strength go together.  Strength by its very definition means that it is not something that is easy to come by.  It is not something that can be obtained by hardly working on it or by putting in zero time.  In order to achieve physical strength, for example, one needs to lift weights and work out on a regular basis.  You will not see growth in one workout session, similarly, you will not develop a patient joy after one day. This is something that needs to be done diligently.  Not choosing to be impacted by others’ emotions and letting those little frustrations and those complaints of others impact you on a daily basis has to be a decision.  After a lot of work, this can start to become more and more natural, but it will not be something that can just happen.  That has been a hard pill for me to swallow.  I want this to be something that comes naturally.  I want this to be something that I can just set my mind on at the beginning of the day, and it happens without any hard work on my end.  However, that is just not what this is.  

I know there are two things that I need to start doing in order to help me not be as impacted by others’ emotions, behaviors, and attitudes.  The first is the importance of listening to those around us.  When people are really angry, they are most likely really hurt.  I know the times that I am the angriest myself are the times that I have actually been hurt.  The phrase is very true when it says that “hurt people, hurt people.”  Since I do work with high and middle schoolers, I know that they are in the most hurt section of their life.  I need to remember to be the most empathetic with them as they may be the ones who need the most patience and grace.  Being willing to see them as hurt may remind me to actually care and love them, as opposed to getting angry with them.  

The second thing that I need to take into account is to have a calming presence.  This is the part that I struggle with.  It can be very easy, and I mean VERY easy to hype up a situation once it is starting to go in that direction.  This happens all the time, and we often even watch it happen on our television screens or on social media. If you ever enjoy watching a reality television show, then you know that the minute someone starts yelling, then another person yells, and a third, and maybe a fourth.  Then it can also easily be followed by swinging of arms or kicking of legs (depending on how violent and heated these particular fights get).  When a situation gets heated and heightened, it can be very, very hard to bring it down to a level that is workable.  I will say that being a teacher for three years has helped a lot, and I have definitely found moments to be more calming this past year as opposed to my first year.  Learning when to not fight a situation or to not yell has definitely been a game-changer while working with students.  However, praying for the Lord for peace in those moments is definitely the most impactful.  

The Lord is really the one in control of all these things, however,  The Lord is the one who will help you achieve the good and the growth in this area.  This can not be done by pure willpower.  The Lord wants to help us achieve this goal of having lifelong peace, compassion, and joy.  However, he wants us to achieve this in order to make himself look holy, not for us to look holy.  This is why it is more and more important that we depend on the Lord and then look to achieve that joy for a good inspiration for other believers and future followers of Christ.  Our calm, God-centered demeanor may just be the thing that sells a lot of people to the Christian lifestyle.   

Once every month or every other month, I work in preschool during church.  In one of the more recent times, I got the chance to do my favorite thing in preschool, and this is to read books to some of the kids that are in there.  I had a small group who wanted to sit really close to me and listen to me read a whole bunch of small books.  It is amazing how sometimes the smallest and the simplest things can make you realize how much God loves you, how important forgiveness is, and how we need to be grateful for everything the Lord has made.

For example this day I read the book, “The Runaway Bunny,” by Margaret Wise Brown.  I had never read this book before.  This book is all about a bunny who tells his mom that he is going to run away.  Every time he tells her how he is going to run away, his mom tells him how she is going to follow him and bring him back to her.  One time, he says that he will become a fish, and she said that she would become a fisherman who fishes him out of the water and brings him back to her.  The book goes on and on, and eventually, the bunny decides to stay with his mom where he belongs.  This story was beautiful.  The love this mom has for her son was lovely to read about in this small book.  

This book, obviously, really showed that God always comes and finds us.  The mother had unconditional love for the bunny.  She wanted him to be safe and to feel loved, even though he was being ungrateful at the moment.  The Lord never wants us to be away from him.  Even though we are constantly running away from the Lord and we are constantly getting distracted, we are still being searched out by the Lord.  There are many references in the Bible to the Lord coming back for his people.  One is in the Old Testament and that is the story of Hosea and his wife, and the second one is in the New Testament with the story of the Prodigal Son.  

I think a great example of this in the Bible is the story of Hosea.  He was a prophet who was actually married to a prostitute and she did not remain faithful.  She would often run away from her husband.  Even though Hosea was angry, he was always told by God to go after his wife and return her.  He was told to continually forgive his wife, even though she had done wrong by him.  The Lord kept telling Hosea to love his wife, even though it must have been incredibly challenging. At the same time, this is happening to Hosea in his personal life, the book of Hosea follows the up and down of the relationship the Israelites have with the Lord.  The Lord was also working in the hearts of the Israelites to get them to come back to Him as opposed to straying away and continually falling in sin.    

Another great example is the beloved story of the Prodigal son.  The prodigal son is a classic story of unconditional love and belonging.  A younger son ran away from home and decided to take his inheritance money and spend it any way he desired which ended up leaving him poor, with no food, water, shelter, etc.  However, he then decided to go back to his father’s house to at least be a servant.  His father had been very rich and had a lot of servants, food, water, nice clothes, and a huge house.  He returned home, and his father was filled with joy.  He threw a grand party.  He hugged him and gave him the best clothes.  He had unconditional love for his son, who was never begotten, just like the mother bunny in the story that I read to the preschool students.  The Lord wants to chase you, feed you, clothe you, and make sure that you are safe and protected.  

I think the Lord chases us in the big moments and in the small moments.  I know, for myself, personally, I have been chased with bigger items like a job opportunity at the Bridge in Storm Lake.  Even though I was a Christian, I wasn’t always living my life to the fullest when it came to the love of the Lord.  Then I found the job at the Bridge, and I knew that this opportunity would bring me closer to the Lord and closer to fellowship.  God has also chased me in the small items like simple conversations with students and coworkers, and even through small inspirational moments that remind me to write in my blog or in my journal.  

Lastly, this all reminds me of Romans 8:34, which says “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”  Jesus intercedes for us.  He majorly interceded for us when he died on the cross for our sins.  Then he continually intercedes for us throughout our lives.  He is talking to the Lord and is working out his plans throughout his people and the items in the world.  Let him work in your life.  Let him take the wonderful small moments, and the amazing big moments and use them for his glory.  Let him intercede and chase after you.  Maybe through this reminder, he won’t have to chase after very hard because you will be chasing him just as well.

I am a part of a monthly Bible study through my church.  We are currently reading this book called, “Alive in Him” by Gloria Furman.  This is a book that is bringing us through the book of Ephesians in the Bible.  This last time we were assigned to read two chapters and pick our highlight from the chapter.  From chapter 6, my highlight was a quote that said, “As the Spirit has descended and been and are written.  As the Spirit has descended and dwells believers, he is carrying out Jesus’s work.  Of course, the world cannot contain the books that would be written.  What glorious work the body of Christ has done in Jesus’s name and through his power over the centuries!”

I think this was important to me because I absolutely love to write.  (This seems fairly obvious considering, how often I write for this blog).  The idea that God values writing and writers and would love to use the gifts of writing in order to share his goodness to the glory of himself, fills me with joy.  I want to know that God wants to use my passion and love for something good in the world.  I also love knowing that God can use all of our stories and all of our testimonies for the greatest good of bringing others closer to God.  

Another devotional book that I have been reading is “21 Servants of Sovereign Joy,” by John Piper.   This book is about followers of Jesus, and each chapter is devoted to one believer along with what their life can teach us.  This is a good inspiration for many other followers.  I realized that these mini-biographies are good stories for others who are a part of the Christian world that are different than the stories that are written in the Bible.  Again, this is not saying that we shouldn’t read the Bible because that should be our main source of knowledge and growth, but again this just shows me the importance of stories.  

The idea and the importance of stories have also been a long-held belief in the Christian sphere.  There have been a few hymns including, “The Love of God is Greater Far,” written in 1923 by Frederick Martin Lehman.  The main verse is “Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made; Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade.”  This verse of the hymn is talking about making God’s words and God’s stories fill the whole world.  Then the second one is “This is my story” written by Fanny Crosby and Phoebe Knapp in 1873.  The main lyrics here are, “This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.”  The story is that we should be praising the Lord all day long, filling the world with his words, and creating pastors and preachers everywhere we go.

This also shows me how important it is to share our testimony.  I believe there are many who are under the assumption that one needs to have a long and compelling testimony to be important enough to tell.  I always felt as though my story never really mattered.  I had such an easy story.  I was a Christian from a young age, and I grew up in a semi-regular home.  Since I had always been a Christian, I didn’t think that I could inspire anyone else by my testimony.  However, I need to remember that my story is one of redemption and love, and therefore should be shared.  I think this is important that I tell my testimony right now, and I am hoping that many others would also share their testimony.  This could be something that you write down or this could be something that you tell someone you know.  This does not by any means have to be a half-hour-long story, but can be just a quick recap of what God has done in your life and how he continues to impact you daily.  

Even though I grew up in a Christian home, I would say that I grew more as a Christian when I was in college.  I became a part of this Christian university ministry called the Navigators, and I became a part of an organization called IJM which cares about stopping human trafficking all over the world.  Both of these organizations and working a the nonprofit called the Bridge of Storm Lake have shown me God’s heart for the nations and justice which has only deepened my love for him overall.  I want to spend more time in devotionals, and writing blogs in order to showcase what I have learned to others, so they may know the freedom that I have found in Christ. 

Your story is important for the glory of God, so don’t forget to tell it.

The world, once again, has been shaken up.  However, once again, this is not for the positive.  All across social media, news broadcasts, and personal conversations, one item has been brought up again and again and that is Russia attacking Ukraine.  This was devastating to watch, and many are just heartbroken.  As a teacher, I have gotten the opportunity to be a part of discussions with my students about the world at large.  My high school students are putting away the drama that is happening in their hallways and instead, looking at the problems that are affecting everyone in the world.  They are starting to look at many others and what they could be going through.  

This is a good reminder for us as Christians, that we have a role to play in a person’s life that we know across the street, but we also have a role to play in regards to our prayer life in the world at large.  If you are anything like me, then there are many times that you can feel very small.  The world has its problems, but there is no possible way that you can really, truly make a change in this big world.  You can’t as an individual person go to every single country, solve every life issue and problem, and/or teach every single person about the Lord.  However, we can all do our part.  The part that we can best do is spend in prayer.  We can spend time bringing our concerns to the Lord and speaking to other believers as a community of prayer warriors.  

I was already starting to process my role in this particular place that I have in the world, and how I can be a part of making it better when an event like this happens.  Then my church took a bit of time to talk at large about the events and to pray as a church.  There was a man who reminded us that the Lord doesn’t like war.  It is allowed to happen, and it would often happen in the Bible.  However, God desires peace and wants us as his followers to be his peacemakers throughout the world.  I at one time wrote a blog post about all the different beatitudes.  One of those beatitudes is “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” This is a good reminder that God himself is peace,  and when we are his followers, we are his peacemakers, and for that reason, we will be called children of God and really be blessed in his eternal peace.  

One reminder and comfort is in verse, 2 Corinthians 13:11, “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”  This was a final greeting from Paul to the church in Corinth.  I believe that this verse is wonderful and really showcases that God has a desire to have peace in the world.  He has peace that we as his followers create wonderful restoration amongst everyone. This also showcases that Paul had complete faith in the Lord who also knew that the church had complete power to make a change and make peace throughout the world.  

When I was in college, my college ministry would take part in prayer for the nations on Saturday mornings.  We would go through the map, read about different nations, and then spend time in prayer.  Even though we knew that we couldn’t necessarily go to that country at the moment in time, preach the Gospel, help feed the poor with our physical hands, we knew that we at least had the ability to pray and bring our concerns to the God of the universe.  The one who has the complete ability to make all things go a particular way.  The one who cares more about the people of the world, than we ever could.  

That being said, I think the best way for me to end this blog post is to write down a prayer that I have been praying for Ukraine and the world at large.  My challenge for you this week is to spend some of your own time in prayer over this particular world event, as well as find other countries that you can pray for in your devotions.  

Dear Lord, 

Please be with the country of Ukraine.  Please be with the people and keep them as safe as possible.  Please be with the government and help them to make wise decisions during this difficult time. 

Lord, also please be with the government leaders of Russia.  Please open their heart to the possibility of peace and avoidance of war.  Please help them realize the pain and suffering that is happening to the world at large. 

Lastly, Lord please be with all of our anxieties.  I know there are many people who are nervous about what this means for the future of our world and what this means for war far amongst many many different people.  I pray that you are with everyone to ease their anxieties and their stresses.

Recently I have been memorizing more verses from my Bible.  One of those verses has been 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” This is a good reminder that we each as Christians should think very much about what we want to donate to which particular cause.  

There have been many different causes that I personally have been approached to give with either time or money.    I believe that when a person has been blessed with money and resources, they are also then wonderfully blessed with the opportunity to give that money to help God’s message, justice, and peace spread throughout the world.  I will never forget once a person reminded me that the money that we have actually been given is the Lord’s money.  He created it, and he created our opportunity to have that money.  He made the jobs and the resources available to us.  Therefore when we are giving a donation, we are really giving money back to God.

If I am going to be completely honest in this time, I know there have been moments where I have been contacted to give money to a particular organization or a missionary, and I have not been the most thrilled.  There have been times when I have been texted by a missionary friend to ask me to speak to them, and I know that part of the conversation is going to be about finances and if I would be willing to finance a part of their mission work.  It can make me feel like all they want from me is my money.  I know that isn’t true, but it can be so very hard to ask someone to help with the finances, especially when they are going to be doing the work of God.  

At the same time, I can be the same way when I am completing the Dressember fundraiser.  If you have not read my blogs about the Dressember fundraiser, Dressember is when I wear a dress for the whole month of December and raise funds to help end human trafficking.  I am very passionate about this fundraiser, and I have a certain goal that I try to raise every year.  In order to raise those funds, I have to reach out to a lot of different people, and I do this through my social media feeds as well as by sending fundraising letters.  It is not the easiest thing to do, as it never is to ask anyone for money. I remember in those moments that I am not looking at people like money, but I am simply just asking for money in order to do God’s work.  

However, it is important that when we are given this chance to provide money to those in the world or organizations that have God’s heart, we spend a good time praying about this opportunity.  This provides us the chance to think about how we really want to be diligent in what we do for the Lord.  While we are aware that all the places could be good, we also want to make sure that we are wise and useful with the money the Lord has gifted us.  We don’t want to waste our gifts.  

Another purpose of praying over our money is that God uses the money to go further and prosper more than we could ever imagine on our own.  This is like when God used the five loaves of bread and the two fish and he was still able to feed over five hundred people.   God has the ability to take a very small blessing and make it something grand.  Again, when I am doing the Dressember fundraiser, I pray that the Lord would take the money that I have been given and help me make an impact in the world by ending human trafficking.  Every single dollar that has been donated or given to me, or that I donate myself makes a change in at least one person.  

However, it is important that lastly, we pray we use this money in a cheerful and loving way.  It can be very easy to do this kind of thing because we feel we have to.  This can be we feel we need to do the right thing, we want to look good to other Christians, we want to feel good about ourselves, or maybe we want all of those things.  Whenever we give money because we feel we need to, then we are not really doing this because of the love of God, and therefore committing an act of legalism.   That isn’t really fulfilling the calling of giving then that he has set out before us.  

The Lord can do great work through us.  It may just be a simple act of a small donation, but it really can go a long way.  I will end with one more story and that is the story of the woman who gave a small donation to the temple before Jesus was killed on Good Friday.  This can be found in your Bible in Mark 12: 41-44.  This woman was a poor woman who only had a few coins.  She was going after all the men who had high-paying jobs and were successful.  They gave a ton of money, but they were proud of the money they were giving.  They wanted it to be a show.  They wanted the accolades and the praise from society for giving so much to the Lord.  The woman just gave what she had in her possession.  She gave and then prayed to the Lord.  She wanted to praise God through going to the Temple and through giving a small donation.  In all ways that we can possibly be, be like the woman at the Temple.  Give what is in your heart and the Lord will do the rest.

This morning I was reading for my devotional.  The part that I encountered was about Jephthah in Judges who ended up having to kill his own daughter as a sacrifice. I decided that this is probably one of my least favorite moments and stories from the Bible.  I know that may not be the most Christian thing to say, but reading this particular story just puts a bad taste in my mouth.  It leaves me with a lot of questions and not completely understanding.  Then I remembered that it is alright to question and not understand everything in the Bible, as long as I let this questioning and processing bring me closer to God, rather than farther away.  That is exactly why I am going to spend some time blogging about this particular story in the Bible.  

Here is the scenario.  A man named Jephthah was fighting battles for the Lord, and one of those battles was against the Ammonites.  He promised that if the Lord helps him win against the Ammonites, he will sacrifice the first thing that will come out of his house.  The Lord helped Jepthah succeed against the Ammonites.  However, his daughter just so happened to be the first thing to come out of his house.  Because of this, he ended up having to sacrifice his daughter to fulfill his promise to the Lord. 

The question is why do I hate this part of the Bible so much?  Yes, there is sacrificing of a person which most people don’t necessarily enjoy, but then I also hate how Jephthah’s plans were completely destroyed.  He was going to fight hard for the Lord, succeed, and then sacrifice the first animal or something like that to come out of his house.  He wept when he saw his daughter come out of the house, greeting him.  This left him shattered and destroyed. We all have had our plans, and they haven’t necessarily gone as we have planned.  We can maybe even think to ourselves, “How could God have let this happen?”  “Why would God do this?”  “What would be his purpose in this?”  and “How can this really be used for God’s glory?”  Have you ever thought of questions like these?   

I know I thought that when my grandpa died.  He died all of a sudden, two days before my grandma’s birthday, and a few weeks before my second year of teaching.  What was the point of my grandpa dying, and what was the point of him dying when he did?  I am even saying that, and I got at least 25 years with my grandpa.  Many others have faced stronger and more gruesome tragedies than I have.  However, even though it is sad to believe that the Lord can use this story, it has actually helped me grow closer to the Lord.    

Besides being willing to trust the Lord completely, there is another incredible lesson that can be learned from this story.  It is important to remember that we need to sacrifice everything for the Lord.  This man, Jephthah was willing to sacrifice his daughter to the Lord.  Granted, this is a bizarre scenario, and I don’t think that God would ever ask us to sacrifice a person in the sense of, you know, killing them.  He may ask us to sacrifice a loved one to him in that we trust him to do whatever he knows that he needs to do for the goodness of himself.  It can be hard to trust the Lord, even though we have to remember that as humans, we don’t have the power of sovereignty that he does.  He has the full picture, where we only have the pieces. Being willing to give up ourselves and our individual pieces can be hard, but in the end, it will make beautiful scenery.  

I know that one of the items that I really struggle to sacrifice is time.   I have probably discussed this before on my blog, but I absolutely love to schedule out my time.  I am a type-A personality, who loves to get as much done as possible in the time allowed.  (I do, of course, have my lazy days, though, when that doesn’t happen).  Every day I have six items that my Christian planner calls, healthy habits, that I do to grow as a person.  One of those healthy habits is spending time with the Lord and spending time in devotionals that I do pretty much every day.  However, do I really try to make sure that I am spending quality time with the Lord, or am I just spending time doing the devotional because it is one of my healthy habits?  

I know that I really need to spend time sacrificing to the Lord.  I need to spend my time really meditating and diving into God’s word and all that the words have to say.  Sometimes, I am just reading the Bible, but I am not really thinking about how the words should impact me and change my perspectives.  I have tried to spend more time doing that as I have started this blog.  When I do read something that changes my perspective or catches my eye, I have tried to dive deeper into understanding by writing it out.   

In conclusion, the story of Jepthah might not be a pleasant, happy story, but it is one that God used to showcase how we as Christians need to trust God’s plan.  Sometimes his plan may require sacrificing on our ends, but he knows what he is doing.  It is not always easy to trust his plans, but in the end, we will be a lot better off than trusting in our own smaller-scale plans.