The Story My Life Speaks

There was a speaker at a conference recently who deeply challenged me. Dressed in casual clothes and with an Aussie accent, Alan Hirsch spoke so plainly and bluntly about Jesus that I was mesmerized. He described Jesus as a radical, a risk-taker, a guy who religious people couldn’t figure out, a man who spent his time with hookers and sleazy tax collectors and stinky fishermen. I confess, even though I ‘know’ those qualities of Jesus, it still felt like a far cry from the calm, clean, self-controlled Jesus that I picture in my mind.

Alan also shared a quote that has continued to echo through my heart every moment of every day since then. He shared, “Real truth must change you. If it doesn’t change you, it’s not real truth to you – your life will speak that it’s a lie.” Now, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that… I mean, what ‘truths’ do I say I believe, but my life doesn’t match up to? If we profess Jesus with our mouth (his life, his redemption, his power over sin and death), but then our actions do not fully reflect that knowledge of Him, what testimony/message of Jesus is my life really shouting?

"Real Truth must change you. If it doesn't change you, it's not real truth to you - your life will speak that it's a lie." - Alan Hirsch

I think Paul understood this well, which is why he said in Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Paul knew that it’s not so much the songs that we sing or the words which come out of our mouth that reflect God and His Lordship to the world – it’s our actions and ‘life story’ that speak louder either for or against God on our behalf…

My hearts cry above all else, is that God would continue to change me. It’s no longer enough for me to simply ‘know’ statements of faith or have a close understanding of God – I need His Word to be real and alive in me. I’m asking God to change me through His Word, to make me more into a reflection of Him instead of simply drawing attention to myself. I don’t want my life to misrepresent Him in this world in any way –or worse, point people away from God rather than toward Him. That would break my heart, and I believe it would break God’s heart, too.

I pray for each of us today, that we’d be challenged to ask God to reveal to us the message our lives are speaking for us… Is it the message that you want to be speaking? Is it in line with what you say you believe? Are you allowing God and His Word to continue to change you? I pray that through our life-message we could worship God more deeply and completely than we ever could with a simple song.

FACE IT - Has Real Truth really changed you?

I was sung to this morning...

I have no idea what you're morning has been like, but if it's been anything like mine, we're both in trouble, LOL! Seriusly, this morning has been rough and it's not even 10 am yet. My biggest struggle has been that things have come up that are out of my routine, out of my comfort area, -OUT OF MY CONTROL- and I started to feel stressed, pushed, pressured... Do you ever feel the same way? It's not even that it was anything big or monumental that bothered me - it was just pressure that came from a billion different small and insignificant things... I felt out of control this morning, and I could feel my emotions in starting my day being swayed with each new *surprise* that came up before I was even fully awake and out of bed.

Usually as I'm waking up in the morning I have a song on my heart. Sometimes I feel like that song is a window for me to see where my heart and mind is focusing as I rise. Other times, I feel like it's a song of encouragement that God sings over me as I wake. This morning's song is called 'My Help Comes From The Lord' by The Museum. Here's a few of the lyrics to give you an idea (if you don't know the song):

verse 1:
When sorrows come and hope seems gone
You're the rock I rest upon
When waters rise and I can't breathe
You're the love that rescues me
Out of the darkness, lift up my eyes
Unto the hills, I feel my faith rise

chorus:
Maker of heaven, giver of life
You are my strength, my song in the night
My refuge my shelter, now and forevermore
My help comes from the Lord


As my morning seemed to crumble and fall as I woke up, I felt this song being sung over my heart and knew immediately that I needed to get into the Word... I decided to take a morning away from the book of Matthew (I've been going back to study the stories of Jesus's life) and instead went into the Psalms (soothing balm for my heart, hehe I'm such a girl).

Psalm 121 is God's song over my heart this morning:

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

I pray that today we'd all get to stop and take time to really worship our Lord who watches over our every step, who guards us and keeps us from harm... That just as He sings over us, that we'd be able to sing back over Him this morning.

Love you guys. Have a great day!
-Rebecca

Made perfect in weakness...

Maybe I shouldn't admit this (at the risk that my husband might actually read my blog, lol), but there has been more than one occasion in the last two weeks where my scattered brain should've brought catastrophy. I took off my wedding bands for the first time in almost a year this morning for a good cleaning, and forgot to put them back on. Tucker found them later in the bathroom. Just tonight, I left a pot of water on the stove to boil, and came back a good while later to find it completely empty (all the water burned off) - I had totally forgotten about it!

Everyone has some things about themselves that they wish could be overcome or - better yet - hidden from the eyes of others. :) And if I were to be completely raw here, I'd confess that a 'scattered brain' is nothing compared to my list of flaws and failures. I'm much more mortified with the idea of someone else having a grasp on how selfish I really am, how prideful and defensive I can be, and how down right moody I can be, too! HA!

That's why one small verse in 2 Corinthians 12 stops me dead in my tracks... "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Weakness? He used that ugly word!!! I don't want to acknowledge weaknesses about myself TO MYSELF, much less other people! And even though I know God knows all things, it still sometimes makes me cringe to realize that God knows me so intimately... He knows every inch, every thought... He knows every word and action that I said and did -AND- every word and action that I thought about but didn't follow through with. :)

But tonight was such a great example to me of God's faithfulness as in this verse... HE protected me! He prevented my kitchen from catching on fire! My 'weakness' became an opportunity for God to be seen without me muddling it up. I was able to see God's protection and provision DESPITE my mess up. :) If I had pushed through processing and reflecting on the moment in order to quickly forget it and 'move on', I would've missed capturing how God was able to shine through.

A question now pops into my heart - okay, so God can shine through in the midst of my scatteredness... AND I believe and trust that He can take a tough situation and turn it around. BUT how can He make something beautiful in the midst of my battle against pride, or in the middle of my selfishness?

I don't have answers to those questions, I'm just putting it out there. Somewhere deep within I'm breathing a sigh of relief. Though I have no idea what and how God'll do what He does, there's a sense of peace in trusting that His process brings about beauty that could never be matched by my best efforts.

...being made perfect in weakness. That gives me a lot to think about.

What do YOU think?

'night!
Rebecca

Winning the Toughest Battles

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that I absolutely cannot watch movies that are scary or gory… BUT it might surprise you to know that some of my favorite stories in the Bible (at least in the Old Testament) are ones of battle! Why, you ask? It’s because I’m still amazed at how God made WORSHIP a KEY to victory! In story after story in the Old Testament, God gives us plenty of examples on how worship is part of His formula to overcome obstacles – even in winning mighty battles that seemed hopeless! Here is a cliff-notes version of one of my favorite battles (found in 2 Chronicles 20):

When three enemies (men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir) tried to attack the people of Judah, King Jehoshaphat did the unthinkable… Instead of calling his army together to strategically plan out a defensive or counter-offensive measure, he instead called every single person in Judah to a fast and to come to the temple to worship and pray. Men, women, and children – EVERYONE came before the Lord, determined to WAIT until they heard from God on how to proceed. God ended up directing them to move to a safe place, and it says (my favorite verse of this passage) that “As they (the people of Judah) began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against their enemies and they were defeated.” The enemy armies ended up attacking and slaughtering each other, while the people of Judah were safely tucked away. The men of Judah went to an overlook and saw an entire battlefield full of all the dead warriors (of the enemies), and enough plunder that it took three days to collect it. (2 Chronicles 20)

I know some of that is a bit grotesque, BUT it’s such an incredible example of how God would want us to approach the battles we face in our everyday life! Here are a few precepts to victory:

- Our first response should always be to seriously seek God’s direction, being ready to wait if necessary. (Can you imagine the women and children waiting in that gathering? It wasn’t just the adult men who were called together - it was everyone!) Thinking on my own battles, how many times in the past have I tried to immediately solve something on my own first instead of seeking the Lord? OR I didn’t want to be patient and wait for an answer, so I jumped in with my plan and asked God to make it work? When the pressure comes, we should work to seek God FIRST.

- Sing and praise in the midst of the battle. My favorite verse says that it was AS they began to sing and praise that the ambushes against the enemy were set. Why do you think God did it that way? I don’t have a definitive answer to that one, but I know that when I begin to praise God, the eyes of my heart are taken off of myself… I begin to focus on God, and the things that once seemed so big, awful and impacting suddenly seem smaller and not as big of a deal. Praise changes our perspective, and in a battle perspective is everything!

- Trust God’s protection. God gave them very clear instructions on where to go (and if you read up in 2 Chronicles 20, you’ll see that He actually had the people of Judah pass really close to one of the enemy armies that we coming against them!) BUT – they trusted God. He (of course) was faithful to His word, and the location He gave for them was a safe haven in the midst of an awful battle where thousands died.

Are you in the middle of any battles today? Why not take a minute right now and re-strategize with God? Press the pause button on your normal response mode, and ask God (being willing to wait for an answer) what He would like to direct you to do. Allow Him to give you an entirely new perspective and show you the way to victory… AND – Make sure to cover your environment with praise to help you keep your eyes, heart and mind focused on the right place.

"My God is more than enough, He shall supply all my needs. He’s my El Shaddai, He looks out for me. Jehovah Jireh, He is my God. So why should I worry about the highs and the lows? The ups and the downs? When by my faith I know - My God is more than enough!” - Praise Song “Jehovah Jireh”

He speaks...

There have only been a few occasions in my life where I had God speak something so clearly to me that I almost turned around to see who spoke it aloud. Most times He (God) takes a softer approach with me, impressing things upon my heart and guiding me through His Word - but it's still just as powerful, in fact it can be even more so. I've been amazed more and more about this very thing (hearing and discerning God's voice and direction) - and there's such a rich reward when I've stepped out in obedience to do something that I thought God was laying on my heart... This past week I was blown away at how God impressed something onto my heart early that morning (and I had no idea that the time that He was doing it), but by the end of the day I saw how the piece fit into His puzzle and I was just amazed at what God did. I was so thankful that His Spirit in me recognized His voice and responded to it! That never gets old or less exciting to me! AND seeing it come together on the other side is overwhelmingly joyful and awe-inspiring!

Early Sunday morning as I was getting ready for the day, a thought came to my mind of 'Rachel'. Now there are quite a few rachel's in my life, my twin sister being one, and multiple friends adding to that group. I didn't think anything of it (my mind can be quite random!) so I let it come and go like any other thought. I thought about a sweet and shy friend Rachel from church, making the mental note to connect with her that morning at church and tell her I had thought about her and prayed for her. I thought about my twin sister Rachel and her beautiful family, recalling the last phone call I had with her which was the day before... I thought about my 'Rachel-sisters', a group of women who sat with me at the 'Table of Rachel' for my Emmaus Walk... "Agh, I need to email the group!" I remembered! We even had this little group sign-language action-kinda-thing that one of the ladies had taught us, and without thought I did it infront of the mirror as I was doing my hair. Ah, memories of Rachel! God has brought a lot of incredible Rachels into my life. I even wondered if maybe I should encourage my sister Rachel to attend a Walk to Emmaus for herself! ...like I said, random thoughts. I was just going about my morning, thinking of things randomly and sharing thoughts with God - nothing profound, just everyday stuff. That was it.

We went to church and enjoyed great time in prayer, worship, and study... It's always such a blessing to be surrounded and encouraged by my church family! When the final service was over and things were winding down, I started to pack up my guitar to leave. Someone asked if I wanted to join a group for lunch. I usually jump on every chance I can get to have lunch with other people, but for some reason I said no this time around - I was feeling a little tired and thought maybe I should just head home...

As I reached to pick up my things (guitar in one hand, Bible, notebooks, bags in the other), I HEARD God speak to me so clearly - "Put your stuff down, and go sit over there." Wow. There it was. I actually froze for a second, then quickly put my stuff down and looked to see where the 'there' I was supposed to go sit was... I saw a group of about 5 people gathered together, so I went over and sat with them. They were praying with a young woman my age who I'd seen a few times before (she has georgeous hair and a really sweet smile!). I picked a seat behind her (They were praying for her and I didn't want to intrude) and I just began to pray silently along with them.

I found out about 2 minutes in - Her name was Rachel.

When they finished praying, she turned around and saw me, and I saw a light flicker in her eyes. She immediately grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I didn't know what was happening at that moment, but I KNEW God had told me to go there for a reason, and I was thankful. We clicked - we connected.

It wasn't until about 40 minutes later when I was in my car driving home that God flashed back into my memory the image of me looking back into the mirror, doing our little 'table of rachel' sign, that I realized what God had done. Her name was Rachel! Early in the morning, before I met her, before I even showed up at church, He had already placed HER NAME on my heart. I hadn't recognized or understood that was even taking place at the moment, I thought it was just 'Random Rebecca' thoughts... But God knew better. He spoke to my heart, and without understanding or realizing at all what was at hand, I simply took it in, then when the time came, I simply obeyed.

There is nothing in the world that compares with the feeling you get when you know something extraordinary just happened, and God allowed you to be a part of it. I started to laugh and cry in the car, simply because I was so humbled that God used me, so thankful that He spoke to me in such a special way, and SO THANKFUL that my response was immediate obedience - without having the faintest idea of a greater picture. (There are times when I wonder if I would've obeyed... I was tired, service was over, it was time to go home - lots of excuses could've easily shut the door and prevented me from being open and available for God.)

Lately my conversations with God have been surrounding this very idea - hearing His voice, discerning it and acting upon it immediately. I've prayed for a long time (years) that I truly want to hear not just the big, booming-from-the-heavens voice but also the soft, gentle whisper-in-the-wind from God. I truly want my every breath, my every step, my every moment to be available for God's use - but it's not as easy to make and keep yourself open and available for God as we'd like - Life would love to throw us many excuses that put US first - our schedule, our feelings, our energy level, etc... It's a tough battle, and both sides have their victories and losses.

BUT: My heart felt the rich reward of obeying God!!! I felt the joy of knowing that I had pleased Him by responding to His direction, and in honesty it was almost like a drug - I begged God for more opportunities to hear Him speak in such a unique way and get to act on it again, showing my obedience to God as an act of worship back to Him.

My question for you - what excites you most about hearing God's voice? What do you hope to see/do/change?

Love and Hugs from Cincinnati - I'm off to bed for now.

Rebecca

Going to Ground Zero.

Ground Zero.

When Pastor Mike started the discussions about this teaching series, I have to admit – I was excited and kind of terrified, too… It sounded so cool; it seemed like such an important thing for us to delve into as a church right now, especially with our focus on becoming a healing, equipping, sending place… but for me personally it also sounded terrifying, dangerous, and messy.

I didn’t want to admit it right then (and even now I still don’t want to), but we ALL have Ground Zeros in our life, don’t we? We all have moments and places in our past where something happened and we were never the same. Someone close hurt you. You experienced rejection or judgment. A person that you looked up to disappointed you or caused you shame and pain… You experienced tragedy or loss. And as silly as it might seem to think that something so long ago can still have such an impact on us today, we’d be fools to believe that we walked away unscathed. I know for me, I’m still learning the depth of the wall that I’ve built around myself to try and protect me from pain and hurt because of experiences in my past. And the craziest part to me is that for the longest time, I didn’t even realize the wall was there.

It’s only been just recently that I’ve even had the courage to ask God to show me those walls that I’ve put up in myself… those hurts that I’ve tried so hard to just forget… I want to find healing, and I’m learning that healing starts at Ground Zero, where it all began. My only comfort in taking such risky steps into the ‘unknown’ is that God promises healing WILL come if we can go through this journey with Him. He promises to bring me through. He’s gentle and caring, and he knows me enough to know what my limits are right now and not to exceed them. He also loves me enough not to push me to my limits all the time – sometimes He even allows me to stop and rest in a place of comfort even though I’m not ‘moving forward’… God is THAT in tune with the condition of my heart and emotions, and He loves me so much. He’s extremely patient with me and He’s in it for the long haul.

There’s one scripture that I’ve found especially comforting as I’ve thought about what going to Ground Zero will be like with God… Isaiah describes God this way:

“The Sovereign Lord tends his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads those that have young.” - Isaiah 40:11

Through this journey of going to Ground Zero, it might not always be comfortable, but I can find comfort in God’s arms. I can find rest being close to His heart. I can trust his gentle leading as he brings me closer and closer to where Healing can be found.

I pray that as we worship God this week (and through the rest of this series) that we’d find comfort in the arms of our Shepherd. That we would not fight against Him as he brings us through and carries us to Healing, but instead find rest close to His heart. Man, He loves us so much.

Love you guys - Let’s go to Ground Zero together.

- Rebecca

All I want is PEACE.

The past few weeks I've felt God stretching and working out more junk from within me than in a long time... He's shining a light into the deep corners of my heart and showing me stuff that isn't very pretty. :( I'm so selfish. I believed that my motives were 100% pure, but he's showing me how much of a self-preserver and self-lover I really am. Where I would tell myself that I was being a peacemaker in trying to resolve a conflict, God is gently showing me that part of my motive in wanting peace is a deep desire to be liked by everyone...

How do I move away from that?!?!? I'm seeing how crippled I can be at times with wanting to be in good standing with everyone... I can tell my mind that it's just not logical, not possible to be liked by everyone all the time (and believing that I'm just THAT likable is more of a battle with ego, don't you think?). I mean, who am I?!? What makes me so much more special that I could be loved by all and not have to encounter rejection, heartache, and judgement from other people? That's just not reality, even if I'm living the life that Christ wants for me.

I know that God blesses a peacemaker - I'm just starting to understand that "peacemaker" is all about heart and focus, and not as much about the action itself of keeping the peace. I believe a true peacemaker has a motive of wanting to express the love of Jesus to those around him/her, with NO TWINGE of a motive of self preservation mixed in there(like me).

Lord, help me work through this. Help me to learn in my heart what a Godly peacemaker really is. Help me not to place so much of my self value in how accepted I am by other people. Help me Lord to trust you with my every moment, to only go where You want me to go... To only say what You want me to say... and to become the type of PEACEMAKER that you desire for me to be - a peacemaker that doesn't promote peace to benefit myself in the eyes of other people.

Amen.

Fighting with the Cellophane

There is one thing that drives me crazy in the kitchen - cellophane. It makes me feel like an incompotent two year old each time I bring out the tube and rip off a piece. I try to make it stick over a glass dish of leftovers that I'd like to have for lunch the next day, but it ends up on a ball on the counter. I try to use it on certain dishes I have, and the stuff won't stick to anything (internal shout - 'what's the point of this stupid plastic wrap if it sticks to what I don't want it to, and it doesn't stick to my dishes?!??!!') Between the ripping and the sticking, I totally botch it up somehow. PLUS - the whole thing just feels messy, clingy, and takes a lot more effort to accomplish than what I wanted to give. (Right about this point is when I'd toss it and grab tupperware.)

The struggle to be a transparent person feels just the same. I remember growing up in church and feeling like I was in a room full of barbie and ken dolls - everyone wanted to be seen as the happy, prosperous person. No one dared express pain or hardship. Instead they just quoted a skewed, uber-christian, church-fabricated statement about faith and quickly changed the conversation. Somewhere along the line I developed the belief that we as Christians are supposed to rise above everything, not at all affected by situations and circumstances - which is partly true, but I thought (based on the examples around me) that meant we had to put on the plastic smile, hold it together and bury our heads in the sand like ostriches... There was a truth that was perversed into something unnatural, unobtainable, and imprisoning. Over the past few years I feel like I've been in recovery from that very mindset. I know in my heart that I want to be real and open with those around me, willing to share my hurts, failures and challenges along with my joys, successes and dreams. I have that deep desire to really relate with someone, to know that I'm not alone.

So, on one hand I'm desperate for REAL connection with REAL people, who don't have it all together but who are walking through their journeys with God hand in hand. on the other hand, the idea of being transparent and authentic is pretty frightening because it means I have to take risks with the people around me, revealing my whole heart and risking judgement or rejection. It's hard to break out of this mold that I grew up in of striving to be the uber-christian.

Our small group was challenged tonight with a question... What can you do (relating to your faith) to increase your power and influence? I know what the answer to that is for me: more transparency. For me, being completely transparent is an opportunity to bring people along on my journey with me. They're mentors, observers, fellow pilgrims, and passersby. By truly opening up, God can work in and through me exponentially more than if I had a plastic mask on... It really offers a freedom that I cannot describe, a heavy burden lifted. AND - as a bonus (because God is so cool this way), there's also an opportunity that God can reach other people through me sharing my journey!

The trick is - not to get frustrated or give up on the transparency process just because it's getting a little messy, clingy, and requiring a lot more energy than I had wanted to give... Sound familiar?

Daring to Dream

Dreams are such scary things. You have to be willing to stamp your name on a far-fetched, sometimes highly unlikely, even HOPELESS grasp to an alternate reality at the risk of looking like a complete fool and modeling a new dimension of failure to your friends and complete strangers.

Lately I've spent a lot of time thinking about what my dreams are... I mean, I've gotta have some, right??!!? I feel that within the dark recesses of my heart I have hidden aspirations and desires that I've buried sooo deep, I've almost forgotten what they are.

I can't even make my self write anything down onto paper. That seems like such a ridiculous thing to me (and right now I'm already thinking of what a shrink would say about that... Shrink friends: not a word!) It's like writers block. I've tried narrowing it down to time frames like "within the next year", or 5, or 10, or 50... I've tried specific topics like family, job, kids, music, even future vacations. Except for the last one, my paper is crisp, clean, blank stinking white.

I feel like I'd be betraying myself, sharing a shameful secret. If I admitted that I dream big dreams, does that make me any less capable of a person? Does that mean that I'm not grounded? Or am I trying to have too much control over my future by trying to identify all the possible directions I could go and attempt to pre-plan it all?

I debate with myself about this way too often. In fact, I think I debate with myself more about this than I do actually identifying what dreams I might have... It's a huge struggle for me. On top of that, I throw into the mix questions about God and how He's supposed to fit into this equation. My equation. And I know in my spirit that I'm doing this all wrong.

My head and my spirit know that the world is full of possibilities, and God doesn't know how to dream small - He always does it big. He is the creator of the most rewarding and enjoyable unexpected adventures. I know that I need to release the reins and seek after God, asking Him to reveal to me a glimpse of His plan... That I should embrace His dreams, His plan for my future rather than trying to forge my own... But HOW do you do that? Really??!?! Without giving the standard 'pray' answer. Perhaps I need to grow in FAITH, trusting myself and God in me when I hear direction that it's really from Him, and then taking steps of Faith to pursue it?

How do you let God dream big for you?

Honoring Troops & Sleeping

This past weekend was Memorial Day. As much as I hate to admit it, I think I value the holiday more because I get to have more 'me' time than out of honor and support of veterans and current military service people... Isn't that selfish of me!?!?! It seems so superficial to say that, yet I wouldn't be authentic if I didn't speak honestly about it. Case in Point:

This past weekend, I spent more time sleeping than any other weekend I can remember! Tucker, Zack and I went out to the farm on Friday night with the intent of working on the crops a bit on Saturday, shooting, etc - but it was so hot!!! So, instead of joining the guys outside with the ammunitions, I stayed inside the dark, air-conditioned loft and dazed in and out of sleep while watching movies (BTW - Prince Caspian is still great!). Then, Sunday after church we came back home, ate lunch, and took another nap... THEN on Memorial Day Monday, we stayed at home, had a private cook out, then took (yes, it's true) ANOTHER NAP in the late afternoon! (I DID work on the house, doing chores and even a little bit of yard work - but still...) I slept SO WELL and woke up so energized this morning!!!

...but what did I do between all those Zzzzs to honor those who have served and sacrificed for my freedom?!!? Zilch. Nada. Nothing.

I feel acutely kin to my generation of entitlement and self-absorbed existance today. That feels so ugly, and it's gotta change. I don't want that to be part of who I am.

This week, I need to find a way to honor others ahead of myself... any ideas? Help me out.

Rebecca Palmatier

Beautiful Women

When I say "Beautiful Woman", what do you think of? Do you picture a specific physical attribute like hair color or a toothy grin? Do you consider personality or dimeanor? How about attitude?

There are two women (friends) who I'd like to give some award-type recognition tonight. I consider both women to be of great value to me - our friendship a precious gift from God. These two women have inspired me, encouraged me, challenged me - one is even motivating me to exercise regularly so that I can fit into that dress I've gotta wear in Corey and Kira's wedding!

Tonight they brought beauty into my life after a work day filled with some ugliness.

BOTTOM LINE - In my quest to embrace beauty and my desire to take a few minutes of reflection in God's beautiful things, my first observation is right at home.

Brit and Emily - you're both beautiful. Stunning. You have hearts of Gold, and you inspire me to want to be better, to love deeper, to dream larger. Thank you for being a part of my life - it's a God thing, I think. :)

Life In the FAST LANE!

Today I was challenged to describe my life in a few sentences, and the phrase 'fast lane' quickly came to mind... Honestly, I can't decide if I'm happy about that or not. On one hand, I'm seeing a lot of stuff get 'done', a lot of progress for my future being made and steps taken, but I'm also seeing a lot of life's scenery just pass me by, with me being too preoccupied or focused to notice.

SO! my challenge right now? FIND BEAUTY. Find ways to make the fast lane work, and determine when it's okay for me to move to another lane for a while. :)

I'll be blogging about life and all the stuff that fills it, and I hope you'll help hold me accountable to finding the beauty, pausing to reflect and take it all in - Can you keep up with me?

Rebecca