Lent

It is the first full week of Lent. 40 days until Easter. Lent is supposed to mark the 40 days before Easter but it is actually 44 days long, Lent doesn't count the Sundays. It seems odd to me that an entire day each week doesn't count but then again we have to exam the why.
Lent is a time of repentance, mourning, and preparation for the death and resurrection of Jesus. Easter is a great celebration, a day where the tomb is empty and our savior is alive.
So what about the Sundays not counting? Well Sunday is supposed to be a time of celebration,  a mini Easter if you will. It makes sense, Sundays are supposed to be a day of rest every other week so why should Lent be any different?
We are supposed to spend these days leading up to Easter, in sorrow, contemplation,  and repentance. That can be exhausting, so it was determined that once a week we should take a break and celebrate. A mini Easter if you will. A time to step away from the contemplation and sorrow to celebrate what you have accomplish so far and remember why we are taking this time, to celebrate Jesus giving his life for us.
So are you taking the time to reflect, repent and give this season? I look forward to hearing from you.
Until next time,
~Michelle

From the ashes

This week marks the beginning of Lent.  A season of morning and preparation for Jesus to die and rise from the dead. Wednesday is Ash Wednesday,  a day that marks our humanness.
The ashes have a couple different meanings, one to remind us that we came from the ash and our bodies will return to the ash. Our spirits will rise to Heaven but our physical body will return to the ground the dirt and the ash.
The other meaning is to show that we are in a time of contemplation and morning. It marks the first day that starts the end of Jesus' journey here on Earth. As He prepares to die for our sins on the cross, we are supposed to prepare ourselves as well.
Many people will give up something for Lent, others will take on an extra mission for the season. I have personally never taken on an extra something, I am usually a giver upper kind of person. But this year I am really going to strive to go out of my way each day to do something nice for a stranger. A kind of pay it forward kind of situation. We will see how it goes.
What about you? What are you getting involved in this Lenten season? I look forward to hear about your journeys.
Until next time,
~Michelle

When in Rome

Have you ever noticed that the more time you spend with someone the more you become alike. At least for me this happens. I find myself saying shared phrases or making similar facial expressions. I of course see this a lot with Emerson as he grows and develops, he picks up on more of Nick and I's queues.
This habit works both ways, I know when I have been hanging out with more negative people because my attitude becomes more negative and vise versa. I am not really sure what got me thinking about this earlier this week but the more I think about it the more useful I think it could become.
We make choices as to whom we hang out with and what we do with these people. We begin to share habits and phrases. So think what if we choose to spend more time with Jesus?
As Christians we are supposed to strive to be more like Jesus. To follow down a similar path of servant leadership, to be Christ like. How does one really do that? To become more like someone we spend time with them. So we must in turn spend more time with Jesus. The more time we spend with him, the more we learn about him and from him the more we will become like him. And in theory the more we will want to spend time with him.
How often do you talk to your best friend that is living on this Earth? I know I talk to my best friend at least once a week usually for a least an hour at a time. We used to work together so I used to see her at least five days a week. We have a lot of similar likes, dislikes, mannerisms, etc.
Now, how often do you talk to Jesus? Shouldn't He be our best friend living in Heaven? Shouldn't we be spending as much time if not more with Him as we do with our on Earth best friend?
Just a thought. I would love to hear yours. Have a great week.
Until next time,
~Michelle

A new light!

I have a confession to make this morning. I figured this is the place to do it. I can be judgmental at times. I mean really who can say that they never judge others? But the point is that I have been judgmental of this one particular person that I deal with on a very regular basis. This person tends to be rather negative about everything and I often find myself dreading having to deal with this individual because I really don't handle negative people well. However, last week I saw a completely different side of this person. For the sake of the story let's call this person Hank.
There was a situation where someone, Georgia, needed some immediate help. Georgia was in a really bad situation, her family had kicked her out of the house and she has made some bad decisions in her life leading up to this time that has caused many to turn their back on her. She is a few months away from graduating from high school and appears to be really trying to turn things around and make better choices. Georgia came to Hank the other day and asked for help. In a completely different response and attitude then I have witnessed from Hank he opened up. He talked to Georgia about what as going on and instantly offered her any service that he could provide. He does have some boundaries with his job that doesn't allow him to do absolutely anything but I found myself stepping in where he couldn't. We worked in tandem to help make sure that Georgia was taken care of at least for the next few days and had a plan to get herself to a safe place. Hank then shared with me how much Georgia reminds him of another young person that he had helped long ago and that he really just wants Georgia to be able to see her full potential and knows that she really just needs someone that will believe in her.
This whole experience opened my eyes to Hank in a whole new light. Usually I view Hank as closed off and bitter about life but in this situation I saw compassion and love. I also saw what happens when you find something that people are so passionate about. Hank really just wants to make sure that Georgia is safe and can continue down the right path. It made me wonder what would happen if we could really tap into that passion and compassion. But overly it reminded me that I need to check myself when I find myself judging others. We don't know what those other people have experienced and what they are or have gone through.
I attended a training a few years ago that talked about seeing people in the green when you interact with them. The thought being that green means go, or that you can see their potential. God also encourages us to see others "in the green." We all come with flaws and to judge others is to judge ourselves. There is a story in the New Testament about a women that is brought before Jesus for committing adultry. A crime that should have condemed her to a death by stoning. Jesus simply tells them "He who is without sin, should cast the first stone." Everyone slowly walks away and Jesus tells the woman to go and repent and do better.
So today in my confession and am saying that I made a mistake and judged Hank as cold, bitter, sour and harsh. I forgot to look at him "in the green." And remember that Hank is a child of God. So this week I shall strive to see all people in the green and challenge you to do that same. How can we capitalize on the potential that we all have inside of us as children of God?
Let me know what you think.
Until next time,
~Michelle

Come be fishers of men

This week our sermon at church was the calling to service of the disciples as told in the book of Mark. I appreciate this scripture because it shows the dedication of the disciples to Jesus?And it always makes me wonder, if I was in the same situation would I be so willing to drop everything and just follow this person? And then I realize, we are in the same situation. God is calling us to move into action. To follow someone, Jesus, whom we have never met before blindly into the world. We must trust that He will lead us the right way and not into any danger that we can not handle. Are we willing?
Our pastor challenged us to think of a Bible story or verse that we relates to our personal story. I have a few that I could relate I suppose but the one that came to me yesterday is similar to the commissioning of the disciples. There is one version that talks about a man coming to Jesus and asking what he must to do follow Him. Jesus says the man must drop everything and follow. The man hesitates and asks Jesus for some time before he follows, saying that he needs to take care of a few things first.
 I think often times that is me. I will feel the call to do something, but instead of my first reaction being, "Okay, let's do this God." I am more of a "Ah, okay I will totally do that, but first I would like to do x,y and z." I know that may come as a shock to some because I have a rather spontaneous nature and am usually up for anything but when I comes to big projects or things that I am uncertain on, I hesitate and wonder if I will be able to do it before I jump in.
If I am striving to live a life fully dedicated to God, I need to remember that all of the other stuff will be taken care of. God has a plan for us and if we are living with an open mind and an open heart, we will be lead in the right direction and everything will be provided for us. This not to say that there will not be work involved because there always is. This is just to say that if we don't worry about the small stuff, the journey will be better.
The challenge is always to put our full trust in God and what he has in store for us. For his plans are greater than anything we could come up with, and when we really jump feet first into something the results are often beyond our greatest imagination.
I admire the disciples that just dropped their nets and followed Jesus when he called them by name. They were willing to drop everything when asked and to not worry about what was going to happen. I strive to have that same mentality, to be willing to go in whatever direction I am called to. Because let's be honest, I would have never imagined I would be where I am today, and it is a better place then I would have put myself without God. So the challenge this week is to listen to the call and be willing to jump in without worrying about the consequences and without worrying about all the small stuff. To put in the work necessary to be ready for when the call comes, because you better believe that God has the most powerful cell phone and that call always comes through!
Until next time,
~Michelle

Friends are friends forever

I really like the daycare that I have Emerson at. It is a church/christian based daycare, the teachers are super nice and very approachable. But the things I like the most is that they call everyone in the daycare friends. My nephew also goes to daycare there, he will be 4 next month and when I was going to start taking Emerson there, Xander said to his Mom, "Emerson is not my cousin, he is my friend." Even though Emerson is still his cousin, I thought it was adorable that Xander called him a friend. Everyone is a friend, sometimes their friends hurt them, or do bad things, and sometimes their friends play nice with them and share their food and toys but they are always friends. We could learn a lot from a bunch of kids in daycare and kids in general.
Kids don't care where you came from, how your day is going, how much money you have or what you look like. Kids just care if you are there to play with you and how you treat them and others around you.They give love and affection without much thought to it and are always excited to see you again.
In the New Testament, there is a story of children wanting to see Jesus and the adults were trying to stop them. Jesus told the people to let the children go to him. He says that we must have the mind of a child to get into Heaven. Jesus was calling us to think more like children. We are suppose to be open to new ideas, new paths, and new adventures. Think about kids, they just want to learn everything and figure out how everything interacts and they always want new friends. To find joy in the moment to worry less and to love one another.
How can you not love someone that you call a friend? When you talk about someone being your friend it is someone you respect, trust, love and enjoy spending time with.
If we are truly following God's word we would treat everyone with those characteristics. Jesus is the glue that sticks us all together. We strive to follow his path, to be as much like Jesus as possible. Maybe the challenge this week is to refer to everyone we meet as friend? Sure people might look at you a little strange when you greet them but maybe not. I am curious to see how this would change your outlook and the way you treat those around you. I am going to take this challenge and encourage you all to do that same.
The wonderful thing about friendship like love is that there is more then enough to go around and it multiples and spreads. So will you take the challenge? And greet everyone you encounter this week as friend? I hope so, and I look forward to hearing how this affected your week.
Keep walking the faith, and share your thoughts, feelings and reactions. I look forward to hearing for you friends!
Until next time,
~Michelle

Struggling

Last weekend I was in Grand Island with about 1200 other people. We were there for the Great Plains Conference One Event. An event created to bring the youth of the Great Plains Conference (Kansas and Nebraska) to one location to praise God and unite the two states.
For me the most outstanding part of the event was an illusionist named Danny Ray. I have always been fascinated by magic and this was no different. He did some mind blowing card tricks, and one with a quarter, a can of Diet Coke Lime, and a lime but the one that sticks out as most powerful was a trick where he escaped from a straight jacket, one that was too small for him to begin with. He brought an incredible message about struggle. That even through life's struggles with God and when we rely on God the impossible is truly possible.
As we watched him struggle on stage to get out of this straight jacket, I began thinking of all those in our community that are struggling and the hopelessness that often occurs in the depths of our struggles. It took me to a place of deep despair and worry. I thought about the youth that surrounded me and what they must be thinking while watching this. I wondered if they felt as I did like there was no way for him to get out, that we were going to watch him exhaust himself on the stage. But as the struggle continued and he began to make progress on his restraints I started to feel hope. I remembered that all things are possible in God and that even in our darkest hours, God is there to show us the way out.
No situation is truly hopeless as long as we have God on our side. And the good news is that God never leaves us. He walks along side us, he carries us when we need a lift, he brings light to the darkness. And that to me is great news! Danny Ray escaped from the too small straight jacket and it was amazing! He was out of breath and looked exhausted, showing us that it wasn't easy but working through the struggle never is. But he gave a message of hope, a message that it is possible to break free, it is possible to accomplish the impossible. And that really there is no such thing as impossible when there is God.
There will be times of struggle, there will be times where things seem hopeless, but those are the times that we need to remember to rely on God. The help may come in many different forms, but it will always come. What are you struggling with this week and how are you going to rely on God to help you through?
Until next time,
~Michelle